Sechelt residents angered by logging activity on neighbouring property

The tall inferno lit up a night sky last week in the small Sandy Hook neighbourhood near Sechelt, B.C., stoking fears that the entire community would soon go up in flames.

Calls went out to the fire department and the B.C. Wildfire Service after a slash pile was lit by loggers mere metres from several homes, residents in the Sunshine Coast community told CBC News.

"The smoke came down into our area for a period of at least three days, and you couldn't see across the inlet," said resident Cris Rowan, noting strong winds on the night of the fire blew embers across the community.

"Nobody told us about the burn, nobody told us what we were supposed to do [if] something went wrong," she added.

The fire was the latest in a series of ongoing disruptions residents say they've endured thanks to a private logging operation next door that covers about 69 hectares — the list also includes erosion, flooding, and trees falling onto properties.

The land is owned by a numbered company whose director — Coquitlam resident Kin Chung — says no regulations have been violated. Despite lawsuits filed against the company, regulators haven't found any violations relating to the lot.

But local and provincial politicians say the system that regulates and monitors private logging in B.C. doesn't hold companies and landowners to a high enough standard, and nearby properties and the local environment can suffer as a result.

Lawsuit filed

According to court documents, Chung bought up a swath of land in the Sechelt area in 2014. While Chung declined an interview with CBC News, he said he owns about 170 acres — 69 hectares — of land in the area. There are plans to develop the land, but no firm timeline.

In 2016, Chung started harvesting wood on his company's properties. Operations were quickly halted by the District of Sechelt. Inspectors said the company breached a municipal bylaw that prohibits private owners of land parcels larger than one hectare from cutting down trees deemed "protected" without first obtaining a permit.

The district quickly levied fines and filed a lawsuit against the company after more than 500 trees on the property were cut. More than 150 of those were considered protected, meaning the tree has a diameter at chest height of 60 cm or more.

The lawsuit was settled out of court, according to Sechelt Mayor Darnelda Siegers. The landowner subsequently registered the property under B.C.'s Private Managed Forest Land Program, she said.

"Once they became a private managed forest, they were actually outside of any of our jurisdiction," she said. "We've had difficulty getting information [from them], we didn't know what was going on, the residents didn't know what was going on," Siegers said.

Private forests

Private forests in B.C. are regulated by the province's managed forests council. Owners aren't held to the same standards as companies harvesting Crown land, but they are urged to uphold environmental values and manage the forest sustainably.

Municipalities have little authority over them. Siegers says that's problematic, since this particular property is adjacent to an entire community and falls within municipal boundaries.

"There's an impact — there's things like logging trucks going up and down our municipal roads. It impacts the residents because they didn't leave a big buffer between logging and the housing, so there was blow-down [of trees] on some of the [properties]," she said.

"And now they've started burning. We have open burning bylaws, you cannot have open burning in the District of Sechelt — and yet they have [numerous] piles up there that they're burning," she said.

Changing regulations

The region's MLA Nicholas Simons says regulations of private lots are in need of a major overhaul, as residents are often kept in the dark on the potential impacts logging can have on their properties and on the surrounding environment. He notes that this situation is far from unique.

"The public wants to know if the science has been done to make sure that there aren't going to be major negative impacts on their properties, on their quality of life," said Simons. "That accountability and that transparency goes a long way to alleviate fears but also address concerns ... the policies have to be better formed so the public can be better informed."

B.C.'s privately managed forest program is currently under review by the province. Public consultations found widespread skepticism that the program is meeting its forest management and environmental goals.

Residents in Sandy Hook were among those that provided feedback, with many hoping their concerns could lead to provincewide changes.

"I'm furious, as is every member of this community at having absolutely no power, no say, no clout," said Rowan.