I met with The Peak recently to provide an update on the experience of the Powell River Greenways Society before the nonprofit community-based group decided to close.
A Viewpoint By Patricia Keays.
One big reason the group closed was because individuals and non-profit societies were moved from one person to another in the ministry of forests (MoF). There was no accountability for taking input from consultation into account: even when we did meet with them: and no follow-up or communications from them until we found out that our community Greenways corridor has not been transferred to MoF maps as promised since 1998. As well, licences have been given for logging near it, across it, around it, through it, section by section, on Malaspina Peninsula where the route is actually "walkable" and sited at seven-per-cent grade from Lund to Willingdon Beach.
Over 10 years, area volunteers and project staff spent hundreds of thousands of hours and dollars working toward a vision of community greenways and an accessible corridor that could be a "path to the future," as a National Geographic article in the early 1990s phrased it. I've had occasion to read the November 19 newspaper from Sechelt which covers a protest of Gordon Wilson's office there about promises made with regard to Mt. Elphinstone protection: promises that are not being met. The quotes from forestry district manager Greg Hemphill are particularly "alarming": not my word, originally, but those of the chair of the Forest Practices Board when it had the following to say about the ministry more in other parts of the province: "The board also singled out British Columbia ministries of forests: environment lands, and parks: and mines and energy: in being 'ineffective' and 'uncoordinated' in their efforts to enforce the code" ("Board criticizes Royal Oak for logging violations," by Drew Hasselback in the Financial Post).
"In submissions to the board, the ministry of forests defended its actions, saying enforcement actions are largely dependent on the willingness of loggers to apply them. Board chairman Bill Cafferata said the government's view of enforcement is "alarming" and demanded the province deal with the...situation immediately." That was at Kemass. In Sechelt and in Powell River, community members have been saying the same things and communicating the same messages to both the MoF district manager and the member of the legislative assembly, Gordon Wilson, who is now the minister of forests. We need coordinated action and accountability in the Sunshine Coast Forest District now.
Finding out that people in Sechelt are struggling with the same situation and dealing with the same problems prompted me to write this letter and follow up prior efforts to get the wider community informed about the demise of the Powell River Greenways Society. Anyone who walks on or cares about trails in the Powell River area or management of the public resource base is urged to phone Gordon Wilson and Greg Hemphill and tell them so.
The five-per-cent clawback associated with resource harvesting licences needs to be applied immediately to the consolidation of a decent strategy for management of this region, starting with Malaspina Peninsula before the heart is cut out of it and delivered on platters to narrow special-interest groups. The forests minister must get the district manager and his minions to stop before their failure to coordinate and deliver on promises made to the communities: in both Sechelt and here: affects us permanently.
If neither of them are up to it, then our next stop is the premier. We need a political solution to public forest mismanagement in this region, not a technical or implementation-level pretense of one.
Patricia Keays is a director of the Powell River Greenways Society, whose members recently decided to disband the organization.
(From the PR Peak: Saturday, December 2, 2000)
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Trail runs into roadblock
A Viewpoint By Lyn Jacob.
I apologize to the people of Powell River for not being able to continue the building of the Powell River Community Greenways section from Lund to Powell River. In the last election, I promised to work on the proposal for many reasons, including youth employment, healthy recreation, and opportunities to build a tourism industry around the incredible natural beauty. The vision of an Inland Lake or Willingdon Beach type of trail as an alternative transportation corridor from Lund to Saltery Bay was conceived with the direction, guidance, and cooperation of the ministry of forests (MOF) in the early 1990s. Over the next 10 years, cooperation continued with MOF finalizing the exact route, looking for a nice grade, linking with historic sites, beauty, nice trees, and wildness. Trailbuilders in the region deliberately followed a linkage strategy, connecting key sites and each others' trails together.
In 1998, we were stunned to find Wilde Creek being logged. That unique heritage site, the last piece of intact corduroy road in the area and part of the Greenways core route, had been originally brought to Greenways' attention by MOF officers. All of the trails in this area have been compiled and, in many cases, reclaimed with the help of older residents. This is part of our heritage. To say that new logging roads are going in where old logging roads used to be is not a convincing argument when other uses have been re-established in the meantime. These are being deliberately, persistently ignored.
Area residents want to connect with our history as well as with nature. This is more than "just recreation" with its pitiful budget. The Telegraph Trail route from Powell River to Lund was deliberately linked with the Greenways corridor routing, as part of a long-term alternative transportation corridor. The grade is great. Tourism consultants established that visitors to the region come here specifically for land-based, natural beauty and an intact feeling of "wildness," not to see a logging show.
But the contributions and work are being ignored, and possibilities for diversification toward a broader, as well as more sustainable, future are eroded as well. The route from Lund to Willingdon Beach is like a safe sidewalk between rural neighbours. The grade is not greater than seven per cent. No part of the community Greenways corridor is further than 0.5 km from someone's backyard. The places that the community cares about have been carefully linked together. As a result of 10 years of work, the corridor cuts across federal, regional district, provincial, and into municipal jurisdictions. Somewhere along the line, MOF changed its mind and dropped out of the project, only it didn't tell its partner, Powell River Greenways Society.
The year 2000 has seen the nicest sections being logged, after these many years of work, and MOF wouldn't even put the route on the maps. Now, elsewhere, every politician, environmentalist, and logging company is trying to make a plan just like the community Greenways. The Greenways corridor is on the block in relation to the Sliammon land claim, too, because MOF, as the lead agent, failed to transfer the community Greenways corridor and all the community's investment into it to the most basic of maps or agreements.
And, as for protecting it as a unique, irreplaceable area resource for recreation, diversification, and safe alternate transportation. Forget it. What I would like to see now is a public statement from MOF confirming its withdrawal from our project, just to make it official.
Lyn Jacob was a director of the former Powell River Greenways Society.
(From the R Peak: Saturday, December 30, 2000)
I apologize to the people of Powell River for not being able to continue the building of the Powell River Community Greenways section from Lund to Powell River. In the last election, I promised to work on the proposal for many reasons, including youth employment, healthy recreation, and opportunities to build a tourism industry around the incredible natural beauty. The vision of an Inland Lake or Willingdon Beach type of trail as an alternative transportation corridor from Lund to Saltery Bay was conceived with the direction, guidance, and cooperation of the ministry of forests (MOF) in the early 1990s. Over the next 10 years, cooperation continued with MOF finalizing the exact route, looking for a nice grade, linking with historic sites, beauty, nice trees, and wildness. Trailbuilders in the region deliberately followed a linkage strategy, connecting key sites and each others' trails together.
In 1998, we were stunned to find Wilde Creek being logged. That unique heritage site, the last piece of intact corduroy road in the area and part of the Greenways core route, had been originally brought to Greenways' attention by MOF officers. All of the trails in this area have been compiled and, in many cases, reclaimed with the help of older residents. This is part of our heritage. To say that new logging roads are going in where old logging roads used to be is not a convincing argument when other uses have been re-established in the meantime. These are being deliberately, persistently ignored.
Area residents want to connect with our history as well as with nature. This is more than "just recreation" with its pitiful budget. The Telegraph Trail route from Powell River to Lund was deliberately linked with the Greenways corridor routing, as part of a long-term alternative transportation corridor. The grade is great. Tourism consultants established that visitors to the region come here specifically for land-based, natural beauty and an intact feeling of "wildness," not to see a logging show.
But the contributions and work are being ignored, and possibilities for diversification toward a broader, as well as more sustainable, future are eroded as well. The route from Lund to Willingdon Beach is like a safe sidewalk between rural neighbours. The grade is not greater than seven per cent. No part of the community Greenways corridor is further than 0.5 km from someone's backyard. The places that the community cares about have been carefully linked together. As a result of 10 years of work, the corridor cuts across federal, regional district, provincial, and into municipal jurisdictions. Somewhere along the line, MOF changed its mind and dropped out of the project, only it didn't tell its partner, Powell River Greenways Society.
The year 2000 has seen the nicest sections being logged, after these many years of work, and MOF wouldn't even put the route on the maps. Now, elsewhere, every politician, environmentalist, and logging company is trying to make a plan just like the community Greenways. The Greenways corridor is on the block in relation to the Sliammon land claim, too, because MOF, as the lead agent, failed to transfer the community Greenways corridor and all the community's investment into it to the most basic of maps or agreements.
And, as for protecting it as a unique, irreplaceable area resource for recreation, diversification, and safe alternate transportation. Forget it. What I would like to see now is a public statement from MOF confirming its withdrawal from our project, just to make it official.
Lyn Jacob was a director of the former Powell River Greenways Society.
(From the R Peak: Saturday, December 30, 2000)
Trailbuilders end uphill battle
They've hung up their clippers, stored their flagging tape, and written their final letters under the green and blue logo.
After 10 years of working toward a core corridor for alternative transportation and recreation: walking, cycling, and wheeling: from Lund to Saltery Bay, directors of the Powell River Greenways Society have dissolved the organization.
"We're just wasting our time," says Lyn Jacob, a founding director. "What they're doing is taking our concept of a Willingdon Beach-type trail all the way to Lund and turning it into a Duck Lake logging road." The society was established in 1992 after founding members had begun work building trails in 1990. Greenways is responsible for the Wildwood Hill switchback and the Dinner Rock-Browne Creek trail, both of which are used as demonstration sections of the corridor.
The society was committed to "whole access" principles which ensured its paths would be wheelchair-accessible. The grade was no greater than seven per cent and appropriate toppings were part of the plans. A number of factors precipitated the decision to disband, not the least of which is the current logging that is taking place on the Browne Creek trail north of Powell River.The trail has been closed due to logging. Area residents have also contacted the ministry of forests expressing their concerns about the logging. Syd Riley, who has volunteered his time and effort maintaining many trails north of Powell River, is one of them.
"Even talking to the experienced loggers doing the work in this area, they stated that it could have been logged properly and the trail left intact," he wrote in part. "It seems to me this is but another example of [the] complete disregard for the health and welfare of the many people that use these trails for our well-being."
The way the ministry deals with conflicting uses, specifically recreational ones involving trails, is to re-establish the trail after logging. But logging roads do not trails make, say trail proponents. "Part of our whole maintenance program is shade and overhead cover," says Jacob. "They made us get commitments from the community to maintain the trails before they gave us the grants. Once they turn them into a logging road with ATVs [all terrain vehicles] and four-by-fours and salmonberries, there's no trail left."
On the other hand, one of the reasons roads are constructed on trails is because the trails are built on old logging roads, says Ferd Hamre, MOF operations manager responsible for recreation in the Sunshine Coast forest district. "In a lot of cases, it makes sense to use the existing road," he explains. "There's solid engineering reasons why that road was there in the first place."
But when each licence holder is required to put back the trail, there is no continuity in the corridor concept. "The very concept we were working for was a community greenways corridor," says another Greenways founding director Patricia Keays. "They have been unable to understand or take up that concept."
Even though Greenways had forestry support dating back to 1992 for the corridor concept, and have participated in numerous public-consultations processes, its plans for trails don't appear on forest-development plan maps. The problem, according to Keays, is a lack of accountability after agencies consult with the public, coupled with a lack of continuity in the ministry and a lack of institutional memory. "It's not that we haven't been consulted," she says. "It's that, after having been consulted, the input that people from the community level provided was not incorporated into the logging maps. That's the problem."
Hamre points out that the ministry has never committed to maintain a no-harvest zone for the length of the corridor. "When we give approvals for these areas, we also acknowledge that it won't preclude harvesting," he says. "When harvesting does take place, we take a good look at it and see how we can accommodate the trail. It may be required to be moved in the short term. If it's in a riparian zone or a no-harvest zone, we may be able to accommodate it. We may have to feather along the edges of it or we may have to re-establish it after logging if that is the only option we can look at." Hamre says the ministry acknowledges the work volunteer groups have done. "We continue to work with groups like Greenways and other groups throughout this district. I could stack up a pile of letters that suggest a lot of groups out there like the things we're doing."
But for Jacob and Keays, the answer will be found in a restructuring of how decisions are made. Keays is working on a pilot project for a regional strategy with the goal of reconciling competing policies as well coordinating and harmonizing policy implementation for the long-term community and regional interests. It's a project she hopes will find support in the wider community.
By Laura Walz - Editor (From PR Peak, Saturday, November 25, 2000)
After 10 years of working toward a core corridor for alternative transportation and recreation: walking, cycling, and wheeling: from Lund to Saltery Bay, directors of the Powell River Greenways Society have dissolved the organization.
"We're just wasting our time," says Lyn Jacob, a founding director. "What they're doing is taking our concept of a Willingdon Beach-type trail all the way to Lund and turning it into a Duck Lake logging road." The society was established in 1992 after founding members had begun work building trails in 1990. Greenways is responsible for the Wildwood Hill switchback and the Dinner Rock-Browne Creek trail, both of which are used as demonstration sections of the corridor.
The society was committed to "whole access" principles which ensured its paths would be wheelchair-accessible. The grade was no greater than seven per cent and appropriate toppings were part of the plans. A number of factors precipitated the decision to disband, not the least of which is the current logging that is taking place on the Browne Creek trail north of Powell River.The trail has been closed due to logging. Area residents have also contacted the ministry of forests expressing their concerns about the logging. Syd Riley, who has volunteered his time and effort maintaining many trails north of Powell River, is one of them.
"Even talking to the experienced loggers doing the work in this area, they stated that it could have been logged properly and the trail left intact," he wrote in part. "It seems to me this is but another example of [the] complete disregard for the health and welfare of the many people that use these trails for our well-being."
The way the ministry deals with conflicting uses, specifically recreational ones involving trails, is to re-establish the trail after logging. But logging roads do not trails make, say trail proponents. "Part of our whole maintenance program is shade and overhead cover," says Jacob. "They made us get commitments from the community to maintain the trails before they gave us the grants. Once they turn them into a logging road with ATVs [all terrain vehicles] and four-by-fours and salmonberries, there's no trail left."
On the other hand, one of the reasons roads are constructed on trails is because the trails are built on old logging roads, says Ferd Hamre, MOF operations manager responsible for recreation in the Sunshine Coast forest district. "In a lot of cases, it makes sense to use the existing road," he explains. "There's solid engineering reasons why that road was there in the first place."
But when each licence holder is required to put back the trail, there is no continuity in the corridor concept. "The very concept we were working for was a community greenways corridor," says another Greenways founding director Patricia Keays. "They have been unable to understand or take up that concept."
Even though Greenways had forestry support dating back to 1992 for the corridor concept, and have participated in numerous public-consultations processes, its plans for trails don't appear on forest-development plan maps. The problem, according to Keays, is a lack of accountability after agencies consult with the public, coupled with a lack of continuity in the ministry and a lack of institutional memory. "It's not that we haven't been consulted," she says. "It's that, after having been consulted, the input that people from the community level provided was not incorporated into the logging maps. That's the problem."
Hamre points out that the ministry has never committed to maintain a no-harvest zone for the length of the corridor. "When we give approvals for these areas, we also acknowledge that it won't preclude harvesting," he says. "When harvesting does take place, we take a good look at it and see how we can accommodate the trail. It may be required to be moved in the short term. If it's in a riparian zone or a no-harvest zone, we may be able to accommodate it. We may have to feather along the edges of it or we may have to re-establish it after logging if that is the only option we can look at." Hamre says the ministry acknowledges the work volunteer groups have done. "We continue to work with groups like Greenways and other groups throughout this district. I could stack up a pile of letters that suggest a lot of groups out there like the things we're doing."
But for Jacob and Keays, the answer will be found in a restructuring of how decisions are made. Keays is working on a pilot project for a regional strategy with the goal of reconciling competing policies as well coordinating and harmonizing policy implementation for the long-term community and regional interests. It's a project she hopes will find support in the wider community.
By Laura Walz - Editor (From PR Peak, Saturday, November 25, 2000)
Thursday, November 27, 2008
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