This page contains annotated news stories and press releases with commentary about land reform and the democratic process in British Columbia. Our comments are shown in red.
On July 16th, 2008 the Auditor General released this 72 page report titled; Removing Private Land from Tree Farm Licences 6, 19 & 25: Protecting the Public Interest?
The report supports what everyone opposed to the TFL deletion decision has been saying all along; The decision was not adequately informed, consultation was not effective, communication was not transparent, and previous land removals did not inform the decision.
The report also brings up the suspicions of insider trading, liberal donations, and conflicts of interest.
For a copy of the report click here http://www.bcauditor.com/include/view_file.asp?id=18&type=publicationTo take action to save Jordan River and surrounds go to: http://www.savejordanriver.com
Subdivision bulldozes through scenic surfer community
Today's auditor-general report will determine fate of Jordan River's forests and the lots likely to replace them
Jul 16, 2008
By Justine Hunter
JORDAN RIVER — Sealed inside the cab of his massive hydraulic driller, Ron Vanderkhove was intent yesterday on making a deep, narrow puncture in solid rock.
"It's a boring job - loud and dirty," he said as he took a short break from drilling holes for explosives.
The main perk is the view. Mr. Vanderkhove's driller was resting on a peak overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca, 350 metres below. In every other direction, he could stare out at forested crests and valleys.
Mr. Vanderkhove is working for Western Forest Products, but this assignment has nothing to do with logging. Last year, the company realized some of its timberlands were worth more as real estate. He's now part of a team of forest workers who have turned their talents to laying out future subdivisions.
The proposed developments would put a price on the view but are mired in controversy. Many residents of the surrounding communities along this southern stretch of Vancouver Island's west coast oppose the development of forestry land, fearing it will ruin their rural lifestyle.
A lifelong resident of nearby Sooke, Mr. Vanderkhove scorns the critics. "There's nothing in Jordan River that can't be bulldozed," he said. "We need sustainable growth."
When did the biggest lumber company on the West Coast become a land-management company that just happens to do forestry?
Duncan Kerr, chief operating officer for Western Forest Products, said the shift in thinking came about 18 months ago. Not only is the industry suffering a prolonged downturn, but real-estate values on Vancouver Island have skyrocketed. To top it off, there were running battles over logging in the region between Sooke and Jordan River.
"When we went to market last summer, we had reached the tipping point," he said yesterday. "We were looking at opportunities to raise some funds, and those waterfront properties come to the forefront pretty quickly."
The proposed developments are privately owned by the forest company but were subject to provincial forestry regulations. Last year, at the company's request, the B.C. government withdrew more than 28,000 hectares of forest from its tree-farm licence program.
Today, B.C. Auditor-General John Doyle will release a report on whether the province acted in the public interest when it freed those private lands from Forest Ministry controls.
Maurita Prato, an environmental campaign organizer for the Victoria-based Dogwood Initiative, doesn't expect Mr. Doyle will roll back the decision for Western Forest Products, but she's hopeful he'll discourage similar forestry exclusions.
"These are lands that will be paved over and turned into suburban sprawl," she said. "It's better off managed as public forest land."
Bob Matters of the United Steelworkers, the union representing forest workers on the West Coast, has urged the auditor to look further than just the lands excluded on behalf of Western Forest Products.
He said the company is leading the pack in real-estate development, but it's a disturbing trend.
But the blasting and surveying has continued regardless of the auditor's work. Western Forest Products is preparing the parcels for 319 lots, each roughly four hectares in size. The timberlands, which have been logged since the 1800s, are mostly 60-year-old, second-growth forests.
The parcels have been sold, pending zoning approval, to a Vancouver developer who has a very different vision than what is being mapped out by the forest company. Rather than a few hundred executive homes spread along the coast, Ender Ilkay envisions Jordan River, a surfer haven with a population of about 50, as a self-sustaining community of about 20,000 people.
"Whatever is there has got to have a big enough tax base to sustain itself," he said yesterday. That would leave the neighbouring communities largely untouched, he said.
"It's an incredibly unique area. It's the rainforest meets the rugged sea. ... The only way it will be a success is if you don't ruin that experience in developing it."
Mr. Ilkay isn't concerned about what the Auditor-General may have to say about how the land came to be on the market. His bigger challenge lies in winning zoning approval from the Capital Regional District, the local governing authority.
This spring, the CRD sent a message by creating a new bylaw that would effectively block any kind of mass development in the region. However, landowners have until next April to get any current permits approved before the new rules take effect.
"It's a boring job - loud and dirty," he said as he took a short break from drilling holes for explosives.
The main perk is the view. Mr. Vanderkhove's driller was resting on a peak overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca, 350 metres below. In every other direction, he could stare out at forested crests and valleys.
Mr. Vanderkhove is working for Western Forest Products, but this assignment has nothing to do with logging. Last year, the company realized some of its timberlands were worth more as real estate. He's now part of a team of forest workers who have turned their talents to laying out future subdivisions.
The proposed developments would put a price on the view but are mired in controversy. Many residents of the surrounding communities along this southern stretch of Vancouver Island's west coast oppose the development of forestry land, fearing it will ruin their rural lifestyle.
A lifelong resident of nearby Sooke, Mr. Vanderkhove scorns the critics. "There's nothing in Jordan River that can't be bulldozed," he said. "We need sustainable growth."
When did the biggest lumber company on the West Coast become a land-management company that just happens to do forestry?
Duncan Kerr, chief operating officer for Western Forest Products, said the shift in thinking came about 18 months ago. Not only is the industry suffering a prolonged downturn, but real-estate values on Vancouver Island have skyrocketed. To top it off, there were running battles over logging in the region between Sooke and Jordan River.
"When we went to market last summer, we had reached the tipping point," he said yesterday. "We were looking at opportunities to raise some funds, and those waterfront properties come to the forefront pretty quickly."
The proposed developments are privately owned by the forest company but were subject to provincial forestry regulations. Last year, at the company's request, the B.C. government withdrew more than 28,000 hectares of forest from its tree-farm licence program.
Today, B.C. Auditor-General John Doyle will release a report on whether the province acted in the public interest when it freed those private lands from Forest Ministry controls.
Maurita Prato, an environmental campaign organizer for the Victoria-based Dogwood Initiative, doesn't expect Mr. Doyle will roll back the decision for Western Forest Products, but she's hopeful he'll discourage similar forestry exclusions.
"These are lands that will be paved over and turned into suburban sprawl," she said. "It's better off managed as public forest land."
Bob Matters of the United Steelworkers, the union representing forest workers on the West Coast, has urged the auditor to look further than just the lands excluded on behalf of Western Forest Products.
He said the company is leading the pack in real-estate development, but it's a disturbing trend.
But the blasting and surveying has continued regardless of the auditor's work. Western Forest Products is preparing the parcels for 319 lots, each roughly four hectares in size. The timberlands, which have been logged since the 1800s, are mostly 60-year-old, second-growth forests.
The parcels have been sold, pending zoning approval, to a Vancouver developer who has a very different vision than what is being mapped out by the forest company. Rather than a few hundred executive homes spread along the coast, Ender Ilkay envisions Jordan River, a surfer haven with a population of about 50, as a self-sustaining community of about 20,000 people.
"Whatever is there has got to have a big enough tax base to sustain itself," he said yesterday. That would leave the neighbouring communities largely untouched, he said.
"It's an incredibly unique area. It's the rainforest meets the rugged sea. ... The only way it will be a success is if you don't ruin that experience in developing it."
Mr. Ilkay isn't concerned about what the Auditor-General may have to say about how the land came to be on the market. His bigger challenge lies in winning zoning approval from the Capital Regional District, the local governing authority.
This spring, the CRD sent a message by creating a new bylaw that would effectively block any kind of mass development in the region. However, landowners have until next April to get any current permits approved before the new rules take effect.
