VICTORIA – The British Columbia government has approved a legal order to extend temporary protections to an old-growth forest on Vancouver Island even as Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar acknowledges RCMP are investigating reports of tree spiking in the Fairy Creek watershed.
Parmar says he was informed of the reports last week, calling the news of tree spiking — which involves inserting a metal rod or spike at the base of the trunk where a logger may cut — “incredibly alarming.”
He says the act is a “dangerous criminal activity” that puts health and safety of forestry workers at risk, adding that the province immediately notified both the forestry licensee and the local First Nation, while confirming the RCMP is investigating.
The logging deferral extension to Sept. 30, 2026, applies to the order that was first issued in 2021 at the request of the Pacheedaht First Nation, whose territories encompass the entire watershed.
It was first extended in June 2023 until Feb. 1 of this year.
The Forests Ministry says the deferral protects almost 1,200 hectares or Crown land in the Fairy Creek watershed.
It says the protections will allow for continued discussions about the long-term management of the watershed with the Pacheedaht First Nation, adding that the move is “consistent with government’s commitments to reconciliation and to protecting British Columbia’s oldest and rarest forest ecosystems.”
Protests in Fairy Creek began after logging permits were granted in 2020, allowing Teal Cedar Products to cut timber, including old-growth trees, in areas in and around the Fairy Creek watershed.
Almost 1,200 opponents of old-growth logging were arrested at Fairy Creek for defying court orders preventing interference with harvesting operations.
The Teal-Jones Group, whose tree farm licence covers the Fairy Creek area, said in a statement in 2022 that spikes had been found in trees logged from the area.
It said that while they have measures to detect spiked logs, one made it through and the blade hit the spike, destroying the saw and nearly hitting a worker, which could have killed him.
“Tree spiking is a dangerous criminal activity meant to maim or kill forestry workers. There can be no justification for that,” said the statement issued on Sept. 23, 2022.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 29, 2025.
