Logging the Mission Creek Watershed draws landslide concerns

How much is enough?

That was one of many questions posed by Joe Rich residents who attended a public forum to hear from Gorman Bros. Lumber representatives about the West Kelowna company含羞草研究社檚 timber harvest plans for the Mission Creek watershed.

While Gorman含羞草研究社檚 logging plans for the watershed have not changed since 2021, a renewed influx of questions about those planned activities in recent weeks gave pause for the company, with the support of the Joe Rich Society, to organize the forum, which was also broadcast via Zoom.

含羞草研究社淥f late there have been some major concerns expressed to us,含羞草研究社� confirmed Gorman Bros. forester Luke Gubbels.

Those concerns have largely centred around logging on the watershed slopes and what impact that might have on the watershed, most notably potential landslides that affect Joe Rich residents and Mission Creek.

While there has been a renewed grassroots focus on restricting timber harvesting in watersheds, residents along Mission Creek are worried about soil instability not being able to sustain logging and necessary road building to access cutblocks.

The memory of the Highway 33 washout in the spring of 2018 also serves as an ongoing wake-up call for many area residents about water retention issues along the watershed slopes.

Elsewhere across the Okanagan, the Peachland Watershed Protection Alliance has been advocating to suspend logging in that community含羞草研究社檚 watershed, while the Interior Watershed Task Force is developing a campaign to press the provincial government to restrict clear-cut logging in community-dependent watersheds.

They cite the environmental harm coupled with the declining economic impact logging has on the overall provincial economy.

At the forum, Gorman Bros. forester Matt Scott acknowledged some of the company含羞草研究社檚 initial cut block harvest plans for some lower slopes below Highway 33 have faced technical feasibility pushback from hydrology and geotechnical experts.

含羞草研究社淭hey含羞草研究社檝e told us we can含羞草研究社檛 do what we plan to do so we are reviewing those plans after which they will be reassessed again,含羞草研究社� Scott told the forum audience.

含羞草研究社淪o for now we含羞草研究社檝e had to put our plans for some of our cutblocks on hold.含羞草研究社�

Both Scott and Gubbels, joined by another company forester Bryan Darroch for the forum presentation, talked about the company含羞草研究社檚 move away from clear-cut logging due to environmental impact concerns, although acknowledging it remains the most economically viable method to harvest trees.

They said selective logging, the harvest of 50 to 70 per cent of trees in a given cutblock, is evident now in the watershed with its 含羞草研究社榗heckerboard含羞草研究社� appearance.

They explained while clear-cut logging means regrowth for an entire logging site starts from point zero, selective logging does offer a more age-diverse post-logging site renewal.

含羞草研究社淲hile there is no hard and fast rule on that, it is generally considered that less than 75 per cent removal of timber is considered selective rather than clear-cut logging,含羞草研究社� said Scott, in response to some in the audience questioning the result difference between selective and clear-cut logging.

Scott also stressed companies have up to seven years to replant in logged areas, but Gorman含羞草研究社檚 tends to start that process within two years.

He noted the company relies on technical expertise in devising harvest plans, and the provincial ministry of forests for timber harvest allocation.

That caused one resident to say while she appreciated the company representatives speaking at the forum, 含羞草研究社淚t sounds like we may be talking to the wrong people. Who we should really be talking to is the ministry of forests.含羞草研究社�

Another resident voiced that beyond a landslide into Mission Creek, part of a key domestic water source servicing the Black Mountain Irrigation District, there is also potential damage for tributary streams feeding into Mission Creek that flow across many people含羞草研究社檚 watershed rural properties.

In response, Kelowna-Mission MLA Renee Merrifield, who attended the forum, stated she was willing to take any concerns Joe Rich residents have regarding logging in the watershed to ministry officials.

含羞草研究社淚 am willing to champion any local concerns,含羞草研究社� she said.

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