Entries by TJ Watt

Land of the giants: A wet and wild trip to Port Renfrew

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Check out this major travel feature in the Times Colonist newspaper about visiting Avatar Grove! The article highlights how the Ancient Forest Alliance's campaign to protect old-growth forests has become a major economic driver for Port Renfrew, which has now billed itself as the Tall Trees Capital of Canada!

See the article from the Times Colonist: https://www.timescolonist.com/life/travel/land-of-the-giants-a-wet-and-wild-trip-to-port-renfrew-1.16451897

Avatar Grove Lower Loop Trail Reopened!

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After second weekend of hard work, the Lower Loop Trail at the Avatar Grove has been reopened! AFA Boardwalk Coordinator TJ Watt and a team of volunteers spent long hours in wet conditions last weekend, clearing huge debris piles and fallen trees from the trail after a storm damaged the area last October.  More work still needs to be done to repair the broken boardwalk and add additional sections in areas that were impacted but it is possible to walk the trail again now.  Click here to view our photo gallery of the Avatar Grove trail clean-up: https://bit.ly/2mXtMK2

New AFA Photo Gallery Reveals Clearcutting of Rare, Intact Old-Growth in East Creek

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Check out our Facebook photo gallery revealing the fragmentation of the East Creek Valley, one of the very last intact primary watersheds on Vancouver Island until the BC Liberal government allowed the industrial logging of the upper valley starting in 2002 and then the lower valley in 2015 and on. These photos were captured by AFA photographer TJ Watt in the summer and fall of 2015. https://bit.ly/2mXhKQM

East Creek Investigation Finds Clearcutting Rare Intact Old-Growth on Vancouver Island in Compliance with Laws, Highlighting BC Government Failure to Protect Endangered Rainforest

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Here's a media release from our allies at Sierra Club BC about the brutal fragmentation of the East Creek Valley on far northwestern Vancouver Island on the north side of the Brooks Peninsula in Kwakwaka'wakw Quatsino territory. East Creek was one of the very last intact primary watersheds on Vancouver Island until the BC Liberal government allowed the industrial logging of the upper valley starting in 2002 and then the lower valley in 2015 and on. The valley is home to major runs of spawning salmon, as well as bears, wolves, cougars, elk, deer, and species at risk like the marbled murrelet and northern goshawk. The valley is tattered now like most ancient forests across Vancouver Island but there are still significant tracts of ancient forest there that require protection – and the BC Liberals and NDP both need to be pressured to do so. 

See the media release at: https://sierraclub.bc.ca/east-creek-investigation-highlighting-bc-government-failure-to-protect-endangered-rainforest/

April 12: Rally for Sustainable Forestry in Victoria (12 noon, Legislature)

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Hey Vancouver Island friends! Come join the Ancient Forest Alliance, as we support the Public and Private Workers of Canada (PPWC – formerly the Pulp, Paper, and Woodworkers of Canada) who are organizing a sustainable forestry rally in Victoria on Wednesday, April 12 (Legislature, noon) to protect old-growth forests, ensure a value-added sustainable second-growth forest industry, and to end the export of raw logs from BC! Thanks to PPWC forestry officer Cam Shiell, president Arnold Bercov and their PPWC team for organizing this! See more details:  https://www.facebook.com/events/303689276716502/permalink/304594236626006/

Conservationists applaud Old-Growth Protection Resolution by major BC forestry union

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Victoria – Conservationists with the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) are applauding today’s resolution by the Public and Private Workers of Canada (PPWC), representing thousands of forestry workers across BC, calling on the BC government to protect Vancouver Island’s old-growth forests, while ensuring a sustainable, value-added second-growth forest industry, an end to raw log exports, and support for First Nations community development. The major forestry union joins thousands of businesses (BC Chamber of Commerce), mayors and city councils (Union of BC Municipalities), First Nations, and conservation groups across BC in calling on the provincial government to increase protection for BC’s endangered old-growth forests.

See the resolution at: www.ppwc.ca/ppwc-statement-old-growth-logging-vancouver-island/

Comment: Rising raw log exports bad for forests, workers

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Here's a new Op-ed piece by Ben Parfit (CCPA), Scott Doherty (Unifor), and the Ancient Forest Alliance's Ken Wu about the record levels of raw log exports leaving BC over the past 4 years, with one-third coming from old-growth forests and over half coming from Crown lands over the past 5 years. The forestry unions PPWC and Unifor and conservation groups are calling for an immediate ban on old-growth log exports, progressively higher taxes on second-growth log exports to support domestic mills, and policies to support sustainable, value-added forestry in rural and First Nations communities.