Turning Trees into Dollars

The coastal forests of British Columbia are currently a source of controversy, with clashes between corporations, workers, environmentalists, Aboriginals, and politicians frequently in the national media. "Turning Trees into Dollars" sheds light on the historical complexities that lie behind the ongoing crisis. This is a comprehensive account of the formative years of the British Columbian forestry industry. Pinning the historical facts on the central concept of market capitalism, Gordon Hak traces the political, geographical, and technological developments that occurred as small, financially tentative logging operations grew into a major economic force. His narrative traverses the treacherous labour conditions, union activities, the use of immigrant labour, and the role of the First Nations, as well as the mill industry, tariffs and trade, the effects of the Canadian Pacific Railway, industrialization, entrepreneurialism, and the conservation movements that compose the rich terrain of B.C. forestry.