Day 056 - 28 Nov 94 - Page 23

     
     1        the ones which perhaps are the ones concerning most
     2        environmentalists, these are in the hands of State and
     3        Federal ownership, either as National Parks or as State
     4        Parks, or in the United States Forest Service Land.
     5
     6   Q.   But there is clearfelling going on of large areas of land,
     7        say in America, in particular, say, on private land?
     8        A.  There maybe examples -----
     9
    10   Q.   In your experience?
    11        A.  There may be examples of it, but in point of fact the
    12        state laws, wherever the forest regions are of
    13        significance, will now have similar requirements on maximum
    14        allowable cut to the ones we have been describing.
    15
    16   Q.   Just to go back to, I believe it was, the West Coast of
    17        Canada.  You gave a figure on -- no, you said something
    18        about the average in the last two or three years in British
    19        Columbia as being 35 hectares in the last year or so,
    20        something like that.  Does that mean, if you say the
         average, that some cuts would be greater than that and some
    22        would be less than that?
    23        A.  I understand there may have been a maximum cut of 60
    24        hectares in one or two instances.
    25
    26   Q.   And up two or three years ago there was a much greater
    27        problem, was there?
    28        A.  I think it was -----
    29
    30   Q.   In terms of amount of areas being cut, clearfelled?
    31        A.  The situation was not attended to with such detailed
    32        monitoring as applies now.
    33
    34   Q.   So, higher areas of land were clearfelled in one go than 60
    35        hectares more than two or three years ago?
    36        A.  We are speaking, I think, of existing mature forest
    37        which would have had extraction of timber for sawmill
    38        production, for plywood production and for board
    39        production.  The answer maybe that certain areas above 50
    40        or 60 hectares may have been cleared, but it is fairly
         limited.
    42
    43   Q.   Are you aware of -----
    44
    45   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Are there about 250 hectares to a square
    46        mile, something like that?  Do you have the figure in your
    47        head?
    48        A.  Of how many square mile?  Gosh!  Not straight out of my
    49        head.
    50 
    51   Q.   Someone can probably work it out if they have a calculator 
    52        because on page 6 of your statement you say 1.46 square 
    53        miles is the equivalent of 378 hectares.
    54
    55   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, I have to go through acres of which there
    56        are 2.471 in a hectare and there are 640 acres in a square
    57        mile.
    58
    59   MR. MORRIS:  Is it true that the Canadian Forest Department have
    60        said that something like four and a half million hectares