Landslide mitigation to protect salmon habitat begins at B.C. First Nation

UCLUELET – A First Nation in British Columbia has partnered with an environmental group to try to mitigate the harms of a massive landslide — known locally as “Big Bertha” — on salmon-bearing streams in the area.

The Redd Fish Restoration Society says in a statement that it is partnering with Hesquiaht First Nation on Vancouver Island’s west coast to stabilize and prevent further erosion from the slide, which is sending sediment into local streams and degrading salmon habitat.

The slide is described by Redd Fish as “logging-related” and the first slide happened in 1999, although the group says more than 490 slides have happened since then on unstable terrain covering 430 hectares.

Society director Jessica Hutchinson says the slope has been “a source of ongoing damage” for local streams as the sediment smothers spawning beds and degrades aquatic habitat.

Hutchinson says the there had been work to stabilize about 9.5 hectares at the top of the slope when the first slide happened decades ago, and the renewed effort will involve recontouring slopes to improve stability, while bush is planted to prevent further erosion.

Drone monitoring of the site — located about 300 kilometres northwest of Victoria — will also track erosion and habitat recovery in an effort to prevent further slides through natural means.

“Being back here now, continuing that work alongside Hesquiaht First Nation, is a reminder that restoration doesn’t happen all at once,” Hutchinson says. “It takes decades of commitment and investment to truly heal these landscapes.”

Additional work will also involves planting trees and vegetation, as well as seeding exposed areas of the slope, to rebuild the soil and reduce the flow of sediments into local streams.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 15, 2026.