The Great Land Grab

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - Behind every great fortune lies a great crime.” — Honoré de Balzac

On the 21st of January 2022, a notice appeared in Cortes Tideline, from Mosaic (a “forest management corporation” which handles logistics for TimberWest and Island Timberlands). The gist of it was captured in one sentence: “As we have now been able to spend some time becoming familiar with our private managed forest lands on Cortes Island, we would like to share details of our draft three-year plan with those interested from communities on Cortes Island.”

Mosaic was careful to include the important word “private” in their announcement — a reminder that some 9 percent of Cortes forest land is still owned by private timber companies (not Crown land), and that (since 2003 at least) “privately managed forest lands” are a different kettle of fish.

Most coastal residents are aware, on some level, that vast tracts of BC are privately owned by timber companies, whereas other tracts of land are “Crown land” where logging takes place under licence. Few, however, are aware of how that situation — and the inconsistent policies and rules governing the two different land types — came about.

Back in 1871, BC joined the Canadian Confederation. At the time, rail was the dominant mode of land transport and essential to the prosperity of the resource extraction zone which comprised the entire coastal region. Mining and forestry in particular relied on rail transport to get goods to market. Clause II of the Terms of Union gave the federal government a huge swath of provincial land along proposed BC rail lines — locally, about 20 percent of Vancouver island.

A goodly chunk of these acres shortly afterwards became the infamous Esquimalt and Nanaimo (E&N) land grant (known to many as the Great Land Grab). This history should not be forgotten: it underlies today’s conflicts over land rights as well as forestry impacts and practise. Coincidentally or not, the land grant region coincides with the best Douglas Fir habitat on the island. How did a railway company get hold of such an enormous landbase full of the most valuable timber?

In order to “connect the seaboard of BC with the railway system of Canada,” the federal government agreed in the 1870’s to contribute $100,000 annually towards the construction of a railway. BC then agreed to grant about 800,000 acres of land, plus $750,000, to any company that would construct a railroad on Vancouver Island. Needless to say, this enormous carrot mostly benefited the wealthiest in the land: the man who scooped up the extraordinary sweetheart deal was none other than Robert Dunsmuir, the coal baron. (see End Notes)