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PRWUA Newsletter March, 1998YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORKNEW PERRY RIDGE LOGGING ROAD EXCEEDS COST ESTIMATESDespite the protest of several hundred people and the arrest of 14 people, the Ministry of Forests constructed 4.4 km of logging road at the north end of Perry Ridge in summer and fall of 1997. According to the Ministry of Forests' numbers, the road was far more costly to build than budgeted.
Costs not included above: Stability Assessment and Engineering Prescriptions report; legal costs. Estimated cost to complete the remaining 3.3 km of road: $100,000. Remember: According to MoF, this road goes nowhere. It accesses no planned logging. It does access three woodlots, but usually woodlot licensees pay to construct roads in their woodlot. There has been no financial analysis or cost(benefit analysis to show whether or not logging and road building on Perry Ridge are financially viable. Would you run a business this way? PERRY RIDGE - A NATURALLY UNSTABLE LANDFORMIn fall of 1996, Austin Greengrass' property experienced a rotational slump that caused a large piece of his Appledale property and part of his house to fall. Austin's property value decreased overnight from $104,000 to $6,900 and his house is unsafe to live in. The same land slump extends south to neighbouring property owned by Muffin Benedict. Muffin's property is now so unstable that her insurance company cancelled her house insurance and the assessment authority reduced the value of her land by half. Other slumps, landslides, and sink holes are found the length of Perry Ridge, but the extent and location of these natural instabilities are not known or mapped. What the experts say:According to reports from both government and independent experts, these natural instabilities can be made worse by logging and road building. The experts recommend detailed stability studies for both the private property and the Crown land above -- for the entire east face of Perry Ridge. Government has so far not committed itself to completing all of the studies recommended by the experts. Here is what the experts say: Timber harvesting on the east side of Perry Ridge has the potential of increasing runoff and/or altering drainage patterns. Changes such as these could alter the flow patterns on the valley bottom which could result in increased landslide hazard. All timber harvesting proposals on the east side should take these concerns into consideration. - Dwain Boyer, Engineering Section Head, Ministry of Environment, Water Branch Future logging on the east slope of Perry Ridge should only be carried out after all potential downslope and downstream effects are considered. - Doug Vandine, Consulting Professional Engineer Sixty percent of Perry Ridge is high to extreme hazard rating for sediment yield or induced mass wasting (landslides). These basins are directly above 56 licensed water sources... It is important to remember that road locations and logging are planned above very steep gradient streams that are going to bring any sediment or mass wasting directly to the valley floor... In summary, I would recommend against any road building or logging activity on Perry ridge. - Allan Isaacson, consulting hydrologist Since when are road building and timber cutting more important than our lives, our property, our water and our children's future?DESPITE JUDGE SETTING ASIDE INJUNCTION, MINISTRY OF FORESTS SUES PERRY RIDGE RESIDENTSIn November 1997, Justice Parrett set aside last summer's injunction that had been granted to prevent people from protesting on the proposed Perry Ridge road. The judge said that the Ministry had withheld critical information when the injunction was first heard. Despite the fact that the judge set aside the injunction, the Ministry of Forests, through the Attorney General, is proceeding with a court case. suing five residents of Perry Ridge and seeking a permanent injunction. The government's position is that the lawsuit has nothing to do with the various concerns connected with possible damage to water, property and life due to road-building or logging of Perry Ridge. Its sole focus is whether the named defendants had any legal right to block the road-building or to otherwise protest it. The defendants are represented by Kenyon McGee and Marilyn Sanford. McGee has filed a defence denying the government's allegations as well as a counterclaim on behalf of the named defendants and other individuals for damage to water and property values both present and future. The defendants are now faced with the ordeal of a lengthy and costly court case. Since when is it okay for government to sue its citizens for trying to protect their right to clean water and safe property? Legal cases are very expensive. Please show your appreciation for the defendants' courage to peacefully stand up for all of us - donate generously towards their defence. Send cheques payable to the PRWUA, do S-8, C-20, R.R.#1 Winlaw VOG 2J0; or phone 226 7376 or 355 2353. THE LRUP MARCHES ON...On December 1,1997, the Perry Ridge Water Users' Association requested that the Ministry of Forests suspend the Perry Ridge Local Resource Use Plan (LRUP), a round table to plan both the east and west slopes of the Perry Ridge landform. The LRUP table has never responded to this request and carries on with its business. The PRWUA sends observers to each LRUP meeting, but continues to urge government to suspend the table. You can observe meetings to see for yourself how logging and road building will be planned for Perry Ridge. Meetings are at 6:30 p.m. every other Monday (March23, April 6, April 20...) at Winlaw School. Herb Hammond will be making a presentation on May 19 on the Silva Forest Foundation's ecosystem-based plan for Perry Ridge. Hydrologist Al Isaacson has also been invited. Some of the reasons we asked for suspension of the LRUP:
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