Recently logged areas on the west side of the Clearwater River Valley are clearly visible from the Wells Gray Park Road – a huge blot on the landscape seen by thousands of tourists. On the east side of the Valley, paralleling the Wells Gray Park Road, the forested western slopes of Trophy Mountain adjacent to southern Wells Gray Park have attracted the attention and harvesting applications of logging companies from 2012 to present. The Clearwater River Valley has far more value to society as the grand entrance to internationally renowned Wells Gray Provincial Park than as a source of wood fibre.

Our Concerns:
If the western slopes of Trophy Mountain are logged:

• The Guiding Principles for the Management of Land and Resources in the Clearwater Valley would be ignored.
• Application for UNESCO Geopark status would be impacted.
• Slope stability would threaten safety of Wells Gray Park Road and residents.
• Household and irrigation water of area residents would be threatened.
• Mountain Caribou habitat and population will be at risk.
• Tourism industry would be impacted.

Clearwater is known as the Gateway to Wells Gray Park. $20 million are brought into Clearwater annually by tourists. The long-term economic future of Clearwater is at risk if industrial logging destroys Wells Gray Park assets. Logging may foreclose future options such as Geopark status. It also forecloses on future trail development in the area affected – e.g. in connection with volcanic and other features. We need to protect the wilderness experience for everyone, and carefully manage the corridor to Wells Gray Park.