The Youbou Save Our Holmes Society is inviting area residents and supporters to a meet and greet on Saturday, Nov. 24.
The informal meeting is aimed at updating neighbours about the ongoing concerns with TimberWest’s plans to log Mount Holmes and Mount Good.
It was almost 18 years ago now that TimberWest closed the Youbou sawmill.
Active logging of the south slope has continued.
“More than 100 sawmills have closed while raw log exports have skyrocketed,” said Save Our Holmes co-chair Pam Henderson. “Newcomers, like myself, and long time residents treasure our pristine forests and mountains surrounding Lake Cowichan.”
The group started small in August of 2017 with the idea of a moratorium on logging the south slope of Mount Holmes.
“Logo buttons, a door-to-door petition (460 signatures) and an online petition (1,400 signatures) was initiated due to the impact of logging on our hillsides due to the ecosystem: the watershed (communities have little recourse to protect their watersheds because the province in British Columbia has no legislation giving communities the right to protect them), the habitat, the altering and destabilizing of stream channels, erosion, and landslides which could cause irreparable damage to property in the residential areas,” Henderson said. “What is important here is this signal, the red alert for flooding, ecological and visual impacts. We all know the visual impact of clear-cut logging.”
TimberWest held a town hall meeting in May of 2018 which outlined it’s proposed 10-year harvesting plan for both Mount Holmes and Mount Good.
Ever since, the Save Our Holmes group has put its nose to the grindstone to become a registered society and work behind the scenes with various other groups and political leaders so see what can be done.
“This has been a day-by-day, step-by-step process with TimberWest, First Nations, and the B.C. government to achieve the end goals of a moratorium on logging and the creation of a nature reserve/park,” Henderson said.
And the work is far from over. The group wants more neighbours to become involved.
The meet and greet runs from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the basement of the Youbou Community Church.
READ MORE: May meeting to address Youbou logging
