Editor:
I wonder if the Sunshine Coast Community Forest could review its mandate? Could it reconsider thinking of a forest as a bunch of trees to be cut down? What if they considered the value of intact watersheds or animal corridors? What about forest bathing as is valued by the Japanese?
Could the Sunshine Coast Community Forest, which was left to the people of the Coast, be used to mitigate global warming? Intact forests are cooler than clear cuts and hold groundwater. Could advancing tourism be added to their advantage? Maybe the board could add ecologists, tour guides, naturalists and meteorologists to its board to get a broader view of what to do with our forests.
Logging doesn’t have to be the dangerous job it is as practiced today. You can actually get more trees off a lot when you selectively log rather than clearcut. Selective logging leaves the soil intact and the young trees grow faster. Also the lot can continue to be a watershed, a cooler, a place for forest bathing and animal friendly. It could be a win win.
Joan Payne, Sechelt
