At March 2, 2021 – ELF Press Release – Dakota Bear Sanctuary Finally Protected

Press Release – March 2, 2021

After an eight-year forest protection campaign to stop logging in an area nicknamed the Dakota Bear Sanctuary (DBS), our organization is pleased to announce that the primary decision-makers, the Skwxwu7mesh (Squamish Nation) and the Province of B.C., have agreed not to auction off 77 hectares of ancient forest in the Dakota Watershed on the Sunshine Coast, securing this forest for long-term protection.

A Squamish/Province joint statement sent to media yesterday reads, “In recognition of the ongoing cultural importance of the Dakota Bowl area, the Squamish Nation and the Province agreed to work together in assessing options that restrict future development or harvesting in this area. Land-use designations under consideration include an Old Growth Management Area, a Wildlife Habitat Area or a Squamish Nation Area of Interest.”

ELF’s many efforts to protect this forest resulted in 5 separate logging deferrals over an 8-year period and included a six-week blockade that prevented BC Timber Sales from building a logging road to the Dakota Bear Sanctuary at public expense. We commissioned 2 separate archeological reports, proving the existence of 77+ historic First Nations culturally modified trees that qualified as Heritage Sites and off-limits to logging. ELF also commissioned two biological reports by expert Wayne McCrory that revealed the Sanctuary’s high number of active and potential bear dens, critical habitat only found in old trees. The latest of these reports, released February 2021, recommended that a 450-hectare area be protected to capture its high biodiversity values. There were other efforts too: ongoing lobbying of the Province, outreach to the Squamish Nation, 2 videos, a short film, a petition, letter-writing campaign, and more that we either helped sponsor or initiated.

In a cover note for his recently completed report, Wayne McCrory states, “In all my long research career of coastal rainforests I have witnessed no other ancient forest like it.”

“After an eight-year campaign fighting the government’s own logging agency, BC Timber Sales, ELF is delighted to receive this news that the DBS’s ancient forest will continue standing for many more thousands of years,” states Ross Muirhead, ELF Forest Campaigner. “We never knew at the beginning of this effort what the outcome would be, but our team promised themselves that we’d throw everything we had into saving this remarkable area and today our efforts came to fruition.”

“The Dakota Bear Sanctuary represents an irreplaceable, unique cultural and natural heritage. The bears and future generations will be grateful that we managed to save it,” comments Hans Penner of ELF.

We would like to thank our many supporters and donors, who believed in our conservation vision: Wayne McCrory for his excellent science; the folks at Living Forest Institute; The Only Animal and the Artist Brigade for their collaborative efforts, passion, and creativity; West Coast Environmental Law for their funding of the bear den study; Bob Brett of Snowline Research for his tree ring study; Xwechtaal Dennis Joseph, retired Skwxwu7mesh councillor, who took a personal interest in this campaign; and the Skwxwu7mesh Nation for their foresight and good stewardship. We did it, and we did it together!

For further information contact:
Ross Muirhead,
ELF Forest Campaigner
604-741-5392

At February 12, 2021 – Dakota Bowl Bear Den Report-Final-12 Feb2021

Wayne McCrory, BSc (Hons. Zool.), RPBio, Bear biologist McCrory Wildlife Services Ltd – REVIEW OF BLACK BEAR DEN HABITAT & OTHER OLD GROWTH VALUES IN BC TIMBER SALES (BCTS) PLANNED TIMBER SALE LICENCE A87126 – DAKOTA COMMUNITY WATERSHED, SUNSHINE COAST FOREST DISTRICT, B.C.


https://youtu.be/FyXEKDEMcL4

September 2020 – A new film on the Dakota Bear Sanctuary has been completed. After a 6- year campaign, this forest has been deferred from logging once again. ELF and others will continue to work towards its permanent protection. Thank you to all that have stood up for it and continue to voice their support to save this ancient forest.

Despite the deferment we truly cannot rest until this ancient forest is legally protected.

Call To Action: Please email the Minister of Forests, the Hon. Katrine Conroy, and inform her that you will not tolerate the destruction of the Dakota Bear Sanctuary, a BC Timber Sales Blk A87126, along with its active bear dens in the old Yellow-cedars and the hundreds of culturally modified trees.

Send your email to:
 
and add these general email addresses:

FLNR.Minister@gov.bc.ca – for forestry
ENV.Minister@gov.bc.ca – for environment
Share.
At this date 9-28-2020 – until the election – do not send to the ministers below:
doug.donaldson@gov.bc.ca
cc: george.heyman@gov.bc.ca
Share.

Dakota Bowl Bear Sanctuary
Dakota Bowl Bear Sanctuary – Giant Yellow Cedar, One of the Oldest Living Trees in Canada – 1,500 years +

At  September 15, 2020 Breaking News – Dakota Bowl cutblock auction deferred ‘a year or more’… Read in Full  

Dakota Bowl Bear Sanctuary
Dakota Bowl Bear Sanctuary

At August 2020 – ELF vindicated as province recognizes Dakota Bowl culturally modified trees

ELF Vindicated- Proven: Culturally Modified Trees

At Aug. 5, 2020 – Press Release – BC Timber Sales Misleading on Ancient Forest Culturally Modified Trees

A proposed BC Timber Sales (BCTS) cutblock (Blk A87126) in the Dakota Bowl area of the Sunshine Coast B.C., contains hundreds of Culturally Modified Trees (CMTs), yet BCTS has repeatedly denied and contested their existence to log this ancient forest with impunity, it seems. CMTs are trees that have been stripped of some of their exterior bark by humans to harvest the inner fibre for a variety of uses. First Nations peoples have depended upon cedar fibre for centuries and refer to the cedar as “The Tree of Life.” A CMT shown to have been harvested for its bark prior to 1846 is awarded protection under the Heritage Conservation Act. The only way that a site can be disturbed is by applying for a development permit. Read in Full…

Dakota Bowl Bear Sanctuary
ELF Director Hans Penner at the Dakota Bowl Bear Sanctuary

At July 2020 – If the public does not speak up and raise one heck of a fuss on this ELF campaign, BC Timber Sales will have its way and clearcut this world-class, old-growth forest. We’ve stopped them from logging it for the last five years, but BCTS keeps coming back. This time, it’s slated to be sold in 2021. Email Minister of Forests Doug Donaldson and tell him straight up that you will not tolerate the destruction of the Dakota Bear Sanctuary, along with its bear dens in the old Yellow-cedars and the hundreds of culturally modified trees. These politicians don’t seem to care about the demise of our environment that we share with other creatures. It’s time to wake them up.

Send your email to:
FLNRO and Environment addresses.
FLNR.Minister@gov.bc.ca – for forestry
ENV.Minister@gov.bc.ca – for environment
Share.
At this date 9-28-2020 until the election – do not send to the ministers below:
doug.donaldson@gov.bc.ca
cc: george.heyman@gov.bc.ca
Share.

Dakota Bowl Bear Sanctuary
Dakota Bowl Bear Sanctuary

At July 2020 – DAKOTA BEAR SANCTUARY’S ANCIENT TREES THREATENED AGAIN – The proposal to log the Dakota Bear Sanctuary on the Sunshine Coast tells a story, in which our own government would destroy one of the last great, ancient Yellow-cedar forests standing since the last Ice Age. It has so many overlapping values: a high density of black bear den sites, bark-stripped trees by First Nation members dating back to the 1500s, and recognition as a world-class example of an Ancient Forest. It needs to remain standing. The Narwhal magazine has just written a hard-hitting and in-depth article on this forest, which you can read here.

Dakota Bear Sanctuary – morning sunlight rays break through ancient forest canopy

At June 5, 2020 – IN-DEPTH – The Narwhal – article – Judith Lavoie B.C. opens Sunshine Coast forest — home to some of Canada’s oldest trees — to logging. Local conservation group asks province to cancel cutblocks containing ancient yellow-cedars and unofficial bear sanctuary. A new plan plotting the course of the logging industry on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast over the next five years has placed a treasured forest, home to some of Canada’s oldest trees and an unofficial bear sanctuary, on the chopping block.

At September 3, 2019

One of Three Pristine Mountain Lakes that are Threatened by Proposed Logging of the Dakota Bowl Bear Sanctuary - Could the reflection be any clearer?
One of Three Pristine Mountain Lakes that are Threatened by Proposed Logging of the Dakota Bowl Bear Sanctuary – Could the reflection be any clearer?

SEE – Press Release – BC Timber Sales Preparing Dakota Valley for Extensive Old-Growth Logging

The B.C. government, through its logging agency BC Timber Sales (BCTS), is reopening a logging road, which leads into the Dakota Valley (Sunshine Coast), for a major old-growth logging operation. The valley has had a moratorium in place to help it recover from past intensive logging, but is now faced with losing 143 hectares of intact old-growth. The blocks include A92904, A87126 and TA0044 and could be sold in 2020. To view in full along with more pictures, click the link below.Email the Ministers and tell him to stop this madness and to cancel Blk A87126.

Email the Ministers and tell him to stop this madness and to cancel Blk A87126. 

Send your email to:
FLNRO and Environment addresses.
FLNR.Minister@gov.bc.ca – for forestry
ENV.Minister@gov.bc.ca – for environment
Share.
At this date 9-28-2020 until the election – do not send to the ministers below:
doug.donaldson@gov.bc.ca
cc: george.heyman@gov.bc.ca
Share.

At August 28, 2019

Ross Muirhead, Director and Founder – Elphinstone Logging Focus, at the Dakota Bear Sanctuary

ELF returned to the Dakota Bear Sanctuary on August 26 and was delighted, once again, at its sheer beauty and wildness. A trail goes straight up the slope for about two hours and lands on top of a ridge. Believe it or not, BC Timber Sales wants to punch a road up here to do mountaintop logging of the ancient trees. It would destroy 1,000-year-old yellow-cedars, some of the largest mountain hemlock in the province, wipe out a secluded area for bear denning, and compromise the steep slope to landslides.

We have asked BCTS and the NDP Minister of Forests Doug Donaldson to stop this madness. The days of extracting ancient forests should be over. The block could be sold in 2020 to a logging contractor. The block has been delayed for about four years due to new information presented to government and community pushback. Now is the time to stop it dead in its tracks.Email the Ministers and tell them to stop this madness and to cancel Blk A87126.

Email the Ministers and tell them to stop this madness and to cancel Blk A87126. 

Send your email to:
FLNRO and Environment addresses.
FLNR.Minister@gov.bc.ca – for forestry
ENV.Minister@gov.bc.ca – for environment
Share.
At this date 9-28-2020 until the election – do not send to the ministers below:
doug.donaldson@gov.bc.ca
cc: george.heyman@gov.bc.ca

At 2-20-2019 – Sample letter – Send to Government Ministers

Urgent Update February 2019 – At Risk: The Dakota Bowl Bear Sanctuary

“This area of ancient trees in BC Timber Sales Blk A87126 has been on their sales schedule for several years now. It could be advertised for sale as soon as April 2019.

“We’re very alarmed that some of the oldest trees in Canada could be lost to logging,” says Hans Penner, of ELF. “This forest is a ‘time capsule’ of natural and cultural features. There are at least 33 Culturally Modified Trees (CMTs) and a dense concentration of bear dens in the area. While investigating the CMT issue, BCTS had a number of old, scarred Yellow-cedars cut down. One of these turned out to be 1,101 years old by an actual ring count.”

Add your voice for this area’s protection. Send a quick email to Ms. Gould BCTS – Timber Sales Manager: stacey.gould@gov.bc.ca

Please tell BCTS: Drop this Blk 87126 and set it aside as an Old Growth Management Area (OGMA) as the majority of the cedars found here meet the Monumental Trees classification – a Ministry of Forests definition.

Background

On the slopes rising above Dakota Creek (Lower Sunshine Coast), on the slopes of Mount Elphinstone, a population of black bears (Ursus americanus) has found a sanctuary – safe from human disturbance. However, BC Timbers Sales (BCTS) plans to log 50.4 hectares, or 124.5 acres of this forest, where dozens of bear den sites would be destroyed.

Loss of this special habitat will displace these bears and drive them into human-conflict zones.

Stands of old-growth cedars provide bears with interior tree cavities with a hard outer shell, keeping them warm and secure during hibernation months. Deep snow pack at this elevation secures den entrances, protecting females and their cubs from predators. From a bear’s point of view, this is the ideal habitat.

Female bears will abandon cubs if disturbed by humans. There’s no provision to protect active black bear den sites from logging in B.C. Cutting of these dens means the end of this regionally important bear habitat.

Add your voice for this area’s protection. Send a quick email to Ms. Gould BCTS – Timber Sales Manager: stacey.gould@gov.bc.ca

Please tell BCTS: Drop this Blk 87126 and set it aside as an Old Growth Management Area (OGMA) as most of the cedars found here meet the Monumental Trees classification – a Ministry of Forests definition.

Click Here To Take Action Now

Significant Research Reports:

July 2015 – McCrory Wildlife Services Dakota Bowl Bear Sanctuary Black Bear den study completed

ELF recently commissioned the first black bear den study on the Sunshine Coast, completed by McCrory Wildlife Services. Biologist Wayne McCrory concluded that if logging proceeds in our ‘Dakota Bear Sanctuary,’ it will destroy up to 12 dens in one block and 16 in another, higher-elevation block. To read a brief introduction and the full McCrory report, please click here.

July 2014 – Culturally Modified Trees (CMTs) Identified – 01/07/2014  –  Jim W. Stafford – Archaeologist – “The survey resulted in the identification of many scarred yellow-cedar trees, several of which we are confident are CMTs and many others which are uncertain and deserve further inspection. I have recommended that an archaeological impact assessment of this block, and the others in the vicinity (i.e. DK42-44b), take place prior to development.” The complete report can be viewed here Dakota Ridge DK42-44 PFR Letter Report FINAL

Support protection of ‘The Dakota Bowl Bear Sanctuary’ as B.C.’s first Wildlife Habitat Area (WHA) for black bears! Say “No to Logging of Bear Den Sites” and “Yes to a Protected Sanctuary.”

On this website, page click the Get Involved tab and then select Take Action. You’ll find a sample letter and contacts. Or, be as bold as a Mama Bear and call Mr. Tom Jensen (Assistant, Deputy of Forests) today at 250-387-0902. Request that BCTS’ Cutblock A87126 (formerly A79517) be cancelled and protected as a Wildlife Habitat Area WHA.

Click the Take Action button below, where you’ll find a sample letter and email contacts.

Click Here To Take Action Now

For immediate action, contact Assistant Deputy of Forests, Tom Jensen at 250-387-0902 to register your concerns. Refer to BCTS Cutblock A87126 (formerly A79517).

Dakota Bowl Bear Sanctuary is on traditional Skwxwu7mesh (Squamish) First Nation territory. The Sunshine Coast Regional District opposes logging in The Dakota Bowl Community Watershed.

Click Here To Take Action Now

Please read the document below for more details and to support the effort to save this habitat for local bears.

Please write the following agencies requesting that the ‘Dakota Valley – Dakota Bowl Bear Sanctuary’ be protected for the following reasons:

1) McCrory Wildlife Services’ Black Bear Den Survey concludes that this area shows a high density of den sites.
2) The surrounding area has been heavily logged leading to loss of old-growth structures that bears depend on.
3) The A87126 blocks are hard-to-reach areas that require steep road construction, resulting in severe erosion potential.
4) The reactivation of the Dakota Creek Forest Service Road (FSR) is really a subsidy to the private contractor to get at the timber.
5) Black bear dens require legislative protection to respect this large, iconic carnivore.

Send a Message

Add your voice for this area’s protection send a quick email to Ms. Gould BCTS – Timber Sales Manager: stacey.gould@gov.bc.ca

Click Here To Take Action Now

 See Pictures below from an early expedition of the ‘Dakota Bowl Bear Sanctuary.’ You can view many more on our Facebook Photo Album