Following a delegation to Revelstoke Council on March 12, Wildsight Revelstoke’s concerns were returned to council at the April 9 meeting.
Chief among the concerns presented on March 12 were that the forest industry is changing rapidly and dramatically as are societal expectations, resulting in the need to adapt to a new future.
“The old paradigm of logging superseding other values is no longer acceptable and there are economic alternatives to protect these forests,” noted the report to council. “We are asking Revelstoke Community Forest Corporation (RCFC) that no cutting permit or road permit moves forward on Goldstream CP 310 Block L before a field trip happens in the spring or summer.”
Wildsight also asked council to explore alternative economic models and ways to manage the Tree Farm Licence (TFL) for the long-term benefit of the ecosystem and the community.
In the follow-up letter to council, signed by Kristi Chorney, president of Wildsight Revelstoke and Eddie Petryshen, a conservation specialist with the organization, Wildsight described the cut block as an ancient forest.
“We would also like to thank the mayor for the invitation to a site visit in the spring, which we believe will help situate and lend greater understanding by both parties to the issue,” read the letter, expressing concerns that permits for road building and cutting block 310-L would be decided upon in the next few weeks. “From our experience, once the permits have been granted, logging is legally mandated to proceed.”
In their letter, Chorney and Petryshen reiterated their request that a decision to submit permit applications not be made until after the site visit in the spring to allow for further collaborative dialogue.
As well as being an old forest with trees more than 400 years old that support a diversity of species, Wildsight maintains the area contains significant carbon stocks.
“Once logged or fragmented by roads and skid trails, these ecosystems, and their benefits, cannot be restored,” noted the letter. “The proposed road will fragment the stand, with impacts for the broader region as there is a plethora of evidence that highlights the importance of connectivity, and connectivity corridors, to wildlife, species at risk, ecosystem function and resilience.”
In receiving the correspondence, Mayor Gary Sulz noted that deriving carbon credits from the community forest will not be possible until the province changes current legislation and that a visit from Wildsight would be set up once the snow has disappeared from the forest.
“RCFC will continue working with the government on forest management he said. “And, we’ll get Wildsight out to see what we’re doing.”
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