Tag Archives: Island Timberlands

Forests

Logging company’s deferrals of old-growth jewels bittersweet, environmentalists say

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

West Coast environmental organizations are cautiously optimistic after a large forestry company announced deferrals of old-growth logging in some prized conservation areas in its private land holdings on Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii. 

Mosaic Forest Management, the largest private land-holder in B.C., is pausing logging on 400 square kilometres of forest for a minimum of 25 years, opting instead to rely on carbon credits to generate revenue. 

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A Brief History of Forest Activism on Cortes Island

[researched and written by Mike Moore, edited and produced for radio by De Clarke]

Cortes Islanders are very aware that we live on an island. The landbase has a very defined perimeter with the ocean; but the way the land wraps around and encloses the island’s many harbours and bays means that the land has a very intimate and close connection with the ocean. We know that the land, lakes, creeks and ocean are all interrelated.

Standing on a Cortes beach allows one to see what is happening on the lands around us in a bigger perspective. From Smelt Bay, we could witness the clearcuts sprawling across the mountainsides on Vancouver Island. From either side of Sutil Point, we could see the pulp mills in Campbell River and Powell River belching steam and smoke into the sky.

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Forests, History

A brief history of Cortes, Forestry and Mosaic

(De Clarke produced the audio version of this story, which is part of the March 15th Cortes Currents broadcast.)

The people living on this island have had a long and deep history with its forests. First Nation people lived here at least 4,000 years ago with new research pushing that date back to 10,000 years and perhaps even more.

In 1896 the first European settlers arrived and began clearing the forest for their homesteads. By the 1920’s, there were 120 families on this island making a living from logging so that by the 40’s and 50’s, much of the easily accessible old growth forests were already fallen. Today on any walk in the woods, you can still see those massive, ancient stumps.

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Forests

Without deferrals, these five timber companies could decide the fate of B.C.’s old-growth forests

Editor’s Note: Island Timberlands, which owns just under 9% of Cortes Island, primarily operates in southern Vancouver Island. It has smaller logging areas in northern Vancouver Island, Read Island, the Sunshine Coast and Haida Gwaii. Mosaic Forest Management oversees its logging operations, as well those of another Vancouver Island company: TimberWest. They are included among the ‘other companies’ in the chart below.

By Natasha Bulowski, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Five big timber companies hold the future of nearly half of British Columbia’s at-risk old-growth forests in their hands, according to a new report.

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Forests, History

Behind Every Great Timber Fortune…?

“Behind every great fortune lies a great crime.” — Honoré de Balzac

On the 21st of January 2022, a notice appeared in Cortes Tideline, from Mosaic (a “forest management corporation” which handles logistics for TimberWest and Island Timberlands). The gist of it was captured in one sentence: “As we have now been able to spend some time becoming familiar with our private managed forest lands on Cortes Island, we would like to share details of our draft three-year plan with those interested from communities on Cortes Island.”

Mosaic was careful to include the important word “private” in their announcement — a reminder that some 9 percent of Cortes forest land is still owned by private timber companies (not Crown land), and that (since 2003 at least) “privately managed forest lands” are a different kettle of fish.

Most coastal residents are aware, on some level, that vast tracts of BC are privately owned by timber companies, whereas other tracts of land are “Crown land” where logging takes place under licence. Few, however, are aware of how that situation — and the inconsistent policies and rules governing the two different land types — came about.

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