Powell River Board of Education is concerned about Island Timberlands (IT) potentially logging near local schools.
With Henderson Elementary and Brooks Secondary School adjacent to areas that could be logged by the private timberlands business, the school board has concerns about student safety and possible damage to school property.
To address these concerns, Jay Yule, superintendent of schools at School District 47, sent a letter to IT on behalf of the school district.
“We became aware that there is potential logging adjacent to two of our properties,” said Yule at a school board meeting on Tuesday, November 17. “We just want to ensure that they are aware that we have concerns around student safety and the effect on our property.”
Yule said the school board became aware of the potential issue from a concerned citizen who attended a public meeting on October 28 regarding harvest plans for IT-owned timber on PRSC Limited Partnership lands in Townsite.
“We are asking for more information on that so we can know what we are looking at,” said Yule. “We don’t even know if they are logging there or not, so we want them to know we are interested in opening a line of communication with them.”
IT manager community and government relations Makenzie Leine said she would be happy to meet with Yule to discuss how the company can address the school board’s concerns.
“Safety is Island Timberlands’ utmost concern,” said Leine. “We will be timing our operations around school schedules and carefully managing the school interface.”
Yule’s letter details concerns regarding student safety, as well as erosion and water run off due to logging.
“Young students can be curious,” said Yule. “We want to know if IT will have protocols in place to ensure their safety during active logging.”
Yule also said that the school board would like to know if IT plans on logging right up to the edge of school board property, or if they plan on leaving a buffer zone.
“We would like to work with you,” said Yule in the letter, “to ensure that whatever the plans are for logging that they address our concerns for children’s safety and the impact on our property.”
