There is contention over two of the Coast's watersheds being included in a proposed community forest tenure. The District of Sechelt is moving forward with its application for a community forest licence, hoping the issue can be resolved at a later date.
"It doesn't make sense to leave these areas [the Chapman and Grey Creek watersheds] open for other companies to log. We can manage our problems and we can manage them better," Sechelt Mayor Cam Reid said this week in an interview with Coast Reporter.
Under the District's plan, the Chapman Creek watershed would not be logged for at least 100 years. Reid said there is no push to log in the Grey Creek watershed, although logging in both watersheds may be necessary at some time.
"There are issues that would require some selective logging, for example, a bug infestation or a fire hazard situation," Reid said.
The District of Sechelt is currently applying for a community forest licence that would see 20,000 cubic metres cut from a 10,800-hectare section of forest annually.
The area was identified by the Ministry of Forests that invited the District of Sechelt to apply for a licence on Sept. 20, 2004.
However, about 50 per cent of that area is within the Chapman and Grey Creek watersheds, which provide much of the Coast with drinking water.
The district has said the Chapman Creek watershed would be zoned mature growth and not logged for at least 100 years under their plan, but the Grey Creek watershed, which provides about 15 per cent of the Coast's water, could be logged after five years.
The Sunshine Coast Conservation Association (SCCA) has taken issue with the inclusion of these watersheds. Executive director Dan Bouman said his group has "wide-spread public support" for their position.
"We are saying that logging in the watershed is not OK, ever," Bouman said. "Every time this issue has gone to the public, they say they don't want any logging in the watershed. It's been said over and over again."
He feels the District is not listening to community concerns. His group has been writing letters to the Minister of Forests and the advisory committee that would give the plan its stamp of approval, asking them not to grant Sechelt's licence.
"We're going to fight this plan until it is changed to reflect what the public wants," Bouman said.
The SCCA has made presentations to the Sunshine Coast Regional District and the Town of Gibsons outlining their concerns. Both of those governmental bodies pulled their support for the project.
Reid hopes these governments will come back to the table if the licence is approved, helping the district formulate a management plan that would satisfy all of the public's concerns.
One of the answers to the watershed issue may be the implementation of a watershed management plan that could protect the watersheds and take them out of the community forest area.
"If that happens, the ministry would give us another area in exchange for the watersheds, and that would be just great," Reid said.
He emphasized the District's desire to protect the Coast's drinking water and noted the area being offered to the District has been a contentious one for the Ministry of Forests for years.
"It is not news to the ministry that there are divided opinions here," Reid said.
That controversy is one of the reasons the ministry asked the District of Sechelt to apply for a licence -to give the community a chance to manage their own resource and mediate conflict in the forest.
Bouman says the district got off on the wrong foot, not soliciting enough public input as to what the community forest would look like.
"They have not had proper public consultation. Public consultation is more than just telling the public what you are going to do," said Bouman, noting the District held only two advertised public meetings with Coast residents while formulating its plan.
Reid said there were over a dozen open meetings surrounding the community forest, although he admits only a few were advertised.
He says the more "meaningful public consultation" (that would outline what areas would be cut, when it would happen and what other uses could be included in the community forest) will come after the licence is granted.
"It's a lot like a plan to subdivide a property. The owner comes in and asks for a rezoning, and then once that process is complete we move into preparing the actual details of the subdivision," explained Sechelt planning director Ray Parfitt.
Recently the Sechelt Indian Band endorsed Sechelt's plan in a letter to the Minister of Forests and Range saying, "The District of Sechelt and Sechelt Indian Band respectfully request your assistance in expediting the consideration of this application."
Chief Stan Dixon signed the letter urging the minister to approve the plan on Nov. 7. The District expects a response sometime in December.
