The Sunset Ridge Ski Society in Sparwood has raised concerns with the district over plans by Canfor to log a 19 hectare block to the west of the town.

Shelly Hume, who is a director at the society said that they had concerns with what logging activity would do to roads in the area, which members of the society used to access trails above the town, saying that while the logging was taking place over winter, Chinooks meant that logging trucks could potentially tear up the access roads.

Hume also raised concerns with access to parking for members given some areas would be closed, and noted the need for road access to be in good condition for their grooming snowmobile to get to the area.

Sparwood Mayor David Wilks said that the district shared similar concerns, and that they would be seeking to find ways to mitigate any disruption by continuing to engage with Canfor.

The logging is set to take place on crown land sometime after Christmas, and is for wildfire mitigation purposes. The logging will take about a month to complete.

Beyond the concerns, Hume said that the season was looking like it would be a busy one for the society, saying that they had 119 members signed up already, “and we’re not skiing yet, so we anticipate this to be a very busy year for our club.”

Most of the ski equipment held by the club had already been rented out in anticipation, she said. The club has about 30 adult skis, and 60 children’s skis available.

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