The Day Road Forest is Threatened – AGAIN
Neighbourhoods of Roberts Creek are once again faced with the awful prospect of clear-cut logging adjacent to their properties. Residents living in the Locker, Grauman and Day Rd areas have been embattled with large swaths of forests emptied out of their trees by Island Timberlands (IT) based in Nanaimo. Now, it appears that IT is conducting timber cruising in a forest area located at the end of Day Rd. The forest is privately owned by IT and managed under the Private Managed Forest Lands. Planning under this regime has a lower standard of regulations applied to them in comparison to Crown lands.
In 2012, ELF along with residents confronted IT staff warning them not to proceed with any plans to log what has been referred to as ‘The Day Rd Forest’ on District Lot (DL) 2674 due to its importance as a high traffic recreational and wildlife corridor. Since 2012, IT has logged half of DL 2674, half of DL 2505, 100% of DL 2387 and 3378. Previous to 2012, IT logged 100% of DL 2439. All these areas border an expanded Mt. Elphinstone Provincial park. All logging has been clear-cut method where the only value considered in these forests is the standing timber.
“Now it appears that IT is planning a bold move to take out remaining stands of amazing forests in DL 2674. One local resident contacted ELF several weeks ago when she asked an IT timber cruiser what he was doing in the forest and he replied ‘Oh just looking around.” Comments Ross Muirhead of ELF, “I bet the cruiser felt embarrassed about being caught spaying painting magnificent trees as part of a renewed timber inventory. Considering all of the clear-cut logging that IT has done in this urban interface zone, it’s shameful and downright greedy to be considering ripping out this forest which is close to many people’s hearts.”
“This forest shows several old-growth features and has a rare red cedar-sword fern plant community which is blue-listed, but is now recommended by the Forest Practices Board to be red-listed since this forest type is at serious risk to being lost. Trees on the edge of Roberts Creek have been tagged to be logged” Hans Penner says also of ELF. “A magnanimous gesture from IT would be donate this last section of DL 2674 to the Sunshine Coast Regional District to be dedicated as parkland.”
ELF will work with local residents to come up with creative measures and solutions to see ‘The Day Rd Forest’ protected.
Recent Press Release: PR IT logging plans The Day Rd Forest 2018 (2)
In the meantime, take a moment and tell IT to give back to the community by conserving this special forest and hand it over the SCRD. https://islandtimberlands.com/contact.aspx
To View the Campaign Page that includes a video, more pictures and a historical record of the fight to save this community forest click the link below:
Recent Pictures
