To the Editor,
Re: Minister refuses to cancel logging permit, Jan. 21
I know planning harvest operations close to town can invoke the interests of many stakeholders and, as a result, can be challenging to manage. However, what better way to have forestry done in these rural-urban interface areas than with small-scale harvesting done by local residents? It’s low-impact, small in size and the benefits stay local as well.
Woodlot 1475 was acquired 10 years ago and this is the fourth harvest in that time. It is 245 hectares and each harvest has been three to five hectares in size – approximately two per cent of the entire woodlot area. The trees planted after the first harvest are now 10 to 12 feet tall and make a healthy young forest.
There’s currently lots of mountain biking and hiking along trails in the woodlot and that will continue as it has during the previous three harvests. It’s public land and the woodlot licence holder encourages the public to use the area for recreation.
Lantzville and Nanaimo – communities built by the forest industry that continue to prosper due to forestry – have a chance here to set a good example for the rest of the province. It’s not an either-or situation: forestry or recreation. It’s forestry and recreation. By sharing the resource we can all win.
Dave McNaughtdirectorTruck Loggers Association
