Editor:
It is with great concern that I read the latest full-page advertisement (Feb. 28) from the Sunshine Coast Community Forest (SCCF) regarding “Trail Closures” in the Halfmoon Bay operating area. Among the affected trails is the Baby Beaver Trail, which will be significantly impacted by SCCF’s Block HM64 logging plans. A new logging road is set to cut through the trail, and the surrounding area will be subject to extensive clearcutting. While part of the trail will remain in a retention area, the rest will be, to put it mildly, heavily altered.
The name of this trail is telling, isn’t it? It suggests that someone observed a young beaver traversing this section of the forest, inspiring its name. If you’ve had the chance to walk it, you’ll know that the trail connects two vital aquatic habitats: Beaver Pond and Crowston Lake under an intact canopy.
It is highly likely that a beaver population inhabits this area, with individuals moving between these water bodies for reasons known only to them. But what self-respecting beaver will now venture across a clearcut landscape and an industrial-scale logging road to reach the other side?
SCCF’s commitment to Ecosystem-Based Management supposedly includes valuing wildlife and recreation. These are critical factors in designing a meaningful conservation network. So why isn’t the Baby Beaver Trail being placed within a Conservation Reserve, where it would meet both of these objectives? I urge SCCF to provide an answer.
Sincerely,
Ross Muirhead, ELF: Forest Campaigner
