Red-legged frog (Rana aurora, RAAU) habitat on B.C. Timber Sales’ (BCTS) cutblock TA0521 is the centre-point of an Elphinstone Logging Focus (ELF) call for a “stop work” order and a complaint to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, one authority that provides certification to BCTS. Responses to those reports of suspected wrongdoings related to amphibian habitat on the upper Roberts Creek site are pending.
In an April 8 email, Coast Reporter was notified by ELF that a small information barricade that it set up on the Forest Service road accessing the site was removed. The group stated, "We arrived at the road at 6:30 a.m. today and a small barricade (a few logs and a sign) we placed across the road was thrown aside."
In an April 7 press release, ELF proclaimed "BCTS needs to step back from the brink on this [TA0521] block, immediately inform the contractor that the block has been cancelled and negotiate an out of court settlement.”
What’s happening onsite?
Oceanview Logging was awarded block harvesting rights by BCTS in June 2024. In conversation with Coast Reporter on April 7, firm vice president, Sam Grill stated, “We are taking the necessary precautions as per the regulations to mitigate the [amphibian] habitat.”
Although unwilling to discuss operational details of what has and is scheduled to happen on site, he commented on the resiliency of the amphibian life, especially given that sections within the cutblock were once a rock quarry.
“It is pretty interesting that is what happens; an old quarry that was an industrial worksite has now become habitat for amphibians, which is kinda cool,” he added.
On April 3, ELF provided Coast Reporter photos of signage notifying the public that the area is an “active” site. Muirhead also noted that he and other ELF representatives have been visiting TA0521 since that date and have not seen any logging or road building equipment on the site. The ELF press release states there appear to be ground markings for what could be a helicopter logging operation.
"The letter “H” was spray-painted on the forest service road indicating a future helicopter pad. At least a 1/3 of the trees have been spray painted with the letter ‘P’ signifying trees earmarked as utility poles. The contractor revealed that these trees are destined to a Texas utility company and probably would be heli-logged" that document reads.
As for Grill’s statement regarding precautions taken, Muirhead said BCTS’s red-legged frog protocol requires that entity to extensively monitor an identified habitat over a period of years. While that monitoring is BCTS's (not Oceanview's) responsibility, it has not been done, in his view. He provided a photo of plastic fencing (presumably installed by Oceanview and/or its contractor(s)) in a pond area on the site.
Muirhead noted that habitat of two other frog species has been detected on TA0521 and surrounding areas. He said ELF is reviewing BCTS’s site amphibian study (released April 8) and the full report on the same subject from independent biologist Aimee Mitchell, who was hired by ELF to investigate the habitat, in advance of considering further actions.
Frogs documented in 2024
On June 18, 2024, Muirhead photographed a red-legged frog on the site, which was confirmed by a registered biologist. BCTS was alerted, as that species is “blue” listed on the provincial government’s endangered species list (population vulnerable to changes in habitat). BCTS undertook an amphibian study in August of that year as a precursor to harvesting work commencing.
Muirhead questioned the value of the BCTS study, given that it was conducted in mid to late summer. At that point in the year, amphibian activity is not limited to ponds but is “dispersed," as eggs have hatched and the juveniles have developed to a point where they are no longer living in water.
Mitchell, in an early release of her findings, reported 31 frog egg masses attached to site vegetation in pond areas as of late March 2025. In an April 2 email, Mitchell detailed that each egg mass “is considered the equivalent of one female frog."
“Those ponds were only around four degrees (C) in late March. This is the coldest I have generally detected egg masses being laid. So in that regard, I suspect more egg masses will be laid in the ponds over the next few weeks," she wrote, in support of a delay to the start of logging pending consideration of establishing Wildlife Habitat Area (WHA) for the amphibians.
In her assessment “the population of the RAAU in this area is going to be heavily impacted by the road construction and tree extraction in the area."
BCTS' red-legged frog Management Protocol reads, “If a Red-legged Frog or Western Toad breeding site is identified, the field team staff, in consultation with a biologist, will design a riparian management area around occupied wetlands within the proposed cutblock (of which some will meet wildlife tree retention targets and the rest may be a new reserve)."
Concerns beyond frogs
TA0521 is a 13-hectare site, estimated to contain 13,815 cubic metres of harvestable timber, with 86 per cent of that being Douglas Fir, with 12 per cent Hemlock and the remainder Western Red Cedar.
BCTS delayed the award of the parcel’s harvesting rights following reaction to the June 2023 release of its Phase 3 review of cutblocks in the south Mt. Elphinstone area, conducted by Polar Geoscience. In review of that report, Southern Sunshine Coast residents, ELF and the regional government identified a range of concerns related to impacts from logging activity. Those encompassed questions related to changes to local well water quality and supply levels, as well as drainage and flooding impacts for Highway 101, regional infrastructure and downstream properties, sensitive ecosystems and recreation values.
Representatives of BCTS attended the March 19 meeting of the Elphinstone Community Association to answer members' questions about another cutblock, TA0519 on Mt. Elphinstone.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect the focus of BCTS' appearance at the Elphinstone Community Association meeting.
