Memories of Peter deMarsh

For many of us, the news of the Ethiopian Airlines crash on March 10 would have registered only as a distant and abstract tragedy, except that 18 of the 157 doomed passengers were Canadians. When their names were read on the radio, the emotional synapses began firing in communities across the country. In New Brunswick – and among people who had been involved with woodlot owner organizations in other provinces – the recognizable name was Peter deMarsh.

In fact, like several of the other people on that plane who were heading to the United Nations Environmental Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, deMarsh was known and respected in many countries, because his work involved travelling widely – seeking common ground, finding common cause, sharing strategies for resilience among rural dwellers everywhere. His career stands as a robust counterargument to those who rail against all “globalists” for betraying local interests. He saw the merits of engaging at the micro and the macro level simultaneously, always forging connections – helping to empower those toiling closest to the earth, whom he recognized as the earth’s best hope. Below, we share recollections from a couple people who knew Peter deMarsh personally – in recognition of a life well lived. DL

Tireless organizer

by George Fullerton

I first met Peter deMarsh while attending a Southern New Brunswick (SNB) Forest Products Marketing Board annual meeting in the early 1980s, when he was giving an address as president of the New Brunswick Federation of Woodlot Owners. My Aunt Muriel and Uncle John Anderson had been active members of the Student Christian Movement (SCM) in Toronto, as were Peter’s parents Roy and Edna. (At that time Roy was rector of the United Church on Bathurst Street.) The family connection inspired me to introduce myself to Peter, and we became pretty good friends.

I talked to Aunt Muriel after hearing about Peter’s death, and she said that growing up in the deMarsh household would have involved early exposure to SCM Canada’s radical ecumenical work, based on the principles of social, economic, and environmental justice. I liked to tease Peter about the Toronto connection, but his heart connected strongest to a family-owned woodlot at Salmon Beach, in northern New Brunswick.

The next time I renewed our acquaintance, I had landed a short contract with the York-Sunbury-Charlotte (YSC) Marketing Board, where Peter had served as manager while also heading up the Federation. It became clear to me that he possessed exceptional leadership skills, building consensus among the seven boards, each of which brought assorted interests, agendas, and personalities to the table. He had a deep passion for this work, and well understood the need for unity in order to achieve common goals for woodlot owners and all rural New Brunswickers.

Peter was tireless in his efforts, meeting with government and forest industry representatives who, at times, seemed dedicated to marginalizing woodlot owners. He remained composed in adverse situations, but never backed down from his principles. He led a woodlot owner protest at Campbellton, where the Frank McKenna cabinet was meeting, because he wanted to focus attention on the government’s agenda to erode “primary source of supply” for private woodlots, as set down in the Crown Lands Act. Peter never relented on the issue, and continued to reflect on the origins of the legislation that created a balanced wood products marketplace.

When I was presented with an opportunity to work for the New Brunswick Community Land Trust, one of my reasons for accepting the position was because Peter had a hand in founding the organization, and was a member of the board – along with an eclectic group of people associated with woodlot, farm, and conservation organizations. My reasoning was: “If deMarsh is involved, then it is important.”

Peter and his wife Jean and their son Luke lived in Taymouth, and they worked hard on local initiatives, including acquiring the redundant local school and turning it into a vibrant community centre. The family helped to develop a farmers’ market there, and became vendors, selling their own organic produce.

In the late 1980s Peter began backing away from the day-to-day activities of the Land Trust and the New Brunswick Federation of Woodlot Owners, and turned some of his efforts toward organizing the Canadian Federation of Woodlot Owners. With this group well established by 1990, he worked on a number of federal issues, including income taxation, inter-generational transfer, and climate change.

Later, he reached out globally to work on economic and environmental justice issues affecting small woodland owners. He was one of the leaders who formed the International Family Forestry Association in 2002. Attending the 2018 New Brunswick Federation of Woodlot Owners AGM, I was interested to hear Peter make a presentation on global issues. At lunchtime I noticed an empty seat beside him, and quickly sat myself down so we could have a good catch-up conversation, sharing family stories and work we were involved in.

I didn’t always agree with Peter’s decisions, but I always had deep respect for his ethics, his enthusiasm, and his dedication. I consider him an important mentor. I valued his counsel, and I will deeply miss him.

Forestry philosopher

by Duncan McQueen

Peter was such a gentle, philosophical, but also principled, passionate, and interesting man. I remember his pained expression as we drove through the Great Rift Valley in Ethiopia, because he thought we were not going to stop to look at the birds – in one of the birding hotspots of the world – and his joy as we spent several happy hours viewing different types of flamingos and hornbill.

I remember his joy at meeting farmers in China, and him bedecked in flowers and red paint at a community welcoming ceremony in Nepal on one of the many dialogues that he helped to inspire on investing in locally controlled forestry. He always made local people feel special.

I remember his love for collective action – solidarity and standing together; his patience in developing a health-check methodology for newly formed farm cooperatives; and his loyalty to a broader vision of togetherness embodied by indigenous, community, and family smallholders – the G3.

I remember many, but never enough, happy bus rides discussing philosophy, which he pursued in his wonderfully named Philosopher’s Soup group. And the kind way he talked through personal dilemmas – and was so encouraging! Always encouraging – and always a better meeting when he was there.

I saw him last in Mexico, lending his support to a vision for community forestry. In one of the last emails I received, he sent me a personal values paper drawn from his Philosopher’s Soup group, in which he wrote:

“Over the past 15-20 years, I seem to focus on two ideas: a sense of the connectedness of all things human, non-human, and inanimate here and throughout the Universe; and a belief in the importance of celebrating diversity in all its forms of life, culture, language, religion, and sexual orientation. (As some will note, this is just another way of expressing the basic problem of the One and the Many.) Both lead, in my view, to belief in the fundamental importance of compassion, as mutual respect, support, and appreciation.”

(Duncan McQueen is forest team leader for the International Institute for Environment and Development, based in Edinburgh, Scotland.)