Description

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Nearing the end of a lifetime in the boreal forest, a retired forester writes a passionate plea for rational, science-based forest management.

The boreal forest is constantly changing, often dramatically. We like to picture it as a stable, balanced system. Really, it is anything but stable. The boreal forest is dynamic.

For over sixty years, forester Malcolm F. Squires has seen mature forests within protected areas devastated by insects, moose, wind, and wildfire. While the forests often return from this destruction, they are never quite the same. A naturally balanced boreal forest is a human notion that does not match the reality of nature. If we don't soon recognize and accept that reality and stop making irrational demands that a forest be "protected" from change or human management, we may be dooming them to disaster.

About the Author

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Malcolm (Mac) F. Squires graduated in 1963 from the University of New Brunswick with a B.Sc. in forestry. He worked first in Newfoundland and then in Ontario for thirty-four years as an industrial forester. He then moved to forestry consulting, while advocating for the boreal forest through visual art, writing, and speaking. He lives in Thunder Bay, Ontario.Dr. John Kennedy Naysmith has spent his career working in forestry in various capacities, including as a professor of Forestry at Lakehead University and with the Ontario Forestry Futures Trust.