British Columbia Legislature 42nd Parliament, 3rd Session (2022) Statements, 15 Feb 2022

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From YouTube: FEBRUARY 15 2022 Statements Mike Morris

Description

The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
3rd Session
42nd Parliament

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Member for prince george mckenzie, mr speaker, when I was a child, I embraced the outdoors as a coping meth mechanism for the stresses of life.

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As I got older, the outdoors became not only my source of solace but a source of food and nutrition for my family fish to foul to wild games such as moose and elk, wild strawberries, blueberries, huckleberries and other varieties of wild harvests were common on our tables.

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Over many decades of observation and interaction with wilderness, I began to recognize a symbiotic relationship between flora and fauna between species, the natural food chain necessary for survival of all species, the importance of broadleaf plants and grasses that produce the flowers, the fruit and seeds relied upon by insects, birds and small rodents that in turn, provide protein for raptors and carnivores, the importance of aspen, birch, cottonwood and every other species of deciduous tree, not only as a food source for ungulates birds and and insects, but as critical habitat for over 60 species of bc, wildlife that nest and den in tree cavities.

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I observed the critical role these trees play in transpiration, shade and moisture retention, wildfire mitigation, but over these several decades decades that equate to over half a century. I've observed the cumulative effects of forest harvesting and the transformation of primary mixed forests to monocultural conifer plantations. I've witnessed the silencing of our forests.

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No longer do I hear the numerous species of birds, the gentle sounds of owls and the sounds of a come was communicating with a calf no longer do I hear the mating call of the pine martin in early summer, mr speaker, our force used to be so much more than a mere source of wood. Fiber 75 years of sustained yield force strategy focused only upon conifer growth and yield has silenced our force.