Editor:
Re: "Coastal old growth parcels protected" (Coast Reporter, July 27).
According to the Ministry of Forest, Lands and Natural Resources, new areas of coastal old growth parcels are to be protected in Jervis Inlet, Bute Inlet and islands in Desolation Sound. That is important because it provides critical habitat for species such as marbled murrelets, a sea bird that nests in old growth. Thank you!
We need to also recognize and protect old growth habitat for communities, places that our elders, children and families can easily access.
I got into my Toyota Echo and drove up in 20 minutes to walk barefoot in old growth moss and trees. Most people don't realize that in old growth forests the undergrowth is a plush, soft carpet of moss and hundreds of years of composting. The green floor is filled with plants that you do not see in second growth, which is where most of our trails exist now. These small patches of low elevation old growth are rare places that people can walk, study and reflect in. They are living classrooms and temples that inspire us to understand how a forest works over time, with its own set of natural laws.
The proposed cutback by BC Timber Sales on Mount Elphinstone is worth much more standing than the pennies it is being sold for. There are values that the Ministry in Victoria and the forest office in Campbell River are not taking into account.
Denise Lagassé
Halfmoon Bay
