The Tsitika Valley is home to beautiful ancient trees and countless animal kin. Along its beaches, where streams from the Tsitika watershed meet the sea, lies one of the only places on Earth where killer whales are known to rub their bodies along the shoreline pebbles.
This is a rare place where land and sea are profoundly intertwined.
Marbled murrelets, though seabirds, spend much of their lives commuting daily up to 50km at break-neck speeds between the open ocean and their forest homes. Rather than building nests, they rely on the thick moss of old-growth conifers to keep their eggs safe and warm. Sadly, both this watershed and these murrelet nurseries are now under imminent threat.
This ancient forest home which has stood for thousands of years, is on the brink of being clear cut. Every tree felled. Every nest lost. Every stream disturbed.
UPDATE
As of March 5, 2025, B.C. Timber Sales (BCTS)—the government agency responsible for managing about 17% of all unprotected forest and roughly 20% of “crown land” logging in B.C.–has auctioned off a 24.4-hectare section of the Tsitika watershed that provides habitat for at least 300 marbled murrelets.
Timber Sale License TA1375 is home to the Oldgrowth Specklebelly lichen, a blue-listed species that BCTS had previously pledged to protect. Lichenologist Trevor Goward explained that while the slow-growing lichen is a species at risk in its own right, it is also an indicator of forests that are “the oldest of the old.”
A quarter of the proposed cut block is covered in Big Tree Old Growth, and 76% is classified as Ancient Forest (over 400 years old).
This area was marked for priority deferral in 2021, but in 2023, BCTS quietly rolled back its promise not to log deferral areas—and is now moving to liquidate one of the last remaining ancient forests under their control.
Logging TA1375 would result in 60 acres of clearcutting right next to the Tsitika Mountain Ecological Reserve, destroying not only an invaluable tract of intact old-growth forest, but also threatening the integrity of the adjacent reserve, according to the government’s own evaluation.
We need an immediate public outcry to stop the logging of TA1375.
PLEASE TAKE ACTION TODAY AND DEMAND TA1378 BE PROTECTED.
- Call Premier David Eby at: 250-387-1715
- Call BC Timber Sales at: 250-356-1918
Boost your message even further by copying the Minister of Forests as well as key B.C. Timber Sales Staff on your communication:
Minister of Forests, Ravi Parmar, FOR.Minister@gov.bc.ca
Deputy Minister Forests, Makenzie Leine, Makenzie.Leine@gov.bc.ca
Associate Deputy Minister, Ian Meier, Ian.Meier@gov.bc.ca
Executive Director of BC Timber Sales, Allan Powelson, Allan.Powelson@gov.bc.ca
Executive Director, Coast Area Strategic Projects for the Ministry of Forests, Lesley Fettes, Lesley.Fettes@gov.bc.ca
BCTS Director of Sustainability, Len Stratto, Len.Stratton@gov.bc.ca
BCTS Sustainability Officer, Heather Soo, Heather.Soo@gov.bc.ca
Coastal Wildlife Resource Specialist, Dori Manley, Dori.Manley@gov.bc.ca
BCTS Timber Sale Manager (Strait of Georgia), Norm Kempe, Norm.Kempe@gov.bc.ca
BCTS Operations Manager (Strait of Georgia), Jarratt Kong, Jarratt.Kong@gov.bc.ca
BCTS Woodlands Manager (Strait of Georgia), Lisa Brown, Lisa.Brown@gov.bc.ca
Send Premier Eby a letter:
David Eby
Premier of British Columbia
PO Box 9041
Station Provincial Government
Victoria BC V8W 9E1
Send a letter to the office accepting Auction submissions for TA1375:
BC Timber Sales Office
370 South Dogwood Street,
Campbell River,
BC V9W 6Y7
If you would like to flag issues with Marbled Murrelet protection you can contact:
Al Henry Hodaly
A/Regional Director
Canadian Wildlife Service – Pacific Region
Environment and Climate Change Canada / Government of Canada
al.hodaly@canada.ca
Tell them to CANCEL the sale of TA1375 and protect this forest because:
- It is a highly biodiverse and important ecosystem, home to marbled murrelets and Old-growth Specklebelly lichen—both at-risk species that depend on old growth for its survival. Bear dens and mark trails have been identified in the area, meaning logging would likely disturb important sites for bears.
- The site was identified for logging deferral by the government’s own advisory panel. B.C. Timber Sales promised not to log deferral areas, and is now breaking that promise.
- The timber is composed largely of low-commercial value hemlock and balsam. The terrain is incredibly steep and rough and the cost of extracting the timber will be high. The short-term gain is not worth destroying this ancient library of life.
- It contains a large hemlock tree measuring 1.98 m in diameter that meets the criteria for a Legacy Tree, which according to BCTS best practices should be set aside and not cut. However this tree has not been excluded from the logging plans. This tree is in a rare grove of similar sized trees. Such mature individual hemlocks or grouped hemlocks of this size are exceptionally uncommon in this region.
- Consent is not unanimous among First Nations with interests in the Tsitika old-growth area.
Pacific Wild has sent a letter of concern to BC Timber Sales, and Premier Eby, but one letter is not enough. We need you to send yours today. Personalized letters and calls have the most impact.
Oldgrowth Specklebelly lichen (Pseudocyphellaria rainierensis) photographed in the Tsitika by Joshua Wright.
You can also support by donating to Pacific Wild.
We are raising money to buy Autonomous Recording Units (ARUs) to use in ongoing research in Vancouver Island old-growth forests.
$2500 will purchase 4-5 critically needed ARUs for proactive cutblock monitoring to protect endangered species – before any trees are cut.
These devices have already detected 300 Marbled Murrelets in the Tsitika—thanks to our friends at Old-growth Birders and Bioblitzers and Vancouver Island Forest Focus—but there are many more watersheds to monitor and species to save.
*Please leave a note stating “for ARUs” in the donation comment box to help us track your gift.
Canadian tax receipt provided – If you require a US tax receipt, please contact donations@pacificwild.org.
