Critical Thinking, Historical Context

1. Critical Thinking, Historical Context

2. Today’s Agenda • Review: Course Structure • Critical Thinking Assignment • Historical Overview • NDP Years • Campbell Years

3. 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

4. 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.

5. 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

6. 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)

7. Arguments

8. values

9. evidence

10. Today’s Agenda • Review: Course Structure • Critical Thinking Assignment • Historical Overview • NDP Years • Campbell Years

11. 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

12. Why study history? • “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” – George Santayana • Policy legacies of the past constrain present options

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

14. Categories of Forest Policy • Allocation of “Crown” timber-- tenure • Pricing -- stumpage • Rate of harvest – allowable annual cut (AAC) • Land Use – zoning for different values (logging, conservation, etc) • Regulation of harvesting -- Forest Practices • Emergent areas and overlaps (energy, carbon)

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

16. 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

17. 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

18. “appurtenancy” • restriction on the property right of the tenure agreement • “appurtenancyrefers 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)

19. 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”

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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

25. 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

26. 1990s: The NDP Years • 1991: NDP government elected • Forest Practices Code – significantly expanded government regulation of how logging was done • Land Use Planning – comprehensive planning framework designed to increase protected areas to 12% • Timber Supply Review – brought more rigour and care to determination of rate of harvest • Forest Renewal BC created to invest in future forest and compensate workers

27. 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

28. Analytical Framework: Forces at work in natural resources policy governance policies environment actions markets Conse- quences

29. 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

30. The Campbell Era: Bringing the Market Back in May 2001: BC Liberals elected77 of79 seats September 6, 2007 30

31. 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

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

33. 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