The logging is done on the Begbie Bench area, but load restrictions on the road means that a big pile of logs remains in the area that used to be the site of the lower Quarry trail.
“We’re currently waiting for the load restrictions to come off so we can remove the rest of the wood,” said Ashley Ladyman, a forester with the logging company Stella-Jones. “I’m hoping first week of May.”
The logging, which erupted in controversy in the fall, saw two 15-hectare cut blocks logged north of Begbie Creek over the winter. Two similar-sized cut blocks were logged south of Begbie Creek, however it was the north ones that were most controversial as they intersected a popular recreation area. There is a cut block where the lower Quarry trail was, and another a few hundred metres down the road just past the entrance to Yew R Here.
The logging has destroyed the lower Quarry trail, which will need to be completely rebuilt. There was some logging on bits of Hemlock Grove and Chair trails, and Sex on the Beach and Foreplay were also affected slightly.
Stella Jones and the Revelstoke Cycling Association met in late March to discuss the situation. The two parties have a memorandum of understanding outlining how they’ll work together in their joint tenure areas. They both said they want to get in and rebuild the affected trails as soon as possible, but that wouldn’t likely be until May when load restrictions are lifted on the road and Stella-Jones can complete its work in the area.
“There’s nothing we can do until it’s not a landing with a whole load of wood on it,” said Keith McNab, referring to the Quarry trail.
Ladyman said Stella-Jones would help with rebuilding the trail, whether it was through financial or in-kind assistance.
“We’ll figure out a plan on what it’s going to take to get it rehabbed and have it done as fast as possible,” he said. “We want to be out of there … Without the restrictions we would have been out of there already.”
