IN APRIL 2023, the Discovery Islands Forest Conservation Project filed a complaint with the BC Forest Practices Board about the logging and degradation of “old forest”—forest that contains trees greater than 250 years of age—on Quadra Island. Investigators from the Board spent a number of days on Quadra in July. They have said it will take 6 months to a year (from the time we filed our complaint) to release an investigation report. One of the aspects of our complaint was that Okisollo Resources logged 3 hectares of old forest on the north side of Hummingbird Lake in July 2019, contrary to promises the company made in its woodlot plan. While we were waiting for the investigators to come to Quadra Island, we made a second survey of the old-growth stand Okisollo Resources logged, including measuring the number and diameter of the trees that were cut in 2019 that were greater than 100 cm. We found 38, only 6 of which contained any sign of rot in the stump, which suggests the stand was in good health. We also did ring counts of two of the stumps. Because of weathering that has occurred since 2019, this required sanding a strip across the diameter of the stump so that the growth rings could be photographed at high resolution. The images were then tiled and the growth rings counted at high magnification (see image below). The two stumps we examined showed 443 years and 420 years of growth. In BC, forests containing trees greater than 400 years of age are considered to be “ancient”, not just “old-growth”, and are now extremely rare. Growth rings of one of the 38 old-growth trees logged in a 3-hectare cutblock at Hummingbird Lake on Quadra Island in 2019 (click image to enlarge).

The Forest Practices Board responded to this complaint—sent by email on April 4—on April 13 with the letter below, sent to the logging companies named in the complaint and copied to me. I will update this page as the Forest Practices Board proceeds. File: 97250-20 / 23021 April 13, 2023 VIA EMAIL Aaron Racher, General Manager Operations TimberWest Forest Corp. David Younger, Younger Brothers Holdings Woodlot 2032 Chantal Blumel, Okisollo Resources Ltd. Leslie Fettes, District Manager Campbell River Natural Resource District Re: Notification of Complaint – Logging of old forest on Quadra Island Dear Participants: On April 5, 2023, the Forest Practices Board (the Board) received a complaint from David Broadland on behalf of the Discovery Islands Forest Conservation Project (the complainant). TimberWest (Tree Farm License 47), Okisollo Resources Ltd. (Woodlot 2031), and Younger Brothers Holdings (Woodlot 2032) are named in the complaint. On Quadra Island, the complainant has identified approximately 655 hectares of old forest which it estimates to be 4 percent of the Crown forested land base. The complainant believes that the failure to complete landscape-level planning and to spatially designate old growth management areas, combined with government’s decision to establish or expand 11 woodlots in Special Management Zone 19, has put the remaining old forest at risk of being logged or degraded. The complainant believes that the three licensees named above continue to log old forest on the island. A summary of the complaint relevant to each licensee appears below. The complete complaint is attached for reference. TimberWest • TimberWest is degrading small patches of old forest in TFL 47. • TimberWest has no effective strategy to meet the old seral stage targets implied by the Vancouver Island Land Use Plan Higher Level Plan Order. • TimberWest is not abiding by the strategies recommended by the Vancouver Island Summary Land Use Plan for managing concentrations of veteran trees. • TimberWest’s strategy for sustaining forest ecosystem structure and function within cutblocks is ineffective because it doesn’t retain forest within cutblocks. Okisollo Resources Ltd. • Okisollo Resources Ltd. is logging old forest despite stating in its woodlot licence plan (WLP) that it would retain existing old forest, even “scattered small patches of old forest.” Younger Brothers Holdings • Younger Brothers Holdings is logging old forest for roads and degrading old forest by removing trees 250 years old and younger. • Younger Brothers Holdings made substantive changes to its woodlot licence plan in 2019 concerning old forest reserves without any written communication with the ministry about a major amendment to the plan. The complainant believes that urgent action is required to conserve all remaining old forest to protect biodiversity and other values. For relief, the complainant requests that the Forest Practices Board determine the most effective approach to conserving the remaining old forest on Quadra Island. The Board must deal with public complaints about a party’s compliance with Parts 2-5 and 11 of the Forest and Range Practices Act. The Board does not represent the complainant, rather it acts as an independent third party. It is possible that after initial investigation, certain aspects of this complaint fall outside the jurisdiction of the Board. More information on the Board’s complaint investigation process is available here. I would like to emphasize that the Board is interested in resolving complaints wherever possible, and I would appreciate any suggestions you might have to that end. I will be contacting you soon to begin investigating this complaint. If you have any immediate questions or concerns please contact me at (contact information removed). Yours sincerely, Tracy Andrews, RPF Manager of Audits and Investigations CC: David Broadland, Discovery Islands Forest Conservation Project Attachment