In Balancing Act Hamish Kimmins calls for a balanced, more objective approach to forestry issues. He argues that these issues are too often debated without any common understanding of what forestry is really all about or about how forest ecosystems work. This new edition of the bestselling book has been revised to reflect new thinking about sustainable forestry and includes three completely new chapters.

In the first few chapters of the book, the basic principles of forestry and ecology are outlined. The major issues facing forestry in the 1990s and beyond – not only in British Columbia but worldwide – are then discussed. These include clearcutting, slashburning, management chemicals, old growth, biological diversity, “new forestry,” climate change, acid rain, the comparison between temperate and tropical forestry, long-term decisions in forestry, and the sustainability of various forest values. The new chapters look at the ongoing debate over the meaning of “sustainable forestry,” “respect for nature,” “ecosystem management,” and ecosystem “health and integrity.”

This new edition of Balancing Act goes further in clarifying the issues at the heart of the forestry/environment debate. Readers will gain a new understanding of how our forest ecosystems work and how they can be managed sustainably.