Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) directors are urging the Sechelt community forest board to commit to stay out of the Chapman and Gray watersheds for a hundred years, but Sechelt Community Projects Inc. said it does not have the legal authority in its forest stewardship plan (FSP) to make a commitment not to log in the watershed beyond five years.
"At the present time I don't think we're prepared to make that kind of commitment," Len Pakulak, chair of Sechelt Community Projects Inc. (SCPI) said at the Oct. 12 SCRD planning committee meeting. Pakulak noted Sechelt Community Projects Inc. would revisit the issue after the five years.
SCRD chair John Rees expressed disappointment in not seeing a hundred year commitment. "We did in fact believe there would be acknowledgement of that in the FSP," Rees said. "Five years is not very long at all."
Pakulak said the board's opinion is that logging can safely be done in watersheds. Lee Turnbull, SCRD director for Area F (West Howe Sound), pointed out that the majority of the community opinion is that they want no logging in the watershed.
SCPI holds the 20,000 cu. m community forest licence, while the District of Sechelt is its shareholder. SCPI operations manager Kevin Davie noted the portion of the community forest licence in the Chapman watershed takes up 20 per cent of the watershed.
"It's probably time for the [SCRD] board to deal with the whole watershed, not just piecemeal it," Davie said.
Gibsons Mayor Barry Janyk pointed out the SCRD board has clearly and consistently been stating its opposition to any industrial activity in all of the watershed. He added if the SCPI board could look only five years ahead, "we're going to obviously have some clash."
"I would ask that you respect our realm of responsibility here," Janyk said, referring to the SCRD's responsibility as community water purveyor.
SCPI board member Peter Moonen noted, "Water quality has been the first and foremost issue" for the SCPI board. "We recognize the importance of this to the entire community. But we are not legally able to plan past five years."
Rees suggested the SCRD could look into the possibility of a land exchange with SCPI's area of tenure in the watershed.
Davie agreed with the idea and noted, "That's part of the two-way process; that's part of building bridges."
At the meeting, SCRD directors supported its natural resource advisory committee's recommendations on the Sechelt community forest FSP. The motion asks SCPI to include public expectations for forest stewardship and to not log or build roads in the Chapman and Gray watersheds. As well, the motion restates the SCRD's opposition to logging in the watershed and highlights the District of Sechelt's signature on the joint watershed management agreement. In addition, the motion opposes logging in species at risk habitat.
The SCRD is also requesting copies of any cut block site plans for the community forest and is asking the SCRD staff to look into whether there are any fisheries-sensitive watersheds within the community forest's tenure area.
