The Bear Bay Stewardship Alliance (BBSA) was formed to block BC Timber Sales from auctioning off Bear Bay Forest to private logging firms. The ministry of Environment identified Bear Bay Forest as containing the only “Old Forest” ecosystem in Pender Harbour. Once making up the majority of forest ecosystems on the coast, old growth forests are now a rare commodity and what's left deserves protection.

The proposed 22.3 hectare (55 acre) cut-block off Bear Bay Road had it's boundaries flagged by BC Timber Sales and was put up for auction on October 7th, 2009. 18 hectares of Bear Bay Forest was auctioned off on October 28th, and road building and logging in Bear Bay Forest commenced shortly after.

Inside the cut-block is four recorded ecosystems; Riparian, Mature Forests, Woodlands and Old Forest. This represents Pender Harbour's highest diversity of ecosystems within an area of this size. It is also home to the last remaining “Old Forest” stand from Pender Harbour to Trout Lake in Halfmoon Bay.

Roughly 100meters from the proposed logging road lies Mixal Creek. Mixal Creek is the only waterway that connects Sakinaw Lk, Hotel Lk, Catherine Lk, Mixal Lk and Garden Bay Lk together. Coho Salmon and Trout use this waterway to access these lakes and to spawn. In recent years, Mixal Creek has seen a drastic decline in numbers of returning Coho Salmon and as a result Ministry of Ocean and Fisheries has begun closely monitoring and making improvements to the creek to encourage a healthy Salmon population.