By issuing media releases with more questions than answers — and then expecting the media to do their work for them — the Arrowsmith Parks and Land-Use Council (APLUC) is giving them selves a bad name.
Twice, they’ve sent out communiques without any real information.
They have concerns about the presence of marking tape on trees near Cathedral Grove. That’s all well and good, but their indignation was raised again when that tape went missing.
The News has looked into it, and ended up being an unwilling go-between for the APLUC and their target, Island Timberlands.
We applaud the efforts of certain people and groups who keep an eye on industrial activity near sensitive streams and parkland. They actively prevent abuse and more good can come of their diligence than bad.
But they are abusing any goodwill people might have towards them by making accusations in public before trying to seek real answers.
They are obviously at odds with Island Timberlands, that much is clear. It behooves both parties, however, to at least communicate once in a while to avoid the buildup of such acrimony — and to avoid flooding the email waves with simple garbage.
Simply put, APLUC reacted to what they thought might be nefarious deeds, without actually seeing if their assumptions were true. They pulled the trigger too fast — twice. It’ll be harder to take them seriously a third time.
There are certainly issues in our forests and near our parks. The presence — or lack — of marking tape isn’t one of them.
— editorial by Steven Heywood