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Lesson 6: Evolution of Karst Management in B.C.

Last updated on January 30, 2024

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Lesson objectives

This lesson outlines some of the key events in the history of karst management in the province over the last 200 years. Understanding the evolution of karst management in B.C. can broaden one's overall understanding of the current legal and non-legal management framework. By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

  • Explain why forestry is the main driver of karst management in B.C.
  • Name and briefly describe the work of some of the karst scientists who have conducted research in B.C.
  • Describe how karst management in B.C. shifted from a focus on recreational caving toward a science-based ecological approach over time
  • List the six natural resource districts in B.C. with Government Actions Regulation (GAR) Orders for karst

Early history

Humans have interacted with karst ecosystems across B.C. for thousands of years. Over the last 200 years or so, the most wide-ranging and intensive land use in the province’s forested karst areas has been timber harvesting.

Timber harvesting in B.C. have been the driver of the province’s current karst management system. The sections below describe how this system evolved and provide a chronology of some of the important events in its evolution.

19th century

Timber harvesting in B.C. goes back to the 1820s. In the beginning, the timber cut was used mainly for ship masts. Early timber harvesting took place close to logging railways or the few upcountry roads. The logs were then transported to coastal waterways. By the late 1800s, many new sawmills were established in southwestern B.C. for lumber exports.

Timber was cut in some karst areas throughout this early period. Karst landscapes were recognized for their unevenness and a general lack of surface streams. Although the loggers would notice disappearing streams, dolines (karst sinkholes), and karst springs, it was caves that attracted the most attention.

First half of the 20th century

More sawmilling capacity was added and the first pulp mills in the province appeared just after the beginning of the new century. Timber harvesting was occurring in more areas of B.C., including areas of karst.

For most of the 20th century, the karst in B.C. was better known for its caves. The Nakimu Caves in the Selkirk Mountains achieved considerable North American fame as a tourist destination in the very early 1900s. A handful of other karst caves in B.C. were known more locally or regionally and visited on a casual basis.

While some visitors to these caves may have appreciated scenic surface karst landforms, especially those linked with known caves, karst canyons or karst springs, then, as now, the term “karst” was unfamiliar to many B.C. residents. Around 1894, geologists and geographers worldwide began to use the term ‘karst’ to refer to these landforms as typified by the “Classical Karst” region near Trieste.

The 1950s

In the second half of the 20th century, a growing demand for forest products, along with more mechanization and a developing road network saw increasing timber harvesting in the province, including in karst areas.  There were generally no special management considerations for caves and karst resources in B.C. in the 1950s. Most British Columbians remained unfamiliar with karst, but by the mid 1950s, the first small groups began exploring karst caves on Vancouver Island as a semi-regular recreational pastime.

The 1960s

The 1960s saw a growing public awareness of environmental issues and the interconnectedness of the natural world.  During this decade, a few individuals interested in exploring karst caves for recreation on a more regular basis established themselves as caving groups or societies on Vancouver Island. Early concerns about timber harvesting around cave entrances were beginning to be voiced, but the wider values and ecosystem functions associated with karst were generally not recognized.

The 1970s

By the early 1970s, systematic exploration of caves had become established as an organized activity in B.C., especially on Vancouver Island, where favorable carbonate geology and a rapidly developing network of logging roads made it easier to conduct more wide-ranging investigations of karst areas for caves.

During the 1970s, management efforts focused on caves with recreational value or commercial tourism potential.  However, concerns increased regarding the effects of clearcutting in areas of known caves, as well as regarding the lack of protection for karst environments beyond known cave sites. 

The 1980s

Concerns about harvesting impacts in B.C. karst areas continued to increase in the 1980s. The earliest draft guidance documents written by the B.C. Ministry of Forests during this period still focused on the management of caves and recreation.  

The following policy papers and publications were released:

  • Cave Resources in British Columbia: A Discussion Paper (The B.C. Ministry of Lands, Parks and Housing,  January 1980)
  • A Statement of Crown Land Cave Policy and Administration (1981). This was the first cave policy for British Columbia
  • Cave Management Policy (B.C. Ministry of Forests, March 1981). This policy provides guidelines for “timber harvesting in karst areas,” which focused on land areas above caves.
  • A Method to Manage the Cave/Karst Resources within Provincial Forests, draft (Ministry of Forests ,1983)
  • Cave and Karst Management in Provincial Forests, Ministry of Forests, Vancouver Region, draft (Ministry of Forests, 1986)
  • Terrain Inventory and Geological Hazards, Northern Vancouver Island (B.C. Ministry of Environment,1981). The report describes soil loss and road issues in karst areas.

The need for karst research in forested settings in B.C. attracted the attention of the renowned karst geomorphologist and geographer Derek Ford of McMaster University and his graduate students. The work of Ford and his students represented the first formal sustained karst research in the intensive forestry areas of the province:

  • Paul Mills of McMaster University began his academic study of karst hydrogeology in the Benson River drainage on Vancouver Island (1980)
  • Mel Gascoyne and his colleagues conducted isotopic analyses on speleothem calcite from Vancouver Island caves to yield palaeoclimate records (1981)
  • Kevin Ecock of McMaster University began his academic study of the hydrology of the White Ridge, a karst area with forested slopes on Vancouver Island (1983)
  • Kathleen Harding of McMaster University began her academic study of soil loss at karst sites on Northern Vancouver Island (1986)
  • Kathleen Gladysz of McMaster University studied the surface karst relief features at deforested Vancouver Island karst sites (1986)

​The 1990s

In the early 1990s, the emphasis on caves and recreational use continued.  The following policy papers were released by the provincial government:

In 1994, the forest management scope expanded with the release of:

The following research paper was published:

In 1995, with the enactment of the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act, the definition of forest resources was expanded to cover recreation resources, including caves and karst features. This helped to inspire several new initiatives that began to shift B.C.’s focus beyond the recreational value of caves.

In 1997, B.C. undertook several initiatives towards a more holistic ecosystem-based approach to managing karst in the province.   One of these initiatives included the development of a booklet: Karst in British Columbia: A Complex Landscape Sculpted by Water, and a companion wall poster.  These accompanied the Ministry of Forests' presentation at the US-Canada karst management symposium in Bellingham, Washington.  As well, work began on developing best management practices for conducting forestry operations in karst areas, which would form part of the draft 1997 version of the “Karst Management Handbook for British Columbia.”

The Ministry of Forests also established a provincial karst working group/task force to assist in the development of karst inventory standards, vulnerability assessment procedures, and best management practices.

​​The 2000s

The following key provincial karst guidance documents were finalized with input from internationally recognized karst scientists as well as the B.C. forest industry:

With the introduction of the Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA) in 2004, the "professional reliance" model replaced the government oversight of the previous Forest Practices Code regime. Under professional reliance, registered forest professionals became accountable for forest management decisions about karst.

Under FRPA, the Government Actions Regulation (GAR) and the Forest Planning and Practices Regulation (FPPR) were passed. For karst, GAR provides for orders to be made identifying surface or subsurface elements of a karst system as "resource features" in a specified geographic area. Karst system elements designated as resource features under a GAR Order are legally prohibited from being damaged under Section 70(1) of the FPPR.  

The following 5 GAR Orders were established in the first decade of the 2000s:

The Forest and Range Evaluation Program (FREP) was also initiated under FRPA.  FREP’s purpose is to measure the effectiveness of forest and range practices by monitoring and evaluating the condition of the eleven resource values under the FRPA, including karst. Work to define indicators for monitoring the condition of karst after timber harvesting operations began in the early part of this decade.

In research, the following studies were initiated:

  • Feride Serefiddin of McMaster University began her doctoral research into developing paleoclimate records from water extracted from speleothem calcite at Vancouver Island forested karst sites (July 2000)
  • Ren Zhang of McMaster University and his colleagues reconstructed a Holocene palaeotemperature record using speleothem calcite from Vancouver Island karst sites (2008)

In 2007, the Forest Practices Board produced the report:

​​The 2010s

The 2010s began with two more district karst GAR Orders in coastal B.C.:

The first Land Use Objectives Order in the province to address karst features specifically was issued:

Legal protection for karst as a resource feature was provided for in the oil and gas activities sector:

Also at the start of this decade, work continued to field test and refine the FREP karst monitoring indicators. There was a renewed effort to finalize the indicators and monitoring protocol into the second half of the decade.

The following research was completed in this decade:

  • Morphometry and basic ecological characteristics of dolines in unlogged temperate rainforest karst landscapes of Northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. (Carol Ramsey, 2015, PhD thesis, Karst Research Institute in Postojna, Slovenia)

The following publications were released:

​​​ ​The 2020s

Work continued in the early 2020s toward completion of the FREP karst monitoring protocol.

Additionally, the following research was completed in this decade:

  • Managing karst in Coastal British Columbia, Canada: systems and implementation results. (Paul Griffiths, 2020, PhD thesis, Karst Research Institute in Postojna, Slovenia)

Test your knowledge

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Self-test (True/False)

Answer either True or False to check your understanding:

1.  A more holistic and ecosystem-based approach to karst management in B.C. is exemplified in the following publications:

  1. Karst in British Columbia: A Complex Landscape Sculpted by Water, and a companion wall poster (Ministry of Forests, 1997)
  2. Karst Inventory Standards and Vulnerability Assessment Procedures for British Columbia (KISVAP) (Ministry of Forests, 2003)
  3. The Karst Management Handbook for British Columbia (Ministry of Forests, 2003)

2.  With the introduction of the Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA) and the two regulations, the Government Actions Regulation (GAR) and Forest Planning and Practices Regulation (FPPR), karst automatically became protected as a “resource feature”.

 

Answers

1.  True. These documents describe or consider the inherent sensitivity of karst landscapes, as well as the different values associated with them.  All three publications were produced by the Ministry of Forests with input from karst scientists. The last two publications also included input from the B.C. forest industry. 

2.  False. FRPA and the regulations do not automatically provide for special management of karst.  Rather, the GAR may be used to establish an Order identifying certain aspects of karst as “resource features”.  Once established under a GAR Order, these resource features must be protected from damage via Section 70(1) of the FPPR.  Six karst GAR Orders have been established, for the following Natural Resource Districts:

  • Haida Gwaii
  • North Island – Central Coast
  • South Island
  • Campbell River
  • Sunshine Coast
  • Chilliwack

 

 Go to Lesson 7: Managing Karst in BC