In the Valley, anger is brewing.

The Six Mountains Forest, our rare, endangered Coastal Douglas-fir Ecosystem, the “new old-growth”, home to possibly 526 imperilled species, is again critically at risk. And not by the threat of climate change, but by our Council. Recently, the newly configured Council voted 4 to 3 to make logging our community forests a priority in the 2026 strategic plan.

Audio version of this article (below)

This would mean throwing out our recent, rigorous and expensive, four year public consultation, including an on-line survey with 76% of the public supporting conservation vs logging our forest reserve, and a statistically valid phone survey with 67% support.

Furthermore, it would mean contravening the spirit of consultation with the Quw’utsun. 

And to top it all off there is no longer a Forest Advisory Committee to advise. Council has tasked North Cowichan staff, already short staffed, with the challenge of reinventing a plan to log our backyards, our watersheds, our protection from flooding, our fire block (mature fire-resistant trees), our home. Any logging will mean roads built through our recreational areas on Stoney Hill, Mt Tzouhalem, Prevost, Maple Mountain, Richards, and Sicker.

On the upside, Ted Swabey, our Chief Administrative Officer, says that to resume logging would take time and probably won't happen before the 2026 election. 

So, WE CAN STILL STOP THE LOGGING. We have time to reach out to those Councillors and friends who believe profits from logging our home will far exceed the costs, financial as well as ecological, of not logging. The numbers, put out by our municipal government, contradict this. If it does not incur the enormous expense of depleting our watersheds, and bringing in erosion and fire, logging in the short run, minus costs, would earn less than the price of an average home in the Valley; in the long run the costs of logging will be enormous.

The numbers are clear but there are so many more forest facts to share to prove it makes no sense to log our world-renowned Six Mountains Forest, the envy of other communities who have raised millions of dollars to buy forests a fraction the size of ours.

We, as a community, including our neighbours the Quw’utsun, have a great gift and responsibility. We legally have the right and power — more power to protect our  home and forests than any other community on the continent. We don’t need to chain ourselves to trees. We are not up against the forestry industry and the Crown. We can advocate through a legitimate, local electoral process. We can vote.

Recently, one of the Councillors, who supports logging our Six Mountains, said, if the public doesn’t want logging, vote me out. Okay, all we need to do is share the facts. For four years we did this and won. We can do it again.

But let us be clear, anger, will not win the war. Though it may win a battle, and though it may serve as a call to action, it does not bring all sides together with shared purpose. Only love that takes action can do this — love for our forests, family, friends, and home.  

Since the public voted for conservation we have been sleeping lions, respectful of the consultation with the Quw’utsun. Now we rise to prepare for the election that will decide the fate of our community forests.

Before Municipal staff delivers its report, and before the October 2026 election, we must educate ourselves. To this end, we will continue to publish the facts about our Six Mountains Forest. Please share. We can do this together. We have twelve months and counting.

Icel Dobell
Where Do We Stand