Alice Palmer

The ongoing lumber trade war has attracted spirited campaigns featuring opaque details and emotional arguments. The debate over forest management has too. Last month, I attended “Forestry in Flux: Reimagining BC’s Forests,” put on by UBC Forestry. …The event was both informative and provocative. However, it was also unsettling. In telling the narrative of “economics versus the environment,” the conservation community makes it clear who the villain of the story is: people like me. When the forest industry is portrayed not as a group of people, but rather a faceless Borg intent on destroying Mother Nature, it is much easier to ignore the human harms that accrue from deindustrialization. But this would be a mistake. …It’s a simple strategy, really: provoke your audience’s anger, suggest a bold solution, and then reassure them the solution won’t have adverse consequences. The goal is to convince decision-makers (and those who could lobby them) to eliminate the enemy. [to access Alice Palmer’s full Substack click here]