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Wilderness Committee calls for a stop to Vancouver Island forest land liquidation
by WCWC Media •
Thursday November 22, 2007 at 05:34 PM
Qualicum Beach, BC – At its special meeting this past Wednesday, Qualicum Beach Municipal Council passed a resolution, presented by the Wilderness Committees Mid-Island Chapter, for the Association of Vancouver Island Coastal Communities (AVICC) and the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) calling for an immediate “moratorium on the sale and land transfer of all land currently zoned as Forest or Resource Land, and a moratorium on development approvals within those forest lands.” ...
For Immediate Release – Thursday, November 22, 2007
Wilderness Committee Calls on Association of Vancouver Island Coastal Communities and Union of BC Municipalities to Stop Vancouver Island Forest Land Liquidation
Qualicum Beach, BC – At its special meeting this past Wednesday, Qualicum Beach Municipal Council passed a resolution, presented by the Wilderness Committees Mid-Island Chapter, for the Association of Vancouver Island Coastal Communities (AVICC) and the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) calling for an immediate “moratorium on the sale and land transfer of all land currently zoned as Forest or Resource Land, and a moratorium on development approvals within those forest lands.”
“What companies are able to do in these early stages of their real estate sell-off will determine whether the Esquimalt and Nanaimo (E & N) Railway lands, which comprise 23 percent of Vancouver Island, can obtain significant public benefit in exchange for these removals in order to create a protected area strategy for this historically underprotected region of Vancouver Island,” explains Annette Tanner, chair of the Wilderness Committees Mid-Island chapter.
“As a result of the historic E & N land grant, only 2 percent of this huge and magnificent coastal region of the Island has been protected as parks,” Tanner added. “Protection of community drinking watersheds, wildlife corridors , the survival of the threatened Coastal Douglas Fir ecosystem, access to recreational land and to safe, locally grown food, depend on sustainable land use
planning.”
The resolution also addresses other points, such as the fact that the original withdrawal of E&N lands from the public domain in the late 1800s occurred without recognition of Aboriginal title. The resolution also stresses that the reduced taxes on private forest lands as a result of forestry licensees entering into tree farm licences were part of a social contract with British Columbians in return for sole access to public timber with an objective of stable employment in dependent communities.
For more information contact Annette Tanner, chair of the Wilderness Committees Mid-Island chapter, 250 752-6585 or cell 240-7470.
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