I remember being surprised to learn that the very spot occupied by the foosball table last May used to be in the ALR – that particular land parcel was excluded back in 1994 to accommodate a planned industrial park and residential development that never happened. A later proposal to remove substantial parts of the ALR came as part of the strangely-named Yrainucep (pecuniary spelled backwards) proposal of 2006. This was to have resulted in “a new international airport, an 80-room hotel, a convention centre, three restaurants, a golf course, tennis courts, an equestrian centre and a nature park, in addition to fairway, oceanview, oceanfront, and taxiway home sites.” Hope springs eter-
could easily accommodate the required footprint. My personal opinion is that all of the foregoing presents a unique opportunity. Here’s why. Despite absence of funding, and because I’m stubborn and curious, I began to download Landsat imagery, make maps and explore documents concerning the forests of Powell River. One of the curiosities of the Lot 450 issue is the divergence that occurred, back in 1998, when MacMillan Bloedel Ltd subdivided itself into a “landowner” and a “timber rights owner”. This separation of assets continued over time. Depending on the property, the landowner became Pacifica, Norske Skog Canada, Norske Canada, Catalyst, and the PRSC Limited Partner-
Artist captures the grace of old trees Alfred Muma painted this month’s PRL cover, plus the “home tree” image on the previous page
I nal, but the proposed ALR exclusion was flatly turned down by the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) in 2007. The latest proposal was that concerning Sino Bright, the proposed international school that would host 400 students – and boost our local economy. Once again the purchase of land was contingent upon removal from the everpesky ALR. In June, City Council unani-
“What bright future could be imagined... [if] we the people have the right to 134 acres of largely-forested land.” – Andrew Bryant mously voted to endorse the exclusion of 30 acres in support of the application. In November we learned that the ALC had taken its mandate to protect agricultural opportunities seriously – and said “no”. The story has not ended with the recent ALC decision; indeed I hope that Sino Bright can be welcomed elsewhere – because there are adjacent properties that
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• december 2016 • prliving.ca
ship. The timber rights owner became Weyerhaeuser and then Island Timberlands. After studying the language of the original contracts, and placing that within the context of the satellite imagery that showed forest harvesting, a legal question has been raised: Who owns the trees on what I call the Sino Bright parcel? At least one lawyer is of the opinion that because a planned harvest occurred there in 1999-2000, ownership of the remaining standing timber has reverted to the landowner – which is the PRSC. What bright future could be imagined were it to be legally-determined that we the people have the right to 134 acres of largely-forested land, sandwiched between Upper and Lower Millennium Park, Brooks Secondary School, and the soon-to-be-rehabilitated old incinerator site, that has legal constraints imposed upon it by virtue of being within the ALR? What if those trees didn’t have to come down? Imagine… For readers interested in learning more about Lot 450, there’s a website dedicated to that, complete with maps, analyses, and links to primary sources. www.imaginelot450.ca
n another time of his life, Alfred Muma would have whipped through painting this stump without a thought. At the height of his career, he finished a dozen paintings a day outdoors in the Queen Charlotte Islands. Abandoned villages. Totem poles. Towering cedars. The sun. His work – watercolours, acrylics, oil and prints - was collected by both corporations and individuals, and rented through the Ontario Art Gallery and the Vancouver Art Gallery. The House of Commons, in Ottawa, once showed his paintings. He took his constant energy for granted. A dozen years ago, though, his thyroid stopped working. Earlier this year year, a new diagnosis: polymyalgia. Together, they make him tired and sore. But the Toronto-born artist adores big trees. He’s compelled to paint them. “Trees are individuals,” he said, explaining why he’s still, at 63, enamoured. Last year, Alfred created the work that is Powell River Living’s cover this month: wild trees lit up against the night, the Christmas lights shining in the rain-soaked boughs. In November, he created a print of the iconic Home Tree at Stillwater Bluffs, overhanging the cliff, in support of the movement to save the area from logging. “When I moved to the coast and saw
BC trees for the first time, I decided we didn’t have trees back east. They were kind of small, in comparison. It was in the Charlottes that I learned about trees. We found a 1,500 year old stand. Right there, that was something for me to be interested in. They’ve seen a lot. That impresses me and inspires me. And the size.” Which is why, on a sunny day in early September, Alfred drove his paints and a bulky 40” x 59” canvas to the end of a logging road near his Maywood Road home, to paint the giant stump. Never logged, never burned in a fire, he’d been sketching the stump for days. He parked. Alone, Alfred carried the canvas half-way to his destination, put it down and returned to the car. He picked up his paints, and walked them to the canvas. Then he picked up the canvas again to find the stump – but took a wrong turn. “Why am I doing this to myself?” he remembers thinking. Eventually he found it, and hiked his paints in too. Using the fallen log as an easel – never mind the salal and berries – he painted for three hours, snapped a photo of his completed work with the log in the background, and hiked out. Like the trees he captures, Alfred is still standing.