by Wes Bingham Sierra Club, Malaspina Group, Powell River, is very concerned about Western Forest Products’ Draft Management Plan 9 for Tree Farm Licence 39, Block 1, Powell River.
First, we must all keep in mind that:
• Tree Farm Licence 39, Block 1, just behind Powell River, has a total area of 154,000 hectares.
• 69,000 hectares is productive forest. Western Forest Products Inc. has the exclusive licence to harvest it under provincial regulation.
• This is public land and the public has a legitimate interest in the public forest.
• In 125 years the forest primeval has been reduced to the present overcut state.
• Tree farm licences were created to supply local industries with wood and create jobs.
• Now, most of the logs harvested from the land are exported raw to other countries where other people produce valuable products to create wealth.
• Most of the remaining old-growth trees are in areas that could not be harvested by conventional methods.
• The 250-year plan is based on computer modelling, not from actual land-based inventory.
• Planning for short-term profit is easier than for sustainability.
The public review period began on July 22, 2013 and ended on September 20, less than two months in summer when people would not suspect that a plan significantly affecting Powell River’s economy would be released and moved toward finalization.
We request that the public review period be reinstated, that a significant effort be made to inform the public and that a public meeting in Powell River be held. Citizen participation is paramount to a healthy democracy.
We are very concerned by Western Forest Products’ plan to eliminate a significant portion of the very oldest trees in the next 10 years, and “liquidate” them in 20 years. After a recent increase of 125 per cent in the allowable annual cut (AAC), Western now plans an increase of 16.4 per cent and to take half of the cut from non-conventional harvest—mainly old growth harvested by helicopter. Only 11 hectares were reserved for recreation/tourism in the old plan and there is no more in the new.
Each of these is destructive to the long-term economy of Powell River.
Only a remnant of Powell River’s once mighty forest-based industry remains. However, it is possible that new forest-based industries producing value-added wood products could develop in Powell River, employing a significant number of people and forming the economic base for a renewed and prosperous community. This could only happen if there was a dependable supply of timber available for use in Powell River. The rapid increase in harvest of the last few years and continuing increases reduce the forest’s ability to provide a substantial and consistent timber supply.
We, therefore, recommend that Western Forest Products does a more accurate and trustworthy, land-based inventory of the forest, stops cutting trees older than 250 years, greatly reduces the AAC, and increases the allotment for recreation. Please invite the citizens of Powell River to a pubic meeting to explain the plan.
Wes Bingham, Sierra Club, Malaspina Group, Powell River.
