Spatial Analysis of Private Land Logging

Elk Valley, British Columbia

All images used in this story map were provided to the author with consent for use or are covered by a creative commons license. When viewing the interactive maps, be sure to expand the legend (bottom left of each map) to see what dataset is being shown. Full-page static map layouts are included at the end. Questions or comments can be directed to b.collison@dal.ca.


Introduction

The extraction of natural resources make up a significant portion of British Columbia’s economy, with the forestry sector representing about 3% of provincial gross domestic product (GDP) per year between 2014 – 2018 (Bautista, 2019). The majority (94%) of all forest land in BC is owned by the provincial government and regulated by the 2002 Forest and Range Practices Act (Hickey & Innes, 2008). However, of the 6% of forest land that is privately owned, a large portion is within the Kootenay region, and particularly the Elk Valley.

Clearcuts in the Leach Creek watershed, near Fernie, BC (Repp, 2019)

In late 2014, about 46,000 hectares of forest land was acquired by CanWel Timber Ltd. (a private logging company) and clearcuts have severely fragmented the landscape in the Elk Valley since then (Sander-Green, 2019). The 2003 Private Managed Forest Land Act has allowed this company to register the land as 'private managed forest,' subject to less strict forestry practice regulations than what is required on Crown land. Some of the associated impacts with clearcut logging are potential economic losses for the tourism industry, sedimentation in fish habitat, rising land surface and water temperatures, higher risks of soil instability and landslides, habitat loss for wildlife and species at risk, and a decreased climate change mitigation capacity, among others (Bowd et al., 2019).


Research Objective

This study quantifies how the acquisition of private land by CanWel Timber Ltd. has changed the rate and extent of clear cut logging in the Elk Valley of British Columbia. The surface analysis provides a spatial distribution of some biophysical landscape components that private land logging has impacted, including viewscape, steep-slope soil erosion, fish-bearing streams, wildlife habitat, and species at risk.

Steep sloped clearcut above the Ridgemont subdivision in Fernie, BC (Petryshen, 2019)

Study Area

The Elk Valley is located in the Southeastern corner of British Columbia, bordered by Alberta to the east and the United States to the South. Fernie, BC is the largest municipality with just over 5,000 year-round residents (Statistics Canada, 2017). The Elk Valley is the Kootenay region's southern-most entry point for travellers from the East, coming to ski at the Fernie Alpine Resort in the winter, and explore the beautiful mountain scenery and nearby lakes in the summer (Tourism Fernie, 2021). Yet, the Elk Valley is also home to immense industry pressure where a series of mountain-topping coal mining operations near Sparwood and Elkford provide year-round employment for thousands of residents (Davidson et al., 2018).

Private land Clearcuts with Teck Resource's Coal Mountain mine in the background - Michel Creek watershed near Sparwood, BC (Repp, 2019)

Steep-sloped private cutblock, north of Fernie, BC (Repp, 2019)


Results

The results showed that timber harvest rates greatly increased on private forest land compared to Crown land. Within one year of forest acquisition by CanWel Timber Ltd. in 2014, logging on private land was over 3 times higher than the previous year.

Impact of private land acquisition on timber harvest rates in the Elk Valley

Elk Valley Visual Quality and Tourism

There is often a trade-off between tourism and forestry, where visual aesthetics from forestry activities can degrade ‘natural’ or ‘pristine’ wilderness activities, making them less marketable in the eyes of tourists (Hilsendager et al., 2016). For tourists driving into BC from the east, there are now a series of large clearcut scars on the mountainsides between the towns of Sparwood and Fernie. The viewshed analysis map (below) shows that the clearcuts visible from Highway 3 and the municipalities are just a small portion of the overall impact. The map demonstrates that there are thousands of hectares of forest being harvested out of clear public view.

"Fernie [tourism] is expanding and so is industry, we are getting a collision here with those two and we’ve got to address it head on. Legislation has to reflect those changes." - Tom Shypitka, Kootenay East MLA, Fernie public forum (McLaughlan, 2019)

Elk Valley Ungulate Species

Ungulate populations have been declining in the Elk Valley in recent years (Schafer, 2016). The main threat to these species is predation; carnivores like wolves and cougars have an easier time hunting ungulates due to the greater abundance of forestry roads. Species like moose, white-tailed deer, and mule deer depend on low elevation, high canopy cover, and low snow depth habitats for hiding from predators and foraging in throughout the long winters of the Elk Valley (Poole & Mowat, 2010). Critical winter ungulate habitat has been designated by the BC government, imposing timber harvesting restrictions on Crown land. However, these regulations do not apply on private land, where clearcuts have destroyed wintering habitat for ungulate species in many areas, shown below.

Elk Valley Fish Species

The Elk River and it's tributaries are closed for fishing every year at certain times to allow for uninterrupted spawning of spring (westslope cutthroat trout) and fall (bull trout) fish species (McPhee, 2021). There is not a ‘closed season’ for logging operations, where higher spring peak stream flows and greater sedimentation associated with clearcuts and logging roads can wash away or suffocate fish eggs (Petryshen, 2020). A major concern with logging is soil erosion, subsequent sedimentation and altered thermal regimes for species that depend on coarse gravel cold-water tributaries for spawning, such as bull trout (Petryshen, 2020). Spring snowmelt runoff causes higher peak flows and occurs earlier in the year in heavily logged areas, thus this can also drastically affect spring-spawning fish species.

Soil erosion risk within private land clearcut areas, separated by slope classes

Elk Valley Species at Risk

The federal Species at Risk Act (2002) aims to protect species from becoming extinct or extirpated on federal lands in Canada. British Columbia has more species at risk than any other province or territory in Canada, with over 1,800 species in 2019 (Westwood et al., 2019). However, the province of BC is only 1% federal jurisdiction, and BC does not have it's own endangered species law, like most other provinces in Canada. An example of this problem is demonstrated by over 5,000 cubic meters of Whitebark Pine (endangered) being logged on Elk Valley private land since 2016 (Parfitt, 2019).

"If we are not taking care of wildlife and ecosystems when we log on private land, the health and function of the [Elk] Valley is in jeopardy." - Eddie Petryshen, Conservation Specialist at Wildsight, Fernie public forum (McLaughlan, 2019)


Discussion & Conclusion

The situation in the Elk Valley demonstrates what can happen in other areas of BC if large expanses of private land get into the hands of logging companies. Forests have incredible ecological, social, cultural, and spiritual significance; sustainable timber harvesting methods exist to reduce negative deforestation impacts, but they are extremely under-utilized in British Columbia today. Under the Private Managed Forest Land Act (2002), forestry companies can choose to deplete forest resources until they are virtually exhausted with little consideration for other forest values aside from economic gain. A logging law reform on private land needs to occur, led by the provincial government, and including comprehensive input from residents, academia, local governments, non-government organizations, First Nations, and other stakeholders that private land logging is affecting. 

The highly-exploited Leach Creek watershed near Fernie, BC (Repp, 2019)


Map Layouts

Map 1: Overview of Study Area

Map 2: Viewshed Results of Visible Cutblocks from Highway 3

Map 3: Private Land Cutblocks and Ungulate Critical Habitat

Map 4: Private Land Cutblocks and Soil Erosion in Fish Habitat

Map 5: Private Land Cutblocks and Species at Risk Occurrences

References

Bautista, L. 2019. Economic state of British Columbia’s forest sector. Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/farming-natural-resources-and-industry/forestry/forest-industry-economics/economic-state/2019_economic_state_of_the_bc_forest_sector.pdf.

Bowd, E. J., Banks, S. C., Strong, C. L., & Lindenmayer, D. B. 2019. Long-term impacts of wildfire and logging on forest soils. Nature Geoscience, 12(2), 113-118. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-018-0294-2.

Davidson, A., Tepper, H., Bisset, J., Anderson, K., Tschaplinski, P., Chirico, A., Waterhouse, A., Franklin, W., Burt, W., MacDonald, R., Chow, E., van Rensen, C., & Ayele, T. 2018. Aquatic ecosystems cumulative effects assessment report – Elk Valley, Kootenay boundary region. Government of British Columbia. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/environment/natural-resource-stewardship/cumulative-effects/ev-cemf_aquatic_ecosystems_cea_report_24072018_draft.pdf.

Forest and Range Practices Act, SBC 2002, c. 69.

Hickey, G. M., & Innes, J. L. 2008. Indicators for demonstrating sustainable forest management in British Columbia, Canada: An international review. Ecological indicators, 8(2), 131-140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2006.11.005.

Hilsendager, K. W., Harshaw, H. W., & Kozak, R. A. 2016. Reducing the impact of forest harvesting on the Vancouver Island tourism industry. The Forestry Chronicle, 92(1), 101-111. https://doi.org/10.5558/tfc2016-022.

McLaughlan, P. 2019. CanWel defends logging practices at Fernie public forum. Nelson Star. https://www.nelsonstar.com/news/canwel-defends-logging-practices/. 

McPhee, M. Fernie trout town - fishing the Elk River. Tourism Fernie. https://tourismfernie.com/blog/fishing-the-elk-river.

Parfitt, B. 2019. Thousands of B.C.’s endangered whitebark pine logged on private land. The Narwhal. https://thenarwhal.ca/thousands-of-b-c-s-endangered-whitebark-pine-logged-on-private-land/.

Petryshen, E. 2020. Sprawling resource roads cut connectivity. Wildsight. https://wildsight.ca/2020/05/21/sprawling-resource-roads-cut-connectivity/.

Planet Team. 2021. Planet Application Program Interface: In Space for Life on Earth. San Francisco, CA. https://api.planet.com.

Poole, K. G., & Mowat, G. 2010. Winter habitat relationships of deer and elk in the temperate interior mountains of British Columbia. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 33(4), 1288-1302. https://doi.org/10.2193/0091-7648(2005)33[1288:WHRODA]2.0.CO;2

Private Managed Forest Land Act, SBC 2003, c. 80.

Repp, B. 2019. Mountain Thing Photography. http://mountainthing.com/work-3-columns/.

Sander-Green, L. 2019. Big clear-cuts, big problems: Private managed forests in the Elk Valley. Wildsight. https://wildsight.ca/2019/02/03/privatelogging/.

Schafer, T. 2016. Moose, ungulate populations under fire in the Kootenay region. The Nelson Daily. https://thenelsondaily.com/news/moose-ungulate-populations-under-fire-kootenay-region-43206.

Species at Risk Act, SC 2002, c. 29.

Statistics Canada. 2017. Fernie [Population centre], British Columbia and Saskatchewan [Province] (table). Census Profile. 2016 Census. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-316-X2016001. Ottawa. https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=POPC&Code1=0280&Geo2=PR&Code2=47&Data=Count&SearchText=Fernie&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&TABID=1.

Tourism Fernie. 2021. Fernie Facts. https://tourismfernie.com/media/fernie-facts.

Westwood, A. R., Otto, S. P., Mooers, A., Darimont, C., Hodges, K. E., Johnson, C., Starzomski, B. M., Burton, C., Chan, K. M. A., Festa-Bianchet, M., Fluker, S., Gulati, S., Jacob, A. L., Kraus, D., Martin, T. G., Palen, W. J., Reynolds, J. D., & Whitton, J. 2019. Protecting biodiversity in British Columbia: Recommendations for developing species at risk legislation. FACETS 4: 136–160. https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2018-0042.

Story map by Ben Collison, MREM Candidate at Dalhousie University; born and raised in Fernie, BC, now residing in Halifax, NS.

Thank you to Dr. Chris Greene for his assistance with the spatial analysis.

Clearcuts in the Leach Creek watershed, near Fernie, BC (Repp, 2019)

Steep sloped clearcut above the Ridgemont subdivision in Fernie, BC (Petryshen, 2019)

Private land Clearcuts with Teck Resource's Coal Mountain mine in the background - Michel Creek watershed near Sparwood, BC (Repp, 2019)

Steep-sloped private cutblock, north of Fernie, BC (Repp, 2019)

Impact of private land acquisition on timber harvest rates in the Elk Valley

Soil erosion risk within private land clearcut areas, separated by slope classes

The highly-exploited Leach Creek watershed near Fernie, BC (Repp, 2019)

Map 1: Overview of Study Area

Map 2: Viewshed Results of Visible Cutblocks from Highway 3

Map 3: Private Land Cutblocks and Ungulate Critical Habitat

Map 4: Private Land Cutblocks and Soil Erosion in Fish Habitat

Map 5: Private Land Cutblocks and Species at Risk Occurrences