Roy Rea knew he was going into a controversial subject when he began his colloquium. He introduced himself, and started off with a disclaimer stating that he is not anti-silviculture and that he used to be a forester. A heavy topic about the effects of logging practices on moose populations can be taken positively or negatively, based on the audience’s professions. In this case, I believe the majority of the audience was supportive of his view on current forestry practices and the need for change.

Other than adoring the photos of moose calves during the presentation and hoping that I get to see some moose on campus soon, I learned a few new facts. I didn’t realize that moose were in a decline of as much as 70% in some regions of BC. Also, as a person ignorant to the fine details of forestry, I also did not know that herbicide is so widely used in forestry practices. Hearing that not only is the Chief Forester a woman (especially after Friday’s exhausting gender discussion- you go lady!), but that she has instructed foresters to retain, retain, retain– I was impressed and hopeful that maybe British Columbia as a whole could begin practicing sustainably for both wildlife and humans.

I enjoyed the presentation for the amount of humor Rea provided, and the way he connected “the Lorax” to his talk about logging the forest. I think he created the presentation as a means of discussion versus for the purpose of teaching the listeners something new. He never went into details of specific studies he’s conducted, or methods he used; instead he solely spoke about his results and what needs to happen to help moose populations. That isn’t a bad thing. It is just a new style of presentation without the standard, linear format of introduction, methods, results, and discussion.

As far as commonalities between Rea’s methods and my own… he didn’t largely go into methods. I’m not sure if it was his research or other research, but it appeared that moose were collared to show their foraging grounds in proximity to cut blocks. If that was his research, then it may be similar to my work as I have previously tagged mountain chickadees with RFID tags. Once we establish feeders with RFID readers on them, we will be able to see chickadees as they move, like the moose Rea had showed.

Rea didn’t really seem to answer the questions as most of his responses only had a few words. His answers were often as short as “I don’t know”. Which is fair enough, as perhaps it wasn’t his specialty. However, theories, speculations, hypotheses, or suggesting other people to contact for the answer would have been more stimulating, especially coming from a fellow who has worked with moose and forestry for so long.

All in all, Roy Rea did a good job at speaking for the moose, for the moose’s tongues can’t speak.