‘We tried to negotiate’: Lawsuit launched over Stanley Park tree removal

A group of four Vancouverites is suing the city over its controversial move to cut down thousands of trees in Stanley Park.

The Vancouver Park Board began removing the trees in late 2023, saying they were dead or dying because of a hemlock looper moth infestation. So far, about 7,200 trees have been cut down.

The 26-page civil suit, filed Thursday, alleges negligence on the part of the park board, the City of Vancouver, the city’s urban forestry manager and consulting group Blackwell and Associates.

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“We tried to negotiate, we tried to convince the city of Vancouver, the park board to stop the logging, we haven’t been able to do it,” said Michael Caditz, one of the four self-represented plaintiffs.

“We believe very strongly that the defendants … have been negligent in conducting a logging operation in Stanley Park which is aiming to remove 160,000 trees, which is about one-third of the trees in Stanley Park.”

The suit claims park board staff went ahead with the plan to log the park without the proper approval from the elected members of the board.

It claims staff failed to cite “credible science” for why the removal is necessary, and made “no attempt to employ … less-extreme methods” or “obtain corroborating opinions” from experts other than Blackwell.

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The logging process began, it claims, before the city received a proper assessment.

It also claims Blackwell offered “defective” assessments and is both overseeing the project and profiting from the logging operation.

Caditz further alleged the work itself is increasing the danger to the public.

“The research is very clear, the scientific consensus is that the more trees you cut from a forest the more dangerous that forest becomes,” he said.

“With their logging process, they have deposited fine fuels on the ground … they have left fallen trees and dead branches on the ground, those are now a fire hazard.”

None of the defendants have filed their responses, and none of the claims have been proven in court.

The City of Vancouver said it could not comment as it had not yet seen the statement of claim. A representative from Blackwell was not available on Thursday.

The group says they’re also hoping to obtain an injunction to halt the logging while the lawsuit is heard.