At October 27 – Red Alert, Red Alert – 10% is not enough
This letter is to remind the Board that SCCF has made several public statements that one of its main objectives is to bring the level of forest ecosystem protection in its tenure to 30%. In this report we show that this target should be met now – not anytime “later” due to fast changing environmental conditions. That Madrone Environmental authors make several clear statements that 10% is too low, that 30% will result in a designing a reserve network worthy of an Ecosystem Management Plan (EBM), and the fact this Province’s Old Growth Technical Review Panel (Daust, Gerkel, Holt, Price) mapped much of the remaining Mature Forests in the SCCF tenure as “Recruitment Forest” (Map 7 of their final report) as the Sechelt Landscape Unit has less than 10% (actually below 1%) of old-growth remaining… read more
At October 11 – Follow the Run-off
A review of: Hydrologic Assessment, Kenyon Creek Watershed, Sunshine Coast Statlu Environmental Consulting, May 12, 2022
Client: Sunshine Coast Community Forest (SCCF)
This critique will examine the main statements from the Statlu report as a means to peel back the layers of what caused a complete road washout (including culvert) at Redroofs Rd triggered by peak flows in Kenyon Creek during the atmospheric river (AR) event that impacted the Sunshine Coast Nov. 14-16, 2021. The report was accepted by SCCF without peer review. This document will see if their report holds up to scrutiny supplied by ELF who have spent considerable time studying the situation and were present during the AR event, unlike the Statlu consultant who based many of his observations on a Feb. 23, 2022 field visit – three months after the flooding and road blowout… read more
At September 9 – SCCF Is in Denial
On three separate occasions within a month, the Sunshine Coast Community Forest (SCCF) of Sechelt B.C. has shown its leadership is in denial regarding its destructive logging impacts, though they represent themselves as being progressive forest stewards. Consequently, in their recent newspaper ads and radio interview amount to little more than greenwashing… read more
At June 29 – The Educational Forest Project
As part of its mandate to increase public awareness of the benefits that forest ecosystems provide, Elphinstone Logging Focus (ELF) has completed the installation of a series of
signs that highlight the scientific and Aboriginal knowledge of local plant, tree species and ecological processes. The information is presented on baked enamel plaques, and attached
to 4×4 posts for secured positioning along existing trails. The information on each sign was
from published sources and professionally edited. Where available, First Nation language names for species were added, in addition the land acknowledgements are provided to Shíshálh and Sḵwx̱ wú7mesh Nations.
At June 13 – Call for FLNRO Geoscientist Assessment & Block Cancellations
At June 7 – SCCF greenwashing: new website and current EBM 10% approach
At May 18 – BC Timber Sales’ Water Management Issues and Downstream Impacts
In October of 2021, the Technical Advisory Panel (TAP) to the BC Government released a “Brief Overview of the Spatial Data, Maps and Methods to Identify At-Risk Old Growth.” utilizing Province of British Columbia data Version 2, October 24, 2021 (Vegetation Resource Inventory Data (VRI) and ancillary data) that included 8 Maps
Elphinstone Recruitment Forest and MM Habitat Overlay
At April 25 – Massive Illegal Dump Site found in Community Forest logging road
At April 11 – SCCF’s EW24 puts Old Growth Recruitment Zone at risk to post-logging effects
At March 27 – Community Forest Eager to Log Old Growth
The Sunshine Coast Community Forest (SCCF), a logging company owned by the District of Sechelt, has advertised for sale the Elk Refuge Forest (Block EW24) in the Wilson Creek Watershed that its own consultant, Madrone Environmental Services, has stated is an “old forest.” The differences between labeling a forest stand as “old-growth” vs. “old” is now a matter of small degrees based on new ecological modelling.
At March 27 – These two maps show that a proposed Sunshine Coast Community Forest Blk EW24 overlaps with the provincial government’s Old Growth Technical Panel’s Recruitment Map 7 to capture future old-growth and a detailed map of EW24 showing it has good connectivity to other ‘old forests’ adjacent to it.
At March 23 – BCTS TA0521 Site Conditions; Additional Comments
Re: Additional comments on BCTS Blk TA0521 (G043B4P2)
ELF conducted a field visit to G043B4P2 blocks (subset of Blk TA0521) and would like to add
these findings and conclusions as a supplement to our March 11th submission on the BCTS 5-
year plan. The three subblocks are located west of the G043B4P8 block previously commented
on. To access the three blocks, we walked down bike trails “Seven” and “454” that crisscross
portions of each block. This area is identified as Age Class 6, however site conditions show
strong old forest features, including many Veteran Overstory Trees (VOT), Nurse Logs, Wildlife
Trees and a well-established shrub layer. When all factors are weighed, it is our conclusion that
Blk TA0521 should be removed from this 5-year plan. read more
At February 23 – Field Visit to SCCF’s HM70
Conducted by Ross Muirhead, ELF. Clear skies, 0 C. On the trail that ELF built to access the forest and an upper viewpoint, I met Warren Hansen, SCCF Operations Manager, Drew Brayshaw, Senior Hydrologist, Geoscientist with Statlu Environmental Consulting and Eliot King, Stewardship Officer, FLNROD. An 45 minute informative discussion took place. HM70 is found on a south-facing slope above the community of Halfmoon Bay.
At February 16 – ELF’s Comments to the Sunshine Coast Timber Supply Area Review Package
This document provides comments to several items found in the referenced report. Screen shots taken from the various pages from the package with ELF’s feedback underneath as an attempt to enter into dialogue to this lengthy and technical review.
At February 8 – HM70 Slope Stability Risks
At February 8 – Community Forests Logs One Endangered Forest and Plans for Second
At January 24 – Community Forest AN12 Logging results in a serious “Tipping Point”
At January 21 – “Don’t Look Down” – HM50 Impacts
At January 21 – Tree Poaching (Elphinstone Forest)
Map of the area.