Will new parking lot be safe for anyone?
Parksville-Qualicum News, Tuesday, January 20 www.pqbnews.com
I am writing in response to A. Randall's letter of Jan. 9,
2004 (Blame strong winds, not clear-cuts).
A large opening in any forest canopy will allow the wind to
come low to the ground causing many trees to be blown down over
time. I have observed this in forests all over Vancouver Island
and specifically in Cathedral Grove where trees continue to
fall in great numbers in the deeper forest. I am a small woodland
manager educated through Forestry Renewal BC and have lived
near Cathedral Grove most of my life.
Compare the number of wind blown trees before the Qualicum
wind of January 1997 and the logging that took out many of the
remaining trees in that area with the number of trees that fell
this winter. There have been so many trees falling from lesser
winds that the logging company routinely removes them.
This clear-cut funnel butts up with the small stand of trees
that will be cut down to make way for the proposed parking lot.
Both my conviction and Mr. Randall's mean that a new edge will
be created. Foresters refer to these types of areas as "edge
effected."
Douglas Fir trees, which are the primary tree species in Cathedral
Grove, have a very low tolerance to ground disturbance, particularly
back-fill around their base. The "construction methods"
Mr. Randall recommends as his last point, "...fill to protect
the root systems..." is the fastest way to kill ancient
Douglas Fir trees next to cutting them down. Building roads
and a parking lot will kill these trees by compacting the root-ball
and suffocating their trunks, which is how most trees breathe.
By consulting government maps and hiking through the proposed
parking lot area I have determined that more than 20 ancient
Douglas Fir trees will be cut down. A new trail over 500 meters
long will pass over a very swampy area with water on its way
to the Cameron River. The MacMillan Provincial Park hydrological
assessment shows that between 1957 and 1997 the Cameron River
changed its course so significantly that the entire flood plain
area must be considered active.
The resident elk herd winters in this area where they find
shelter from the alpine snow and forage on the lichens and branches
blown down by the winds.
Is this proposed parking lot going to be safe for people, forest,
and wildlife?
On a flood plain, in an edge effected area, in prime elk habitat,
and between a sharp turn and a pair of 'S' curves which are
on record as the site of the most accidents in the area?
Most visitors will have to make two left turns during their
visit to the park while left hand turns are prohibited at the
current parking area.
Richard Boyce
Errington
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© Copyright 2004 Parksville Qualicum News
