Hikers who found ribbons on huge old growth Douglas Fir trees on the slope overlooking Cathedral Grove are worried Island Timberlands is going to cut them down even though the forest company has denied the trees are about to be logged.
The Arrowsmith Parks and Land Use Council (APLUC) issued a press release last week stating that Island Timberlands has made clear its intention to harvest on the borders of Cathedral Grove and the boundary of MacMillan Park.
On Friday the forest company responded saying it has no immediate plans to harvest in the area and is wondering why the group is making the accusations.
Island Timberlands manager Morgan Kennah said the press release has false accusations and she said the fact that flagging tape has been found on trees in the area doesn’t mean they are going to be logged.
She admitted the company was taken a little off guard when new ribbons were reported in the park because she said they were not hung by their crews.
“We don’t have any records of our people doing anything in the area in the last couple of weeks,” she stated.
Berni Pearce a member of Friends of Cathedral Grove and the APLUC agreed that their group had not contacted Island Timberlands about their suspicions of imminent logging and admitted that is because of their ongoing struggle with the forest company.
“It is a reasonable conclusion that when a logging company marks a tree with a ribbon and a code that is has something to do with harvesting,” she said.
Read more in Tuesday’s print edition of The News.
