Stein: The Way of the River (Talonbooks, 1988) by Michael M'Gonigle and Wendy Wickwire explains in historical, ecological and sociological terms why the Stein Valley should not be open to extensive logging. Augmented by interviews with Aboriginal elders, it presents the culture and history the Nlaka'pamux people of the region in concert with environmental concerns. In 1988, Lytton Band chief Ruby Dunstan, former Mt. Currie chief Leonard Andrew and environmentalist John McCandless travelled to New Zealand and presented a copy of Stein: The Way of the River to Hugh Fletcher, chief executive officer of Fletcher Challenge, a New Zealand-based multinational forest company that had created Fletcher Challenge Canada from British Columbia Forest Products and Crown Forest Industries. The threesome made a presentation to approximately 800 Fletcher Challenge shareholders, then met for an hour in private with Hugh Fletcher. "He seemed impressed by the book," McCandless said. "He was surprised that there was such a comprehensive study. He wasn't expecting anything so sophisticated." Dunstan and Andrew also met with Maori natives who are protesting the company's logging practices within New Zealand. Stein: The Way of the River, designed by Ken Seabrook, received the Bill Duthie Booksellers' Choice Award in 1989 and became a significant factor in the decision of Fletcher Challenge to declare a moratorium on Stein Valley logging.

UVic law professor and environmental activist Michael M'Gonigle, a former SFU professor of Natural Resources Management, holds a doctorate in law and political economy. He co-founded Greenpeace International, the Stein Wilderness Alliance, the Sierra Legal Defence Fund and SmartGrowth BC, Forest Futures. He has also worked as a journalist and served as a board member and chairperson of Greenpeace Canada. His work with Greenpeace has helped generate international moratoria on commercial whaling and forest conservation initiatives in 1990. When he co-wrote Planet U with research associate Justine Starke, M'Gonigle held the EcoResearch Chair at the University of Victoria and he directed the POLIS Project on Ecological Governance. [See below]

Review of the author's work by BC Studies:
Stein: The Way of the River

BOOKS:

M'Gonigle, Michael & Wendy Wickwire. Stein: The Way of the River (Talonbooks, 1988).

M'Gonigle, Michael & Ben Parfitt. Forestopia: A Practical Guide to the New Forest Economy (Harbour, 1994).

M'Gonigle, Michael. Forests in Trust: Reforming British Columbia's Forest Tenure System for Ecosystem and Community Health (Eco-Research Chair of Environmental Law and Policy, 1997).

M'Gonigle, Michael & Fred Gale (editors). Nature, Production, Power: Towards an Ecological Political Economy (Elgar, 2000).

M'Gonigle, Michael & Justine Starke. Planet U: Sustaining the World, Reinventing the University (New Society Publishers, 2006).

[BCBW 2006] "Environment" "First Nations" "Classic"