Re: Logging the MFR [Municipal Forest Reserve] a mistake
Shame on the North Cowichan council’s pro-development majority for disregarding the public’s overwhelming preference to manage our Municipal Forest Reserve for conservation rather than industrial-scale logging. In 2023, the public voted four to one — 76 per cent to 17 per cent — to reject commercial logging in favour of conservation management to protect these extraordinary parklands for recreation, scenery, watershed and wildlife habitat.
Mature forests retain precipitation in their heavy forest cover and soils, keeping streams high in the summer and preventing flooding and channel scour in the winter. Industrial-scale logging and roading destabilize steep slopes by removing protective forest cover and killing the root systems that hold soils in place. Landslides, erosion, impaired water quality and lost fish habitat follow.
Logging creates high fire risks by replacing shady, fire-resistant mature forests with unshaded, even-aged stands of young trees that ignite easily and burn rapidly. The UBC Forestry Department’s Strategic Forest Planning Review commissioned by the municipality found that trees five to 40 years old have the highest wildfire risk; mature forests have the lowest.
The UBC forestry experts also found that leaving these forests uncut would yield a higher return in carbon credits than the municipality would receive from commercial logging.
The public cherishes our beautiful and bountiful Six Mountains for their scenery, wildlife, trails and biking. Don’t chop down our cathedrals for illusory profits.
Stephan Volker
North Cowichan
