By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

A citizens’ group in Brigham is raising concerns about a planned partial clear-cut of a 21-hectare forest beloved by local hikers.

Under the plan, presented by private forestry management firm Groupement forestier des cantons (GFC) at the Feb. 6 council meeting, a 2.7-hectare swath of pine forest would be clear-cut and replanted, and another 0.8-hectare stretch would be partially cut. Some trees along the hiking trails further into the forest would also be cut for safety reasons.

Mayor Steven Neil explained that the municipality received a $71,000 grant to maintain the forest from a pandemic-era provincial government program, which was later boosted to $89,000.

“People wanted better access to the outdoors, because people couldn’t see each other inside. We got this grant, we put in signage, benches, swings and things like that and we said we would get a forestry expert in to do an evaluation to help improve the forest.” At a closed-door meeting, GFC presented four scenarios to councillors; the scenario which they eventually voted on at the public meeting involved cutting down a 2.7-hectare stretch of pine, the remains of a decades-old commercial pine plantation, and cutting additional dead or dying trees along existing trails that pose a risk to hikers.

“The pine plantation is at the end of its life and it’s going to be dangerous,” Neil argued. “We had to close the trails after a storm in January. The trees are falling down, dead, dying, you can’t help but see the devastation.” Neil said the pine plantation would undergo “not a clearcut, but close to a clearcut.” The municipality intends to reclaim the wood for sale, invest the profits in forest management and replant the area with new pine, spruce and maple trees, although a detailed reforestation plan is still in development. The rest of the forest will remain open for hikers while the clearcut is continuing, “wherever there is no machinery,” Neil said, and only dead and dying trees will be cut in the rest of the forest.  

“I don’t have a reforestation plan, because once we see what’s left [after the clearcut], then we’ll figure out what to do,” Neil said. “If that forest is not replanted, I’ll give up my seat as mayor.”

Biologist and activist Annie Larose heard about the planned partial clearcut from town councillor Stéphanie Martin-Gauthier, a hiking companion. “No one was aware of anything except for me and the councillors,” Larose said. She said the plan immediately raised three red flags – “the fact that there were no previous meetings or consultations, the fact that there is no replanting plan, and the effect it will have on the temperature, our resistance to storms and invasive species; if we cut everything down, we’ll give invasive species space to grow.” She started a Facebook group and an online petition and got a group of more than 20 residents together to attend the Feb. 6 meeting and show their opposition to the forestry plan. Martin-Gauthier, who voted against the proposal due to the lack of a detailed reforestation plan, now spearheads a citizens’ committee on the future of the trails.

“I found it super interesting that there were so many people at council,” Martin-Gauthier said. “If people mobilize, we need to listen to them.”