Blog Archive Layout

Old-Growth Logging of Forest Lands Formerly Intended for Protection on Vancouver Island Threatens Deer Winter Range and Endangered Goshawk Habitat

Nov 7 2011/in Media Release

Conservationists are calling on the BC government to protect a 500 hectare tract of old-growth 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 purchase the forest on private land on McLaughlin Ridge from Island Timberlands.

See new photos of the endangered McLaughlin Ridge at: https://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/photos-media/mclaughlin-ridge/

See a new Youtube clip about McLaughlin Ridge at: https://youtu.be/XsZiO1wAKwE

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 and exempting the area from other planned protections on those lands. 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.

“McLaughlin Ridge is a provincially-significant site and easily the most important deer winter range and goshawk habitat on southern Vancouver Island – to let the whole thing get logged would be a travesty,” stated Jane Morden, coordinator of the Port Alberni-based Friends of McLaughlin Ridge. “We will be asking Island Timberlands to show good will to the community by putting their logging plans for McLaughlin Ridge on hold until funds are put forward to protect this critical old-growth habitat.”

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

The removal of Weyerhaeuser’s private forest lands (later sold to Island Timberlands) from TFL’s 44 and 39 in 2004 also led to the removal of numerous environmental protections and exempted the area from other planned environmental protections on 88,000 hectares of deregulated land on Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, and Haida Gwaii. This included thousands of hectares of planned protection for endangered species (Wildlife Habitat Areas), deer and elk winter habitat (Ungulate Winter Ranges), and old-growth forests (Old-Growth Management Areas), as well as riparian forest protections for salmon and trout, controls on the rate of logging, prohibitions against real estate development, and provincial restrictions on raw log exports.

McLaughlin Ridge is considered by government biologists to be one of the most ecologically significant sites in BC of extremely high conservation value. It is a south-facing (ie. warmer, sunnier) stand of extremely rare old-growth coastal Douglas firs – 99% of which have been logged – and hemlocks covered in lichens that serve as food for deer in times of heavy winter snowfalls and provides them shelter against the elements. Vancouver Island’s black-tailed deer population declined from over 200,000 animals in 1980, to an estimated 55,000 animals by the turn of this century in large part due to the destruction of their mid-elevation old-growth wintering habitat.

“Take note 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. These are high altitude deer populations that live in mountainous regions of Vancouver Island where there is a massive amount of snow in winter – like over 10 feet deep in places – and no veggie gardens to eat,” stated Wu. “The deer rely on old-growth forests like McLaughlin Ridge for winter shelter and lichens for food, which are lacking in the clearcuts and second-growth stands. Fewer deer mean less food for wolves, cougars, bears, First Nations, and non-First Nations hunters.”

The Queen Charlotte goshawk subspecies found on Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii is a bird of prey that is “red”-listed (ie. endangered) by the provincial government. The McLaughlin Ridge is considered to be one of the finest sites for nesting and foraging Queen Charlotte goshawks left. Queen Charlotte goshawks live in coastal old-growth and mature forests, feeding on squirrels and birds. Only a few hundred nesting pairs are known to exist. Several nests have been found on McLaughlin Ridge in years past. Canada’s inadequate Species At Risk Act (SARA) requires that the provincial government develop a recovery plan to rebuild the populations of endangered species, which the province has not completed yet for the Queen Charlotte goshawk. An effective recovery plan should surely require the protection of the goshawk’s most important old-growth habitat, including the McLaughlin Ridge.

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 include their private forest lands within the regulatory designation known as Tree Farm Licenses in order to control the rate of cut, ensure wood went to local mills, and ensure environmental standards. Allowing companies to keep their Crown land logging rights while removing their private lands from the TFL’s (thus allowing them to log forests previously protected or intended for protection, to export raw logs, and to sell-off forest lands to developers) has been considered by many to be a breach of the public interest.

The Hupacasath First Nation band in Port Alberni won a Supreme Court ruling in 2008 stating that the provincial government failed to consult and accommodate their interests in allowing the removal of 77,000 hectares of TFL 44 lands. The band is currently in negotiations with the BC government to seek redress for this failure.

“99% of the coastal old-growth Douglas firs have already been logged on Vancouver Island – it should be a no-brainer now that no more should be logged,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance co-founder and photographer. “Why are we being forced to fight over the last 1% still? This is nuts!”

Welcome to Avatar forest in B.C.

Nov 3 2011/in News Coverage

PORT RENFREW, B.C.—Pink ribbons knotted to tree branches at the side of a gravel logging road mark the entry to an amazing earthly experience, something so different from anything most people have experienced it might be on another world.

The air is cool, damp and even smells green. Look up and there is no blue sky, just scraggy branches and the tops of 60-metre trees, that allow sunlight to hit the mossy ground only in broken beams of light.

This is Avatar Grove, a 50-hectare piece of untouched old-growth forest, about 110 kilometres northwest of Victoria.

Through a karma-like convergence, natural-born enemies, environmentalists, business leaders and politicians are joining hands to protect it from logging and create a nature-lover’s paradise.

It’s as if the happy-ending script is writing itself at Avatar Grove — a sequel of sorts to the Hollywood blockbuster, unfolding in the few remaining dark, moody and ancient big-tree forests on southern Vancouver Island.

“When we came across the area, it was at the same time the movie ‘Avatar’ was released,” said Ken Wu, co-founder of the Victoria-based Ancient Forest Alliance. “‘Avatar’ was about saving old-growth forests, albeit on an alien moon.

“We wanted people to make the connection that here on earth we have real spectacular old growth (forests) that are endangered and that need protecting,” he said, standing near a huge cedar marked in spray paint with the number five, signifying that it once faced a chainsaw death.

Wu said choosing the name Avatar Grove, courting the business community in nearby struggling Port Renfrew and getting the ear of the B.C. government has sparked a groundswell to declare the rugged coastal area the Big Trees Capital of Canada.

The Ancient Forest Alliance spent the summer taking busloads of tourists into Avatar Grove to see the mysterious forest, especially the alien-shaped western red cedar, nicknamed Canada’s gnarliest tree for is Volkswagen-sized burl that makes it look like something out of one of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy novels.

“Port Renfrew really is the biggest trees capital of Canada,” said Wu. “The fact is the largest Douglas fir tree on earth is near town. The biggest spruce tree in Canada is also near town. The biggest tree in Canada, the Cheewaht cedar, is also north of town.

“And we’ve got the gnarliest tree at the Avatar Grove,” he said. “It’s an exceptional place for big-tree tourism and I think this is the year people are starting to recognize that and are coming to see them.”

Rosie Betsworth, Port Renfrew’s Chamber of Commerce president, agrees with Wu and the Ancient Forest Alliance that the big trees are something to see. It’s also offering a tourism boost to the community that, until recently, considered logging and fishing its lifeblood.

“The majority (here) can see the value of tourism dollars,” she said. “And now that there’s probably a handful of loggers left in this community, it is no longer a logging town.”

Betsworth said environmentalists like Wu and photographer T.J. Watt, who discovered Avatar Grove in 2009 while scouting the area’s few remaining old-growth stands, convinced locals that there is money in saving trees as opposed to cutting them down.

“For a small group of very broke guys, my God, they’ve made so much movement,” she said.

Steve Thomson, B.C.’s minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources, said the government halted planned logging of Avatar Grove and is awaiting the results of a public consultation process on the area’s future.

But he suggested it already appears logging is no longer a viable option.

“The province has published its intent to adjust the old-growth management area to protect that grove,” he said.

Watt said Avatar Grove and the other huge trees in the Port Renfrew area, where many hillsides are scarred from clear-cut logging, are living examples of Mother Nature’s majesty that are located steps from easily accessible roads.

“Right away we knew we had something special because I couldn’t think of anywhere else where you could see trees of this size and get there in something like a Honda Civic.”

Direct lin to article: https://www.thestar.com/travel/northamerica/article/1080406–welcome-to-avatar-forest-in-b-c

Til the Last Tree

Nov 3 2011/in Announcements

To make a pledge of any amount to Hall and Jackett’s ride to benefit the Ancient Forest Alliance, please go to: https://www.tilthelasttree.com/p/donate.html

Two cyclists on a cross-Canada bicycle trip to raise funds and awareness to protect BC’s old-growth forests are now nearing completion of their meandering, 11,000 kilometer cycling and bird-watching journey – almost 6 months after commencing their tour that they’ve dubbed “‘til the last tree” (see https://www.tilthelasttree.com/ ).Musician Jaime Hall and wildlife biologist Nigel Jackett began their tour from Newfoundland in May, taking sponsorship pledges for the Victoria-based environmental organization, the Ancient Forest Alliance (https://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/),as they’ve progressed. The couple, now in BC, are due to arrive in Victoria around November 10.

Pledges are based on the number of bird species spotted by Jackett and Hall, and the couple have now seen more than 300 species. Individuals can also make a donation to down load Hall’s songs or simply make a straight donation to the Ancient Forest Alliance. They have now raised almost $4000 in donations and sponsorship pledges for the Ancient Forest Alliance, which so far has run on a budget of about $45,000 in 2011.

“What a phenomenal experience it has been to see the diversity of my own country with the detail that comes from traveling by bicycle. We’re glad to have had the opportunity to undertake such an epic journey, and to raise funds and awareness for a cause we truly believe in,” stated Jaime Hall. “As it turns out, cycling the distance of one and a half times Canada’s length has also got us into the best shape of our lives!”

“I’m amazed at the diversity of ecosystems in Canada –from the Carolinian deciduous forests of southern Ontario to the prairie grass lands of southern Saskatchewan to the temperate rainforests of British Columbia. I’m thrilled that such a great experience will contribute to the protection of Canada’s natural heritage and biodiversity,” stated Nigel Jackett.

Jaime Hall grew up in the Okanagan, was trained as a classical pianist, and is a song-writer and musician with a passion for nature and conservation. Nigel Jackett is an Australian-born biologist who worked for the BC government surveying for species-at-risk in 2007 and 2008.

Highlights of their trip have included:

– Newfoundland. The people are friendly and the starkly beautiful landscapes are unique in Canada

– Secretly camping in a Toronto waterfront park, and going unnoticed.

– Experiencing the spectacle of spring and fall bird migration.

– An 82 year-old retired coastguard taking them in his boat to look for puffins off the southern tip of Nova Scotia.

– Communicating, or rather trying to communicate, in their broken French in Quebec and New Brunswick: “Nous traverson le Canada en bicyk!”

– Arriving at the gates to BC: the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta!!

The Ancient Forest Alliance is a new, Victoria-based non-profit environmental organization working for the protection of BC’s old-growth forests, to ensure the sustainable logging of second-growth forests, and to end the export of raw, unprocessed logs from BC to foreign mills. The organization was founded in January, 2010, and works within the law through rallies, hiking trips, slideshows, photography, letter-writing campaigns, petition drives, and media campaigns to inform and mobilize citizens to push the BC government to protect ancient forests and BC forestry jobs. See the organization’s photo gallery of Canada’s largest trees and stumps at: https://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/photos-media/

“We’re most grateful to Hall and Jackett for their great support in promoting our cause. As a new organization with very limited funds, the completion of their tour will greatly bolster our organization at a critical time,” stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance co-founder. “We’re looking forward to celebrate their arrival after 6 months!”

To make a pledge of any amount to Hall and Jackett’s ride to benefit the Ancient Forest Alliance, please go to: https://www.tilthelasttree.com/p/donate.html

The Ancient Forest Alliance will host a welcoming event and slideshow on Monday, November 14 by Hall and Jackett where they will present photos of the highlights of their tour from 7:00-8:30 pm at the Garry Oak Room in the Fairfield Community Center at 1335 Thurlow Road by Moss St.