Tree spiking a criminal act putting workers’ lives at risk
SEP 23, 2022
We’ve been detecting a large number of spiked trees coming from Tree Farm Licence 46 on Vancouver Island in recent weeks.
We have measures in place to detect these logs and pull them out of milling. On Monday, September 19, 2022 one spiked log made it through. The spike hit a saw blade, destroying the saw and very nearly hitting our sawyer. He could have been killed.
Tree spiking is a dangerous criminal activity meant to maim or kill forestry workers. There can be no justification for that. We’ve also been finding bundles of spikes stashed in the area around blockaders’ camps. The blockaders have hiked in to remote parts of Tree Farm Licence 46 and blocked culverts to flood and damage roads, dug into roads to undermine bridges, sabotaged helicopter landing pads, vandalized equipment, and spread nails on roads. In one troubling instance last year they stopped a vehicle of tree planters on their way to work, held them, and insisted they be allowed to search the tree planters’ vehicle. They support their violent and threatening antics with a sophisticated and well-funded misinformation campaign.
Teal Jones is a value-added miller and manufacturer. Our work in Tree Farm Licence 46 is responsible, consistent with all provincial regulations, our voluntary third-party certifications, and engagement with local First Nations. Our work in the area supports hundreds of good jobs while providing the materials needed for numerous products we all rely on every day.
In Canada we value the freedom to peacefully protest and engage in vigorous debate about issues of public import. But when activists engage in dangerous criminal activity, we must take a stand and be clear that their violent antics will not tolerated. To that end, we have engaged RCMP and the courts.