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July 25, 2013
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Owl habitat logging was legal BY PAUL J. HENDERSON phenderson@chilliwacktimes.com
T
he Forest Practices Board says the company logging in mountain goat and spotted-owl territory in the Chilliwack River Valley has followed the rules, but its communication with residents was lacking. The report was issued this month in response to complaints about Tamihi Logging’s work—permitted by the provincial government— within a spotted owl wildlife habitat area (WHA) near Chilliwack Lake. The complaints, specifically, were
Report finds company’s communication lacking, enviros say don’t cut trees in protected areas
that the company continued to log after a rare owl had been spotted and that the company did not honour a promise to log only between May 1 to Oct. 31 to accommodate mountain goats in their winter range. The WHA near Chilliwack Lake was one of many created by the provincial government in 2006 for the protection of spotted owls.
But in October 2011, the Ministry of Natural Resource Operations cancelled an order that promised logging would not occur within the WHA, and replaced it with one allowing logging. That included 13 cutblocks given to Tamihi Logging, allowing for as many as 142 hectares to be cut. Since that time, the Wilderness Committee and residents of the
Chilliwack River Valley have protested the decision. The residents closest to the logging live in Post Creek, a recreational subdivision of 85 cabins adjacent to Chilliwack Lake Provincial Park. “My main concern is the spotted owl,” Post Creek resident Derrick Kramer said in 2011. “But secondly, it’s the last thing people see driving to the provincial park. It’s just dis-
gusting.” Board chair Al Gorley told the Times this week that not only did Tamihi do the legally required minimum with regards to communicating with residents, they went above and beyond. With regard to the complaint about the rare spotted owl near the cutblock, the FPB found “that the strategy to monitor the owl and suspend harvesting activity if the owl moved toward the cutblocks was a reasonable approach.” See OWL HABITAT, Page 6
Keeping our rivers clean BY PAUL J. HENDERSON phenderson@chilliwacktimes.com
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Carolyn Nickel (right) and her three boys (from left) Lincoln, Dylan and Tyson take part in the Chilliwack-Vedder River cleanup on Saturday.
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record 150 people headed down to the water on Saturday to take part in the 39th Chilliwack-Vedder River cleanup. This was the second cleanup of the year for the Chilliwack Vedder Cleanup Society and participants included Mayor Sharon Gaetz, Chilliwack-Hope MLA Laurie Throness and former MLA Gwen O’Mahony. “It is always so encouraging. We have so many people keep turning out to make our precious waterway here in Chilliwack as environmentally friendly as possible,” Chris Gadsden of the society said. “On the other hand, not so much so that there is people that continue to be so selfish to keeping dumping their garbage, not only along the river but throughout many areas of Chilliwack and beyond.” Gadsden said the amount picked up Saturday added to the 82.96 tonnes collected since 2002. Carolyn Nickel and her three boys Tyson, 8, Lincoln, 6, and Dylan, 4, headed down to the Great Blue Heron Reserve and joined in the cleanup. Carolyn said she and her family love to spend time at the river so pitching in to clean up just made sense. Plans are underway for the next cleanup Sept. 29, the 12th B.C. Rivers Day event. Visit www.cleanrivers.ca for more information.
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