(This letter was sent to B.C. Forests Minister Doug Donaldson and copied to Coast Reporter.)
Minister Donaldson:
We are residents of the Sunshine Coast enjoying life in the Elphinstone, Area E of the Sunshine Coast Regional District. We write to strongly urge you to help us protect Lot 1313 from being logged. The Sunshine Coast has only three per cent protected forests compared to 9 to 14 per cent in the rest of British Columbia. This is an area of our community we believe is very precious for the following reasons:
• This forest is beside a public road at a low elevation, therefore allowing people of all ages – young children to older citizens – to walk the trail and experience the wonder of the forest that comprises very large 110-year-old Douglas firs resembling old growth.
• The area below DL 1313 is in the Agricultural Land Reserve and has several established working farms providing locally grown food. These are at risk of flooding if the trees are removed. Locally grown food is critical to many here on the Sunshine Coast.
• There is great biodiversity of flora and fauna in this forest, including owls, bats, ravens, eagles and trout in the streams.
Logging DL 1313 is likely to cause some flooding and erosion of the land below and negative effects on wells in the wet season. Land and streams and some wells may become too dry in the dry summer season because the trees that held so much water will be gone. The Sunshine Coast has two million acres of forest where logging does not pose such risks. DL 1313 has only 118 acres of forest and has the potential for causing much harm to the nearby area, its homes and farms. We know that conserving forests is an NDP government initiative and that is why we urge you to support the preservation of this forest now and into the future.
Please help us protect this forest gem in our community.
Lucie McKiernan and Ron Pyatt, Elphinstone
