A proposed logging plan for theLynch Creek North area will harmgrizzly bear habitat in the region, saysa local environmental group report onthe plan, and the plan should be withdrawn.Friends and Residents of the NorthFork (FRNF) said in a report Aug. 22that the Granby-Gladstone grizzly bearpopulation and the landscape it dependson are in crisis.Based on the conclusion reached bygrizzly bear biologist Dr. Brian Horejsi,the grassroots organization commissionedthe study to examine the potentialimpacts of BC Timber Sales (BCTS)proposed logging plans in the LynchCreek North area, 28 kilometres northof Grand Forks and adjacent to GladstoneProvincial Park.BCTS has said logging operationswould not harm the threatened grizzly,and it will follow the Kootenay BoundaryLand Use Plan.Horejsi said the land use plan maybe “legal” from a technical perspective,“but it is scientifically invalid and hasproduced an endangered grizzly bearpopulation.”The large annual allowable cut(AAC) is destroying the wildlife connectivitycorridor between the Gladstoneand Granby Parks, Horejsi said.“The cumulative effects of roadbuilding and extensive clear-cut loggingin the corridor have severely fragmentedthe landscape, making anyintact forest areas, like Lynch CreekNorth, even more critical to protect,” hesaid in a FRNF release.Horejsi called for a plan at the landscapelevel.“It is not sufficient nor acceptableto evaluate the potential impacts of theLynch Creek logging and road buildingplan in isolation,” he said.“The Granby-Gladstone landscapehas experienced over half a century ofescalating cumulative impacts resultingin extreme risk to safe movementby bears and an ecosystem wide andsignificant deterioration to overall security.”BCTS should immediately withdrawits plans to log cut blocks in the LynchCreek North area and the Ministry ofForests.As well, Lands and Natural ResourceOperations should add the6,000-hectare parcel of intact forest toGladstone Park.Friends and Residents of the NorthFork is a grassroots organization dedicatedto protecting the forests and ecosystemsin the Granby Valley to supportall forest values including wildlife,fisheries, biodiversity, water, soil, recreationand timber harvesting.editor@grandforksgazette.ca