10 Things To Know Now About the Six Mountains of North Cowichan

Larry Pynn is a veteran environmental journalist who lives in Maple Bay. (1) The Six Mountains are an unofficial, popular name for North Cowichan’s 5,000-hectare Municipal Forest Reserve. Six Mountains more accurately captures the geographical landmarks that define our sense of place, and include Mt. Prevost, Mt. Sicker, Mt. Richards, Maple Mt., Mt. Tzouhalem and Stoney Hill.

(2) For decades, successive councils have commercially logged the Six Mountains. Decisions about our forests have been made by a few individuals, with no formal public consultation process. Not surprisingly, many citizens knew little or nothing about the municipal forest reserve — including that it is their forest and unique in Canada.

(3) All that began to change after the October 2018 municipal election. Residents led by Where Do We Stand organized in opposition to the advance of municipal clearcutting and requested a say in the forest’s future. More than 1,500 signed a petition calling for a pause in logging; hundreds of citizens packed a council meeting in December 2018.

(4) Two months later, in February 2019, council voted to place a moratorium on new logging pending a public consultation. Conservation momentum was building. In March 2019, Where Do We Stand filled the 700-seat Cowichan Performing Arts Centre with people eager to learn more about their forests from some of BC’s top forest experts.

(5) Covid-19 hit and in March 2020 council suspended the public consultation for 90 days, later extended to allow parallel, closed talks with local First Nations, a lengthy suspension that resulted in a Memorandum of Understanding signed in August 2021 (https://bit. ly/3pB2d8w). North Cowichan and First Nations agreed in the MOU to meet within two weeks of the signing, but the first meeting was not held until Feb. 28.

(6) Sixty-three percent of the trees logged in the Six Mountains are exported as raw logs, and the last two logging companies to operate here were based in Campbell River and Nanaimo. North Cowichan estimates logging in the forest reserve creates 10 to 12 direct full-time jobs — sometimes less — which includes a municipal forester, forest technician, and secretarial staff.

(7) The Six Mountains overlap the coastal-Douglas fir forest, the most at-risk forest type in the province. That statement is supported by the BC Ministry of Forests as a member of a coalition of governmental and non-governmental organizations (but not North Cowichan) trying to save these forests. (www.cdfcp.ca) One report for North Cowichan estimates 141 species at risk. Our old-growth is long gone.

(8) The first results of the pubic consultation by Lees & Associates released in February 2022 showed overwhelming support for conservation. Citizens value water quality, recreation, habitat, ecology, viewscapes, old forests, tourism and cultural/spiritual use of the forests. Logging values ranked near the bottom of the list. (9) A few individuals are spreading false formation about the forest consultation, including the suggestion our taxes have been going up. Know that the forestry reserve fund is covering lost revenue and will continue to do so this year. But it’s incumbent on council to finish the consultation and adopt a new forest plan during this term of office.

(10) Now is the time to learn more about your forest, and focus on the final critical months ahead. The UBC Partnership Group — UBC forestry, 3Green Tree Consulting, and Coastal Douglas-Fir Conservation Partnership — will be presenting forest management options soon for your consideration, including the sale of carbon credits as a way to generate revenue from a standing forest. Stay tuned. Become engaged.

Visit https://bit.ly/3J976wt, wheredowestand.ca, sixmountains.ca.

(sixmountains.ca photo of Bonsall Creek watershed)

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