Editor:
Why would anyone care about cutting down some trees when the Sunshine Coast is blessed with so many trees and they grow back so fast?
In part of the Wilson Creek watershed that may be logged, there are some great old trees that survived the 1860s fire and a mixture of yew, cascara, sitka spruce, hemlock, pine, alder and fir in the forest. In the places where there wasn't much soil, I could see that there was as much mass underground in the root system as there was above the ground. These trees hold the banks, and the vegetation naturally filters the water.
There are many old growth veteran fir trees probably more than 500 years old and some even up to 1,000 years old. Obviously it would take this long for this type of forest to regenerate. Also, while a logging company may say they will not fall the veteran trees, if the forest around them is destroyed, then leaving the old veterans will not provide the forest cover required by many species that live there.
The entire Wilson Creek watershed is already over-logged and there are several slides along the steep creek bank and blow downs from the clear cuts beside the forest. There will surely be more if the forest is removed.
The Community Forest has the licence to log in this area and answers to the District of Sechelt. The company has a contract to log an average of 20,000 m3/year. Given what is happening in the rest of the province, let's prevent any more slides and keep our great-tasting water naturally filtered. Water is the first priority when deciding what to do with the forest.
Sechelt councillors, can we count on you? I think so! Thank you in advance.
Tella Sametz, Sechelt
