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Old growth forest preservation in British Columbia and the American Pacific Northwest : an account of a debate for survival

University of British Columbia

This essay offers a study of old growth forest policy in British Columbia and the American Pacific Northwest and, in so doing, attempts to contribute to the sparse comparative environmental literature that uses Canada as a case study. Specifically, the essay addresses the question of why old growth forest preservation policy divergences so dramatically between British Columbia and the American Pacific Northwest. After establishing that American Pacific Northwest and British Columbia old growth forest preservation policy diverges, the author employs a chronological methodology to reconstruct the current old growth preservation policy outcomes in both jurisdictions. The author then identifies a series of variables that affect old growth forest preservation policy in both jurisdictions, and examines each as a force of divergence. The essay discusses the different influences of two non-institutional variables-science and economics-and two institutional variables-federalism and legalism-on American Pacific Northwest and British Columbia old growth policy. The essay concludes by discussing the question of how each variable works with one another to produce this instance of policy divergence. The author finds that all four variables collaborate with one another and contribute to the divergence. However, the essay concludes that the major determining factor in this case of policy divergence is the interplay of the two institutional variables.

Thesis/Dissertation

application/pdf

2008-12-18

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/3134

Political Science

University of British Columbia

UBCV

DSpace