Hooker talks WL Community Forest with WL Tribune

Editor's Note -- Mayor Cook's logic perplexes me.  She (like myself) was told of the Sept 8th WL Community Forest mtg at Miocene on August 23rd by Cariboo RD Area 'F' Director Joan Sorley at the Cariboo RD Board meeting on the same date.  From there to Sept 8th is 16 days to arrange for one person to attend.  That person wouldn't had to speak, just take notes.... but yet says she (and WL Indian Band) didn't get the notice until Sept 2nd and still was unable to send a person out.... Sorry, I don't buy it.  Sounds like excuse-making to get something you want...

From WL Tribune:

Putting pen to paper is not generally Bee Hooker’s style.

Normally the Big Lake logger is busy working at a new Imperial Metals mine site near Dease Lake.

But these days when he is home, however, he’s part of a working group that’s been keeping tabs on a proposed community forest by the city of Williams Lake and the Williams Lake Indian Band that would involve land near the communities of Big Lake, Horsefly, Miocene and Pine Valley.

“They submitted their final application to the Ministry of Forests on Aug. 22 so we had a meeting last Sunday and I was really choked no representatives were there from the city or the band,” Hooker said Monday.

After the meeting, Hooker wrote a 1,000 word letter to the editor he submitted to the Tribune/Weekend Advisor on Monday and e-mailed copies to several parties.

His letter opens with: “Clearcut Boitanio Park,” suggests people boycott business in Williams Lake and warns he’ll blockade the community forest if he has to.

These aren’t things he really wants to do, but said he wants people to get active and write letters.

“I want to grab people’s attention,” Hooker said. “This is taxation without representation basically.”

Mayor Kerry Cook wasn’t sent a copy of Hooker’s letter, however, confirmed at Tuesday’s city council meeting the city and the band received an invitation Monday, Sept. 2 to attend the meeting in Miocene.

“Our partner was unable to attend on short notice so I wanted to clarify that we did respond that we would welcome the opportunity to come and discuss the contents of the final application, but we were unable to attend,” Cook told council.

She added they have asked community forest manager Ken Day to arrange a “mutually agreed to date” for a meeting later in the fall with the affected rural communities.