Peter Miller, Forestry and the Ethics of Integrity

Abstract

I have known Peter Miller for many years, and have worked with him on several research projects since 1992, including the multidisciplinary Global Integrity Project, which was completed in 1999. One of the purposes of that project was to investigate the commonly held view that environmental protection and human welfare are in conflict. The goal was to demonstrate that the MconflictM is more apparent than real, at least at the level of health and life. Each conflict that pits human interests against ecological considerations is too facile ifit does not understand the intimate connection between natural processes and all of life, including that of human kind. More specifically, there is no conflict between the preservation of certain core or wild areas (Noss, 1992) and human welfare, because these areas must be maintained not only to support life within their confines, but also for the benefit of all life beyond their borders. Miller's work on the project was concerned with forestry policy, as he has worked extensively in the area of sustainable forest management, combining both theoretical interests and practical experience as a committed environmental activist. In this paper I discuss some of the issues Miller addresses in an article co-authored with James Ehnes as part of the Global Integrity Project (2000). Miller and Ehnes begin by summarizing what appear to be conflicting values concerning forests and forestry in Canada: