A tenacious group of residents dedicated to protecting Bowen from logging interests is not letting its guard down.
Members of Defend Island Forests quickly mobilized last summer when B.C. Timber Sales attempted to start a consultation process on Bowen and contacted the municipality about its proposed forest stewardship plan.
Residents learned that B.C. Timber Sales had access to parcels of Crown land on the island and more than 1,400 hectares were being considered for logging.
Plans by B.C. Timber Sales to engage Islanders resulted in a wave of protest from hundreds of residents and a petition against logging gathering close to 2,000 names.
A few days before their planned public meeting, BCTS pulled out and excluded Bowen from its 2017 forest stewardship plan.
However, Defend Island Forests is not convinced B.C. Timber Sales won’t come back to Bowen in the near future. A DIF delegation told council as much on Monday night.
“Our status right now has not changed. BCTS still has a mandate to log here, still can come back and reinitiate the process whenever they like. And this is something that they have done in other communities where they come in softly and then back off and then come back in full force later,” said Defend Island Forests representative John Dowler, who cited Burns Lake, Kaslo and Sechelt as examples of where this has happened.
Over the past year the Bowen anti-logging advocacy group has actively been in contact with experts who have dedicated their lives to protecting B.C.’s forests, Dowler told council. Defend Island Forests left it in the municipality’s hands after last summer to liaise with other governments about logging issues on Bowen.
Now Defend Island Forests wants to know what council’s strategy is for if or when B.C. Timber Sales comes knocking again. Comparing the process to a computer progress bar that has stalled, Dowler said the municipality has been “a little vague” on its strategy.
“So we’re wondering if it needs a reboot, if it needs some more input,” said Dowler. “If there is anything we can do to kind of help this along.”
Defend Island Forests’ current strategy is to find a way to more securely protect Bowen from logging until a new land designation can be achieved.
However, the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, according to research done by DIF, seems to be trying to direct the discussion toward a form of logging called a Community Forest, where Bowen Island Municipality would create a forestry company and be required to log an annual allowable cut.
“What is the strategy?” Dowler pressed Bowen council members, saying he was concerned that complacency had set in. “Who are the experts you are consulting to advise this strategy?”
Mayor Murray Skeels said he has met with a representative from the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations and Rural Development and feels reassured when he says B.C. Timber Sales has no immediate plans to include Bowen in a forest stewardship plan.
“… So if you feel there’s a bit of a sense of complacency, I think you’re right … this isn’t something that we see as being a three-month or a six-month situation,” said Skeels.
Bowen’s Crown lands are not seen as a priority within the ministry, but rather a complex area with a low anticipated return for use in logging, said Skeels.
“Looking to the future, maybe at some point it would be (a priority),” he added.
Skeels said he has also talked to MLA Jordan Sturdy, who is meeting with a legislative committee and advocating to remove Bowen from the annual allowable cut.
