FOE Letter...

The following letter has been sent out on the Friends of Egmont mailing list:

Greetings,

On August 15, 2008 BC Timber Sales followed through on its plans to put two cutblocks in the Waugh Lake Watershed up for bidding. Those cutblocks representing close to 12,000 /m3 have been awarded to Sladey Timber Ltd in Pender Harbour. This will bring to total 5 cutblocks that will directly impact the Waugh Lake Watershed if you add the tenures held by Tsain-Ko Forest Development Corporation. To access three of those five cutblocks, it will require re-activating the North Lake logging road that has been dormant since 1990.

The awarding of these cutblocks by the Ministry of Forests and BC Timber Sales has created an ironic situation for the Egmont. Under threat of punitive sanctions by the BC government, the village must upgrade its water treatment system. Unable to afford to do so itself, the village has
appealed to the regional government. The SCRD has agreed to take over and upgrade the system and the new plant will involve both UV and chlorine treatment. While the SCRD has managed to defray some of the costs through provincial grants, each household on the waterline faces a bill of at least $4,000. For many, that will require taking out a loan through the regional government. For anyone who knows anything about chlorine treated water and who followed the Chapman Creek debates, it is the combination of chlorine and organic matter that poses the greatest health risk and yet the provincial government will allow logging in the watershed.

The Friends of Egmont and the Egmont community are preparing to battle this logging. The 'Concerned Citizens of the Sunshine Coast' who fought and continue to fight logging in the Chapman Creek watershed will stand by us in this fight for safe, clean drinking water; however, we also need your help. In the week ahead, protest letters will be added to the 'Save Our Watershed' blog and we ask that you forward these letters to recommended ministers and
agencies. As well, we are asking for donations to help us in this endeavour as we begin to work on a number of fronts. These donations can be done through the PayPal button on the blog or by sending a cheque made out 'Friends of Egmont' and addressed to:

Friends of Egmont
c/o General Delivery
Egmont, BC. V0N 1N0

or

c/o Sunshine Coast Credit Union
Box 28
Madeira Park, BC. V0N 2H0

We are grateful for any and all assistance you may be able to offer. For information concerning the watershed and what will happen in the days, weeks and months ahead, please visit www.saveourwatershed.com

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(Anyone wishing to join the Friends of Egmont mailing list can do so on this page at the www.ravagedegmont.com website)

BC Timber Sales & Waugh Lake...

Now that the summer is over, it is time to get back to blogging about this important issue. There is a lot of catching up to do but that will have be done gradually. At the moment, we face a new assault on the Waugh Lake Watershed. We've know for some time that BC Timber Sales had earmarked two blocks in the watershed for bidding. That bidding is over and on Aug 15, 2008 the contract for logging those two blocks was awarded to a Sunshine Coast logging company. Those two blocks are in the heart of the watershed and they can be viewed by scrolling down this page. Go to the second map under 'Tsain-Ko Logging - Part 3. The two BCTS blocks are the ones outlined in black.

These BC Timber Sales blocks made the news in the September 19 issue of the Coast Reporter in a story by Greg Amos. Unfortunately, I cannot link to the story so I will have to type it in. Here goes...

Logging Looms at Waugh Lake

A new tenure call from B.C. Timber Slaes for an 11.848 cubic metre logging block within the Waugh Lake watershed near Egmont is causing the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) board to strategize new approaches to dealing with the province.

"[B.C. Timber Sales] continue to have tender calls in important watershed areas," said Area A (Pender Harbour) director John Rees. "It's extremely disappointing."

The tender notice appeared in August, after a July request from the SCRD general manager of community services Paul Fenwick towards B.C. Timber Sales, asking them to stop advertising the sale of timber licences locatd within the Waugh Lake Community Watershed. So far, one bid has been received from Pender Harbour's Sladey Timber.

At a Sept. 11 planning and development committee meeting, the committee received word from the province's timber organization that advertising will go ahead as planned. B.C. Timber Sales aslo declined the SCRD's invitation for a representative to attend a meeting with the board.

"B.C. Timber Sales has done and will do a very thorough job of planning and monitoring of any operations considering the risks involved." wrote timber sales manager Bruce McKerricher in response. He also pointed out B.C. Timber Sales has "spent several hundred thousands of dollars rebuilding the public road along Waugh Lake."

Rees said the assurances miss the point, particularly when new water infrastructure is shcneduled to begin operation in the fall. "I'm always disappointed with B.C. Timber Sales and disappointed with the regional district's reaction to these issues," added a clearly frustrated Rees, who likened the Waugh Lake issues to a "mini-version of the Chapman problem. "The policy of not having logging in watersheds should be pursued equally at every opportunity."

So far, there's been no study looking a the impacts of logging on water quality at Waugh Lake. Area F (West Howe Sound) director Lee Turnbull noted the regional district remains responsible for providing clean drinking water. "We're totally under attack, the provincial government does not agree with us on logging in the watershed," she said. "I'm getting quite frustrated from us pushing against the provincial government, and B.C. Timber Sales says they're getting pushed from above."

Rees suggested the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) "should be picking up this quest of ours. It seems to me this is an opportunity for us to kind of work together." Local governments across B.C. will converge in Pentiction next week for the annual UBCM conference.

The Waugh Lake ares is not unfamiliar territory to logging contractors. The Sechelt Indian Band's Tsain-Ko Forest Products won a bid for five blocks in the watershed in February. At that time, shortly after last summer's controversy regarding loggin in the Chapman Creek watershed, Rees noted B.C. Timber Sales were getting very little interest in tenures they offered withing drinking watershed areas on the coast.

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Here are the two letters alluded to in the above Coast Reporter news story.

July 31, 2008

Bruce McKerricher
Timber Sales Manager
Strait of Georgia Timber Sales Office
370 S Dogwood
Campbell River, BC. V9W 6Y7

Dear Mr. McKerricher:

Re: Notice of Timber Sale Licence 58201, Waugh Lake, Egmont by Strait of Georgia Timber Sales Office

The Sunshine Coast Regional District is aware that the Strait of Georgia Timber Sales office has advertised the sale of TSL 58201. This TSL includes two blocks, both of which lie within the Waugh Lake Community Watershed. Block 2 appears to require new road construction to cross fish bearing streams. New road construction is worrisome as it may encourage more activity in the watershed.

The Regional District is on record with the Ministry of Forests and Range as being strongly opposed to logging within all Community Watersheds along the Sunshine Coast for purposes of protection the community watersheds, water quality and community water distribution systems (Board Resolution #027/00).

The Waugh Lake Community Watershed is the source of water for the nearby community of Egmont. Recently, the Regional District has been successful in securing funds to upgrade the existing substandard system. Constructing a water filtration system, upgrading the flows for
fire protection and fortifying the waterlines are part of the proposed upgrades. The Regional District received a petition signed by 90% of the community supporting these necessary upgrades.

The Regional District is investing to secure a safe water source for the community around Waugh Lake and we are disappointed to learn that part of the watershed is considered for harvesting. Based on discussion with the SCRD Directors, we ask that you rescind the notice for Timber Sale Licence 58201 immediately.

Due to the importance of this matter, we would like to invite you to address our Planning and Development Committee meting on September 11.2008. Please contact [...] to confirm your attendance.

Yours truly,

Paul Fenwick
General Manager Community Services

Cc: Brian Hawrys, Sunshine Coast Forest District manager, 7077 Duncan St., Powell River, BC, V8A 1W1

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BC Timber Sales responds...

Paul Fenwick
General Manager Community Services
Sunshine Coast Regional District
1975 Field Road
Sechelt, British Columbia
V0N 2A1

Dear Paul Fenwick:

I am in receipt of your July 21, 2008 letter asking us to rescind the advertisement of Timber Sale Licence A58201 which is located within the boundaries of the Waugh Lake Community Watershed. The letter raises the concerns that the harvesting, including road construction, within community watersheds is worrisome to the SCRD.

Provincial legislation, regulations and policy are clear in that harvesting is not precluded from occurring within watersheds such as the Waugh Lake Community Watershed. I want to emphasize that any harvesting related activities in community watersheds are held to higher standards than on non-watershed lands and BC Timber Sales has done and will do a very thorough job of planning and monitoring of any operations considering the risks involved. Preserving water quality is a cornerstone of our forest management endeavours and risks that involve water will be kept to an absolute minimum.

After our "Operations Plan" for the Sunshine Coast was referred to the SCRD in mid 2007, three of my staff met with the SCRD on December 13, 2007 and discussed many aspects of BC Timber Sales mandate and plans in the area. The Operating Plan did show our planned Waugh Lake timber sale licence and the notes we took from the meeting were later forwarded to your office. Please find attached copies of a portion of the minutes from that meeting and the speaking notes that one of my staffers, Bill Hughes, had prepared before he enterred the meeting and gave to Judy Skogstad upon leaving the session. You will note that Waugh Lake was referenced by us in our notes but was not specifically mentioned in the SCRD minutes.

I do recognize that the SCRD has stated their position on harvesting in designated community watershed in several forums but I need to reiterate that Forest Act tenure holders are not precluded from opertating within most community watersheds as long as the stringent requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act and other applicable legislation and regulations are observed.

BC Timber Sales has been planning to harvest the two blocks withing the Waugh Lake watershed for several years and it has been discussed at local and regional levels over those years. Many members of the public have had several chances to comment on our plans and many have taken that opportunity. BC Timber Sales has incurred considerble expenses developing this harvesting opportunity and this includes having spent several hundred thousand dollars rebuilding the public road along Waugh Lake (which is used by a significant number of local residents) resulting in much better road and water management within the watershed.

Though I recognize this in not what you wish to hear, it is for the above reasons that I do intend to proceed with the advertisement of Timber Sale Licence A58201 and regretfully decline your invitation to attend the September 11, 2008 Planning and Development Committee meeting. If you have any further questions on the matter, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours truly,

Bruce McKeerricher
Timber Sales Manager
Strait of Georgia Business Area

Attachment(s): (minutes of the SCRD Dec 17 meeting and BCTS speaking notes prepared prior to that meeting

pc: Brian Hawrys, Sunshine Coast Forest District district manager

(FOE note: The road that Mr. McKerricher alludes to is the second last paragraph is not at Waugh Lake but at North Lake. You must use the North Lake forest road to access the inner Waugh Lake Watershed. Those repairs entailed laying a black cloth over a portion of the road closest to Egmont Road and then placing about six inches of road gravel on top. Within about six months all the pot holes were back in their usual spots. As for the road portion in front of most of homes, the regular practice of grading the road was employed with the usual results.)

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Here is the bid result from the BC Timber Sale wesite:

Timber Sale Status for A58201

Auction Date Friday, August 15, 2008

Sec/Cat:... A
Location:... Waugh Lake
Volume:... 11,848 /m3
Upset Rate:... $19.84 /m3

Auction results have been approved

Status:... AWARDED
Client Name: SLADEY TIMBER LTD.
Bonus Bid:... $2.36 /m3

(FOE note: Rumour has it that there were only two bidders for this BC Timber Sale Licence. If this is so, then the 'Upset Rate' would play a role in the auction. Here is what is meant by the term 'Upset Rate'...

"An important element of timber auctions is the upset—the minimum acceptable price, often called the reserve price in other auction environments. The upset has three main purposes: (1) to guarantee substantial revenue in auctions where competition is weak but the upset is met, (2) to limit the incentive for—and the impact of—collusive bidding, and (3) to provide useful information to bidders."

(quoted from 'Setting the Upset Price in British Columbia Timber Auctions' by Susan Athey, Peter Cramton, and Allan Ingraham, Market Design Inc. and Criterion Auctions, 12 September 2002)

Therefore the stumpage price (upset rate + bonus bid) for the Waugh Lake Watershed logs will be $22.20 /merchantable m3.)

Ruby Lake logging update...

Here's the latest news from Ruby Lake...

"Work continues, seven noisy days a week, on the Ruby Lake cutblock.

The "low impact roadbuilding" must be near completion, as we have had several days of blasting (I don't recall any mention of dynamite from Tsain-Ko et al). The road consists of 30 to 60 cm of well packed crushed rock - a better base than most of us have on the public roads in the area.

The ravens and jays in particular continue their raucous complaints while the workers are around, although I expect it will be a quiet spring with bird populations displaced.

I am attaching some recent photos of the area, painful as it is."

troch

Campbell's Secrecy...why?

I have been browsing through Sean Holman's January postings over at the 'Public Eye Online' (see link in right column) and there are some real gems. Did you know that the Campbell government failed to inform the province's major news organizations that the Premier was delivering a keynote address at that Ottawa conference on climate change last week? Holman was the first to break the news in his posting "The price of Information" on January 22. Vaughn Palmer followed up on that news with this Vancouver Sun story the next day (the day Campbell was delivering his speech).

Palmer says this is just another example of provincial government's "systematic withholding of details on the climate change plan." Palmer says the media aren't the only affected, "On the "climate action plan," members of the premier's own caucus of MLAs have begun to complain quietly (and not so quietly) about being left out of the loop." A major reason for this secrecy according to Palmer is "Campbell displays increasing impatience for involving in decision-making anyone other than those who are ready to carry out his instructions without serious challenge."

Another gem by Holman posted that same day was "More Power to Plutonic" describing the number of Liberal aides who have recently gone to work for Plutonic Power Corporation Inc. I decided to check out that company's website and got an eyeful. Look at what is happening and proposed for the BC's hinterland just north of us.

The green lines are existing BC Hydro power lines. That dotted line from East Toba to Saltery Bay is according to the map the "proposed new 230 kV transmission line." The Saltery Bay substation will be the "point of interconnection." Here's a close-up of the map.

It looks like this new proposed transmission line will hook into the line that already runs the length of the Sunshine Coast.

So, we have Liberal aides who know first hand the workings of the Campbell government moving over to work for this private company that plans to tap numerous rivers to deliver "green" power. Well, would they be leaving a government job unless they were certain of the company's success? Yes, I am sure this company fits in quite nicely with Campbell's water management plans and how those plans can be linked quite nicely to climate change.

As for the Sunshine Coast, I would say the writing is on the wall. Not long ago, I looked out the window at the land across the Skookumchuck Narrows and thought to myself, "That will be our North Shore." So, it is good-bye coastal rainforest, hello pavement. Unless... say let's take a closer look at that map of the shishalh Nation Traditional Territory.

More on Gordon Campbell and water...

The two-day summit has now wrapped up in Vancouver. The CBC offers this:

"B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell said that while Ontario and Quebec will remain observers of the cap-and-trade initiative for now, they may decide to move in a similar direction down the road.

"We're really basically sharing information as we go through," he said during a news conference at the end of the Council of the Federation conference in Vancouver.

In addition, premiers and territorial leaders agreed Tuesday to establish a forest review, water agenda and flood-management program in their respective regions. Campbell said leaders will regroup to discuss their plans at their next session, scheduled for July in Quebec City.

"I felt like today was an important day. We recognized there are broad issues of national agreement that we have across the country," Campbell said."

A forest review? A water agenda? A flood-management programme? What are we to expect from these initiatives based on Campbell's comments posted below?

(Read the full CBC story here)

Gordon Cambell's Climate Speech...

Folks, I can't leave this one alone. I am truly bedazzled by this one line in that excerpt from Campbell's speech posted below:

"You know there’s an awful lot of water in places that it’s not needed and not enough water in places where it is needed"

Can you believe that a provincial leader would make such a blatantly simplistic comment such as this at a national conference on climate? Can you give me one example of where water is not needed? I live in a coastal rainforest. In a rainforest there is an abundance of water, an extraordinary abundance of water which is why it is a rainforest! However, it would appear at least in Campbell's eyes that some of this water may not needed. Perhaps, if you plan on cutting down that rainforest and developing it you no longer need this abundance of water.

There is only one reason why a national leader (our provincial leader!) would reduce the issue of water to such a simplistic level: you plan to sell it. Or, perhaps, exchange it for future guarantees on oil and gas. (See this Vancouver Sun news article)

Water Initiative with Alberta???

What is Gordon Campbell up to? I quote from an article in today's Globe & Mail:

"While the premiers made little progress on how to stem rising greenhouse gas emissions, Mr. Campbell's proposal was to focus on the results of global warming, such as extreme weather patterns that can lead to floods, fire and drought.

"“I would hope that we can move ahead and British Columbia will be moving ahead certainly with a water initiative with Alberta. We hope Saskatchewan and other provinces will join us,” he said moments before the closed-door session began,”"

Here is the link to that news article at the Globe & Mail.

I thought I would check the BC government website to see if there might be some details on this "initiative" buried there and in a speech at the Climate Adaptation Conference in Ottawa last week, Campbell had this to say...

"We take our water for granted in Canada. You know there’s an awful lot of water in places that it’s not needed and not enough water in places where it is needed. We’ve all watched as the flood-drought syndrome that’s starting to take place, certainly in western Canada. It’s important for us to look at how we deal with that, with those issues.

And it’s important for us to deal with it in concert. So next week as the Premiers come to Vancouver, I’m going to be encouraging them to work at least an inter-provincial and, hopefully, a national water conservation strategy. I believe we should have a national water security strategy, a national flood mitigation strategy. I think we should be looking at our forests across our country and saying how do we make sure that we know the kind of forests we should be replanting, how can we stop the level of deforestation we’ve had and move closer and closer to net deforestation across the country. All of those things are going to require all of us, all of us. It requires the forest industry, the federal government, the provincial governments of New Brunswick and British Columbia. It requires all of us. We can all learn from one another."

Hmmm, BC has a lot of water and southern Alberta needs water. Are you thinking what I am thinking? Does this water security strategy include transportation?

Oh, lordy, I just grabbed this (dorky) pic off the BC Government website.

This gives me so much more confidence knowing that these provincial leaders are dealing with such pressing issues. Hey, wait, they're all men! They're all dressed the same! They're clones! We're doomed.

North Carolina Visitors...

This blog has been getting quite a few visits from North Carolina in the last few days. People there are searching watershed issues. Perhaps, someone could satisfy our curiosity and post a comment telling us why the search.

On the Shishalh Nation Statement...

Well, what to make of this? If I were a Starbucks-sodden business pundit at a national newspaper today, I might write:

"The shishalh Nation is undertaking a robust approach to Aboriginal Title and Rights within its claimed Nation Territory. What we may be witnessing here is a paradigm shift..."

If I were Winston Churchill, I might write:

"Never have so many on the Sunshine Coast, been so annoyed by so few."

If I were I were Karl Marx, I might write:

"This is a perfect example of the dialectic at work. We have had the thesis and now we are to experience the anti-thesis. We wait for the synthesis of this materialistic struggle."

If I were Plato, I might write:

"The shadows we see reflected on the cave wall...oops, sorry, they're petroglyphs. My mistake."

Yes, I am having a bit of fun here and no, I do not take the shishalh Nation Statement lightly. In fact, I am trying to understand it and the Band's decision to release it in light of the political theories I have studied and by putting it into an historical context. I am actually quite excited by this Statement and must lean towards Marx by saying there is an opportunity here for an extraordinary synthesis if all sides in this issue are willing to set aside historical prejudices and differences and envision the possibilities.

Shishalh Nation Title & Rights...

shishalh Band Councillors Garry Feschuck and Tom Paul elaborated on the Band's announcement regarding its title and rights in the January 18, 2008 edition of the 'Coast Reporter.' You can read that follow-up article by Staff Writer Stephanie Douglas here.