Dear editor,
Re: Comox Valley Record May 11 editorial When protests turn into stunts…
The desperate state of our old-growth forests, the extinction of species everywhere due to loss of habitat, and the climate crisis we are leaving our children have led some people, like those in the group known as Save Old Growth, to take desperate measures. And it’s true; those desperate measures may have cost the support of some old-growth allies.
Added to this mess is our provincial government, which appears beholden to the forest industry with policies like wildlife protection, which sound good, but are only enforced on the condition that they do not unduly reduce the timber supply, and by shifting logging oversight to industry. Provincial lawmakers attend the annual meetings of the forest industry and the Truck Loggers Association to address their concerns while disavowing any part in the mess. No wonder some old-growth advocates are gluing themselves to highways.
Not all of us who are protesting the harvesting of old-growth have turned to what you refer to as stunts.
Unlike Save Old Growth, the local Save Our Forests Team (SOFT-CV), through our booth at community events, chooses to offer people a means to tell our government that we are aware of and opposed to the policies and practices leading to the eradication of old-growth forests.
Mel McLachlan,
Comox