The tree management bylaw is being amended increasing the fine to $10,000 per violation up to a maximum of $100,000. “The bylaw remains fundamentally unchanged you can still cut down 10 trees per acre,” said Mayor John Ranns adding some protected trees or cutting down more trees per acre would require an agricultural permit. The district does have a protected tree list and added to the list is “any tree more than one-metre thick at chest height” Ranns explained. “Any tree on the protected list would need a permit.” The change in bylaw is the result of a large tree cut that occurred last year. “It happened in the uplands area. Someone went in and logged off a whole area ... It destroyed a trail and the value of the trial,” Ranns said. The new addition to the bylaw is being created to deter people from illegally cutting down trees in the rural district. “For some people the fine was just the price of doing business,” Ranns said. “Ninety-nine per cent of the people in Metchosin don’t need a tree bylaw and they are very responsible.” The bylaw is still awaiting its fourth reading. Previously the maximum fine was $10,000.