Editor:
Michael McLaughlin’s vilification of Elphinstone Logging Focus in his recent letter, “ELF goes too far” (Coast Reporter, April 29), seems to be based more on emotion than reason. The environmental organization’s efforts to protect forests in the Wilson and Chapman Creek watersheds plus portions of the slopes of Mount Elphinstone make a great deal of sense.
The protection of our watersheds has a history of public support that is backed by science. Studies have demonstrated that logging in the Wilson Creek watershed during the past 25 years exceeds the threshold for its protection. The uproar caused by water shortages last summer makes the need to safeguard the Chapman Creek watershed obvious. This land also has significant spiritual and cultural importance to the shíshálh First Nation.
Vancouver forbids incursions into its watershed. Victoria has purchased land to protect its watershed, which is what ELF is proposing for the SCRD. In 2007, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Bruce Butler observed that it was unusual for a regional district such as ours to not have control over its drinking water.
Following the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (2010), Canada pledged to protect at least 17 per cent of its land and freshwater ecosystems by 2020. It currently lags far behind these targets. One piece of this puzzle could be the expansion of Mount Elphinstone Provincial Park. The biological, cultural and recreational value of the forests on the slopes of Mount Elphinstone is well established. Protected land in the Sunshine Coast Forest District is a small fraction of the provincial average.
People have varying opinions of the type of direct action in which ELF engages. This should not obscure the fact that their message rings true.
Richard Carton, Sechelt
