Forest Policy Expert to Speak at UNBC

November 14, 2006
One of North America’s leading experts in sustainable forest policy will be speaking at UNBC later this week as the keynote speaker in the annual Doug Little Memorial Lecture. Yale University professor Ben Cashore will speak about British Columbia’s challenges and opportunities for sustainable forest management in an era of increasing globalization.

Dr. Cashore is a professor of Environmental Policy and Governance at Yale University, specializing in Sustainable Forest Policy. He is also Director of the Yale Program on Forest Policy and Governance, with a joint appointment in Yale’s Political Science department. Born and raised in British Columbia, Dr. Cashore has directed much of his research to forest policy and resource management in BC. He has won numerous awards for his books and articles on forest policy, eco-certification, and the softwood lumber dispute.

Doug Little Memorial Lecture:
Thursday, November 16, 7:30pm, Canfor Theatre (Room 6-213)

Natural Resources and Environmental Studies Institute presentation:
Friday, November 17, 3:30pm, Room 7-158 (in Student Services Street).

Both presentations are open to the public.

“British Columbia has a huge proportion of its forest lands under public ownership, so government forest policy has really affected the development of the forest industry here. Arguably, it’s in resource-based communities such as Prince George where these policies have had the greatest effects,” says Kathy Lewis, Chair of the Ecosystem Science and Management program. “The Doug Little Memorial Lecture is ten years old this year and we could think of no one more fitting person to mark our first decade.”

The Doug Little Memorial Lecture is named after the late J.D. (Doug) Little, a former Senior Vice-President of Forest Operations for Northwood Pulp and Timber Ltd. (now Canfor).  Mr. Little was a founding supporter of UNBC and believed that appropriate forest management could ensure the sustainability of the forest resource for future generations. The lecture series is supported by an endowment fund that was initially created by Northwood Pulp and Timber Ltd.

Contact:
Rob van Adrichem, Director of Media and Public Relations, UNBC – 250.960.5622