From Donna McMahon’s newsletter (subscribe here):
I’d like to extend a big thank you to the volunteers with the Elphinstone Community Association (ECA) for their ongoing efforts to advocate for protection of our watershed. They invited staff from BC Timber Sales to present at the March 19 ECA meeting on plans for cutblock TA0519 on Mt. Elphinstone. It was an informative presentation and the question period afterward was conducted civilly, even though many local residents have strong feelings on industrial activity in the recharge area of our aquifer.
Also big thanks to local resident Angela Kroning who afterward toured BCTS staff around the Chaster estuary and Whittaker Creek washout to impress upon them the seriousness of our local stormwater issues.
Personally, although I am happy to see BCTS pilot a selective harvesting approach to logging (rather than clearcutting), I was very concerned to learn that they do not plan any hydrological monitoring of their cutblocks. If nobody collects this data, we have no way of determining whether future logging has a positive or negative impact on our aquifer and creeks.
I hope to join a delegation to meet with the Minister of Water Land and Resource Stewardship in May to pursue this topic further. Stay tuned.
