Tag Archives: Ministry of Forests

Industry

Area B Director’s Report: Cortes Quarry expansion?

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By Regional Director Mark Vonesch

As many of you are aware, 2385425 Alberta Ltd. (Island United) has applied to increase the size of the tenure of their quarry on Cortes Island from 1.25ha to 5.16ha.

Applications have been submitted to the Ministry of Forests and the Ministry of Mining and Critical Minerals to increase the footprint, approve washing as a permitted activity, introduce a concrete plant, and increase the annual extraction rate to a maximum of 39,999 tonnes per year (up from approximately 5,000 tonnes per year).

These applications impact public land and our community and there is now opportunity for us, the public, to provide input into the decision.

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Industry

Gleanings from the May 7 Community Meeting: Island United’s proposed Quarry Expansion

Around 100 people packed into Mansons Hall on May 7, 2026, for a community meeting on the proposed expansion of the Island United Quarry on Cortes Island. While most appeared to be opposed to the project in its current form, some added that Cortes Island needed a smaller quarry more in line with the island’s needs

Neither Howard Nielsen, who owns Island United, nor his wife were present. Regional Director Mark Vonesch explained, “ It’s their 15th wedding anniversary and they’re on a trip.” 

Mike Moore, who MC’d the event,  added, “First of all this is a meeting that is for information. We’ll have a question and answer period at the end of a few little presentations. It’s not a protest by any means. No profanity (audience chuckled); no derogatory comments. We’re here to look at the Island United Quarry expansion in Whaletown.”

Continue reading Gleanings from the May 7 Community Meeting: Island United’s proposed Quarry Expansion →
Forests, Indigenous Nations

Clayoquot Sound’s only tree farm licence subdivided into three lots to assert First Nations’ land visions

Editor’s note: In 1993, Tzeporah Berman and Kairn Mahon Carrington were leaders of the Clayoquot Protests. They now live on Cortes Island.

By Nora O’Malley, Ha-Shilth-Sa, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Clayoquot Sound, BC – The logging tenure for a landscape made famous by the “War in the Woods” protests on the west coast of Vancouver Island has been divided up into three new Tree Farm Licences (TFL) to assert First Nations’ unique land-use visions. 

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Forests

Long-awaited changes to BC’s private forests not coming, government confirms

 Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 

Local governments on Vancouver Island are frustrated after finally receiving a long-awaited answer to when legislative changes are coming to the law governing how some forest lands are managed in BC.

The answer: with the trade war targeting BC lumber, the priority is protecting forestry jobs. In short, after years of fighting, change is not coming.

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Forests, Politics

BC won’t run anti-tariff ads, Eby says after emergency summit

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

BC Premier David Eby is putting his anti-tariff ads on ice after an emergency summit with federal ministers on Monday morning.

“We’ve committed to the federal government that when the time comes to be speaking directly to Americans, we’ll do it in partnership with them,” Eby told reporters at a press conference in Vancouver immediately after the emergency softwood lumber summit.

“We will not be running the ads by ourselves.” 

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