Let Forestry know your thoughts about Gambier woodlots!

The questionnnaire handed out at the July 24 meeting in West Vancouver is available here! Please respond.

So…how did the woodlots meeting go? “We are now on the radar.”

Thanks to the terrific services of Mercury water taxi on a calm, summer evening, many Gambier residents were able to attend the Thursday night FLNRO meeting in West Van.

Here are comments from a couple of the Conservancy directors about how it went…overall, we are pleased, but realize that this was only one skirmish in a long battle…

From Peter Snell:

“I felt the meeting went very well.  We think we had somewhere around 150 to 200 people there – full house with a bunch of people forced to stand.  The energy in the room was great, and the passion around the woodlots was clearly communicated.  Lots of great questions and points made by a variety of people….Well done, I don’t think we could have done much better!

“The key will be the next steps.  I felt that there was some willingness of the Ministry to potentially look to engage in further discussions with the Gambier Island Crown Lands Management Planning Advisory Group.  I will be following up with the Ministry next week to push this point.”

 
Thanks to Ruth Simons of the Future of Howe Sound Society for photo!

FLNRO really must consult about Gambier woodlots: here are opportunities

The Gambier Island Conservancy invites all those concerned to FLNRO meetings about the proposed Gambier woodlots.

Please attend the Thursday night meeting, if you can, and otherwise the Friday morning drop-in.

Public Information Meeting

Date:   Thursday, July 24, 2014

Time:   7:00 pm to 10:00 pm (Doors will open at 6:30 pm)

Location:

St. Francis-In-The-Wood Church
4773 South Piccadilly Road
West Vancouver, BC

And

Public Drop-In

Date:   Friday, July 25, 2014

Time:   9:00 a.m. to Noon

Location:

Sewell’s Marina Boardroom
6409 Bay Street
Horseshoe Bay, BC

FLNRO concedes they didn’t think Gambierites would want to talk about Gambier woodlots…

(Mind you, they’re only going to do a “drop-in,” not a “public information meeting” for those who actually live in the community that wrote the Official Community Plan that supposedly is the justification for these woodlots…)

Notice of Additional Public Information Session – Gambier Island Woodlots

Dear Sirs/Mesdames:

Further to Craig Sutherland’s recent email advising of the Public Information Meeting on the Gambier Island woodlots, the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations has now made arrangements to host a Public Drop-in for those individuals who may not be able to attend the meeting.  The two public information sessions are scheduled as follows:

Public Information Meeting

Date:   Thursday, July 24, 2014

Time:   7:00 pm to 10:00 pm (Doors will open at 6:30 pm)

Location:

St. Francis-In-The-Wood Church
4773 South Piccadilly Road
West Vancouver, BC

And

Public Drop-In

Date:   Friday, July 25, 2014

Time:   9:00 a.m. to Noon

Location:

Sewell’s Marina Boardroom
6409 Bay Street
Horseshoe Bay, BC

An information package about the proposed woodlots, decision-making processes and forest management requirements is also available online at:

http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/ftp/dsc/external/!publish/Gambier%20Woodlot%20Information%20Package/

A politer response to FLNRO’s July 24 invite…

Peter Scholefield, the Conservancy president, responds:

Dear Mr Sutherland,

I appreciate the invitation to the public information meeting. However, the time and location are not convenient for the majority of our six Conservancy directors. As the lead organization in opposing the planned  logging of these woodlots,  I think that it is important that as many of our directors as possible attend this meeting. Three of our directors and one of our Islands Trust Trustees live on Gambier Island and one director lives on the Sunshine Coast.

Just one minor problematic detail…

And you wonder why FLNRO is not famous for its communications! A classic example of how not to research your readers, before you write…

(Remember, they’ve just invited concerned stakeholders to a meeting from 7 to 10 pm down a side road in West Vancouver…)

Dear Mr. Sutherland and Ms. de Bree–

Could you find a more awkward spot and time for Gambier residents to meet? This is not a “LOCAL public information meeting.” Please note that those of us from Gambier Island cannot attend this meeting, because our last ferry back to the island from Horseshoe Bay leaves before 7 pm. As well, the location is not very convenient for those who use public transit.

This is totally unacceptable and hardly reflects “community
consultation.” Please re-schedule so that Gambier Islanders can
actually take part in this meeting.

[author]
West Bay, Gambier Island

Well, they call it “consultation”…

…we call it “telling us what they’ve told us already.”

Dear Sirs/Mesdames:

In response to a number of questions and concerns raised by community members related to the Gambier Island woodlots, the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations has decided to delay the award decisions on the woodlots for a few weeks in order to facilitate a local Public Information Meeting to help individuals better understand the woodlot process and answer questions.  You are invited to attend the meeting which is scheduled as follows:

Date:               Thursday, July 24, 2014

Time:               7:00 pm to 10:00 pm (Doors will open at 6:30 pm)

Location:

St. Francis-In-The-Wood Church
4773 South Piccadilly Road
West Vancouver, BC

I’ve never been a “Mesdame” before!

 

Forests Ministry promises; doesn’t follow through!

Peter Snell, the Conservancy director who has been most directly communicating with Ministry of Forests (FLNRO) about these misguided woodlots, just let us in on the frustrating conversation he had with two Forestry bureaucrats last Friday…the “Craig” and “Heather” he writes to, below, are Craig Sutherland, Assistant Deputy Minister, Regional Operations Coast Area, and Heather, Regional Executive Director, South Coast Region, both with the Ministry of FLNRO.

Hello Craig and Heather,

Thank you both for taking the time to speak with me on Friday July 4^th.

I understand from our conversation that what you are looking to do is to help people understand the Woodlot process by holding an information session, potentially next week.  As well, the Ministry is not interested at this time in engaging in a land use planning process, or a cumulative impacts process that would involve the Woodlots.  You have indicated that the Woodlots are “going to be happening”

…from Tim Turner, Sea to Sky Outdoor School…

Tim’s lyrical writing describes why the Wild Heart of Gambier Island is so important…

From the summit of Mount Wrottesley – the shapely bullet mountain which creates the quintessential Howe Sound scene from Horseshoe Bay – I stand in awe at the top of the world. Here, a mile high in the sky, one can feel suspended, floating above a watery world punctuated by island peaks that take your eyes southward and out into the sublime emptiness of the Salish Sea.

This is the view I imagine when I see the licence plate proclamation “Best Place on Earth.” This is my image of that perfect place on earth – which also happens to be – lucky me – my place on earth. And – right in the middle of this picture of paradise, this supernatural world – filling the frame with its lovable lumpiness and rolling breadth of unbroken broccoli forests – is my sweet spot, the wild heart of Howe Sound – Gambier Island!

At the W Van government dock…

And here we are, down at the W Van government dock!

…getting the word out to the islanders…