........Comment by Bill Moore ...The forest around us |
Public
relations – |
....In and about – every so often
– maybe once a week – I hear someone refer in some manner
to the forest industry’s public relations or lack of same. It’s
an intriguing subject, one that quite a few dollars are spent on and
gives employment to quite a few people. |
wounds still remembered by many from the hard fought battles of union
and management in the ‘30s and ‘40s. This would apply to
other industries too, but the forest industry barons of yester-year
were a tough lot and they left their mark on many oldster’s minds. |
why this industry
doesn’t train its people better in proper accident prevention. With
all the care of a good Workers compensation Board, and some truly dedicated
safety organizers, the ranks of the teachers are still far too thin to
seriously bring those fatals and accident records down. ....The public sees a dangerous industry – and a rich industry. There is another controversy. ....The announcements over the past few years about shutdowns of mills, laying off of loggers, overseas com-petition and government and industry insect spraying programs have been handled – to be kind – in a very poor manner. When you are big you should be consistent. But to announce a great shutdown, and then reverse it, or to announce a mass lay-off in what would be a near normal lay-off anyway, is to ask for the public’s indignation. ....The recent forest insect spray programs across the country got out of hand because industry and government people weren’t tuned in to the public and that public’s awareness of the mystique of all spray programs. This is not the public of the ‘30s or ‘40s or ‘50s that did not strike back. This public is better educated, more worldly wise and the media feeds them well. They will not be tampered with. The large companies that are a part of this forest industry all have public rela-tions programs of one kind or another. The impression in the public’s mind of |
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page 32 | British Columbia
Lumberman, November, 1978 |
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this industry
is pretty well determined by what these companies do or don’t do
in the line of public information. And that information is generally the
balance sheet announcements at the annual meeting. The profits may not
be large some years – by the companies’ stan-dards –
but they are very large by the public’s standards. And I don’t
think the public cares anymore how much a log loader costs or how much
it is to build a new sawmill. ....The public sees a rich industry, a dangerous industry and an industry that is not shy about confusing the public. Why should they care? ....There have been some good public relations programs by some com-panies. The camper parks that have been set up in various tree farm areas are the type of relationship that the public can appreciate. Where they are done with good upkeep and super-vision, they are a success. Without this they are liable to deteriorate and be a burden on public relations. More good camper parks are needed in many areas. They can provide the company with an excellent podium to tell the using public about their company. ....I am convinced that the large forest companies have been passing up one of the finest avenues of good public relations available to them. And that is Loggers Sports. I have preached this before and will continue to do so because I know of no better way to describe the skills and personalities of this industry than through Loggers Sports. ....Loggers sports shows are shown on a commercial basis in about 30 or 40 major cities in North America as of this summer. The strange thing is that at none of these major shows is any kind of backing or promotion or prize money provided by the obvious backer, the forest companies. ....Federal governments, provincial governments and suppliers to the industry all provide backing and prizes for Loggers Sports – but the forest com-panies, for some strange reason, do not. Several top people in the industry have told me that they feel Loggers Sports is too commercial, or that it represents old time things (spar climbing, birling) and does not show the modern logger. ....Well my only answer to the above people is that you are not tuned in to your own employees. In the past 10 years, in spite of the apathy of head |
offices,
Loggers Sports have been enjoyed by loggers, their families and a good
many millions of people across Canada, the U.S.A., Australia and northern
Europe. And this is not an area to get your message to the public?? It’s
too commercial? It’s not modern? Shame on you. ....The forest industry has never bowed to change too easily. There was a time when it didn’t like to fall snags, even though they were dangerous to rigging crews. It didn’t exactly embrace close utilization until it was forced to. Its resistance to the environmentalists is noted. The indus-try never had to reach out to the public |
and explain what it was doing. It ran pretty well
as it saw fit. Keep out of the bight, |
British Columbia Lumberman, November, 1978 | page 33 |