Tag Archive for: Cortes Island

There is very little common ground between Island Timberlands’ logging methods and how the community would like forestry to be done on Cortes—but as this is private managed forestland, there’s not a whole lot they can legally do about it. And, as long as the province is benefitting from these operations through their investment wing, the BC Investment Management Corporation (BCIMC)—which manages all of the public sector pension funds—there will continue to be a disturbing incentive for them to maintain the status quo, regardless of what communities may want.

According to Ken Wu of the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA), “Ultimately, if these lands are going to be protected, they need to be purchased.” But despite the fact that Brookfield Asset Management purchased their coastal timber holdings for bottom dollar, they are now insisting on highly inflated prices. (We will discuss a concrete example of this in two weeks when we explore the Whaletown Commons.) How on earth are humble Cortesians supposed to purchase these forestlands for such astronomical prices?

One option is to engage a Land Trust organization. BC has two provincial land trusts to choose from: Nature Trust and The Land Conservancy. And then there are some smaller, more localized land trusts, such as the Islands Trust. These groups raise tens of millions of dollars each year for the preservation of special areas that happen to fall on private land. But once the lands are purchased, how does a community ensure that those lands remain protected in perpetuity?

In addition to raising funds, land trusts also help with the legal process of placing conservation covenants on privately held land. A conservation covenant is when a private landowner makes a legally binding promise to protect the land in specific ways of his or her choosing. The land trust agrees to monitor the covenant and ensures that its promise is being upheld. Covenants are very flexible as to what one can specify to be protected or restricted on the land, and they are attached to the land title forever—regardless of who owns it in the future.

Or, you could do what they did on Cortes and create your very own Trust. The Forest Trust for the Children of Cortes Island was just incorporated this past summer, with the sole purpose of purchasing and protecting with covenants what is known as the Children’s Forest. This area lies at the mouth of Carrington Lagoon, adjacent to Carrington Bay Regional Park. It contains some of the only stands of old sitka spruce trees on the island. James Creek runs right through the forest and supports spawning salmon. The origin of the name comes from the area’s history of being a place where students would come and learn about forest stewardship, ecology, mushrooms, wildlife, and salmon enhancement.

Island Timberlands, to its credit, has acknowledged the uniqueness of this area and has left it off its immediate logging plans. The company has engaged in a process with the Children’s Forest Trust to allow them some time to raise the necessary funds to be able to acquire the property. The next step is to agree on a fair price—which could number in the tens of millions. If Cortes Island is going to achieve this seemingly unatainable goal, they are going to need a lot of help from the outside world.

But with just two provincial land trusts in BC, there are not a whole lot of places that they can turn to. But even if they are able to get the funds they need to save this forest, the reality is that private land trusts will never be equipped to purchase all these endangered private lands fast enough to save them from liquidation. The only organization in BC with a budget large enough to make these purchases is the provincial government.

Up until 2008 the province had a land acquisition fund. However, since the recession, a fund has not been included in the budget. That is why the Ancient Forest Alliance has authored a petition calling on the provincial government to establish a BC Park Acquisition Fund of $40 million a year—or about 0.1% of the annual provincial budget.

Over ten years this fund would add up to $400 million and could be used to purchase lands with important ecological, cultural, and recreational value, to be added to the BC parks system. The petition also points out that, “For every $1 invested by the BC government in our parks system, another $9 is generated in the provincial economy through tourism revenues.” Not to mention the ecological services that a forest provides in purifying our air and water. (We will discuss ecological services next week in Green Valley.)

There is a compelling economic argument to be made for investing in a standing forest—simply to allow it to continue doing its job as a forest. But before that can happen with the Cortes Island Children’s Forest, Island Timberlands will have to agree to sell the land at fair value. And even if that does occur, the province will have to start making the acquisition of private forestlands a priority if communities like Cortes are going to survive, let alone purchase these lands. And no matter what, the Children’s Forest Trust is going to have a huge amount of fundraising on their hands.

But perhaps most importantly, for all the land that is going to remain in the hands of the corporations, there is a need for stronger regulations and enforcement of violations on Private Managed Forestland. Sensitive ecosystems and species at risk do not understand property lines. And the long-term effects of industrial logging practices have innumerable downstream consequences for neighboring communities. So the whole argument that says, “It’s their private land, they can do whatever they want.” Well, therein lies the problem—and I don’t buy it.

Next week we will take a journey into Green Valley, a luscious, mossy valley that purifies the drinking water for the people of Cortes Island. This is the next section of forestland in Island Timberlands’ logging plans.

The War in the Woods has changed complexion since I first started covering hostilities more than 20 years ago as an environmental war correspondent in the Clayoquot Sound combat zone.

For me, the fight in those days was defined by brazen environmental opportunists like MP Svend (White Swan) Robinson who was most dangerous if you happened to be standing between him and a TV camera. This news just in — I was not a friend of the environment movement.

Jump ahead two decades and we find a much different contest being waged on the forest floor and in the boardrooms. While the spoils of war are still the remaining stands of old growth and the ecosystems that support them, the field of battle has shifted and the combatants’ tactics have evolved.

A good example of changing times is the current environment-versus-logging impasse on Cortes Island. It is more a war of words and diplomacy than the bitter blockade combat that defined the Clayoquot. The land in question is not public, it is private. And the gulf island ecosystem in question is not just sensitive, it is hyper-sensitive.

On Cortes, at least, the face of the environment movement has changed. The patchouli anarchy that defined it 20 years ago has mellowed and matured. The career enviros are still there, but their ranks have filled out with an eclectic gathering of regular folks — from kids to their grandparents to more than a few retired loggers.

Currently, an unofficial time out is being observed in the standoff between Cortes Island’s environmental activists and Island Timberlands, a subsidiary of Wall Street giant Brookfield Asset Management.

It should be noted that while this drama plays out on tiny Cortes, the Brookfield boardroom is in a state of high anxiety because of China Investment Corp. (CIC) is considering purchasing a sizeable chunk of Island Timberlands. CIC is the investment arm of the People’s Republic of China with $200 billion of China’s foreign exchange reserves to play with. No pressure there.

On Cortes, three things are remarkable. First, the resident environmentalists and Timberlands have been debating the company’s logging plans for about four years without coming to serious blows.

Second, the environmentalists are not trying to ban logging altogether. They are asking for Timberlands to adopt an ecosystem-based approach — eco-code for selective logging that spares old growth.

Third, Timberlands has exercised a measure of restraint and has not immediately sought an injunction. Efforts are being made to bring the two sides together for what the environmentalists call “an informed discussion about the best use of the resource.”

Back in the early 1990s, the provincial government was fully engaged attempting to referee such conflicts even though there was precious little common ground. Twenty years later, with dialogue increasingly in vogue, the question is: Where is the provincial government?

A big issue in the Cortes dispute is the extent to which our government regulates activity on private land. The private foresters claim they are governed by more than 30 acts and regulations. However, the environmentalists say companies like Timberlands are allowed to apply a model of “professional reliance” which means that there is little meaningful regulatory oversight.

It’s a pity the current administration has all but forsaken its role as steward and peacekeeper in the woods. A measure of leadership would go a long way right about now.

[Monday Mag article no longer available]

An unofficial time out is being observed in the standoff between Cortes Island environmental activists and Island Timberlands over the company’s plans to log its private land which contains old growth stands.

Last week, Cortes environmentalists, residents and supporters repeatedly blocked Island Timberlands’ crews from beginning logging operations near Basil Creek. Zoe Miles, a member of Wildstands, says the community has attempted to work with the company for more than four years to develop an ecosystem-based approach to forestry. “The community is now left with no choice but to stand in Timberlands’ path to defend these ecologically significant forests.”

The group lifted its blockade after frustrated logging crews left the island, but the company’s Director of Human Resources Mark Leitao says they are simply assessing their options. One of those options is a court injunction. Behind the scenes efforts were being made to bring the two sides together for talks.

West Vancouver environmental lawyer Joe Spears, who has been hired by the environmentalists, tells the Mirror: “Situation normal, trees standing.”

“This goes way beyond private property rights,” the lawyer says. “There is so little coastal old growth left.” Spears says there needs to be an informed discussion about the best use of the resource – “a source of raw logs for China or deferred forestation that gives rise to carbon credits?”

Ken Wu, Executive Director of Ancient Forest Alliance, says: “What is needed now is leadership from the Liberal government to help resolve the war in the woods by committing funds to purchase endangered ecosystems on private lands, including old-growth forests on Cortes Island.

The alliance is calling for a $40 million annual park acquisition fund. The last time the provincial government had a dedicated land acquisition fund was in the 2008 budget, Wu says.  A similar battle on Salt Spring Island over a decade ago between local residents and a logging company was resolved through funding from the provincial, federal and regional governments and local citizens to purchase the endangered lands around Burgoyne Bay and on Mount Maxwell.

Meanwhile, the Private Forest Landowners Association has taken Cortes activist Leah Seltzer to task for her claim that “privately managed forest companies (do not have) any legally binding regulations on their lands.”

There are more than 30 acts and regulations that apply to managed forest land, the association says, “and successive independent audits show the protection … on private managed forest land meets or exceeds the standard of protection on public lands.”

Seltzer counters: “The industry uses a model of ‘professional reliance’ which means that there is no real government oversight.  So, technically on the books, there is ‘legally binding legislation,’ but ultimately the forest professionals determine what compliance looks like and for us this feels a lot like the fox is watching the hen house.

[Campbell River Mirror online article no longer available]

Cortes Island residents who blockaded roads for a week in a fight to modify logging plans say they are hopeful talks with Island Timberlands can lead to a compromise.

But Mark Leitao, a spokesman for the company, said Thursday no commitment has been made to meet with the islanders, who are organized under the banner, Wildstands Alliance. The group lifted its blockade Wednesday, after logging crews withdrew from the island. But Mr. Leitao said the crews will be back.

“We’re resolute that we’re going to harvest and continue to manage our properties on Cortes over the long term,” he said. “At this point we’re sitting back and assessing our options.”

Mr. Leitao said the company has considered an injunction against the blockaders, if necessary, but isn’t in a rush.

“We’ll be on Cortes for the long term, and so a week here and there is not going to really affect the overall long-term scheme of things,” he said. “First and foremost we want to make sure that when we go to harvest, that we can do that safely.”

Island residents blocked roads to protest company plans to log privately owned forest lands on Cortes Island, which is in the Strait of Georgia, east of Campbell River. About 1,000 people live on the bucolic island, which is home to Hollyhock Farm Ltd., a well-known retreat that features workshops on writing, dance and yoga among other things.

Leah Seltzer, of the Wildstands Alliance, said the group took down the blockade with the expectation that a meeting with the company would follow.

“We hope that will happen in the near future,” she said, adding that island residents are not asking for an end to logging, just that plans be changed to ensure sensitive areas are protected. “We are definitely a community that is made up of people that includes loggers. We are interested in some logging … but it has to be selective logging.… We want their forests to be managed in a way that maintains ecological integrity.”

Ms. Seltzer said she is concerned the lack of dialogue between residents and Island Timberlands will worsen if a reported deal goes through in which China Investment Corp. is proposing to purchase timber assets from Brookfield Asset Management Inc. The Toronto-based company owns Island Timberlands, which is headquartered in Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island.

“It is hard enough to communicate with them now. Imagine if their offices were in China,” she said.

Ron Croda, a long-time resident, said a bitter battle was fought over the forest lands on Cortes Island in 1991, when MacMillan Bloedel Ltd. sought to log the area. “We put it off for 20 years,” he said. “That was a measure of some success.”

Mr. Croda said the battle divided the community then, and may do so again, because the issues are the same: The company has the legal right to log its forest lands, but many in the community want to protect the natural beauty of the island. “This is an example of corporate exploitation where the law is entirely on their side – but it’s leading to an environmental tragedy,” he said.

Ken Wu, a director of the Ancient Forest Alliance, called on the provincial government to end the dispute before it grows into a bigger confrontation. “Without the government taking action this will escalate into a war in the woods,” he said. “The BC Liberal government needs to show some leadership. They should not keep their heads down on the Cortes Island issue.”

Mr. Wu urged the government to set aside $40-million a year for park land acquisition.

Read more:  https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/cortes-island-residents-seek-compromise-with-loggers/article6071710/