FARMERS SUE BC TIMBER
Luc Rempel – Jan 9, 2025 / 4:00 am | Story: 526579
Photo: Marjorie Hamilton
One of the exposed aquifers in the Skimikin area
A group of water users and local farmers in Turtle Valley have launched a lawsuit against BC Timber Sales to block the sale of four cutblocks over fears that clearcutting will negatively impact their water supply.
A notice of civil claim was filed against BC Timber Sales in B.C. Supreme Court on Monday, Jan. 6, following BC Timber Sales’ listing of four cutblocks for auction on Dec. 20, 2024.
The Upper Chum Creek Water Users Association and four local farmers in the Turtle Valley area, which is located southeast of Chase, claim clearcut logging activities would have a negative impact on their water licences. These licenses allow them to draw water from natural springs downslope of the proposed logging.
Christine Adderson, one of the complainants in the suit, said they have been forced to file the lawsuit as a last resort after two years of discussion with BC Timber Sales.
“We’ve been dealing with this for two years with BCTS trying to show them our perspective,” she said. “And they’ve just pushed ahead regardless of anything we’ve said.”
In 2022, BCTS began developing a proposal to harvest timber and build roads in the Skimikin and Ptarmigan Hills area upslope of the natural springs used by Christine and Scott Adderson, as well as Hillary and John McNolty.
BCTS has proposed four cutblocks and 4.4 kilometres of new road in proposed Timber Sale Licence TA2461.
The blocks are located about 500 metres from two of the springs used by the farmers and other water licence holders. The cutblocks consist of 46 hectares of old-growth and mature Douglas fir and western red cedar.
Bidding is set to close on Jan. 15, 2025.
“They are traversing across the watershed numerous times with new roads, and the water is generally subsurface,” Adderson said.
“It goes underneath the ground, so you can’t always see where it’s running, but it’s that subterranean water and those channels that are percolating the water down into our water licenses so that we can run our farms and have our well being and our livelihood supported.”
Complainants at odds with hydrological study
One of the chief points of contention in the lawsuit is a hydrological study BCTS conducted last February.
The complainants allege Christine Adderson advised BCTS of the importance of a study by a hydrologist qualified in groundwater aquifers due to the nature of the springs in the area.
BCTS contracted hydrologist Michael Milne to complete the study.
The notice of civil claim said Milne is registered with the Association of British Columbia Forest Professionals as an associate with a limited licence. This licence lists his areas of practice as forest education and training, forest and watershed level planning and management, and forest roads and transportation.
“Our concern isn’t with the individual, it’s that BCTS would hire someone who didn’t have the appropriate competence and expertise,” said Ben Isitt, the lawyer representing Upper Chum Creek Water Users and the farmers.
“We want to be clear, we’re not casting any aspersions on the contractor Mr. Milne.”
Isitt claimed Milne told water users at a February meeting “that ground water, meaning water running under the surface and also aquifers, weren’t within his area of expertise.”
“We do have concerns that the assessment that the province is relying on is inadequate, and that there has not yet been a proper study of the impacts of the proposed logging on groundwater and the associated aquifers,” Isitt said.
Suit claims no site plan was provided
The lawsuit also argues BCTS failed to provide water users with a site plan of the proposed roads and cut blocks.
“BCTS staff had said for a number of months that they were going to give the site plans and answer any questions about the plans, and those were never provided to the water users,” Isitt said.
The complainants said it was unfair to list cut blocks for auction before providing them with site plans and allowing for discussion of the plans.
They are hoping the lawsuit will lead to the cancellation of the sale before a logging company is awarded with the cutblocks.
Residents of the Ptarmigan Hills and Skimikin area requested a logging deferral for this area in a letter to Premier David Eby in December of 2023.
When reached by Castanet on Wednesday, the Ministry of Forests declined to comment on the lawsuit.
“Because this matter is currently before the courts, we cannot comment at this time,” the ministry said.
CASTANET Dec 19, 2023
12/19/23, 4:57 AM Residents ask B.C. premier for logging deferral in Skimikin/Ptarmigan Hills range – Salmon Arm News – Castanet.net https://www.castanet.net/news/Salmon-Arm/462781/Residents-ask-B-C-premier-for-logging-deferral-in-Skimikin-Ptarmigan-Hills-range 1/3 Residents ask B.C. premier for logging deferral in Skimikin/Ptarmigan Hills range Luc Rempel – Dec 16, 2023 / 4:00 am | Story: 462781
A group of Shuswap residents are calling for a five year deferral from logging activity in an area southeast of Chase. Residents living in Skimikin, Ptarmigan Hills, Chase and outlying areas have sent a letter to B.C. Premier David Eby laying out their case for a logging deferral for the Skimikin and Ptarmigan Hills range. LOGGING FIGHT IN SKIMIKIN Photo: Marjorie Hamilton Exposed aquifer in Ptarmigan Hills area.
Click here to view gallery 1°C Kelowna’s Homepage Tuesday, Dec 19 12/19/23, 4:57 AM Residents ask B.C. premier for logging deferral in Skimikin/Ptarmigan Hills range – Salmon Arm News – Castanet.net https://www.castanet.net/news/Salmon-Arm/462781/Residents-ask-B-C-premier-for-logging-deferral-in-Skimikin-Ptarmigan-Hills-range 2/3
“The goal of this request is to allow for these updated regulations to become integrated into Forest Management. This area is currently under the jurisdiction of BC Timber Sales, and is at an extreme risk of being irreversibly altered by existing forestry practices, just steps behind the implementation of change,” the letter said. Ninety-two people are listed as signatories to the letter. Marjorie Hamilton is one of the authors of the letter, and a resident of the Ptarmigan Hills area. Hamilton and a small group of residents have been fighting to protect this small parcel of land since 2014, when it was originally slated to be logged by Tolko. “If you were to look, I have this incredible view, a satellite image of our area here. Everything has been clear cut, we’re the last postage stamp for miles and it’s just a small piece, a minor piece that we’re trying to protect,” Hamilton said. “People often want to look the other way with this kind of thing. But there are people today that will say, ‘Hey, no, no, this isn’t right.’”
Along with the five year deferral, residents are also asking for the area to be included in the 30 per cent of land which will become protected, as outlined in the Biodiversity, Habitat and Species at Risk Protection Agreement, signed by First Nations and federal and provincial government representatives. The goal of the agreement is to help governments and First Nations work together towards Canada’s goal of putting 30 per cent of land in B.C. under protection by 2030.
The letter goes on to list five endangered or at-risk species that reside in the area as well. The at-risk species listed are the fisher, long-tailed weasel, flammulated owl, western painted turtle and the pine grosbeak subspecies carlottae. “If the logging activities proceed, B.C. may lose one of the remaining strongholds for biodiversity and habitat for several species at risk by a small margin of time,” the letter said. The letter’s authors argue the natural untouched diversity of the Ptarmigan Hills range offers natural fire resiliency.
The letter quoted statements made by John Innes, Forest Renewal BC chair in forest management. “Over the past 40 years, about 8.5 million hectares of B.C.’s publicly owned forest have been logged,” the letter quotes Innes as saying. “Based on the BLM [Bureau of Land Management] fuel specialist’s testimony that the fire hazard associated with a plantation would be higher than the mature forest it replaced for up to 40 years, we can project that as much as 8.5 million hectares of B.C. now have an elevated level of fire hazard as a consequence of logging and replanting.”
The letter also points out the importance of an undocumented aquifer system in this range that provides fresh water to nearby residents, noting fears that it could be damaged by logging. “More than a century has passed, long before current clear cutting practices became common, since the balance of this forest was disturbed. …This area warrants the analysis by qualified groundwater hydrologists to ensure its viability should a harvest still be considered,” the letter states.
The letter also discusses the extent of the wildfire damage in the region. 12/19/23, 4:57 AM Residents ask B.C. premier for logging deferral in Skimikin/Ptarmigan Hills range – Salmon Arm News – Castanet.net https://www.castanet.net/news/Salmon-Arm/462781/Residents-ask-B-C-premier-for-logging-deferral-in-Skimikin-Ptarmigan-Hills-range 3/3 More Salmon Arm News “This area needs to be left intact based on documented evidence regarding the intrinsic value of viable, healthy forests. Greater than 41,000 hectares of forests were lost to our neighbouring Bush Creek fire alone,” the document said. Hamilton said the letter signatories have not heard a response back from the premier’s office, but they are still fighting for the logging deferral.