Voluntary Planning

Since you are looking for input through the series of public consultations on natural resources, I would like to take this opportunity to express some of my thoughts on the issue of forestry practice in Nova Scotia. I am a woodlot owner living in St. Ann’s, Cape Breton, and though I don’t have any particular expertise in the science or economics of the forest industry, as a taxpayer I do have an interest in government policy in this area. One reason for my personal interest in these matters is that for the last 20 years I have been making my living as a violin maker, and my interest in utilizing materials from the local environment has given me the chance to study the forest from a somewhat unique perspective.

It is obvious to me that the present day forest of Cape Breton in particular, and Nova Scotia in general, has become quite degraded over the years in comparison with reports we have about the original forests that existed here before large scale industrial forestry began to set the standards for the exploitation of our natural resources. In my work, I have special interest in the quality of the materials I use, and the conditions necessary for their production. Of special interest to a violin maker is the highly figured maple for the backs sides and necks of the instruments and more especially, fine quality, stiff, strong, and light weight spruce for the soundboards. Cape Breton has an abundance of maple and spruce, but the high quality wood sought by violin makers is exceedingly rare. The high quality wood (notably the spruce top wood) cannot grow in a forest that is managed on a model of clearcutting and a 35 year rotation cycle -- that model may be aimed at growing the maximum number of cubic feet of material from fast growing trees, but even aside from the resulting problems involved in pest control, herbicides, soil depletion, etc., the end result is a product far inferior to the wood that grows slow, straight and tall, at its own pace in a mature forest environment. Trees grown in a mature forest tend to produce wood of fine, even grain that is far stronger and stiffer than the fast growing, weaker and softer wood that is fostered in the monocultural plantation based approach. A healthy forest should have the chance to produce a few good ‘cellos.

The most sought after wood that is available commercially for violin makers comes in large part from forests in Europe (Germany, Italy, Switzerland) where the best forests, often under local community control and management, are respected and protected, and the trees are selectively harvested and allocated to their highest uses. The highest quality logs are eagerly sought by the dealers of wood for the construction of fine musical instruments. Instead of seeing the forest as a mass source of low grade pulp wood that yields only a few dollars per cord, the trees are nurtured to their highest potential, where a single violin top -- a piece of wood an inch thick, 4 inches wide and 14 inches long, can command a price of hundreds of dollars. That same piece of wood, after leaving the hands of a skilled violinmaker, may then be priced in the many thousands of dollars. Admittedly, not all trees will measure up to these standards, and a large forest industry can not rely on the demand from violin makers alone, but my point is that it is the highest possible potential of the forest that should be kept in mind as the guiding principle of forest stewardship -- and not necessarily the most immediate short term liquidation of the resource, which seems to have been the objective of much of the forest policy of the past. Our current problems in the forest industry are certainly in large part a result of this approach, and it may take quite some time to recover. I think these things are becoming obvious to many people, but the answer is surely complicated by the economic necessities of individual families from one season to the next. Because of that, I think that a responsible government should take a role in fostering a longer term policy that will allow the forest to mature into a sustainable source of high quality products by offering various incentives to individuals and industry that encourage this. We certainly don’t need more subsidies that only serve to validate an industry that is based solely on the lowest valued products that our forests can produce. The economic benefits of growing for high quality are surely there, but we must be willing to wait for the forest to recover from the damage done by the short term policies that at one time seemed appropriate for what seemed to be an inexhaustible resource. Those days are gone and it is in our interest to invest wisely in our future. Government has a duty to set the example and help overcome the transition period that will be needed to allow our forests to recover some of their lost nobility.

As I walk through my own 250 acre woodlot, I see the aftermath of years of poor stewardship of the forest. The old fields have long since grown over, and at least twice the forest has grown back and been cut again. The slopes heading up the mountain have had all their better stands logged over, leaving only a few older maples here and there on the upper slopes. The lower ground, after the last logging operation, has grown up to what is now a large expanse of even-aged and over-mature spruce and fir -- wood of poor quality: wide grained, soft, and weak, full of branches and knots -- certainly nothing for a violin maker. The short term economic temptation might be to clearcut the area again, removing all this over-mature wood, but that would only perpetuate the cycle of producing low grade wood for the lowest place in the market -- pulp or low grade stud wood. But I plan to leave it to recover on its own from the past abuse it has endured. Perhaps someday as the old trees pass and here and there new growth takes over, the natural variety of a mixed forest can reassert itself -- young trees will grow up here and there under the protection of the surrounding forest, growing slow, straight, and tall, reaching for the light and producing the fine stiff straight grain that can sing with the powerful, open, and vibrant tone that is so highly valued by violinists and violin makers around the world.