CHAPMAN AND GRAY CREEK WATERSHED RESERVES: A HISTORYSunshine Coast Conservation Association - Page 1

CHAPMAN AND GRAY CREEK WATERSHED RESERVES:A HISTORY

[Based on research by the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association]

Abbreviations:

SCRD = Sunshine Coast Regional District IRMS = Integrated Resource Management Study IWMP = Integrated Resource Management Plan LRUP = Local Resource Use Plan MLA = Member of the Legislative Assembly

MOF = Ministry of Forests MELP = Ministry of Environment, Lands, and Parks TSHL = Timber Sale Harvest License Interfor = International Forest Products Ltd. Canfor = Canadian Forest Product

Summary History:The Royal Society of Engineers survey ChapmanCreek for long term community water supply forSechelt and vicinity.

1910

On June 3rd Chapman Creek is established as aWatershed Reserve in the New Westminster LandRecording District, for long term water supply,and active until June 3, 9999.

1929 The Union Steamship Co. is granted a waterlicense on Chapman Creek for their steamshipservice and their recreational tourism developmentat Selma Park

A ten-year term Timber Sale Harvest License(TSHL) #A00044 is issued to Jackson Bros.Logging Company.

1967 Order-in-Council 2277 gives effect to a WaterReserve on all of the water flowing from ChapmanCreek and tributaries in favor of the SunshineCoast Regional District (SCRD) water utility.

CHAPMAN AND GRAY CREEK WATERSHED RESERVES: A HISTORYSunshine Coast Conservation Association - Page 2

1968 The SCRD is incorporated with the mandate todevelop the regional water system for the lowerSunshine Coast and purchases the UnionSteamship Co. water works.

The Forest Service District Forester informs theTSHL holder of an “unusually heavy incidence ofsilt in the Chapman Creek observed during arecent inspection of their operations.”

1969

Forester about effects of logging on water qualityin Chapman Creek: “With the expanding use ofthis water for domestic use, we feel thatextraordinary care should be taken to preventpollution.

1970

Additional restrictions on road building are addedto the TSHL A00044 Indenture.

1971 Deputy Minister of Municipal Affairs forwards theSCRD complaints about deteriorating waterquality from the effects of logging in ChapmanCreek to the Deputy Minister of Forests.

Initiated by the Assistant Chief Forester, theChapman Creek Investigation Report concludesthat SCRD concerns are justified.

1972 SCRD Planning Director raises concerns about theeffects of logging in the Community Watershed tothe SCRD Planning Committee.

The headwaters of Chapman Creek are removedfrom TSHL A00044 in response to SCRDconcerns about the high elevation water catchmentarea.

1973 The SCRD Board continues to call for amoratorium on logging in the Chapman Creekuntil necessary studies are done.

MOF Experimental Project 732, the ChapmanIntegrated Resource Management Study (IRMS) isinitiated as a multi-discipline planning model forother lower mainland community watershedswhere high quality water was the primeconsideration.

1973 SCRD requests an Order-in-Council WatershedReserve to restrict watershed use to waterprovision under the authority of the SCRD.

A special meeting chaired by the local MLArecommends that the upper Chapman be protectedfor water quality and recreation.

The Sunshine Coast Ratepayers Council requeststhat the Minister halts logging in the Chapmandrainage.

Experimental Project 732, the Chapman IRMS iscompleted and makes recommendations to limitlogging and to undertake a sedimentation study toaddress infrastructure repairs and maintenance.

1974 SCRD Planning Director, in a memo to MOF,stresses that any activities that might endanger thewater source be curtailed to prevent siltation in thecommunity water supply.

District Forester informs the District Ranger that“we cannot and will not tolerate the continuationof inferior road construction, inferior roadmaintenance and inferior wood utilization in theChapman Creek watershed.”

The SCRD Board recommends no further loggingin the Chapman headwaters and that the lowerwatershed be declared a Health District to restrictuses that could impact water quality.

The Minister is “surprised that the (SCRD) Boardhas requested that regulations be established topreclude logging” and concludes that “with strictregulation the watershed can divest multiplebenefits which will satisfy the water user, thosedependent on the forest for their livelihood, andthose who use the forest for recreationalpurposes.”

The SCRD, on the advice of the HealthDepartment, petitions the Water ResourcesServices Department for assistance in applying toCrown Lands for a Watershed Reserve in favor ofthe SCRD water utility.

CHAPMAN AND GRAY CREEK WATERSHED RESERVES: A HISTORYSunshine Coast Conservation Association - Page 3

A Section 12, Land Act, Watershed Reserve infavor of Water Management Branch is placed overChapman Creek and other community watershedsas part of a provincial Task Force on communitywater supply which was initiated by theEnvironment and Land Use Committee of Cabinetin response to escalating public concern.

The Sedimentation Study recommended as part ofExperimental Project 732 is completed and makesspecific recommendations for remedial works androad maintenance procedures.

1975

1978 Responding to Jackson Bros. Co. logging plans,the Regional Engineer comments that the plan“cannot be any worse than it evidently was whenlogging was carried out downstream”.

A recreation reserve is removed from Gray Creekto facilitate the expansion of Jackson Bros. loggingchart TSHL A00044 in Chapman Creek.

1979 Local residents inquire whether or not the 1975Sediment Study recommendations were everimplemented and are informed by the MOF thatthe licensee still had not done the required works.

A Forest Service audit of the Chapman Creek“Resource Folio” confirms that the communitywatershed is extremely unstable and thatmanagement practices have been inadequate.

1981 The SCRD develops Gray Creek for communitywater supply.

Jackson Bros. Logging Co., holder of the TSHL, issold and the liquidation of most of the remainingmature timber in Gray Creek is undertaken by thenew owners.

1983

The Tetrahedron trail and cabins system iscompleted in the high elevation headwaters ofChapman Creek which had been removed from thelicense area of TSHL A00044 in 1973.

1987 A Section 12, Land Act, Watershed Reserve infavor of MELP, Water Management Branch isplaced over Gray Creek.

Logging in the sensitive Chapman/Gray Creekheadwaters at Tannis Lake results in sustainedpublic criticism.

1988

Without notifying either the SCRD or the public,the upper Chapman, removed from TSHL A00044in 1973, is re-included in Jackson Bros. LoggingCo. Chart 101 by the MOF.

1989 The SCRD agrees to participate on an IntegratedResource Management Plan for Chapman andGray Creek community watersheds initiated byWater Management Branch in response todeteriorating water quality and timing of flows.

Jackson Bros. Logging is sold to InternationalForest Products (Interfor).

1990 The Chapman/Gray Creeks Integrated WatershedManagement Plan is initiated.

Interfor and Canfor (Canadian Forest Products) aregiven seats on the Chapman /Gray CreeksIntegrated Watershed Management PlanningTeam.

The SCRD makes a formal complaint to theOmbudsman about Ministry of Forestsmanagement within the Chapman/Graycommunity watersheds.

Because of escalating opposition to logging in thehigh elevation catchment areas, the Ministry ofForests initiates the Tetrahedron Local ResourcePlan (LRUP).

Preliminary restoration works, first recommendedin 1975, wash out following some “unusual stormevents” in the winter of 1990.

CHAPMAN AND GRAY CREEK WATERSHED RESERVES: A HISTORYSunshine Coast Conservation Association - Page 4

The SCRD files a statement of claim in BCSupreme Court, which causes the MOF to fundcritical maintenance and restoration work in thewatersheds.

1991 The Water subcommittee of the TetrahedronLRUP makes inquiries about the significance ofthe Chapman Creek Watershed Reservedesignation on MOF forest cover maps.

The Water Subcommittee rediscoversExperimental Project 732, the Chapman CreekIntegrated Resource Management Study from1974, and is told that the “plan is still in force as aresource folio”.

MOF states that there are no specific MOF filesrelating to the Chapman Creek Watershed Reserveand that the reserve status is simply to “red flag”the water resource.

1992 The Water Subcommittee makes a Tenure Inquiryto Lands Branch and discovers that Chapman andGray Creeks are Watershed Reserves underSection 12 of the Land Act and that administrativeauthority is vested in the MELP, WaterManagement Branch.

In the first case of its kind in BC, the SCRDproceeds with legal action against the MOF andInterfor seeking an injunction to stop logging androad building during the IWMP process.

Water Management Branch confirms thataccording to its files a Section 12 WatershedReserve was placed over Chapman Creek in 1975(actually, in 1974), one year after the completionof Experimental Project 732.

A Watershed Cumulative Effects Analysis iscompleted by three MOF hydrologists who findthat of the 310 landslides studied in Chapman andGray Creeks, 85 % were caused by logging androadbuilding. 15% were naturally caused.

1993 The SCRD applies to MELP for a lease of Crownlands over the Chapman Creek Watershed Reservein favor of the Sunshine Coast Water Utility, but isrejected

Just before the SCRD goes to court, a deal isstruck and a moratorium on logging and roadbuilding in the community watersheds isinstituted.

The Tetrahedron LRUP Water SubcommitteeFinal Report finds that the 1974 IRMSrecommendations were not adhered to; that currentconditions within the community watersheds aredeplorable; and questions whether the appropriateauthority has been administering the communityWatershed Reserves since 1975.

Gray Creek is relegated to a backup water system,after only ten years of service, when water qualityplummets due to liquidation logging in the 1980s.

The Watershed Reserve Subcommittee is struck bythe Tetrahedron LRUP to look into policy,procedures and administrative authority.

The Watershed Reserve Subcommittee requestsdocumentation from both the MOE and MOF toclarify administration of the Watershed Reserves.

1994 In response to a Watershed ReservesSubcommittee Freedom of Information request,the MOF will “neither confirm nor deny theexistence of the documentation” which wouldprove that the MOF is the legal administrativeauthority in the community watersheds.

The Tetrahedron LRUP is shut down by theSunshine Coast Forest District Manager before theWatershed Reserves Subcommittee reports.

The first draft Integrated Watershed ManagementPlan is released for public review and comment.

A 2000 signature petition is collected over a fourday period which rejects any further industrialactivity in the community watersheds and supportsthe SCRD in seeking local control.

The Chapman/Gray Watershed Restoration Projectis approved and a coordinator is hired toadminister the multi-million dollar project.

1995

CHAPMAN AND GRAY CREEK WATERSHED RESERVES: A HISTORYSunshine Coast Conservation Association - Page 5

Provincial Cabinet designates the entireTetrahedron Study Area as a Class “A” ProvincialPark including the upper Chapman, originallyprotected for water and recreation values byExperimental Project 732, the Integrated ResourceManagement Study of 1974.

1996 The second draft IWMP is released in Maywithout substantive change and with theWatershed Cumulative Effects Analysis LandslideInventory removed into the “Background Papers”,of which there were only a few copies available.

The Ministry of Forests and Ministry ofEnvironment “sign-off” the Chapman/GrayIWMP.

1997 The SCRD does not “sign-off” the IWMP andrequests more public consultation.

Following a Town Hall meeting on the subject, theSCRD decides to hold a public referendum todetermine whether or not the community supportsthe Integrated Watershed Management Plan for theChapman and Gray Creeks community watersheds

1998 On May 2nd, 87% of voters reject the IWMP forthe community watersheds. The SCRDaccordingly announces it will not support the planand refuses to sign-off.

2000 Interfor proposes more logging in the Chapmanand Gray Creeks community watershed reserves.The SCRD rejects all proposed cutblocks.

The Water First Committee and the Council ofCanadians collects over 5200 signatures on apetition that calls for no logging and mining andSCRD control of the community watershedreserves.

2002 Representatives of the SCRD and the SunshineCoast Conservation Association take the petitionto Victoria where the Sunshine Coast’s MLAtables it in the Legislature.

2003 On May 15th Interfor holds a meeting with theSunshine Coast Conservation Association andannounces it is withdrawing all proposed andapproved cutblocks within the Chapman and GrayCreeks community watershed reserves from their 5year Forest Development Plan

The District of Sechelt is invited by the Ministryof Forests to submit a proposal for a CommunityForest logging licence.

2004

The MoF assigns Chapman and Gray CreekWatershed Reserves to the Community Forest landbase.

2005 The public objects to the inclusion of the Chapmanand Gray Creek Watershed Reserves in theCommunity Forest.

The District of Sechelt Community ForestProposal is rejected by the provincial AdvisoryCommittee because the proponents fail toadequately consult with “the community”according to the criteria established by theprovince.

2006 Despite the inadequacies identified by the advisorycommittee the Minister of Forests delegates thepower to approve the Community Forest Licenceto the Sunshine Coast Forest District Manager,who does so over the objections of the SCRD,Town of Gibsons and the Shishalt First Nation.

Sechelt Community Projects is incorporated(SCPI) and its first Forest Stewardship Plan (FSP),a requirement under BC’s new Forest and RangePractices Act, is released for public review. TheFSP commits SCPI to the minimum standard forcommunity watershed protection established bythe new Act.

The minimum standard for community watershedsunder the Forest and Range Practices Act providesthat logging is not to have a materially adverseimpact on the quality and timing of water flows oron human health “unless it unduly reduce(s) thesupply of timber from British Columbia's forests.”

AJB Investments Ltd. purchases Private ManagedForest Lands from Canfor in Chapman Creek andproceeds to log.

CHAPMAN AND GRAY CREEK WATERSHED RESERVES: A HISTORYSunshine Coast Conservation Association - Page 6

AJB sells its privately managed forest land toColumbia National Investments, who plan largescale housing developments in the ChapmanWatershed.

2007

Western Forest Products,initiates the first loggingon crown lands in the Chapman watershed since1992. A blockade is set up by the ConcernedCitizens. The community is supportive withnumerous protests and favorable local editorials.SCRD and Sechelt Indian Band object to WFPlogging.

A citizens’ complaint made under the BC HealthAct (initiated by the SCCA) results in the SCRDconstituting itself as a Local Board of Health andholding hearings on the threat to human healthfrom industrial logging activity.

LBH rules that logging on steep slopes and nearwatercourses is a public health hazard and must bestopped. Western Forests Products files an appealin the BC Supreme Court. The LBH ruling thrownout, but court recognizes Local Board of Health’slegitimacy and notes the dichotomy of the SCRD’sresponsibility as purveyor of potable water withoutpower to control activities in watershed. Appealof decision is initiated by co-signers of originalcomplaint.

Sechelt Community Forest begins spacing contractin the Chapman Creek watershed.

2008 There was no consultation with SCRD, SecheltIndian Band, or community. Concerned Citizensmount another blockade. Community Forestvacates the watershed after the Sechelt IndianBand successfully petitions the provincialgovernment for protection of Chapman and GrayCreeks as a part of their land claim negotiations inthe treaty process.