Kind of getting off topic, but, all the logging creating all the access and some of this huge harvesting due to raw log export,
so I guess "it's part of the topic".
Just wanted to say that sadly, much of the lumber we can buy here is for the most part...crap.
The good stuff goes elsewhere.
I have talked more than a few contractors who cant look forward enough to retiring.
Big reason why...they are frustrated with the quality of lumber they are forced to work with.
(just an fyi)
This point may have already been brought up as I have not read all the postings. The problem with road deactivation is it, for the most part, blocks the pick up trucks. The atv and motor bike owners usually find a way around the deactivation site. I say that being an atv owner. As far as an elevation restriction for atv off road travel this , in my opinion, is useless as the mountain bike trails weave through the back country with reckless abandon on cleared out trails at all elevations.
Walksalot....your point of only keeping trucks out is why the roads have to be completely deactivated. Keep all motorized vehicles out. Down hill bike trails aren't an issue like logging roads. As said earlier in this thread....restrictions only keep the honest person out. Poachers don't care about rules and fn have their own rules.
I would say that if your going to block access and deactivate roads, you have to restore the road back to forest or plant trees on them. For me the only sense in removing access roads is to remove ease of access for wolves so blocking access to an area that has been replanted and has a chance to return to its original or close to condition before logging, mining, extraction took place. Its all or nothing.
No sense in removing access if restoration hasn't taken place.
" We must strive to touch the land gently and care for it as true stewards, that those who follow us and assess our record may see that our mark on the land was one of respect and love, not cruelty and disdain."
Robert B. Oetting
Proud BC Resident Hunter
On private property (TimberWaste-Island Timberlands) it would be foolish and expensive to de-activate or 'put-to-bed' roads. A lot of those roads will be used again in 40+ yrs. Sometimes road building costs equal the value of the second growth timber harvested. Building new road isn't cheap . . .
You are correct. The current forest management plan is not working. Something has to change. Allowing harvesting in huge areas without setting aside untouched habitat has to change. The funding model has to change somehow to allow for stricter regulations on where you can harvest, how you can harvest, and when you can harvest, as well as required restorative regulations.
The forest industry has had too much deregulation. There has to be value added somehow to be able to support a forest practices act that has evolved, and still provides access and profits for the industry. We need industry, we just need to regulate it properly in coordination with proper wildlife / resource management.
Perhaps there is a way to use special plantings to over grow the roads without actually destroying them.
" We must strive to touch the land gently and care for it as true stewards, that those who follow us and assess our record may see that our mark on the land was one of respect and love, not cruelty and disdain."
Robert B. Oetting
Proud BC Resident Hunter
IMO, Wildlife & Habitat should matter more than ANYONE's ability to access or use it. As others have mentioned, the negative impact of roads is well documented, throughout our province and others. I am all for enabling people to get out and enjoy the wilderness, but the protection of said wilderness should come first.
Phone any regional biologist and ask them about water tables and habitat health in relation to roads. Everything suffers. Look at the steelhead populations on Vancouver Island, in contrast with the logging industry. We've seen what happens, we know better, we just need to be better.
The long-standing wildfire suppression tactics have also proven to be the catalyst for the current state of summer fires. Fires are a necessary part of a healthy ecosystem, so arguing that roads need to be kept in place for that reason is a little off the mark -- with the exception perhaps of areas bordering housing/infrastructure.