Environmentalists demand more forest protection

Rob Shaw
Times Colonist
October 30, 2005

Environmentalists hand-delivered almost 1,000 letters to the legislature Saturday, calling on Premier Gordon Campbell to increase protected forest areas, ban raw log exports and slow the sale of Crown lands on Vancouver Island.

The mass mail drop was called a "gift-giving rally" by the Western Canada Wilderness Committee, which organized more than 100 protesters from groups such as the Friends of Clayoquot Sound and Youbou Timberless Society.

The province's Land Use Plan sets aside 13 per cent of the Island as protected area, a number the WCWC has demanded be increased to 41 per cent.

The plan was developed in 1994, and WCWC Victoria campaign director Ken Wu said it should be refreshed with new public input. Additional protected land would increase biodiversity and preserve old-growth forests, he said.

"Today only 25 per cent of Vancouver Island's original ancient forests remain," he told supporters. "Time will run out unless the door is reopened for new protected areas by revisiting the 11-year-old Land Use Plan."

Wu said the WCWC campaign will "get the ball rolling" on the first comprehensive Island-wide push to increase protected forests.

The government has said the plan would be revisited at some point, but Wu said he doesn't trust the B.C. Liberal government. "They could take us backwards. But not if we have the people on our side."

As well, the WCWC is calling for a ban on raw-log exports which critics say causes job losses. Raw-log exports doubled during the B.C. Liberals' first term compared to the previous four years under the NDP, government records show.

Forests and Range Minister Rich Coleman did not return a call for comment Saturday. The government has previously said the industry will transition to become more competitive and fewer raw logs will leave in the future. Groups such as the Truck Loggers Association have said an outright ban on exporting is unrealistic and will cost even more jobs.

The WCWC also called for the government to slow sales of Crown land. The Crown controls 95 per cent of the land in B.C.

Saturday's protest crowd waved signs and chanted during the walk from Centennial Square to the legislature just after noon.

The WCWC brought a red Canada Post box labelled "Forest Protection Mailbox" in which protesters deposited their letters.

Organizers also brought an oversized pair of black cardboard glasses so Campbell could read every letter, a set of large ears so he could "better listen to the public" and a green heart so, as Wu said, "He can care about nature and other living things."