Are we headed for WWII?

Another War in the Woods is shaping up on Vancouver Island, as a provincially-appointed board has approved logging of 90,000 hectares of pristine forest in Clayoquot Sound.

So much for a quiet summer for Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberals. Contracts with public sector unions had been ratified, The GVRD was starting to play ball on the Gateway Project, and Carole James was out of sight recovering from cancer surgery. Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, the Liberal bagmen from Big Timber felt it was too quiet and opted to pick a fight with BC's well organized and media savvy environmental movement.

The decision to poke through loopholes in the 2000 United Nations Biosphere Reserve agreement and fire up the chainsaws makes little to no sense. The Clayoquot Sound Central Region Board, i.e. the Big Timber operatives who made the decision, are hiding behind First Nations and claiming that impending treaties mean that sooner or later, somebody will be logging there anyway. Nothing spells gutless like dishing out back handed blame for an international disgrace well in advance.

Why does BC need to export even more raw logs from pristine watersheds? Has there been any real consultation with First Nations beyond the 5 Aboriginal Central Region Board members who represent 14 tribes on the island? Does BC really want Greenpeace and other eco-warriors rushing to the blockades (and the microphones) with the 2010 Winter Olympics and a worldwide audience on the way?