Riki Vogt

From Nov 26, 2021 Discovery Islander Dear Mr. Iannidinardo, I am writing to ask you to abandon your planned logging in this little watershed for the sake of saving the creek and its salmon runs. I believe you are planning to do more logging there this fall/winter. This little creek was bone dry this past summer and I and other islanders are concerned that further disturbance from logging in the watershed will kill off this small but important ecosystem. As you know, the local Salmon Enhancement Society has worked tirelessly over many years to maintain the runs. The creek will need every drop of moisture from its tributaries in a warming climate which is now upon us. For this reason I believe that the forest cover around these tiny tributaries should not be logged as planned. In fact, none of the watershed should be logged again. Exposed ground causes faster run-off and silting and faster evaporation from little wetland patches and puddles etc. Wild salmon are struggling mightily to survive and more habitat destruction could be the final straw for these runs. Why do I refer to Hyacinthe Creek watershed as little? Because that’s truly what it is, a mere 1550 hectares or so. That’s about 1 percent of the size of your TFL 47, which is 165,000 hectares. So whether you turn a profit here or not seems immaterial. Further, we are not dealing with old growth trees here as everything has already been logged at least once. So you see, this is your chance to do something good, something right. You could help these salmon and this ecosystem to survive and perhaps thrive again by not further degrading a watershed that is already heavily impacted. (Walcan road, logging roads, past logging). This is in your power. Biodiversity IS life and there is no life without biodiversity, as David Attenborough puts it. Please consider seriously my suggestion to put off your logging in this small watershed. I would appreciate getting a serious reply from you. Sincerely, Riki Vogt, Grandmother