IndigenousFirst Nations in the North Cowichan region in Vancouver Island B.C. say a motion by the Municipality of North Cowichan has undermined collaborative efforts on the future of logging in the region’s forest reserve.North Cowichan is developing a co-management framework with Quw’utsun NationEdzi’u Loverin · CBC News · Posted: Sep 15, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: September 16Cowichan Tribes Chief Cindy Daniels, centre, says the move by North Cowichan council ‘undermines the collaborative nature’ of work to date on a joint plan for the forest. (Dean Stoltz/CHEK News)First Nations in the North Cowichan region on Vancouver Island say a motion by the municipality is undermining collaborative efforts on the future of logging in the region’s forest reserve.On Aug. 20, North Cowichan council passed a motion to review logging options in the Municipal Forest Reserve as part of its strategic plan for 2026.Cindy Daniels, chief of Cowichan Tribes, said in a statement the move by the council “undermines the collaborative nature” of work to date on a joint plan for the forest.”We pursued the development of a co-management framework and plan with the Municipality of North Cowichan to ensure we are at the decision-making table,” the statement said.”We have a responsibility to protect culturally significant sites and a right to be consulted when it comes to resource development in our territory.” Jared Qwustenuxun Williams, a member of Cowichan Tribes and consultant, said the mountains in the forest reserve, also known as Six Mountains, are a culturally significant area for Quw’utsun people.”Mount Prevost, in our language known as Swuq’us, is where our very first ancestor landed on the Earth and … and there are countless legends around, you know, that ancestor and his history,” said Williams.”Stoney Hill — there’s a few things we’re not supposed to really go into about our culture but I will just highlight that that mountain holds extreme significance for our afterlife and our end of life rituals.”Williams posted on social media, encouraging people to write letters to North Cowichan council to express their concerns on forestry management in the forest reserve.Mount Prevost, known by Quw’utsun people as Swuq’us, is an important cultural site for Quw’utsun people. (Jared Qwustenuxun Williams)North Cowichan Mayor Rob Douglas said the response from Quw’utsun Nation has been “tough to hear” and he’s worried the decision has jeopardized collaborative efforts with First Nations.”North Cowichan put a lot of effort into advancing reconciliation and building a strong relationship with the Quw’utsun Nation, not just under this council, but going back decades,” said Douglas.”There’s a whole range of other files that we’re working closely with them on and I do worry about our ability to advance some of those other files in light of the reaction we’ve heard.”Memorandum of understandingThe Municipal Forest Reserve is within the traditional territory of the Quw’utsun Nation, which comprises five communities: Halalt, Lyackson, Penelakut and Stz’uminus and Cowichan Tribes.The North Cowichan council has been in discussions for a collaborative framework with Quw’utsun Nation, called a memorandum of understanding (MOU), since 2021 and announced a commitment to establish a co-management strategy for the forest reserve in April 2024.Stoney Hill is an important cultural site for Quw’utsun people. (Jared Qwustenuxun Williams )The Municipal Forest Reserve encompasses six major land holdings known as Mount Prevost, Mount Sicker, Mount Tzouhalem, Stoney Hill, Mount Richards, and Maple Mountain, and a number of small parcels of land, for a total of 25 per cent of the land base in North Cowichan.At the Aug. 20 council meeting, Coun. Bruce Findlay moved the motion, saying the municipality should be looking at logging options in the forest, such as “spot logging.” “I think that the issue I have is, you know, we have an MOU with Quw’utsun Nation, but that doesn’t limit us for still monetizing the asset that we own in fee simple title while we are still communicating and coming up with a potential co-management strategy,” Findlay said at the meeting.Findlay was not available for comment.The current price for two-by-fours of B.C. spruce, pine or fir is $420 per thousand board feet. For a two-by-four of B.C. cedar, the cost is $1,375 per thousand board feet, according to the provincial government.The motion passed with four councillors in favour, and two councillors and the mayor opposed. $200,000 provincial grantGary Merkel, director of the Centre for Indigenous Land Stewardship at the University of British Columbia, has been an advisor for the work between Quw’utsun Nation and North Cowichan council.Merkel is also assisting a consultant team, Your Wayfinders Managment Solutions, in leading the co-management framework between North Cowichan and Quw’utsun Nation.”It’s a little bit ahead of itself that motion, but not too far. I mean, they haven’t said ‘we’re just going to go and log,’ they’ve allowed the possibility,” said Merkel.”It just tells me that the relationship is young enough that they haven’t learned how to work with each other and talk about these things before they happen on both sides.”Douglas said the municipality received a $200,000 eco-management grant from the province to build the co-management framework with Quw’utsun Nation.The municipality could face financial challenges if required to pay back some of the grant to the provincial government if Quw’utsun Nation backs out of the process, Douglas said.”We are going to get a staff report outlining some of the implications and next steps and that’ll be another opportunity for council to consider how to move forward, whether or not to proceed as was outlined in our council meeting… or to put any harvesting decisions on hold until we’ve completed the co-management framework with the Quw’utsun Nation,” Douglas said.CorrectionsA photo in this article mislabeled Stoney Hill as known as Swuq’us. That Quw’utsun name, in fact, belongs to the mountain known in english as Mount Prevost.Sep 16, 2025 12:07 PM EDTABOUT THE AUTHOREdzi’u Loverin is graduate of CBC’s Indigenous Pathways Program and has reported in Vancouver and Winnipeg since 2024. Edzi’u is a member of the Taku River Tlingit First Nation and a registered member of the Tahltan Nation, but is currently based in xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ territories. You can email Edzi’u at edziu.loverin@cbc.ca with story ideas.
Vancouver Island municipality’s move to consider logging upsets collaboration efforts, says First Nation
