Dear Editor,
As 350 forest fires rage throughout B.C., I learned that 80 per cent of old-growth trees will be cut down in Whistler. Why are healthy trees considered viable for destruction when forests are disappearing throughout B.C. due to the increasingly dry weather patterns of climate change?
Many tourists come to Whistler and travel through British Columbia to see these historic trees, and by cutting them down, Whistler will hasten climate change, destroy the natural environment, devalue the natural heritage of B.C., and damage B.C.'s international reputation for environmental stewardship. There is no justification in the world to destroy these 300-year-old trees for development, when they are adding so much to Whistler's beauty and resources, especially when so many other trees are being lost to forest fires throughout B.C.
In addition, these trees belong to Canada's natural heritage, not just Whistler's plans for urban development. Please intensify development in Whistler’s centre, and employ progressive, sustainable urban planning principles to ensure that many generations to come can enjoy the wonder of these trees, as generations did before them. They will be lost forever when there are many alternatives possible to urban expansion and development which are much more responsible.
The reputation of Whistler will be irreparably damaged by this logging, and I, for one, will never visit Whistler, and will actively dissuade my international colleagues to boycott Whistler as well, if these old growth trees are cut down.
Prof. Elizabeth Littlejohn
Sheridan College
Toronto
Editor’s note: Heather Beresford, municipal environmental stewardship manager, responded to the two letters above in an email that read, “Whistler and its partners, the Squamish Nation and Lil’wat Nation, assumed management of the Cheakamus Community Forest to be able to control the way logging would occur and to bring benefit to the community by considering important priorities such as recreation, viewsheds, watersheds, cultural and old-growth management in the decision making. In the past, when private companies held the tenure for the forestland surrounding Whistler, substantially more wood was harvested, with very limited input from Whistler.
“The area of the Cheakamus Community Forest totals 30,260 hectares and old-growth forests account for just over 60 per cent of the forested portion. The Cheakamus Community Forest has identified approximately 90 per cent of the old growth as off limits to logging through a variety of ways such as Land and Resource Management Plan wildland zoning, cultural management areas, mountain hemlock zones, wildlife management areas and stream setbacks, leaving less than 1,350 hectares of old growth as available for sustainable harvesting over the 25-year tenure. This is approximately five per cent of the community forest land base.
“Contrary to recent information posted by Oly and the Fat Cats on YouTube, this does not equate to harvesting 80 per cent of the old-growth forests around Whistler. For accurate information, please go to whistler.ca/Toward Sustainability/Cheakamus Community Forest, or attend the next open house at Whistler Municipal Hall on Sept. 9.”
