Stop the Campbell Government's Giveaway of Lands at Jordan River

Your Vancouver Island Opposition MLAs are standing up to tell Gordon Campbell that his giveaway of the lands at Jordan River is wrong.

Thousands of hectares of land has been removed from a Tree Farm License on Vancouver Island for private development. The misguided decision will affect forestry jobs, reduce recreation opportunities and lead to runaway development on the rugged west coast.

Vancouver Islanders who have used the land for decades are trying to protect local jobs and ensure that public access is protected. The Gordon Campbell government has thus far refused to listen to those residents, and instead have supported their corporate donors.

Let Gordon Campbell know that his giveaway of the lands at Jordan River is wrong.

Visit the Opposition's website to add your name to the growing numbers of citizens speaking out against it.

Click here: http://www.bcndpcaucus.ca/en/jordan_river_petition

Carole James, Victoria-Beacon Hill
John Horgan, Malahat-Juan de Fuca
Rob Fleming, Victoria-Hillside
David Cubberley, Saanich South
Maurine Karagianis, Esquimalt-Metchosin
Doug Routley, Cowichan-Ladysmith
Leonard Krog, Nanaimo
Scott Fraser, Alberni-Qualicum
Claire Trevena, North Island

Checked out the website that JL had pointed out but when I opened it I discovered that it was an official NDP site. I think it may be more prudent to use a nonpartisan website, I know that if I were a liberal politician I would
not pay as much attention to an ndp petition as I would a nonpartisan one.
It's all about the politics and we all know how the liberals like to punish the NDP.
Please point me at a non political site and I will sign up. JORDAN RIVER should be a heritage park.

Good on the NDP for taking up the fight, and so they should. Wasn't it them who first protected farm land around Victoria and BC?

If anyone wants to start a petition I would be happy to read it. Mean while I'm doing what I can to help save J.R. ... http://www.bcndpcaucus.ca/en/jordan_river_petition Next meeting @ S.J. Willis Nov. 1 ...

Hey,

Why dont a bunch of us get together and buy the access property?

IF you could get 2,000 people to pay $500 each that would be 1 million bucks. Or 5,000 to pay $500 would be 2.5 mil.

It would be set up as a land trust. Could be a great opportunity.

If you consider that people who surf there might now have to travel four times as far to get to Tofino, it will make for extra environmental impact.

has anyone contacted the Land Conservancy or Land Trust .. There's a couple of them, provincial and national.

Is there any habitat value to that point and shore area? I mean other than habitat for the transient Neopreno Sapiens population.

At least we can rest assured that if Bear Mountain goes ahead it will be an extremely "green" and "sustainable" project

Last resort pull another Clayoquot resistance on the bastards ... ( I could get some land mines - cheap)

JL wrote:If anyone wants to start a petition I would be happy to read it. Mean while I'm doing what I can to help save J.R. ... http://www.bcndpcaucus.ca/en/jordan_river_petition Next meeting @ S.J. Willis Nov. 1 ...

This works for now, it is very simple to add your voice.

Some other info from BC Surf Forum.

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 3:04 pm Post subject: Oct 26 Forest workers want B.C. to block Jordan River sale

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Forest workers want B.C. to block Jordan River sale
Source:
http://www.canada.com/
Judith Lavoie
Times Colonist

Friday, October 26, 2007

Forest workers in the Jordan River area fear the sale of Western Forest Products land will mean layoffs, a shorter work year and a less-viable industry -- and they want the provincial government to stop the deal involving the former tree-farm licence property.

Brian Butler, second vice-president of Duncan Local 1-80 of the United Steelworkers, said the union has no doubt jobs will be lost as prime tree-growing land, much of it logged in the winter when higher-elevation land is inaccessible, is sold to a developer.

"The union is very unhappy that the province allowed these lands to be released. The private lands in the [tree-farm licence] were part of the social contract to create jobs," he said.

Tree-farm licences allow companies like Western Forest Products sole access to a guaranteed supply of timber on Crown land in return for following more stringent forest practices on private lands covered by the same licence.

Duncan Kerr, chief operating officer for Western Forest Products, who met with the Jordan River crew this week, said the number of employees on Vancouver Island will remain at about 3,300, but jobs may move to other areas.

"The total number of jobs is going to be pretty much the same, but any time you change a component of an operation, there's the potential for individuals to be affected," he said.

If the sale of 2,532 hectares of forest land to developer Ender Ilkay is completed in March, the Jordan River dryland sort, where logs are bucked, then boomed to mills, will eventually close.

The area was not initially listed for sale, but Western Forest Products agreed to sell the site to Ilkay, then lease it back for an unspecified time.

"What happens there is very much a work in progress," Kerr said, adding even without the sale, operation of the dryland sort was limited because of concerns about its impact on an adjacent salmon stream.

About 15 people work at the sort, while a total of about 40 people work at the Jordan River logging operation.

Forests Minister Rich Coleman has said Western Forest Products was given permission to pull 28,000 hectares of private forest land out of tree-farm licences to make the company more viable, thereby protecting jobs.

But Butler doubts both assumptions. "There are certainly questions about the viability of the operation once they start selling land," he said.

The community will suffer when jobs are lost, while residents will see more logging on remaining Western Forest Products lands, and more logging trucks on the road through Jordan River and Sooke once the dryland sort is closed, Butler said.

Kerr said the cut will remain the same, despite the sale, and the company is considering more intensive forestry, with faster rotations, in some second-growth areas.

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Meanwhile, the newly formed Jordan River Steering Committee, made up of representatives from the Otter Point and Shirley Residents and Ratepayers Association, surfers, unions, environmental groups and First Nations, has organized a public meeting at S.J. Willis school auditorium, Thursday, Nov. 1, at 7.30 p.m.

The group is non-partisan, and anyone with an interest in the land sale or the issue of whether private land should be removed from tree-farm licences without the company paying compensation is welcome to attend, said Malahat-Juan de Fuca New Democrat MLA John Horgan.
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"We need to look at how we got here and where we go next," he said. "This is a concern to all British Columbians."

Coleman and ministry representatives will be invited to attend the meeting.


© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2007

As Penguin noted above there is an important meeting happening this Thursday. Please attend and voice your opinion on this important issue.

Anyone going?

I'm hopeful my whole family is going Great experience for the kids I think

I'll be there!

Why did 'Forest Minister' Rich Coleman give developer Ender Ilkey the right to purchase 5,570 acres of crown land ??? What happened to preserving our forest for future generations ??? What happened to " Systematic acquisition of publicly held parkland to ensure adequate ecological protection and recreational access" ??? (page #10 1.7 last paragraph of the following document) http://www.crd.bc.ca/jdf/parks/document ... 070718.pdf http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explor ... toria.html Tourists will come to our Island to enjoy the forests only if those forests exist !!!

Only six weeks ago the land had only just been put onto the market. THings have sure moved fast.

I'm curious if anyone - CRD??? - is looking at long-range planning. There is this land deal, that montrosity just on the west side of town that got approved despite its being apparently illegal, there is anothe huge developement out at Port Renfrew, and maybe others I don't know about. I suspect in a couple of years we will have Colwood Crawl all the way to Port Renfrew, and the accident rate will rival the Sea to Sky highway.

It seems that they are throwing away the idea of a long-term forestry economy. Its probably unrealistic anyway. I recall a forester working for a North COast First Nation going over long-term harvesting scenarios for a big chunk of the northern coast. He was using some cool software from UBC that looked at site conditions and could go hundreds of years into the future. It was boom and bust over a 100 year cycle as forests matured slowly. To do it sustainably and at a regular rate meant harvesting just a handful of blocks a year. Know anything about this Downwind D?

But forestry seems a hell of a lot more sensible for land use than endless gated community suburbs with monstor multiple golf courses. That for sure isn't sustainable.

I hope to make the meeting tonight, should be VERY interesting.

I was disappointed at the lack of familiar faces tonight at the public meeting I think a lot of you will regret some day the choices you made, the priorities that didn't get your voices heard if you don't act....and act fast and decisively.

I was even more disheartened learning about not just JR but all the other tracts of land already sold and others to be sold I had no idea about. How can this be? How little footage this has gotten when you consider its magnitude.

It is like some fictitious mafia invasion of government in a bad movie, a non-militia with the same forceful powers, laughing at the rest of us and our descendants inheriting an impoverished and raped land Learning of all the different valid interest groups directly affected and how the Liberals basically pissed in their faces is appalling.

I am no longer a proud BC resident I disliked Campbell from the beginning and it was based on a gut feeling, saw some of the truth being revealed when he mercilessly slashed government (me and my familiy in the midst of that for years) robbing it of its strength and knowledge, expertise to stop what is now occurring. It was all in the master plan.

You thought BC Ferry Cats were a disaster?? That was peanuts in comparison. I am not easily swayed by banner swingers or interest group rah rah......But now I know I was right

WRITE THOSE LETTERS TO YOUR MAYOR, YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS!!

I think it is inevitable that the land for sale in JR will be bought and it will be developed. Sad but true, my only suggestion is that we have some say in HOW the development happens. I am pushing for Eco-housing, organic farming, sustainable living. This idea is innovative, cutting edge considering all of the global awareness going on. I am sure there is money in it if Our West Coast can set an example for the rest of the world! It would be nice to see Center for learning about Aboriginal cultures and utilizing the land, replenishing the land rather then a bunch of cheap crapy homes built on 1/4 acre lots. Lets get educated more and GO GREEN we might be taking a step back in time for the purpose of preservation! I am not ready to give up where I was born and raised to a bunch of money hungry big shots who want to put bigger creases in their back pockets. What makes life? Think air, think enjoyment, think family, think ocean, think wind do any of these cost money? I would rather drive out West then to Can West Mall anyday!! Can anyone else see my vision?

Yes, well, you obviously missed the meeting. And are perhaps not aware of the other issues, this isn't about green living or just JR any longer