next message in archive
next message in thread
previous message in archive
previous message in thread
Index of Subjects
class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type=3D"cit --Apple-Mail-9-833293457 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=WINDOWS-1252; format=flowed; delsp=yes Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hi Dave et al., On 28-Apr-12, at 10:42 AM, David & Alison Webster wrote: > Hi Chris & All, Apr 28, 2012 > I agree Fritz, having a good excuse to terminate this program =20 > must be a relief to informed CFIA management. It would be, except for the fact that the phrase "informed CFIA =20 management" appears to be an oxymoron. ;-> > It has been nearly 5 years since Greg Cunningham effectively =20 > admitted that BSLB was essentiall harmless; see following paste. > > Personally, I am relieved to see this arrant waste of public =20 > funds terminated. Ditto. > START OF PASTE\\\\\\\\\\\ > Dear All, May 17, 2007 > A recent article (Chron.Hrld.; May 16) on the Brown Spruce =20 > Longhorn > Beetle includes an explanation, attributed to Greg Cunningham, that > "The storm (Juan) created so much ground material that it gave the > beetle an ideal opportunity to multiply." > > So the admission has finally emerged indirectly that the BSLB can > not attack healthy trees. If it could do so then the Juan swath of > damaged trees would not have provided this "...ideal opportunity...". > > It takes a while sometimes. > > Yt, Dave Webster, Kentville > END OF PASTE\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ > > If they cared to be devious, they could claim that due to prompt =20= > and effective action by CFIA, the dangerous strain of BLSB was =20 > extirpated and the remaining beetles are now harmless. We'll see what face-saving excuses they come up with. > But anyone, including members of the forestry community, who =20 > ever supposed that BSLB was a genuine threat should take the time to =20= > learn something about trees. This applies especially to Forest =20 > Entomologists who, apparently, are not required to have at least a =20 > basic comprehension of Tree Physiology and Soils. An excellent point. In my view two important factors drove this whole absurd charade: 1. There was a certain constituency amongst those who crafted the =20 response to the BSLB who were preoccupied with "invasive species." And =20= just as it is the case that if your only tool is a hammer, the whole =20 world starts to look like nails, they applied this concept =20 immediately, with no second thought, and without conducting requisite =20= scientific research. 2. If you want to understand anything, follow the money. Canada =20 carries on a huge and contentious softwood lumber trade with the =20 United States (see the URL below for a capsule summary of this). The =20 BSLB was "discovered" at a highly contentious time in that dispute =20 ("Lumber IV" - the fourth major iteration of this dispute). There was =20= a fear amongst the softwood lumber industry in Atlantic Canada that =20 softwood lumber interests in the US would use the BSLB as a pretext =20 for applying export sanctions under NAFTA on softwood lumber exports =20 from this region claiming that the BSLB could spread from Nova Scotia =20= to the USA and threaten their forest industry, etc. They might or might not be able to get away with this (you may recall, =20= the same thing happened to exports of potatoes from PEI when potato =20 wart was discovered there) but in any event it then becomes a sticky =20 (and potentially expensive) negotiating point under NAFTA export =20 protocols. So, the decision was to act immediately and forcefully =20 against BSLB to try and forestall such a response. To not allow such a =20= pretext by conveying the message to the Americans that we were taking =20= the issue "seriously." Thus the response had noting at all to do with science but everything =20= to do with politics. And so, it sadly went. And this is where we are =20 12 years later having spent tens of millions of dollars on a phantom =20 menace. This is what happens when you decouple politics from science. All the best! Chris http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada=96=20 United_States_softwood_lumber_dispute Christopher Majka Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 2G5 c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca It's true we're on the wrong track, but we're compensating for this =20 short-coming by accelerating. - Stanislav Lec --Apple-Mail-9-833293457 Content-Type: text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <html><body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; = -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">Hi Dave et = al.,<div><br><div><div>On 28-Apr-12, at 10:42 AM, David & Alison = Webster wrote:</div><br class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote = type=3D"cite"><span class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"border-collapse: = separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman'; = font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; = letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: = -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: = normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: = 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; = -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: = auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div = bgcolor=3D"#ffffff" style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: = space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><font size=3D"2">Hi = Chris & All, = Apr 28, = 2012</font></div><div><font size=3D"2"> I agree Fritz, = having a good excuse to terminate this program must be a relief to = informed CFIA management. = </font></div></div></span></blockquote><div><br></div><div>It would be, = except for the fact that the phrase "informed CFIA management" appears = to be an oxymoron. ;-></div><br><blockquote type=3D"cite"><div = bgcolor=3D"#ffffff" style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: = space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><font size=3D"2">It = has been nearly 5 years since Greg Cunningham effectively admi