With a month left until the licence to harvest District Lot 1313 goes up for auction, Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) directors are once more writing to the province in an effort to protect the forest from logging.
The move came following a delegation that appeared before the SCRD board on Nov. 22, headed up by Gayle Neilson, an Elphinstone Community Association board member. Several other residents living near the cutblock, unofficially called the Reed Road Forest, filled the 1975 Field Road boardroom.
Neilson reminded the board of the ongoing letter-writing campaign by concerned residents, that the area is targeted for park and recreation use in the Elphinstone Official Community Plan, that the forest protects sensitive species, and addressed neighbour concerns about possible mudslides and other risks associated with logging near residential areas.
“The community feels the relatively small amount of money the province will collect compared to the value of the forest, we don’t believe this is worth the risks that our community faces,” she said, adding that the SCRD has been an “ally” in their efforts to prevent logging.
The urgency to protect DL 1313 increased in October after BC Timber Sales (BCTS) announced the forest is scheduled for auction in January.
An Oct. 29 letter by Noel Poulin of BCTS remarked that the auction had been continuously delayed since 2013, when BCTS learned the SCRD was considering designating the area as a park, “to provide the SCRD with time to pursue a change in land use status.”
The letter also indicated the design of the cutblock has been amended to improve fire protection, that an independent assessment found hazards associated with terrain stability, sedimentation and hydrology were “assessed to be very low to low,” and that “measures to protect these features will be incorporated into cut block and road designs.”
On Oct. 11, SCRD chief administrative officer Janette Loveys said SCRD staff had met with staff from the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNORD) to discuss land use planning.
During the delegation, Neilson asked the SCRD about that meeting and whether a change in land use status for DL 1313 has been pursued.
Ian Hall, general manager for planning, did not provide information about the meeting but said the SCRD has “consistently expressed concern and opposition to the harvesting of … DL 1313,” that the SCRD has also advocated for the involvement of residents in the consideration of what happens on the cutblock and acknowledged that planning harvesting activities in the absence of a land use plan for the area “is a challenge.”
He also conceded that despite the ongoing opposition from the SCRD and efforts by the community, “It appears as though the cutblock is now headed to auction, and the opportunity for the regional district to protect the land through a park or conservation area or lease approach appear to be exhausted.”
After the presentation, Elphinstone director Donna McMahon pointed out the close proximity of logging lands to residential areas is endemic on the Coast. “We’re going to have this problem in other places unless we deal with it on a larger scale, either as part of our regional growth strategy or as part of the Mount Elphinstone land use plan, or preferably both,” she said.
Directors voted unanimously on a motion by McMahon to write to Doug Donaldson, Minister of FLNRORD, as well as Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons, requesting that DL 1313 “be protected from logging and reserved for public use and ecological integrity.” The letter also asked the minister to respond before the January auction date.
Following the presentation, a member of the gallery asked, “Am I to understand that although the SCRD has attempted to look at the process of this and to halt it, BCTS can just ignore the community and log property that is completely immediate, adjacent to residents?”
To which Hall said, “The gallery member’s summary could be considered accurate.”
Clack Creek
At the same meeting, Ross Muirhead of Elphinstone Logging Focus appeared as a delegation to speak about Clack Creek Forest, which is targeted as land that could be included in an expansion of Mt. Elphinstone Provincial Park, and which is currently up for auction.
Following Muirhead’s presentation, Sechelt director Tom Lamb said if the Clack Creek area was turned into parkland, it could mean other areas are logged instead. “Forestry is part of what we do in British Columbia, so if we’re going to give up the cutting permits here or the right to harvest in this area, it should be appropriate that we give up something else,” he said.
Muirhead responded that the Sunshine Coast Forest District is “huge.”
“Taking out another 1,500 hectares from their operating area is miniscule,” he said.
CAO Loveys said that based on conversations with provincial staff, “we understand the province is not looking to establish more provincial parks across the entire province. They’re not looking to increase their land inventory at this point.”
Directors voted unanimously for the SCRD to write to Donaldson and BCTS requesting the sale of Clack Creek Forest – or cutblock A93884 – be halted “absent further provincial land use planning for Mount Elphinstone.”
Following the motion, director Lamb said, “It sounds to me like we better get this land use discussion underway sooner than later.”
