Twin Islands Protest
By William Davis
WATERSHED SENTINEL FEBRUARY/MARCH 1998
Unregulated logging on private lands has the folks of Georgia Strait hopping mad and demanding action. The beloved Twin Islands offshore from Cortes are the most recent of many to fall to the howl of chainsaws amid the neighbours anguish. But whether or not theprotests prevail, islanders are determined that regulation of private land use will be the result.
The Twins, the forests of Denman, Gabriola. and Galiano, will not fall in vain.
It was a crisp and sunny Saturday afternoon, in bold contrast to the heavy darkness that hung on the hearts of fifty protestors heading to Twin Islands from Cortes Islsnd. The protestors arrived on six boats, all with banners waving, to greet Mike Jenks, Peter Shields and friends. The partners have formed a company cailed Twin Island Estates Ltd. which has purchased Twin Islands to log and subdivide. Tho protestors were there to let the new owners know thal they care what happens at Twin, that they will be watching, and that what the owners plan for the islands is immoral.
The company purchased Twin Islands from the former owner, German aristocrat Maximillian Von Baden, whose family owned the islands since the late 1950s. Twin Islands are found a half mile east of Cortes lsland. Their total land area is 675 acres. The island have gained some local renown for visits from dignitaries such as the Queen and Prlnce Philip and former Prime Minister Lester Pearson. Mike Jenks, whose logging prac tices on Denman and Gabriola Islands have left locals on those islands angry and distrustful, spoke of the company's development plan which would see 70% of the timber volume harvested from Twin Islands.
If Twin Islands were public instead of private land, they probably could not be logged so extensively. Silva Forest Foundation maps show
that 20-25% of the land on Twin consists of old gowth trees, more than half of which lie on land designated sensitive terrain (steep rocky slopes, th~in s0il). The islands themselves lie at the mouth of Desolation Sound so the large areas of tree cutting would be hlghly visible from both Hollyhock, a popular retreat centre on Cortes Island, and the many boats that visit Desolation Sound every summer. Extensive logging ofTwin would be a definite deterrent to tourism.
So what brought IO%of the winter population of Cortes Island out on a cold Saturday on such short notice? Though the motives were certaiinly varied, most were there because they do not want to see Twin lslands deci mated.
Think about our govemment advertising "Super Natural BC." Think about our govenment going to Europe and promoting their new progressive forestry code.
Wonder that BC is the only large jurisdiction in North America without regulations regarding the removal of trees from private property.
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