A survey by a private forest management company on Vancouver Island shows thousands of outdoor enthusiasts want better access to forest land — but an alliance of wilderness advocates is also raising concerns about environmental accountability.
Mosaic Forest Management, which oversees roughly 550,000 hectares of privately owned forest land between Victoria, Sooke and Campbell River, reports that the survey received over 7,600 responses and the feedback was clear: open the gates.
According to Mosaic’s website, the company has over 20 gates on the Island that it can open and close to control recreational use — including those controlling access to popular hikes like Century Sam in Comox and Mount Arrowsmith near Port Alberni, and front-country camping sites like Nanaimo Lakes.
Access to the areas is often limited to weekends between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Steve Mjaaland, Mosaic’s manager of forest protection, says the company would like to enhance recreational access, but gate closures are often necessary for safety and to prevent wildfires.
“It’s a working forest. There are a lot of high-risk hazards, especially hauling on the roads, which would probably be the biggest risk with traffic,” he said.
Among those calling for better access: Jenn Holland, who currently chairs an alliance of almost 30 grassroots groups on the Island called the Vancouver Island Private Managed Forest Land Action Alliance.
“There’s gates everywhere and people can’t get to beloved waterfalls or lakes or camping sites that they used to be able to access,” she said.
Holland says the issue goes beyond recreation.
“We can’t get in there, and we can’t see what they’re doing back there. We can’t see if there’s been a landslide. We can’t see if a water course has been logged. We can’t see that they’ve logged an entire watershed,” she said.
“It’s not just access for recreation, but it’s access for accountability that’s missing.”
Hikers call out Mosaic Forestry for restricting access to Island’s backcountry
Holland says that while hiking access is something that the public can easily grasp, she’s focused on bigger issues, like conservation, private forest landowners and the province, that go beyond Mosaic’s control of the gates.
Dave Weaver, a retired forestry worker who now volunteers with the Beaufort Watershed Stewards, one of the groups that make up the Vancouver Island Private Managed Forest Land Action Alliance, says he takes issue with the Private Managed Forest Land Program, which was established in 2003 under the Private Managed Forest Land Act.
According to the province’s website, the program works by setting out management objectives for forest landowners, who in turn develop management strategies most appropriate for their land.
Weaver says the act sets a low bar for forestry practices, especially in comparison to regulations for public forest lands, which have more restrictions on harvesting and clearcuts, and greater requirements for public accountability.
“We need to have these difficult conversations very soon, with all the parties involved — with the provincial government, with the landowners,” he said.
Vancouver Island groups call for forestry reform on private land
In 2019, the province undertook a review of the Private Managed Forest Land Act, where Weaver says extensive feedback was collected from the public, local government and First Nations.
The province published its findings, which show there was a recurring theme of concern about the sustainability of forestry practices and the effects on things like watersheds on privately managed forest land — but Weaver claims no tangible change ever came from the review.
In an emailed statement, the Ministry of Forests said it’s working to modernize the act following the 2019 review, and that “many of the issues raised during the review are being addressed through the government’s work to make sure forestry supports ecosystem values.”
But Weaver says he believes even that review would be out of date by today’s standards and is joined by the alliance in calling on the province to undertake a new review.
In a statement, Mosaic said it would be willing to work with community partners toward a sustainable strategy.
“Mosaic supports enhanced collaboration between private forest landowners, First Nations, the Province, and communities to ensure responsible forest management plays a key role in BC’s economic, reconciliation and climate strategies,” said Karen Brandt, the senior vice president of public affairs and partnerships at Mosaic Forest Management.
