By Roy L Hales
There is a little spot of Eden just outside of Gibsons. A 7-kilometre-long network of trails guides visitors along Roberts Creek and through the old growth forest. Sampling a slice of nature at Cliff Gilker Park can be an afternoon’s experience, or a short relaxing walk.
Continue reading Sampling A Slice Of Nature At Cliff Gilker ParkBy Roy L Hales
The village of Lund is about 20 miles from my home on Cortes Island. There are vantage points on Cortes, from which you can actually see Savary Island. Though only a short distance across the waters, it takes a day and three ferry trips to drive there. The experience is delightful. Lund is soul candy.
This isn’t the first time that there has been disputes over logging in the Chapman Creek Watershed. In response to complaints from the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD), in 2014 the ‘Managed Forest Council hired Madrone Environmental Services to ascertain the cause of “increased turbidity” in the water supply (which services up to 30,000 households). Geoscientist Gordon Butt pointed to logging after the “onset of the fall rains” and concluded, “Although there has been no clear contravention of the regulations, it is clear to me that industry standards for protecting water quality have not been met in CH1. The short-comings are substantially more serious given the fact that this logging has been carried out in a highly sensitive watershed supplying a large population.” [1] When AJB Investments resumed logging operations in late January of this year, Elphinstone Logging Focus (ELF) responded with a blockade. The latest attempt at negotiation has just broken down and the month long siege of Chapman Creek continues.
Originally published on Heartwood, Field Notes
Powell River has been fighting for its urban forests, which are slated to be logged by Island Timberlands. I.T. has been at the forefront of many forestry conflicts on the west coast of British Columbia, from Cortes Island to Port Alberni to Powell River. Communities are uniting to oppose the logging practices of Island Timberlands, which is the second largest landowner in BC, with over 235,000 Ha. of private managed forestland on Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, and the Sunshine Coast. I.T. is majority owned by the BCIMC, the arms-length investment firm of the BC government, which invests all the public sector pension funds. The BC Teachers’ Federation, whose pensions are invested in I.T., recently filed a motion to oppose I.T,’s more controversial logging practices in the Alberni Valley.
Continue reading Powell River vs Island TimberlandsBy Roy L Hales
The great stands of Douglas Fir that many of our ancestors saw are largely gone. Isolated pockets persists. IN the following interview Ross Muirhead, of the Elphinstone Logging Focus, talks about the attempt to save 98 ‘Old Vets’ on Mount Elphinstone. ” is an ECO Radio interview broadcast on CKTZ (Cortes Island Community Radio) , CJMP (Powell River Community Radio) and CFSI (Green FM – Salt Spring Island Radio).
Continue reading 98 ‘Old Vets’ on Mount Elphinstone
