How Much Is Enough?; Logging Siberia

If the popularity of Dixy Lee Ray's new book Environmental Overkill (Regnery Gateway, 1993) is any indication, the backlash over "environmentalism"--specifically the charge that environmental policies are beginning to derive more from politics and emotion than hard science--may be just beginning. How Much is Enough ?, winner of a Silver Plaque at the Chicago International Film Festival, looks at a 1990 battle in the Tsitka Valley of British Columbia, Canada, where protesters are attempting to block the logging of a pre-approved site. Although over 40% of the Tsitka Valley forest has been preserved, the environmental protesters are not happy, and they cite everything from protection of old growth to preserving the killer whale's natural habitat as their reason for protest. As the fight progresses, however, it becomes evident that there's more than simple environmental concern going on here. One logger finds fishing wire strung in the area (at neck level); a group of protesters douses one of their members with gasoline and chains him underneath a vehicle; and the same folk in pigtails and bandannas keep coming back to lie in the road and look at the camera. In fact, it becomes rather evident that the protesters don't know diddly about the ecology of the area; it's a cause, so they're there. Unfortunately, for the loggers, the efforts of some protesters--who squawk to hear the sound of their own voices-- often translates into loss of jobs and economic hardship for the logger's families. While environmental concerns are both real and valid, all protests and challenges are not equally valid. How Much is Enough? is an excellent example of how fringe weenie-heads can be out to lunch, environmentally speaking, and thereby hurt the efforts of real activists.Logging Siberia, on the other hand, looks at an area of real concern, the forest surrounding Russia's Lake Baikal, the world's largest fresh-water lake. Here, a group of scientists from Eugene, OR, meet with colleagues in their sister city Irkutsk to talk about the problems. Although the program early on makes matter-of-fact comments about the oncoming "ecological catastrophe" due to "global warming"--which is still very much in the realm of hotly contested theory, rather than scientific fact--Logging Siberia does eventually settle down and deliver a straightforward account of the problems which really scare local scientists: poor forestry management and overcutting in the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet Union (now that the area is open to international logging), coupled with the rise of industrialization on the shores of Lake Baikal. Without proper management, the Siberian forest could very well have patches of desert in the future, and the presently pristine waters of Lake Baikal could become polluted. Very nicely filmed aerial portraits of the sweeping Taiga forest and beautiful Lake Baikal are reasons alone to watch this lovely film.How Much is Enough? is highly recommended. Logging Siberia is recommended. (For availability of How Much is Enough? see Romania: The Damned Dynasty.) (For availability of Logging Siberia see After the Velvet Revolution.)