Reject FOM Proposal 2801

The Ministry of Forests is considering approval of Forest Service Road Proposal 2801, a new logging road and associated harvesting on steep slopes between Eng Road and Kussman Road in Hatzic Valley.

This proposal would permit timber harvesting directly above: 

• Eng Creek

• Sylvester Road 

• Cascade (McConnell) Creek 

• Dozens of homes and properties 

The Risk

This is not a routine forestry decision.

This watershed has a well documented 44-year record of repeated debris flows, landslides, and destructive flooding, including events that:

• Damaged approximately 45 homes in a single storm

• Relocated entire creek channels through residential areas 

• Piled tree trunks 10 meters high against Sylvester Road  

• Required millions of dollars in taxpayer funded repairs

• Caused homes to shake under debris-flow impact

Provincial records explicitly identify debris avalanches and logging road failures as causes of past destructive events in this corridor.

Most critically, the provincial government has already acknowledged, on the public record, that logging in the hills above Hatzic Valley contributed to the severity of these floods and debris flows. Energy Minister Stephen Rogers conceded this in 1984.

Approving new logging road construction on these same slopes, above these same homes, would repeat a mistake the Province has already admitted to making.

This Is the Wrong Place for Logging & New Logging Roads

FSR Proposal 2801 proposes additional road construction and harvesting on steep, historically unstable terrain directly above residential properties and Sylvester Road, a primary access route for families.

This is not about opposing forestry across British Columbia.

This is about acknowledging that certain landscapes, especially those with repeated debris-flow history, are inappropriate for logging & new logging road construction.

The documented pattern is clear:

This watershed fails. Repeatedly. 

Approving new disturbance here ignores decades of evidence.

Our Position Is Clear

We are calling on the Ministry of Forests to:

Reject FSR Proposal 2801 

Public safety, slope stability, and community protection must take precedence over short-term timber extraction in a terrain with a proven history of destructive failure.

Hatzic Valley residents should not have to relive preventable disasters.

Sign This Petition

If you believe logging & logging roads should not be built above homes in a watershed with a documented landslide and debris-flow history, add your name.

This is about responsible land-use decisions.

This is about learning from history.

This is about protecting Hatzic Valley.

Please sign, share with your neighbours, and consider sending your own email to:

FTA.DCKDSQ@gov.bc.ca

Referencing: FOM 2801 / FOM 21

Deadline: March 6, 2026

Our valley has already paid the price for decisions like this.

We cannot afford to let it happen again.

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To read the flooding & landslide chronological history:

https://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wsd/public_safety/flood/pdfs_word/floods_landslides_south3.pdf?fbclid=IwdGRleAQNqvBleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeAI6UWvn6k9aTsPbsihJUU3Oak1ac3ispKbdeD5GncirO4f8_Xln0Kd0o8BU_aem_DUn2OM8ebcCN__wWE-B4qQ