Nanoose Bay, British Columbia - Timberwest's contract to buy logs from Nanoose Bay Forest -- one of the last remaining parcels of rare, endangered Coastal Douglas-fir forests -- appears to exceed the licence issued by the province.BC Supreme Court documents filed last week, obtained by the Wilderness Committee, reveal that the company wants 2,000 cubic metres of wood, or approximately 65 logging truck loads, over the licensed limit.

"The 15,000 cubic metres in the Forest Licence for DL33 in Nanoose Bay was somehow increased to 17,000 cu metres in the contract with Timberwest, " said Annette Tanner, Wilderness Committee, Mid Island spokesperson.

"Forest Services confirmed yesterday that the licence issued was for 15,000 cubic metres," said Tanner. "All reports, studies and investigations done regarding the logging plans for this sensitive forest ecosystem are now inaccurate, as the logging plan would now be changed to accommodate the removal of an additional 65 logging truck loads of logs that were not addressed in the pre-harvest silviculture prescription approved by the province and challenged by the community through complaints to the Forest Practices Board."

"This additional logging makes a bad situation even worse. We fear this haphazard forest planning will have a disasterous effect on the habitat of the many red and blue listed species on the watershed headwaters of two fish-bearing creeks," said Tanner. "We say again that the logging of this endangered forest is ill-concieved, poorly planned and should be halted immediately."
Coastal Douglas-fir forests on east Vancouver Island are globally imperilled because the ecosystem is on the brink of extinction as most of this forest-type has been permanently removed, leaving the remaining small areas very fragmented and very challenging to connect for wildlife migration of ungulets and large carnivores.

"On Saturday a herd of Roosevelt elk were caught on video in this forest - and we're concerned this expanded logging puts them as well as other species who depend this forest at risk," said Tanner.

Forests such as DL33 exist only in British Columbia and rank as one of the most biologically diverse and threatened ecosystems in Canada

Contact:

Annette Tanner, Mid-Island Chapter Chair, Wilderness Committee, 250 752-6585, cell 250 240-7470