B.C. extends deferral of logging in Fairy Creek amid reports of tree spiking

The British Columbia government has approved a legal order to extend temporary protections to an old-growth forest on Vancouver Island even as Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar acknowledges RCMP are investigating reports of tree spiking in the Fairy Creek watershed. 

Parmar said he was informed of the reports last week, calling the news of tree spiking — which involves inserting a metal rod or spike at the base of the trunk where a logger may cut — "incredibly alarming."

He said the act is a "dangerous criminal activity" that puts health and safety of forestry workers at risk, adding that the province immediately notified both the forestry licensee and the local First Nation, while confirming the RCMP is investigating. 

In an interview with CBC News, Parmar said the ministry became aware of the alleged acitivity after the ministry's office and a forest service office in Nanaimo both received packages with photos and a message that made claims of spiking trees.

"I just can't imagine someone who would have the will to go and spike a tree with the intention of hurting a forestry worker, let alone possibly even killing a worker," he said.

"I condemn it, our government condemns it. As my mentor, [former] premier [John] Horgan once said, these people should 'get a life.'"

When asked how the spikes were discovered, given the deferral on logging in the watershed, Parmar said there wasn't much he could share as it is an active investigation.

Work with local First Nations

Parmar also said the extended deferral is "consistent with government's commitments to reconciliation and to protecting British Columbia's oldest and rarest forest ecosystems."

The logging deferral was initially made in 2021 at the request of Pacheedaht First Nation, whose territories encompass the entire watershed, and against the backdrop of ongoing protests and arrests, which have been cited as among the largest in Canadian history.

It was first extended in June 2023 until Feb. 1 of this year.

Parmar said the B.C. NDP government is continuing talks with the Pacheedaht in order to "build a strong, robust and sustainable forest sector for the next 100 years."

The deferral protects just under 12 square kilometres of timber on Crown land within the watershed.

"It's important for everyone to remember, whether you're a British Columbian or a person who just seems to want to protest on Fairy Creek, that these are trees on their traditional territories," Parmar said.

"And so we're going to continue doing the work. [The Pacheedaht] have asked for more time to develop an integrated resource management plan."

When it announced the initial deferral in 2021, the province said the postponement to old-growth logging would allow Pacheedaht titleholders time to build resource-stewardship plans for their lands.

Almost 1,200 opponents of old-growth logging were arrested at Fairy Creek after an injunction preventing interference with harvesting operations was issued and then extended in 2021, prompting then-B.C. Green Leader Sonia Furstenau to call the protest the largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history.

The B.C. Prosecution Service has since withdrawn contempt charges against several of those accused of violating the injunction and is expected to drop more charges after a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled RCMP made arrests without properly informing demonstrators of the injunction's details.

The protection of Fairy Creek was part of the most recent co-operation agreement signed by the B.C. NDP and B.C. Green Party in December, following last year's provincial election.

Parmar said he met with the Green Party about the steps the government was taking on Fairy Creek, and that they were supportive of them.