Editor:
I would have so liked to give credit to the Sunshine Coast Community Forest (SCCF) for their decision to donate $22,000 to the trail strategy initiative (Coast Reporter, Feb. 1, "Society to complete trail strategy").
But after the SCCF fiasco and strategy of last September when they cut down 14 hectares ofblock EW002, I can only credit them for bad judgement.
Just to refresh our communal memories, block EW002 - or Wilson Creek Forest, as it became known to many hikers and lovers of the forest - was all cut down. Even though volunteers of Elphinstone Logging Focus spent hundreds of hours clearing paths and had some 28 stations of informative signs explaining the fauna and flora along the way.
No, the SCCF, as well as the mayor and councillors of Sechelt, dug in their heels and cut EW002. After big crowds came to quite a few rallies protesting this specific logging, the SCCF felt they needed to send in eight RCMP officers and arrest 10 citizens, all of this with very little consultation with the community. Here we had a beautiful forest, easily accessible, with a lot of volunteer work put into the paths. Here is why SCCF gets no credit from me. I quote from Coast Reporter, Feb. 1: "The SCCF decision to fund the trail strategy initiative falls under its community objective of supporting outdoor recreation and economic development."
Surely block EW002 fell under your community objective as stated above?
Jack Stein, Gibsons
