Tour to show Clearwater Valley area slated for logging

NEWS — The public is being invited to tour an area of the southern Clearwater Valley that a citizens group says will suffer from industrial-scale logging.

The Wells Gray Action Committee will host the tour June 28 in an area the group says is slated for logging by Canfor later this year.

“People need to understand that this is not a one-time thing,” said committee spokesman Erik Milton.

“It’s really just the beginning. Canfor makes no secret that it intends to return to the valley until all legally harvestable wood has been cut.”

The Wells Gray Action Committee is calling for a moratorium on industrial logging in the valley until social, environmental and economic values “are properly taken into account in an open, broadly based public process.”

Milton said the Clearwater Valley at the entrance to Wells Gray Park has more value than as a source of wood fibre.

Tay Briggs, manager of the Wells Gray Park Information Centre, said the community needs to foster all economic opportunities.

“We have the good fortune to live at the gateway of a completely sustainable and exportable rare commodity — the wilderness experience.”

She said tourism brought more than $20 million of new money to the valley last season. “How we manage the short stretch of road that connects Clearwater to Wells Gray Park will be the main factor that determines the long-term economic future of this valley.”

Cathie Hickson, a former research scientist at the Geological Survey of Canada, said the area is highly sensitive and contains geological features that are rare in B.C.

“Logging in the area will negatively impact the upcoming UNESCO Geopark initiative and, as a result, also sustained future economic development based on tourism in the community.”

Thompson Rivers University has a research station in the valley and is building a new facility there. Prof. Nancy Flood said the facility could be world class.

The tour begins at 10 a.m. June 28 at the Spahats picnic area 10 minutes north of Clearwater and will go until about 1 p.m. Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Terry Lake will attend.

For information on the tour contact Erik Milton at thinkwellsgray@gmx.ca or 250-674-8255.