(2023-10-5) Letter to TimberWest regarding its plans to log old forest in Granite Bay

Dear Mosaic,

We are writing in regards to recently seen flagging tape to cut a small section of old forest off Saxon Main, Granite Bay, Quadra Island between Two Mile Lake and a bog that runs into Louma Lake. This forest has never been cut and is in the classification of “Old Forest” as there are no stumps from logging and there are many old growth Douglas Fir and Cedar Trees.

This intact, biologically diverse forest is not only a wildlife corridor between Two Mile Lake and a bog directly behind our home but also part of our watershed connecting to our drinking water source. This area had numerous trails that our community uses daily and the flagging tape for the cut block comes within 8 meters to our beloved Recreation trails. We have put wild life cameras system in this area and have seen wolf, cougar, fishers, deer, raccoons and seen Northern Pygmy Owls, Peregrine Falcons and many migratory birds that use these lakes and bogs to rest.

In the summer when we are uncomfortably hot we walk through this forest as it is much cooler and left intact is part of climate mitigation. Cedars do not like to be exposed and without a stand around them they will not stand for long. Further up Saxon Main there is a prime example of a solo, yellowed and dying old growth cedar and a few gnarled old growth Douglas fir surrounded by cut block that will not survive the harsh conditions of exposure without its forest stand.

This area to be cut may be a small, quick cash grab of forest for Mosaic but it means the world to the locals of Granite Bay. As a teacher and union member with a pension that is invested in Mosaic, I cannot condone logging an untouched, “old forest” whose value standing far outweighs a future monoculture crop. I would like to speak and walk this old forest with your chief engineer and will be engaging our Quadra Community and organizations to stop this callous cut. Please respond in a timely manner by email or telephone.