In the Schmidt Creek watershed on northeastern Vancouver Island, just a few kilometres from globally renowned orca rubbing beaches, huge swathes of old-growth rainforest are slated for imminent clear-cutting.

Further south, in the Nahmint Valley near Port Alberni, the ninth-largest Douglas-fir tree in the country has just been cut down. And a few hundred kilometres to the east, a forest virtually surrounded by Manning and Skagit provincial parks is being clear-cut despite being within B.C.’s highest priority grizzly bear recovery zone.

Which profit-driven logging corporation is behind all of this?

None of them. This is the work of the government of British Columbia.

Slash piled at a clearcut in Manning Park, B.C. 2004. Photo: Wilderness Committee

More specifically, it’s the work of BC Timber Sales, a government agency within the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development. BC Timber Sales controls around 20 per cent of the cut on crown lands, planning cut blocks and then auctioning them off to logging contractors.

In theory, public control over a sector as important as forestry is a great thing. It means public priorities, like the protection of rare old-growth forests, can be prioritized because these areas are being managed by elected officials representing the public instead of by corporations representing their shareholders.

Unfortunately, this isn’t playing out on the ground, and the minister in charge of forests, Doug Donaldson, is plundering important forests with as much disregard as any corporate CEO.  

Earlier this summer, we visited Schmidt Creek, a watershed in Kwakwaka’wakw territories on northeastern Vancouver Island. The valley drains into Johnstone Strait, near the unique orca rubbing beaches in the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve. Whale experts are worried about the impacts of clear-cutting the steep, erosion-prone slopes in this sensitive ecosystem. Minister Donaldson has stated publicly that the benefits of this planned logging balance out the risks.

BC Timber Sales’ operations are further along in the Nahmint Valley in Hupačasath territory near Port Alberni, where clear-cutting of old-growth rainforests, including record-sized trees, began in May.

In the Cascade Mountains in Stó:lō and Nlaka’pamux territories, BC Timber Sales is also quickly destroying forests surrounded by Manning and Skagit provincial parks, in an area known as the “Donut Hole.” Long coveted as a potential addition to B.C.’s protected area system, this precious wildland is being picked apart with clear-cuts within slow-growing high elevation forests where logging scars will persist for centuries. This is being done despite its importance for key species that depend on it for habitat and migration.

Wilderness Committee campaigner Torrance Coste amid logging activity in Schmidt Creek. Photo: Wilderness Committee

To add insult to injury, the Caycuse Flats bridge in Manning Park has recently been rebuilt to help get logs out of the Donut Hole. Elsewhere in Manning Park and in other parks across B.C., infrastructure and facilities are in desperate need of maintenance because the government doesn’t “have the funds” for repairs and upgrades. That money can immediately be found to fix a bridge in a park to help log forest just outside of it speaks volumes about this government’s priorities.

In the past year, the Wilderness Committee, along with our allies at the Ancient Forest Alliance and Sierra Club BC, have met twice with Minister Donaldson. We’ve advocated for the protection of old-growth rainforests and a just transition to sustainable second-growth forestry that prioritizes Indigenous rights and local jobs.

Our organizations have given the minister and his staff recommendations to accomplish this in an organized, science-based way. The simplest of these is to direct BC Timber Sales to cease issuing cut blocks in old-growth forests.

No one is saying the rapid shift to second-growth logging across the province is going to be easy or without complications. But BC Timber Sales is part of Donaldson’s ministry: this is the logical place for him to start.

In its election platform, the NDP promised an “evidence-based scientific approach” to old-growth management, with the ecosystem-based management of the Great Bear Rainforest used as a model. Now that they’re in power, Premier John Horgan and Minister Donaldson are not only allowing corporations to continue liquidating rare and important forests — they’re one of the worst offenders. Their agency is leading the way to the bottom of the barrel, logging endangered species habitat, old-growth and some of our province’s top protected area candidates — all on the public’s dime.

After decades of the B.C. government ignoring the crisis in these forests, the public is eager for leaders who will show courage and tackle this problem.

It’s time for Minister Donaldson and Horgan to decide if they want to be remembered as those courageous leaders or as status-quo politicians who signed-off on the liquidation of these precious ecosystems.

Torrance Coste is Vancouver Island Campaigner for the Wilderness Committee. Follow him on Twitter @torrancecoste.

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Fish farm opponents and proponents alike are waiting with bated breath as a bill to phase out open net pen aquaculture farms in Washington State sits on Governor Jay Inslee’s desk for final approval.

If Governor Inslee signs the bill, it would mean the end of farmed Atlantic salmon reared in open net pens in every jurisdiction on the West Coast of North America — except British Columbia. Alaska practices a controversial form of salmon ranching, but the state, along with California and Oregon, does not allow open net pen fish farm operations.

As pressure mounts on Washington State, where a mere 10 fish farms are in operation, attention has turned to British Columbia where more than 100 fish farms dot the southern and central coasts.

B.C. mulls moving fish farms with expired tenures — but where?

The B.C. government is currently considering whether or not to renew the tenure of 22 operations, 18 of which are clustered in the Broughton Archipelago, a narrow wild salmon migratory route between the mainland and Vancouver Island where local First Nations have historically opposed the aquaculture industry.

A spokesperson from Inslee’s office told DeSmog Canada the Governor has “publicly stated that he supports removing non-native fish from Washington state waters.”

The e-mailed statement read: “As fish don’t respect man-made borders, it would likely have an impact on British Columbia. However, the governor’s office believes that B.C. should do what is best for the province.”

Doug Donaldson, B.C. Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development told DeSmog Canada, “we’re aware of what is happening in Washington state, which does not affect the process we’re following in B.C.”

“We’re committed to wild salmon,” the minister said via an e-mailed statement. “We’re engaged with First Nations on a government to government basis to address concerns that First Nations have with fish farms in their territories.

“What’s happening in Washington State is really exciting for those of us trying to get farms out of the water in B.C. for the last two decades,” said Aaron Hill, executive director and ecologist with Watershed Watch Salmon Society.

“There’s growing evidence that fish farms spread diseases and parasites to wild salmon and the Washington State government has recognized that and they’ve taken real action that we need B.C. to follow suit with.”

Hill said some B.C. politicians have floated moving the fish farm tenures to ocean areas outside the Broughton Archipelago, an idea he said doesn’t represent a true solution.

“Sure, you’d get these fish farms out of these migratory choke points, but they’d still be out there spreading diseases and viruses in someone else’s territory.”

When asked if the B.C. government is considering relocating farmed fish operations from the Broughton Archipelago to alternate locations, the department of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development provided a statement saying, “the province is concerned about protecting wild salmon and the migratory routes that they use and is interested in moving to closed containment where feasible.”

The state of B.C.’s salmon stocks

Pressure escalated in Washington State in August of 2017 after a net at a fish farm, owned and operated by the Canadian company Cooke Aquaculture, failed, releasing over 240,000 farmed Atlantic salmon, considered an invasive species, into the Pacific.

In February the results of a multi-agency investigation into the incident found Cooke Aquaculture failed to adequately maintain its nets, which were burdened 100 tonnes of mussels and debris, causing a ‘reckless disregard’ for the state’s waters and people.

The report was swiftly followed by proposed legislation to phase-out the industry.

State senator, Democrat Kevin Ranker, said Washington’s efforts will be less effective if B.C. doesn’t follow suit.

“The salmon, the orca whale, the ecosystem doesn’t recognize the international boundary,” Ranker told the Canadian Press.

“So what we have to do is manage our transboundary region in a responsible way. And I hope Washington state will pass this legislation and move in this direction and I hope that British Columbia will do the same.”

In B.C., where wild salmon stocks have been in a precipitous decline for several years, critics say not enough has been done to monitor stocks and eliminate threats.

The 2012 Commission of Inquiry into the Decline of Sockeye Salmon in the Fraser River, headed by Justice Bruce Cohen, cost taxpayers more than $37 million and made 75 recommendations designed to save wild salmon runs after the disastrous 2009 sockeye run.

But according to Watershed Watch Salmon Society, very few of those recommendations have been acted on, including the removal of fish farms from the Inside Passage if they’re found to represent even a minimal risk to wild salmon.

“There’s this huge range of threats to our salmon runs and the viruses and parasites from salmon farms are something we can actually do something about. We can actually remove that threat,” Hill said.

“It’s not the only thing. It’s not a silver bullet but it’s an important thing we can do.”

Stan Proboszcz, science and campaign advisor with Watershed Watch, said the need to help wild stocks rebound is becoming more urgent.

“Just look at the recent announcement with regard to Fraser sockeye: 8 of the 24 populations are listed as endangered. Those fish swim directly through the migratory bottleneck that is filled with samlon farms that amplify parasites and diseases.”

“Removing salmon farms from wild salmon migration routes would go a long way.”

Proboszcz pointed to a 2008 bipartisan provincial report that recommended the aquaculture industry be transitioned to closed containment.

“I think the biggest barrier to be quite honest is political leadership — and not just currently but for a long time.”

Farmed Atlantic salmon in a closed containment land-based fish farm, Kuterra, run by the ‘Namgis First Nation in Port McNeill. Photo: Kuterra

Land-based fish farms ‘the answer’: First Nations chief

Don Svanvik, chief counsellor for ‘Namgis First Nation, said it’s clear to him the future of salmon farming in B.C. is land-based.

“It’s the answer,” Svanvik told DeSmog Canada. “The godfather of all of this — Norway — is even moving to land-based farms now.”

“If you look at the history of fish farms in Norway, all the trouble they’ve had with disease and sea lice, it’s no wonder they’re going on land. And all the problems they’ve had there we’re having here now.”

Svanvik said when it comes to land-based fish farming in B.C., his nation has already proven it’s feasible.

Kuterra, an onland closed containment fish farming system, is owned and operated in Port McNeill by the ‘Namgis.

Josephine Mrozewski, spokesperson for Kuterra, said the operation is the primary example in North America of the promise of land-based Atlantic salmon farming.

Started in March 2013, Kuterra began selling land-farmed salmon on the market in April of 2014.

“When we started it was to prove out the viability of the biology, the technology and the business case for doing things this way,” Mrozewski said. “We really have fulfilled our mission.”

Kuterra, which was started with philanthropic funding, is now seeking outside investment to scale up production.

Salmon harvest at Kuterra. Photo courtesy of Kuterra.

The company produces 300 tonnes of farmed salmon each year but estimates it needs to get to 1,200 tonnes to be profitable.

B.C. has a huge advantage when it comes to developing a land-based aquaculture industry, Mrozewski said, because much of the infrastructure and expertise is already in place.

“What is adding urgency is the U.S. is catching up quickly.”

A single Florida facility in development is expected to produce as much land-based salmon as is produced in all of B.C. waters as early as 2020.

A surprising amount of salmon can be produced in on-land facilities, Mrozewski said, estimating all of B.C.’s open net operations could be reproduced in a single facility less than half the size of Stanley Park.

“Our footprint is very small. But it does take a lot of money,” she said, adding costs are declining now that ventures like Kuterra have smoothed the learning curve.

The ‘Namgis have recently appealed to the courts for an injunction to prevent Marine Harvest from restocking its operation near Swanson Island.

All three parties in B.C. have emphasized the importance of protecting wild salmon.

“But we need to see meaningful action soon,” Proboszcz said. “Otherwise we’re just going to keep hearing horror stories in the news.”

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As Valerie Murray realized she was witnessing the end of grizzly bear hunting in B.C. she burst into tears.

After years of tirelessly campaigning to stop the trophy hunt, Murray, a founder of Justice for B.C. Grizzlies, could hardly believe that the provincial government was not only banning grizzly bear trophy hunting, but closing the loophole that would have allowed hunting for meat, provided perceived trophies such as the paws, head, hide and penis bone were not taken.

“I just had to weep. People are almost afraid to believe it. Way-to-go for listening NDP. They knew they couldn’t monitor it, so they did the right thing,” Murray said.

The surprise was echoed by Chris Genovali, Raincoast Conservation Foundation executive director.

“Wow. That’s amazing,” said Genovali, who, before the news broke, was preparing to write a news release castigating the government for allowing the meat loophole to stand.

“To hear that they have responded to the input of stakeholders, scientists and a whole range of people who did not support the concept of packing the meat out is just tremendous… It is just an amazing thing to see the government respond and that (consultations) were not just a public relations exercise,” Genovali said.

ICYMI: 87% of B.C. Grizzly Deaths Due to Trophy Hunting, Records Reveal

The government announced in August that the grizzly trophy hunt would end November 30 and that no grizzly bear hunting would be allowed in the Great Bear Rainforest, but said it would hold consultations on regulations to support the sustenance hunt.

That brought a flood of reaction from British Columbians who believed the trophy hunt would continue in the guise of a meat hunt — a viewpoint supported by advertisements on the Guide Outfitters Association of B.C. website where 2018 spring and fall grizzly hunts were promoted in the usual way, with prices ranging from $20,000 to $25,000.

“They are truly a once-in-a-lifetime trophy,” said one site.

The government received 4,180 emails of which almost 80 per cent wanted a total ban on grizzly hunting, Environment Minister George Heyman and Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations Minister Doug Donaldson announced Monday.

“British Columbians told us in no uncertain terms, very clearly, how strongly they feel about protecting grizzly bears and grizzly bear habitat,” Heyman said.

“Protecting this iconic species is simply the right thing to do,” he said, adding that the new rules will leave no room for confusion between a trophy hunt and a food hunt.

First Nations will continue to be allowed to harvest for food, social or ceremonial purposes or treaty rights, but that impact is expected to be minimal, especially as Coastal First Nations led efforts to halt the hunt in the Great Bear Rainforest.

Vernon Brown, a councillor with Kitasoo/Xai’xais Nation, which has a successful bear-viewing operation in Klemtu, said the government announcement was “overwhelming, emotional and amazing.”

The first priority for Kitasoo/Xai’xais is always conservation of all resources, Brown said.

As some look at the financial impact of losing the grizzly hunt, the success of the Klemtu tourist operation, which includes the Spirit Bear Lodge and offers employment to community members, could serve as a model for other aboriginal communities, he suggested.

Between 250 and 300 bears a year are killed by resident and non-resident hunters. A recent Suzuki Foundation investigation found that hunters killed 12,026 grizzlies between 1975 — the first year that records were kept — and 2016.

Government figures put the B.C. grizzly population at 15,000 grizzly animals, but that number is questioned by some scientists, who believe it is considerably less, and nine of the province’s grizzly bear populations are on the verge of elimination.

Donaldson said although it is clear British Columbians do not support killing grizzly bears, he knows hunting is important to British Columbians and offered reassurances that the hunting culture would continue to be supported to government. “Transition” help, such as assisting with a switch to bear-viewing and promoting other hunting opportunities, will be offered to guide outfitters, he said.

In addition to immediately banning the grizzly hunt, the government will be implementing recommendations from Auditor General Carol Bellringer’s highly-critical report into the province’s management of grizzly bears.

ICYMI: B.C. Bungled Grizzly Bear Management: Auditor General

Those recommendations include improving monitoring of populations, developing an adequately funded inventory of bears, developing clear policies for bear viewing, finding better ways to conserve habitat and reviewing wildlife management in B.C.

“In 2018 we will embark on a full consultation process of B.C.’s overall wildlife management strategy,” Donaldson said.

The grizzly bear management strategy will include looking at excessive access to habitat, Heyman said.

Bellringer’s report found that there are 600,000 kilometres of resource access roads cutting into grizzly habitat, with about 10,000 kilometres added every year.

While groups who have fought to stop the hunt are celebrating the government decision, Jesse Zeman, B.C. Wildlife Federation director of fish and wildlife restoration programs, said he finds it “terrifying” that the government is making decisions based on polls rather than science and he fears that other species such as wolves and black bears will be next on the list.

“I think we will be seeing a broader narrative. The dialogue is already changing,” he said.

But, for Zeman, what irks him most is that government changed the rules around the consultation process.

“We were told the hunt itself would continue and the discussion was more about what to do with the trophy parts. . . .We have a major issue around consultation and democratic proceedings,” he said.

Zeman suspects the government wanted to end the hunt and promising a meat hunt and then saying they were consulting was simply an incremental way getting to the decision.

“I think it is terrifying that they can ask about consultation and set the goalposts and then move the goalposts. That’s the spooky bit,” he said.

Trish Boyum, a wildlife photographer and operator of an eco-charter boat, has spent years working to protect grizzlies and knows, first hand, that tourists want to see live bears.

“I am pinching myself. This is just so exciting I am hardly able to talk,” she said.

“This is absolutely huge and good to see that the government is listening. That wasn’t evident after the Site C decision.”

It is possible that there will now be pressure to end trophy hunting of species such as black bears and wolves, Boyum said.

“I don’t believe we should be killing any animal as a trophy… My background is in social work and killing animals for fun is not a good sign,” she said.

Guide Outfitters Association of B.C executive director Scott Ellis did not respond to calls from DeSmog Canada.

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I round a bend on Highway 29 just west of Fort St. John and a magnificent river valley opens up before me.

At the bottom of the winding road, farmers' fields stretch as far as the eye can see along the banks of the mighty Peace River.

This is the same valley explorer Alexander Mackenzie paddled through in 1792, noting in his journal that the valley was so rich in wildlife that in some places it looked like a barnyard.

“Ninety per cent of the people who take that drive remember it for a lifetime,” says local rancher Leigh Summer. [view:in_this_series=block_1]

Today, the highway toward Hudson’s Hope is dotted with trucks carrying canoes and kayaks, all converging upon one spot: the Halfway River bridge, where the 9th annual Paddle for the Peace will launch.

The Paddle is an annual pilgrimage for people who want the valley to be protected from BC Hydro’s proposed Site C dam, which would flood 83 kilometres of the Peace River and 24 kilometres of its tributaries. The two-hour paddle takes place on a section of the river that will be flooded if the dam is built.

Highway 29 between Fort St. John and Hudson’s Hope is home to several billboards with slogans like “Keep the Peace,” “Site C Sucks” and “Save the Peace Valley.”

With the federal and provincial governments expected to make their decisions on the project this fall, there’s an undercurrent of tension at this year’s Paddle as farmers, ranchers and First Nations wait to see what will be next in their decades-long fight to stop the dam (the project was first rejected in 1982).

The people of this area know a thing or two about dams given that the Peace River is already home to two major ones.

Leigh Summer was just 14 years old when his family’s ranch was flooded by the W.A.C. Bennett Dam in 1967. His grandparents homesteaded that land in the 1920s and his mother was born there.

“We were told it was going to be good for the economy, so we took it in stride,” Summer says while sitting in his boat with his family during Saturday's Paddle for the Peace.

The W.A.C. Bennett dam stretches two kilometres across the head of the Peace canyon and creates Williston Reservoir, B.C.’s largest body of freshwater.

“I think the Williston Lake has paid dividends to the province,” Summer says. “But I think the time has come to realize that it’s a decent energy, but it’s a thing of the past.”

Now, 47 years after being flooded out for the first time, Summer's ranch is at risk again — this time from BC Hydro’s proposed third dam on the Peace, dubbed “Site C.”

With a price tag of $7.9 billion, the Site C dam is the largest infrastructure project in Canada and would produce about 5,100 gigawatt hours of electricity each year. But the demand for the power has been questioned by economists and by the joint review panel that reviewed the project.

The panel's report, released in May, was inconclusive, saying both that the dam could provide cheap, reliable power for B.C. and that the demand for that power is not clear. The panel asked the provincial government to refer the project to the B.C. Utilities Commission to analyze the costs — something the province has yet to do.

“Justification must rest on an unambiguous need for the power and analyses showing its financial costs being sufficiently attractive as to make tolerable the bearing of substantial environmental, social and other costs,” the report says.

If the dam is built, Summer would be one of dozens of families who will impacted by flooding, slope instability and road re-alignments. His family could end up with a road through the field in front of their house. He finds it galling how BC Hydro talks about this being the Crown corporation's last chance to build a big dam.

“Why is this the last if this is such a good thing? They are admitting that hydro electricity was good in the 19th and in the 20th century. We’re in the 21st century … we have to either look to conservation or other forms of energy,” he says. “It’s so archaic. Building this dam isn’t even progress for the province.”

Leigh, his wife Darcy and their three young children spend most of the summer enjoying the Peace River. Their youngest son, a fifth generation Peace Country boy, is even called River.

Leigh Summer's family ranch was flooded by the W.A.C. Bennett dam in 1967.

River Summer spends a lot of time on the Peace River with his parents and two older sisters.

“I’m just sad at what they lost already with the two valleys,” Darcy says. “When you see pictures and when you do research on that, it was just beautiful, it was so magnificent. To think that we’re going to keep destroying it.”

This stretch of the Peace valley between Fort St. John and Hudson’s Hope is the last intact part of the river in British Columbia.

“Why can’t we leave a piece of the Peace intact for future generations?” Leigh says, his daughter sitting in his lap. “Let them have a choice. If we flood it, we take that choice away from them, from ever seeing what the Peace River was like.”

Out of sight, out of mind for the voting majority

For those trying to stop the Site C dam, one of the biggest challenges is that this part of the province — a 14-hour drive from Vancouver — is out of sight, out of mind for the voting majority of the province.

A September 2013 poll commissioned by BC Hydro found only four in 10 British Columbians had even heard of the Crown utility’s proposal to build a third hydroelectric dam on the Peace River.

“That’s what this event is all about,” says Roland Willson, chief of West Moberly First Nation. “There are people who are making a decision about this valley who have never even been here.”

Roland Willson, chief of West Moberly First Nation.

“There is nothing better in the world than to be able to put your boat on the water or go stand knee deep in the water and catch a fish and eat that fish. And drink the water. That in itself is something that’s worth saving,” Willson says.

Because the Peace River is the only river to break the barrier of the Rocky Mountains between the Yukon south almost to Mexico, it has provided a gateway for wildlife and people for thousands of years.

Although few British Columbians make it up to the Peace region nowadays, Fort St. John is the oldest non-native community in British Columbia, established as a fur trading post in 1794 — and First Nations have been here more than 10,000 years. Indeed, the Peace got its name from a peace treaty signed between the Danezaa people, called the Beaver by the Europeans, and the Cree signed in 1781.

As I float down the river in one of about 250 boats taking part in the Paddle, First Nations drummers start to sing alongside. At just that moment, an eagle swoops overhead.

About 250 boats were on the water for Paddle for the Peace on Saturday July 12.

“We’re prepared to take any means necessary to stop this project in support of the Treaty 8 First Nations leadership,” Grand Chief Stewart Phillip told Desmog Canada at the Paddle. “I really hope that this project is buried once and for all.”

People aren’t the only ones who will be impacted if the dam is built.

“Site C will make a major contribution toward severing that Rocky mountain chain that goes all the way from Yellowstone to Yukon,” says Sarah Cox, senior conservation program manager for the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative.  

“The science shows that vulnerable species like grizzly, wolverine and lynx will be greatly impacted to the extent that populations may not be recoverable,” she says. “It’s hard to imagine that the beauty of this valley will be completely flooded and underwater.”

Last week, the Sierra Club BC, Peace Valley Environmental Association and Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative launched a new website, StopSiteC.org, where citizens can sign a petition to voice their opposition to the project.

'The Peace … has paid her price'

Doug Donaldson, the NDP’s aboriginal affairs and reconciliation critic, spoke to the crowd of paddlers before they hit the water.

“I think that this river and the Peace River Valley and you have given enough to the province,” he said.

A billboard protests the Site C dam above Bear Flats in the Peace Valley.

Organizers said BC Liberal representatives were invited to speak, but did not attend. Minister of Energy and Mines Bill Bennett has said he has not made up his mind about the dam yet.

For Leigh, who’s watching and waiting to see whether his family may be uprooted a second time by one of BC Hydro’s dams, the Peace has shouldered more than its fair share of the impacts of providing power for the province.

“The Peace River in British Columbia has paid her price for prosperity,” Summer says. “Do we have to completely destroy the whole Peace River in all of B.C.?”

He’s frustrated that the province has exempted the project from the review of the B.C. Utilities Commission, the independent regulator that turned the dam down in 1982.

“That’s wrong. We call ourselves a democracy; that’s not democracy,” Summer says.

“The truth would set us free here, but the truth never gets to the right people.”

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