There is no logging going on in Hidden Grove, despite worries that were voiced by some community members this week.
The concern came as the Sunshine Coast Community Forest posted signs and started work on building a road nearby the popular network of walking trails in Sandy Hook.
"First of all, we are not logging in Hidden Grove. Let's put that to bed. I think people see a logging truck and think 'oh goodness' but that's not the case," said Sunshine Coast Community Projects Inc. (SCPI) chair Glen Bonderud.
SCPI oversees operations of the community forest. He said the logging will be done behind Hidden Grove and an old deactivated logging road, which is partially within the trail network, will be used to reach the area.
"Because it does go through that area, approvals were done on the basis that when we leave, everything is back to normal," Bonderud said, noting SCPI has talked with the Sechelt Groves Society and they are on board with the plan.
Society president Bob D'Arcy said the trail network is actually going to benefit from the roadwork in the end.
"The Community Forest met with us and we had a very, very good meeting with them and they've given us more protected area as a result of their plans for the logging, so it's a very small concession in our view to let them drive a truck in and out and take the wood out. It's very amicable and very positive for the Hidden Grove," D'Arcy said.
Hidden Grove will have to close some trails during the logging activity to ensure safety, but D'Arcy said that in exchange they will get two to three more acres of land set aside for public use.
The group also expects to see improvement on the portion of roadway within the trail network once logging is complete.
"They are going to have enough chips that they will probably be able to chip the old road and seed it, so it'll end up being more Mother Nature than before. So it should be a net improvement when it's over," D'Arcy said.
Bonderud said work on the logging road is happening now and he expects falling to start in February, with logging to finish sometime in April.
He also said community members can expect to see five or six trucks a day coming and going from the site along Sechelt Inlet Road while logging is underway.
SCPI chose to log this location after agreeing not to log in Wilson Creek until after a watershed assessment can be done.
"As we're staying out of Wilson Creek until we get that assessment done and make sure everything's OK, we had to go somewhere else," Bonderud added.
