A petition is making waves that are aimed at letting the province know that a stable and sustainable working forest is critical to families.
Carl Sweet is an equipment salesman in Campbell River and one of the organizers. He says the plan is to let the government know that it needs to think ahead for the future of forests in British Columbia.
“The petition is to ask the government to protect the land base that we harvest. We need to look into the future and make sure we have a sustainable harvestable land base for our future families communities and generations to come,” says Sweet.
He adds that so far around 2000 signatures have been added from people all over the province.
“We’ve got a lot of response from people. Lots of towns and jurisdictions are getting behind it and getting lots of signatures. We’re at well over 2000 original signatures now.”
The group behind the initiative is also planning a pro forestry rally later this month in Victoria and Sweet says they’re hoping for a decent turnout. The Saving the Working Forest for all Generations petition was started back in December and has been circulating since just before new years.
Sweet says it’s a grassroots movement started by the hard-working Forestry Families in the Campbell River area and North Island but the goal is to bring awareness on a provincial scale.
“We’re hoping with the number of effort people have put in and people who have reached out to sign the petition and the number of signatures, and of course the people that are going to be with us in Victoria to rally, it’s going to draw a lot of attention.”
If you want to learn more about the pro rally or would like to sign the petition, reach out to Carl Sweet at [email protected].
