Hello Zuiks,
Several people asked if I would share the letter I wrote to The Press, which
won me the Parker pen set.
Well, OK, but it won't make any sense unless you get some of the
background. That goes back 30 years, but I should be able to cut it out
inside 20 minutes <g>.
I'm a professional forester by training. In NZ usage, that means that I have
tertiary education in forestry, meaning forest management in the widest
sense - knowing botany, zoology, geology, chemistry, some engineering,
law, road-making, landscape planning, timbers and timber properties, silvics
of trees all over the world, ecology, statistics, sampling, (about 20+ topics)
-
you get the picture. I worked for the NZ Forest Service for 32 years with
3,000 others until it was disbanded in 1987.
To get an understanding of the background here, read this 12-page history I
wrote.
http://homepages.caverock.net.nz/~bj/beech/sustainable/forests3.htm
In brief, the mandate of the NZ Forest Service was to manage the huge
estate of indigenous and exotic forest for the best benefit of all NZ. We
worked hard at it and were proud of our achievements.
In the early 1970's, the NZFS and groups of environmentalists had a head-on
clash over management plans for a large area on indigenous beech forest in
the NW of the South Island.
In 1984, a new Labour government was elected which threw away its election
manifesto and proceeded to put into effect new, revolutionary economic
policies based on the teachings of Milton Friedman of the Chicago School of
Economics; rather like those of Reagan and Maggie Thatcher. Our version
goes under the name of Rogernomics. During the next 6 years the economy
and way of life in NZ was turned on its head.
First was the dismemberment of the NZ Forest Service, to pay back the
environmental movement for support during the voting.
My profession has all but disappeared from the NZ scene as a result. I won't
elaborate.
However, on the West Coast of the South Island, where it is very wet and
indigenous beech and conifer forests thrive, about 100f the former State
Forests (about 140,000 hectares or VERY roughly 308,000 acres) were
given to a state-owned entity to manage for sustainable production of fine
woods. They had to develop a management system that would give low-
impact production in perpetuity.
They spent 10 years developing a truly excellent system which was justly
held up to the world as a fine example of sustainable management. At the
end of 1999, they commenced proceedings in the environmental court
system to have their plans ratified.
Labour, having been out of running the country for 10 years, won the election
in November 1999, and the first thing they did, was to stop the open court
hearings of the Timberlands West Coast plans, and to require Timberlands to
stop their plans. They subsequently did a lot of other things too including
passing legislation breaking a contract (the West Coast Accord) under which
the plans had been developed, and legislated to not compensate companies
for broken contracts. The Prime Minister, Helen Clark, said publicly, when
this was done, that for her and some of her colleagues, it was the end of a
30-year struggle (to 'save' the forests). I and some of my friends were irate
over all this, and we had a private e-mail discussion group going on the topic.
One of the members, Kit Richards (Planning Manager, Timberlands) was on
it, and replied to an email I wrote - and made some strong comments about
Helen Clark. A mole on the list sent a copy to an environmental group, who
passed it to Helen Clark. Kit lost his $100,000 a year job as a result. I
happen to know and respect Kit who is a very able and industrious person.
Get background at
http://homepages.caverock.net.nz/~bj/beech/and go to the sustainable page
http://homepages.caverock.net.nz/~bj/beech/sustainable/
and the Press Releases page.
SO, that brings us up to a couple of weeks ago. It was announced publicly
that Prime Minister Clark is going to a conference on sustainable
development for Third World countries. Note - Prime Minister for NZ equates
roughly to President Bush for the USA.
But NZ has only 4 million people ( and more sheep).
With that introduction, here's what I wrote.
>
> Dear Sir,
>
> You've just got to love it, don't you.
>
> I mean the sheer brilliance of our Prime Minister.
>
> She's off to take part in an international conference on Sustainable
> Development for Third-world countries. This, coming from the person whose
> first major action on coming into office was to stop the best examples of
> sustainable management of indigenous forest New Zealand has seen, and
> which are a leading-edge working example for the rest of the world.
>
> What's the biblical saying? something about trying to fix the speck of dust in
> your neighbour's eye but being unable to see the log-jam in your own eye?
>
> Sincerely
>
> Brian Swale
...................................................
Zuikoholics, enablers, one and all.
Feeding fantasies, emptying pockets!
---------------------------------------------------
Brian Swale, 140 Panorama Road,
Christchurch 8008, N.Z.
Tel +64 3 326 7447
http://homepages.caverock.net.nz/~bj/photography/
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|