This week's protest against the community forest may have been sparked by a presentation at the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) last Thursday.
At the March 6 SCRD infrastructure committee meeting Kevin Davie, community forest operations manager said that Sechelt Community Projects. Inc. (SCPI), which operates the community forest through access to the Province's forest investment account, would be spacing in two blocks in Wilson Creek and another block on the fringe of the Chapman Creek watershed.
SCPI has already finished spacing two blocks in Wilson Creek and was planning on starting on their block in the Chapman Creek watershed. Juvenile spacing in this 35-hectare block was planned for March 1 to 21. (That spacing project has now been cancelled. See related story on page A1).
West Howe Sound director Lee Turnbull wanted to know how much of the work was going to be done in the watershed proper. Davie told the board that the goal of the spacing was to "cut down the 3,000 stems per hectare down to 600 per hectare." Davie said spacing the trees that much would make it a healthier stand of trees and about 25 per cent of the 34 hectares was in the watershed.
Roberts Creek director Donna Shugar asked Davie to confirm that the whole reason for the spacing was to prepare the area for future logging. Davie told Shugar that it is the "SCPI's mandate to manage the land for timber production." By spacing the trees, Davie said it would be increasing the product value. However, in response to questioning from Gibsons Mayor Barry Janyk, Davie said that over time the stand would naturally space itself. Turnbull wanted to know "what does the SIB have to say about this application." Davie told Turnbull that he had spoken to the SIB and that, "they have no problem with it (the application)."
Shugar asked Davie when SCPI thought it would try to log in the watershed at the earliest and Davies said depending on the area and the age of the trees somewhere between 60 to 120 years. The stand management prescription submitted to the board, it stated," the stand will be ready for harvest between 2049 and 2064." That means that between 41 and 56 years the trees will be from now, 55 to 70-years-old, and the goal will be to harvest them.
One of the things the management prescription says is, "the SCRD will be notified of juvenile spacing in the opening. The SCRD will be given the opportunity to provide comments on the proposed treatment." The SCRD received the information on the proposed treatment on March 3 a couple of days after the work had already started.
"What does that mean, that the SCRD will be given the opportunity to provide comment and how are you going to take those comments into account?" Janyk questioned Davie.
Davie said that the SCRD's comments would be taken into account in the planning of the proposed treatment, but did not elaborate how this would be done.
While Turnbull, Shugar and Janyk were the most vocal, the board as a whole told Davie that logging in the watershed ran counter to the work they had done in trying to protect the watershed.
"I object to your objectives in the watershed," said Turnbull. "The community clearly doesn't want logging in the Chapman watershed or any watershed. She said the actions of SCPI were putting the community in direct conflict once again. The board agreed to send a letter to SCPI strongly voicing the SCRD's objection to the spacing treatment in the watershed and that the work being done directly contravenes SCRD board policy.
