B.C. must stop logging spotted owl critical habitat!

After almost two decades' delay, the federal government has finally published the long-awaited Spotted Owl Recovery Strategy. In June 2025, the feds issued detailed maps identifying 4,000 square kilometres of forests in the Lower Mainland of B.C. — critical habitat needed for the spotted owl's recovery — that must be protected.

Why this matters

The problem is B.C. continues to allow logging within the federally-mapped critical habitat. Some of these forests, like the big old trees we recently visited at Fire Lake, are some of the most beautiful remaining. Fire Lake is located near the north end of Harrison Lake and is within Xa'xtsa Nation territory.

What you can do

Please write your letter today to convey how strongly you feel about protecting these critical habitat forests for future generations of spotted owls.

Points to consider in your letter:
  • There is a logging emergency at Fire Lake, located just north of Harrison Lake in the Lower Mainland of BC, that needs to be delt with right away! This is federally mapped spotted owl habitat that is currently being destroyed by a BC Timber Sales logging operation. A Wilderness Committee fact-finding team has just found trees hundreds of years old recently cut down in the habitat area and logging is ongoing. There isn’t a minute to waste. B.C. and Canada must act now to halt the logging at Fire Lake and in all federally mapped spotted owl critical habitat now.
  • As of May 2025, 2,352 hectares overlapping critical habitat was approved for logging by the B.C. government, another 511 hectares overlapping critical habitat was pending logging approval and a further 674 hectares overlapping critical habitat had been proposed by various logging operations.
  • All logging that overlaps federally-mapped critical habitat must be stopped by the governments of B.C. and Canada without delay at Fire Lake and throughout spotted owl range.
  • At last count, there was just one remaining wild-born spotted left in Canada, in the Fraser Canyon area. There are over 30 spotted owls in a captive rearing facility in the Fraser Valley and several have been released into the forests. The future survival of this species in Canada remains uncertain.
    All logging of federally-mapped critical habitat must stop now to give the spotted owl population a chance to recover in the wild.
  • In 2023, the then federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault, found the spotted owl’s recovery faced imminent threats due to ongoing logging of critical habitat. The situation has only worsened since.  The governments of B.C. and Canada must act now to stop logging federally-mapped spotted owl critical habitat.
  • Spotted owl critical habitat, which includes some of the most beautiful and rare old-growth forests in the Lower Mainland of B.C., are being targeted by logging companies right now. Fire Lake is being logged right now -- but Teapot Valley, an intact watershed draining into the Nahatlatch River, has also been proposed for logging. Loss of spotted owl habitat puts other old-growth dependent species at risk as well. B.C. and Canada must act now to stop this shameful habitat destruction.
  • B.C. must take immediate action to halt all logging within the federally-mapped spotted owl critical habitat and to stop issuing new logging permits here.
Points to consider in your letter:
  • There is a logging emergency at Fire Lake, located just north of Harrison Lake in the Lower Mainland of BC, that needs to be delt with right away! This is federally mapped spotted owl habitat that is currently being destroyed by a BC Timber Sales logging operation. A Wilderness Committee fact-finding team has just found trees hundreds of years old recently cut down in the habitat area and logging is ongoing. There isn’t a minute to waste. B.C. and Canada must act now to halt the logging at Fire Lake and in all federally mapped spotted owl critical habitat now.
  • As of May 2025, 2,352 hectares overlapping critical habitat was approved for logging by the B.C. government, another 511 hectares overlapping critical habitat was pending logging approval and a further 674 hectares overlapping critical habitat had been proposed by various logging operations.
  • All logging that overlaps federally-mapped critical habitat must be stopped by the governments of B.C. and Canada without delay at Fire Lake and throughout spotted owl range.
  • At last count, there was just one remaining wild-born spotted left in Canada, in the Fraser Canyon area. There are over 30 spotted owls in a captive rearing facility in the Fraser Valley and several have been released into the forests. The future survival of this species in Canada remains uncertain.
    All logging of federally-mapped critical habitat must stop now to give the spotted owl population a chance to recover in the wild.
  • In 2023, the then federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault, found the spotted owl’s recovery faced imminent threats due to ongoing logging of critical habitat. The situation has only worsened since.  The governments of B.C. and Canada must act now to stop logging federally-mapped spotted owl critical habitat.
  • Spotted owl critical habitat, which includes some of the most beautiful and rare old-growth forests in the Lower Mainland of B.C., are being targeted by logging companies right now. Fire Lake is being logged right now -- but Teapot Valley, an intact watershed draining into the Nahatlatch River, has also been proposed for logging. Loss of spotted owl habitat puts other old-growth dependent species at risk as well. B.C. and Canada must act now to stop this shameful habitat destruction.
  • B.C. must take immediate action to halt all logging within the federally-mapped spotted owl critical habitat and to stop issuing new logging permits here.