Recently, you are more likely to encounter bears in Coombs and Errington. The bears are not aggressors; they are victims. Where are they supposed to go? We’re destroying their habitat. More and more, the mountain sides look like sheep sheared for market.
From a small plane, you see massive clearcuts hidden from view. Take a hike – and you’ll have to walk through recently decimated forests. Is it a race to profit from the trees before the rest of us wake up?
Our forestry workers are good people. The problem is the system. A corporation’s primary purpose is to make money for its stockholders. It’s a set up not just for destruction, but for self-destruction.
Both wildfires burning and premature, massive clearcuts stem from the same problems: Our inability to curb our greed and our unwillingness to make change – even for those dear grandchildren we profess to love.
When we watch the decimation of B.C.’s forests, we are broken-hearted, angry and afraid. The government’s purpose is to protect the country from greed, aggression and stupidity. There are people in power who could protect our forests. What keeps them silent? When everything is at stake, there are no innocent bystanders.
Someday, our grandchildren will ask, why did you clear the great forests? Didn’t you care that we too will need timber? That we too want to breathe fresh air and walk in the shade of giant trees? That we will need forests to survive?
We have alternatives – if we could just wake up. Proportional representation is a first step. Vote for it.
In the meantime, here is a heartfelt request from the future to the forestry companies: Please slow down. Times have changed. And your grandchildren are watching.
Joanne Sales
Qualicum Beach