Editor:
I was saddened to read the letter by Forests Minister Steve Thomson, in the Oct. 7 Coast Reporter, in which he attempted to defend himself for issuing logging permits in the Elphinstone Forest (“Forest values balanced on Mount Elphinstone”).
I am not an activist, but after reading that letter I decided I must add my voice to the chorus of others who are trying to protect our local forests.
I often go for hikes along the many forest trails that the Elphinstone Logging Focus and other groups have blazed. Yesterday, for example, I hiked through the beautiful Twin Cedars Trail, near Dakota Ridge. Hiking there is always an awe-inspiring experience. It is a gentle, cushiony trail through a moss-covered grove of unspoiled forest, uncluttered by logging debris or any other traces of human encroachment. In such a magical forest, there is no room for human thought: no room for any thought about anxiety or greed or politics – only the breathless feeling of stillness and peace.
At the end of that trail are two giant yellow cedars. They are the oldest members of a complex, communal network in which a vast assortment of living things thrive. Those cedars were already hundreds of years old when the first Europeans arrived. In fact, they were around even before that, when our own ancestors were forest dwellers – in other words, when we, too, were part of that interdependent, communal world, taking only as much wood, fruit, meat, etc., as we needed to live.
Unfortunately, today, we no longer feel that connection to the forest. Most of us don’t realize that only a tiny percentage of our old forests remain. These forests have to be preserved – especially the ones closest to communities, like the Elphinstone Forest. And their preservation must be our government’s chief priority.
Robert O’Neill, Roberts Creek
