Category Archives: Uncategorized

It would seem that my speculations earlier are coming to fruition.  Two recent emails from government officials would suggest that the writing is on the wall.

From April 16, 2009 email:

Over the last three weeks,  several changes have been made  to the overall Forest Investment Account  funding. This has not impacted the FIA-FSP budget ($8M for 2009/10), but has meant that the MFR was reluctant  to release any information on program budgets until completion of the budget process.   The process is now  finalized and the land-base investment program, which has the majority of FIA funds, has sent out allocation information to licensees this week. The FIA-FSP will follow next week with letters out to proponents of new submissions indicating funding will only be available for the pre-2009/10 ongoing projects.  Letters to proponents with ongoing projects will be sent out by the end of the month.

From April 17, 2009 email:

In previous years at this time the PACs and FNAG would be planning the priority setting process for the next Call for proposals. However, the FIA-FSP budget has been significantly reduced to $8M for 2009/10 (2008/09 budget was $14M) which has an impact on the program governance model and funding for research and extension work.

At the last FSP Board meeting, Melanie Boyce the MFR Executive sponsor for the program outlined some initial changes to the program as a result of the reduced budget. The Forest Science Board will be reduced in size and the new “Steering Committee” will report directly to the Chief Forester.  The role of the working groups will be transferred to the steering committee members and the priority setting process reviewed.  Work done to date, such as the revised strategies and draft strategic plans, will be considered in any future strategies.  The previous work done by the PACs and FNAG will assist with the next Call for proposals resulting in minimal work by these committees during the 2009/10 transition year.

This year will be challenging as we transition to a reduced program level.  I recognize the important part the PACs and FNAG have had in providing technical direction and priorities to the Program over the past 5 years and hope you will support us during the transition period.  Once the new steering committee is formed in late April we will be in a better position to provide more details on transition. For the research projects, we will be sending out letters to proponents next week for those who submitted new proposals to the 2009/10 Call, and letters for ongoing projects by the end of the month.

Taken together the above emails plus other pieces of information suggest a massive centralization of control within the ministry and a reduction of independent research.  This is happening just as the process of  including First Nations and social science research into the forestry research programs was starting to improve.

UBC Insiders

We Win! UBC Farm Saved!

After a number of secret meetings, it looks like the UBC Board of Governors has very wisely decided to protect the full 24 hectares of the UBC Farm. This decision is a direct result from literally years of tireless lobbying by students, faculty, and community members. The university administration had hoped to build market housing over the Farm and surrounding forest area, but it appears that the political pressure on the Board was simply too great. That market housing will now be transfered to other areas of campus (which could have its own problems). Here’s UBC’s press release:

UBC Board of Governors Requests New Academic Plan for Sustainable South Campus

The University of British Columbia Board of Governors has directed UBC administration to develop academic plans for a 24 ha parcel of South Campus land for teaching and research purposes that are “academically rigourous and globally significant” around issues of sustainability.

The Board directed that the new plans enhance UBC’s position as Canada’s most sustainable university and a recognized world leader in campus sustainability.

At the same time, the Board stipulated that no market housing will be pursued on the 24 ha parcel, which contains the UBC Farm, as long as the university’s housing, community development and endowment goals can be met through transferring density to other parts of campus. The 24 ha parcel is designated as “Future Housing Reserve” in the current UBC Official Community Plan, a bylaw of the Greater Vancouver Regional District created in 1997.

The Board also committed to the continuation of current land uses until academic plans are completed and a decision has been reached on density transfer.

Hunting, human-animal relations, and exchange theory in anthropology, a talk by Paul Nadasdy.

Many hunting peoples conceive of hunting as a process of reciprocal exchange between hunters and other-than-human persons. To date, anthropologists have tended to view such accounts of hunting as symbolic/metaphorical. In this presentation Paul Nadasdy argues that our refusal to allow for the possibility that aboriginal accounts of hunting might be literally accurate as well has foreclosed important avenues of inquiry into the nature of human-animal relations. This in turn has prevented anthropologists studying hunter-gather societies from bringing a new and unique perspective to bear on the study of reciprocity more generally. Drawing primarily on the literature of northern hunting peoples and on his own research in Canada’s Yukon Territory, Nadasdy argues that an analysis of human-animal relations as a form of reciprocal exchanges may be warranted and indicates some of the potential advantages to such an approach.

This talk was presented March 2, 2006, in the Anthropology/Sociology Colloquium Series.

An audio recording of this talk is now avaiable for download through the Forests and Oceans for the Future Seminar Series. You can subscribe with the following URL.
http://www.ecoknow.ca/podcasts/rss.xml

Or, you can download the file directly by clicking the following link: www.ecoknow.ca/podcasts/anso_paul_nadasdy.mps