A B.C. Supreme Court judge has lifted an interim injunction against blocking a logging operation on Mount Elphinstone, but the Sept. 27 decision leaves the door open for a new injunction.
Peninsula Logging was granted an interim injunction in late August, naming Ross Muirhead, Laurie Bloom, Hans Penner and other protestors (John and Jane Doe).
The three are prominent members of Elphinstone Logging Focus (ELF), and Bloom and Penner were among the first people arrested for violating the terms of the injunction.
The lawyer for Peninsula Logging argued that the company faces significant financial losses if the work isn’t completed, and that it has the legal right to harvest the timber after winning a BC Timber Sales (BCTS) auction for cutblock A87125 in June.
Court documents show that the company put up a deposit of $138,948.29. The stumpage fee owing is approximately $1.29 million. In his affidavit, Peninsula Logging’s Aaron Service estimated the company stands to lose about $6,500 for every day work is stopped.
The Truck Loggers Association (TLA) represents dozens of independent logging companies like Peninsula Logging. TLA executive director David Elstone is also a resident of Roberts Creek, and he’s been closely watching developments on Mount Elphinstone.
Elstone told Coast Reporter this week that logging conflicts like the one around A87125 are not as common as they once were in the province, and he thinks if people knew more about how the logging is being done it would make a difference. “A lot of it has to do with awareness – awareness and communication is important to understanding what’s going on out there.”
Elstone said the TLA believes that forestry remains a key economic driver in coastal B.C. “Logging contractors are the economic backbone of B.C.’s rural communities,” he said. “They’re the ones that employ local people. They reinvest in their communities.”
He also noted that the community stands to benefit from that $1.29 million in stumpage fees Peninsula Logging is paying to the province through investments in services like health care, schools, and roads.
“The harvesting on this particular timber sale is some of the most innovative on the Coast right now,” Elstone said, noting that the BCTS restrictions Peninsula Logging is bound by on cutblock A87125 go beyond the normal requirements. That includes leaving a buffer along mountain biking trails, bigger setbacks from streams, and retaining the veteran Douglas firs that survived a major forest fire and previous logging.
ELF released a statement saying that, as of Sept. 28, the group had re-established its Elphinstone Forest Protection Camp. About two-thirds of the harvestable timber has already been cut, and ELF said it’s hoping the company will stop any new cutting. It also said it intends to file a complaint with RCMP over the actions of one of the company’s feller-buncher operators, who it claims got too close to protesters.
Meanwhile, Sunshine Coast RCMP have confirmed there were more arrests for violating the injunction in the days leading up to the Sept. 26 hearing.
On Sept. 21, a 19-year-old woman from Quebec City and a 22-year-old man were arrested after linking themselves together across an excavator using what RCMP described as a “makeshift hand trap,” following an incident where the road was blocked by a large pile of debris.
A 24-year-old man from Langley, who was dressed as a frog, was arrested Sept. 23 after RCMP found him perched on a log stand built above the road. A 30-year-old man was arrested the same day after securing himself to a piece of logging equipment using a bike lock.
On Sept. 25, RCMP arrested a 24-year-old man from North Vancouver, a 54-year-old woman from Roberts Creek, and a 52-year-old man from Vancouver. It was the second arrest for the Vancouver man.
RCMP said they also had reports of vandalism, including: equipment covered with fake cobwebs and plastic spiders and glitter glue, tires deflated, and mud smeared on the windows of an excavator.
More than a dozen people have been arrested since Sept. 9. They are due to appear in court Oct. 12 in Vancouver.
RCMP said they are monitoring “the fluid and evolving situation” and any complaints will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
“We recognize the rights of both the protesters and forestry employees,” said Const. Harrison Mohr. “However, real safety concerns arise when people get close to the area where heavy machines are working and trees are falling. We don’t want to see anyone get hurt.”
Although his ruling lifts the original interim injunction, Justice Gregory Bowden noted that it would be appropriate for Peninsula Logging to apply for a new injunction if protesters interfere with the ongoing work.
