Specialized officers brought in to remove 'tree sitters' at logging protest

Specialized RCMP officers with climbing training have been brought in to bring down “tree sitters” protesting old-growth logging on southern Vancouver Island.

Some activists who had set themselves up on suspended platforms attached to trees have been removed by officers, but some of those highest off the ground — up to 45 metres — remain, said RCMP Sgt. Chris Manseau. Removing them poses a logistical challenge for police.

“We have to take every contingency plan into place to make sure that however that gets managed is done as safe as possible,” Manseau said.

As of Wednesday, RCMP officers had arrested an estimated 112 people while enforcing a court injunction. Fifty-five people were arrested on Tuesday alone, marking the most arrests in a single day since enforcement began on May 18.

Manseau said officers made some arrests Wednesday, but he didn’t immediately know how many. Officers were mainly focused on the Braden Camp in the Port Renfrew area, he said.

Kathy Code, a spokeswoman for the Rainforest Flying Squad, said one tree sitter reported being threatened by officers with rubber bullets and tear gas.

Manseau said it’s possible officers did make the threat, but no rubber bullets or tear gas have been fired in the course of the arrests during the past week, and it’s an unlikely tactic, because officers are responsible for an individual’s safety once they’re told they’re under arrest.

“I don’t think shooting rubber bullets and striking somebody while they’re in [a] tree stand would be the safest way to get them out,” he said.

Manseau said the majority of officers making arrests in the area are not equipped with weapons that shoot rubber bullets or tear gas, but it’s possible specialized teams have the equipment.

The topic of old-growth logging flared again at the Capital Regional District board Wednesday morning, leading to heated debate. Victoria Coun. Ben Isitt brought forward a motion calling on the province to protect old-growth forests, after a ­similar motion caused uproar among some CRD directors two weeks ago.

While directors debated discussing the motion Wednesday or deferring it to the next meeting, Mike Hicks, who represents Port Renfrew as Juan de Fuca Electoral Area director, said he needed a month or more to consult with local First Nations.

“I think this is one of the biggest issues that this board is going to face. I think over the last 13 years, this is the biggest one I’ve ever seen. I don’t think we have the legal authority, let alone the moral authority, to pass anything like this,” said Hicks, suggesting it would violate the principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples for the CRD board to take a stand.

While he was willing to push the discussion to the next meeting to give directors time to consider it, Isitt said the issue needs to be dealt with in a timely manner. “Depending on the events over the next few days, some of that old growth may not remain standing,” he said.

Isitt said there is a diversity of opinions within Indigenous communities about the logging of old-growth. “Director Hicks is cherry picking, suggesting that when an Indigenous perspective may support industrial development, somehow there’s an absolute veto. If it was an Indigenous voice advocating for conservation…,” he said before being cut off by other board directors.

In a letter this month, the Pacheedaht First Nation urged the CRD board to “show an appropriate level of respect to the sovereignty and wishes of our Nation, respect our desire for self-determination and act appropriately by rejecting the proposed motion.”

But Pacheedaht elder Bill Jones, who has been actively protesting logging in the area, said the council’s position does not reflect the feelings of the nation’s roughly 300 members.

Jones said those who live on reserve — a little under 100, according to the British Columbia Assembly of First Nations — are split down the middle, with about half supporting the protection of old-growth forests and half aligned with the band council.

A majority of the roughly 200 living off reserve appear to favour protecting the forests, said Jones, 80, who has lived on the reserve for his entire life.

Jones said he’s fighting to keep the trees standing because of their spiritual significance. “The forest is crucial to our reconciliation to ourselves. Even the white man have that reconciliation to themselves when they experience the old-growth forest. It’s a spiritual thing that we need to preserve and keep and nurture,” he said.

The Pacheedaht nation has an agreement to do business in its territory with Tree Farm Licence 46 and forestry company Teal-Jones Group, which owns the tenure. It provides logging jobs, silviculture contracting and logs for a mill owned by the Pacheedaht near Port Renfrew.

The nation did not respond to a request for comment.

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