CBC Archives

Have students brainstorm everything they know about the forest industry in Canada. Write down their responses on the board or chart paper. Identify industries connected to logging, parts of Canada where the forest industry has the greatest impact on the economy, and any controversies surrounding the forest industry. Ask: How important is the forest industry to Canada’s economy?

Provide students with the download sheet Canada’s Forest Industry. Assign small groups two or three questions from the download sheet (questions also listed below).

1. How important is the forest industry to Canada’s economy?
2. What other industries in Canada depend on the forest industry? How?
3. Where are some of the most important forest areas of Canada?
4. Define the following terms: non-renewable resource, reforestation, tree farming, forest certification, good wood.
5. What does “clearcutting” mean? What are the arguments in favour of and against this forest industry practice?
6. What controversies have occurred over clearcutting of old-growth forests in some parts of Canada? Who has been involved in these controversies?
7. What role have Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples played in the controversy over clearcutting and logging?
8. What options has the forest industry presented to replace clearcutting? What options have environmentalists presented?
9. Has public opinion been an important factor in the “war of the woods” between the forest industry and environmentalists in Canada? How?

Have students browse the topic Clearcutting and Logging: The War of the Woods on the CBC Radio and Television Archives Web site. Students should take notes and prepare a detailed answer for each of their questions.

As a class, have groups present the answers to their questions while the rest of the class takes notes. Each group will then prepare a forest industry fact sheet, which should respond to all the questions on the download sheet. Students may keep these sheets as a reference for any other activities they do on this topic.

Students can write a short report stating their own views on the major issues between the forest industry and environmentalists in Canada. Students can use information from the Web site to support their views.