1 Politics, Policy, and the War

As the new century begins, a war is being waged over the forests of British Columbia and the US Pacific Northwest. The clash between combatants, motivated by radically different worldviews and opposing interests, has seemed to be unending and has occasionally erupted in violence. It has given impetus to a polarized and unproductive political debate that has failed to do justice to the richness and beauty of the forests of this region. Our purpose in this book is to blur the battle lines and to offer a less polar-ized view of forest politics in the region. In doing so, we hope to clarify the bases for the war in these woods and to suggest alternative ways of see-ing, discussing, and managing forestry conflict. While numerous authors1 have examined the sources of forestry con-flict, this collection offers two unique contributions. First, it examines for-est policy in the context of a binational region, highlighting how two political systems facing similar cultural and economic challenges have treated their forests. During the past fifty years, British Columbia has con