Stories

Help impact Premier Doerkson’s priorities over the next four years

November, 2026

By Joelle Burnie, Sierra Club BC Forest Campaigner

On election day a week ago, I walked through one of my favourite old-growth forests with 100 other community members.

The forest is called Cai Creek, a beloved place with 300+ year-old trees and is home to the largest ponderosa pine in B.C., named Lieutenant Dan (pictured below). In 2020, B.C. Timber Sales (BCTS) mapped this area for logging. Despite the Technical Advisory Panel identifying this forest as a 70 to 80 percent intact watershed and worth protecting, BCTS auctioned it off to a logging company in 2025.

This past week the community got news that road building had begun, and in a matter of days, they would begin clearcutting many areas of the forest. So, this might have been the last chance to visit this original forest.

Leading up to this walk I was feeling sad, angry, frustrated, and incredibly defeated.

But seeing 100 people show up at Cai Creek with two days’ notice ignited a new sense of hope within me. It reminded me that regardless of what party gets elected, the real power lies within people, organizing, and community building. And if future generations have any chance of seeing these beautiful ecosystems, it’s up to us to keep advocating for change.

Where to start

When the election results came that evening, I felt disappointed, but I also felt empowered and ready to keep advocating for our forests, climate, and biodiversity.

Here’s where we can start.

Over the next few weeks, the newly elected provincial government will be determining Minsters and developing mandate letters that outline their priorities over the next four years. This is our opportunity to push for biodiversity, old growth and primary forest protection, demand climate action, and ensure Indigenous peoples are included in decision making.

Send an email to Premier-elect Lorne Doerkson at premier@gov.bc.ca urging his government to:

Enact a law to protect biodiversity in B.C.
Stop clearcutting old growth and primary forests
Commit to protecting communities by reducing climate pollution

Help us send 300 emails!

Make sure to bcc me (this means that my email remains hidden from the recipient), joelle@sierraclub.bc.ca in your email so I can track how many folks participate.

It’s important to take care of ourselves during this time, to grieve, and to take the rest we need. But it’s even more important to keep going.

We’re in this together.