BC Timber Sales proposed 6 cut blocks in Roberts Creek endanger wild salmon

Find the official BCTS 5-year operating map HERE

It is important that people know about the BC Timber Sales (BCTS) proposed 6 cut blocks in Roberts Creeks watershed. As president of the SC Streamkeepers for the past 6 years, I have been on the ground walking Roberts Creek from the estuary to the falls every week in the fall counting the returning spawning salmon. I want to speak for them. 

It is important to realize that Roberts Creek has the last remaining significant wild salmon run on the southern Sunshine Coast. It is precious.

The decision to log these large portions of 40–80 year-old trees is based on reports that don’t take into consideration the reality of our world today. The significant weather events we are experiencing were not anticipated to happen so quickly and with such destruction.

The infrastructure downstream is NOT built to withstand the possible flooding that happens with significant rain events. The increased risk of large flood events would deposit silt, mud, and debris on the last spawning grounds in Roberts Creek. This would decimate the redds (salmon nests).

Along with the flooding, every resident on the Sunshine Coast will attest that we have experienced unprecedented droughts in the last few years. It is clear that our reality has changed, and unfortunately this reality is putting our wild salmon survival at risk. The record-breaking droughts create low creek flows, which prevent salmon from entering their birth creeks, and the risk of high water temperatures (upwards of 18deg C) pose threats for salmon survival.

Climate change was projected to happen in the “future” – that future is now.

I never dreamt that I would see these catastrophic weather events happening around the world. Mother Earth is changing. With that change, many innocent species are being lost. SCSS wants to ensure none of those are wild salmon (pink, chum, and coho). These are the species that make Roberts Creek the last of its kind here on the southern Sunshine Coast. I am writing to speak for the wild salmon that cannot speak for themselves. 

Every fall season, nearly every person visiting the Roberts Creek pier, residents and visitors alike, stops at the bridge beside the estuary to look watch the spawning salmon returning to their birthplace. I know because I am one of them. Most are quick to share their stories and interest in this miracle of Mother Earth. These resilient, tenacious, powerful, and amazing creatures survive every challenge we humans have thrown at them on top of all those of the natural world. I have seen hundreds of females with no tails left, only a stub, worn down from moving the rocks and debris away so they can lay their eggs and then coming back to cover their precious legacy. It seems to be one of the saddest things to watch them take their last breath and yet it’s also a wonder to see such selflessness and a testament that they deserve our protection to remain on this earth. We need to fight for them.

So far, without fail, in the spring, we see the tiny evidence of the sacrifice and pain when we witness the little fluttering fry emerging from the stream bed!

There is a massive disconnect between what is written in the reports and what is happening on the ground in our towns, province, and country. Our watersheds deserve more than just lip service. Decision makers must care about the health and longevity of these ecosystems. The BCTS proposed cut blocks are plans fuelled by antiquated information and data that is skewed in industry’s favour. 

If we do not speak up now, demand changes, and stop these clear cuts, we will no longer have spawning salmon in Roberts Creek and possibly anywhere else.

This would be one of the saddest legacies of my generation. We could have prevented it. So, let’s do everything we can to save wild salmon in Roberts Creek.

It will take a joint effort to stop this, please let us know if you would like to be kept informed on our campaign and join the fight to save Roberts Creek wild salmon!

S Samples

President, SC Streamkeepers Society

(Portions of the above letter appeared in Coast Reporter “Letter to Editor” on April 16, 2024)

Follow-up reading: In B.C.’s forests, a debate over watershed science with lives and billions at stake by Canadian Press on March 17, 2024