Felt hearts a symbol for forest action

ROBERTS CREEK Dozens of hikers are scattered through the trails and forest floors that make up more than 2,000 hectares of land in the Mount Elphinstone park expansion proposal.

A logging outfit from Squamish is expected any day to begin harvesting Douglas fir and hemlock from a parcel within the proposed addition to the provincial park, known locally as the Clack Creek Forest and the Forest with 1,000 Hearts.

In a bid to demonstrate the locals’ resolve to save the 24-hectare forest, Elphinstone Logging Focus has been holding community events here and recently dozens of locals attached 1,200 felt hearts to the towering 150-year-old trees that line wildlife trails.

The Sunshine Coast Regional District has officially objected to the sale of the cutblock at least four times since it was first referred to them by B.C. Timber Sales, which manages Crown timber harvesting for the province.

“It is within the watershed and we feel there has been a lack of consultation and a lack of land-use planning on the entirety of Mount Elphinstone,” said District chairwoman Lori Pratt.

“We understand the economic argument, but these are environmentally sensitive areas.”

A response from Forests Minister Doug Donaldson notes that “B.C. Timber Sales (BCTS) is voluntarily managing harvest levels at 50 per cent of the allowed rate of harvest for the Mount Elphinstone area, which will further improve the amount of old and mature forest in the area.”

“We don’t want to make any threats, but people aren’t going to let this happen,” said Ross Muirhead, founder of ELF. “I had a call from a woman who said she was 88 and ready to be arrested to save the forest.”

A report on the area contracted by ELF notes that much of the area was burned by wildfire in the 1860s, saving it from logging.

The remaining forest is roughly 150 years old and has the high canopy and open feel of old growth forest, even though it fails to meet the province’s 250-year threshold for old growth designation.

“We have to start thinking about the life of a forest in centuries, not years,” said ELF member Hans Penner.

Conservation biologist Wayne McRory’s report describes these areas as “emerging old growth.”