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The recent development of new processing facilities in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan has created a long-term market for timber in the region. Although these processing facilities are currently supplied by crown timber reserves, increasing pressure on public forest resources from multiple users has caused processors to consider private woodlots as a supplemental source of fibre. A survey was undertaken to investigate conditions under which landowners may respond to the emerging demand by managing their timber resources for harvest and sale.Survey results indicate that, although virtually no management or harvesting has occurred in the past, approximately half of those interviewed would consider timber management and harvesting in the future. Logit analysis identified landowner characteristics that were related to landowners' willingness to consider forest management and harvest in the future and the likelihood that they would consider a timber contract. Significant characteristics of landowners in influencing the propensity to manage and harvest their woodlots included: the diversity of farm operations, the length of family tenure of the land, the number of ways respondents use their forest land, and area of forest owned. A preferred timber contract was identified as having: a duration of 1 to 5 years, young growth established at the end of the contract term, and payments for harvesting and management services made through a crop share arrangement. Key words: private forestry, forest economics, timber contracts, landowner characteristics, woodlot management

Purpose: To investigate whether the cognitive development of young children in poverty is affected by activities of their primary caregiver and by household income source, which are two components of family poverty experience that have been affected by recent welfare reforms. Methods: Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to examine the relationships that caregiver activity, household income source, and family characteristics (family income adequacy, caregiver depressive symptoms, caregiver education) have with the cognitive development of 59 impoverished children less than three years old. Results: Of the three poverty experience variables included in the multivariate analysis, only employment as the exclusive source of household income had an independent relationship (positive) with children's cognitive development. Two of the family characteristics, income adequacy and caregiver education, also were associated with the children's cognitive score, and they were both better relative predictors than the employment-only income source variable. Income adequacy was positively associated and caregiver education was negatively associated with children's cognitive development. Discussion: Although recent welfare reforms, in combination with economic growth and declining unemployment, have changed the poverty experience of young families by increasing the proportion that secure at least part of their income from employment, our study provides preliminary evidence that these reforms have made little difference for most young impoverished children. Instead, our findings suggest that the cognitive development of young children is influenced as much by the actual amount of household income as by their parents' activity and source of income. MeSH terms: social welfare; poverty; preschool children; development La traduction du résumé se trouve à la fin de l'article.

Dans cet article nous fournissons un survol de la foresterie au Canada et introduisons quelques-unes des tendances émergentes et des questions qui façonnent le secteur forestier canadien. Nous fournissons de l'information contextuelle sur les ressources naturelles, le rôle de la foresterie dans les économies provinciales et nationale de même que sur le cadre général de politiques à partir duquel les questions forestières sont analysées. Nous décrivons les tendances émergentes dans l'industrie forestière en termes des changements de la valeur des ressources forestières et de l'internationalisation des questions forestières. Nous soulignons un défi commun aux hommes politiques, celui de développer une politique environnementale flexible qui pourra répondre aux changements dans les valeurs des gens tout en assurant que le secteur des produits forestiers demeurera compétitif internationalement. En faisant référence aux articles de cette parution spéciale nous soulignons quelques réactions, en termes de politiques publiques, à ces tendances émergentes et quelques politiques alternatives que le Canada pourrait appliquer. In this paper we provide an overview of forestry in Canada and introduce some of the emerging trends and policy issues that are shaping the Canadian forest sector. We provide background information on the natural resource base, the role of forestry in national and provincial economies, and the general policy framework within which forestry issues are addressed. We describe emerging trends in the forest industry in terms of changing values of forest resources and the internationalization of forest issues. We highlight a general challenge to policymakers, that of developing a flexible policy environment that can respond to changing public values while ensuring that the forest products sector remains competitive in a global market. By referring to subsequent papers in this special issue, we highlight some of the public policy reactions to these emerging trends and some of the alternative policy options that may be implemented in Canada.

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