Company pressured to halt harvesting of old-growth within city’s watershed
Here's a new Alberni Valley Times article about the old-growth forests at McLaughlin Ridge, which conservationists are pushing the BC government to protect: As logging continues in McLaughlin Ridge, the B.C. Teachers Federation voted to ask Island Timberlands to sell the forestry land it owns in the steeply sloped area. The motion passed Jan. 31 at a BCTF assembly of district representatives, urging the forestry company to sell McLaughlin Ridge to "an organization(s) that will conserve and preserve forest lands." The old growth forest is within the China Creek watershed, the drinking water source for more than 20,000 people in Port Alberni and Beaver Creek. Ken Zydyk, president of the Alberni Teachers Union, said the request for Island Timberlands to divest the land was first approved by public educators in Port Alberni. "There are many teachers concerned about the current practices of Island Timberlands," he said. "Teachers are uncomfortable that we put some of our salary towards our pension, it's like a savings account that we access later," Zydyk said, adding that the concern was if teachers' funds are "being used in a socially responsible way." The forestry company has met with municipal officials on almost a monthly basis since city council voted last August to join a lobbying effort to halt harvesting in McLaughlin Ridge. This push is being led by the Watershed Forest Alliance, a local environmental group that fears the forestry activity is unsustainable, harming McLaughlin Ridge's wildlife and compromising Port Alberni's source of drinking water.
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