The latest phase of the $18 million Stanley Park logging operation lifted-off Nov. 19.
Two helicopters from Black Tusk Helicopter Inc. are using the Prospect Point Picnic Area as a temporary landing and refuelling site. Their job is to pick-up logs felled on the cliffs above the Stanley Park Seawall, between Third Beach and Prospect Point. The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation says they will fly only between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
The Park Board said the logging is necessary due to the Hemlock looper moth infestation and wildfire fears. Contractor B.A. Blackwell and Associates estimated the pest affected 160,000 trees in the park.
In the Stanley Park Preservation Society’s unsuccessful court bid to halt the logging, a lawyer for city hall said another 30 hectares will be logged this fall and winter.
Blackwell estimates it will chop down 6,000 trees — of which 2,000 are greater than 20 centimetres in diameter. Last fall and winter, Blackwell subcontractors took down more than 7,200 trees.
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