Westland forests

Press, 24 September 1988, Page 24

Westland forests

Sir, —It is a real shame P. J. Barrett returned from a nature tour of South Westland forests “sickened and angered” by those calling for timber production there. That need not, and should not, have occurred, and if P. J. Barrett had been told the truth, rather than the standard conservation movement "big lie,” then the trip would not have been spoiled. It is understandable that the need to raise funds from the public for salaries and glossy publications and a sophisticated lobbying capacity makes scare stories more attractive than the truth to some elements of the conservation movement. Understandable, but reprehensible; especially if it spoils people’s enjoyment of the great forests of the south-west, and especially if it leads to the destruction of a way of life successfully pursued in South Westland since the earliest habitation. People are the species most at risk in South Westland, and it is preservationist 1 propaganda that will finish them. — Yours, etc., MALCOLM MacPHERSON. September 19, 1988.