Vancouver Park Board outlines Phase 2 of Stanley Park tree removal

The Vancouver Park Board plans to continue removing dead trees from Stanley Park.

Joe McLeod, the associate director of urban forestry with the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation, said the work is necessary to ensure public safety and mitigate wildfire risks.

“We don't want to get to a point where we're gambling with people's lives,” he said.

McLeod said there are about 160,000 dead trees due to the hemlock looper moth, but said only a fraction of those trees will be removed.

In Phase 1 of the work, he said less than 8,000 trees were removed. According to McLeod, Phase 2 will see around 11 per cent of Stanley Park’s forested areas targeted.

“With the passing of time, those trees become more likely to fail.” he said. “And when those trees fail, obviously that's a great deal of mass that could impact a person.”

On Tuesday, the park board voted to continue this plan, despite hearing from dozens of speakers against it. 

At the meeting, Vancouver resident Patrick DuBois said he felt the process lacked transparency and that the park board’s work was creating more harm.

“Dead trees feed the next generation, so removing them – for whatever reason – starves their children so to speak,” he said. “You are interrupting the natural cycle of the forest.”

Christine Thuring, a plant ecologist, also spoke in opposition to the plan.

“I find the methods of logging conducted to date – sorry, risk mitigation – conducted to date to be questionable,” Thuring said.

McLeod is adamant the city is not conducting a logging operation.

“We are purely mitigating risks here because we want to maintain a healthy and ecologically, structurally intact forest for generations to come," he said.

McLeod said the city planted 25,000 trees in the first phase, and adds it plans to plant about 15,000 more.