BC allowed logging in southern mountain caribou habitat after memo warning

British Columbia’s government allowed logging to proceed in an area used by a threatened herd of southern mountain caribou, despite an internal recommendation to prevent forestry activity there, according to a memo obtained by residents after the area was cut.

The province’s Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship recommended in a July 2025 memo that logging be blocked in habitat where the caribou live, a concern rooted in the animals’ reliance on the surrounding forest. The memo says a herd of about 200 southern mountain caribou depends on the forests for food, for raising calves, and for protection from predators. That guidance was overruled by the Ministry of Forests, which allowed logging by West Fraser Timber.

The dispute emerged after the logging had already taken place. Residents later obtained the Stewardship memo and shared its contents, prompting criticism from community members near the affected area. Mike James, whose family owns a cabin near Quesnel and KwihNELL Lake, said he could not understand why the provincial government would disregard its own biologists to permit the cutting. He questioned the decision-making structure that left the file with the...