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School District Waits for Word on $1.5 Million Request

By 250 News

Tree stumps dot the grounds of Peden Hill Elementary  

School District 57 is waiting to hear from the Ministry of Forests and Range about a request for $1.5 million dollars in funding to deal with the mountain pine beetle infestation.

In a letter to Minister Rich Coleman, the School Board tells how over the last two years, more than 8,000 trees on 26 school sites in School District 57 have been removed “What remains is a wasteland where an urban forest once thrived” says the letter.  

The photo  at right would punctuate that statement as this corner section of John McInnis Junior Secondary School used to  have dozens of trees.

The cost to remove the trees and repair the areas where they once stood is significant. The Board has written several letters asking for assistance, but the Board says “Although government has been empathetic, all overtures have been rejected, or directed to others for assistance.” In fact, the Board says it has been referred to the Forest and Range Ministry twice, and has been advised both times that the matter is outside the Ministry’s mandate.

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