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Can’t just follow vocal minority on municipal forest

A community forest such as the MFR has the potential to provide sustainable benefits
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Can’t just follow vocal minority on municipal forest

Dear mayor and council:

Re: Public comment regarding logging in the municipal forest reserve:

The citizens of North Cowichan and surrounding areas are indeed blessed to have the municipal forest reserve in their backyard. This rare and unique resource has provided citizens with a multitude of benefits not available to most communities.

A community forest such as the MFR has the potential to provide sustainable benefits in terms of local employment and generation of revenue while providing many of the social and ecological values of importance to the community.

Since inception, the harvest of forest products from the MFR has provided economic benefits. Wood products have been provided to local mills and various contractors/small companies have found employment opportunities whether it be related to engineering, planning, development and maintenance of roads, timber harvesting firewood salvage, silviculture (planting, fertilization, deer protection, brushing out growing seedlings, invasive species control, the harvest of secondary forest products — salal, boughs), or fire protection. Proceeds from these activities have supported the forestry program and ultimately flowed back into municipality revenues benefiting taxpayers.

The recently harvested areas are small scale and tastefully done, opening up scenic views and providing a level of diversity into what was, since the outdated large scale clear cut logging of the mid 20st century, a sea of homogeneous second growth forest. Small clear cut areas are designed to look like natural openings and despite appearing bare and a bit shocking immediately after logging, green up very quickly with the prompt planting of tree seedlings and rapid growth of natural plants and shrubs. A drive through the MFR is a testament to the care and attention this forest has received and clearly demonstrates the potential of this incredible renewable resource to prosper and continue to provide in perpetuity when properly managed.

As with other working community forests, any forest closures are temporary and typically associated with active machinery or high fire hazard. At any given time citizens are free to enjoy the majority of the reserve to pursue a wide range of interests such as mountain biking or hiking/sightseeing.

Forest resource management is very challenging as natural resource values and objectives often conflict with one another. Decisions made in favor of one objective are often at the expense of another. Unfortunately it isn’t possible to maximize all resource values simultaneously and make everyone happy. There will always be some level of controversy and disagreement. The forest management team at the MFR has done an excellent job balancing the public demands and deserves to be recognized, supported and acknowledged for the good work they have done.

As far as halting all logging while this controversy goes on, there are potential forest health, fuel loading (fire risk), wood value, reforestation and safety issues typically associated with salvage projects involving wind thrown and/or burned wood. It may not be the best decision to delay this work while the political process works out the bigger picture.

In terms of the future management direction of the MFR, it has been said that the MFR is owned by the people of North Cowichan and that as such the future should be determined by the people. I fully support this comment but also believe it should never be translated into following the direction of the vocal minority. I would like to see the future of the reserve determined by the broader community. This would involve clear presentation of the various land use options in an unbiased manner providing sufficient factual information to allow the voter to make informed, balanced decisions.

Thank you for the opportunity for comment.

Sherry Johnstone

Duncan