Wildsight brought storytelling, science, and some much-needed honesty to Fernie this week as residents gathered to explore the growing link between clearcut logging in B.C. and the increasing frequency of floods, landslides, and droughts. The evening centred around Trouble in the Headwaters, a 25-minute documentary by filmmaker Daniel J. Pierce, and was followed by a panel discussion with Pierce, UBC forest hydrologist Dr. Younes Alila, and Wildsight’s Eddie Petryshen.
I attended the event, and like many in the room, I walked away with a clearer understanding of what has happened in our own watershed — and what it will take to protect it.
Trouble in the Headwaters investigates the devastating 2018 flood in Grand Forks, where more than 100 families were displaced and millions were spent on flood infrastructure. Despite the repairs, floods remain a looming threat. The film looks upstream for answers, following Dr. Alila as he tracks the cumulative hydrological impact of extensive clearcutting in the Kettle River watershed.
Two-thirds of that watershed has been harvested in the past 30 years — a pattern Pierce noted is repeated across the province, including the Elk Valley.
“What is happening in the Kettle River basin is typical of what has been happening and will continue to happen for decades in other drainages across all of B.C.,” Alila told the audience.
Dr. Alila’s decades of research has pushed back on conventional forestry hydrology, which he argues underestimates how dramatically clearcuts can influence flooding. His published work suggests that when forest cover is removed at large scales, the frequency of major flood events increases — and that watershed recovery can take more than 100 years.
Wildsight’s Eddie Petryshen echoed the urgency: “Across our province we cannot continue to clearcut at the expense of our water and our ecosystems. We are clearcutting our way out of forestry jobs because we have taken far too much, for far too long.”
Petryshen tied the science directly to the Elk Valley, noting that the Coal Creek watershed — critical to Fernie’s flood resilience — will now begin healing from a decade of intensive harvesting.
One bright spot highlighted during the discussion was the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s purchase of the Doman lands — the largest conservation win in the valley in decades. These lands are essential for grizzly habitat, wintering ungulates, trout populations, and downstream communities.
But the broader message of the evening was clear: forest management in B.C. is at a crossroads, and communities like Fernie are feeling the consequences of decisions made far upstream.
Climate change plays a role in increasing extreme weather. But both Pierce and Alila emphasized that industrial forestry — specifically clearcutting — is a major and often overlooked driver of worsening floods, droughts, and landslides.
Dr. Alila pointed to a growing number of class-action lawsuits that could reshape the conversation. Residents of Grand Forks, Chemainus, and other communities are suing governments and forestry companies, alleging that overharvesting contributed directly to flood damage.
Pierce shared a broader vision: massive national investment in forest restoration — not as an environmental luxury, but a practical necessity.
“Right now, we’re spending untold billions responding to wildfires and floods,” he said. “If we invested even half of that in restoring forests to reduce these risks, it would pay dividends for generations.”
The take-home message from the night was both sobering and hopeful. Fernie’s watersheds are vulnerable, but they’re also a place where informed citizens, science, and local action can still make a difference.
We can’t undo decades of logging overnight — but we can choose to understand, prepare, and push for better management going forward.
Photo: Eddie Petryshen
