Editor:
I attended the Community Forest/Elder College sponsored information meeting on wildfires because I wondered what a logging company would have to tell us about how we should live with wildfires. They presented us with a video of forestry experts. All the “experts” agreed that our biggest problem was too many trees.
For decades the forest industry has been deforesting our province and congratulating themselves on the booming economy they have created. Sadly, their clear-cut logging practices have left the forests bankrupt. There is nothing sustainable about clear-cutting millions of hectares of old-growth forest and replacing them with plantations of tiny seedlings.
What did they say we should do? We need to get rid of more trees. We should cut down trees close to our houses, get rid of wood piles and our shake roofs. In the forest, trees should be spaced, and pruned, and we must not object to prescribed burns. This is all necessary because, they say, should an accidental fire occur there may be no resources to help us fight our fire. That’s alarming! As citizens we expect our government to come to our aid during times of crisis. It’s why we pay taxes. At this time a crisis has been declared – a climate crisis. According to the United Nations, one of the best remedies for global warming is to stop cutting down forests and plant more trees.
The purpose of the Community Forest, in holding these meetings, seemed to be to encourage citizens to be frightened of trees but accepting of wildfire. Four important facts about trees not mentioned at the meeting: 1) They produce oxygen. 2) They sequester carbon. 3) They bring in water. 4) They create shade, less heat, more moisture so it doesn’t get so hot and dry.
Whenever I hear a logging company advocating for the need to cut more trees, I consider it a conflict of interest and the opposite is closer to the truth.
Charlene Penner, Roberts Creek
