Pat Toone & Tom Daniels

SUNDRE, Alberta – Serving on a forest advisory committee over the past several decades … has been an eye-opening experience that for a former Sundre mayor alleviated concerns about industry practices like clear cutting. “Some people figure it’s terrible to cut down a tree,” Pat Toone, a former councillor and mayor, said. “And I probably was about like that when I first got on the committee,” Toone said, referring to the Sundre Forest Products Public Involvement Round Table (SPIRT) group that started in 1992 to provide the company with advice on forest management. But the years proved to be not just a chance to serve the community by representing its interests, but also offered eye-opening insight into the forestry industry’s sustainability practices. …She spoke with the Albertan alongside Tom Daniels, a woodlands manager who for many years has been with Sundre Forest Products – West Fraser and has been involved with SPIRT since 1997.