Opposing sides in a battle over a forest near Nanoose Bay head to B.C. Supreme Court Friday with both factions seeking an injunction.

The Snaw-naw-as First Nation, which has a provincial logging permit to cut 15,000 cubic metres from a 64-hectare patch of endangered old-growth coastal Douglas fir forest, will ask the court to stop protesters who have halted logging for the past two weeks.

"The main thing is public safety. We want to make sure no one gets hurt," said Brent Edwards, Snaw-naw-as administrator.

Although it is a problem that crews have to be sent home every day, the aim is to ensure there are no physical or verbal confrontations, Edwards said.

"We're going to be neighbours at the end of this," he said.

Neighbours of District Lot 33 and environmental groups want an injunction to stop the logging until the province considers protecting the critically globally imperiled ecosystem.

"The next step is extinction. There's no way that this is acceptable," said Kathy McMaster, a neighbour and protester who is named on the Sna-naw-as injunction application.

It is disappointing Snaw-nawas has decided to continue trying to log the area before the hearing, McMaster said.

"We have to make sure there are some trees to talk about on Friday," she said.

Part of the debate has centred around the rights of First Nations to cut trees on traditional territory in an area where there is little Crown land because of the historic E&N land grant.

The E&N deal saw most of the east side of Vancouver Island become privately-owned land, including about 80 per cent of the remaining coastal Douglas fir ecosystem.

"But we believe it is not about that. It is about the province not upholding its duties under the International Convention on Biological Biodiversity," McMaster said.

The province, which last year protected several patches of coastal Douglas fir, says District Lot 33 is not of high enough value to fit the criteria for protection.

Forests Ministry spokeswoman Vivian Thomas said the province will not be in court Friday.

"We will then abide by whatever the court decides," she said.

Edwards said the logging plans "raise the bar" environmentally and the only "veteran" trees that will be cut are those in the way of access roads or trees that create a safety problem, he said.

The logging is needed for economic development, Edwards said.

"We are not asking for a handout. We have negotiated with the province and this is the solution.

The province is going to make money out of this and it will help the local economy," he said.

First Nations are frequently criticized for wanting handouts, Edwards said.

"Now we are trying to do something about it and we are being demonized. It really is the height of hypocrisy."