Steven Hill
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Officials from BC Timber Sales say the popular Powerhouse Plunge mountain bike trail is not in as much peril as the community has been led to believe.
Jerry Kennah, manager for BC Timber Sales, said both the Squamish Off Road Cycling Association (SORCA) and the District of Squamish's (DOS) concerns with a controversial plan to log the area, are unfounded.
Kennah said although logging is slated to take place in the area, it would not adversely impact the mountain bike trail, or the nearby wells where more than 80 per cent of Squamish's water is drawn.
Pointing to a map of the proposed logging area, Kennah showed where a buffer zone was going to be put in place, to preserve the wooded-feel of the trail.
"If you were to go on to the Powerhouse Plunge trail, the first 500 metres or so will have this buffer of approximately 25 metres on both sides of the trail," he said. "That buffer will remain untouched. We will not cut any trees in that 25 metres on each side of the trail.
"Also, beyond that 25 metres which will be untouched, will be another 25 metres on each side which will be only partially harvested," he said. "We will only harvest about 30 to 35 per cent of the trees in that partially-harvested area. There will be one road crossing just before you come to the Plunge itself. We will try to keep that as narrow as possible. Once you come to the steep Powerhouse Plunge section, we have no intention and have never had any intention of harvesting around there."Kennah did admit trail users would see some of the impact of the logging operations if they look for it.
"At some points, you may stop and see an opening in the distance, but it certainly shouldn't take away from the experience of being in the forest," he said. "Of course, these are all productive sites, which will be replanted. In no time they grow about a metre a year or so. It greens in and closes up real fast."
He said BC Timber Sales wants to work in conjunction with local recreation groups to mitigate any concerns.
"We want to work with the bike club to work on some of the timing issues like when it is best not to be working there," he said. "We know there are three major race events including the Test of Metal, and we've always been committed to closing any harvesting around that event for whatever it takes - whether it be a week or more. Maybe we'll only so the harvesting in winter, when there isn't heavy use of the trails. Our issue is safety, as we don't want anyone on the trail when we are harvesting the edges."
Kennah said logging is simply business, and not a conspiracy against biking in the area.
"We are the provincial government, we don't have any secret plot to destroy the biking industry - we want to support the biking industry," he said. "We submitted a plan about a year ago, which proposed various harvesting throughout Squamish, and had quite a number of blocks, of which the Plunge area was one.
"You have to appreciate that these trails were just built on Crown land, and were never approved," he said. "When we come in with the right to harvest, they don't want anyone on their trail. We want to work with people so both the forestry sector and the outdoor biking and recreation sector can work together."
SORCA president Cliff Miller said he had met with Kennah this week on other issues, but did talk briefly about the Powerhouse Plunge.
Miller said SORCA is still going to take a backseat on the recreation issues, and let the DOS take the lead, as the municipality's concerns about safe drinking water are more important.
Kennah said the risk to the town's water is negligible.
"One assessment that was done said we could not provide a zero chance of contamination and suggested no logging at all," he said. "There were three other assessments done by us, which said the risk was extremely low.
"There is never zero risk in anything you do in life. But it is still so extremely low, that it is at the point it is tough to measure," he said. "Anytime you deal with a domestic water source there is always a concern."
Mayor Ian Sutherland has asked for a year-long moratorium on any logging in the Plunge area, and said the DOS is still very concerned with any work done near the wells.
"Any risk is unacceptable," Sutherland said. "Especially when you are talking about more than 80 per cent of the water used by the people of Squamish."
Kennah said the Plunge area would most likely go on the auction schedule in the fall, with logging to follow in as soon as two weeks after the sale.
