Summit Meeting to Discuss Current State of Englishman River Watershed

Parksville, BC: The public is invited to attend a summit meeting on the Current State of the Englishman River Watershed on Tuesday, May 5. The meeting will be held in the Parksville Community & Conference Centre starting at 6 pm. The summit is hosted by the City of Parksville, Town of Qualicum Beach and the Regional District of Nanaimo.
The meeting is being held to discuss ongoing logging of the watershed, the 2002 Weyerhaeuser Watershed Assessment and issues related to corporate ownership of land within the Englishman River Watershed.

Possible participation and/or presentations are expected from the Snaw'Naw'As Nanoose First Nations, the Private Managed Forest Land Council, Arrowsmith Parks and Land Use Council, Island Timberlands Group Ltd and the Englishman River Watershed Recovery Plan.

The public is encouraged to attend and an opportunity for questions will be provided.

Hello Citizens of Parksville, Nanoose, Qualicum Beach, Errington, Coombs, and all of our region,

You have been reading about Island Timberlands' logging "in the riparian zone" of our local streams and from our drinking water supply, the Englishman River. This logging is taking place in previously protected strips where harvesting was forbidden in years past.

Q and A:
What is the "riparian zone"? Riparian zones are areas of transition between aquatic ecosystems (streams, rivers, bogs, or lakes) and upland ecosystems. Plant communities in this zone include riparian vegetation, characterized by water-loving plants. Riparian zones are significant in ecology, environmental management, and civil engineering because of their role in filtration and soil conservation, their biodiversity, and the influence they have on aquatic ecosystems.

Do you know where the drinking water intake is located on the Englishman River?
Parksville's intake is located near the orange bridge crossing the Englishman River on the Old Island Highway entering Parksville. Everything upstream (that is, the entire watershed area) goes into Parksville's drinking water. A spur waterline goes from the Parksville intake to Nanoose.
Chiefly because of the implications for water quality and supply, the Mayors and Councils of our local communities are taking the issue of riparian logging very seriously. They must deal with the fact that our watersheds are all within privately-owned land, and especially private forest resource land.

The protections available to communities dealing with industrial forestry in their watersheds is limited to very weak provisions under the Private Managed Forest Land Act (PMFLA). Individual logging companies have their own internal riparian standards, but they are confidential. Judging by recent events, neither the PMFLA or private company standards prevent harvesting right to the water's edge as long as a specified number of trees are left standing. This is not sufficient protection for a watershed with multiple opportunities for point source pollution throughout Parksville, Errington and Coombs.

In the absence of legislated protections, it is necessary for the citizens of the region to step up to the plate and demand the level of protection they desire. Please plan NOW to attend the following event.

Two of the presenters will be Island Timberlands Limited Partnership, who wish to continue harvesting in the riparian zone as they commenced doing this year, and Mr. Stuart MacPherson of the Private Managed Forest Land Council, who wishes to convince you that all is well if Island Timberlands continues this practice.


Best,
Berni Pearce
on behalf of
The Arrowsmith Parks and Land-Use Council