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Caver hopes to protect his discovery A Port Alberni caver hopes to protect an area around Sproat Lake that is filled with spectacular caves and ancient species. |
October 22, 2007
Chief Forester, BC Ministry of Forests and Range
P.O. Box 9525
Stn Prov Govt
Victoria, BC
V8W 9C3
Re: Karst, an exceptional environment and challenge for land managers
Dear Mr. Jim Snetsinger,
It was interesting to hear you reflect on past and future challenges in forest
management while emphasizing the importance of ecosystem-based management. You
may recall during question period in Port Alberni’s Glenwood Centre I asked;
“Will the Chief Forester consider karst terrain when determining the Annual
Allowable Cut (AAC) for Timber Sale Areas (TSA)”?
You replied, there are mechanisms in place to manage karst, and if I wanted
karst to be considered, you advised, that I write a letter identifying the
location and size of the karst area.
Your advice was disturbing for it implied a substantial effort must be made by
the general public to discover, explore, inventory and identify vulnerable karst
terrains and associated resources before the Chief Forester will recognize the
non-renewable nature of many karst resource features, particularly within cave
and karst systems.
One of the tools in place that could and should be used to assist in the Chief
Forester’s AAC determination was produced during the testing of the Karst
Inventory Standards and Procedures for BC (KISP) (March 1999). The document
entitled; Reconnaissance Karst Potential Mapping and Inventory for BC; was
produced July 07, 1999 by Terra Firma Geoscience Services (Tim Stokes) and Cave
Management Services (Paul Griffiths).
This mapping exercise (Ministry of Forests (MOF) File# 16400-20/Karst)
classified previously known carbonate units for their potential for karst
development. The MOF karst maps show some 400 individual calcareous deposits
outcrop on Vancouver Island. All deposits were assigned numbers, and most are
rated as having a high potential for karst. In addition, these same maps show
that many of the deposits have also been identified with the occurrence of known
major karst development and/or caves.
About half of the identified carbonate units on Vancouver Island are located
within the boundaries of the South Island Forest District (SIFD), around 20% are
located on privately forested and non-forested lands and perhaps another 5% are
located in Parks and other various types of protected areas.
As you know, the BC Ministry of Forests and Range has primary responsibility for
the management of karst resources in (and on) Crown land outside of protected
areas. However, during the last decade members of the Central Island Caving Club
have discovered karstified calcareous deposits and caves that have not been
officially identified or classified (i.e., for their potential for karst,
significance of cave, hydrological, biological, palaeontological or cultural
value).
VANISL carbonate unit 77, 102, 103, 110, and 111 for example, lie mainly within
the Sproat Lake Community Watershed and are of particular concern for residents
and the broader caving community. Significant resource values have recently been
discovered in these karstified units such as, the longest cave in the SIFD, rare
fossils and bones, large community of a new species of sub-terrestrial fauna and
blue-listed Townsend big eared bats. Collectively, the above units host some 30
caves and more than 100 significant surface karst features. This information has
previously been sent (2005) to the SIFD and Ministry of Environment (MOE)
requesting recognition and resource protection. However, we have not heard back
from the MOE, nor has the SIFD issued a meaningful and enforceable Government
Actions Regulation (GAR) Karst Order.
We are informed that professional reliance is the corner stone of the Forest and
Range Practices Act with no public recourse to government. As a registered
professional and Chief Forester for the province, we respectfully request that
ecosystems-based management of exposed calcareous deposits be considered and
reflected in future AAC rational, particularly for TSA’s in the Coast Forest
Region.
Respectfully Yours,
Reid Robinson
Central Island Caving Club
Karst and Cave Assessment Committee, Chair
5833 Stuart Rd.
Port Alberni BC
V9Y 8Y6
Phone/Fax 250-724-3747
Email: note4reid@shaw.ca