Editor:
Re: “Park could limit public access” by Glen Bonderud, Letters, Nov. 4.
The District of Sech-elt’s Community Forest president stated his unbalanced bias clearly last week in thanking Minister of Forests Steve Thomson for publicly denouncing the SCRD’s position regarding a cohesive park on Mt. Elphinstone.
His divisive statements include the notion that loggers themselves are being portrayed in a poor light. Associating the death of a local logger/firefighter and a fire built on a road in rainy October is both desperate and insensitive. Another statement implies that if a park is created we lose “family jobs.” What we will lose, in fact, is another rare piece of intact forest that gives Coast families (the ones without quads and dirt bikes) an accessible forest with a future that does not include being clear-cut.
Further fear mongering somehow links a park being a threat to our local water supply. We all know that healthy, intact forests feed our supply and mitigate flooding, but do most residents know that a large percentage of the Community Forest’s tenure is in the Chapman Creek watershed? Clear-cut forests retain no rainfall and that is a clear threat to all our water. In stooping to kiss the hem of the minister’s robes, this logging company turns all priorities into one: money. Rational people know that logging can be a sustainable endeavour if guided by science and common sense. Protesting an accessible integrated park that is supported by a democratic local process is nothing more than posturing to a ministry official in Victoria.
This SCCF board would do well to support a park system on Elphinstone’s slopes. It takes more than handouts of cash to build support and good will.
Gord Bell, Halfmoon Bay
