VICTORIA — A group of Vancouver Island First Nations say they have reached an agreement to defer old-growth logging in the Fairy Creek and Central Walbran areas for two years. The Huu-ay-aht, Ditidaht, and Pacheedaht First Nations say they informed the B.C. government on Saturday of their decision to hold off on old-growth logging while they develop a long-term resource plan. “Our three Nations look forward to building a future based on respectful nation-to-nation relationships with other governments that are informed by Indigenous history, Indigenous knowledge, Indigenous rights, and Indigenous priorities,” said Pacheedaht First Nation Chief Councillor Jeff Jones in a statement Monday. …The nations say forestry operations in other parts of their territories will continue without disruption and are asking protesters in the area to not interfere with these approved operations.

The discovery of a threatened species in the forest at the heart of the province’s latest logging conflict has critics calling out the BC NDP for not delivering on a 2017 campaign promise to enact provincial laws to protect animals at risk. …Critics say a provincial endangered species act would give the animal’s survival prominence over industrial activities. …Tara Martin, a UBC professor and conservation scientist, says B.C. has more species at risk than any other province and needs its own laws to adequately ensure their survival. “We have 1,800 species in decline and the government was elected on a mandate to develop and implement a made-in-B.C. species legislation,” she said. “Sadly, it’s failed to follow through on that.” …In a statement, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy said protecting species at risk continues to be a priority, but did not say when legislation might come.

David Broadland

Premier John Horgan recently claimed he couldn’t resolve the tense and expensive standoff on Pacheedaht traditional territories between old-growth forest defenders and the RCMP. Why? Horgan told reporters, “The critical recommendation that’s in play at Fairy Creek is consulting with the title holders. If we were to arbitrarily put deferrals in place there, that would be a return to the colonialism that we have so graphically been brought back to this week by the discovery in Kamloops.” Actually, Horgan’s government had already signed an agreement with the Pacheedaht in late February in which the economically impoverished First Nation agreed to accept a small annual payment “to accommodate any potential adverse impacts on the Pacheedaht First Nation’s Aboriginal Interests resulting from Operational Plans or Administrative and/or Operational Decisions.” In other words, logging. …Green Party MLA Adam Olsen wrote: …the NDP are effectively using BC Liberal policy to put Indigenous Nations in the centre of conflicts…

The West Kootenay chapter of Extinction Rebellion kept up its civil disobedience campaign Saturday afternoon outside the office of Nelson-Creston MLA Brittny Anderson, calling on the NDP legislature member to immediately make a statement to end old growth logging in the province. Approximately 100 protestors organized outside Anderson’s office, before marching with signs and noisemakers down Baker Street in Nelson. “I feel nervous doing this, but I do not want a future under social collapse,” said Ginger, a 14-year-old high school student from Nelson, in a prepared West Kootenay Extinction Rebellion statement prior to the rally. “The BC Government is leaving me with no other option and is endangering my future.” …“Old growth forests are not a commodity that should be sold so billionaires can profit,” Ginger said. “Old growth must be protected, and real climate action must happen “Now”, so my future and the future of generations to come can be protected.”

…On June 4, 2021, the three Nations signed the Hišuk ma c̕awak Declaration to take back their power over their ḥahahuułi. For more than 150 years they have watched as others decided what was best for their lands, water, and people. This declaration brings this practice to an immediate end. “We have made a commitment to our people to manage the resources on our ḥahahuułi the way our ancestors did – guided by our sacred principles of ʔiisaak (utmost respect), ʔuuʔałuk (taking care of), and Hišuk ma c̕awak (everything is one),” explained Huu-ay-aht Tayii Ḥaw̓ił ƛiišin (Head Hereditary Chief Derek Peters), Ditidaht Chabut Satiixub (Hereditary Chief Paul Tate), and Pacheedaht’s Hereditary Chief Frank Queesto Jones. “We are in a place of reconciliation now and relationships have evolved to include First Nations. It is time for us to learn from the mistakes that have been made and take back our authority over our ḥahahuułi.”

Police made just two arrests at old-growth logging blockades in the Fairy Creek area on Saturday, June 5, but protesters reported that they were joined by 300 newcomers during the day, including a Vancouver Island Member of Parliament. One of the two protesters arrested was removed from a “sleeping dragon” locking device at Waterfall camp, a process that took police an hour to accomplish. Both arrested protesters were taken to the Lake Cowichan RCMP detachment for processing. The RFS also reported that police set up an exclusion zone five kilometres from the nearest camp and 15 kilometres from Waterfall camp, forcing new arrivals to walk in. About 300 people began the hike to Waterfall camp, including Nanaimo-Ladysmith MP Paul Manly.

Protesters arrested, locking devices destroyed at Vancouver Island logging protest camps

A First Nation on Vancouver Island is denouncing the “increasing polarization” of its old-growth cedar forest. Pacheedaht First Nation (PFN) made news in April when it told protestors to go home. “Pacheedaht is concerned about the increasing polarization over forestry activities in our territory,” it said. “Decisions about the use of our forestry resources in our Territory need to be made by Pacheedaht.” …But the road blockades, led by anti-old growth logging group Rainforest Flying Squad (RFS), continue. …“Teal Jones is attempting to complete the road over the ridge into the Fairy Creek headwaters, where the largest 2000-year-old cedars stand. …The band said it is working to preserve more of the forest as it negotiates treaty and governance rights with B.C. and Canada. “Pacheedaht has always harvested and managed our forestry resources, including old-growth cedar.”

Katrine Conroy

Over the last several months, British Columbians have increasingly raised their voices in support of our province’s old-growth forests. We hear you. Along with my B.C. NDP MLA colleagues, we have read your emails, listened to your calls, and seen your demonstrations. British Columbians have cared about these forests for a long time, and certainly these last few weeks have shown that commitment is stronger than ever. …We’ve undertaken a lot of important work already. Our government commissioned an independent Old-Growth Review, and we are working hard to implement all 14 of that panel’s recommendations. …The first step was protecting 196,000 hectares of old-growth in nine of our rarest, most at-risk ecosystems left vulnerable by the B.C. Liberals. …But there is no question we need to do a lot more to protect old-growth. …Each First Nation has the right to determine what is best for their respective residents and territory.

…The dispute over felling British Columbia’s ancient forests has been thrust into the limelight by a months-long blockade of private logging company Teal Jones in the Fairy Creek watershed on western Vancouver Island. Protests that started last August have intensified in recent weeks, leading to more than 150 arrests. Environmentalists camped out in the dense coastal rainforest say they are fighting Canada’s version of the ivory trade. This weekend activists urged more supporters to carpool and convoy to Fairy Creek headquarters to show solidarity in a last stand. The forestry industry says protestors are endangering the livelihoods of thousands of hardworking families. The Pacheedaht First Nation, in whose territory Fairy Creek lies, are divided on the issue. 

Also by Reuters: Fairy Creek blockades: the dispute over logging Canada’s old-growth forests; and A primer on the battle over B.C.’s old-growth forests. 

The Huu-ay-aht First Nation on Vancouver Island has little patience with the current protests against old-growth logging. Forestry is the community’s main path toward economic independence, and outsiders of any stripe telling it how to travel that road are not welcome. Members of the First Nation voted on April 10 to expand their stake in Tree Farm Licence 44, a partnership with Western Forest Products… they now own 35 per cent of the TFL and aim to buy a controlling share by 2023. The profits are paying to supplement the income of elders and financially supporting the community’s postsecondary students. …The Huu-ay-aht conducted their own timber supply assessment to determine just how many ancient, culturally important cedar trees remained. …“We’re tired of being on welfare, for Pete’s sake,” Mr. Dennis said.” …At the same time, he said there is now an internal debate over the community’s participation in old-growth logging.

VICTORIA — The discovery of two pairs of Western screech owls by provincial biologists at two sites on Vancouver Island have environmental groups calling for a halt to logging at Fairy Creek.  The biologists from the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development confirmed the sightings in an area outside of the Fairy Creek watershed this week. They plan to return next week to search for nests and to examine half a dozen more locations where the birds have been reported.  The species of the Western screech owl found in coastal forests has been listed as threatened by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. The Committee defines “threatened” as “likely to become endangered if limiting factors are not reversed.” The birds are “blue listed” under B.C.’s Wildlife Act, which is the equivalent of a threatened designation.

Activists trying to prevent old-growth logging on southern Vancouver Island are calling for reinforcements at blockades after they say a road builder passed one of their last lines of defence.  Kathy Code, a spokeswoman for the Rainforest Flying Squad, said about 10 RCMP officers in plainclothes arrived at a logging-road camp known as Waterfall, near Port Renfrew, at about 4:30 a.m. Friday, clearing the way for industry to move through. Code said those on the ground told her a road grader has moved in to carve a road into a planned cut-block.  A public relations consultant for the Teal-Jones Group, which has government approval to log in the blockaded area, said the company would not comment Friday.  …They’ve spread to several areas in a maze of logging roads near Port Renfrew and Lake Cowichan, determined to prevent the falling of old-growth trees

Bob Brash would like to see a different story about logging than the latest War in the Woods headlines.  The executive director of the Truck Loggers Association recently appeared before the Village of Cumberland’s council to talk about the value of timber and the challenges the industry is facing.  “We’re obviously concerned about the prosperity of the industry,” he said at the May 31 meeting.  The association, he said, has been around for 78 years and has about 500 members, including 17 in the Comox Valley that represent about 320 workers.  The industry faces challenges, he said, such as the investment climate. While the current price of lumber is high and helps keep people working, things can change.  “We’re in a cyclical-type industry,” he said. “It’s not going to last forever…. We have to be competitive.”  …“Harvesting is not always a yes or no proposition,” he said.

British Columbia’s forest minister added confusion to the debate about old growth logging in Vancouver Island’s Fairy Creek Friday by suggesting a pause was placed on logging in the contentious area almost two months ago.  If correct, the moratorium has been in place even as the RCMP arrested more than 150 people for contravening a court injunction against blocking logging and road-building in tree farm licence 46, where the Teal-Jones Group is the licence holder.  Minister Katrine Conroy’s assertion comes as a surprise to people engaged in the fight to protect B.C.’s old growth forests and seems to contradict comments Premier John Horgan made earlier in the week.  “Pacheedaht, industry tenure holders, and the province have agreed that no harvesting will happen in Fairy Creek while the Pacheedaht develop their own stewardship plan,” Conroy wrote in a Vancouver Sun opinion column.

Karst is an integrated three-dimensional landscape present in an estimated 20% of the earth’s land mass. While best known for its cave systems, karst resources are associated with many important natural and cultural values, biodiversity, surface and subsurface habitats, and groundwater aquifers capable of providing large supplies of water, as well as serving as a valuable carbon sink. The diverse karst landscapes of British Columbia represent an estimated 10% of the province. The karst in BC hosts the majority of Canada’s longest and deepest cave systems that have been explored and mapped to date. In recognition of the International Year of Caves and Karst 2021, the Government of British Columbia Proclamations Office established June 6th as Caves and Karst Day in BC. The purpose of the proclamation was to raise awareness of caves and karst as resources as worthy of protection and conservation.