The Coast community, including residents, local politicians, environmentalists and forest recreation users, streamed in to a public forum last Thursday with B.C. Timber Sales (BCTS).
The meeting opened with a panel from BCTS, outlining its role as a separate entity within the Ministry of Forests.
"We don't log. We sell to private enterprises that do the logging," said Ken Matthews, BCTS's Strait of Georgia timber sales manager.
BCTS was established in 2003 to set market pricing for timber to create an open, competitive market, Matthews explained. BCTS is not a licensee but rather is part of the provincial government, with one of its roles being to lay out cutblocks and plan roads, he added.
"We don't direct day-to-day operations, but we do monitor and take action if needed," Matthews said. The Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) invited BCTS to speak at the forum. The 200-seat theatre at Chatelech Secondary School in Sechelt nearly reached its capacity.
The BCTS panel discussed short- and long-term plans for the Strait of Georgia timber supply area, specifically Mt. Elphinstone.
Once the floor opened up for questions, a few members of the audience raised concerns over a potential repeat of a 1983 debris flow from Clough Creek that flooded Hwy. 101 and destroyed homes.
"This is in store for us," Ken Dalgleish said. Dalgleish and other downstream residents have filed four separate complaints to the Forest Practices Board (FPB) about the proposed cutblocks in Mt. Elphinstone. Slope stability, public safety and water quality are at issue in the complaints.
Another FPB complaint deals with the presence of endangered tailed frogs and rare Sitka spruce trees in the Grauman Road cutblock. "You're cutting those cutblocks because you can, not because it's a good idea," said Donna Shugar, who has also filed a complaint.
Within the cutblocks, BCTS sets aside areas for tailed frogs, stream reserves and old growth management areas that won't be logged, said BCTS planner Rob Martin. The cutblocks leave 10 per cent of the area for wildlife patches, he added. When mapping out cutblocks, BCTS staff want to minimize the number of stream crossings and the use of residential roads, Martin said. BCTS staff also do fieldwork to map the areas. "The intent is to protect as much as possible," Martin said.
The cutblocks border Elphinstone Park. Mt. Elphinstone is also a popular area for mushroom pickers and mountain bikers.
Adrian Belshaw, SCRD director for Roberts Creek, said there is a nine to one margin of people in Roberts Creek who want the park protected.
"My community wants to be in control of that park area," he said.
Matthews said moving the cutblock is not an option. The provincial government designated an area for a park, and the rest of the area is for forest use, he said.
"The struggle over land use designation doesn't start or stop at BCTS," Matthews said.
Nicholas Simons, MLA for Powell River-Sunshine Coast, asked the panel what effect the full auditorium would have on their future plans for the area. He also asked if the Ministry of Forests would consider putting in a freeze on the area while the Coast goes through the process of getting a provincial land use plan. Matthews said he wasn't aware the Coast was starting the process to get a land use plan through the province.
"If the government decides to open up an LRMP [Land Resource Management Plan] and put a moratorium on the area, we will abide," Matthews said. But BCTS will go ahead with its plans unless the government decides otherwise, he added.
"We don't think we're eliminating non-forest resources or recreation," Matthews said. "We didn't come here to say we'll stop logging, but we will listen and work with you."
While loggers will have to accept a conservative cut because forest protection values were taken into account, forest recreation users will have to accept there will be some cuts, he said.
"It's got to be a balance that we're going to have to find," Matthews said.
Roberts Creek resident Renee Hope told the panel she was disappointed to hear them say they will log as planned while also saying they will listen to the public.
Dan Bouman, Sunshine Coast Conservation Associa-tion executive director, said the conflicts on Mt. Elphinstone are magnified everywhere in the forest district. He said previous decision makers failed to accommodate the public in forest planning, and he sees an evolving regime of forest development planning.
"I think it is possible to undertake resource development the province wants to see, if the full range of forest values are met," he said. Gibsons Coun. Andrea Goldsmith told the panel it seemed the public's input was having little effect. She said since the BCTS's job is to maximize profits for the province, the value it is giving up in tourism and the area's biodiversity far exceeds the profits from logging.
"We want more control over what decisions are made here locally," Goldsmith said.
BCTS plans to have annual meetings with the public, Matthews said. More information about BCTS's Strait of Georgia business area can be found at www.for.gov.bc.ca/bcts/areas/TSG.htm.
