Our beloved Apex Mountain and Nickel Plate recreational areas are about to be devastated by a conglomerate made up of Gorman Bros., Wayerhaeuser, and our own Penticton Indian Band. Their proposal is to massively clear cut the forests immediately adjacent to the ski hill. They are planning to log within a very few metres of people’s homes and will totally change the landscape for generations.
I don’t have to say what this area means to the people of Penticton and the persons that go there. It’s part of our culture and our souls and is a legacy to our children and our children’s children and cannot be allowed to be destroyed.
In the past couple of years the logging has been stepped up on Green Mountain and Dividend Mountain, and if what we have witnessed there is any indication of the end result, the area will perish as a place to go. Hiding behind the aura of the pine beetle infestation these groups have seen fit to just mow down everything without any other considerations.
My understanding is that the threat of the pine beetle has been greatly diminished in that area so the need for such invasive action is unwarranted. The plan as it stands is just to get in, cut everything down and then get out before anything is said. Then it is too late. It’s done without conscience or consideration by a group that is only interested in how fast they can cut trees and how much money they can make. There has been no meaningful consultation as there is supposed to be in such a case with logging in a recreational and residential area.
We owe it to the people of vision who came before us and saw what a wonderful place this was for everyone to come and enjoy, to protect for future generations this unique and awesome area.
For further information I urge everyone to go to apexcommunityforest.org and see for themselves what the plans for logging in the Apex area are. I am sure you will be as dumbfounded as I was.
Ralph Williamson
Summerland