Lubicon Lake Indian Nation
Little Buffalo Lake, AB
403-629-3945
FAX: 403-629-3939
Mailing address:
3536 - 106 Street
Edmonton, AB T6J 1A4
403-436-5652
FAX: 403-437-0719
May 6, 1991
Enclosed for your information are copies of four newspaper articles
and an editorial regarding a recently leaked internal report
prepared by the Alberta Provincial Forestry Service on the state of
the forest in Alberta. The conclusion of the report that the
forests in Alberta are in serious trouble is supported by both an
earlier Government-commissioned panel headed by a University of
Alberta Forestry professor and by representatives of the forestry
industry in a letter to Alberta Forestry Minister LeRoy
Fjordbotten.
Mr. Fjordbotten has predictably responded in typical Alfred E.
Neuman fashion. He assures people that he's "confident" there's no
problem. He says, "I can't stand up as a minister and say I'm
confident if I'm not."
Unfortunately Government ministers often say things which are both
demonstrably untrue and which they know to be untrue. In addition
Mr. Fjordbotten's expression of confidence that he isn't in effect
mishandling his portfolio is more than a little self-serving.
Attachment #1: re-printed without permission from The Edmonton
Journal, Tuesday, April 16, 1991
FORESTS IN DANGER, STUDY SAYS
Report leaded to NDP
Brian Laghi
Journal Staff Writer
Edmonton
Alberta forests face huge environmental damage if more isn't done
to protect and replant millions of trees used in the pulp industry,
an internal report warns.
The report, leaked to and released by Alberta's New Democrats,
suggests that over-harvesting could land the forestry department in
"violation of the public trust", prompting ND environment critic
John McInnis to call for the resignation of Forestry Minister LeRoy
Fjordbotten.
The forestry department will have to break its own reforestation
regulations if it doesn't get an extra $13 million in 1991 and 1992
to deal with the explosion in the province's forestry sector, says
the report.
"Insufficient staffing will prevent the division from protecting
forests from large scale environmental damage," said the report.
"The AFS (Alberta Forestry Service) will be unable to monitor and
enforce the environmental standards promised by the government of
Alberta to its citizens."
The document was prepared by department officials in an effort to
pry more money out of the 1991 budget, delivered two weeks ago by
Treasurer Dick Johnston. However, spending on forestry management
was virtually frozen at $93 million and the government eliminated
the department's Forest Research Division.
McInnis warned that without satisfactory reforestation, top soil in
the harvested areas will blow away and adequate replanting can
never occur.
"I think this is the strongest warning that a public official can
possibly give to a minister," said McInnis.
"The government went ahead and made decisions anyway, budget
decisions that ignored the warning and that's why I think LeRoy
Fjordbotten has no right to be minister any longer. He knows he's
in breach of public trust."
The report says the recent massive increase in forestry activities
will require the replanting of some 103.5 million seedlings in
1992-1993. Current nursery facilities are only able to produce
24.5 million seedlings annually, said the report.
The document also stated the AFS budget in 1988-1989 was $24
million below what it received in 1981.
The AFS also lost eight percent of its workers between 1982 and
1989. The new forestry boom will force the department to monitor
18.9-million hectares between 1990-1998, up from 3.1-million
hectares in 1986. Necessary inspections will also be harmed, said
the report.
But Fjordbotten said he believes his staff is large enough to
handle the replanting and monitoring needed.
Fjordbotten noted that the department officials who prepared the
brief used the 1982 budget year as a benchmark, which was "a very
rich year for all government departments."
"I want to make sure that with the expansion of the forest industry
that there would be more than adequate staff to make sure we could
monitor and fulfill our commitments," Fjordbotten said. "I'm
satisfied that we can do that."
Fjordbotten said all bureaucrats want to see extra staff and he
doesn't blame them. But forestry had to take some of the hit to
balance the provincial budget.
Fjordbotten also said the industry has an obligation to contribute
to replanting.
Attachment #2: re-printed without permission from The Edmonton
Sun, Tuesday, April 16, 1991
FORESTS AT RISK
Large-scale damage feared in leaked Alberta report
by Gord Bannerman
Staff Writer
Alberta forests face large-scale environmental damage unless more
money is pumped into the province's forestry department to protect
the woods.
That's the dire prediction in a confidential departmental report to
Forestry Minister LeRoy Fjordbotten leaked to the New Democrats and
released yesterday.
"Without sufficient staff, the Alberta Forestry Service will be
unable to monitor and enforce the environmental standards promised
by the government of Alberta to its citizens," warns the 1990
report prepared by provincial forestry staff at the request of
senior department managers.
"Insufficient staffing will prevent the division from protecting
forests from large-scale environmental damage," the report states.
The concerns are contained in the 52-page document titled "Impact
of Forestry Industry Development on the Alberta Forest Service",
which was obtained by the New Democrats and tabled in the
legislature yesterday.
It states the department needs more money to hire additional staff
to monitor all aspects of the forest industry, including
reforestation and the logging impact on fish and wildlife. Extra
workers are also needed to ensure companies don't chop down more
trees than the government contracts allow.
It's the second study to point out problems in Fjordbotten's
department.
A government-commissioned panel, headed by University of Alberta
professor Bruce Dancik, concluded last August the province had
committed "less than token funding for forestry research" while
subsidizing rapid development of the pulp and paper industry.
Yesterday's leaked report was prepared before last year's
provincial budget in which the government was pressing to approve
forestry projects, including Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries'
$1.5 billion pulp mill near Athabasca.
ND environment critic John McInnis said it's a condemnation of
Fjordbotten, who McInnis said should resign,
Fjordbotten said he has no intention of stepping down.
He said the government is in a "period of restraint" but not at the
expense of protecting the environment from forestry projects.
And Fjordbotten said he's reorganized his department to deal with
the growing forestry sector by putting more people in district
offices and shifting responsibilities to companies to perform
research and studies done by government in the past.
He said the report was prepared when the department was pushing for
more staff in the 1990-91 budget.
He doesn't fault staff for that but said, "frankly, we are reducing
the number of civil servants in this province."
The report called for a budget increase of $12.6 million last year,
$13.6 million this year and $13.9 million next year.
Instead, Fjordbotten's budget was cut by $1.4 million last year but
was bumped by $1.8 million for this year.
Since 1981 the forestry staff has shrunk to 1,392 from 1,443.
Attachment #3: re-printed without permission from The Edmonton
Journal, Wednesday, April 17, 1991
PROFESSOR FEARS FORESTRY DISASTERS
Brian Laghi
Journal Staff Writer
Edmonton
Animals face elimination, forest fires could increase and rivers
become clogged if the provincial government ignores an internal
report calling for better forest protection, says a U of A forestry
expert.
"They could barely keep up with the demands before," forest
sciences chairman Bruce Dancik said Tuesday, in response to a
report calling for more money to patrol Alberta's exploding timber
harvest.
"In the longer run, we could see things like the fibre resource
being hurt and we could see the loss of certain species from the
province."
Dancik, who also chaired a government-appointed committee which
recommended hiring another 150 department employees, said getting
more personnel is critical if the government wants to monitor
environmentally sensitive activities like road building and
replanting.
Too much silt from roads, for example, could harm fish spawning in
local rivers. Inadequate numbers of employees could force the
department to skimp on fire monitoring, he said.
The government doesn't even have an inventory of provincial
wildlife, said Dancik. "Will a particular species get clobbered?
We don't really know."
Dancik said problems will be more subtle and probably occur over a
lengthy period of time, unlike in B.C., which has experienced more
serious problems due to the age of the industry.
An Edmonton environmental group called on Forestry Minister LeRoy
Fjordbotten to resign, saying he is not heeding the warnings of his
own department.
"This minister is not responding and there's no clear reason as to
why not," said Lorraine Vetsch, co-chairman of Edmonton's Friends
of the North.
"He's not capable of handling the portfolio."
The report suggested the department requires another $13 million in
1991 to adequately manage forests and that it has less money now
than it did 10 years ago, when the forestry sector was a fraction
of its current size.
Vetsch said Fjordbotten should either quit or his responsibilities
for maintaining the province's forests should be given to the
environment department.
"When reforestation fails, who is responsible -- forestry or
environment?"
But Fjordbotten said new reforestation standards put in place last
month will force companies to increase their role in planting.
"They're not overly happy with it, but it will guarantee a good
sound forest in the future for our children."
Judith Hanebury of Alberta's Sierra Club said the report will help
the group in its lawsuit against the province, alleging
reforestation by Daishowa near Peace River is inadequate.
Attachment #4: re-printed without permission from The Edmonton
Sun, Wednesday, April 17, 1991
FORESTS NOT IN STATE OF CRISIS, SAYS MINISTER
Band report blamed on employees' agenda
By Gord Bannerman
Staff Writer
Forestry Minister LeRoy Fjordbotten yesterday discounted a report
from his staff warning that Alberta forests are in danger.
He said it was meant to be confidential and he's upset it got into
the press in the first place.
"The report is only a report done by staff making a pitch for more
staff," Fjordbotten said. "So I think it's got to be read in that
context."
Large-Scale damage
The 52-page internal document, tabled in the legislature Monday by
the New Democrats, warned that Alberta forests face "large-scale
environmental damage" unless more money is injected into the
province's forestry department.
It said the department needs more staff to police the province's
burgeoning forest industry, such as pulp mills.
The document -- labelled "Impact of Forest Industry Development on
the Alberta Forest Service" -- was requested by senior forestry
managers and done by staff before the 1990-91 budget.
Fjordbotten said the report was confidential and its strong
language was a "poor choice of words". He said he won't discipline
anyone because the report was leaked.
Fjordbotten's assistant deputy minister in charge of the Alberta
forest service, Kenneth Higginbotham, couldn't be reached for
comment yesterday.
Fjordbotten said he's confident Alberta's forests aren't on the
verge of a crisis. "I can't stand up as a minister and say I'm
confident if I'm not."
His assurances didn't stop ND environment critic John McInnis and
Edmonton Friends of the North co-chairman Lorraine Vetsch from
demanding the minister quit.
In the legislature, McInnis accused Fjordbotten of "attempting to
characterize the most serious possible warning from the forest
service as a case of greedy public servants."
Findings echo study
The department's findings echoed those in a study prepared by a
government-commissioned panel headed by University of Alberta
professor Bruce Dancik.
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