The BC Forestry Alliance calls Wednesday morning’s blockade against Western Forest Products in Ladysmith “misguided.”
Carl Sweet of the BCFA says during the pandemic and economic downturn, forest workers and communities are “enduring difficult conditions, both economically and personally.”
He says for protesters to interfere in the weeks leading up to Christmas is “extremely distasteful.”
The blockade of trucks bound for Western Forest Products lasted for about two hours.
The Protesters oppose logging of old-growth forests, though say they are not opposed to logging in general.
They are calling for logging to be done in a more responsible and sustainable manner.
A spokesperson for the grassroots group Rain4est Flying Squad says logging trucks are transporting old growth Western red cedar from along the borders of Carmanah-Walbran Provincial Park to the Western Forest Products log sort at Ladysmith.
The BC Forestry Alliance says it will work with the provincial government and others on the findings of the old-growth review panel. However, it wants the government to make it clear that protesters, “cannot be part of a process if they refuse to respect the needs of workers going about their business.”
