Conservationists demand fast action from B.C.’s new forestry minister on protection for old-growth trees

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CBC News British Columbia
November 29, 2020

Katrine Conroy, MLA for Kootenay-West, was appointed this week as B.C.’s forestry minister

Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer TJ Watt leans against a huge, old red cedar before and after logging on southern Vancouver Island in the fall of 2020. (TJ Watt/Ancient Forest Alliance)

Stark photos released this week by a conservation group pushing hard for the province to protect what remains of B.C.’s largest and oldest trees is just one point of pressure the province’s new forestry minister is facing as she comes into the job.

On Thursday, MLA for Kootenay-West Katrine Conroy was appointed minister of forests, lands, natural resource operations and rural development, taking over from Doug Donaldson, who did not seek reelection.

Two days earlier, the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) released dramatic before and after photographs of massive cedar trees on Vancouver Island, where they were logged as part of a government-approved tree harvesting licence.

It’s a technique the AFA has often used to illustrate the impact of logging in areas where trees can be up to 1,000 years old. 

Watt examines an ancient red cedar stump measuring four metres in diameter that was cut down on southern Vancouver Island. (TJ Watt/Ancient Forest Alliance)

The term old growth in B.C. refers to trees that are generally 250 years or older on the coast and 140 years or older in the Interior. 

The trees have significance to First Nations, they are good for the environment, help to clean air and water, store carbon and house other plants and animals.

But they are also prized by loggers for their monetary value.

Andrea Inness, a campaigner with the AFA, says the latest round of photos taken by T.J. Watt have been shared thousands of times on social media, with comments from people asking the province to end the practise of cutting down the large, iconic trees.

“[People] are sick and tired of seeing photographs like that,” said Inness.

In taking on the forestry portfolio, Conroy — who has represented the West Kootenays for 15 years, and was minister of children and family development from 2017 — has clear direction in her mandate letter to give conservationists like Inness what they want, but maybe not in time to save the trees that remain.

The letter calls for her to implement 14 recommendations announced in September by a special panel, which travelled the province for months speaking with conservationists, unions, First Nations and the public to ask about the ecological, economic and cultural importance of old-growth trees and forests and how they fit into a new forestry strategy for B.C.

The panel’s most time-sensitive recommendation was to defer the cutting of old-growth forests most at risk of “irreversible biodiversity loss.”

In presenting the report from the panel, the province did announce the temporary protection of 353,000 hectares of forest in nine old-growth areas.

Conservationists like Inness and Jens Wieting, a forest and climate campaigner with Sierra Club B.C., were initially pleased with the move, but maintain such a small number of these special trees remain in the province that if more dramatic action is not taken immediately, an insignificant amount could remain by the time the province comes up with a new forestry strategy.

“We have to look at their willingness to quickly defer more old growth from logging,” he said.

Photos like these were shared recently on social media by the Ancient Forest Alliance in an effort to bring attention to the issue of old-growth logging. (TJ Watt/Ancient Forest Alliance)

An independent ecological consulting firm used provincial data in the spring to determine that while old-growth forests make up about 23 per cent of forested areas in the province — or about 13.2 million hectares — less than three per cent, or around 400,000 hectares, support biologically significant old-growth trees.

Sierra Club B.C. estimates that more than 140,000 hectares of old-growth forests — those with trees at least 120 years old — are logged each year along the B.C. coast and in the Interior. 

“We all know the data now, we all know that old-growth logging needs to come to an end,” said Inness. “The government just needs to listen and start acting.”

Money required

Both Wieting and Inness estimate the province would need to spend about $1 billion to meet the 14 recommendations, which include involving Indigenous leaders in future decisions and declaring the conservation of “ecosystem health and biodiversity” an overarching priority for the province.

That would need to include money to help First Nations assess the resources on their lands and transition away from logging old-growth trees, something the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs wants.

“For years, the government has enabled a debilitating and dangerous system that expunges the irreplaceable cultural value of old-growth forests, viewing not the immense roots these ancient and giant trees have set in our First Nation communities to sustain our cultures and livelihoods, but rather the pecuniary value of these trees that must be exploited in the short-term,” Grand Chief Stewart Phillip said in a release in October.

Financial support will also be needed for communities currently dependent on old-growth logging as they transition away from it, which could be tough for the province considering it’s facing a more than $12-billion deficit due to the pandemic.

Back in her days as an opposition MLA, Conroy frequently spoke up for the embattled logging communities she represents, saying the B.C. Liberals should have done more to achieve fair stumpage rates, reform forestry management, and encourage reforestation to help keep the industry viable.

The new minister did not respond to a request for comment before publication of this story. 

Read the original article

Photo Gallery: Before & After Logging – Caycuse Watershed

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Shocking before and after images of giant ancient cedars felled in the Caycuse watershed in Ditidaht territory by Teal Jones between April and November 2020.

Logging of massive, ancient cedars in Caycuse watershed signals urgent need for provincial action and funding for old-growth

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Shocking before-and-after photos reveal destruction of irreplaceable ancient redcedars in Vancouver Island’s Caycuse watershed and highlight urgent need for immediate protection of at-risk old-growth and funding to support First Nations’ protected areas and economies.

See full photo gallery here

AFA Campaigner & Photographer TJ Watt surveys old-growth before and after clearcutting by Teal-Jones in the Caycuse watershed in Ditidaht Territory on southern Vancouver Island. 

Unceded Lekwungen territories/Victoria, BC – Conservationists with the Ancient Forest Alliance are urging the BC NDP government to immediately halt logging in BC’s most at-risk old-growth forests and commit funding for old-growth protection following the destruction of some of Vancouver Island’s grandest ancient forests along Haddon Creek in the Caycuse River watershed. 

On an exploration to the area earlier this month, Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) campaigner and photographer TJ Watt visited and photographed the fallen remains of a grove of ancient redcedars he’d first explored and documented in April while still standing. The expeditions resulted in shocking before-and-after images of the once-towering giants. 

“It was truly an incredible and unique grove,” stated Watt. “I was stunned by the sheer number of monumental redcedars, one after another, on this gentle mountain slope. Giant cedars like these have immense ecological value, particularly as wildlife habitat, and important tourism and First Nations cultural value. Yet, the BC government continues to allow irreplaceable, centuries-old trees to be high-graded for short-term gain while they talk about their new old-growth plan.”

AFA Campaigner & Photographer TJ Watt examines an ancient redcedar stump measuring 12ft/4m in diameter that was cut down by logging company Teal-Jones in the Caycuse watershed in Ditidaht Territory on southern Vancouver Island.

Located southwest of Cowichan Lake and east of Nitinat Lake in Ditidaht First Nation territory, the Caycuse watershed hosts some of the grandest forests on the South Island, rivalling the renowned Avatar Grove near Port Renfrew or the Walbran Valley.

The now clearcut grove was part of a 33.5-hectare cutblock near Haddon Creek, located in Tree Farm Licence 46, which is held by logging company Teal Jones Group. New roads are also being built into adjacent old-growth, which will see more of BC’s iconic big tree forests logged.

AFA Campaigner & Photographer TJ Watt looks up at an ancient redcedar tree more than 10ft in diameter before and after logging by Teal-Jones in the Caycuse watershed in Ditidaht Territory on southern Vancouver Island.

Earlier this year, the BC government appointed an independent panel to conduct a strategic review of BC’s old-growth management policies. The final report, released in September, contains 14 recommendations including immediate steps to protect BC’s most endangered old-growth ecosystems within six months and a paradigm shift in the province’s forest management regime that prioritizes biodiversity and ecosystem integrity. On the campaign trail in October, the BC NDP promised to implement all 14 recommendations in their entirety.  

As a first step, the province also announced two-year logging deferrals in nine areas covering 353,000 hectares; however, only 3,800 ha or about one percent of the deferred areas consist of previously unprotected, productive old-growth forest.

“With less than three percent remaining of BC’s original, big-tree old-growth forests, the NDP government must work quickly – as soon as Cabinet is sworn in this week – to engage Indigenous Nations, whose unceded lands these are, and enact further deferrals in critical areas while a comprehensive old-growth strategy is developed,” stated AFA campaigner Andrea Inness.

AFA Campaigner & Photographer TJ Watt surveys a sprawling old-growth clearcut totalling 33.5ha (more than 33 football fields) in size. Further old-growth logging is planned on the adjacent slopes as well.

The Ancient Forest Alliance is also calling for significant funding to be allocated in Budget 2021 to facilitate negotiations with First Nations on additional deferral areas and to support Indigenous Protected Areas, Indigenous-led land-use planning, and economic diversification in lieu of old-growth logging, as well as the purchase and protection of old-growth forests on private lands.

First Nations leaders, including the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC), are also demanding the BC government work with Indigenous Nations to expand deferrals in threatened old-growth forests and provide First Nations with dedicated funding to protect and steward their lands while pursuing conservation-based businesses and economies, as outlined in a UBCIC resolution passed in September.

AFA Campaigner & Photographer TJ Watt leans against an ancient redcedar tree before and after logging by Teal-Jones in the Caycuse watershed in Ditidaht Territory on southern Vancouver Island.

“The BC NDP has promised sweeping changes by implementing all of the Old Growth Panel’s recommendations,” stated Inness. “Now they need to put their money where their mouth is by fully funding Indigenous-led old-growth conservation and the transition to a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry. Otherwise we can expect more irreplaceable groves like the one in the Caycuse watershed to be destroyed.”

Background information

Old growth forests are integral to British Columbia for ensuring the protection of endangered species, climate stability, tourism, clean water, wild salmon, and the cultures of many First Nations. At present, over 79% of the original productive old-growth forests on BC’s southern coast have been logged, including well over 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow.  Only about 8% of Vancouver Island’s original old growth forests are protected in parks and Old Growth Management Areas. 

See the Old Growth Strategic Review panel’s report, A New Future for Old Forests, released in September: https://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/STRATEGIC-REVIEW-20200430.pdf

See the Union of BC Indian Chiefs September 2020 resolution on old-growth forests: https://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/UBCIC-Resolution-2020-23.pdf

The AFA is calling on the BC NDP government to protect the ecological integrity of BC’s old-growth forests while maintaining jobs and supporting communities by: implementing a science-based plan to protect endangered old-growth forests; providing financial support for First Nations’ sustainable economic development as an alternative to old-growth logging and formally recognizing First Nations’ land use plans, tribal parks, and protected areas; creating a provincial land acquisition fund to purchase and protect endangered ecosystems on private lands; and curbing raw log exports and providing incentives for the development of value-added, second-growth wood manufacturing facilities to sustain and enhance forestry jobs.

You’re invited to the AFA’s 2020 Year-End Update & Fundraiser!

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We’re hosting our annual year-end event and fundraiser on Thursday, December 3rd, from 7-8 pm – this time on Zoom! Join us to learn what we’ve been up to this past year and what’s next for BC’s old-growth forests. Plus, you could win some fun prizes!

With new scientific evidence on the dire state of BC’s old-growth forests and the NDP’s election promise to implement all of the independent Old Growth Strategic Review panel’s recommendations, 2020 has been an eventful year for the ancient forest campaign.

Tune in to hear more about these and other developments, learn what AFA is doing to make immediate old-growth protection a top priority for the NDP government, and celebrate all we’ve achieved together this past year.

The evening will feature a slideshow presentation from AFA campaigners TJ Watt and Andrea Inness, a Q&A session on all things old-growth, and a chance to connect with the AFA team. 

You’ll also find out how you can support our campaigns, including by purchasing some great AFA gear (which make excellent holiday gifts!)

Event schedule:

7:00pm presentation followed by Q&A

Tickets: By donation. Register here

A Zoom link to join the webinar will be sent in your confirmation email. 

Proceeds from the event will go towards AFA’s campaign to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests and ensure a sustainable, second-growth forest industry.

Thank you to our generous business supporters!

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Thank you to our Ancient Forest Fundraisers!

A big thanks to the following businesses for supporting the AFA: Silver Wilds for donating 5% of their monthly sales; the newly incorporated DuckDuck Co. is generously donating 50% of proceeds from select t-shirt sales; SeaFlora Skincare became a generous monthly donor; Scend Sails donated 10% of their monthly sales recently; artist Jeremy Herndl has a beautiful painting of an old-growth forest for sale and will donate 50% to the proceeds; Arc’teryx Victoria for dedicating 100% of the proceeds from their large die cut stickers; Dream Designs for their generous donation generated from sales of their handmade, non-medical face masks; Skye Dreamer for supporting us three years in a row by donating 10% of sales from his nature art calendar; Silent Forest Designs for donating $1 from every sale of their beautiful handmade artwork; and OneUp Components for their incredible $10,000 donation! Thank you all again – We are so grateful to each of you!