Wildsight has three meetings on private land logging coming up. The first is in Castlegar on Thursday, April 25 with others in Nelson and Creston on May 1 and 2.
Conservation Coordinator Eddie Petryshen explains the town hall meetings aren’t meant to vilify anyone, but help local residents learn more about the issue and voice their thoughts.
“To learn more about private logging and where that’s happening and where that managed forest land and where the private land is and all of those details…. and what you can do to really change that,” explained Petryshen.
He added the hope is to get better results that are protective of streams, fish and wildlife. Some areas that have seen private land logging recently are around Cottonwood Lake Park in Nelson and in Wyndel near Creston. The Nelson meeting will look at the larger picture in terms of provincial regulations.
There has been pressure put on the Government of BC for changes, but the process isn’t a simple one.
“It would require a legislative change and I think that’s the critical piece is that there needs to be significant legislative changes to the managed forests and private managed forests land acts,” said Petryshen.
The provincial government recently promised an audit of the provincial private managed forest system, but no further detail on the scope or timing is available since the announcement in mid-January.
To learn more about the meetings, you can visit the Wildsight Facebook page.