To the editor:
According to Tom Fletcher, “an employee of the B.C. branch plant of Sierra Club lurks, apparently co-ordinating media and protesters” regarding logging in the Walbran Valley in his column, headlined Avatar Sequel Bombs in Walbran, Free Press, Jan. 14, page A8).
He’s referring to me
Far from lurking, I’m proud to be campaigning with Sierra Club BC to save some of the last significant stands of unprotected old-growth on Vancouver Island. (And, to correct but one of the many misleading or false claims in Fletcher’s piece, the Sierra Club BC is entirely independent.)
Fletcher’s diatribe reveals him as Teal Jones’ willing stenographer, uncritically regurgitating the logging company’s talking points. Fletcher and Teal Jones may believe it is morally and ecologically acceptable to cut down these magnificent trees and destroy complex, delicate ecosystems.
Sierra Club BC doesn’t, and nor do the majority of British Columbians who support concerted action to defend endangered old-growth trees, wildlife, a stable climate, clean water and clean air.
British Columbians know these things form the life-support system of our planet and support long-term prosperity and a diverse economy, including sustainable second-growth forestry for current and future generations.
A growing list of independent reports from B.C.’s Auditor General, the Forest Practices Board and even a Liberal MLA highlight the need for urgent action to save our forests.
It’s long past time for the provincial government to reverse the damage done when it gutted the rules governing logging.
Fourteen years of trusting corporate interests to manage our forests with little or no oversight has got to stop.
Mark Worthing
Sierra Club BC