Editor:
I read in the April 11 edition of this paper, an advertisement from Sunshine Coast Community Forest (SCCF) inviting readers to have a look at comments they received during their recent Forest Stewardship Plan (FSP) engagement process. The FSP was sent out as a “referral” to various entities in the surrounding community which means a direct invitation was sent to them to read and comment on the document. SCCF would then consider and adjust any operational planning from the input as part of this required public process. The FSP sets out how the government expects SCCF to manage the forests as a public resource.
Referrals were sent to 3 x government agencies, like the SCRD: No comment. Referrals sent to 2 x First Nations: No comment. Referrals sent to 5 x Forest Tenure Holders: No comment. Referral sent to 1 x Guide Outfitter: No Comment. Referrals to sent 27 x Special Interest Groups: No Comments. That category includes all Community Associations where SCCF operations take place, and other groups such as the Tetrahedron Outdoor Club, Sunshine Coast Conservation Association, Elphinstone Hikers.
SCCF received 3 x unsolicited comments by the general public, including our organization. SCCF doesn’t consider ELF a special interest group so we never received the “referral,” however we did submit a comprehensive document on how we thought SCCF could improve operations, for example this particular item: (iii) propose any reductions that are necessary to facilitate the management and conservation of non-timber resource values in the Community Forest Agreement area, including visual quality, biological diversity, soils, recreation resources, cultural heritage resources, range land, wildlife, water and fish habitats.
Earlier, we had encouraged SCCF to host a town hall meeting on this complex FSP subject, but they decided to restrict it to advertisements and the online space.
At the end of the online document it’s stated: “No changes or amendments were made to the FSP as a result of comments received during the public review and comment period.”
Ross Muirhead, ELF
