Several residents in the RM of Piney met at the Woodridge Community Centre Thursday afternoon to discuss their concerns about the clear cutting of trees in the Sandilands Provincial Forest.

Vance Rempel who grew up in the area, and spends his weekends in Woodridge, set up the meeting with residents after writing letters to every level of government expressing his concerns, without having them addressed.

About 30 people attended the meeting offering varying ideas on how to address the over cutting, but in agreement that the over cutting without replanting is a real issue. Rempel says many people come to the area for recreation and are noticing the lack of trees. "They are cutting thousands of hectares without any regard for the environment or future development."

Rempel notes, "Right now we need someone on our side who can give us a voice and get a hold of the proper resources. They need to hold a meeting with the public to let them know what their intentions are if there is a plan, and why it's being done. Hopefully, we can stop it, because every day that goes by there are mountains of forest being totally destroyed."

What is different about the harvesting of trees lately, Rempel says, is they aren't being specific about what type of tree is cut or in what area. "They used to pick a certain type of tree in a specific area, harvest and replant. Now they are taking every tree right down to the ground no matter what species. Everything is gone and it's a terrible mess, it's going to erode to nothing."

Rempel says his family has been from the Woodridge area for many generations and have taken care of the forest. "So now we want to preserve this for our children and our grandchildren."