Another legal challenge to Stanley Park tree removals

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Good morning,

Nate back with you today. Our main story is an updated in-depth look at tree removals in Stanley Park – and opposition to the work – which I’ve been following for a while now as a reporter for The West End Journal (TWEJ).

It’s also an exciting milestone for us at the Lookout, and for me personally, as we’re co-publishing today’s story with TWEJ. I started working with the fine folks at TWEJ – which their venerable editor and publisher Kevin Dale McKeown describes as a “parish newsletter,” for the West End – in 2021 when I was still in journalism school.  

Working with everyone there, particularly with Kevin and James Oakes, has been such a rich learning experience for me. It’s given me practical experience and perspective on the importance of hyper-local, community-focused journalism, and those values and skills are a big part of what drew me to work at Vancity Lookout.   

While most of my time these days is spent filling your inbox, I’m still with TWEJ as a copy editor and occasional reporter for their monthly coverage of all things west of Burrard. I’m truly so grateful to them for all the support, knowledge, and connections they’ve provided over the years. In my biased opinion, this is exactly the sort of community reporting we need more of. 

If you’re interested in West End news or haven’t heard of them, be sure to check out their latest issue coming out this weekend!

— Nate Lewis, Vancity Lookout reporter

PS - If you find this newsletter valuable, please consider forwarding it to your friends. New to the Lookout? Sign-up for free.

WEATHER

Friday: 13 🌡️ 4 | 🌤️

Saturday: 13 🌡️ 3 | 🌤️

Sunday: 8 🌡️ 3 | 🌧️

Monday: 11 🌡️ 4 | 🌤️

NUMBERS OF THE DAY

😬 March 4: The new date that most Canadian goods will be subject to 25% tariffs by the United States, after mixed messaging from the White House this week. [CBC]

✅ $500,000: The total amount granted to 14 non-profit organizations providing services to renters in Vancouver, as approved by city council. 

📊 $47 million: The city's estimated annual spending in the Downtown Eastside. That includes costs for things like city programs, social non-profit grants, by-law enforcement, overdose and fire response, and more, but doesn’t include policing, non-market housing operations, or building improvements. [BIV] 

PARKS

Another legal challenge to Stanley Park tree removals won’t stop logging in the short term

Written by Nate Lewis

A petition to the B.C. Supreme Court to stop tree removals in Stanley Park won’t halt the current “urgent” work underway in the park, but could, if successful, limit the number of trees being removed over the next two years. 

The park board says the trees being cut down, mostly hemlocks, are a risk to public safety, as they are dead and dying due to an outbreak of hemlock looper moths in Stanley Park, which began in 2020. 

On February 10th, the Stanley Park Preservation Society (SPPS) filed its second legal attempt to stop the logging. Their petition for judicial review asks the court to quash the park board’s decisions in October and December 2024 to allow and expedite the tree removal work, as well as quashing the city’s 2023 and 2024 contracts with forestry consultant B.A. Blackwell and Associates (Blackwell). 

SPPS is also seeking an injunction to “prohibit logging in Stanley Park, with the exception of trees designated, after individual inspection, as posing an immediate danger to the public,” according to court documents. 

In a statement to Vancity Lookout, the park board said they cannot comment at this time as the matter is before the courts.

Michael Caditz, a founding director of the Stanley Park Preservation Society and a plaintiff in the case, said SPPS was founded in June 2024 in reaction to “the beginning of what turned out to be a large scale logging operation in Stanley Park… to remove, at the time they were saying 160,000 trees, which would amount to about a third of the trees in Stanley Park.” 

The 160,000 figure comes from a November 2023 news release from the city and similar numbers were included in a city-commissioned assessment from Blackwell submitted in January 2024.  

While 160,000 has remained a prominent number in public discourse about tree cutting in Stanley Park, the park board has moved far away from these estimates both in terms of messaging and their operational reporting.  

Over the past year, the park board has repeatedly stated that “only a fraction of these impacted trees will need to be removed due to their risks to public safety.” 

According to the park board, 1,329 trees were cut down during operations in fall 2024. In total, 8,530 trees have been removed or treated over two phases of work between October 2023 and December 2024, with 41 per cent of Stanley Park’s forest areas being treated over that time, they said. 

• Park board staff had already begun removing dead and dying trees impacted by hemlock looper starting in June 2023, according to a park board memo, but those removals aren’t accounted for in the data above. 

The third phase of tree removal and replanting was planned to start in late 2025. However, the park board approved a staff recommendation to change plans and complete a quarter of the phase three work between January and March 2025. The urgency was due to a “significant increase” of tree failures during storms in October and November 2024, indicating the hazardous situation was escalating more quickly than expected, according to the park board. 

​​”Tree failures were reported across the park during these events, but overall, the quantity and complexity are greatly reduced in areas that have already been treated,” staff said of the late 2024 storms.  

The Stanley Park Preservation Society has been organizing against the tree removals in Stanley Park since formally establishing itself in June 2024 and took the city and park board to court in fall 2024.

In October 2024, a judge denied an injunction request by SPPS in the civil claim, in which they alleged the city, park board, and associate urban forestry director Joe McLeod had acted negligently in ordering the tree removal work. While the injunction in that case was denied, Justice Maegan Giltrow did say SPPS raised “legitimate concerns about the apparent lack of deliberative decision making by the Park Board,” in an October 1 decision.  

In the previous case, Caditz and SPPS provided sworn testimony from several experts that the tree removals were “neither necessary nor safe,” while the city submitted expert evidence of their own that generally supported the approach outlined in the Blackwell report. 

A year ago, Colin Spratt, an advocate and tour operator focusing on old-growth trees and ecosystems in Stanley Park, said the removal work should proceed carefully in those areas. However, he was of the opinion that the park board’s approach made sense from a forestry management perspective, according to my reporting in the West End Journal.  

Strategy and details of the current case

Regardless of the outcome, the latest petition won’t halt the current “urgent” work underway in the park. That’s because the current phase of removal work will end sometime in March while the petition for judicial review won’t be heard until May at the earliest, according to the park board and a lawyer for the city.   

With over 8,000 trees already cut down, SPPS’s petition is a strategic attempt to stop future phases of work, Caditz said. The halfway completed project is planned to continue intermittently until early 2027. 

If the judge rules in their favour, then, “if the city and or the park board wants to resume logging, they'll have to do it correctly,” Caditz argued.   

“We, the Stanley Park Preservation Society, is quite confident that if the city and the park board had to do things correctly, they would not be chopping down all these trees. If they were inspecting trees, and if they were following the correct protocols, and they were getting bona fide, independent assessments to review or corroborate what Blackwell says, if they would actually read them and find out what they said, there would be very little reason for them to continue logging,” Caditz alleged. 

One thing SPPS is alleging in their current petition for judicial review is that Blackwell and other park board contractors were not using the correct methodology for the circumstances and should have been conducting individual tree assessments, rather than visual inspections, to assess how hazardous a given tree is. 

Under these same premises, SPPS is also alleging that two independent third-party assessments obtained by the park board in December 2024 did not support the park board’s claims that trees were degrading faster than anticipated or that it was necessary to accelerate phase 3 work. 

• Further, they say a third assessment by Chartwell Assessments was not independent because Chartwell was a subcontractor for Blackwell on their original report for the city.  

“For street trees, it is totally appropriate to do individual tree assessments [but] when you're managing stands of trees it’s totally impractical,” according to Ken Byrne, who is a registered professional forester, a lecturer in the Department of Forest Resource Management at UBC’s Faculty of Forestry. 

Byrne added that, based on the Blackwell assessment, there would be hundreds of trees per hectare in Stanley Park that have been impacted by the looper moth. 

In the previous case, the city advised the judge that the tree assessment criteria being used by Blackwell, which SPPS argues is incorrect in the current petition, is the same criteria used by the Park Board’s Urban Forestry team. The difference is that “significantly more” trees are now being captured under that assessment because of the looper moth’s impact, according to court documents. 

SPPS is also alleging park board commissioners were misled or not given full and accurate information by staff with regard to the work being undertaken, and weren’t provided the opportunity to authorize the work by vote until October 2024. 

On its face, it does seem that while park board commissioners were briefed on the situation, they didn’t explicitly vote to authorize the work until October 2024 (they did approve a motion for staff to create a plan, including future tree removals, in July 2023). However, whether that was an appropriate governance approach and the pertinence and particulars of the information provided by staff to commissioners will be something for the judge to evaluate.

Natural disturbances and forest management

Ken Byrne, the professional forester and UBC faculty member, was involved in consulting on the Stanley Park Forest Management Plan, as a UBC grad student, which published in 2009 following the 2006 windstorm that blew down over 10,000 trees in Stanley Park. 

“The windstorm was actually a wonderful opportunity to do some active management and make the forest more resilient into the future,” Byrne said, pointing to the trees surrounding the Prospect Point picnic area as an example of an area that was heavily impacted by the windstorm and are doing well after replanting was done about 15 years ago. 

Like wind, hemlock looper is a natural disturbance, Byrne said. “It's just a demonstration that if we try and keep the park static, if we try and keep it the same, Mother Nature is going to make changes anyway, and often those changes will be rapid and in a scale that we will not want,” Byrne said.

“People look at trees like they'll always be there, but they [won’t]. It's healthy for there to be turnover and change. Trees die and trees need to be removed sometimes,” Byrne said. However, he did add that if the outbreak occurred somewhere more remote, it could be left alone for nature to take its course, but because it happened in a busy park the risk of fire or harm from falling trees is heightened. 

“Nobody wants Stanley Park to burn up. Nobody wants, you know, trees to start falling down on cars and people. So those are the values that we're managing for,” Byrne said.

Speaking to some of the other factors exacerbating poor tree health in the park, Byrne noted the effect of the heat dome in summer 2021 was huge for the trees in Stanley Park, “because the trees had just been impacted by the looper, and then a year or two later, they got hit with that heat dome. I think that really played a major role in the trees not having the resilience to recover,” Byrne explained.  

As part of the project, the park board said they have planted over 25,000 seedlings in the spring of 2024 and plan to plant more in spring 2025. 

“Each tree removed in impacted areas will be restored through dedicated tree planting and replaced with a more diverse mix of species to support a stronger forest that is more resilient to future insect outbreaks and climate change impacts,” according to the park board. 

Council hopefuls enter the discussion but lack jurisdiction 

TEAM for a Livable Vancouver, running Colleen Hardwick and Theodore Abbott as council candidates in the spring by-election, has made the tree removals a campaign issue for the party.

Their platform includes an action item to “protect Stanley Park by halting the current logging operation until a full scientific review and independent risk assessments are conducted, including documented tree inspections with consideration for ecological, wildlife, and recreational values.” This aligns with some of the key concerns SPPS outlines in their recent petition.  

However, it’s unclear how TEAM candidates would, if elected, take action on this policy as councillors at city hall. The party explicitly supports an elected and independent park board, which has authority over the work being done in Stanley Park. 

“City council, realistically, wouldn't really have a dog in the race, as this is a park board matter,” TEAM candidate Theodore Abbott told Vancity Lookout. 

“We could advocate, work with groups who are opposing this logging… [and] make a lot of noise on it,” Abbott said.  

However, TEAM would stop short of using council’s control over park board funding to try and stop the tree removals. 

“Going against the park board's decision on this one specific issue is not reflective of any kinds of decisions we would make that would go against them getting funding for anything… we think parks need more funding, not less,” Abbott said.  

What’s happening to the wood? 

The park board said the project derives a small amount of revenue from the sale of low-value hemlock wood for pulp. This revenue offsets the project’s costs, particularly hauling costs and delivery of timber to the local First Nations for cultural use.

Approximately 10,600 cubic metres of hemlock wood was sold for $112,446.45, while hauling the wood to a scaling yard in Squamish cost the park board $83,885.68. The total net revenue generated from the first two phases of work was $28,560.77 after hauling costs, according to the park board. 

123 cubic metres of Fir and Cedar wood was set aside to be distributed to interested First Nations. Delivery is still being coordinated and associated costs will be paid out of the net revenue, the park board said.   

The total cost of the tree removals, treatment, and planting is expected to be just under $18 million, according to a park board report. 

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THE AGENDA

⏸️ City council approved Mayor Ken Sim’s motion to pause ‘net new’ supportive housing in Vancouver – based on the city’s high proportion of supportive housing compared to other municipalities in the region – after hearing from about 90 public speakers, including supportive housing providers, most of whom were opposed to the motion. It means the existing supply of supportive housing and SRO units will be maintained, but there can’t be an increase overall. Exceptions will apply for projects already in progress and applications submitted over the last six months, as well as for projects that replace deteriorating SROs or modular housing, according to Urbanized. The motion passed 6-3, with ABC Coun. Lisa Dominato joining councillors Pete Fry and Rebecca Bligh in voting against Sim’s motion.

🗳️ Coun. Bligh’s related motion – to invite the province to discuss the implications of Sim’s motion – was not approved. Based on the lack of these developments in other cities and challenges securing provincial funding, “we need to ask ourselves what this motion will achieve, where will people who are unhoused go, when will this pause end, and what is our measure of success to lift the pause?” Dominato said in council, adding that the motion will do more harm to Vancouver neighbourhoods, including the Downtown Eastside. [COV]

🚸 Sometimes coming in last place is a good thing. Data from an injury law firm shows Vancouver finished last among major Canadian cities in rates of pedestrian and cyclist fatalities since 2015. The bad news is Surrey was in the top four in both categories among major cities. One advocate suggests those numbers reflect the differences in active transportation infrastructure investments between the cities. Overall, B.C. did poorly among provinces, ranking third highest in the rate of pedestrian deaths, and second in cyclist deaths. [City News, Preszler Injury Lawyers] 

🎥 After successfully executing a full renovation of the Hollywood Theatre, and the redevelopment of the property next door into a six-storey mixed-use building, Bonnis Properties – which also owns the Commodore Ballroom – has sold the West Broadway landmark venue and the adjacent building to a new owner for $47.5 million. The 1930s-era theatre was closed in 2011 but was eventually reopened in 2020 as an event and arts venue after years of community activism to save the building. [Urbanized, Storeys]

🏒 The Canucks pulled out a big 3-2 win against the LA Kings on Wednesday night, after losing their first two games coming off the league’s mid-season break. The club is currently just one point up on Calgary for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with 24 games left in the season. [Sportsnet]

Outside Vancouver 

🙅 BC Conservative leader John Rustad was unsuccessful in his non-confidence motion, intended to trigger another provincial election, with MLAs voting along party lines. The two Green Party members supported the 3-seat NDP majority, with 49 votes against the motion versus 44 in favour. Rustad said he’s following his election night promise to bring down the government at the earliest possbile opportunity. [City News]

EVENT GUIDE

The Space Race: The Untold Story of First Black Astronauts | Friday Feb. 28, 6pm | H.R. MacMillan Space Centre | Free (donations encouraged, planetarium entrance separate)

Theatresports and Single, Not Single | Feb. 28 & Mar. 1, various times | The Improv Centre | Tickets $28

First Saturday Open Studios | Saturday Mar. 1, noon | Various locations | Free

Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival | until Mar. 4 | Various events, locations, and times | Tickets $18-34

Soccer Mommy | Tuesday Mar. 4, 8pm |  Vogue Theatre | Tickets $55

Things I Hide From Dad | Mar. 5-8, various times | Pacific Theatre | Tickets $25

Festival du Bois | Mar. 7-9 | Mackin Park (Coquitlam) | Free entry Friday, Saturday and Sunday Tickets $34

Evan Honer Spring Tour ‘25 | Monday Mar. 10, 8pm | Hollywood Theatre | Tickets $43

The Vancouver Sketch Fest | Tuesday Mar. 11, 6pm | Rio Theatre | Tickets $25

Dane’s Dance Emporium | Saturday Mar. 15, 10pm | Commodore Ballroom | Tickets $29 

IMAGE(S) OF THE DAY

Between 400 and 500 people (including a few council candidates) rallied outside City Hall on Wednesday during the debate on Mayor Ken Sim’s motion to pause supportive housing.

The program included speakers and a theatrical performance parodying Greek mythology, where ABC councillors used a Trojan horse to sneak developers and police into the Downtown Eastside. 

GAME TIME

Wednesday’s Guesser was no contest, with over 90% of you getting the right answer. I’ll be sure to make next week’s a bit tougher. 

Today’s Wordle has been deliciously on the air the past couple of days. Can you work out what it is?

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• Things are not as they might appear at first glance in this artist’s deliberately subversive work, which plays with themes of religion, femininity, queerness, and bodily expression [Georgia Straight]

• A nearby university’s logo has mysteriously disappeared from their mountain side sign [Burnaby Now]  

• A classic Coal Harbour sushi spot is joining Gordon Ramsay’s namesake steakhouse with a new location just across the river in Richmond [Georgia Straight]

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