Soo, Summary of Public Input

Public Review Process and Response

Assessment of the timber supply in the Soo Timber Supply Area has been underway since 1992. During this time, a great deal of interest has been expressed by media, local governments, forest companies, groups and individuals.

Squamish District Staff actively solicited public input on the Timber Supply Review in the Soo Timber Supply Area through the following actions:

• the Discussion Paper was made available at Ministry of Forests offices in Squamish, Pemberton, Nanaimo and Victoria

• newspaper advertisements and mailouts invited people to open houses

• offers to provide presentations were extended

• three open houses were advertised in the newspaper and through direct mail outs

• two information sessions were held; one with representatives from timber licensees, communities and Native bands and the other with the Soo Coalition for Sustainable Forests

As Table 1 shows, over 220 individuals attended Soo Timber Supply Review information activities. The Squamish Forest District received four completed response forms and 15 written submissions (see Appendix 1). The Soo Licensee Group, which includes the major timber companies operating in the Soo Timber Supply Area, commissioned a consultant to review the Timber Supply Analysis, their review is referred to as the ‘technical critique’ in this report.

Table 1: Participation in public information activities

Overall, those who attended these public information activities indicate they were informative and useful, but the participants were disappointed by the apparent lack of public interest in this Timber Supply Review.