City faces criticism from resident

City of Powell River Council was told that many citizens believe city officials could be doing more to prevent the logging of Lot 450.

At the Thursday, May 21, council meeting, during question period at the end of the meeting, Ellen Gould said part of the frustration over Lot 450 is that a sector of the community believes if there’s a will, there’s a way.

“Being told that the issue is not in the city’s jurisdiction is very frustrating for people,” she said.

Gould said that while council is at arm’s length from the PRSC Limited Partnership lands, owned jointly by the city and Tla’amin (Sliammon) Nation, she asked whether council thinks those parcels of land, where Island Timberlands has the tree harvesting rights, should be clear cut. While the city and the first nation own the property, Island Timberlands has the rights to the trees.

Mayor Dave Formosa said he has been told by Scott Randolph, PRSC manager, that as with Millennium Park, if the city wants the trees, it has to pay for them. The trees belong to Island Timberlands and have to be purchased from it to spare the trees. Formosa added that PRSC has not received a final cutting plan from Island Timberlands or an environmental plan.

“The only logging they are doing is on their own private managed forest land,” he said.

Formosa has walked most of that land near McFall and McGuffie creeks, and from what he understands, Island Timberlands is not doing “too bad a job.”

He said that the city has worked diligently within its means to protect trees on the land it owns on upper and lower Millennium Park. He thought that part of that forest would have to be logged to provide money to pay for all of the trees, but every tree was purchased and the recent financial donation by Powell River Community Forest Ltd. means that every tree will be exempt from harvesting.

The community is still paying for the Millennium Park land. Formosa said the city was fortunate in buying about $4 million worth of property, which now constitutes Millennium Park, for $1.2 million.

Formosa said because the Lot 450 property Island Timberlands is now logging is privately held by it, he can only hope it has an environmental plan and is sticking with it.

“I don’t know what we can do,” he said.

As for the PRSC lands, Formosa said they were purchased, in partnership with Tla’amin, to help revitalize the economy. He said there are two ventures looking at industrial park land in the lower section. The matter of the trees will then be the responsibility of the new landowner and whoever has rights to the trees.

“We need to stimulate the economy, we need tax participation and we need jobs,” he said. “I wish we were celebrating that we’ve got Millennium Park, we’ve got the trees. Instead, people are all upset.”

Formosa pointed to the fact that the public had been active in trying to stop the harvesting of trees and is serving as the watchdog of the people.

Gould said that’s not the citizens’ role. She said sending in biologists has been on their dime, not the city’s. She knows the privately held Lot 450 lands are not the city’s jurisdiction but the opponents to logging are looking for the city to advocate on their behalf.

Formosa said if the city learned that trees were about to be taken down illegally, with nests, et cetera, that sends huge alarms. He pledged that if Island Timberlands were doing anything illegally he would personally phone Darshan Sihota, Island Timberlands’ president, and ask what is going on.

Councillor Maggie Hathaway said council is listening to all who are speaking about the matter. A letter needs to be written if Island Timberlands is breaking the law, she said, and sent to the forest company, as well as the ministry of forests, lands and natural resource operations.

“We could certainly put them on notice that it’s been brought to our attention what is happening,” she said. “If we have evidence, there is no reason not to write to them and say this is not going to happen on PRSC land.”