In Up-Coast, award-winning author Richard A. Rajala offers the first
comprehensive history of the forest industry on British Columbia's
central and north coast. He integrates social, political, and
environmental themes to depict the relationship of coastal people and
communities to the forest from the late 19th century to the present. The
account begins with the emergence of a small-scale industry tied to the
needs of salmon canneries and early settlements, and traces the
development of a diverse structure involving sawmills, tie and pole
producers, and hand loggers struggling to profit from participation in
domestic and foreign markets. But from the early 20th century on,
government policies favoured the interests of giant pulp-and-paper firms
such as Pacific Mills at Ocean Falls. A turn to sustained-yield forestry
after World War II promoted further concentration of ownership, a
pattern that saw Columbia Cellulose capture the Skeena and Nass
watersheds to meet the fibre needs of its troubled Prince Rupert pulp
enterprise. At the same time, postwar development drew the region into a
role as hinterland log extraction site for southern plants fed by
enormous Tree Farm Licenses. Relating these themes to a tradition of
activism against capitalist inequities, Up-Coast discusses First
Nations, union and community protests against corporate exploitation of
labour and resources. In addressing the modern era of land claims,
environmentalism and capital-flight, Rajala turns to the complex and
unresolved struggle for a more equitable and sustainable human
relationship with British Columbia's forests.
