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Wilderness Committee posts logging company’s plans on website
by Joe Foy - WCWC •
Wednesday May 03, 2006 at 02:01 PM
joe@wildernesscommitte.org (604) 683-8220
Enviro group attempts to embarrass BC government into releasing more information to public about logging plans
News Release Wednesday May 3, 2006 Wilderness Committee posts
logging company’s plans on website Enviro group attempts to embarrass BC government into releasing more information to public about logging plans Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada – Western Canada Wilderness Committee (WCWC) today posted Cattermole Timber Company’s proposed logging plans on WCWC’s website. The logging plan, called a Forest Stewardship Plan can be found at…
http://www.wildernesscommittee.org/campaigns/policy/forestry/cattermole . “We have put Cattermole’s Forest Stewardship Plan up on our website in an attempt to alert the public about an emergency situation in the forests of BC,” explained Wilderness Committee Campaign Director Joe Foy. “New government regulations have removed the public’s long standing right to know what logging and road building is being planned by forest companies like Cattermole. Keeping the public in the dark about future logging plans can result in disastrous loss of endangered species habitat and degradation of recreation resources such as hiking trails,” said Foy. The Wilderness Committee gave the following examples of reduced public access to logging plans on public lands. They were told by Cattermole Timber that the logging plans could not be faxed, emailed or mailed. Nor are they available on a website. The only way to see the plans is to visit Cattermole’s Chilliwack offices before May 13, 2006. Once in Cattermole’s office, Wilderness Committee staff discovered that they were not allowed to copy the plans in any way nor were the plans allowed to be stored in any kind of retrieval system without the permission of Cattermole Timber Co. Upon inspection of the plans it was seen that the locations of planned cutblocks and logging roads are not shown. Nor were the location of recreational hiking trails shown on the company maps. “This is the worst erosion of the public’s right to access information about planned logging operations in the public forests that I’ve seen in 20 years of working on these issues,” fumed Foy. In an attempt to get the information out and to embarrass the BC government into ordering companies to provide more information, Wilderness Committee staff members photographed every page and map in Cattermole’s Forest Stewardship Plan and have now posted it on their website. “I encourage all First Nations in whose forests Cattermole is operating, as well as hikers, naturalists, tourism operators and others to look at the plans. We are saying these plans should be put on hold until Cattermole provides more information – especially on the location of planned cutblocks and forestry roads,” said Foy. For more information, contact Joe Foy: Office tel (604) 683-8220 Cell tel (604) 880-2580
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