LIE #1 - ".... chief forester Bill Dumont says he rather likes the [FAN website] site because the pictures show the company is doing a proper job and following logging rules." (source: Vancouver Sun, 23 July, 1998).

TRUTH - WFP has a poor history of compliance with the law. Between October 1995 and October 1996, WFP and parent company Doman Industries failed to comply with the law almost 100 times, including 16 major infractions of the Forest Act and Forest Practices Code. Since 1990, Doman has been fined $330,000. In a 1994 government study, WFP failed to comply with Fisheries and Forestry guidelines in 80% of evaluated areas, which lead to reduced stability in 71% of streams. In 1996, CEO Herb Doman was convicted of insider trading, which the BC Securities Commission chacterised as "deceit and greed and... conspiracy". (source: Ministry of Forests, Ministry of Environment, BC Securities Commission, Michael Janzi Research Associates, Doman Industries).

LIE #2 - "Reforestation is WFP's commitment to the future. We've been doing it half a century." (Doman Industries Ltd, 1997 Annual Review).

TRUTH - Doman Industries' silviculture operations on the mid-coast were "nothing short of pathetic," according to George Burns, a silviculture officer in the Mid Coast Forest Service office who monitored the company's operations for four years beginning in the spring of 1982. Burns also stated that Doman Industries had by far the worst track record of all licensees in the area (source: Vancouver Sun, Thursday, April 13, 1989, p.A1).

LIE #3 - "[WFP Chief Forester Bill Dumont] said WFP will not agree to a one-year moratorium. The company has agreed to a moratorium on 15 of 17 watersheds in the region in an effort to get environmental groups to a land-use planning process." (source: Vancouver Sun, 10 July, 1998).

TRUTH - In reality, of the 17 areas that Bill Dumont refers to, 4 have been delayed for other reasons (according to Bill Dumont), 9 have no plans for logging during the duration of the land-use planning process anyway, 3 are actively being logged (Stafford, Pooley, Ingram), and 1 has just been approved for logging (July 98) to begin imminently (Sutslem). In fact, Interfor and Western Forest Products together have plans to log more pristine rainforest valleys than all other companies combined.

LIE #4 - Only 4% of the Kimsquit Valley has been logged. (source: presentation by Bill Dumont, Linean Society, London, April 1997, and personal communication with WFP workers, Kimsquit, August 1997). "Less than three per cent of the total area in the Kimsquit has been harvested. (source: Forest Alliance of BC, "Choices", Volume 5, Number 2).

TRUTH - This is a terribly misleading figure. Western admits that only 10% of the valley consists of "operable" forests, and only 7% of the valley is "suitable for harvest" using present methods of logging. This means that roughly half of all the best productive forests have already been liquidated.

LIE #5 - WFP is committed to a the land-use planning process for the Central Coast (the "CCLCRMP").

TRUTH - Western expects absolutely NO reduction in the amount it is allowed to log each year. The company is committed to this process only as a means to give itself a green image. According to its annual report, "A land use planning program for most of the British Columbian mainland coast is expected to commence in 1997 and conclude in 1999. Approximately 22% of the Company's AAC is located in the area to be affected by the plan. Although no assurances can be given, the Company does not anticipate any material reduction in its AAC as a result of this plan." (source: Doman Industries Limited Annual Statutory Report, 1996).

LIE #6 - "British Columbia is now considered one of the most progressive forestry jurisdictions in the world. A recent study [the Westland report] comparing 15 forestry laws in seven different countries judged B.C.'s Code to be more comprehensive than any other." (source: Forest Alliance of BC, "Choices", Volume 5, Number 1).

TRUTH - On the contrary, the above mentioned Westland report shows that practices in BC are about average. For example, 5 jurisdictions permit larger clearcuts, and 6 jurisdictions permit smaller clearcuts; 4 jurisdictions have larger riparian zones, and 7 jurisdictions have smaller riparian zones. Furthermore, what the report fails to address is the fact that district managers in B.C. are given nearly full discretionary powers over almost every aspect of the Code. In 1998, the government gutted the Code, which severely effected policies concerning endangered species, overcutting, drinking water, environmental assessments, road building standards, and adding more loopholes for companies. (source: Sierra Legal Defense Fund)

(N.B. the views of the Forest Alliance reflect the views of Western Forest Products. Herb Doman, CEO of WFP's parent company, is signatory to the Forest Alliance's 'Principles of Sustainable Forestry'; Cindy Fox, Project Forester, WFP, has sat on the Forest Alliance's citizens Board; overall, 97% of the Forest Allinace's $2 million budget came from the forest industry in 1995 according to Alliance spokesperson Patrick Moore).

LIE #7 - "[Logging industry giant MacMillan Bloedel] has opted to replace clearcut blocks with what it calls a 'variable retention' system... But Dumont says MacBlo's approach won't work in the areas Western Forest logs. For example, variable retention works better in flatter areas that are easier to get to. Western Forest's licensed areas are too hilly." (source: Financial Post, July 18-20, 1998).

TRUTH - Typical slopes stability for proposed cutblocks in the Ingram is comparable to Haida Gwaii and western Vancouver Island, where MacBlo is predominantly operating. In addition, MacBlo's TFL 39, Block 7, just 80 km due south of the Ingram, will be complying with its proposed 'variable retention' system just like the rest of its operations. It is a complete lie that MacBlo's approach won't work in WFP tenures.

LIE #8 - "[WFP Chief Forester Bill Dumont] regards the Kimsquit as a model of balanced resource use in the Central Coast." (source: The Province, August 6, 1996).

TRUTH - In the 1980's, Forest Service personnel had approved Doman Industries' proposal to haul felled timber off the site [at Kimsquit] using yarding lines, but "these guys used D-8 cats and they just beat the living hell out of that area." Steve Schmidt, then resource officer in the forest service's mid-coast office, confirmed this depiction of the trespass: "There's no question they committed a technical trespass... I would say Doman very seriously compromised our ability to restock the sites with conifers. Those sites are lost." In 1982, Doman cut 120,514 cubic metres of wood and wasted 1,936 cubic metres, and from 1982-1983, the forest service recorded the company as being at 50% compliance with its regulations. (source: MLA Bob Williams, presentation to the House of Commons, based on information from Mid Coast silviculture officer George Burns, other Forest Service personel and various leaked Ministry documents, as reported in The Vancouver Sun, Thursday, April 13, 1989, p.A1)

LIE #9 - "...WFP is committed to protecting the integrity and characteristics of each stream." (source: WFP, 1998 Forest Development Plan Text , Ingram Lake Operation).

TRUTH - A critique of the Ingram-Mooto Forest Development Plan by the Sierra Legal Defense Fund found that the plan failed to comply with the requirements of the Forest Practices Code. They identified issues of improper stream classification and terrain stability to be of particular concern. The review revealed the plan had been revised to downgrade streams from fish-bearing to non-fish-bearing, giving WFP the opportunity to log right down to the stream banks where the richest wildlife is often found. (source: Sierra Legal Defense Fund).

LIE #10 - "The objectives set for maintaining biodiversity [in the Ingram] will result in the stand characteristics resembling that of an undisturbed forest." (source: WFP, "INFORMATION: Ingram Lake Forest Development Plan Approval", November 27, 1997).

TRUTH - WFP has begun roadbuilding to log 1,630 hectares, or 39% of the operable forest land base in the Ingram watershed. 100% of the logging will be done is through conventional clearcutting (source: Ministry of Forests).

"I've worked in the logging business for 35 years, starting when I was 16, and this is the first time I've been anywhere so untouched. This is paradise." - Bob MacDonald, manager of Western Forest's Ingram construction camp. (source: Financial Post, July 18-20, 1998)