By LISSA ALEXANDER
News Reporter
Comments and questions became heated at a recent government-led Coastal Douglas Fir (CDF) workshop in Qualicum Beach, as many residents showed anger and frustration about government's efforts to save the forests from extinction.
The workshop, held by the The Ministry of Natural Resource Operations, with funding support from the Forest Practices Board, aimed to "educate and motivate land owners, including private and other levels of government, to contribute to the overall conservation of Coastal Douglas-fir ecosystems."
Workshop facilitators were looking for strategies and ideas to preserve these ecosystems, beyond those already put in place to protect forests on Crown land.
However, some participants at the workshop were unhappy with the governments current level of conservation regarding these rare forests. Qualicum Beach councillor Barry Avis spoke up about council's resolution to leave DL33 in Nanoose Bay undisturbed, backed by the Regional District of Nanaimo and the Association of Vancouver Island Communities, and the decision by the provincial government to allow the Woodlot license regardless.
"How can we make headway with private land if we can't even make headway with our land?" he asked.
Resident Phil Carson was upset to learn there was only 1 per cent of old growth CDF left in B.C.
"When the hell is anybody going to stand up and say 'No. What's left, the 1 per cent, we can't touch it anymore, we can't cut down any more old growth trees.'"
After prominent environmentalist Betty Krawczyk asked whether these meetings were even relevant after the reorganization of ministries by Gordon Campbell, she was told by one of the facilitators of the meeting to continue speaking up, and keep talking to politicians. Resident Ronda Murdock questioned how long people are expected to do this.
"Do you know what it feels like to be in a war and be on the front lines?" she asked. "That's what it feels like, because we are in a war."
Krawczyk added that when last support systems are being destroyed, spoiling the earth for children and grandchildren, peaceful civil disobedience is an honorable way to approach a situation.
"We are not just going to sit here, stand here, and watch our last support systems being irrevocably destroyed, we owe something to the future and I highly recommend peaceful civil disobedience," she said.
A group of foresters were also at the workshop, called Foresters For Small Scale Forestry, a Canadian owned company focused on sustainable forest management within CDF zones. Registered professional forester Shawn Flynn told The News that the issue was not black and white, as it seemed at the meeting. Rather than the two choices of allowing the forests to be cut or left alone, Woodlot licenses represent viable option, he said. Woodlot licenses have been ensuring the proper management of forests for over 50 years, he said.
"Woodlots are community supporting and (support) local businesses as well," he said. "The key is long term mangers."
Flynn added that no one government or individual knows all the answers, which is why it's important to have a diversity of forest managers on public land.
Suggestions made by participants at the workshop were recorded and may help the ministry create a new approach to Coastal Douglas-fir ecosystem conservation across land ownership boundaries.