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Environmentalists aim to block logging

May 7 2015/in News Coverage

An environmental group based in Powell River intends to halt logging after releasing its bird nest assessment on Lot 450.

Pebble in the Pond Environmental Society released the report Monday, May 4.

“What it proves conclusively is that there are very high wildlife values there that are threatened by this logging activity and more caution is needed,” said Judy Tyabji Wilson, Pebble in the Pond president.

Tyabji Wilson added that on the basis of the report Pebble in the Pond’s board of directors has decided to file an injunction against Island Timberlands. “We will be taking court action against them so that we can at least stop the logging until proper studies are done,” she said. “Time is of the essence.”

Island Timberlands began harvesting trees on the company’s private managed forest land in Lot 450 on April 22.

The group is looking to hire a lawyer and file the injunction this week in Powell River court.

Because of the size of Lot 450 many local lawyers are only “one degree of separation” away from working with clients on economic development initiatives that may be in some way related. “The complication is that it looks like all the local lawyers are conflicted,” Tyabji Wilson said, adding that they will be looking out of town from representation.

Guy Monty, a field ornithologist and wildlife technician specializing in birds, from Vancouver Island, prepared the brief study after spending Thursday, April 30, in Lot 450.

“The site visit in Lot 450 was woefully inadequate in covering Lot 450 in terms of locating even a fraction of the currently active nests,” Monty wrote in the report.

Despite the limited time, Monty did locate four active nests in addition to evidence confirming nesting of four other species. He also noted two active nests on the area’s boundaries.

“A large number of birds which enjoy both provincial and federal protections during nesting, including some which are designated as conservation concerns, nest within Lot 450,” Monty added.

The report makes a number of recommendations including that no trees be harvested in the area between March 15 to August 15, nesting season for both local and migratory birds. If harvesting does occur during that period, proper nest searches should be conducted by trained, experienced wildlife technicians. And then if nests are found that site and species-specific buffers be established to protect the bird’s nests and those buffers be respected as zones off limits to workers.

Monty notes that in the province most songbirds receive buffers of between 20 to 50 metres in size while raptors, owls, herons and birds such as common nighthawks require buffers of between 50 to 1,000 metres.

Also recommended is that a general site assessment of Lot 450 be conducted by qualified professionals before any industrial activities occur there.

Rally set to save green space

Powell River residents concerned about the logging in Lot 450 have banded together to organize a march and rally to raise awareness about tree harvesting inside the city limits.

According to the group’s website the Save Lot 450 campaign is not against logging or the logging contractors or employees doing the work. Nor is it against the City of Powell River or PRSC Limited Partnership, the group that owns much of the land slated for harvest. What the group wants is to protect “vital green space and ecosystems in the centre the city.”

It is concerned that Lot 450, which runs between Townsite and Cranberry to Westview, excluding Millennium Park, will be clear-cut if nothing is done to stop Island Timberlands, the company with the timber rights.

The group is organizing a protest walk starting from Brooks Secondary School at noon on Tuesday, May 5.

The group, as well as members from Pebble in the Pond Environmental Society, is encouraging the public to attend the city council meeting at 7 pm on Thursday, May 7, when the bird nest assessment will be presented to mayor and councillors.

In addition, the group is also organizing a public rally at noon on Saturday, May 9, at Willingdon Beach gravel lot (Marine Avenue and Alberni Street). This will be a large event with music, information, workshops, sign making and a protest walk.

B.C. coastal community calls for end to logging in city

May 6 2015/in News Coverage

Powell River was founded by the timber industry, but the small Sunshine Coast community about 145 kilometres northwest of Vancouver is in an uproar now that loggers are cutting trees right in the heart of the city.

Since loggers started clearing roads through the urban forest a few weeks ago, there have been packed public meetings and threats of an injunction by an environmental group. More than 1,000 people have signed an online petition calling for an end to the logging of what is known as Lot 450.

Island Timberlands, which holds timber rights to several hundred hectares of forest land owned by the community, has announced plans to cut the area over the next several months.

Judi Tyabji, president of Pebble in the Pond Environmental Society, said it would be like allowing some of the big parks in Metro Vancouver to be logged.

“If Stanley Park had its back to the wilderness so it was an intact wilderness corridor, that’s Lot 450,” she said.

Ms. Tyabji, a former Liberal MLA and Powell River municipal councillor, said her group will go to court seeking an injunction to block logging on the basis of a study that “shows the undeniable wildlife values on that land.”

She said the Lot 450 lands connect to a forest that runs up from the city waterfront into the mountains behind Powell River, creating a key wildlife corridor.

In 2006, the City of Powell River, Tla’Amin First Nation and Catalyst Paper Corp. worked out a deal that transferred ownership of several hundred hectares of company lands within municipal boundaries to the city.

But the timber rights were held separately, and cutting rights on Lot 450 ended up with Island Timberlands, based on Vancouver Island.

Ms. Tyabji said Powell River, founded in the early 1900s to service a pulp mill, has long depended on the logging industry, but the economy has changed in recent years and people are not going to sit quietly while the green space in the middle of town is clear cut.

“Even loggers are upset about this,” she said. “Certainly, people in Powell River are used to forestry, but Powell River has diversified dramatically [away from logging in recent years]. One of our larger employers now is an international music academy. … We get people coming from all over the world for the canoe routes here. The whole idea of wildlife value [is high].”

She said having a forest in the middle of town “has defined Powell River,” and people are ready to fight to preserve the wooded area, which is laced with popular hiking trails.

Company officials did not respond to requests for comment on Monday, but Island Timberlands said in a statement published in the local paper recently that it plans to log the land carefully.

“Island Timberlands employs qualified professionals to ensure our forest activities have considered a full range of public values including but not limited to localized riparian areas and recreational trails,” the company stated. “Island Timberlands recognizes this activity will be audible to some of our residential neighbours. We will work within the confines of the city bylaw on noise disturbance to best maintain the peace and enjoyment during our operations.”

Powell River mayor Dave Formosa declined to discuss the issue on Monday, saying he would be in meetings all day “arm wrestling” with Island Timberlands.

“It’s very complicated,” he said of the logging dispute. “I’m [in] back-to-back meetings, and I’m still in the middle of dealing with this issue.”

He said he hoped to have an announcement on Tuesday.