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Ancient Forest Alliance and Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce cooperate to Protect Old-Growth Forests and Avatar Grove through new Chamber Info Centre

Jul 14 2011/in Media Release

Port Renfrew, BC – The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) is supporting the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce during the launch of a new visitor information centre that will help bolster tourism in the region as well as funnel thousands of visitors into the town’s surrounding ancient forests.

The info centre will play host to a media press conference today, Thursday, July 14 at 12:00 noon, followed by a tour of the nearby unprotected Avatar Grove. Port Renfrew Chamber President Rosie Betsworth and Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer TJ Watt will discuss their cooperative efforts to promote and protect the Avatar Grove and other nearby old-growth forests.

Since the locating of Avatar Grove on Crown lands near Port Renfrew by Watt in late 2009 and shortly afterwards its demarcation with survey tape for logging, “Avatar Grove Fever” has hit Port Renfrew, drawing in thousands of new visitors from far and wide who have come to the see the Grove’s gigantic, burl-covered redcedar trees and rare old-growth Douglas-firs. The Grove has also attracted national and international media including Al-Jazeera TV last March.

In the coming weeks the AFA will continue to pump up the number of visitors to Port Renfrew by telling thousands of its supporters to visit the new info centre and to spend their dollars in town to ensure that the financial benefits of old-growth forest recreation and their eventual protection are reflected in the local economy.

“This is a new, revolutionary approach to conservation for an environmental group to forge a cooperative relationship with a Chamber of Commerce and the small business community to protect the environment and bolster the local economy at the same time,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner.

“Port Renfrew’s economy will greatly benefit from the promotion and protection of the Avatar Grove and local old-growth forests. We are positioned to attract tourists from across Canada, the US, Europe and elsewhere who will come to see some of the largest, most magnificent trees in the world here. Our new info center will be a central hub to direct tourists where to go once they arrive,” stated Rosie Betsworth, Chamber of Commerce president. “Our cooperation with the Ancient Forest Alliance has already resulted in thousands of new visitors to our town over the past year.”

In March of 2011 the AFA helped raise over $5,000 for the Port Renfrew Chamber to help cover staffing costs at the new centre. The fundraiser, held at the Sooke Harbour House, drew a crowd of mostly business owners from the Sooke and Port Renfrew region who recognize the economic and environmental benefits of promoting and protecting BC’s world renowned ancient forests.

Port Renfrew has bragging rights as the “big trees capital of Canada”. The world’s largest Douglas-fir tree, the Red Creek Fir, Canada’s largest Sitka spruce, the San Juan Spruce, and the giant, gnarly trees of the Avatar Grove all grow right on its door step. Just a couple of hours drive north grows Canada’s largest tree, the Cheewhat Giant. A “Tall Trees Tour” map of the Port Renfrew area which features photos, driving directions and background information is now available to hand out to tourists.

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC government to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests, ensure sustainable second-growth forestry, ban raw log exports, and assist in the retooling and development of second-growth mills and value-added facilities.

According to satellite photos, about 90% of the original, productive old-growth forests on Vancouver Island have been logged south of Barkley Sound, including about 96% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow. Only about 6% of the Island’s original, productive old-growth forests are protected in parks.

See “before” and “after” old-growth forest maps at: https://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/

See the Ancient Forest Alliance’s Youtube Clips of Port Renfrew’s (Canada’s) largest trees at:

– World’s Largest Douglas Fir – the Red Creek Fir: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfBWLVj-Xjg

– Canada’s Largest Spruce – the San Juan Spruce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lql9_hWuFLA&NR=1

– Canada’s Gnarliest Tree – Save the Avatar Grove: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_uPkAWsvVw

See spectacular photogalleries of the Avatar Grove and Canada’s largest trees at:

https://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/photos-media/

Thank you to Mountain Equipment Co-op for supporting the Ancient Forest Alliance!

Jul 5 2011/in Thank You

The Ancient Forest Alliance would like to sincerely thank the Mountain Equipment Co-op for helping fund our BC slideshow tour as well as many of our public hikes to the Avatar Grove which will continue to run into the fall. This contribution has allowed us to inform and involve thousands of British Columbians around the state of our province’s endangered old-growth forests and to also get them out and experience their magnificence first hand.

The AFA runs on a fraction of many larger NGO’s budgets and is very thankful for the generosity of MEC and our public supporters.

The next time you’re in need of any outdoor supplies be sure to drop by the local MEC located at 1450 Government Street in Victoria. You can also visit them online.

Naming rights for this new species of Bryoria or “Horsehair Lichen”

Name that lichen

Jul 4 2011/in News Coverage

If you have ever dreamed of a lichen species with your namesake, now’s your chance to achieve immortality. Naming rights for two recently discovered species of lichen are up for grabs to the highest bidder. It’s all part of a fundraiser for The Land Conservancy of B.C., a non-profit habitat protection group, and the Ancient Forest Alliance, which focuses on saving B.C.’s old-growth forests.

Botanical researcher Trevor Goward discovered the two species of lichen in recent years. The organizations have auctions running on their websites, and as of press time, the going bid for TLC’s lichen was $3,000.

Lichens are often mistaken for plants, but they are actually small organisms born of a symbiotic relationship between alga and fungus. They usually grow on trees and rocks. The Ancient Forest Alliance is auctioning off a horsehair lichen, which (according to a rather poetic press release) “forms elegant black tresses on the branches of old growth forests,” while The Land Conservancy is selling a type of crottle lichen, which consists of “strap-like lobes, pale grayish above and black below.”

As Goward points out, the modern system of classification has been around for three centuries, and the names of those attached to plants are still with us today.

“With any luck, your name will endure as long as our civilization does. Not even Shakespeare could hope for more than that,” says the internationally acclaimed lichenologist.

To make a bid, call the TLC office at 1-877-485-2422 or visit the Ancient Forest Alliance website at www.ancientforestalliance.org.

The auction closes on Sept. 10, 2011. Let’s hope some botanical enthusiasts win, so these lichens are not left with names like Exxon helveticum or Microsoftus sulcata for all eternity.

Link to original article not currently available.