Critical Thinking, Historical Context

September 10, 2013 1

Today’s Agenda

Review: Course Structure

Critical Thinking Assignment

Historical Overview

NDP Years Campbell Years

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Critical Thinking assignment

Daniel Kahan, “What Is Motivated Reasoning and How Does It Work?, Science and Religion Today May 4, 2011.

Mark Hume, “The fight to protect what’s left of old-growth forests,” Globe and Mail, March 17, 2013

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Motivated reasoning

motivated cognition: unconscious tendency to fit processing of information to conclusions that suit some end or goal biased information search: seeking out (or

disproportionally attending to) evidence that is congruent rather than incongruent with the motivating goal

biased assimilation: crediting and discrediting evidence selectively in patterns that promote rather than frustrate the goal

identity-protective cognition: reacting dismissively to information the acceptance of which would experience dissonance or anxiety. 

Daniel Kahan, “What Is Motivated Reasoning and How Does It Work?, Science and Religion Today May 4, 2011.

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Critical Thinking Assignment for Tuesday

Read the Hume article Write down and bring to class:

1 important argument in the article Value(s) underlying that argument Factual assertion, if any, behind the

argument Max 15 minutes of “research” to fact-

check

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Tuesday

Critical reading assignment Evolution of BC forest policy Readings:

Daniel Kahan, “What Is Motivated Reasoning and How Does It Work?, Science and Religion Today May 4, 2011.

BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations, Timber Tenures in British Columbia: Managing Public Forests in the Public Interest, June 2012,

George Hoberg, “Bringing the Market Back In: BC Natural Resource Policies During the Campbell Years,” in British Columbia Politics and Government, Micheal Howlett, Dennis Pilon, and Tracy Sommerville, eds, (Toronto: Edmond Montgomery, 2010), pp. 331-43, 349-51. (reading packet)

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Arguments

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values

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evidence

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Today’s Agenda

Review: Course Structure

Critical Thinking Assignment

Historical Overview

NDP Years Campbell Years

September 10, 2013 10

Relevant readings

BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations, Timber Tenures in British Columbia: Managing Public Forests in the Public Interest, June 2012, http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/ftp/hth/external/!publish/web/timber-tenures/timber-tenures-2006.pdf

George Hoberg, “Bringing the Market Back In:  BC Natural Resource Policies During the Campbell Years,” in British Columbia Politics and Government, Michael Howlett, Dennis Pilon, and Tracy Sommerville, eds, (Toronto: Edmond Montgomery, 2010), pp. 331-43, 349-51. (reading packet) note figure 18.3 – label backwards

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Why study history?

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” – George Santayana

Policy legacies of the past constrain present options

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David Haley and Harry Nelson, “British Columbia Crown Tenure System in a Changing World – Challenges and Opportunities,” Synthesis Paper SP-06-01, BC Forum on Forest Economics and Policy, October 2006

BC’s forest tenure system is an anachronism.* With its origins in the mid-20th century, it is the legacy of another era…and ill-equipped to deal with the realities of the 21st century, including the changing character of the timber resource, changing public attitudes towards and demands on crown forests…

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Anachronism: A thing belonging or appropriate to a period other than that in which it exists, esp. a thing that is conspicuously old-fashioned.

Categories of Forest Policy

1. Allocation of “Crown” timber-- tenure

2. Pricing -- stumpage 3. Rate of harvest – allowable annual

cut (AAC)4. Land Use – zoning for different

values (logging, conservation, etc)5. Regulation of harvesting --

Forest Practices6. Emergent areas and overlaps (

energy, carbon) 14

Tenure defined

BC forestry glossary http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/library/documents/glossary/Glossary.pdf

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Tenure at core of forest policy in Canada

“it is evident that forest tenures are means by which governments grant benefit streams from forest resources to individuals or organizations, subject to numerous operational rules that are conditions of holding tenure.

As such, we define forest tenures as property rights to forest resources granted to private firms by governments.

In Canada, Crown forest tenures that delineate property rights to the nation’s public forests influence the behaviour of both public and private agents in the forest sector and, consequently, have been key instruments of public forest policy since the earliest years of colonization.

Luckert et al p 50

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pre-1912: Era of Unregulated Exploitation

outright land sales (mostly Railroad)

< 5%, but high quality timber leases since

1865 (“old temporary tenures”)

contained “appurtenancy” provision linking harvesting rights to the operation of sawmill

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“appurtenancy”

restriction on the property right of the tenure agreement

“appurtenancy refers to whether a tenure holder must own and/or operate a processing facility for the products covered by the tenure in order to exercise the rights granted” (Luckert et al p 63)

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1912-1946: economic development through timber allocation

1912: Forest Act Followed from the

Fulton Commission Focus on timber allocation,

revenues, and economic development

Created Forest Service Created Timber Sale

Licences awarded on competitive bids,

no appurtenancy all management done by

government contained objective of

“protecting the water supply”

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1947-1977 – Sustained Yield of Timber (1)

1947 Amendments Followed Sloan Royal Commission Sustained yield policy -- rate of cut Forest Management Licences

(future Tree Farm Licences) area-based, unlimited in term (later

changed) management responsibilities

delegated to private companies intended to attract large capital

investments necessary for large plants (economic development)

some had appurtenancy clauses

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1947-1977 – Sustained Yield of Timber

Allocation of new licences very controversial “Sommers Affair” - Minister of Forests

convicted for taking bribes late 1950s-early 60s, move away

from competitive bidding Continued domination of economic

values

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1978-1980: Beginnings of Environmental Concern

1978 Amendments (+ Ministry of Forests Act) Followed Pearse Royal Commission explicit incorporation of environmental values

Business-oriented “Socred” government struggled to accommodate surging environmental concern

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1982-1987 – Early integrated resource management

early 1980s deep staff cuts “sympathetic

administration” 1987 Amendments required private sector

to bear full financial responsibility for reforestation

response to US countervailing duty pressures

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1988-1990 – Early integrated resource management

Rejuvenation of environmental concern

1988: proposal to “rollover” all volume-based (FL) tenures to area-based (TFL) creates crisis

Criticized as “privatization” 1989:

Forest Resources Commission appointed

beginning of the end of the old regime

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Themes from Historical Analysis

evolution of tenure less competition, more concentration of

control more private management

responsibilities Government-business partnership economic concerns dominant (FP =

BC econ development policy) environmental concerns peripheral when in crisis, appoint a Commission

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1990s: The NDP Years

1991: NDP government elected1.Forest Practices Code –

significantly expanded government regulation of how logging was done

2.Land Use Planning – comprehensive planning framework designed to increase protected areas to 12%

3.Timber Supply Review – brought more rigour and care to determination of rate of harvest

4.Forest Renewal BC created to invest in future forest and compensate workers

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1990s: The NDP Years

1996: shift from Harcourt to Clark from pale green to labour brown Jobs and Timber Accord – tried to tie

cutting rights to provision of jobs some significant change to

protect environmental values increased government

regulation of economic transactions, labour market

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Analytical Framework: Forces at work in natural resources policy

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environment

governance

markets

policies

actions

Conse-quences

1997 to present (?): Continuing Crisis

Markets Technology and new

supply High costs restricted US

market access Low rate of return Exchange rate US demand Price of lumber

Governance Environmental

movement First Nations

Environment Climate change and

forest health

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September 10, 2013

September 6, 2007 30

The Campbell Era: Bringing the Market Back in

May 2001: BC Liberals elected77 of 79 seats

Major Liberal Initiatives(see Hoberg “Bringing” reading) results-based code

cheaper, simpler, while maintaining environmental values

working forest compensate for protected areas with industrial

zone - FAILED market based pricing economic deregulation (eliminated

appurtenancy) “new relationship” with First Nations 2008: Forestry Roundtable

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Tenure summary

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http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/ftp/hth/external/!publish/web/timber-tenures/apportionment/aptr032.pdf

Thursday

Read: Special Committee on Timber Supply, Growing Fibre, Growing Value, Victoria: Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, August 2012.

Read over simulations and think about which one you want to do

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