{"id":54574,"date":"2021-07-28T12:25:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-28T16:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/?p=54574"},"modified":"2021-08-02T10:25:04","modified_gmt":"2021-08-02T14:25:04","slug":"encouraging-the-province-to-become-more-involved-in-forestry-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/encouraging-the-province-to-become-more-involved-in-forestry-research\/","title":{"rendered":"SRD encourages province to become more involved in forestry research"},"content":{"rendered":"

At their\u00a0July 14 Meeting<\/a>, the\u00a0Strathcona District Board<\/a> (SRD) moved that \u201ca letter be sent to the Minister of Forests encouraging the province to become more involved in research and distribution of science-based information.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the last several years there has been a real drop off of participation of Ministry of Forests in providing the research and background that we would hope would be impartial. I think that is a real lack,\" Mayor Martin Davis<\/a> of Tahsis, who made the motion, said. \"To depend on the logging companies for our information is really not the best place to be going for this. There should be independent research we can depend on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The idea came out of the SRD\u2019s Municipal Services committee where Charlie Cornfield, one of the five Campbell River directors that recently carried placards at a pro-industry rally<\/a>, agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has always been a problem to find an acceptable source of information,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

This was one of the points that Cornfield and Davis agreed on.<\/p>\n

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\"A<\/a>

Directors who attended the June 30 meeting. Screenshot taken from the committee meeting minutes.<\/p><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Meeting with industry<\/h3>\n

Mayor\u00a0Brad Unger<\/a>\u00a0of Gold River, Mayor\u00a0Andy Adams<\/a>\u00a0of Campbell River and Campbell River Directors\u00a0Colleen Evans<\/a>,\u00a0Ron Kerr<\/a> and Cornfield praised a meeting they had with the forestry sector the previous day.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a very healthy and engaging process as we continue to work with the forest sector, as it plays a significant role in the economy for the entire North Island,\u201d said Adams.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really good to see,\u201d said Unger.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt made me feel optimistic and positive for the first time in a long time,\u201d said Kerr.<\/p>\n

To which Evans added that the industry provided talking points for their new marketing campaign. She recommended that they be distributed to the SRD.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it is important that we, as directors, all have the same facts when sharing information with residents,\u201d said Evans.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe difficulty right now is that there is a lot of misinformation out there \u2026 regarding storage of carbon, fighting climate change, sustainability, old growth management \u2013 a lot of information that is not true,\u201d said Cornfield.<\/p>\n

He went on to emphasize the importance that forestry has to the north Island\u2019s economy. Campbell River is the third most important forestry hub in the province, surpassed only by Vancouver-Lower Mainland and Prince George.<\/p>\n

\u201cBelieve me, everyone in the North Island is forest dependent. You don\u2019t know until it is not there and I\u2019m not willing to trust that to others,\u201d said Cornfield.<\/p>\n

Some of the notes that Cornfield mentions in the podcast above:<\/p>\n