There is a beautiful forest on the west side of the highway in Nanoose Bay, B.C. - 150 acres (64 hectares) of Crown Land called DL33, for which our government has recently issued a cutting licence.
After being undisturbed for the last 90 or so years, and being identified as among the rarest ecosystems in the world, this special forest is going to be logged. It is like an oasis in the desert since the sensitive ecosystem all around it, being on private land, has been clearcut for miles.
Less than 7 percent of this precious ecosystem is on fragmented parcels of crown land. The government has the power to protect it. And yet it is in the process now of deciding to protect only a few parcels totalling 1600 hectares. Beautiful forests like DL33 will cease to exist.
This ecosystem occurs mostly in B.C.'s Georgia Basin with a little in Washington State's San Juan Islands. It is said to comprise only 0.3% of B.C.'s total land base and is considered one of the four most endangered ecosystems in Canada.
In 2005 the Conservation Data Center (CDC) identified 20 red-listed plant communities in the CDFmm as either “critically imperiled” or “imperiled” which means they are at very high, or high, risk of extinction. By 2007 this number was increased to 29 and its primary plant association was internationally classified as “globally imperiled”. It is now up to 35.
In spite of this, the B.C. Ministry of Forests and Range has apparently deemed the value of the timber to be higher than the value of this endangered ecosystem, and in November of 2009 issued a licence to log this land.
A Sensitive Ecosystem Inventory was carried out in 1997 and updated in 2004, by the Canadian Wildlife Service (Environment Canada), the BC Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks (Conservation Data Centre and Vancouver Island Regional Office) - now the Ministries of Sustainable Resource Management and Water, Land and Air Protection, with contributions from many others.
DL33 was identified as being endangered and sensitive to disturbance, and has three sensitive ecosystems - wetland: both swamp and standing water, older forest: coniferous, and second growth: coniferous. The inventory states that some of the plant and animal species are found only on east Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands and that these ecosystems are among the rarest in the province.
This inventory states: “Within 20 years, many of the Second Growth Forests that were logged early this century will become Older Forests. The biodiversity values of second growth forest generally become higher with age. This means it will be able to sustain more and larger species of plants and animals.”
The report can be found at http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/sei/van_gulf/index.html and the Terrestrial Ecosystem Mapping of the CDFmm can be found at http://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/acat/public/viewReport.do?reportId=15273
There are extensive wetlands in DL33, including swamps, standing water, vernal pools and creeks. Casper Creek, a tributary of Nanoose Creek, provides important water flow and nutrients for the rearing of wild salmon, both coho and chum. The upper reaches of the creek contain resident cutthroat trout and many forms of aquatic life, while wild coho and wild chum spawn within the lower reaches.
The Nanoose Streamkeepers Society considers DL33, as the only intact watershed on any tributary of Nanoose Creek, to be an important forest and believes logging will further degrade the overall health of Nanoose Creek. The Streamkeepers have been actively working to protect and restore this important wild salmon habitat for the benefit of the greater community, and view the logging of this crown land as a step backwards in their efforts.
We also have been told that 1 hectare of wetland can hold up to 9 million liters of water and that this forest is like a giant sponge. It is the watershed for area residents, who depend on wells for their water.
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A cutting permit has been applied for, and requires only the final stamp of approval from the South Island Forest District. We are told this will be later this summer, but do not know for sure. We can only assume the clock is ticking and any day we may hear trees falling.
On June 17th the Forest Practices Board, B.C.'s independent watchdog for sound forest and range practices, released its report on the “Conservation of Imperiled Coastal Douglas-fir Ecosystem” and found “...that the Province did not meet its commitment to defer issuing new forest tenures until its stewardship stragegy was in place” and stated:
“In the Board's opinion, harvesting mature or old forest in the CDF, such as that found in good condition on DL33, is not consistent with a vision of overall ecosystem integrity.”
This means unless the government makes other choices, the CDFmm ecosystem will go extinct.
Minister Bell is quoted in the Parksville Qualicum Beach local paper as believing this to be a “difference of opinion” among biologists, however he said he is reviewing the Forest Practices Board report and will “come to a final decision”. Recent quotes indicate he hasn't changed his mind.
We have to stress two things. When the scientists say DL33 is in “good condition”' it means it is the best there is in the CDF. It is the BEST available conservation candidate and it is outrageous that it is threatened with harvest.
We are unable to explain the difference of opinion Minister Bell cites as no biologist has come forth and stated no harm to the ecosystem or its survival will be caused by logging DL33. We only know of ecologists who say in their professional opinion it should not be logged. It appears the Ministry of Forests is unwilling to give up such valuable timber and in order to justify it, insists the best somehow isn't good enough for conservation purposes.
A final comment. Since the harvest license is held by the Nanoose First Nation and Minister Bell has stated “we've concluded it's not prime land”, does this mean the government intends to give inferior wood to the First Nations, as they work on court-ordered treaty negotiations? How would this help treaty negotiations move along? And if it is not inferior, why is Minister Bell insisting it is? Is it the Big Lie Theory? How stupid does he think we all are?
Walter Cordery of the Nanaimo Daily News on August 25th quotes Brent Edwards as saying they have to “conform to every environmental regulation that anyone else has to”: Snaw'Naw'As councillor defends plans to log DL33 in Nanoose. He neglects to mention the RPBio hired by his Registered Professional Forester stated “It is my professional opinion that the stands within this licence should not be harvested.”
On August 23rd Darrell Bellaart of the Nanaimo Daily News describes a joint NDP/Western Canada Wilderness Committee tour of DL33 and states Joe Foy and Norm Macdonald have joined the fight to block logging on DL33: Fight is on to save unique Nanoose forest from logging
Lissa Alexander of The News outlines Scott Fraser's views on the government's inadequate conservation measures on August 10th: Lack of protection angers MLA
Lissa Alexander of The News writes on August 6th about the Land Use Order and Minister Bell's continuing refusal to include DL33: DL33 not protected
Walter Cordery of the Nanaimo Daily News on August 3rd comments on Bell's refusal to include DL33 in the CDF LUO: Activist disappointed Nanoose land not also in protected area
Times Colonist columnist Judith Lavoie wrote about DL33 again on July 31st in a piece about old-growth management areas: Old-growth protection boosted
Lissa Alexander of The News writes about the cover-up of a professional biologist's report on July 27th: Battle continues to save Nanoose forest
Times Colonist columnist Judith Lavoie wrote about DL33 on July 11th: Endangered forest turns into Island battleground
Lissa Alexander of The News chronicles a WCWC tour through DL33 and describes the recent controversy on July 6th: DL33: A forest runs through it
Robert Barron of the Nanaimo Daily News on July 3rd quoted Minister Bell as saying "...we've concluded it's not prime land": Nanoose band will log Crown land
Darrell Bellaart wrote a comprehensive column about DL33 on June 28th in the Nanaimo Daily News: Activist Fights to Keep Coastal Forest Intact.
Lissa Alexander of The News (Parksville Qualicum Beach)refers to the Forest Practices Board Report and offers comments by Minister Bell and the Nanoose First Nations in her June 25th article: Report may change fate of DL33.
April 16th was a sad day. On that day the Snaw'Naw'As declared they really do want to shoot the last buffalo. Read Fred Davies column.DL33 a 'logging operation' They do not seem to understand that extinct is gone, forever, and then there is no more for them, or for anyone.
Fred Davies of The News (Parksville Qualicum Beach) outlines how widespread support to preserve DL33 has become in his fourth extensive report on this issue on April 13th Controversial forest facing harvest. An emergency motion unanimously passed by the AVICC (representing 51 municipalities and regional districts on Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities) on April 11th supports preserving DL33 intact.
Stephen Hume wrote a moving and hard-hitting column about DL33 on March 19th in the Vancouver Sun: Teetering on the brink of extinction.