Footbridge across Stryen Creek
Stein logging: A decision made behind closed doors
If the provincial government believes that the logging of the Stein is justified, why have they so tightly controlled any public discussion on the issue? There has never been any attempt at open debate regarding the valley's future.
When logging of this area was first proposed in the early 1970's the NDP, who formed the government at that time, instituted a two year moratorium and undertook a study of the situation. The study concluded that the valley should be removed from future calculations of the "Annual Allowable Cut" (AAC) for the region. This action would have preserved alternative uses for the Stein Wilderness by not locking it into logging plans.
In 1976, before the conclusions of the Stein Moratorium Study were made public, the then elected Social Credit Government decided to approved logging in the Stein Valley. It ignored the Study's primary recommendation that the Stein be removed from the region's AAC until logging was shown to be economically justified.
Since 1976, no public body has been allowed to question the "best use" of the Stein.
Clearcut logging near the Stein
In 1978 the B.C. Forest Service set up a Public Liaison Committee composed of representatives from governmental agencies, logging companies, and conservation groups. The Public Liaison Committee has, at best, stalled the actual logging of the Stein. It took for granted that the Stein would be logged. The Public Liaison Committee has been restricted from the beginning to discussions of where, when, and how logging would take place. This public involvement process has, by its pretense, diffused public opposition to logging while still keeping the decision making power firmly in the hands of the Forest Service.
In February of 1985 the Forest Service announced that logging should begin soon. No community in the region, native or non-native, was consulted. "The decision has been made" remains the refrain to this day.
