When Good Intentions Fail: A Case of Forest Policy in the British Columbia Interior, 1945–56

Abstract

Public policymakers always face a conflict between the desire for economic growth and the need to protect renewable resources for future generations,' The forest industry inevitably shoulders the blame for forest resource depletion, but the actions of industry can be abetted by the action or inaction of government policymakers. However the impact of government forest policy on industrial organization has seldom been anal yzed in detail. Until historians study the effects of specific government resource policies on individual forest sectors, assigning past blame and suggesting future directions will be premature . This paper addresses that need by focusing on the reactions of the forest industry in the Williams Lake district to particular British Columbia forest regulations during the years immediately following World War II (see figure 1).