Article by Dr. Keith Martin

Member of Parliament (MP) Keith Martin’s Excellent Article to Protect the Avatar Grove and Expand Pacific Rim National Park Reserve

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Following a trip to visit Avatar Grove and nearby clearcuts in the Gordon River Valley with Ancient Forest Alliance campaigners TJ Watt and Brendan Harry, Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca federal Liberal MP Dr. Keith Martin wrote to the Times Colonist to express his ardent support for the protection of the old-growth forests on southern Vancouver Island. Martin has proposed the expansion of the boundaries of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve to include much of the remaining unprotected old growth stands on the South Island.

Read Keith Martin’s article here: https://16.52.162.165/news-item.php?ID=107

***Please WRITE a LETTER to Keith Martin to give him GREAT THANKS for his support for ancient forest protection and for his excellent proposal! Contact: Honourable Keith Martin, MP for Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca: MartiK1A@parl.gc.ca

In addition, please WRITE to your own MP (https://www.215pledge.ca/write-a-letter/) asking them to support Martin’s proposal.

***Be sure to include your home mailing address so they know you are a real person!

A waterfall cascades through the old-growth redcedars in the endagered Avatar Grove.

The Week, August 12-18

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Despite the presence of ancient Red cedars and evidence of karst formations under the forest floor, the provincial forest ministry appears to see no need to protect the stand of trees north of Port Renfrew dubbed Avatar Grove.

The ministry recently rejected a proposal by the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce and the Sooke Regional Tourism Association to protect the grove in its entirety, arguing that 24 percent of the grove is in an old-growth management area, and that is sufficient protection.

In response, the Ancient Forest Alliance sent out a communique that reads in part, “The Avatar Grove is like the Cathedral Grove of Port Renfrew . . . If the Avatar Grove falls, Port Renfrew and southern Vancouver Island won’t get another chance like this for another thousand years.”

Meanwhile, the Vancouver Island Community Forest Action Network—which has recently mapped the Baird Creek area where the grove stands and claims existence of karst formations—appears to be hatching an action plan.

“In light of the statements by your staff, we will . . . discuss our potential response if the ministry should issue a permit to log Avatar Grove,” the group says.

Lower Avatar Grove

B.C. environmentalists fight to preserve Avatar Grove

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When two forest activists were rooting around for ancient trees along southwest Vancouver Island’s logging roads in December, the pair made an unexpected discovery.

Just a five-minute walk from the road, centuries-old hemlocks, red cedars, firs and an identified evergreen that’s been dubbed Canada’s “gnarliest tree,” stood untouched in a 10-hectare setting, about a 15-minute drive from the village of Port Renfrew.

“How did this get missed?” wondered Ken Wu, who happened upon the site with photographer TJ Watt.

Stunned that the area hadn’t been logged, within a few weeks Mr. Wu, along with other environmentalists, founded the Victoria-based Ancient Forest Alliance, today numbering 8,000 members.

Soon after, Avatar Grove was born.

The Grove has rapidly become the AFA’s “poster child” for old-growth preservation, said AFA campaigner Brendan Harry.

Choosing the name Avatar Grove was a deliberate move to engage the masses that had seen Avatar, one of most-viewed movies in history.

“We use what’s in the culture to reach people,” said Mr. Wu, 36, whose activism began two decades ago in high school.

A previous “save the forest” campaign piggybacked on The Lord of the Rings movies, he said.

As for Avatar, it’s pretty bang-on about respecting the diversity of the natural world, Mr. Wu said.

“The film is a hugely popular expression to save old growth. In the movie, they blow up the forest. Here they cut them down.”

About two months ago, Mr. Wu sent Avatar director, Canadian James Cameron, an invitation to visit Avatar Grove. He hasn’t responded.

Attempts to reach Mr. Cameron (travelling outside North America) via his Hollywood agent Beth Swofford were unsuccessful.

Avatar, in fact, has become the go-to word activated by activists around the world who protest against environmental degradation.

In Toronto on Aug. 13, activists assembled to protest against possible logging of old growth trees on Cortes Island, off mainland B.C.’s west coast.

The name of the forest? Avatar Woods.

Beyond media attention, the AFA wants B.C.’s Ministry of Forests to establish a land-use order to make Avatar Grove and the surrounding 90 hectares, off limits to logging. It’s also calling for the protection of all endangered old-growth on the Island, the Lower Mainland and the Southern Interior, Mr. Harry said.

According to Ministry of Forests spokeswoman Cheekwan Ho, one quarter of Avatar Grove sits in an Old Growth Management Area, which means that portion is protected.

A professional forester with Surrey-based logging company Teal-Jones Group, which owns Avatar Grove, part of its 60,000-hectare Tree Farm Licence 46, said environmental movements don’t seem to mind naming things that aren’t their property.

“It’s their way of identifying a grove of trees in order to get the public interested,” said John Pichugin.

Teal-Jones has not decided whether Avatar Grove will be logged. While the area has been flagged and surveyed, applications have not been made for permits to cut, Mr. Pichugin said.

A wilderness-tour operator maintains that Avatar Grove doesn’t need saving.

“It’s mainly diseased hemlocks in a piece of shit forest,” said Greg Klem.

He has produced the Avafraud Fact Sheet, which he distributes around Port Renfrew.

“People want to save a postage-stamp-size grove. Why save that? I’m all for saving old-growth trees but let’s save something decent. Not this rat’s nest,” said Mr. Klem, who after 15 years of living in Port Renfrew has intimate knowledge of area forests.

Using the phrase Avatar Grove is a marketing scheme, Mr. Klem said. There are far better examples of non-diseased, old-growth forest nearby that would drop the jaws of visitors.

The Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce and Mr. Klem, who is the vice-president, are at loggerheads.

The rest of the chamber favours the promotion and protection of Avatar Grove because it has been good for local businesses.

“There’s been a substantial increase in tourist traffic,” said Tim Cash, co-owner of Soule Creek Lodge and a Chamber director.

He attributes at least 20 recent stays at his lodge by people coming specifically to see Avatar Grove. The transplanted Torontonian also anticipates visitors will continue treks to Avatar Grove year-round, beneficial to businesses that typically suffer seasonal dry spells.

One seven-person group of guests from the Netherlands and Germany intend to write the province to ask that Avatar Grove not be logged, Mr. Cash said.

Teal-Jones is open to alternate strategies, such as a land swap, to save the old-growth specimens, Mr. Pichugin said.

In the Port Renfrew area, 19,000 hectares of forest are protected, part of 438,000 hectares on Vancouver Island that are in protected areas or parks. Another 38,779 hectares on the Island were identified for possible protection in July, according to ministry spokeswoman Ms. Ho.

Zoe Miles speaking to a crowd of support during an Avatar flash mob in downtown Toronto to help protect BC's endangered ancient forests.

Zoe Miles comes to Toronto to save B.C.’s ‘Avatar Woods’

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This protest by Cortes Island activist Zoe Miles and MTV’s Buried Life in downtown Toronto had an Avatar theme, and their focus was on saving the old-growth forests of BC with a particular emphasis on the old-growth Douglas fir stands of Cortes Island (which they dubbed the “Avatar Woods”, not to be confused with the “Avatar Grove” near Port Renfrew). We thank them for doing this! – Ancient Forest Alliance

When Zoe Miles came home from university this summer she found that the forest in her hometown of Cortes Island had been brought and tagged for logging. The land was brought by a company in Toronto.

Today Zoe and members of the MTV docu-show The Buried Life stood outside of Brookfield Place on Toronto’s Bay Street asking to be heard.

Bay Street’s Brookfield Place was the location of about 100 young people dressed in blue this morning protesting the plans of Brookfield Asset Management to log a part of Cortes Island.

The blue group envisioned the movie Avatar for their protest. Why? Because the forest on Cortes Island has been dubbed the real Avatar Woods. With 99.5 percent of the Douglas Fir old growth already cut, there is little left for the environment, they claim.

Miles, with the help of MTV, came to Toronto to talk with Brookfield Asset Management’s Senior Managing Partner and Chief Financial Officer Bruce Flatt. Miles was unable to discuss her desires with Flatt today but her voice was heard to those who walked by the busy building Friday.

“I think of this forest as a best friend,” Miles told those protesting for Avatar Woods Friday morning through a megaphone. The crowds shouted to those inside the glass building to “save our forest” and “to listen to us.”

Miles was kept out of the building by building security. Unable to speak to Bruce Flatt she told the crowd that she wanted to have a friendly conversation with him to ask him to allow her to buy the land.

“I want to ask Bruce Flatt to stop cutting old growth forest in B.C.”

Miles said that she is uncomfortable being the center of attention but her commitment to the forest over-rides her fears.

When asked about local MPs in her area, Miles said there is support but didn’t expand on which government officials were behind the movement. Asked about her funds to pay for the area of forest that she wants to buy, Miles admitted that she only had $4 in the bank at this time but said there was support. She did say that she is willing to pay fair market dollar for the 2,700 acres for the Avatar Woods.

With no response from Brookfield, the group announced that they would be moving to Toronto Island to continue getting their voice heard.

The security team that guarded the doors to Brookfield Place said there was no comment from within.

Ahimsa Yoga Sooke Fundraisers contribute $200 to the Ancient Forest Alliance

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After hosting fundraisers in May and June in support of the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA), Ahimsa Yoga Sooke (https://www.ahimsasooke.com/) mailed a cheque to the AFA for $200!

THANK YOU so much to Paula and all the staff at Ahimsa Yoga Sooke. We are so appreciative of this support, especially at this formative stage of the organisation.

Ancient Forest Alliance

VIDEO: MTV and Avatars follow Zoe Miles to Brookfield Asset Management

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This protest by Cortes Island activist Zoe Miles and MTV’s Buried Life in downtown Toronto had an Avatar theme, and their focus was on saving the old-growth forests of BC with a particular emphasis on the old-growth Douglas fir stands of Cortes Island (which they dubbed the “Avatar Woods”, not to be confused with the “Avatar Grove” near Port Renfrew). We thank them for doing this! – Ancient Forest Alliance

A flash mob of mostly young women inspired by Cortes Island resident Zoe Miles gathered in front of Brookfield Asset Management on Bay Street in Toronoto today to try to stop logging in one of the islands most beautiful and wild forests. The company owns 2,700 acres of the area around Carrington Bay, at centre of Cortes. Miles told the Vancouver Observer she came to Toronto “to have a conversation with Bruce Flatt, CEO of Brookfield Asset Management, who own 2700 acres of old growth on Cortes Island, threatened by clearcut logging.”

“I came to ask him to sell me the Cortes forests, which have become known as the Avatar Woods, and to stop cutting old growth in BC. So, this morning I showed up at the front doors of Brookfield Place with over 300 beautiful blue people dressed up as characters from the recent movie, Avatar, not to mention an MTV crew, from the hit show “The Buried Life”, and a number of other reporters. It was amazing. The people who joined me were unbelievably supportive, and so inspired about this issue,” Miles said.

“At one point it was becoming clear that Bruce Flatt was not going to come down, and some one behind me at the moment (don’t remember who, for the life of me) said.
Do you think maybe you should try to go in there?’

“To be honest, this wasn’t part of the plan, and I haven’t really told anyone this yet, but something came over me. I don’t know how to describe it, really, other than when I heard that, I felt YES inside, and announced my new plan over the megaphone. As I marched towards the line of police at the main doors to the building, with the crowd chanting behind me, I started panicking a bit, looking around for backup…

“It’s really the same thing that I feel towards Bruce Flatt – that maybe the alternative that I’m suggesting doesn’t fit within his standard business paradigm – but that we can find a way to move forward that benefits us both, and leaves the forests standing. I came to Toronto with no intention of confrontation or adversity, but with a sincere desire to connect with the humanity in Bruce Flatt. The fun of the Avatar protest came because I sincerely feel that my community has tried to deal with this issue from all the other angles we can, and still there is an unwillingness to talk about a land purchase. I hope that Bruce hears the voices of the youth shouting outside his building. We are serious about protecting what little is left of the sacred old-growth forests.

“I am staying in Toronto for another few days to continue with a series of interviews. I am also willing to meet with Bruce, should he feel that my proposition is one to be taken seriously.
While we have been told by Brookfield’s subsidiary that they do not sell real estate, we know that business deals are made all the time, and are willing to pay fair market value for their Cortes lands.The cops stopped us at the door, and very clearly let me know that they were under orders to arrest anyone who tried to get through the main doors. I stopped here, feeling that my place was with the young (blue!) people standing behind me, but there was a brilliant 3 minutes I spent with the police, all on film, where I craved and sought and found the humanity in the uniform in front of me, as rigid as he tried to be. So that’s a snippet of what happened today. It was an excellent day, and highly successful. I connected with a young community in Toronto, who became empowered and inspired to pursue the issues most important in their lives, which is an incredibly beautiful thing to witness. And after facing the personal fears that I did this morning, I feel incredibly confidant that the rest will be easy in comparison. The next step is the continued attention to this issue, and getting the message to Bruce Flatt that a reasonable solution is at hand.”

The Nahmint Valley near Port Alberni has some of the last remaining tracts of unprotected old-growth Douglas fir forests.

Old Forests Get Protection

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Old forests get protection

Keri Sculland, Alberni Valley Times

Published: Thursday, August 05, 2010

While the provincial government has sectioned off thousands of hectares to protect old-growth forests, none are located in the Alberni Valley.

The government sectioned off two types of old-growth forest on Crown land to preserve the natural trees and forestation. On the east side of the Island, about five kilometres were sectioned off to preserve the Coastal Douglas Fir Ecosystem, which is a rare type of ecosystem that only covers a small portion of the Island. Other parts of the Island in the northern central area and southern areas were also protected from future logging and land management.

The catch is, explained TJ Watt, forest campaigner from the Ancient Forest Alliance, these areas aren’t legislative protected areas, they are regulatory protected areas, meaning the areas won’t be considered provincial parks, like Cathedral Grove and the Pacific Rim Provincial Park.

“Unfortunately,” he said, “it doesn’t cover anything within the Alberni Valley… there is still a need to go further on protection for Vancouver Island.”

The five parcels of Crown land between Nanaimo and Courtenay have been made off-limits to logging through new Land Use Orders. These new additions have increased protection in the Coastal Douglas Fir zone from 7600 hectares to 9200 hectares.

The ecosystem is characterized by its mild, Mediterranean-like climate, trees like the Douglas fir, Garry oak and arbutus, and large numbers of species at risk such as the alligator lizard and sharp-tailed snake.

Of the productive old growth on Vancouver Island, 75% of it has been lost. That includes the large trees and valley bottoms. Since 2004, 90% of the valley bottoms have been logged, and 99% of the big old-growth Douglas fir.

“There’s an area we are pushing to have protected in the Nahmint Valley,” Watt said. “Some of the last strands of Douglas fir are [there].”

Manager of economic development for the city, Pat Deakin, said he isn’t aware of the old-growth conditions in Nahmint.

“Diversity is important,” he said. “But it’s not an end-all-be-all situation.”

The Coastal Douglas Fir ecosystem is considered to be among the top four most endangered ecosystems in Canada, along with the Tallgrass Prairie in Manitoba, the Carolinian Forest in southern Ontario, and the “Pocket Desert” near Osoyoos in southern B.C.

“We could go much further than this,” Watt added. “We are not against logging, we’re basically stating that we should be protecting endangered old growth forests where they are scarce.”

AFA also wants to focus on sustainable logging in second-growth forests, and a ban on raw log exports to create a value-added industry here.

“We’ve actually had a lot of forestry workers on our sides for those points,” Watt said.

The new protection was implemented by the Ministry of Forests and Range, the Integrated Land Management Bureau and Forest Minister Pat Bell.

Zoe Miles speaking to a crowd of support during an Avatar flash mob in downtown Toronto to help protect BC's endangered ancient forests.

Sending a message to Brookfield Asset Management on Bay Street, "Hands off BC’s last old growth trees."

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The message is simple “Hands off the last of the Coastal Old Growth in BC”.

On Friday morning, Young “Avatars” (giant blue folk – like in the recent movie) will storm Bay Street in a flash mob protest against the logging of the last of the coastal old growth in BC. The protest has caught the eye of MTV and will be featured in an upcoming documentary on the hit show The Buried Life.

How do I know? My teenage son went out with a bunch of his friends, last Saturday, and talked with MTV about their horror at the possibility of seeing clear cuts replace miles of old and gorgeous forest, in areas where they’ve camped and kayaked since they were little kids.

Considerable disruption to the financial district is expected, as police may choose to close Bay Street over the midday due to the number of people expected to participate.

It may be a bad day for Brookfield Asset Management, as the media-shy mega-conglomerate comes into the spotlight for their plans to log the last remnants of our ancient forests. The parallel between the recent movie Avatar and the reality on the west coast is bringing activists together in what looks to be a sustained campaign against old growth logging.

The movement was started by the passionate commitment of one young woman to save her home from destruction, and now is drawing attention from far and wide. It is estimated that 99.5% of the Douglas Fir old growth has already been cut, but Brookfield still is gunning for the little that’s left over. That these precious trees mostly leave the country as raw log exports, means disaster to both the economy and ecology of places like Cortes Island, where Zoe Miles was born and has launched her epic quest for justice.

What: “Avatar” themed Old Growth Logging Protest filmed by MTV
on Bay Street

Where: Brookfield Asset Management’s Corporate Headquarters
181 Bay Street (just North of Front Street and Union Station)
Toronto

When: Friday August 13 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM
Press Conference at 11:30 AM

Ancient Forest Alliance

VIDEO: Fight to save local landmark going international

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It’s the best, worst-kept secret on Vancouver Island.

A 100-hectare forest wonderland: pristine, untouched and about a thousand years old.

But there are real and imminent fears this space may not be long for this world.

It is de facto owned by logging company Teal Jones.

The firm hasn’t applied to the provincial government for a logging permit yet, but activists with the Ancient Forest Alliance claims the company is making plans to cut.

The alliance, local government, and tourism associations have been asking the BC government to protect this area, so far without success.

But is the fight to preserve a local landmark about to get international profile?

That’s the plan according to cast of “The Buried Life,” an MTV show about tying up life’s loose ends, featuring four guys from Vancouver Island.

The show’s producers are promising a flash-mob protest in Toronto on Friday, near another national landmark – the Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame.

More Avatar Grove videos:

Thumbs up/ thumbs down

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To the provincial government, which says enough old-growth trees have been protected in the area between Sooke and Port Renfrew. That does not bode well for the trees in an area near Port Renfrew, nicknamed Avatar Grove, which are under threat of a harvest. The Forests Ministry says 24 per cent of the grove will be protected, and that is enough.