Update on Islands Trust Policy Statement and Tree Cutting:

Today, at the Trust Council meeting, a number of changes were approved to the draft Trust Policy Statement. The policies advocating for authority to regulate tree cutting have been removed, along with removal of the ban on desalination, and a redrafting of other controversial policies on private docks, and seawalls.  This means that there is now no request to the Province for regional tree cutting authority. The request to the Province to allow for Local Trust Committees to have tree cutting regulatory authority remains, however, the wording of that request makes it clear that, should the Province grant those powers, it will be up to each Local Trust Area to decide whether or not to create tree cutting bylaws. 

This decision clarifies the autonomy of Local Trust Committees for any potential tree cutting regulation, which is more in line with the majority of public commentary and Trustees. Although a new Trust Council may choose to revisit this decision in the future, for the time being those concerned about regional tree cutting regulation can have some confidence that no request for such authority is imminent. 

Other changes to the draft include a reformat of the draft to simplify the structure and shorten the length to improve readability, and to develop a Glossary of Terms used in the Trust Policy Statement to be an appendix to that document.

If you have questions or concerns about this or any other issue concerning the Policy Statement, please feel free to reach out to me, and I’d be happy to discuss it with you.

Tim Peterson   250-607-7094   tpeterson [at] islandstrust [dot] bc [dot] ca