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Island Timberlands to log contentious old-growth forests on Vancouver Island

Jul 9 2013/in News Coverage

Island Timberlands is moving to log some of their most contentious old-growth forest lands near Port Alberni, including “Juniper Ridge”, a formerly protected Ungulate Winter Range, and Labour Day Lake, the headwaters of Cathedral Grove’s Cameron River.

Juniper Ridge is an increasingly rare tract of old-growth forest filled with endangered old-growth Douglas-fir trees, sensitive ecosystems of brittle reindeer lichens growing on open rocky outcrops, and an abundance of juniper shrubs. The roughly 20-hectare area is a one hour drive from the town of Port Alberni and is located between Ash and Turnbull Lakes.

“This forest is heavily used by wintering deer, and was intended to be preserved for this purpose. This area is also a popular recreation destination for locals and tourists going hiking, fishing and boating.”
The Watershed-Forest Alliance, with support from Alberni-Pacific Rim MLA Scott Fraser, has reportedly met with and have asked Island Timberlands to stay out of all previously designated Ungulate Winter Range and Wildlife Habitat Areas.

The land was largely deregulated in 2004 due to its removal from Tree Farm Licence (TFL) 44. A subsequent agreement between the former licencee and the BC government was supposed to have resulted in the continued protection of these lands, but has not been pursued. Instead the company has chosen to simply log these high conservation value forests. Of the original 2400 hectares of designated lands, only about 900 hectares remain unlogged which amounts to just over 1 per cent of the total 74,000 hectares removed from TFL 44.

Recent logging that began in early June also threatens the old-growth subalpine forests at Labour Day Lake, but a popular recreation destination not far from Port Alberni.

The Ancient Forest Alliance has called on the provincial government to establish a BC Park Acquisition Fund of at least $40 million per year, raising $400 million over 10 years, to purchase old-growth forests and other endangered ecosystems on private lands across the province, such as Juniper Ridge and Labour Day Lake.

The fund would be similar to the park acquisition funds of various regional districts in BC which are augmented by the fundraising efforts of private citizens and land trusts.
Island Timberlands also plans or has been logging numerous other contentious forests, including:

The south side of Mt. Horne on the mountain above the world-famous Cathedral Grove
McLaughlin Ridge, a prime old-growth deer winter range and important habitat for the endangered Queen Charlotte Goshawk. With trees similar in size to Cathedral grove, McLaughlin Ridge helps to protect the China Creek Watershed which is the source of drinking water for the city of Port Alberni.
Cameron Valley Firebreak, a rare valley bottom-to-mountain top old-growth forest that the company has already logged large swaths of.
The west side of Father and Son Lake, a popular fishing area for local Port Alberni residents.
Pearl Lake, near Strathcona Provincial Park.
Stillwater Bluffs near Powell River.
Day Road Forest near Roberts Creek.
Old-growth and mature forests on Cortes Island.

Island Timberlands Moves to Log Contentious Old-Growth Forests and Deer Winter Range Intended for Protection on Vancouver Island

Jul 8 2013/in Media Release

Island Timberlands is moving full throttle to log some of their most contentious old-growth forest lands near Port Alberni, including “Juniper Ridge”, an ungulate winter range formerly intended for protection, and Labour Day Lake, the headwaters of Cathedral Grove’s Cameron River.

See beautiful photos of the highly scenic Juniper Ridge here: https://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/photos-media/juniper-ridge/

Earlier this week, Island Timberlands began road construction into an ungulate winter range formerly intended for protection for black-tailed deer in an old-growth forest near Port Alberni on Vancouver Island, an area referred to by conservationists as “Juniper Ridge”. Juniper Ridge is an increasingly rare tract of old-growth forest filled with highly endangered old-growth Douglas-fir trees, sensitive ecosystems of brittle reindeer lichens growing on open rocky outcrops, and an abundance of juniper shrubs. The area, roughly 20 hectares in size, is a one hour drive from the town of Port Alberni and is located between Ash and Turnbull Lakes. This is a popular recreational area where many Alberni locals and tourists fish, camp, canoe, and hike.

“The old-growth forest and lichen-covered rocky outcrops on Juniper Ridge are endangered and sensitive ecosystems largely growing on extremely thin soils. It would take many centuries for the old-growth forest to fully recover here after logging. Unfortunately, with the trend of harvesting smaller sized trees with shorter logging rotations, these old growth Douglas- fir ecosystems will never have the chance to return,” stated Jane Morden, coordinator of the Watershed-Forest Alliance based in Port Alberni. “This forest is heavily used by wintering deer, and was intended to be preserved for this purpose. This area is also a popular recreation destination for locals and tourists going hiking, fishing and boating.”

The Watershed-Forest Alliance, with support from Alberni-Pacific Rim MLA Scott Fraser, have met with and have asked Island Timberlands to stay out of all previously planned Ungulate Winter Range and Wildlife Habitat Areas. The land was largely deregulated in 2004 due to its removal from Tree Farm Licence (TFL) 44 and planned protections were never implemented. A subsequent agreement between the former licencee and the BC government was supposed to have resulted in the protection of these lands, but has not been pursued. Instead the company has chosen to simply log these high conservation value forests. Of the original 2400 hectares of lands intended for protection, only about 900 hectares remain unlogged which amounts to just over 1% of the total 74,000 hectares removed from TFL 44.

“The BC government never implemented the planned environmental protections on these lands a few years ago, putting them in jeopardy. Now they need to do the right thing and properly protect these lands, either by purchasing them or re-regulating them and putting in place the intended protections,” stated Jane Morden, coordinator of the Watershed-Forest Alliance.

Recent logging that began in early June also threatens the old-growth subalpine forests at Labour Day Lake, not an intended Ungulate Winter Range, but a popular recreation destination not far from Port Alberni. The lake is surrounded by ancient yellow cedars and mountain hemlocks and is the headwaters of the Cameron River which flows into the famed Cathedral Grove.

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the provincial government to establish a BC Park Acquisition Fund of at least $40 million per year, raising $400 million over 10 years, to purchase old-growth forests and other endangered ecosystems on private lands across the province, such as Juniper Ridge and Labour Day Lake. The fund would be similar to the park acquisition funds of various regional districts in BC which are augmented by the fundraising efforts of private citizens and land trusts.

“Island Timberlands needs to put the brakes on their plans to log any more of their forests that were formerly protected or planned for protection and other contentious old-growth forests, otherwise they’ll face increasing international markets pressure. Meanwhile Christy Clark’s BC Liberal government must step forward to protect these lands. Part of what’s needed is a BC Park Acquisition Fund, similar to those of many regional districts, to purchase endangered ecosystems on private lands for protection,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner.

Island Timberlands also plans or has been logging numerous other contentious forests, including:

The south side of Mt. Horne on the mountain above the world-famous Cathedral Grove
McLaughlin Ridge, a prime old-growth deer winter range and important habitat for the endangered Queen Charlotte Goshawk. With trees similar in size to Cathedral grove, McLaughlin Ridge helps to protect the China Creek Watershed which is the source of drinking water for the city of Port Alberni.
Cameron Valley Firebreak, a rare valley bottom-to-mountain top old-growth forest that the company has already logged large swaths of.
The west side of Father and Son Lake, a popular fishing area for local Port Alberni residents.
Pearl Lake, near Strathcona Provincial Park.
Stillwater Bluffs near Powell River.
Day Road Forest near Roberts Creek.
Old-growth and mature forests on Cortes Island.

The Ancient Forest Alliance and local conservationists are calling for the protection of old-growth forests, sustainable logging in second-growth forests, and an end to the export of raw logs to foreign mills in order to ensure a guaranteed log supply for BC mills.

BACKGROUNDER:

In 2004 the BC Liberal government removed 88,000 hectares of Weyerhaeuser’s forest lands, now owned by Island Timberlands, from their Tree Farm Licences (TFL’s), thus removing many environmental protections and exempting the area from many other intended protections. This includes designated protections such as Riparian Management Reserves, the prohibition against conversion of forest lands to real estate developments, and provincial restrictions on raw log exports on those lands; and planned protections such as Old-Growth Management Areas, Wildlife Habitat Areas, Visual Quality Objectives, as well as Ungulate Winter Ranges (UWR’s) at Juniper Ridge, McLaughlin Ridge, Cameron Valley Firebreak, forests by Father and Son Lake, and south Mt. Horne by Cathedral Grove.

The original logging rights on public (Crown) lands on Vancouver Island were granted to logging companies for free earlier last century on condition that the companies allowed their adjacent private forest lands to be placed into regulatory designations known as Tree Farm Licences (TFL’s), in order to control the rate of cut, ensure their logs went to local mills, and to ensure environmental standards on those private lands.
In recent times the companies (Weyerhaeuser in 2004 and Western Forest Products in 2007) greatly benefitted from the removal of their private lands from their TFL’s as it allowed them to log previously protected forests, to export raw logs, and to sell-off forest lands to developers – but meanwhile were still allowed to retain their Crown land logging rights (despite no longer upholding the conditions of the original agreement on their private lands).

This failure to uphold the original agreement is considered by many to be a breach of the public interest. Weyerhaeuser has since moved off the coast, with the company’s former private lands now owned by Island Timberlands and its Crown land logging rights held by Western Forest Products.

Saving the biggest, oldest trees

Jul 3 2013/in News Coverage

The scene was primordial. We were following a rickety moss-covered boardwalk through a rain forest of immense trees and wild growth.

Moss and fungi clung to fallen trees and logs. Huckleberry and thimbleberry bushes sprouted. Delicate sword ferns carpeted the forest floor. Moss hung from branches like beards. I half expected a Jurassic Park velociraptor to charge through the undergrowth.

“We're almost there,” said TJ Watt, 28, who calls himself a big-tree hunter. A photographer and founding member of the Ancient Forest Alliance, he has discovered many of the largest old-growth trees in southern Vancouver Island and works hard to protect them. Nimble and slim, he recently cut his dreadlocks and looks like a young executive

Suddenly, he stepped off the trail into a thicket of large skunk cabbages and pointed at the muddy ground. “Look, a cougar track.”

After photographing the paw print, we climbed over and ducked under large fallen trees along which plant life proliferated: moss, new trees sprouting, shelf fungi. Rays of sunlight angled through the high canopy. We stepped carefully over black-bear scat that lay on the trail like a blob of black porridge.

After an hour, Watt pointed to an immense red cedar, more than five metres (16 feet) across at its base. This was the Castle Giant, about a thousand years old and one of the largest trees in Canada. The behemoth has a weathered look and perhaps it should. It was already ancient when Columbus first set sail. Way up, immense spires branched out. We had walked past a lot of big cedars, but nothing like this one. It was a spiritual moment.

Logging threatens these giants

We crashed into the undergrowth where orange tapes were attached to trees. “These were placed by a timber company that plans to log here,” explained Watt. “This is the finest grove of old-growth cedars in the country. It must not be logged.” Only the rat-a-tat of a pileated woodpecker responded. Under the immense shadow of the Giant, I could not imagine wanting to cut it down.

We returned to Watt's four-wheel-drive van and bumped along a maze of washboard logging roads toward Port Renfrew, a cloud of dust following behind. The scenery, a rolling landscape with a continuous patchwork of scarred clearcuts, is a complete contrast to Castle Grove. The devastation is amazing. Even steep hillsides are razed. Huge piles of wood debris litter the sides of the roads. Numerous quarries, which provide the rocks and gravel for access roads, scar the countryside. In the glorious sunshine, it made me think of the devastation of World War I trench warfare. And it stretched on and on.

Port Renfrew courts “Tall Tree” tourists

In town, I spoke with Jon Cash, the former president of the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce and co-proprietor of Soule Creek Lodge. He explained that for about a century Port Renfrew was a lumber town, but when the main company in the area moved its centre of operations to Lake Cowichan in 1990 it caused economic difficulties. “We had to re-invent ourselves,” said Cash. “We've recently started promoting tall tree tourism, and it's working.”

Port Renfrew, known as the “Big Tree Capital of Canada,” is well positioned since many of the nation's largest trees are found in the area. But it's not easy, for the lumber industry covets old-growth trees, which are far more valuable than second-growth trees, and is quietly cutting down as many as possible.

Avatar Grove, the marquee tourist? attraction

TJ Watt discovered the Grove, near Port Renfrew, in 2009. In 2011, after a fight in which the Ancient Forest Alliance played a key role, the provincial government declared the 59-hectare (146-acre) area off limits to logging.

I hiked in alone, clambering over roots, logs and rich undergrowth as I followed orange tape tied to branches. Boardwalks and trails will be constructed here over the next year. An old stump, over a metre across, was festooned with dozens of neon-bright orange bracket fungi, as though it was a garish Christmas decoration.

Hiking higher and deeper into the Grove I reached a large red cedar with a distinctive knobby appearance due to the growth of large burls all around it about ten feet up. It's known as Canada's Gnarliest Tree.

I scrambled up and perched on a burl with my back against the old matriarch. Surrounded by tall trees soaring heavenward, it felt like I was in a cathedral. Trees like this are national treasures, I thought.

Poachers, sneak thieves, steal these huge trees

As I drove back to town, my mind turned to an incident that captured the media spotlight and illustrated both the dollar-value of the old trees and the difficulty of protecting them.

An 800-year-old cedar was stolen by a gang of tree poachers. The crime took place in Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park about 25 kilometres northwest of Port Renfrew.

The tree was secretly cut most of the way through in 2011 but left standing for unknown reasons. In June 2012, the parks service, worried that the tree might topple in a high wind, had it felled. Subsequently, poachers — presumably the same gang that had cut it in 2011 — carved up the fallen tree and removed most of it. The theft was possible only because of the remote location. Best guess is that the cedar was used for shakes, roof shingles, and netted the perpetrators as much as $15,000. The authorities have no suspects.

Torrance Coste of the Wilderness Committee was instrumental in breaking the tree-poaching story to the press, where it went viral. “This incident is deplorable,” he said. “British Columbia parks should be examples to the world. We need to expand parks and provide more protection to old growth habitat.” Locals told me that poaching is common and almost always goes unreported.

The old trees are worth thousands of dollars

Logging firms want the mammoth trees, and their appetite is immense. Ancient trees have fine straight grain and can yield larger timbers than smaller trees. As a result, logging companies are relentlessly transforming old forests into young, second-growth forests. According to the Ancient Forest Alliance, more than 90 percent of old-growth forests in southern Vancouver Island's valley bottoms, where the biggest trees are, have been logged.

“Come,” said Watt climbing into his van, “there's something you need to see.” We bumped along a labyrinth of logging roads, stopping at the largest stump I have ever seen, about 14 metres (45 feet) in circumference. Watt told me the cedar, over 1,000 years old, had been cut recently. The surrounding clear-cut contained many other enormous stumps. All the trees had been felled legally. They will never be replaced.

My next destination was the San Juan Sitka Spruce, Canada's largest spruce tree, about 40 minutes northeast of Port Renfrew. En route, I saw a Roosevelt elk with enormous antlers feeding in a meadow.

My jaw dropped when I saw the old-growth giant spruce: it surpassed magnificence. Towering to 63 metres (205 feet) and with a girth of 12 metres (38 feet), it presented well, as if in dignified old age. Sword fern grew from branch crooks, and deep green moss adorned its branches. It hosted an enormous shelf fungus about a metre across and secondary growth on branches in the canopy. In spite of a sign warning Overhead Danger I placed both hands against the tree and closed my eyes.

Watt had told me that when he brought a German group here, one started to cry and another, a musician, felt a symphony playing.

These gorgeous big trees will do that to you.

Article: https://www.westmagazine.ca/spring2013/home/savingTrees