The following letter was sent to Sunshine Coast Community Forest chair Glen Bonderud and copied to Coast Reporter.
I attended a joint watershed committee meeting on March 1 at the Sunshine Coast Regional District. One item on the agenda was the community forest spacing project in the Chapman Creek watershed. The SCRD staff report dated Feb. 20, 2013 was received and approved by the committee.
The community forest confirmed that they had finished spacing the cutblock in December 2012. This information appeared to catch the committee off guard and seemed to be a complete surprise to them.
I was upset to hear that the community forest had spaced this cutblock in the drinking watershed, because back in 2008, following a protest and blockade, the community forest met with residents, including myself, to resolve the situation.
Following this meeting with the residents, the president and chair of the community forest issued a letter stating that "the spacing contract for the Chapman Creek watershed has been permanently terminated."
I wish to bring this letter to your attention and to the board, because at the committee meeting, the community forest representatives present seemed unaware of this letter and the commitment made to the community back in 2008.
Sunshine Coast residents have been on record for many years that they do not wish to see forest activity in their drinking watershed, and this is also the position, I understand, of the SCRD, the legal purveyor of drinking water on the Coast.
By completing the spacing activity in the drinking watershed and ignoring the commitment made to the community, this action shows no respect for the wishes of the community and further creates more distrust of community forest operations.
John Bebbington, Sandy Hook
