Eddie Petryshen, Wildsight conservation specialist and Kristi Chorney, Wildsight board president met with council to request an immediate cease of old growth logging in the Goldstream CP 310 Block L area, currently managed by Revelstoke Community Forest Corporation (RCFC) until council can tour the area with Wildsight. Wildsight also asked that council look into alternative economic streams for RCFC, following the direction of other municipalities throughout B.C.
“Municipalities in B.C. are making more money managing carbon than logging,” Petryshen told council, breaking down economic alternatives Revelstoke could adapt to replace old growth logging in the region.
In an interview following the March 12 council meeting, Petryshen told Revelstoke Mountaineer that there are only two options for the forestry industry in Revelstoke and B.C.
“We can continue to log them until there’s very little left, and deal with the biodiversity loss along with the job loss, or we can decide to transition the industry. I think there’s a huge opportunity for jobs and a restoration based economy.”
Along with caribou and northern myotis bats specific to the old growth forest of the inland temperate rainforest, numerous species of lichen are dependent on the region’s biodiversity.
“We’re essentially removing habitat for a red-listed species in a red-listed ecosystem,” Chorney said, referring to the North Columbia caribou herd who rely on the Columbia Old Growth for their habitat. “The old paradigm of logging superseding all other values is no longer acceptable.”
Continued logging of the area could eventually be viewed the same way logging in the Brazilian rainforest is viewed, Coun. Tim Palmer noted, expressing his desire to view the proposed work area. Polling shows support for old growth protection across age demographics, Petryshen told Revelstoke Mountaineer.
“Most residents of B.C. agree with protecting old growth, even when it comes with some economic implications.”
Old growth forests throughout the Columbia–Shuswap Regional District are classified as a red-listed ecosystem due to habitat loss, prompting Wildsight and other environmental organizations to request municipal and provincial actions be taken to protect what currently remains.
“We have six to twelve years left of this type of forest,” Chorney told council, referring to a 2021 study of the area.
“We don’t have to harvest if we have the permit,” Kevin Bollefer with RCFC said, noting it would be beneficial for council to move ahead with permit applications so they are on hand if council approves future work, freeing up council time and staff resources in the future and also meeting current permit deadlines.
In a Dec. 19, 2023 letter to Wildsight in response to concerns about the area, Bollefer reiterated that RCFC has no intention of harvesting the main patch of forest Wildsight is concerned about. He said RCFC will only need to remove four trees from the area to build a road to access other areas of logging.
“We do not plan to alter our plans,” Bollefer wrote. “I feel the OG TAP polygon will stay intact as it has had a major fire burn around the polygon in the past. Hence the second growth timber.”
“I believe RCFC is ahead of the game in how we are adapting,” Mayor Gary Shultz commented, but noted he was willing to support pausing actions until a June field trip into the region for council to see for themselves the impact of logging in the area.
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