BC Timber Sales Gonna Chill on the Logging in Caribou Land, But Is It Just For the Aesthetic? 🌲🦌

The Deets

Alright, listen up, fam. BC Timber Sales (BCTS), which is basically the government's lumber plug, is saying they're gonna pump the breaks on new logging in the Revelstoke-Shuswap region. Why? To protect the Columbia North caribou herd's habitat, obviously. These caribou are endangered, so it's kinda a big deal.

But here's where it gets a little sus. This "pause" only applies to "new investments." Translation: if they already started chopping down trees, they can keep going. There's even a 40-hectare timber sale in Nagle Creek that's still on, even though it's right in the caribou's hood. So, like, are they really protecting anything?

Apparently, this is a collab move. First Nations, industry peeps, and the government are all trying to figure out how to balance caribou conservation with, like, not setting the forest on fire and keeping the timber supply flowing. They're tryna lock in on what’s really important here, ya know?

The real tea is that caribou populations in BC have been dropping like crazy. A third of the Columbia North herd's core critical habitat has already been ruined by logging roads and cut blocks. Even with efforts to help them recover, the area continues to lose more caribou habitat than it gains each year, which is a major L.

And don't even get me started on the wolf cull program. Yeah, they're still out here taking care of predators, which is def a choice. Environmental groups are also calling out Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) about a 10-year delay in completing critical habitat mapping for caribou.

So, is this logging pause a W for the caribou, or just a PR stunt? The jury's still out, but one thing's for sure: we gotta keep an eye on what's really going down, no cap.