(Editor’s note: This story contains images of dead cows that some people may find disturbing.)
The British Columbia government has recommended fines for those responsible for the deaths of more than a dozen cows last fall, but the Ministry of Environment and Parks has not said exactly who investigators believe is responsible for poisoning at least 13 cows in the province’s interior.
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The incident sparked a public outcry in October last year after photos of the dead cow began circulating on social media. The cow belonged to a rancher in the Quesnel area and is believed to have been poisoned after ingesting nitrogen fertilizer meant to promote timber growth.
B.C.’s Ministry of Forests told The Tyee that laboratory analysis of the manure and animal tissue is still being completed.
“Pending the results, we are enhancing our cleaning procedures, retraining our workers, and reviewing handling and safety procedures at all sites to prevent future incidents,” a spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of the Environment announced that an investigation under the Environmental Management Act had concluded, with recommendations for administrative penalties, which are fines, to be imposed on individuals or companies suspected of violating regulatory requirements.
As part of its forest nutrient management program, the Ministry of Forestry hires contractors to use helicopters to spread fertilizer. British Columbia first began fertilizing coastal Douglas fir forests in 1978, and expanded the program to include inland forests in the 1980s.
The state touts the program’s economic and environmental benefits, saying that growing trees faster increases carbon sequestration and fosters forestry jobs. Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for crops, but in high concentrations it is toxic to humans and animals.
The ministry would not confirm whether fines have been imposed on contractors hired to spread the fertilizer, nor did it release the names of the contractors. Those facing administrative penalties can appeal to B.C.’s Environmental Appeals Board within 30 days and will have the opportunity to be heard through an administrative hearing.
A final decision is expected to be made in the coming months and will be posted on the state’s Natural Resources Compliance and Enforcement Database, the department said. Typically, companies are identified at that time.
Helicopters will be used to transport the fertilizer to replenishment stations, where it can be applied to BC’s interior forests.
Photo by Cole Russell.
In recent years, the state has fertilized about 30,000 hectares of forest each year and paid about $20 million a year to buy and manage forest nutrients, according to its annual report.
It is unclear whether last fall’s cattle deaths were due to a spill that may have occurred during the replenishment of the helicopter used to distribute fertilizer or from water contamination.
Following the October cattle death, Kevin Boone, general manager of the BC Livestock Association, told CBC that fertilizer pellets spilled at replenishment sites could be ingested by cattle and “possibly some wildlife.”
“There was enough of it out there that these cows ingested it and got sick and died,” Boone said.
Although grazing periods typically overlap with forestry operations, contractors distributing fertilizer typically begin work after cattle are removed for the season, Boone said. In this case, he said the deaths occurred about two weeks before the rancher’s grazing permit was set to end in mid-October.
He estimated the cost to ranchers could be up to $80,000.
A Forestry Ministry spokesperson said negotiations were continuing on compensation for ranchers.
Officials believe nitrogen fertilizer was responsible for the poisoning of at least 13 cows near Quesnel last fall.
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The B.C. Cattlemen’s Association declined The Tyee’s recent interview request, saying in an email that it had no further updates.
“Typically, when an incident like this occurs, it is an isolated incident and all parties take additional precautions to ensure it does not happen again,” communications manager Julie-Ann Pujaro wrote.
Prince George resident James Steidle, an activist with Stop the Spray BC, a group that opposes the use of the herbicide glyphosate in British Columbia’s forests, said he fears the poisoning was due to standard forestry practices rather than an accident.
“The rancher in that situation didn’t see the pile of manure, so he thought the amount of manure scattered by the rain might have collected in puddles where the cows drank,” he said.
Steidle told The Tyee that the dead cows were found spread out over a kilometer and appeared to have been poisoned in multiple locations.
“This chemical fertilizer is being distributed in large quantities to public forests, and it’s definitely going to impact wildlife,” he told The Tyee. “To just describe it as some type of contractor oversight, I don’t think that’s a fair representation of the problem.”
Steidl added that it would be unfair to penalize a contractor when the contractor is “just doing the same thing that everyone else is doing.”
In an email to The Tyee, the Forestry Department said the incident was “isolated” and there was no risk of contamination to water bodies.
A spokesperson said, “In this incident, we determined that the cows ingested fertilizer from the ground or rain puddles.”
Nitrogen fertilizer pellets are used in B.C.’s forests to promote the growth of trees that will eventually be harvested.
Photo: James Steidle.
The ministry’s forest nutrient management standards stipulate that fertilizer must be placed into a sprayer at least 10 meters away from a body of water. In the event of a spill, operations must be shut down and the fertilizer removed the same day.
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There is also an obligation to immediately report any leaks.
B.C.’s Ministry of Forests said the standard was last updated in November 2024 and “was in place long before this incident occurred.” The report said minor changes to hand insemination made in July last year were unrelated to the cow incident.
“While the updated Forest Nutrition Policy was not developed with recent events in mind, it will be further reviewed this fall,” Forest Investment Reporting Director Reece McKenzie wrote in an October 13, 2025 email to department staff and several forestry consultants employed by the multinational PricewaterhouseCoopers. This internal email was obtained by The Tyee through a Freedom of Information request.
British Columbia’s Ministry of Forestry has collected approximately 2,000 pages of records in response to a freedom of information request from The Tyee regarding communications related to the cattle poisoning incident. However, only 94 pages were released, most of which were unrelated to the case. The remaining pages were not made public under laws protecting law enforcement activities. 
