Is it true that bears will start living in a forest that is clear-cut?

Question

This is all I have, no details... =(

Answer 1

Hi Samantha - I think the opposite is true. In clearcutting all of the protection of the forest is destroyed to harvest the trees. Here are some statistics and information about clearcutting in the Great Bear Rainforest of Canada, and there is great loss of habitat and that means species are at risk.


The Facts

On the west coast of Canada, nestled between high alpine reaches and the Pacific Ocean, lies a thin band of temperate rainforest. This ancient forest is home to thousands of species of plants, birds and animals. In this lush rainforest stand 1,000 year old cedar trees and 90 metre tall Sitka spruce. Rich salmon streams weave through valley bottoms that provide food for magnificent creatures such as orcas, black bears, grizzlies and eagles.

Over half of the world's temperate rainforests have already been destroyed and more than a quarter of what remains is found on the west coast of British Columbia. The temperate rainforest is only 1.2% of Canada's landbase. The largest intact area of temperate rainforest left on the coast is the Great Bear Rainforest. This two million hectare heartland of the temperate rainforest stretches from just north of Knight Inlet to Princess Royal Island (see map). This unique forest habitat, a result of 10,000 years of post-glacial activity, is being clearcut. Unless we take action now, half of all the unprotected intact rainforest valleys will have roads built into them or be clearcut.

Grizzly, black and the rare Kermode, or Spirit, bear thrive in the temperate rainforest. The grizzly population in North America has decreased by half in the last century and 99 % of their habitat has been destroyed in United States. B.C. is home to 50% of Canada's grizzly population. In 1992, grizzly bears were listed as vulnerable to extinction by the federal government's Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Even so, B.C. has no endangered species act to protect the grizzly bear or the more than 700 other species listed in the province.

Over half of the earth's original forest cover is gone, much of it destroyed during the past three decades. Canada, Russia and Brazil are the only countries that still have significant areas of original forest. Together these countries house 70% of the planet's remaining natural forests - and almost all of what remains is threatened with commercial logging. (The Last Frontier Forests: Ecosystems and Economies on the Edge, World Resources Institute, March 1997)



The Clearcut Logging of the Temperate Rainforest
Clearcutting is an industrial logging practice in which the trees and plant life in a given area are removed from the forest. The cleared area is then replaced by even-aged tree farms consisting of a few, and sometimes only one, species of tree. Clearcutting is a particularly devastating logging practice in the fragile temperate rainforest. Yet recent investigation shows that 97% of all the logging in the temperate rainforest is done by clearcutting. (British Columbia's Clear Cut Code, Sierra Legal Defence Fund, November, 1996)
British Columbia makes up less than 10% of Canada's land mass but is home to 74% of Canadian land-dwelling mammals such as black-tailed deer, Roosevelt elk, black and grizzly bears, grey wolves and mountain goats, and 70% of breeding birds such as woodpeckers, tree swallows, chickarees and owls (Clayoquot Sound Science Panel). In 1996, the British Columbia Ministry of the Environment stated that one-in- 10 plants and vertebrate animals in British Columbia is vulnerable to extinction. Logging is cited as one of the primary causes of species decline.



First Nations
Archaeological studies and oral traditions show that coastal First Nations have lived in the Pacific rainforest region for at least 9,000 years, creating rich and diverse societies and using the bounty of both the rainforest and the connecting waters for sustenance. European contact, however, has resulted in the erosion of both First Nations' culture and land.
According to Ecotrust International, 44 of 68 language groups believed to have been spoken on North America's west coast at the time of contact are today extinct or spoken by fewer than ten individuals. The pattern of this cultural erosion mirrors the south to north pattern of the Europeans' movements, and reflects where old-growth rainforests have been cleared all along the Pacific coast.

Today, clearcutting continues on First Nations lands often without the consent of the First Nations who have resided in these forests for millennia and on land which has never been ceded or signed away in treaty. On the central coast in the Great Bear Rainforest, few First Nations communities receive direct economic benefit from the logging. At times, as much as 90 % of the logging "benefits" have completely bypassed the region.


Jobs and the Environment
"We don't have to choose between jobs and trees. If our forest industry was managed properly, we would have plenty of both." - Pulp and Paper Woodworkers of Canada, 1993
Contrary to industry rhetoric, the issue of protecting forests is not a jobs versus-environment issue. We don't need to destroy our ancient forests to protect jobs. And we don't need to devastate forest-dependent communities to protect our forests. The truth is that high mechanization and the export of unprocessed products (such as unprocessed lumber and pulp instead of paper or finished products) has meant that in British Columbia there are fewer jobs for every tree logged than in most other countries and regions. When Greenpeace participated in Canada's first eco- certified logging operation in Vernon, B.C., the operation demonstrated how alternative logging and value-added wood processing can create a maximum number of jobs while leaving forest ecosystems intact.


Rainforest Ravagers
Control of the rainforest is concentrated. Only a few logging companies benefit financially from the destruction of the fragile rainforest. The largest logging companies - MacMillan Bloedel, International Forest Products (Interfor), and Western Forest Products (a Doman subsidiary) - chop 50% of all the rainforests logged in B.C. every year. This forest is logged primarily for export to the United States, Europe and Japan. Canada's ancient rainforest is being made into items such as toilet paper, magazines, newspapers and diapers. These companies are clearcutting the forests and converting 1000 year old trees into disposable paper products and lumber. There are alternatives such as paper products made from agricultural waste and recycled fibre.

Just the Facts
Despite claims of world-class forest practices, 92% of logging in B.C. is done by clearcutting. In the fragile Great Bear Rainforest, 97% of the logging is done by clearcutting. 1
Although the B.C. government says that it leads the world in protected areas, to date less than 6% of B.C.'s low-elevation old- growth forests have been protected. 2
764 salmon stocks in B.C. are extinct, or at risk of becoming extinct, and recent investigations reveal that 83% of audited streams in logging areas were cut right down to their banks. 3
92% of polled residents in British Columbia believe that strong rules to protect the environment are important even if it costs a bit more." 4
77% of British Columbia residents polled believe that logging in B.C.'s old-growth forests should be stopped immediately or phased out. 5
81% of B.C. residents polled do not believe that Premier Glen Clark is doing enough to protect the forests. 6
Government and industry have spent $65 million on domestic and international public relations campaigns in recent years to sell the myth that all is well in the woods of British Columbia. 7