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Island’s own Avatar Grove to open near Port Renfrew

Dec 19 2010/in News Coverage

Anyone yearning for a walk on the wild side will have an opportunity to take a hike in Avatar Grove, near Port Renfrew next year.

The 50-hectare stand of old-growth forest — dubbed Avatar Grove, after the popular movie, by members of the Ancient Forest Alliance who discovered the grove of huge, gnarly trees last year — can be difficult to find without guidance.

So, in hopes of increasing public interest in saving the area from logging, the group is planning monthly public hikes to the grove, starting in January.

Meanwhile, the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce has repeated its call for protection of the old-growth stand.

“Since the name Avatar Grove was first uttered, we have seen tourist numbers increase and that means exposure for Port Renfrew and tourist dollars spent,” said Chamber of Commerce president Rosie Betsworth.

Surrey-based Teal Jones Group has cutting rights in the area. It’s hasn’t applied for a cutting permit and part of the grove is in an old-growth management area, meaning no cutting is allowed.

However, the forest alliance wants further protection through a legislated provincial conservancy, said campaigner T.J. Watt.

Endangered Avatar Grove Celebrates One Year Anniversary

Dec 17 2010/in Media Release

Endangered Avatar Grove Celebrates One Year Anniversary

Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce repeats call for its protection, while Ancient Forest Alliance launches plans for monthly public hikes

Port Renfrew, BC – To mark the one year anniversary since identifying the spectacular but endangered Avatar Grove (see the stunning photo gallery here: https://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/photos-media/ ) the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce is repeating its request to the provincial government to protect the Grove while the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) is planning to organize monthly public hikes to the Grove until it is saved.

“Since the name ‘Avatar Grove’ was first uttered, we have seen tourist numbers increase and that means exposure for Port Renfrew and tourist dollars spent” states Rosie Betsworth, president of the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce. “To save our beautiful old-growth forests and to stimulate tourism in our community is a win-win for us all.”

The 50 hectare stand of lush old-growth temperate rainforest on public (Crown) lands near Port Renfrew has become a major attraction due to the ease of access to its giant, alien shaped redcedars – including “Canada’s Gnarliest Tree” with a massive,12ft diameter burl – and enormous Douglas firs. (For directions visit: https://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/ancient-forests/directions-to-avatar-grove/ ). The Grove exists just 5 minutes past the end of a paved road on relatively gentle terrain, only a 15 minute drive from Port Renfrew. This contrasts to most other old-growth stands that are found in remote areas and on steep slopes which require travel along rough logging roads for considerable distances.

“The BC government could immediately protect the Avatar Grove from logging through a new Land Use Order, and later, through a legislated provincial conservancy. It’s the holiday season and everyone is looking for the perfect gift. Saving the Avatar Grove would be the ‘gift that keeps on giving’ – for tourism, recreation, wildlife, and for future generations of Canadians,” says TJ Watt, the AFA campaigner who found the Avatar Grove a year ago.

The Avatar Grove was found in December 2009 by AFA Watt and a friend exploring scattered patches of lowland old-growth forest in the Gordon River Valley on southern Vancouver Island.

“Near the end of our trip we were getting quite discouraged after finding mostly clear-cuts with giant stumps and second-growth tree plantations,” reflects Watt, “but about 15 minutes before Port Renfrew some massive trees appeared alongside the road and we could see the forked tops of the old-growth redcedars. As soon as we started hiking, we spotted one giant cedar about 10 feet wide at its base, then another, and it just continued. It baffled me that such a spectacular forest is still standing so close to town, on low flat terrain, yet hasn’t been logged. Right away, I knew it had the potential to be the Cathedral Grove of Port Renfrew.”

Two months later in February, 2010, Watt and Ken Wu, campaign director of the newly-formed Ancient Forest Alliance, found falling boundary and road location flagging tape throughout the Grove. “I was so eager to share the magnificence of this forest but as we entered we were shocked to find fresh spray paint on all the largest trees and flagging tape around the Grove marked ‘falling boundary’. The timing was uncanny” recalls Watt.

Since then, the fight to protect this eco-treasure has become Canada’s fastest growing ancient forest campaign, featured in scores of provincial and national news stories. The AFA has taken hundreds of people to the Grove, while thousands more have visited on their own.

“No matter what time of year, nearly each time I visit the Avatar Grove there’s a line-up of cars. Being only a 2.5 hour drive from Victoria, literally every day people from all walks of life are visiting the Avatar Grove, including families with kids, young couples, older folks, solo hikers, nature groups, tourists, students. You name it, they’ve made a point to see the spectacular, endangered temperate rainforest that BC has to offer. Sadly, despite losing so much of these rare areas already, ongoing old-growth logging means we stand to lose much of what remains,” notes Watt.

The movement to save the Avatar Grove has also garnered political support at all levels. Federal, provincial and regional political representatives in the Juan de Fuca area have all joined the call for its protection, including federal Liberal MP Keith Martin, provincial NDP MLA John Horgan, and Regional Director Mike Hicks, who notes the Avatar Grove would make an excellent side visit for those traveling along the newly completed Pacific Marine Circle Route.

The Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce and the Sooke Regional Tourism Association have also requested that the BC government protect the Avatar Grove, recognizing the economic significance of eco-tourism in their communities.

Yet, despite virtually unanimous support, the BC government has not stepped up to the plate to ensure that the area is spared from logging by the Surrey-based Teal-Jones Group.

“The response we’ve received so far from Premier Gordon Campbell and Minister Pat Bell is that 24% of the Avatar Grove is within an Old-Growth Management Area which will not be logged, so ‘don’t worry,’” says Watt. “What they fail to mention is that virtually all of the biggest and best trees on the most accessible terrain where everyone hikes are not protected. If the Avatar Grove falls, Port Renfrew and the region won’t get another chance like this for another thousand years.”

About 75% of Vancouver Island’s original productive old-growth forests have been logged, including 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow, according to satellite photos. Meanwhile, only about 6% of the Island’s original, productive old-growth forests are protected in parks.

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC government to protect our endangered old-growth forests, ensure the sustainable logging of second-growth forests, end the export of raw logs, and assist in the retooling and development of sawmills and value-added facilities to handle second-growth logs.

Endangered Avatar Grove

Dec 14 2010/in News Coverage

Between Port Renfrew and Cowichan Lake, above the banks of Gordon River, a small pocket of old-growth western redcedars (Thuja plicata) and Douglas-firs (Pseudotsuga menziesii) was discovered earlier this year. It represents a rare remnant of valley-bottom primary forest on southern Vancouver Island, where 96% of the original forest has been logged. This place was dubbed Avatar Grove, after this year’s box office blockbuster Avatar, the story line of which is a cautionary tale warning against the unsustainable use of our planet’s resources.

On September 19, 12 people participated in a VNHS day trip to visit the trees of Avatar Grove, which is slated for destruction despite its rarity and potential to become a major tourist attraction as “the Cathedral Grove of southern Vancouver Island.” Our trip itinerary, via the Pacific Marine Circle Route, included several other ancient trees in the area, but the focus was unprotected Avatar Grove.

Unlike the movie, no 3-D glasses were required at the Grove, but the special effects were impressive. Grey skies and intermittent rain enhanced the various rich hues of green in the forest. Except for the occasional soft, high-pitched call of Brown Creepers and Golden-crowned Kinglets, this “green, dark forest was too silent to be real,” to borrow a lyric from Gordon Lightfoot.

We were led by TJ Watt, who co-discovered the Grove earlier this year. TJ is a campaigner for the Ancient Forest Alliance, which was founded by former activists with the Western Canada Wilderness Committee. To maintain its status as a charitable organization, the Western Canada Wilderness Committee is prohibited from partisan political activity, whereas the Ancient Forest Alliance has no charitable status, and can therefore play a direct role in the political realm, including the electoral process.

The Ancient Forest Alliance supports sustainable second-growth forestry. British Columbia’s forestry sector has always been, and continues to be, an important component of the economy, providing well-paying employment for legions of British Columbians and a crucial stream of revenues to support a wide array of public services. However, liquidation of the last remaining stands of unprotected old-growth, and an over-reliance on the export of raw logs to foreign mills, does not constitute sustainable forestry. The Ancient Forest Alliance recognizes that the conservation of primary forest also has significant value, and provides benefits for the ecosystems from which our species is inseparable. Beyond our region, we increasingly understand the importance of temperate rainforest ecosystems to the larger biosphere.

Over the course of this year, as the existence of Avatar Grove became known, a footpath has appeared to the largest trees. A short walk into the lower Avatar Grove reveals several massive Douglas-firs and some gnarly, burl-adorned western redcedars; in fact, the Grove is thought to contain the “gnarliest” cedars in Canada, with some of the largest ones likely being more than 500 years old. (A burl indicates some form of distress to a tree, possibly caused by a fungus.) The upper Avatar Grove features many towering redcedars along its path and eventually leads to the “gnarliest” tree of all: a giant old-growth cedar with a contorted burl measuring 12 feet in diameter.

Throughout Avatar Grove, the top soil is derived mostly from decay of trees that have fallen over the years. Much of the soil clearly consists of disintegrating cedars, and retains the deep rufous that is recognizable as the colour of western redcedars. A hike in this forest is an unforgettable experience of walking across a sponge-like surface. With each step, a hiker’s boot sinks slightly into the soil, which quickly springs up again as the boot lifts for the next step. The biodiversity and complexity of an old-growth ecosystem is far greater than that of second-growth forests. Biodiversity is especially rich in valley-bottom old-growth forests such as this one. Old cedars frequently become hollowed out at the base of their trunks while remaining viable; the resulting cavities provide dens for bears, cougars, wolves and other animals.

On September 17, members of the South Vancouver Island Mycological Society conducted a mycological survey of the area. As reported by Adolf and Oluna Ceska, the group was “surprised by the richness of the mycoflora there.”

SVIMS has documented at least 50 species of fungus. The most significant find was Leptonia approximata, which was not previously known in BC; its distribution is northern California. Additionally, three species of the genus Phaeocollybia were found, along with two species of Ramaria that are considered rare, and the distribution of which are tracked in the United States by the Bureau of Land Management. At publication time, SVIMS intended to return to the area in October to record later-fruiting species. For more information on SVIMS, see the Society’s website at https://www.svims.ca.

From an economic perspective, the Ancient Forest Alliance suggests that the potential ongoing value of Avatar Grove as a tourist destination is superior to the one-time financial hit of turning the biggest trees into a few logs and losing the most accessible stand of monumental old-growth on Vancouver Island. Port Renfrew and the communities of Cowichan Lake would benefit as gateways to the protected Grove.

It’s time to say “enough is enough,” and take a stand. Time is slipping away. Visit the Ancient Forest Alliance website at https://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/ to see what you can do to help.

As with so many VNHS day trips, many thanks are due to Agnes Lynn for organizing the day trip, and Dave Lynn for his safe driving skills behind the wheel of the van. Thanks also to TJ for sharing his enthusiasm for Avatar Grove, and for his efforts to save it.