Clarifying our concerns

Re: Logging upsets residents

I, as a resident of Joe Rich, would appreciate the opportunity to clarify some of the concerns raised. At the same time I would like to express my gratitude to both Castanet and their competitors, Global News, for giving this issue some attention, little though it was. It seems rather tragic that all our yuppy bleeding heart citizens wail, flail their arms and stomp their feet about loss of the Brazilian Rainforest and logging of Old Growth Forest on the coast and Vancouver Island but they are blind to the pillage in their own backyard.

First off let's get this straight, wildfire mitigation is not clear cutting, though clear cutting will most certainly prevent forest fires due to nothing being left to burn. Also, let's understand that when the money-grubbers piously talk about "selective logging" they are most certainly are not using the term in the proper context or at least by the real meaning of the term. Correct me if I am wrong but as I understand the term "selective logging" the harvester identifies a reasonable amount of marketable timber within a given area and goes about carefully removing these trees while doing their utmost to protect the trees surrounding them -- often done with teams of horses.

This is most certainly more difficult and hugely less profitable than rampaging through a given area with huge Feller-bunchers, skidders and logging trucks. Don't be fooled, when they say "selective logging", what they really mean is "selecting" all the remotely marketable fir and spruce and maybe, though not necessarily due to labour intensity, cleaning-up some of the Fire-ladder material (branches and duff) on the ground -- hence nothing is left to burn. Fire Mitigation! My behind!

Lets be clear, we residents of Joe Rich are not against truly sustainable, correctly done forest harvesting, we have numerous residents who are loggers, but we are opposed to the rape, pillage and plunder of our natural resources for profit sake alone and lying about it in the process. Don't be conned, when Tolko magnanimously claims they halted their harvesting in order to consult with nearby property owners -- they actually stopped because two local ladies stood at their property line, paddock fence, and wouldn't move as the harvester approached -- their operator had to stop or seriously endanger these courageous women.

Tolko may be truthful in their statement that they are logging on slopes that have been approved by Geotechnical, probably Tolko employed. "Experts" in that the specific area they are cutting in is tagged as a "3" out of "5" but right above this area the slopes are tagged as a "5" out of "5". The whole area is notorious for slides, in '91 three members of one local family were killed in one of six slides on this section of road that year, slides along this road are a regular thing -- so don't go trying to tell us that you are doing the "right thing". It is typical book learned from book taught, desk sitting, professors and they are considered "the experts".

Here again, the "experts" want us to protect and improve the "carbon sink" (one of their new catch phrases) encouraging the planting of trees while at the same time are questionably OK'ing logging in sensitive areas; go figure.

And while we're at it, this is a major watershed area for Okanagan Lake and the city of Kelowna -- no trees, no water. We are supposedly already in a drought and with Climate Change it ain't gonna get any better.

God save us all.

John B. Collinson