[Vwdiesel] OT Ecosystem

Mon Feb 21 23:31:22 EST 2005

Hi Bryan,

Close, but not quite far enough west - you were in Vancouver, heading toward 
Whistler, which is indeed a very nice drive also. Vancouver Island is the "little" Island 
off the coast - about 1.5 times the size of New Jersey... ;-)
If you do make it back this way, I recommend the drive beyond Whistler in the 
summer or fall, taking the old Duffy Lake Road, which is one of the most spectacular 
drives on the mainland coast, almost like a piece of the Rockies on the coast. We did 
this in our Westy in '97 when our daughter was 6 weeks old, and it was an amazing 
trip. But over on Vancouver Island (or just the Island to BC people), things get even 
better. Here's some shots of one of the West Coast beaches during our New Year's 
day trip last month, through some old growth coastal forest:

http://members.shaw.ca/wright_family/MysticBeach/

Also, here's a few pics from our June 98 trip touring the Island, if you're interested...

http://zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/june98trip.html

On 21 Feb 2005 at 15:44, 82 Diesel Westy <dieselwesty at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Shawn, I was lucky enough to have seen what you are
> talking about over Thanksgiving of last year, 2004. 
> My son, ex-wife and I flew to Seattle to meet a friend
> and have Thanksgiving dinner with them.  We all left
> in the morning to drive up to Whistler / Blackcomb for
> a week of skiing.
> I recall how odd it was driving across Vancouver
> Island with all the high rise buildings right on the
> edge of great forest lands, literally a block away
> towards where you leave the city.  The drive along the
> fords and waterways up to Whister was one I will never
> forget and hope to be lucky enough to drive again
> someday in my Westy on a x-country trip before I leave
> this world.
> 
> 
> Bryan, from NJ
> PS. I have a first cousin who has worked for lumber
> companies in Oregon and Washington state for 20 years.
>  He says they do a pretty good job and do try to put
> some of the diversity back, but mainly they replant a
> tree that will be good for paper production 15-20
> years down the road.
> 
> --- Shawn Wright <swright at zuiko.sls.bc.ca> wrote:
> 
> > On 21 Feb 2005 at 9:00, Shirley, Mark R
> > <MarkRShirley at eaton.com> wrote:
> > 
> > > > Having lived in a rainforest all my life, I am
> > very aware of 
> > > > the changes in logging 
> > > > practices in the past 25 years. I grew up
> > travelling the 
> > > > logging roads on Vancouver 
> > > > Island, and was comforted by the reasonable and
> > responsible 
> > > > logging I saw 20 years 
> > > > ago, where nearly all of it was crown land. Now,
> > contrary to 
> > > > what you will hear from 
> > > > the government and logging companies, you don't
> > need to look 
> > > > far to see huge 
> > > > swaths of forest clearcut, and in many cases
> > never replanted, 
> > > > because what was 
> > > > formerly crown forest lands has been sold, so
> > re-forestation 
> > > > rules do not apply (or if 
> > > > they do, sufficient loopholes exist). Closer to
> > urban areas, 
> > > > we are seeing 1000s of 
> > > > acres logged, then subdivided and sold as
> > "country acreages". 
> > > > There is a hilltop near 
> > > > me that just suffered this fate - 26 lots
> > ranging from 20 to 
> > > > 500 acres with more to 
> > > > come. Way cheaper than re-planting for the
> > logging company. 
> > > > And they've been 
> > > > hauling logs from this area 7 days a week, dawn
> > to dusk for 
> > > > months, while our mills 
> > > > are closing left and right - the logs are going
> > straight to 
> > > > cargo ships, exporting jobs as 
> > > > well.
> > > > 
> > > > If you've never visited Vancouver Island, I
> > suggest you do so 
> > > > soon, before one of the 
> > > > most beautiful places on this earth only remains
> > preserved in 
> > > > a few small parks.
> > > > 
> > > > Shawn Wright
> > > 
> > > Counterpoint - my father in law owns and runs a
> > large logging company in the 
> > > upper peninsula of Michigan.  I've worked beside
> > him on his logging slasher, and
> > > they very responsibly harvest trees, only taking
> > those that are 
> > > beneficial for the forest.  He also replants many
> > more trees than he
> > > harvests.  He's worked those forests for years,
> > and he beleives they are
> > > healthier now than in the past.
> > 
> > Kudos to him! Responsible logging companies
> > certainly do exist, and we even have 
> > a few operating in BC. The largest visible problem
> > currently seems to be too many 
> > loopholes allowing private landowners to clearcut
> > large tracts of land, then sell it off 
> > without any requirements for reforestation. 
> > Healthier is an interesting point - strictly in
> > terms of appearance and overall growth 
> > rate, this is probably true. We have some wonderful
> > 2nd and 3rd growth re-planted 
> > forests here. But what they often lack is the
> > diversity of species present in the original 
> > forest. One only has to hike among the coastal
> > rainforest giants of Carmanah, 
> > Walbran and others to see this diversity. But we
> > can't hope to reproduce this process 
> > perfectly of course, so our currrent reforestation
> > practices will do. What I have a 
> > problem with is when greed results in any attempt to
> > get around the need to reforest 
> > the land.
> > 
> > Shawn Wright
> > http://zuiko.sls.bc.ca/~swright
> > '85 Jetta TD (retired)
> > '85 Jetta D 
> > '88 Westy 2.1L
> > '82 Diesel Westy
> > 
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
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> > Vwdiesel at vwfans.com
> > http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/vwdiesel
> > 
> 
> 
> =====
> Bryan Belman, Pt Pleasant, NJ
> 04 Jetta Wagon TDI PD, 100hp, 5sp
> Rebuilding 82 Diesel Weekender from my old rusty 82 Westy 1.9NA
> 90 Audi 200, 2.3L Turbo FWD
> 70 Type 1 stock Beetle
> 

Shawn Wright
http://zuiko.sls.bc.ca/~swright
'85 Jetta TD (retired)
'85 Jetta D 
'88 Westy 2.1L
'82 Diesel Westy