New mapping analysis shows logging permits issued in 2025 for forests the size of two Stanley Parks

VANCOUVER / UNCEDED xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh AND səlilwətaɬ TERRITORIES — Wilderness Committee analysis shows B.C. has actually increased logging within critical spotted owl habitat since federal habitat maps and a recovery plan were released.

"We were shocked when we ran the numbers," said Protected Areas Campaigner Joe Foy. In 2025, when the federal government finalized its spotted owl recovery strategy, B.C. issued permits for a whopping 827 hectares of critical habitat — equal in size to about two Stanley Parks. This logging frenzy started in 2023 after the federal government released its draft map of spotted owl critical habitat. B.C. responded by issuing logging permits for 590.6 hectares of that habitat — equal in size to about one and a half Stanley Parks.

“As soon as that habitat was identified, B.C. rushed in and started logging it — in an outrageous slap in the face to the feds — but things went downhill from there,” he said.

Federally protected, provincially neglected

The underlying issue pushing the spotted owl and many other species towards disappearance is Canada's dysfunctional division of powers between Ottawa and the provinces. Ottawa is responsible for species at risk, like the spotted owl, but the provinces are responsible for issuing permits to log or mine, including within endangered species habitat. So far, the federal government has been unwilling to force B.C. to follow the law and cease issuing habitat logging permits.

“Having one level of government responsible for species protection while another keeps handing out logging permits is a recipe for ecological collapse,” said Foy, pointing to a current logging operation at Fire Lake as evidence of the cost of Ottawa's failure to act.

Located in Xa'xtsa Nation territory about 75 kilometres north of Metro Vancouver, in the heart of spotted owl range, Fire Lake's federally mapped spotted owl habitat has been targeted by BC Timber Sales, an agency of the provincial government.

“Right now, old-growth trees many centuries old within spotted owl habitat are being cut down at Fire Lake. That has to stop in order to secure a future for this species,” said Foy.

-30-

For more info, contact: 

Joe Foy | Protected Areas Campaigner, Wilderness Committee
joe@wildernesscommittee.org

Other resources: 

• Maps, photographs and video of logging in federally mapped spotted owl habitat
• WATCH: Old-growth and logging at Fire Lake