Logging, forest loss may have awakened ancient B.C. landslides, at cost of about $1B
A series of ancient landslides have been “reawakened” in British Columbia’s Cariboo region, costing hundreds of millions in federal disaster assistance funds and prompting warnings thatlogging is connected to the problem.
The slides and flooding in spring of 2020 and 2021 washed out roadways surrounding Quesnel, where geotechnical studies have also linked ongoing land movement beneath hundreds of homes with historic, slow-moving landslides.
The financial scale of the problem is revealed in a document obtained through a freedom of information request, showing the B.C. government estimated that damage caused by the landslides throughout the Cariboo would be eligible for federal disaster assistance of $995 million.
The briefing note was prepared for B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth in December 2021.