Category Archives: Forests

Forests, Rivers & Oceans

Environmental concerns about the Gorge Harbour log dump

When a large volume of logs were dumped in Gorge Harbour, during the 1970s and 80s, they caused extensive damage to the underwater environment.

One of the questions raised at Mosaic’s Cortes Island ZOOM meeting, last January, revolved around the possibility that reactivating the log dump could also have negative impacts. Mike Moore dove beneath the log dump about fifteen years ago. At that time, he observed a thick layer of wood debris and sediments, covered by ‘bacterial mats.’ Moore was concerned about the possibility a new disturbance of the sediments could pollute nearby shellfish operations. 

Continue reading Environmental concerns about the Gorge Harbour log dump →
Forests

On Cortes Island, it’s all songs and warm vibes until the logging begins

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Cortes Islanders smiling, singing, and snacking outside the Gorge Harbour clapboard community hall might have been gathered for a spring picnic — if it weren’t for the sizable collection of anti-logging protest signs pitched across the lawn. 

Any collective cheer quickly dissipated and anger bubbled up in the crowd on Tuesday afternoon when Mosaic Forest Management representatives began to outline draft plans for logging operations on the small B.C. island over the next three years

Continue reading On Cortes Island, it’s all songs and warm vibes until the logging begins →
Forests, Indigenous Nations

The Cortes Forestry General Partnership

There are 60 community forests in British Columbia, but only one of them is a general partnership. This can be traced back 23 years, to a MOU in which the Klahoose First Nation and the Cortes Ecoforestry Society agreed to work towards a community forest. Then, in September 2013 the Ministry of Forests issued a Community Forest Agreement to the Cortes Forestry General Partnership (CFGP). 

Continue reading The Cortes Forestry General Partnership →
Forests

Mosaic/IT Open House at Gorge Hall

On Tuesday May 17th, a group of Mosaic (Island Timberlands / TimberWest) employees travelled to Cortes Island to host an “open house” at the Gorge Hall. They set up displays indoors and offered a casual one-on-one discussion period from 10AM to noon; at noon, they made a formal presentation which — thanks to improving weather — was held outdoors for better Covid safety.

Mosaic’s displays inside Gorge Hall

Mosaic’s plans to resume industrial logging on Cortes Island are controversial and have already inspired a petition-style letter and a series of community meetings. Mosaic has received significant feedback from the community challenging their cut plan on various grounds, including location (cutting within the boundaries of sensitive ecosystems) and extraction rate (several times the rate recommended and practised by the Cortes Community Forest).

Continue reading Mosaic/IT Open House at Gorge Hall →
Forests

Recognizing Root Rot

(#2 in a series coming out of the Cortes Forestry General Partnership’s 2022 AGM)

According to BC Hydro, more than half the province’s power outages are caused by falling trees. That number is probably higher on Cortes and Quadra Islands, which are heavily forested. Trees appear to be dropping on the power lines every time there is a storm. There are also large numbers of relatively young trees falling over in the forest, and in people’s yards. Some of them were critically weakened by root rot. 

In yesterday’s interview, General Manager Mark Lombard said a significant number of the fir trees that Cortes Forestry General Partnership recently harvested were afflicted by root rot.  

So Cortes Currents asked, “how do you recognize root rot?”

Continue reading Recognizing Root Rot →