Submit Your Comment to BC Timber Sales Today!
This is a copy of email sent out to our Email List on Sunday, April 28, 2024 – please get your email submitted – do it today! #ProtectRCsalmon
Hello everyone:
We are sending a special email from SC Streamkeepers Society as it has come to our attention that 6 cut blocks are planned in the xwesam (Roberts Creek) headwaters in 2025 and 2026! So, time is of the essence as BC Timber Sales (BCTS) Public Comment period and we wanted to give as many people as possible the opportunity to submit a comment. Comments can be submitted after deadline via email only.
SC Streamkeepers Primary Concern: Logging the xwesam (Roberts Creek) headwaters will change the natural hydrology of the ecosystem of both the forest and the numerous upper main tributaries. We all treasure the gift we have in the Roberts Creek salmon run we see every fall.
- By changing the upper watershed, this will cause flooding that will deposit silt, mud, and large rocks on the fragile salmon’s spawning grounds at the creek’s lower levels.
- It is also vital to keep the upper reaches of xwesam (Roberts Creek) as cool as possible by a healthy riparian area that provides shade and natural tree/vegetation cover.
- There are so many other reasons to oppose clear cutting in the era of Climate Emergency, but the main one for us now, is the survival of wild salmon in xwesam (Roberts Creek). They have been here for millennia.
We counted over 1,500 salmon in fall of 2023 (pinks, chum and coho).
What can we do to stop the xwesam (Roberts Creek) Watershed Clearcuts to protect wild salmon?
It will take ALL of us to stop it! The first step is to submit a comment to BCTS as follows: watch for further action in the coming weeks.
BCTS Public Engagement Process
Please prepare your email, letter, or online comment today to make sure your voice is heard for wild salmon in xwesam (Roberts Creek) !
SEE MAP HERE: https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/ftp/TCH/external/!publish/InformationSharing/DSC_Operating_Plan_2023-2027/Maps/20_PR_20K_MAP_OperatingPlan_5YearSchedule_20230502_MOUNT%20ELPHINSTONE.pdf (BLUE) Cut Blocks Year 2025 (BROWN) Cut Block Year 2026
SEND A COMMENT to BCTS:
1.) Email to BCTS.SunshineCoast@gov.bc.ca
(Suggestion is to also cc the following: Email: Forest Minister Bruce Ralston at: FLNR.Minister@gov.bc.ca, David Eby at Premier@gov.bc.ca; Indigenous Relations Minister Murray Rankin at IRR.Minister@gov.bc.ca, Sunshine Coast MLA nicholas.simons.MLA@leg.bc.ca, nathan.cullen.MLA@leg.bc.ca (Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship), Forests.ChinookTimberSalesOffice@gov.bc.ca, derek.lefler@gov.bc.ca, jillian.tougas@gov.bc.ca, connie@coastreporter.netand scstreamkeepers@gmail.com
2.) Deliver in-person to BC Timber Sales office at the following address: (during business hours).
BC Timber Sales Sunshine Coast Business Area
7077 Duncan Street, Powell River, BC V8A 1W1
3.) Mail to above address (this might not arrive on time unless you courier through Canada Post. Sending registered mail requires the receptionist to sign guaranteeing
it is received.)
If you have questions or require assistance, please email Jocelyn Ciarneilla, RPF at BCTS.SunshineCoast@gov.bc.ca or telephone 604 485 0700.
In closing:
Thank each of you for supporting wild salmon! At no time in our history have wild salmon needed us to speak for them and actively come to their aid! Please join us, this will not be an easily won battle, it will take ALL of us to win! Salmon are tenacious, we will have to be just as tenacious to stop the clear cutting of the headwaters of our precious xwesam (Roberts Creek)!
We hope you will share with family, friends, and groups you work with.
We have included further information and reading below to assist in submitting a comment and please don’t hesitate to reach out to us and we will do our best to help.
In solidarity,
Shirley, Denise & Kelly
SC Streamkeepers Society
PS Attachments: Coho Parr (Fry) xwesam (Roberts Creek) March 19, 2024 & Difference of Extreme Water Event on Forested and Non-forested hillside.
We acknowledge the unceded land of the shíshálh and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh peoples who have been here since time immemorial.
(You will need clearcuts #’s + road ID to comment on cut blocks or roads.)
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Please check SC Streamkeepers website for more links. https://sunshinecoaststreamkeepers.com
The primary concern for SC Streamkeepers regarding the cutting of MANY HECTARES of trees and building logging roads is how this put at risk the survival the Roberts Creek spawning salmon and their habitat.
1. This will cause flooding that deposits silt, mud, and large rocks on the fragile salmon’s spawning grounds at the creek’s lower levels The Polar Geoscience report states indicates a real concern that in unprecedented weather events (i.e. atmospheric rivers) the current road infrastructure cannot withstand flooding. The culvert washouts deposit more silt, mud, and other debris on the lower spawning grounds. We doubt very much MOTI will replace the inadequate road culverts in a timely manner. See FULL report here:
2. The unprecedented long summer droughts of the past few years due to climate change are already increasing water temperatures to dangerous levels for salmon. (+18C causes high mortality in salmon.)
The creek is already experiencing reduced flows for fall salmon migration upstream in September and October, limiting the places that small fry can hide and survive through the hotter months.
Cut Block ID’s:
TA0520 (Elph008) & (G043B4NN), ELPH1028 and A94817 (G043B4SG) & (G043C3ZP), and TA1078.
Two Forestry Service Road FSR ID’s: (Note: building roads can cause as much or more damage to vulnerable ecosystem than tree cutting.)
McNair FSR 8629Br08 (beside Blue blocks)
Sechelt Roberts FSR 7575Br29 (beside Brown blocks)
If you would like to read the reports and other information, please go to the SCSS website. https://sunshinecoaststreamkeepers.com
