Editor, The Times:
I write regarding your article on the Upper Clearwater Meeting on Sunday, June 17. In your article, you quoted a statement attributed to me that was out of context, thereby missing completely the point I was addressing.
What I read, and announced as such, was a statement by D. James Munn, who was the district manager of the Clearwater Forest District and a Ministry of Forests decision maker who agreed with the terms of the Guiding Principles for the Management of the Land and Resources in the Upper Clearwater Valley. Munn’s statement was part of a May 19, 1999 letter he wrote to all participants in the Upper Clearwater Public Input Process. At our June 17, 2012 meeting, I mentioned that I had copies of Munn’s letter and the Guiding Principles available for anyone who wished a copy. I thought you might pick up one.
The part of Munn’s letter I read follows: “I believe that through this process we have achieved a new level of understanding and trust in each other as individuals, businesses and government agents entrusted with the task of finding and implementing solutions to a broad range of sometimes seemingly conflicting values. I believe that with the guiding principles, there is a balance with which we can all live.”
I am including a copy of Munn’s letter, with the above quotation highlighted, for your information.
So, from the above, you can see that I was not just “outlining my thoughts on Canfor’s plans to log the slopes above his (my) home.” When I said “we have to give consideration to sensitive places,” I was commenting on Jim Munn’s letter and the importance of the remarkable mutual spirit of cooperation and understanding that developed between the Ministry of Forests and the people of the Upper Clearwater Valley with regard to management and protection of the sensitive ecosystems that comprise the Upper Clearwater Valley. The Guiding Principles embody that spirit. The unanimous support of the Guiding Principles document by those attending the meeting represents the real story of the meeting.
George Briggs
Upper Clearwater, B.C.
