Forest firm that cut on private land ordered to pay $80,000

A B.C. forest company has been ordered to pay almost $80,000 in damages after clear-cutting a portion of a Nanaimo-area property.

On Dec. 19, 2014, 45 trees were felled in 45 minutes on a property owned by James and Deborrah Avender.

The couple had received no notice that a feller buncher machine was to cut timber on an adjacent property owned by Tamihi Logging Company Ltd., which has since changed its name to Western Canadian Timber Products Ltd.

In addition to harvesting timber from the Tamihi property, the machine operator cut the trees on the Avender property.

“On her return from her morning walk, Ms. Avender was shocked to see the large machine clearcutting a portion of her property,” B.C. Supreme Court Justice Bruce Butler said in his ruling.

The defendants initially denied their operator had cut down the trees, but several months later admitted they had done so.

The couple argued at trial that the defendants’ actions were reckless and careless, amounting to a gross negligence, and that the trespass on their land was wilful, intentional and with a purpose.

The defendants denied they intentionally cut the trees, arguing their action was inadvertent.

But the judge said that the plaintiffs’ characterization accurately described the trespass.

“I have no hesitation concluding that the defendants’ approach to determining the property boundaries for the purpose of cutting timber was careless and reckless,” said the judge.

The judge said it would have been a simple matter for the company to obtain a survey plan.

Butler ordered Western to pay $16,239 for the cost of debris removal and initial restoration, minus the sum received from the sale of the logs, leaving the net award under that heading at $12,012.

He awarded $17,500 for the cost of buying and planting trees and shrubs for restoration of the site, $5,125 for future plant restoration and $25,000 for the plaintiffs’ loss of amenities. The judge also awarded $20,000 in punitive damages.

“Here, deterrence of the defendants is an important objective. Western operates a successful logging business and the award must be sufficient to deter it and other similar enterprises from cutting trees without any reasonable steps to find out if they have any right to do so.”