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Nigel Jackett (left) and Jaime Hall are hoping to catalogue as many as 400 bird species as they cycle across Canada

Til’ The Last Tree – Slideshow of Cross Canada Bike Tour

Nov 14 2011/in Announcements

Please join us for an inspiring evening with cyclists Jaime Hall and Nigel Jackett who have just completed a 6-month, cross-Canada bicycle tour raising funds and awareness to protect BC’s old-growth forests! The pair will be sharing stories and an incredible slideshow highlighting the amazing adventures, diverse birds and wildlife, spectacular landscapes and ecosystems that they encountered during their 11,000 kilometer cycling …and bird-watching journey!Date: Monday, Nov. 14th
Time: 7-8:30 PM
Location: Garry Oak Room – Fairfield Community Association. 1335 Thurlow Rd, Victoria. Map: https://g.co/maps/hskn7
Cost: By Donation

Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=156666761098810Musician Jaime Hall and wildlife biologist Nigel Jackett began their tour from Newfoundland in May, taking sponsorship pledges for the Ancient Forest Alliance as they progressed. Pledges were based on the number of bird species spotted by Jackett and Hall, and the couple spotted more than 300 species!

The pair managed to raise over $4000 for the Ancient Forest Alliance by the end of their trip and we are extremely grateful and humbled by their incredible efforts!

The slideshow will feature the spectacular diversity of birds, wildlife, and ecosystems of Canada – from the Acadian forests of Nova Scotia to the Carolinian deciduous forests of southern Ontario to Grasslands National Park in Saskatchewan to the Okanagon Ponderosa pine forests in BC – and their cycling adventures!

We are happy give them the opportunity to share their stories and amazing experiences with our supporters and the public so please come out and show your support!

Protect McLaughlin Ridge YouTube Clip (1min)

Nov 13 2011/in Announcements, News Coverage, Video

Direct link to YouTube clip (1min): www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsZiO1wAKwE

Help us protect the old-growth forests of McLaughlin Ridge near Port Alberni!

Conservationists are calling on the BC government to protect a 500 hectare tract of ancient Douglas fir forest near Port Alberni that biologists have classified as both critical habitat for wintering deer and nesting endangered Queen Charlotte goshawks. Conservationists would like the BC government to protect the old-growth forest on private land on McLaughlin Ridge by purchasing it from Island Timberlands.

See the photo gallery here: www.ancientforestalliance.org/photos.php?gID=10

The land was formerly intended for protection as an Ungulate Winter Range (UWR) for black-tailed deer and as a Wildlife Habitat Area (WHA) for the endangered goshawk until 2004 when the BC Liberal government removed 88,000 hectares of land now owned by Island Timberlands from their Tree Farm Licenses (TFL’s), thus removing most existing environmental protections on those lands and failing to implement other planned protections. Island Timberlands began logging the 500 hectare tract of old-growth forest a year ago, clearcutting 100 hectares or more from both sides of the Grove, while about 400 hectares of the core area still remains – for now.

Local Port Alberni activist Jane Morden stands beside the McLaughlin Giant - an old-growth Douglas-fir measuring 23.5ft in circumference / 7.5ft in diameter.

Chainsaw buzz stirs up once-protected old growth

Nov 12 2011/in News Coverage

Environmentalists want the province to buy a tract of previously protected old-growth forest near Port Alberni that is now being logged by Island Timberlands.

McLaughlin Ridge was classified as critical habitat for wintering deer and endangered Queen Charlotte goshawks until 2004, when the province allowed it to be removed from a tree farm licence.

Different regulations governing private managed forest land mean part of the 500-hectare forest is now being logged.

“Here’s another major example of the serious havoc wreaked by the BC government’s TFL-removal scheme,” said Ken Wu, cofounder of the Ancient Forest Alliance. “The BC government created this mess by largely deregulating these forest lands and now they need to clean it up by protecting the previously protected old-growth forests, deer winter range and endangered species habitat.”

The area is used by black-tail deer, which feed on lichen hanging from old-growth trees when snow is on the ground.

“These are not deer that live at sea level, where there is rarely snow, or urban deer that feed on your flowers and garden veggies,” Wu said.

“The deer rely on old-growth forests like McLaughlin Ridge for winter shelter and lichens, which are lacking in clearcuts and second-growth stands.”

Endangered Queen Charlotte goshawk nest in the area, which is considered by government biologists to be one of the most ecologically significant sites in BC, said Jane Morden, coordinator of the Port Alberni-based Friends of McLaughlin Ridge.

“To let the whole thing get logged would be a travesty,” she said.

However, Island Timberlands spokeswoman Morgan Kennah said logging in McLaughlin Ridge is based on information the company receives from consulting biologists.

“We maintain an inventory of the goshawk nests because they are a species of critical importance and we modify our practices if nests are found in the area,” she said.

In keeping with the rules guiding logging on private managed forest land, critical wildlife habitat is protected by changing patterns of logging or volume, Kennah said.

Forests Minister Steve Thomson, who is on a trade mission in China, could not be contacted Monday.

[Direct link to the Times Colonist article no longer available]