LETTER: Timber harvesting in Lynch Creek is no surprise
By Barry Brandow
The recent announcement by BC Timber Sales that the perimeter of the Class A Gladstone Provincial Park in the Lynch Creek watershed will be logged is hardly surprising.
Very few politicians and bureaucrats respect our democratic system of governance and repeatedly take advantage of the largest and most important stakeholder group, unfortunately the most impotent “we the people”. This point is easily validated by our antiquated pathetic water management in rural BC.
Bureaucracies are inherently weak. Thirty forty years ago, a university professor after extensive research concluded that people in hierarchal organizations like bureaucracies are eventually elevated one level beyond their level of competence. He called his work “The Peter Principle.” In other words where there is no sting for failure, no buzz for success and you are making decisions for which you will never be held accountable; decision making is not your game!
There are significant events in our life’s journey that go a long way in defining our character and citizenship. The bureaucrats in BC Timber Sales have certainly made such a decision and remind us why so many people hold bureaucrats and politicians in contempt. After all, decisions driven by statutory authority and not facts is now common place on the BC landscape and it certainly is not going to change if we walk away from a fight!
Our new BC Liberal MLA wanted the job of representing the people of Okanagan/Boundary so represent us!
— Barry Brandow
