Forest Follies: Adventures and Misadventures in the Great Canadian Forest

Forest Follies: Adventures and Misadventures in the Great Canadian Forest Ben Parfitt, published November 1998 by Harbour Publishers, $16.95

This is a collection of thought-provoking essays presenting the environmental effects of clearcut logging, changing wildlife habitats, and the extinction of plant species in a clear, straightforward manner. Ben Parfitt gives a holistic view of current trends of over-logging old growth forests and increasing dependence on less diverse and less valuable second growth-tree plantations.

In his introduction , he outlines the argument that resurfaces again and again in his essays. "We need a greater diversity of approaches to managing our forests and our fish. The more alternatives we have, the more we can learn about what does and does not work in sustaining communities both human and wild."

Parfitt compares Ontario's "Lands for Life" process with British Columbia's initiative to protect 12 percent of its land as wilderness, and details how human industry continues to encroach upon animal and fish habitats, significantly altering their chances for survival. These essays also look at environmental effects of logging, mills, oil drilling, the production of natural gas, and multiple-use watersheds in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario. Forest Follies puts the fragile condition of Canada's forests into perspective. Ben Parfitt also offers hope and possible solutions for the viability of sustainable land use for humans and animals. A journalist, he lives in Victoria. Harbour Publishing (Marisa Alps or Shyla Seller) 1-800-667-2988 (email harbour@sunshine.net)