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Milne says not practical to call off logging

Community Forest
elf
Big cedars in the Community Forest’s EW23 cutblock.

Sechelt Mayor Bruce Milne took the unusual step of appearing as a delegate in front of his council’s committee of the whole Dec. 6 to shed some light on how council is dealing with the latest controversy over the Community Forest (SCCF).

The Community Forest’s current logging plan includes a cutblock in the Halfmoon Bay area as well as two Wilson Creek blocks known as EW23 and EW28 (the Chanterelle Forest).

As SCCF’s sole shareholder, through Sechelt Community Projects Inc., Sechelt council has been under pressure to call off the planned harvesting.

The group Elphinstone Logging Focus (ELF) has argued that EW28 should be preserved because it has high recreational and ecological value and falls partially within the area marked out in the Roberts Creek Official Community Plan for potential inclusion if the province ever decides to expand Mt. Elphinstone Provincial Park.

The group has also pointed to the presence of what they claim is the fifth-largest western white pine in the province in EW28 and a stand of red cedars they feel should be classified as old growth in EW23.

After SCCF operations manager Dave Lasser briefed councillors on the studies and referrals necessary to get a cutting permit – including archeological assessments, species counts, and visual impact studies – Milne told the committee that council takes the concerns over SCCF’s harvest plan seriously.

Milne said he had a conference call with MLA Nicholas Simons and shíshálh Nation Chief Warren Paull to follow up on Simons’ recent meeting with the ministers of environment and forests.

“When our MLA met with the ministers there was a very clear understanding of the continuing social problems on the Coast vis-à-vis the cut and the need for instituting some higher level of planning,” Milne said. “My understanding is there is a commitment from the provincial government to putting some planning processes in place that will help us have a table to talk about some of those things.”

Milne said he, Simons and Paull discussed delaying the harvest plans. “There was no uptake of that notion at the ministerial level… It’s considered by the ministry as part of the working forest and a delay would not really have the affect we have in mind.”

He also said he wanted to know where the shíshálh Nation stood in terms of a potential delay and whether they supported the SCCF five-year plan. According to Milne, Paull said he’d consulted with his council and the elders and there is support for SCCF’s plan.

“If, in fact, the Community Forest releases or somehow doesn’t move into those areas, [shíshálh Nation] is ready to, and anxious to,” Milne added. 

Earlier in the meeting, Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations district resource manager Russell Brewer said the ministry has a high degree of confidence in the way SCCF has been managing its tenure, and confirmed that if SCCF does not meet its quota, the tenure could end up logged by others.

Brewer, who is also a Powell River city councillor, offered some insight from Powell River’s experience with its community forest. He said they “stick with the strategic, higher level discussions” and don’t get involved in day-to-day operations.

During a Q&A session after the meeting adjourned, ELF’s Ross Muirhead said he thinks Sechelt council’s reluctance to order SCCF to delay logging “speaks to the level of disconnect between council, the community and this logging operation. As a community forest licence it’s supposed to have a higher level of community input than other licensees.”

Muirhead also suggested ELF hasn’t ruled out direct action. “The situation could turn into protests. We don’t support road blocks per se unless it’s something we have to do from an ethical point of view.”