THE COVER STORY in the September 15, 2023 Discovery Islander implied that a large Western red cedar in a grove at Ralph Point on Quadra Island was in some way threatened, apparently by logging. In conversations before the story appeared, it emerged that flagging tape near the grove had been interpreted as indicating that logging was imminent near the grove in Woodlot 1970, which is operated by Cape Mudge Forestry.
It turns out, though, that it was old flagging tape and no logging is being contemplated near the grove.
Forester Gary Gallinger, who works as a consultant with Cape Mudge Forestry, stated in an email: “The area immediately above Ralph Point, as identified in your link, is not being harvested. Some fellow staff met with another Quadra resident yesterday (Monday September 19) who also had concerns that this area was planned for harvest. It was during this discussion that the resident, who is a retired faller, mentioned some old road Right-of-Way ribbon and some scattered Falling boundary ribbon is within the area you identified. We will be removing those old ribbons. There was a previous consulting firm that used to work on the [Cape Mudge] Woodlots, and we understand that this consultant had done some preliminary field engineering in this area and had originally proposed a road location within the area of concern. Once those ribbons are removed, I trust that the concerns brought up regarding Ralph Point will go away.”
Gallinger added, “Be aware that the We Wai Kai Nation has done an archaeological assessment of the area around Ralph Point and it has been identified as an area of high potential. That’s why the road and cutblock are at their present locations.”
The DI article published the GPS coordinates of the grove. Since the area has high First Nations heritage potential, the Discovery Islands Forest Conservation Project encourages people not to visit the site. Instead, go to this page and visit the grove online.
The largest tree in the grove, featured on the cover of the Discovery Islander
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