October 25, 2004 Public Meeting with Minister
Barisoff and MLA Trumper
With only three days notice, almost 100
people turned out to make their concerns regarding the
proposed parking lot in Cathedral Grove known. Read several
of their articles below:
Western Canada Wilderness
Committee, Mid-Island
Ingmar Lee, Friends of Cathedral
Grove
Gary Murdock, Forest Technician,
CEO, Pacific Rainforest Adventure Tours Inc.
Karen Wonders, Göttingen,
Germany
Krista Roessingh
Western Canada Wilderness
Committee, Mid-Island
Box 442, Qualicum Beach, BC, V9K lS9, ph. 250 752-6585, fax:
250 752-7085
wcwcqb@shaw.ca
Press Release
Tuesday, October 26, 2004 for immediate release
Cathedral Grove Public Meeting Tells Minister to Scrap Parking
Lot
Port Alberni, BC At a public meeting in Port
Alberni last night, Water, Land and Air Protection, Minister
Bill Barisoff and MLA Gillian Trumper received unanimous opposition
to the Government’s proposed 150 car/bus parking lot for
MacMillan Park in Cathedral Grove. The articulate comments for
alternative locations for parking, came from a well-spoken audience
of approximately 90 people, gathered in Port Alberni, despite
short notice of the meeting.
“I am hoping that Minister Barisoff and
MLA Trumper were listening to the people’s concerns and
taking notes of the excellent suggestions for alternative solutions
presented last night,” comments Annette Tanner, Western
Canada Wilderness Committee spokesperson.
The Western Canada Wilderness Committee has
been gathering signatures on petitions for almost 4 years, requesting
the government enlarge the park and undertake a comprehensive
safety study of the new parking lot proposal and provide local
governments and the public with a copy of the plan for the changes
to the park. “We have been repeatedly asking for an open
and meaningful viewing and input process so that the very best
and safest results will be achieved for this world famous Park,”
explains Tanner.
“I am pleased with the input from yesterday’s
meeting, however, the much requested public meeting was only
just publicized Friday, one working day before the 7:00 pm Monday
meeting and given the public response and interest in Cathedral
Grove, the short time-line simply was not adequate notice for
the meeting,” continues Tanner. “Hundreds of letters
and thousands of signatures have been gathered from all around
the world expressing the need for public input into the proposed
plans for the “most visited Provincial Park in BC,”
Tanner continues.
“I would like to see properly advertised
public meetings take place in several communities that would
include maps, drawings, a traffic safety study, technical information
and representation from the Department of Highways,” Tanner
concludes.
--for more information call Annette Tanner 250 752-6585 or cell
951-5015--
Hello All,
I was at the government's Cathedral Grove 'public consultation'
meeting last night in Port Alberni. It is clear that WLAP Minister
Bill Barisoff and MLA Gillian Trumper are determined to carry
out their plan to plow a 150 slot parking lot into the Grove
in time for the 2005 tourist season. The 11th hour meeting was
obviously just a front so the government can claim that they
had listened to the public.
Although the meeting was predicated as a 'sincere effort to
listen' to public concerns about the controversial parking-lot
plan, MLA Gillian Trumper announced Monday's nights meeting
in the Parksville/Qualicum Beach News on Friday afternoon, while
having informed Alberni valley residents as early as Wednesday.
The meeting was not announced in any Nanaimo or Victoria media.
This type of rushed, secretive meeting is indicative of the
government's lack of sincerity in listening to the concerns
of the public. (witness the recent Jumbo Glacier ski development
announcement, -in spite of 12,000 written submissions during
the 'public consultation' process, of which more than 90% were
opposed, the G.C. government has given the go-ahead for the
plan)
If Gillian Trumper hoped to receive a more sympathetic hearing
of the governments plan by focussing her advertisement of the
meeting locally, she was mistaken. Local speaker after speaker,
loggers, millworkers, truckers as well as environmentalists
all roundly and eloquently denounced the government plan. Even
the CEO of the Chamber of Commerce cautioned the government
on a rash decision, given the soon to be established Cruise
Ship destinations at Nanaimo and Port Alberni. Many sensible
alternative solutions were put forward at the meeting. It is
abundantly clear that the government has NOT listened, and WILL
NOT listen to the public on this issue, or on any other environmental
issues.
The government's presentation last night was utterly pathetic
and third rate and took up about half of the 'listening' time.
The three proposed areas that they had 'studied' , supposedly
indicative of a thorough exploration of options, are all within
100 metres of each other. In order to address concerns about
the parking-lots impact on an elk herd and it's nearby riparian
corridor, their solution was to simply move the 'footprint'
another 30 metres, from 50 metres away from the Cameron River,
to 80 metres away. Finally, even their argument that this is
primarily a safety issue is easily debunked: 1,000,000 tourist
visits annually will be need to make 2 left hand turns across
the extremely busy Highway 4, one to get in, one to get out,
to get into the new pay-parking lot. These visitors are often
occasional drivers of large motorhomes, boat trailers as well
as the tour buses. This is a recipe for disastrous accidents.
Numerous Big Tree's will need to be felled immediately and the
development will certainly result in more blowdown in the park.
Of its 157 hectare total size, 30 hectares of forest in the
park blew down as a result of Weyerhaeuser clearcutting right
to the park boundary near the proposed parking lot site.
There are much better, intelligent solutions to the parking
problem. They need to be discussed. Cathedral Grove has become
a beloved international icon for Big Trees and needs to be expanded.
It has extensive ecological, archeological and economic value
to mid-island, Vancouver Island, and British Columbia. It is
clearly First Nations land as is attested by the ubiquitous
CMT's throughout the Cathedral Valley. The remaining 500 hectares
of ancient fir forest contiguous to the Grove does not belong
to Weyerhaeuser, or to CN/Rail America, and must not be destroyed
by logging. Cathedral Grove needs to be treated like the Class
"A" park that it is, and not further damaged and cheapened
by a poorly thought out plan.
Cheers, Ingmar
Click
here for a air photo map of Ingmar's proposed
solution for the parking lot
October 25th, 2004
Hon. Bill Barisoff, Minister of Water land
and Air Protection.
Hon. Gillian Trumper, MLA
My name is Gary Murdock and I have lived in
Parksville for the past 22 years.
Thank you for this opportunity to discuss the
options of parking at Cathedral Grove. I sincerely hope that
you will seriously consider the options discussed tonight.
There are a lot of emotional issues involved
here but I would like to concentrate on the science and safety
issues.
I was a scientific technical officer for the
Ministry of forests for 35 years, 15 years of which I was Recreation
Officer for southern Vancouver Island. During that time I was
intimately involved with extensive windthrow studies at Lizard
Lake near Port Renfrew. The Hydrological study for Cathedral
Grove points out very clearly that all of the previous disturbances
by logging resulted directly in blowdown. The windthrow study
starts out with a disclaimer that there was not enough time
or money to do a conclusive study and is in fact inconclusive.
I can absolutely guarantee you that if you remove the trees
for the planned parking lot and access roads that there will
be more blowdown in Cathedral Grove.
I certainly agree that there is a safety issue
that needs to be addressed. I am currently co-owner of a small
sightseeing-nature tour company and we travel through Cathedral
Grove weekly all year round and are witness to the congestion
there. We were quite puzzled this year that the Gov't added
to the congestion by allowing a concession trailer as well as
the Chamber booth and the employees vehicles to take up a considerable
amount of parking spaces in an overly congested, undersized
parking area. At the same time none of the safety measures that
have been suggested were implemented. I am at a loss as to how
this showed any concern for safety?
I fail to see how the proposed parking lot
will be any safer, I have seen the plans and am aware that there
will be turn lanes and exit lanes. However the fact remains
that an estimated 85% of the people visiting the Park are travelling
towards Port Alberni, so they will be turning across oncoming
traffic to enter the proposed parking lot. When they leave the
park to continue on towards Port Alberni they will have to turn
across both lanes of traffic. I have seen all of the studies
done over the past 15 or so years on Cathedral Grove and none
of them is a traffic study. This seems rather essential if the
goal is to improve safety through reduced congestion.
I am all for the users of the Park paying for
the upkeep of the facilities and am not opposed to pay parking
in fact I was the first in the Ministry of Forests to implement
pay camping in Forest Service Recreation sites on Cowichan Lake.
B.C. went through a lengthy process to ensure that the Province
had 12 % of land in Parks. But the East side of Vancouver Island
ended up with less than 2% in Parks.
The majority of the 12% parkland in the Province
that was preserved was not considered commercial forest and
it is virtually inaccessible to 99% of the population.
Cathedral Grove, between Parksville and Port
Alberni, on the other hand is accessible to 100% of the population,
which in itself makes it unique. The huge, Ancient Douglas Fir,
Western Red Cedar, Sitka Spruce and other trees contained in
the Park once covered the entire East side of Vancouver Island.
We now have a small portion of Cathedral Grove know as MacMillan
Park to show future generations of the World, what once was
here. The forest surrounding MacMillan Park is necessary not
only as a wind break (witness the blowdown of 1997, coincidentally
in line with previous logging.) but also to keep the tiny Grove
intact ecologically. We really should be looking at ways to
increase the size of Cathedral Grove to ensure it's ecological
viability and tourism values. The proposed 1km trail through
braided wetlands and Elk wintering habitat will reduce the ability
of those with physical challenges to enjoy the park and places
unnecessary stress on an already endangered animal species.
As a tourism operator who takes International
tourists through Cathedral Grove every week, it is extremely
obvious from their comments that this forest is a major attraction.
We collectively need to take whatever steps are necessary to
preserve this International treasure. Recent tourism studies
show that people come here to see the "natural" beauty
of British Columbia. Cathedral Grove IS the natural beauty of
B.C.
This Park in NOT the property of Port Alberni,
or Parksville or the Chamber of Commerce or the Parks Contractor.
It is the property of all of the citizens of B.C. and is known
to many other citizens of Canada and the world who all have
concerns for the wellness of the Park.
This Park is so important, not only for it's
ecological significance but for it's economic significance.
Economically it is foolish to exploit the park into extinction
if we are to have a future continuing to draw tourists from
around the world to see it. All the old-growth Douglas fir forest
should be set aside along with the entire area around Cameron
Lake and the Cameron Valley at least to the Alberni Summit.
The Highway with it's ever increasing traffic to the new industries
in Port Alberni and the ever-increasing tourism traffic to the
West Coast should definitely not go through the middle of the
Park. If you seriously consider the projected traffic volumes
it is not feasible to think that a narrow two-lane road will
accommodate future demands to the West Coast. Why not be pro-active
and build a bigger, straighter highway around Cathedral Grove?
Cathedral Grove could then be a destination Park with a one-way
in entrance and exit and the existing highway would supply plenty
of parking.
People have been trying to achieve preservation
of this area since 1901 when James Fletcher proposed that all
of Cameron Lake and Mount Arrowsmith be made a Park for future
generations to enjoy.
Purchase of the additional property for protection
of the Park from blowdown was a very good idea. But just because
the previous Government made a mistake in considering the current
proposed parking lot does not mean that your Government cannot
do the right thing and move forward with a project that will
go down in history as a monumental accomplishment.
GET THE ROAD…..OUT OF THE PARK
Gary Murdock
Forest Technician
CEO, Pacific Rainforest Adventure Tours Inc.
Parksville, B.C.
Honourable Bill Barisoff
Minister of Water, Land, and Air Protection
British Columbia Parliament Buildings
Victoria, British Columbia
CANADA V8W 9E2
Dear Minister Barisoff:
It has come to my attention that a meeting
on the issue of Cathedral Grove will be held today, October
25th, in Port Alberni with yourself and MLA Gillian Trumper
in attendence. It is good that a meeting of such importance
- not only to the mid-Island community, but to the larger provincial,
national and international network of concerned citizens - is
being organized, even if at short notice.
The environmental politics of British Columbia
are increasingly taking their place on the international stage
amidst the rising global awareness of the urgency of preserving
the precious remaining old growth forests of the world. Cathedral
Grove has become an icon of this international concern. http://www.cathedralgrove.se/
Next month, in Göttingen Germany, the
Green Party Leader for Lower Saxony, Mr. Stefan Wenzel, will
be discussing the problem of clear cutting in British Columbia
in the context of an exhibition on paper consumption. http://www.bund-goettingen.de/
There is currently a paper revolution underway in Germany to
reject all old growth forest products in favour of 100% recycled
paper.
What example is British Columbia setting? Earlier
this year, Mr. Wenzel wrote to MLA Claude Richmond regarding
his concern over BC forest policies. He received from Mr. Richmond
a stock reply stating that he had "been taken in by the
rhetoric of the environmental movement." Mr. Wenzel then
wrote a detailed response to Mr. Richmond, again outlining his
concerns (I attach a copy of that letter), but this time he
got no reply from the Speaker of the BC Legislative Assembly.
Again I ask what message is British Columbia
sending to the world by not taking seriously the problem of
deforestation caused by corporate industrialism? The Cathedral
Grove protesters should be given respect for their contribution
in protecting the little that remains of the priceless ancient
temperate rainforest heritage of Vancouver Island and for bringing
the issue to international attention.
I urge you and the MLA for Alberni-Qualicum,
Ms. Gillian Trumper, to carefully consider the demands from
the Friends of Cathedral Grove to preserve and protect this
international Big Trees icon.
Yours sincerely,
Karen Wonders
Göttingen, Germany
cc.
Gillian Trumper, MLA Alberni-Qualicum
Claude Richmond, MLA Kamloops and
Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
Stefan Wenzel, Fraktion Bündnis 90/Die Grünen
Hi there,
At last night's public hearing on the Cathedral Grove parking
lot problem, WALP Minister Barisoff pledged to listen to new
ideas and to take them into account while making his decision
on the parking lot siting. I've summarized most of the ideas
that were brought up below, so that interested folks can write
to Barisoff and MLA Gillian Trumper, to further encourage them
to "listen" to public input, and to remind them that
they have not, by a long shot, studied the options enough to
be able to make a responsible decision.
There were many ideas that were new to me,
the main one that was offered by several Port Alberni residents
being to create an alternate highway route from the island highway
through Horne Lake and over to PA., thereby limiting
traffic through the Grove, and minimizing the need for more
parking. Apparently this idea has been in the works for at least
50 years, and Gillian Trumper, MLA, mentioned that the provincial
government plans to update the major study on the Horne Lake
spike that was done in the 70's. The area around Horne Lake
is now undergoing second-rotation logging, so this would likely
be an ecologically acceptable alternative.
Barisoff told reporters after the meeting that
he could not comment on this option, because it falls under
the jurisdiction of Minister of Transportation, Kevin Falcon
(contact info below). There was no representative from this
ministry in attendance, nor have their been any traffic studies
done at the Grove. $4 mill. was spent this summer to widen the
highway through the park so that the speed limit could be increased
by 10 km/hr, although Barisoff cites
visitor safety as being his prime concern and reasoning for
the proposed lot site. The government-proposed parking lot will
require that most visitors to the park (those heading west-constituting
approximately 85% of visitors) will
have to turn left to get on and off the highway from the lot,
which will require a slowing of traffic anyway, as the road
is windy with low visibility.
Another option is siting a one-way
linear parking lot on an existing cut-line on the northwest
side of the road, with a pedestrian overpass or suspension bridge
leading to the main trails on the southeast side of the highway.
The original parking lots adjacent the highway and the main
trails could be kept open for the disabled and those with strollers.
This option would eliminate most left-hand turns, logging of
old-growth, increased incidence of windthrow of old trees, encroachment
on prime elk habitat, impacts to the riparian ecosystem, and
the need for more trails to link the proposed p-lot to the old
trails.
Clearly the government has not properly studied this option,
and my feeling is that unless there is significant public pressure,
Barisoff will claim that there is no more money for studies,
and as such this isn't really an option at all.
Also, the cut-line is in Weyerhaeuser private lands. Barisoff
claims he is negotiating with Weyerhaeuser for the purchase
of more land in the valley, but no details were forthcoming,
and there were no declared Weyco. reps at the
hearing. This land, part of TFL 44, was illegally transferred
from Crown Land to Weyco. this past summer. Why should the public
have to buy it back? There are approximately 500 ha of old-growth
left in the valley, and several speakers stated the importance
the addition of this contiguous old-growth habitat and First
Nations' heritage forest to the park.
Other people brought up the possibilities of
shuttle-busses from Coombs or Whiskey Creek, a lighted crosswalk
at the original parking lot site and crossing guards, traffic
lights at either end of the park and traffic calming measures,
all of which could work as short-term measures until either
of the above two options are in place, or as long-term measures
on their own.
Barisoff plans to get the proposed lot in
place before next summer, and is hoping that this will necessitate
only one or two arrests at the tree-sits. However, about 100
people showed up at the hearing to oppose this course of action,
most with only 2 days' notice.
Cheers,
Krista Roessingh
