Stop destroying our great Mother Earth
It is with a heavy heart that I learn of the new logging road Teal Jones is pushing through up near what was known as Helicamp near Fairy Creek. This was the forest of my youth, my Mother Earth, where I would go for my spiritual needs and for meditation. This is a forest of ancient trees, the forest that nurtured me, fed me and gave me a place to be.
Now the NDP government has granted Teal Jones a permit to build a road into the old-growth forest. Look at the map to see the road in the middle creeping through the old-growth — all that beautiful dark green area. All the light green areas are those that have been logged or are second growth. This road is being built in the Granite Creek watershed, with approval given to Teal Jones to build another two kilometers of road towards three planned old growth cut blocks, with one next to the ridgeline at Fairy Creek. However, as much old-growth the government grants to Teal Jones to destroy, it will never be enough until all the old-growth forest is gone.
My heart cries out in protest. This is a violation of our rights as Indigenous people on unceded land. And now I’ve been informed that I must ask Teal Jones for permission to access my lands, adding insult to injury.
I would like the public to know that trees cut in the course of roadbuilding are not subject to stumpage fees.
And yet the NDP government says there is no old growth cutting in Fairy Creek. Apparently cutting into the ridgeline doesn’t count. It is only a matter of time until it is all gone.
I implore the NDP government and Teal Jones to stop destroying our great Mother Earth, the forest of my culture and tradition.
Elder Bill Jones
Pacheedaht First Nation