Heather Conn Blogs

  — Jack Stein photos

Local community members who have worked for years to help save 27 hectares of Wilson Creek forest have not let last week’s initial logging stop their efforts. If anything, the desire to save this precious creek and area of first-growth firs (cutblock EW002) has grown even stronger.

Early last week, I was truly saddened and deeply disappointed to hear that loggers had begun cutting down this local forest on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast. Then the RCMP announced that anyone who came onto the land would be arrested for trespassing. Members of the peace camp at the mouth of the trail received only 15 minutes to clear out. Three people were arrested.

Supporters at the trail head

I thought of all of the local schoolchildren, parents, hikers, and shishalh elders who have come to this forest to admire and honour its presence. They have spoken out to protect it. I thought of the beauty of the land itself, the soft moss, the pond, the roaring creek, the silent, tall trees, and the various species of creatures that depend on these woods for their home and survival. I thought of the 27 interpretive signs that volunteers had erected along the trail to teach people about the biodiversity of this forest and the important role it plays. Was all this effort and many years of rich, natural growth to be deemed irrelevant, reduced to ugly stumps and slash?

But hope remains, as the forest has met a reprieve—for now. In a display of admirable activist power, some shishalh elders signed trespass-and-rights documents and served them on the RCMP and the Sunshine Coast Community Forest, the body with the logging rights to these hectares. This land, after all, has belonged to the shishalh for centuries; it is part of their traditional territory.

Barb Higgins (Xwu’p’a’lich)

Since then, elder Barb Higgins (Xwu’p’a’lich) has held daily healing ceremonies in the woods. There has been no logging. Supporters have joined Higgins and her daughter Holly, acting as ongoing forest guardians. They continue to remain in this area. They are determined to save this forest, a vital anchor piece for the proposed Mt. Elphinstone Park expansion, for the enjoyment of their grandchildren.

Concerned community members also shared their anger with Sechelt mayor John Henderson at Saturday’s Sechelt town hall session. Why have he and the Sunshine Coast Community Forest board members not listened to the many people who have spoken out in favour of saving these woods? Whose interests are they guarding?

I’m relieved to hear that the drive to save this forest is still thriving. The group Elphinstone Logging Focus (ELF) is asking people to show their support. Join Higgins and others at the trailhead. Bring firewood and snacks. Contact ELF for more information.

 

                                                              — Jack Stein photo

This week, I had the pleasure of watching a five-year-old boy, camera in hand, staring up at Douglas firs, their tall tops reaching past the mist in a Sunshine Coast forest.

 

He had stretched his head far back, almost parallel to the mossy ground, as if his brain needed space just to take in the sight of these massive trees. I wondered what he was thinking, if this moment would leave a memory of awe that would remain to adulthood. More importantly: Would these trees in Wilson Creek, BC even be here in a year?

The boy was among dozens of children of all ages, one of 60 local residents who’d come to hike through, and learn about, this remarkable low-elevation forest that’s slated to be logged. Three Coast teens—Jillian Olafson, Kamilla Hindmarch, and Galen Wilson—had organized this educational hike, along with retired teacher Karen Stein, to help save these precious 27 hectares from logging.

Before the hike, at the mouth of the trailhead, we stood in a circle below the wooden sign created by Sechelt First Nations member Willard Joe, which depicts Thunderbird, a powerful protector and mystical figure.

                                                                                                      — Jack Stein photo

 

We were each invited to choose a small smooth rock, from a pile of 100 brought for this purpose, and write one word that these woods inspired in us. Soon, several rows of rocks appeared, bearing words like “Peace,” “Preserve,” and “Love.”

Jillian Olafson, young friend, Kamilla Hindmarch, Galen Wilson

“One beautiful possibility is for this part of the forest to be left as a park for us all to enjoy,” Stein told the group. “This is our community forest. You are the next generation. Today, you represent all the children who live on our coast.” When asked for one word to describe this forest, Olafson replied: “Magnificent.”

The government of B.C., which owns this land, has issued a licence to enable the District of Sechelt, as shareholder of the Sunshine Coast Community Forest, to log this forest, known as cutblock EW002. It is one of the last intact, natural forests left in the Wilson Creek watershed. Its largest tree, a Douglas fir, measures 2.31 metres across.

“This forest is much more valuable alive than clear-cut,” Hans Penner of the conservation group Elphinstone Logging Focus (ELF) told the gathering. He said he hopes that local residents of all ages who want to save this forest tell the District of Sechelt: “You’re a public body. We expect you to listen to the public.”

 

Several of the event’s teen organizers plan to meet with District of Sechelt representatives on Nov. 23 to discuss alternatives to logging this forest. “It’s a beautiful place to be,” said co-organizer Wilson. “We can’t let it (logging) happen. It would destroy everything.”

 

Some local teachers have taken students through this forest to learn about the forest’s biodiversity, thanks to informational trail signs provided by volunteers. The event’s organizers planned the hike as part of a home-schooling peace project.

 

 

ELF member Bill Legg told the children: “You guys really have a voice.” He reaffirmed the land as traditional territory of the Sechelt (shíshálh) First Nations, who have used this forest for centuries for hunting and gathering.

ELF member Ross Muirhead speaks to the group

Meanwhile, about 100 Sunshine Coast residents, including Sechelt nation members, held a rally Nov. 15 outside the District of Sechelt office, hoping to tell mayor John Henderson and city council members that these 27 hectares of forest should be protected as parkland. Although no such representatives appeared, people at the gathering, including many who had attended the forest hike in Wilson Creek, openly shared their opposition to logging this area.

 

Sunshine Coast residents who want to save this forest are urged to write letters to the local media and to the District of Sechelt. Click here to find out more through the ELF website.