Armstrong residents push anti-logging petition for Rose Swanson Mountain

Photo: Contributed

Armstrong residents are voicing concern over the future of a local park.

Rose Swanson Mountain is earmarked as a future logging site, and many locals who use the area are pushing to save it from being clear cut.

"It should be saved and made available to the whole community to enjoy now and for many years to come," says Cheri Saunders, who started an online petition.

"It is one of the last areas where the community can go and escape the craziness of life and be able to social distance at the same time."

Saunders says she has noticed more and more people using the park since the pandemic began, as she goes there four or five times a week.

"Not a day goes by when I don't see another person or group on the trails," she says. "Even in the winter months these trails are widely used by cross-country skiers and on snowshoes."

The online petition has garnered about 1,000 signatures from concerned residents of the area who are hoping to save the forest from being cut down.

"If it is not saved from logging, Rose Swanson Park will become overflowed more than it already is," says Saunders. "These Crown areas are a treasure and should be treated as such."