Elphinstone and West Howe Sound community associations’ efforts to have B.C. Timber Sales (BCTS) defer the 35.2 hectare Elphinstone Highlands cutblock (TA0519) from its current Q1 sales schedule received support from the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) board. Provision of a letter of support for the deferral requests was endorsed at the board’s June 12 meeting.
According to the BCTS Chinook area sales schedule released April 17, TA0519 was slated to go to auction by June 30.
In a June 18 email response to Coast Reporter, the Ministry of Forests stated that “Sales schedules are issued to notify of upcoming proposed timber sales auctions. BC Timber Sales starts accepting bids when a licence is placed on BC Bid for auction… TA0519 is a partial harvest/commercial thin sale and was pulled from BC Bid due to an administrative error. It is anticipated that TA0519 will be reposted this fiscal year.”
Letters from the community associations to the board were included on the meeting agenda. They outlined concerns regarding the potential logging of Mount Elphinstone and that those had been shared with BCTS as early as September 2023. The community groups believe logging of TA0519, located at the headwaters of Chaster Creek, could have impacts for the recharge of Aquifer 560.
The Elphinstone group wrote, “BCTS is proposing a novel and experimental logging effort (commercial thinning) for TA0516 cut block. While we appreciate the move away from clearcutting, this is not a proven logging technique and we believe this is just too cavalier an approach to logging in an important community watershed where any missteps could result in outsized consequences to Federal, Provincial, Regional and Private downstream interests. Further, BCTS has no requirement to monitor the hydrological effects of their harvesting plan, so there is no way to determine whether or not their experiment is successful in minimizing impact to our watershed."
The letter from the West Howe Sound community stated the Chaster Creek watershed “is vital, supplying drinking water to over 23,000 residents across the Sunshine Coast and serving as a critical backup during summer droughts. Logging in this area poses significant risks to water quality, salmon-bearing streams, flood-sensitive infrastructure, and private wells."
Staff advised the board that under the established SCRD communication protocol with BCTS, a report on the BCTS operations plans in the area is to come forward in July.
