Editor:
A version of this letter was sent to Forest Minister Doug Donaldson and Environment Minister George Heyman, calling for a halt to the logging of Clack Creek Forest.
We have written to you earlier in favour of expanding the rather small Mt. Elphinstone Provincial Park from 140 to 2,000 hectares to protect red and blue listed plant communities and increase recreational opportunities for a growing regional population.
This forest is our last and only chance to preserve a significant low-elevation natural forest ecosystem on the lower Sunshine Coast; everything else has been developed or converted to tree farms. Currently, less than three per cent of low-elevation forests on the Sunshine Coast are protected from the chainsaw, significantly less than the 20 to 30 per cent protected forest we should have.
We need this Elphinstone Park extension to retain our connection to nature, to preserve our quality of life here, and for the generations that come after us. Planted tree farms do not meet our needs nor those of nature. The only sizable parks we currently have on the Sunshine Coast are three mountaintop parks, not accessible for year-round use, nor are they close to where we live, work and play.
We understand that a few days ago logging of this precious forest had started. We ask you to intervene and stop its destruction and include it in the park expansion. The expansion would require less than one per cent of the Sunshine Coast Forest District’s timber supply area, thus very little timber supply will be given up. In return it will provide a great long-term benefit for residents and visitors alike.
As long as the trees are standing in Clack Creek Forest it is not too late to act. But this action has to come from you, the government, a government from which we had expected so much in terms of protecting at least part of our forests and making sure that future generations can also enjoy and benefit from them. People living here now as well as future generations will thank you.
Hermann and Susanne Ziltener, Gibsons
