Dear Chief Chickite,
My name is Jolie Shea and I have been living in Granite Bay, Quadra Island for the last twenty-five years. I live at the end of a logging road and have coexisted with the industry for the most part. I understand that logging is a viable resource and am not against the cyclical nature of harvesting and regrowth, but believe that the old forest immediately around our community’s homes should remain intact as a buffer and to protect our water source.
I am writing in regards to recently seen flagging tape to cut a small section (10 hectares) of old forest off Saxon Main, Granite Bay, 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 metres of our beloved recreational trails.
We have put a wildlife camera system in this area and have seen wolf, cougar, fishers, deer, raccoons, martens and have 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 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 or the We Wai Kai Nation but it means the world to the locals of Granite Bay. As a person deeply connected to the land, thinking seven generations ahead, I feel I am its guardian and cannot condone logging an untouched “old forest”; its value standing far outweighs the short sightlessness of a future monoculture crop. We would like to speak with you and walk this old forest with you and 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 to sheajolie@gmail.com or contact me at (250) 285-3308.
Sincerely,
Jolie Shea
Granite Bay resident
Quadra Island
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