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Elijah Washington pushes through branches left by logging, crossing the mossy forest floor on Haida Gwaii. He kneels beside a massive western red cedar stump. …The retrofitted stump is one of seven the Council of the Haida Nation had modified this summer to provide winter shelter for the coastal black bear, known in the Haida language as taan. Found nowhere else in the world, this subspecies of black bear is among the largest in North America. Coastal black bears in BC rely heavily on large old-growth trees and the hollow logs and stumps they leave behind. Decades of logging have removed many of those shelters, however — and the younger trees growing in their place have yet to develop hollows large enough for bears, said Helen Davis, a wildlife biologist working with the Haida Nation to identify and restore bear dens. …Now, the first-of-its kind program could set a model for bear conservation worldwide. [A subscription to the National Observer is required for full story access]

One of the territory’s largest tree planting projects on public lands is now finished, restoring wildfire-affected forests near Sambaa Deh Falls. This work was completed under the 2 Billion Trees Program, which is part of a six-year, $36 million funding agreement with Natural Resources Canada. In July 2026, crews working with Jean Marie River First Nation and Windfirm Resources Inc. planted 1,504,030 plugs, leading to a total yield of 3,365,613 native trees and shrubs across 403 hectares. Combined with the 2025 Kakisa project, 3.77 million trees have been planted, reaching about 47 per cent of the Government of the Northwest Territories’ commitment to plant 8 million trees by 2031. Valued at about $3.9 million, the project supported local employment, with Jean Marie River First Nation providing project management, equipment and camp support services, creating 18 direct jobs for its members, while nearly 100 tree planters were employed overall. 

©Mosaic Forest Management

By late summer, the Koksilah is running low again. The watershed sits in the Cowichan Valley on southern Vancouver Island where farms, rural homes, fish habitat, aquifers, and managed forest all depend on the same water. In three of the past seven years, agricultural water licences have been curtailed; in August 2023, an order restricted about 108 licence holders from irrigating. …Above the farms stand second- and third-rotation Douglas-fir forests… In our view, the water moving through that ground — or failing to — now belongs to the same conversation as the timber growing on it. Today, in a world of climate change, that means managing timber and water as one connected challenge. …Koksilah watershed is one place where that work is being tested on the ground. In a survey commissioned by Mosaic Forest Management …69 per cent of respondents said they want forests managed for multiple environmental benefits, while 79 per cent want them maintained as working timber land.

Icel Dobell suffered serious injuries in an altercation with a black bear in North Cowichan in August says she is undeterred in her quest to protect the animals and the wild spaces where they live. The attack occurred at Stoney Hill Regional Park, in a region she has pushed to protect ever since … 2018. …Somehow, Dobell was able to walk away, despite multiple injuries. …Stoney Hill, along with Mount Prevost, Mount Tzouhalem, Mount Richards, Maple Mountain and Mount Sicker, is part of a 5,400-hectare reserve of municipally owned forest lands that encompass what are known as the “six mountains.” …Dobell was one of the founders of a local forest conservation group called Where Do We Stand, which hosted an event in March of 2019 to discuss the future of the municipal forests, which they wanted to protect. …Given the stakes, Dobell said her interaction with the bear has only galvanized her resolve to protect the forest.

Neal McLoughlin

Neal McLoughlin, superintendent of predictive services with the B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS), is trying to get one of B.C.’s most challenging fires, the Bald Range wildfire, to behave in his modelling software the way it did on the ground in the Okanagan Valley on Aug. 7. On his computer, he’s turning up the dials for extreme fire behaviour, replacing the forest fuels with more flammable types, programming a stronger wind from the west and swapping local topography of a downward sloping hill with a flat landscape. Only with those interventions do his simulations get close to what actually happened on the ground that night in Summerland, when more than 12,000 people were forced to flee as flames rushed toward the town in mere hours. It’s partly because the data that informs these models was collected at least 30 years ago, when extreme fire behaviour, driven by events like prolonged drought — a feature of climate change — was less common.

Hundreds gathered on the steps of the B.C. Legislature in Victoria on Sunday, calling for a “paradigm shift” in how the province approaches forestry and old-growth logging. The event, organized by Elders for Ancient Trees, was the flagship event in a series of rallies planned to take place over the weekend and coming weeks. …organizers say approximately 400 people attended the rally. According to Jackie Larkin, one of the event organizers, the date was selected to coincide with the return of MLAs to the legislature — but says with an election now imminent, the timing couldn’t have been better. “We’re extremely distressed about the state of old-growth in this province and the fact that it keeps getting logged, despite the promises from the government to stop logging and to defer and to protect the ancient trees,” said Larkin. Elders for Ancient Trees … advocates to defer old-growth logging, stop clear-cutting, and stop exporting raw logs.

Additional coverage in the Castanet by Sarah Crookall: Penticton protesters rally for protection of B.C. old-growth forests

A new approach to how forest lands are accessed on Vancouver Island is being piloted starting Oct 2, 2026. Following pushback from the public Mosaic Forestry will open three gates on a weekend basis, giving the public access to nearly two-thousand kilometers of logging roads near Sooke, B.C.

David Gonella

The City of Salmon Arm is planning to partner with Indigenous nations on the creation of a new community forest tenure in order to manage local forests and help protect the city from future wildfires. At the Sept. 28 council meeting, Coun. David Gonella introduced a motion to have staff begin the work necessary for the development of a community forest tenure under the province’s Community Forest Agreement Act. Under the act, communities are given the rights to harvest timber and manage a fixed section of forest for a period of time between 25 and 99 years. Gonella suggested that staff reach out to the Neskonlith Indian Band, Adams Lake Indian Band and other local First Nations to explore partnership opportunities. He also suggested gathering input from local forestry professionals to support a future tenure application. …He said he had already been considering the idea but became even more inspired after visiting the community forest in Revelstoke.

Mosaic Forest Management will open three previously closed gates in the Sooke area to weekend public recreation beginning October 3, a pilot the company will run through the end of December. The gates will be open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sunday and holiday Mondays, allowing cycling, walk-in and licensed highway vehicle access to roughly 42,000 hectares of Mosaic land and 2,000 kilometres of roads north of Sooke. Off-road vehicles, including ATVs and dirt bikes, are permitted only through Sooke and Cowichan Valley ATV clubs, which manage access for their members. Gates may close on short notice for wildfire risk, operations, or other safety or environmental reasons. These are working forests, and the closures keep the public clear of hazards. The pilot follows a 2025 public survey on recreation and access that drew more than 7,600 responses, in which gates and access ranked as the top concern. 

Pacheedaht elder and longtime Fairy Creek forest defender Bill Jones will join Nelson residents on Sunday, Oct. 4, as communities across B.C. come together for a province-wide fall rally calling for an end to old-growth logging and a new approach to forest protection. The Nelson rally, Hands Off Old Growth, is a grassroots action coordinated with events in Victoria and other communities across the province, coinciding with NDP Premier David Eby’s recent announcement of a snap election this Oct. 24. Organizers of the rally are calling for the promised paradigm shift in forestry, Indigenous-led conservation, climate stability and an economy that values biodiversity. Keenan Dennehy of 4theloveofbc.ca — an advocate for sustainable forest management and biodiversity protection in British Columbia — said the bill has come due for the forestry industry. …The rally comes as the province advances its proposed Working Forest model, while questions remain about how much old growth and primary forest will receive lasting protection.

In 2012, on a damp Sunday night, two rain-soaked women knocked on the door of a Pacheedaht man in Port Renfrew. They asked him to come see the Walbran. He was in his seventies, unwell, and by his own account a “last-class underdog.” Elder Bill Jones’s story, told with writer Karen Moe over 161 recorded conversations, isn’t what you might expect from a protest book. In Listening Once Again to Our Great Mother, available now at Dundurn Press, he goes back to his grandfather Charlie, who began telling him the stories of their ancestors when he was fourteen and home from the Port Alberni Indian Residential School. …The book isn’t flawless. …But what it gets right matters far more. Elizabeth May calls it “the essential teaching for our time,” and Suzanne Simard says it belongs in every Canadian school. They’re right. Old growth isn’t a resource. 

BC Timber Sales (BCTS) is finalizing harvest plans for 120 hectares of ancient and old-growth forests in critical Southern Mountain Caribou habitat after their deferral status was deleted. The proposed logging will clearcut over 100 hectares of Technical Advisory Panel (TAP)-recommended old growth deferrals adjacent to the Foster Arm Protected area in the Northern Monashee Mountains north of Revelstoke. “We asked BCTS staff about logging plans this spring. BCTS admitted that the proposed development near Foster Creek overlapped with TAP deferral blocks first recommended for protection in 2021,” says Eddie Petryshen, Wildsight Conservation Specialist. “Weeks later, the deferrals had simply been removed so that the area could be logged.” …These forests are occupied by the last remaining viable southernmost Caribou herd — the Columbia North Caribou herd. 

As we move into fall, this is a time share the important role community forests play across BC. September 30 is National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. It is a time to reflect on our shared history, to listen and learn, and to recognize that reconciliation is ongoing work. Across BC, community forests are contributing to that work by building relationships with First Nations …and learning from the knowledge and values that First Nations bring to caring for the land. …With a provincial election underway, the BCCFA will be working throughout the campaign to bring our priorities forward and help candidates understand what community forests are delivering for BC and what is needed to strengthen the community forest program. In this edition of our newsletter, you’ll find information on:

• Member and Partner News
• Wildfire Resources
• BCCFA Monthly Reports and Minutes
• BCCFA Resources Including the 2026 Indicators Report and BCCFA Films
• Upcoming Events

“As we mark National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, I have been reflecting on what truth and reconciliation mean to me, to our communities, and to the work we do in forestry. I am grateful for my parents and my community for the support and guidance that allowed me to gain the education and experience to become the forester I am today. I also carry memories that remind me why this journey matters. I remember standing with my cousins as they waited for the bus to take them to residential school for the year. Each had one small bag or suitcase with their belongings. I remember wanting to go with them. My older cousin looked at me and said, “You don’t want to go where we are going.” I still remember his words. … Our people are still on a healing journey… The land has provided much of what we need along that journey. …In this issue, the Forestry Council is sharing stories from First Nations across BC about what reconciliation means to them,” writes Lennard Joe, introducing the September newsletter.

Dane Pedersen

A Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship (FES) researcher whose work explores BC forest governance, policy and Indigenous-settler relations shares why this moment of transition in the forest sector may offer a reason for hope. British Columbia’s forests are changing, and so is the way we think about managing them. For decades, forest policy has largely centered on timber production. However, several emerging elements are challenging that model, including fewer high-value trees, recommendations for ecosystem health legislation in the province’s Old Growth Strategic Review, ecological uncertainty from climate change and growing demands from communities wanting a greater voice in land-use decisions. For Dane Pedersen, a UBC FES PhD student, this moment of transition presents an opportunity to rethink not only how forests are managed, but who gets to shape their future. …We spoke with her about this transition and her current research.

©Kira Hoffman

Managing wildfire risk, preparing for wildfire response, and supporting prescribed and cultural fire in British Columbia requires an integrated approach that considers fire early in the planning process. Designing harvest areas with controlled fire in mind allows forest and fire practitioners to create safer, more effective, and operationally feasible burn units. By incorporating fuel continuity, access, and control features into layout and harvest planning, harvested blocks can better support prescribed and cultural burning while contributing to broader landscape resilience when wildfires inevitably occur. Since 2017, more than 9.5 million hectares of forest in BC have been impacted by wildfire. That follows the mountain pine beetle epidemic that damaged 18 million ha of forest and contributed to the susceptibility of stands to wildfire. In the 1980s and 90s, prescribed fire was routinely used across BC as a silviculture site preparation tool to reduce residual fibre from harvest (i.e., slash), aid in replanting, and reduce wildfire risk to future stands.