Logging on the East Coast

Logging in New Brunswick Canada's Acadian Forest

PHOTOGRAPHS FROM LOGGING SITE IN NEW BRUNSWICK CANADA

BY RIDER THOMPSON

In June of 2005 I set out to document something I felt needed to be documented. Logging on the East Coast. For years and years groups have focused their efforts on reforming forestry plans and working towards responsible sustainable logging on the West Coast of both the United States and Canada. The work has been detailed and received a great amount of attention worldwide. The Eastern coasts of both the United States and Canada are dealing with many of the same issues and have been for years – though the challenges here have remained largely under the radar screen, void of the massive widespread attention from environmental groups, citizens and policy makers.

I decided to use my camera and begin photographing logging in New Brunswick Canada. Logging accounts for a large segment of the economy in New Brunswick. The province has a population of under 800,000 people and in terms of Canadian provinces it’s one of the smaller ones. Having family connections to the region going back decades – I do feel a special connection to the area and the people there. It’s a tough issue – in a province where fishing and logging are two of the primary industries and many people depend on these areas for their livelihood. The easy answer for many arm chair environmentalists is to say – stop the logging its gradually killing the Acadian forests and many if not all the species that live there. But what about the people who depend on the forest and make a living from logging? What about them?

CONTINUED

I set out to document one small section of the forest about 10 km east of Fundy National Park. The land is beautiful there, overlooking the Bay of Fundy. My goal was to locate an area where clearcut logging was occurring – photograph it and then hope to use the photographs to raise awareness for what I believe is the answer to the problem – the development of a sustainable forestry plan – that allows for protection and regulation of the boreal forests but also allows for responsible logging – which is absolutely critical to the people of New Brunswick.

My work began in June, those familiar with that time of year in NB know how wonderfully beautiful it is there. In the area I focused on there are vast cranberry fields off the highway leading up the edge of the forest which in this particular area is solid forest south of the Trans Canada highway to the bay. Here local landowners work the land themselves or in some cases lease the land for logging to some of the larger corporations in the region like Irving or subsidiaries. The forest was alive and well with warblers and other birds, I discovered a nest of the fairly uncommon Long Eared Owl just inside the cover of the forest. There were two Owlets there just learning to fly. On my repeated trips back to the area the adult female could be seen hunting in the fields.

JUVENILE LONG EARED OWL


TWO JUVENILE LONG EARED OWLS NEAR NEST

I entered the logging area – less than 100 meters east from the nest of owls I photographed above. There area is massive - forest for as far as the eye can see. There were several areas that were recently clearcut and evidence of a lot of prior work existed, but on all the trips I made to site there was no actual cutting going on. Knowing a lot of the people in the region personally I know the area is filled with good hard working people – who are looking for a source of income. You have this vast forest just right there in front of them and large companies eager to buy the timber. The fact logging occurs is logical.



The photos speak for themselves I think. They show the beauty of the forest and then the reality of logging. I have no intended meaning here – my goal was to show something as real as possible not focus on the dramatic but capture reality. The photos show newly growing trees in the clearcut fields, they show beat-up aging machines used for transporting logs, and they show how things are often left in a mess as crews move on to the next area to cut.








Through my work I have come to support NB groups working to establish a sustainable and responsible forestry policy for the province. The Conservation Council of NB is the leader – with their save the Acadian Forest Campaign. There needs to be cooperation – among policy makers, conservationists, corporate interests and most importantly the land owners and loggers themselves. My main fear is that a battle will occur – and we will go down the same road many environmental issues/campaigns have gone in the past. The loggers and landowners in NB are not the enemy here – they are trying to support themselves and their families just like anyone else would. What is needed is the development of a sustainable logging plan, one that is responsible - through means such as community forestry and low impact forestry. In the end the message is clear – lets do this correctly and everyone wins.


CLEAR CUT AREA