Internationally-acclaimed artist Kelly Richardson moves to Victoria, turns attention to “Tall Trees Capital” of Canada – Port Renfrew

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For Immediate Release
Tuesday, January 9, 2017

Victoria, BC – Vancouver Island’s famed old-growth forests near Port Renfrew – known as Canada’s “Tall Trees Capital” – have attracted the attention of internationally acclaimed artist Kelly Richardson, who will feature these ancient forests in an upcoming digital art installation to be projected on IMAX screens across the country as part of an upcoming large-format film series.

Richardson is known for creating hyper-real digital films of rich and complex landscapes that have been manipulated using CGI, animation and sound. Her projects have received major international acclaim, having been featured in the National Gallery of Canada, in galleries around the world, in an official Canada 150 exhibition this year, and in the upcoming large-format film series.

Taking cues from 19th century painting, 20th century cinema and 21st century scientific inquiries, Richardson creates works with strong environmental themes, asking viewers to consider what the future might look like if we continue on our current trajectory of planetary pillaging and consumption, and why we have allowed ourselves to arrive at such a moment of global environmental crisis.

Kelly Richardson said: “Having lived and worked in England for the last 14 years, I recently relocated to Victoria in order to be closer to the truly magnificent old-growth forests. After visiting Avatar Grove during a work trip in the fall of 2016, I was overwhelmed by my experience of those ancient stands, which was a huge influence in my decision to apply for a professorship at the University of Victoria where I now work. My upcoming projects will feature the old-growth forests in this region and I hope I can contribute to efforts to raise awareness about their outstanding beauty and the plight to protect what remains.”

Over the years, Vancouver Island’s old-growth forests have drawn considerable attention from the artistic community, including Emily Carr who produced pieces depicting the old-growth trees, giant stumps, and forests of the region (whose works in regards to her interest in ancient forests is currently on display in the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.

) in the first half of the 20th century; scores of renowned artists who contributed to the best-selling art book “Carmanah: Visions of an Ancient Forest” (300,000 copies sold) in 1990; and increasing numbers of artists and filmmakers in recent years featuring the ancient forests around Port Renfrew, including Richardson.

“We’re excited to have such a renowned and original artist of Kelly Richardson’s caliber, focusing her talent to draw international attention through creativity to the endangered old-growth forests of Vancouver Island. Her work has gone far and wide across North America, Europe, and China, garnering major media attention, moving critics and reaching popular audiences, all while raising environmental themes in powerful ways”, stated Ken Wu, executive director of the Ancient Forest Alliance. “The old-growth forests around Port Renfrew – still largely endangered – are clearly continuing to impress increasing numbers of people – not only tourists, businesses, and news media, but acclaimed artists as well.”

Born in Canada, Kelly Richardson’s works have been widely acclaimed in North America, Asia and Europe, having been acquired by the National Gallery of Canada, Art Gallery of Ontario, and Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal in Canada and by museums around the world. Her video installations have been included in the Toronto International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival and she was previously honoured at the Americans for the Arts National Arts Awards alongside Robert Redford, Salman Rushdie and fellow artist, Ed Ruscha. Her forthcoming work focusing on British Columbia’s old-growth forests will be featured in the upcoming XL-Outer Worlds Project, an exposition of five new large format films by five digital media artists, including Richardson, that will help highlight Canada’s invention of IMAX film technology, to be screened across the country in IMAX theatres in 2019.

Located only 20 minutes from Port Renfrew, the Avatar Grove or “T’l’oqwxwat” in the language of the local Pacheedaht First Nation, is home to one of the most spectacular and easily accessible stands of monumental old-growth trees in BC. It has become among the province’s most popular old-growth tourism destinations, attracting visitors from around the world (particularly with the completion of a boardwalk last August), the attention of countless national and international news media organisations, and a major investment in new businesses in the region.

The campaign to protect the grove, spearheaded by the Ancient Forest Alliance and the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce – a ground-breaking alliance of environmental activists and the local business community – has significantly fuelled a provincial movement of businesses, labour unions, city and town councils, and environmental groups calling on the British Columbian provincial government to protect old-growth forests and to ensure a sustainable, second-growth forest industry.

More BACKGROUND Information on artist Kelly Richardson

Kelly Richardson’s work has been acquired into significant museum collections across Canada, the UK, and the USA including the National Gallery of Canada, Art Gallery of Ontario, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (USA), Albright-Knox Art Gallery (USA), Arts Council Collection (England), among others. Recent one person exhibitions include Dundee Contemporary Arts, SMoCA, CAG Vancouver, VOID Derry, Naturhistorisches Museum Wien and a major survey at the Albright-Knox. Her work was selected for the Canadian, Beijing, Busan, Gwangju and Montréal biennales, and major moving image exhibitions including the The Cinema Effect: Illusion, Reality and the Moving Image at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Toronto International Film Festival and Sundance Film Festival.

Kelly Richardson was born in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. From 2003-2017 she resided in north east England where she was a Lecturer in Fine Arts at Newcastle University. She currently lives and works as a visitor on the traditional territory of the WSANEC peoples of the Coast Salish Nation on Vancouver Island, Canada. She is Associate Professor in Visual Arts at the University of Victoria. See her website at https://kellyrichardson.net

More BACKGROUND Information on BC’s Old-Growth Forests

Old-growth forests are vital to sustaining unique endangered species, climate stability, tourism, clean water, wild salmon, and the cultures of many First Nations. On BC’s southern coast, satellite photos show that at least 75% of the original, productive old-growth forests have been logged, including well over 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow. Only about 8% of Vancouver Island’s original, productive old-growth forests are protected in parks and Old-Growth Management Areas (see maps and stats at: https://16.52.162.165/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/). Old-growth forests – with trees that can be 2000 years old – are a non-renewable resource under BC’s system of forestry, where second-growth forests are re-logged every 50 to 100 years, never to become old-growth again.

In recent times, the voices for old-growth protection have been quickly expanding, including numerous Chambers of Commerce, mayors and city councils, forestry unions, conservation groups, and First Nations across BC who have been calling on the provincial government to expand protection for BC’s remaining old-growth forests. The Ancient Forest Alliance is also calling on the province to support First Nations land use plans and the sustainable economic development and diversification of the communities as an alternative to old-growth logging. See a recent news article at: https://www.sookenewsmirror.com/news/groups-demand-protection-of-islands-old-growth-forests/

About the XL-Outer Worlds Project

Janine Marchessault of the Public Access Collective and Christian Kroitor (grandson of IMAX inventor Roman Kroitor) of True Frame Productions have come together to commission five new large-format digital film shorts in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the invention of IMAX. The theme for the commissioned program is in keeping with the cinematic genre typical of IMAX films: the larger-than-life landscape that forms an outer world. Participating Canadian media artists include: Oliver Husain, Lisa Jackson, Kelly Richardson, Michael Snow, and Leila Sujir. XL-Outer Worlds will result in a four-day Festival Celebration in 2019 at the Cinesphere, the world’s first permanent IMAX movie theatre located in Toronto at Ontario Place. This festival will showcase the commissioned films celebrating the invention of IMAX, alongside curated programs of early IMAX films. The XL-Outer Worlds festival will later tour the first IMAX cinemas across Canada in Victoria, Sudbury, Edmonton and Montreal. This is one of the 200 exceptional projects funded through the Canada Council for the Arts’ New Chapter program. With this $35M investment, the Council supports the creation and sharing of the arts in communities across Canada.

Old-Growth Coastal Douglas Fir forest in Metchosin

Ancient Forest Alliance supports BC government’s proposal to expand Coastal Douglas-Fir ecosystem protection

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For immediate release
December 22, 2017

Ancient Forest Alliance supports BC government’s proposal to expand Coastal Douglas-Fir ecosystem protection

The group applauds the province’s move to protect threatened Coastal Douglas-fir (CDF) ecosystems on Crown land.

Victoria, BC – The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) commends the BC government and Ministry of Forests on their proposal to increase the amount of Coastal Douglas-fir ecosystem protected on public (Crown) lands on Vancouver Island’s southeast coast and the southern Gulf Islands.

The proposed new protected areas total 1,125 hectares and expand upon a similar process in 2010 that resulted in the issuance of land use orders which protected 2,024 hectares of public lands on southeast Vancouver Island the Sunshine Coast.

The BC government is proposing to protect 21 parcels of public land in Bowser, Qualicum Beach, Nanoose Bay, Gabriola Island, Ladysmith, Galiano Island, and Saltspring Island.


“The AFA is pleased to see the NDP government recognize the need to expand protections in this unique and extremely endangered ecosystem,” said Ken Wu, executive director of the Ancient Forest Alliance. “The Coastal Douglas-Fir ecosystem is home to the highest number of species at risk in BC and, with less than four percent of the region’s ecosystems protected by the province, the proposed protection measures are greatly needed.”

The Coastal Douglas-fir ecosystem, the smallest of BC’s 16 distinctive biogeoclimatic zones (classified according to their climatic and ecological features), is among the top four most endangered ecosystems in Canada, along with the Tallgrass Prairie in Manitoba, the Carolinian Forest in southern Ontario, and the “Pocket Desert“ near Osoyoos in southern BC.

Species at risk within the Coastal Douglas-fir (CDF) zone include Garry oak trees, sharp-tailed snakes, alligator lizards, and Vancouver Island screech owl and pygmy owl subspecies.

The CDF zone encompasses about 260,000 hectares on southeast Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands south of Cortes Island, and a small area of the Sunshine Coast. About 50 percent of the entire ecosystem has been converted to human uses such as agriculture and urbanization. About one percent of the region’s original old-growth forest remains.

Most of the Coastal Douglas-fir zone was privatized through the E&N Land Grant over a hundred years ago. Only twenty percent of the area is Crown land and almost all of it is unceded First Nations territory.

“We welcome the NDP’s plan to protect more public land in this endangered ecosystem. This is a major step forward for the Coastal Douglas-Fir region. We believe the BC government must also commit funding to the purchase and protection of private lands, which constitute the vast majority of the CDF zone and encompass at-risk ecosystems that, otherwise, remain vulnerable to development or degradation” said Andrea Inness, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner.

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC government to establish an annual $40 million provincial land acquisition fund to purchase and protect private lands in BC, including in the Coastal Douglas-fir zone, which has the highest percentage of private land in the province of any biogeoclimatic zone in BC.

The proposed fund would rise to an annual $100 million by 2024 through $10 million increases each year and would enable the timely purchase of significant tracts of endangered private lands of high conservation, scenic, and recreation value to add to BC’s parks and protected areas system.

“In an area where only nine percent of the land base is provincial Crown land, the purchase and protection of private land is critical if we want to avoid biodiversity loss in the long-term,” said Inness. “The protected area target set out for nations under the UN Convention of Biological Diversity is 17 percent. A land acquisition fund is a vital way to ensure enough large areas are protected to reach that 17 percent target in the Coastal Douglas-fir zone.”

The AFA is also encouraging the BC government to consider a third phase of land use order protections on additional Crown lands in the CDF zone to ensure this unique ecosystem is adequately conserved and can be enjoyed by BC residents and visitors for generations.

The BC government is inviting the public to submit their comments on the proposal to increase the amount of Coastal Douglas-Fir ecosystem protections from now until Jan. 15, 2018.

Written comments may be sent to CDFOrderAmendment2017@gov.bc.ca.

Background Information

The Coastal Douglas-fir ecosystem has the mildest climate in Canada, resulting in an almost Mediterranean environment with hot dry summers, mild winters, and moderate precipitation, creating natural meadow environments. Today the area features largely second-growth forests with some pockets of old-growth veteran trees, and includes sensitive ecosystems with rocky outcroppings, arbutus trees, and Garry oak meadows.

Many regional districts in BC, such as the Capital, Nanaimo, Cowichan Valley, Strathcona, and Powell River Regional Districts, have land – or “park” – acquisition funds, some of which are augmented by the fundraising efforts of private citizens and land trusts. The Land Acquisition Fund of the Capital Regional District of Greater Victoria (CRD) has been foundational in helping to protect endangered ecosystems and lands of high recreational and scenic value.

The CRD’s fund generates about $3.7 million each year and has spent over $35 million to purchase over 4,500 hectares of land around Victoria with its partners since its establishment in the year 2000, and has helped to protect such iconic natural areas as the Sooke Hills and Potholes, Mount Maxwell on Saltspring Island, and lands between Thetis Lake and Mount Work. Like the Capital Regional District’s land acquisition fund, the proposed $40 million provincial fund could be used as leverage to raise additional funds from private land trusts, environmental groups and private donors.

One of several funding mechanisms available to the BC government for a land acquisition fund is a “Pop for Parks” initiative, where unredeemed bottle deposit funds are redirected to the protection of lands with high conservation values. While the annual $10 to $15 million Pop for Parks program would make up only part of the recommended annual $40 million fund, a report by environmental lawyer Erin Grey, produced earlier this year for the AFA, showed there are no legal or financial barriers to implementing the program in BC – only a lack of political will.

 

 

 

 

 

From left: Ancient Forest Alliance volunteer Nathaniel Glickman

Magnificent Old-Growth Forest found on Vancouver Island; 11 foot wide, near-record size Sitka spruce towers in “FernGully Grove”

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Port Renfrew, BC – The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) has located one of the finest and last unprotected stands of old-growth Sitka spruce groves on Vancouver Island, located near Port Renfrew. Nicknamed the “FernGully Grove” for its dense and extensive understory of ferns, it is located on lands owned by TimberWest corporation, in the territory of the Pacheedaht First Nation people, and is just a 10 minute drive from the town of Port Renfrew – a town that has been billed as the “Tall Tree Capital of Canada.”

Similar in feel to a “mini-Carmanah Valley,” the extremely rich, valley-bottom ancient grove is home to an enormous, 11 foot diameter Sitka spruce tree that is wider than the 10th widest Sitka spruce tree currently listed on the BC Big Tree Registry. It is also home to dozens of other 6 to 8 foot wide giants, an understory covered in fields of giant sword ferns, and is exceptional habitat for Roosevelt elk, black-tailed deer, wolves, cougars, and black bears.

There is no survey tape or any indications at this time of logging plans by TimberWest for the grove, to the knowledge of AFA campaigners, who have sent a letter to TimberWest seeking further information about the company’s plans for the area.

“This is the most impressive unprotected Sitka spruce grove we’ve come across in years. It really feels like you’re in a part of the Carmanah Valley. It also has a more luxuriant understory of ferns than we’ve seen anywhere else – so we’ve nicknamed it the ‘FernGully Grove’ for now,” said Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director. “Finding a grove of unprotected giant Sitka spruce is highly significant, given that the vast majority them on Vancouver Island have been logged in the valley bottoms where they grow. This grove needs to be bought and protected by the province. TimberWest has shown itself to be amenable to holding back from logging some contentious sites, such as the Koksilah Ancient Forest, while negotiations for their purchase or protection have been underway. In the case of FernGully Grove, we encourage them to show the same openness to potentially selling the land at fair market value for conservation purposes and, obviously, to holding back from any logging plans there, given that it’s a miniscule fraction of their private managed forest lands.”

“The FernGully Grove area is another prime reason why the new BC NDP government should implement a Land Acquisition Fund to purchase and protect endangered ecosystems on private lands,” stated Andrea Inness, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner. “On Crown lands, where most ancient forests remain, the BC government needs to implement a comprehensive, science-based plan to protect the remaining old-growth forests, while also supporting First Nations land use plans and financing sustainable economic development and diversification in those communities in lieu of old-growth logging.”

“FernGully Grove is another exceptional ‘big tree find’ in the Port Renfrew region, which goes to show it truly deserves its title as the ‘Tall Trees Capital’ of Canada. This area has so much wildlife – elk, deer, wolves, cougars, bears – it could also be called the ‘Serengeti of Vancouver Island.’ For this reason, we’d like to see this area eventually designated more as an ecological reserve rather than as a tourism area, as it should really be kept undisturbed for its wildlife value,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer.

Ancient Forest Alliance activists Ken Wu and TJ Watt, along with volunteer Nathaniel Glickman, located the grove on December 4 after a tough “bushwhacking” expedition through extremely dense salmonberry thickets and across stream channels. They returned the next day to measure the largest tree in the grove, a towering 11 foot (3.34 metre) wide Sitka spruce, which is wider than the tenth widest Sitka spruce in BC listed on the BC Big Tree Registry. The grove is nicknamed “FernGully” after the 1992 animated film in which forest creatures fight to save their rainforest home from logging.

While the Ancient Forest Alliance certainly aren't the first people to have seen this area – as the region as been inhabitated by indigenous peoples for thousands of years and in the past loggers and hunters would have traversed the area – the Ancient Forest Alliance is the first to have identified the grove for its conservation significance in terms of its old-growth forest qualities.

FernGully Grove is located on the private managed forest lands of TimberWest, who are also actively logging second-growth stands near the Red Creek Fir (the world’s largest Douglas-fir tree), where road access has been gated off for months, and have flagged large tracts of second-growth forest along the highway into Port Renfrew for potential future logging. The AFA has concerns about the impacts of this logging and has included their concerns about all three sites in their letter to the company.

 

Background Info on the Proposed BC Land Acquisition Fund

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC government to create a provincial land acquisition fund in order to purchase and protect private lands such as these that have high conservation or recreation value. The AFA has sent a briefing document to Minister of Environment George Heyman, outlining the need for a land acquisition fund and hopes to meet with the minister in the new year to discuss the proposal further.

About 5% of British Columbia’s land base is private, where new protected areas require the outright purchase of private lands from willing sellers, while 95% is Crown (public) lands, where new protected areas are established by government legislation. However, a high percentage of BC’s most endangered and biologically richest and diverse ecosystems are found on private lands, which are disproportionately important for conservation efforts.

The Ancient Forest Alliance’s is proposing a provincial land acquisition fund of $40 million/ year (less than 0.1% of the provincial budget), starting in 2018, and increasing by $10 million per year until reaching $100 million in 2025. The proposed land acquisition fund would enable the timely purchase and protection of significant tracts of endangered private lands of high conservation, scenic, and recreation value to add to BC’s parks and protected areas system. This could include areas such as Vancouver Island’s endangered Garry Oak meadows, grasslands of the Okanagan Valley and old-growth forests on at FernGully Grove, the Koksilah Ancient Forest (owned by TimberWest) near Shawnigan Lake, and Mount Horne (owned by Island Timberlands), the mountainside above the world-famous Cathedral Grove, Canada’s most famous old-growth forest.

Many regional districts in BC have park acquisition funds, which are augmented by the fundraising efforts of private citizens and land trusts. For example, the Capital Regional District (CRD) of Greater Victoria has a Land Acquisition Fund that generates about $3.7 million each year and has spent over $35 million to purchase over 4,500 hectares of land with its partners since the year 2000. The fund has helped to protect the Sooke Hills and Potholes, Jordan River’s popular surfing area, Mount Maxwell on Saltspring Island, and lands between Thetis Lake and Mount Work. Like the CRD’s land acquisition fund, a provincial fund could be used as leverage to raise additional funds from private land trusts, environmental groups and private donors.

A report published by the University of Victoria Environmental Law Centre in 2015 outlined the various funding mechanism available to the BC government for a provincial land acquisition fund. Read the report.

Environmental lawyer Erin Grey also produced a report earlier this year, analyzing the AFA's proposed Pop for Parks program, which would see unredeemed bottle deposits redirected to the purchase and protection of private lands with high conservation values. The report indicates there are no legal or financial barriers to implementing the program in BC – only a lack of political will. Read the report. 

 

More Background Information about Old-Growth Forests

“The new NDP government, supported by the BC Greens, gives us the greatest opportunity in BC's history to finally end the decades-long ‘War in the Woods’ by protecting endangered old-growth forests and ensuring a sustainable, second-growth forest industry,” said Ken Wu, Executive Director of the Ancient Forest Alliance. “The NDP has sent some positive signals, but we need to see clear commitments and action to protect what remains of BC’s old-growth.”

The Ancient Forest Alliance is asking for a series of policy changes that can be rolled out over both short- and longer-term timelines. This includes a comprehensive, science-based law to protect all of BC’s remaining endangered old-growth forests, partly modeled after the ecosystem-based management approach used in the Great Bear Rainforest. It also includes financial support for sustainable economic development and diversification of First Nations communities, known as “conservation financing,” while supporting First Nations land use plans. While these longer-term solutions are being developed, an interim halt to logging in old-growth “hotspots” – areas of high conservation value – must be implemented to ensure the largest and best stands of remaining old-growth forests are kept intact while a larger plan is developed. Regulations and incentives must also be used to ensure a sustainable, value-added second-growth forest industry in BC.

Policies that can be readily implemented more quickly include a Big Tree Protection Order, which the BC government is currently finishing work on developing, which would protect the biggest trees on the coast with buffer zones. Thousands of hectares of Old-Growth Management Areas (OGMA’s) that are currently mapped but not given legal protection status (ie. “non-legal OGMA’s”) should also be made legally-binding immediately. As mentioned earlier, annual funding also needs to be directed to establish a provincial land acquisition fund to purchase and protect private lands of high conservation value.

The NDP’s 2017 election platform states that “in partnership with First Nations and communities, we will modernize land-use planning to effectively and sustainably manage BC’s…forests and old growth. We will take an evidence-based scientific approach and use the ecosystem-based management of the Great Bear Rainforest as a model.” (Read page 61 of their platform). If taken literally, this would almost certainly result in the protection of the remaining old-growth forest on BC’s southern coast and in the BC Interior, where old-growth forests are far scarcer and more endangered than in the Central and Northern Coast (Great Bear Rainforest) where 85% of the forests were set aside under the ecosystem-based management plan there.

Old-growth forests are vital to sustaining unique endangered species, climate stability, tourism, clean water, wild salmon, and the cultures of many First Nations. On BC’s southern coast, satellite photos show that at least 75% of the original, productive old-growth forests have been logged, including well over 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow. See maps and stats.

In recent years, support for increased old-growth protection has broadened to include unions, chambers of commerce and municipalities. For example, the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) and the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC) have passed a resolution calling for an end to old-growth logging on Vancouver Island; the BC Chamber of Commerce, representing 36,000 BC businesses, has called for expanded old-growth forest protection in BC in order to benefit the economy; and the Private and Public Workers of Canada (PPWC), representing thousands of BC forestry workers, has passed a resolution calling for protection of Vancouver Island’s remaining old-growth forests.

Environmental organizations Ancient Forest Alliance, Sierra Club BC, and Wilderness Committee are calling on the BC government to develop a comprehensive, science-based Old-Growth Protection Act to protect endangered old-growth forests and to ensure a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry.
 

Speakers and Ralliers at Ancient Forest Event

“Tall Trees Tourism Corridor” Chambers of Commerce join Conservationists, Forestry Workers and First Nations at Rally for Old-Growth Forest Protection and Sustainable Forestry Jobs

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“Tall Trees Tourism Corridor” Chambers of Commerce join Conservationists, Forestry Workers and First Nations at Rally for Old-Growth Forest Protection and Sustainable Forestry Jobs

Representatives from the Port Renfrew, Sooke, and Westshore Chambers of Commerce, First Nations, local governments, and environmental groups spoke up at the Alix Goolden Hall in Victoria yesterday, calling on the new provincial government to enact policies to protect BC’s old-growth forests, ensure a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry, and support First Nations land use plans and sustainable economic development.

Victoria, BC – A diverse chorus of business, labour, First Nations, and conservation groups began a mobilization last night in Victoria calling on the new BC government to protect the province’s endangered old-growth forests and ensure a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry.

Speakers from the three chambers of commerce along the “Tall Trees Tourism Corridor” – the Sooke, Port Renfrew, and WestShore Chambers of Commerce – discussed the need to protect ancient forests due to the vital role they play in the province’s multi-billion dollar tourism industry. Businesses along the Highway 14 route from Victoria to Port Renfrew have benefited greatly from the flood of tourists from around the world who have been coming to visit the old-growth forests in the area in recent years, in particular the Avatar Grove, Walbran Valley, Big Lonely Doug (Canada’s 2nd largest Douglas-fir), Red Creek Fir (the world’s largest Douglas-fir), San Juan Spruce (Canada’s largest Sitka spruce until the top broke off in 2015), Harris Creek Spruce, and other old-growth forests around Port Renfrew.

“There is a reason we have branded Port Renfrew as the ‘Tall Trees Capital’ of Canada. Big tree tourism is a focal point and a staple of Port Renfrew's economy and growth. Old-growth forests are worth more to us standing,” stated Karl Ablack, Vice President of the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce.

“Every year tourists from around the world come to visit our old growth forests. This increasing eco-tourism generates revenue for the entire region and directly supports local business as visitors pay for meals, accomodation, transportation, and entertainment to and from old growth hotspots. By taking action now to preserve our old-growth forests, these valuable natural assets will continue to benefit our community for generations to come and contribute directly to a thriving local economy,” said Joshua Schmidt, Development Director at the WestShore Chamber of Commerce.

“The new NDP government, supported by the BC Greens, gives us the greatest opportunity in BC's history to finally end the decades-long ‘War in the Woods’ by protecting endangered old-growth forests and ensuring a sustainable, second-growth forest industry,” said Ken Wu, Executive Director of the Ancient Forest Alliance. “The NDP has sent some positive signals, but we need to see clear commitments and action. Large-scale old-growth logging is still underway in large parts of BC and, with less than 1% of the original, productive old-growth remaining in some ecosystem types, the BC government must act quickly to protect what remains.”

“We are excited to work constructively with this new government and hope to start seeing policy changes in the very near future,” said Andrea Inness, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner. “In the province’s most significant old-growth ‘hot spots’, getting at least a temporary halt to logging is step one, so we’re not in a ‘talk and log’ situation where endangered old-growth forests are being logged while policy negotiations take place, limiting our options for protection.”

The Ancient Forest Alliance is asking for a series of policy changes that can be rolled out over both short- and longer-term timelines. This includes a comprehensive, science-based law to protect old-growth forests, partly modeled after the ecosystem-based management approach used in the Great Bear Rainforest, which protected 70% of all forests on BC’s north and central coast. It also includes financial support for sustainable economic development and diversification of First Nations communities, known as “conservation financing,” while supporting First Nations land use plans. While these longer-term solutions are being developed, an interim halt to logging in old-growth “hotspots” – areas of high conservation value – must be implemented to ensure the largest and best stands of remaining old-growth forests are kept intact while a larger plan is developed.

There are also a number of policies that can be readily implemented more quickly. For example, the BC government is currently finishing work on developing a Big Tree Protection Order as a policy option, which if implemented would protect the biggest trees on the coast with buffer zones. In addition, forest reserves such as many Old-Growth Management Areas that currently exist only on paper should be made legally binding, and the system should be quickly expanded to protect additional endangered old-growth forests. The NDP government should also direct BC Timber Sales (BCTS), the BC government’s logging agency, to discontinue issuance of old-growth cut blocks. Finally, annual funding needs to be directed to establish a park acquisition fund, which would allow the BC government to purchase and protect private lands of high conservation, cultural or recreational value.

“Last night’s gathering of concerned citizens and diverse sectors of society sends an unequivocal message to the NDP government that British Columbians want to see a major overhaul of BC’s unsustainable system of forestry,” said Ken Wu. “We look forward to seeing some concrete action in the coming months, especially during the February sitting of the legislature, where we expect the BC government to follow through on its 2017 election platform commitments.”

The NDP’s 2017 election platform states that “in partnership with First Nations and communities, we will modernize land-use planning to effectively and sustainably manage BC’s…forests and old growth. We will take an evidence-based scientific approach and use the ecosystem-based management of the Great Bear Rainforest as a model.” (see page 61 of their platform at: https://action.bcndp.ca/page/-/bcndp/docs/BC-NDP-Platform-2017.pdf). If taken literally and seriously, this would almost certainly result in the protection of the remaining old growth forest on BC’s southern coast and in the BC Interior, where old-growth forests are far scarcer and more endangered than in the Central and Northern Coast (Great Bear Rainforest) where 85% of the forests were set aside under the ecosystem-based management plan there.

Speakers at yesterday night’s event, where over 200 people attended, included Karl Ablack (Vice-President of the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce), Joshua Schmidt (Development Director of the WestShore Chamber of Commerce), Dr. Brian White (Spokesperson with the Sooke Chamber of Commerce), Arnold Bercov (President of the Public and Private Workers of Canada), Joe Martin (Tlaoquiaht canoe carver and Tribal Park advocate), Robert Morales (Chief Treaty Negotiator of the Hul’qumi’num Treaty Group), Jens Wieting (Campaigner with the Sierra Club of BC), Torrance Coste (Campaigner with the Wilderness Committee), TJ Watt (Campaigner and Photographer with the Ancient Forest Alliance), Andrea Inness (Campaigner with the Ancient Forest Alliance), and Ken Wu (Executive Director with the Ancient Forest Alliance).

More Background Information

Old-growth forests are vital to sustaining unique endangered species, climate stability, tourism, clean water, wild salmon, and the cultures of many First Nations. On BC’s southern coast, satellite photos show that at least 75% of the original, productive old-growth forests have been logged, including well over 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow. Only about 8% of Vancouver Island’s original, productive old-growth forests are protected in parks and Old-Growth Management Areas. Old-growth forests – with trees that can be 2000 years old – are a non-renewable resource under BC’s system of forestry, where second-growth forests are re-logged every 50 to 100 years, never to become old-growth again.

In recent times, the voices for old-growth protection have been quickly expanding, including numerous Chambers of Commerce, mayors and city councils, forestry unions, and conservation groups across BC who have been calling on the provincial government to expand protection for BC’s remaining old-growth forests.

BC’s premier business lobby, the BC Chamber of Commerce, representing 36,000 businesses, passed a resolution in May of 2016 calling on the province to expand protection for BC’s old-growth forests to support the economy, after a series of similar resolutions passed by the Port Renfrew, Sooke, and WestShore Chambers of Commerce. See: https://16.52.162.165/media-release-historic-leap-for-old-growth-forests-bc-chamber-of-commerce-passes-resolution-for-expanded-protection/

Both the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM), representing the mayors, city and town councils, and regional districts across BC, and Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC), representing Vancouver Island local governments, passed a resolution last year calling on the province to protect the Vancouver Island’s remaining old-growth forests by amending the 1994 land use plan. See: https://16.52.162.165/media-release-ubcm-passes-old-growth-protection-resolution/

The Private and Public Workers of Canada (PPWC), formerly the Pulp, Paper, and Woodworkers of Canada, representing thousands of sawmill and pulp mill workers across BC, passed a resolution earlier this year calling for an end to old-growth logging on Vancouver Island. See: https://16.52.162.165/conservationists-applaud-old-growth-protection-resolution-by-major-bc-forestry-union/

The Ahousaht First Nation north of Tofino in Clayoquot Sound also announced early this year that 82% of their territory will be off-limits to commercial logging. They now need provincial legislation and funding to help make their vision a reality. See: [Original article no longer available]

The Ancient Forest Alliance calling on the BC government to implement a comprehensive science-based plan to protect all of BC’s remaining endangered old-growth forests, and to also ensure a sustainable, value-added second-growth forest industry. 

AFA's Campaigner and Photographer

Conservationists thank the Pacheedaht First Nation for extending protection over 18 hectares of “Jurassic Grove” near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island

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The Ancient Forest Alliance is thanking the Pacheedaht First Nation band for proposing expanded protection for an 18 hectare portion of the stunning “Jurassic Grove”, a monumental old-growth forest of giant redcedars, Douglas-fir, and Sitka spruce trees located a 90 minute drive west of Victoria between Jordan River and Port Renfrew. The proposed expansion in the new management plan of Tree Farm Licence 61, partly owned by the Pacheedaht band, would protect about 30% of the 61 hectares that are still unprotected in the Jurassic Grove (total grove size is 130 hectares). The spectacular grove stands on Crown lands adjacent to the Juan de Fuca Provincial Park on Vancouver Island, in the unceded traditional territory of the Pacheedaht First Nation. See the original media release about Jurassic Grove, identified earlier this year as an exceptional old-growth grove by the Ancient Forest Alliance at: https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/jurassic-grove/ and a Times Colonist piece at: https://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/avatar-grove-the-sequel-introducing-jurassic-grove-1.18540489

“We want to thank the Pacheedaht First Nation for proposing the new protection, this is good news. This is an important step forward for the protection of Jurassic Grove, encompassing 18 hectares of some of the grandest ancient forests left on planet earth. Saving rare giants like these thousand year old trees is like protecting a herd of endangered elephants or rhinos these days – it needs to happen”, stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director.

“We encourage the Pacheedaht and the province to consider protecting the remaining portion of Jurassic Grove, as the additional 43 hectares includes the finest, most accessible parts of the grove on the flatter and gentler terrain – the areas that tourists would be able to readily visit. As many people know, we believe the long-term, sustainable economic future for the Port Renfrew region lies in large part in eco-tourism, which the region has greatly embraced in recent years, currently centred around the Avatar Grove – and perhaps the Jurassic Grove in the future”, stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance photographer and campaigner.

“Lowland old-growth groves on southern Vancouver Island with the classic giants like this are about as rare as finding a Sasquatch these days, with over 95% of them having been logged on the South Island. This is one of the most magnificent unprotected groves in the world, and it’s even easier than the Avatar Grove to get to, along a major paved highway”, stated Andrea Inness, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner.

The new management plan for Tree Farm Licence (TFL) 61, licenced to Pacheedaht Andersen Timber Holdings LP, shows a series of newly proposed Old-Growth Management Areas totaling about 18 hectares of the unprotected portions of the Jurassic Grove. The Jurassic Grove is an old-growth forest that is about 130 hectares in total size, with 70 hectares protected in a pre-existing Wildlife Habitat Area (for the threatened marbled murrelet, a seabird that only nests in old-growth trees), another 18 hectares of newly proposed protections by the Pacheedaht band, and another 43 hectares remaining on unprotected Crown lands which the Ancient Forest Alliance would also like to see protected through new Old-Growth Management Areas (and perhaps one day added to the adjacent Juan de Fuca Provincial Park, at which time “Jurassic Grove” will become “Jurassic Park”). Public comments for the Management Plan close on November 15.

The Ancient Forest Alliance believes that the Pacheedaht would greatly benefit from developing a cultural/eco-tourism industry that showcases ancient forests like the Jurassic Grove, which is one of the grandest (with trees that are 16 feet or 5 metres wide) and most accessible (near the main highway, near Jordan River, with key sections on gentle flat terrain) old-growth forests in Pacheedaht territory. Earlier this year, the Pacheedaht band expanded and upgraded their ocean-front campground where many visitors to the Avatar Grove stay, and they have now completed construction of a new gas station in Port Renfrew which just opened yesterday (see https://www.sookenewsmirror.com/news/new-port-renfrew-gas-station-promotes-community-growth/ and https://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/jack-knox-port-renfrew-community-reborn-and-it-s-a-gas-1.23090134) and which the Ancient Forest Alliance is encouraging all “tall tree tourists” who visit the area to gas-up at.

In the Great Bear Rainforest and Haida Gwaii, conservation groups along with the provincial and federal governments have been helping to finance the sustainable economic development and diversification of First Nation communities to develop tourism and other businesses compatible with the expanded protection of old-growth forests in those regions, with about $120 million in conservation financing provided along with millions of dollars of additional carbon offsetting funds. The AFA and other BC environmental groups are asking that the BC government also look at conservation financing options for other First Nations in BC who may be interested in expanding protection for old-growth forests in their territories.

The Ancient Forest Alliance has been discussing conservation and access issues regarding the Jurassic Grove with the Pacheedaht First Nation band. While the dialogue is underway, the organization is not yet encouraging the public to try visiting the grove, most of which has no trails, has an extremely dense understory, and which is punctuated with steep ravines that are treacherous to traverse.

Jurassic Grove’s easy to access location makes it a potential first rate ancient forest attraction that can help to raise the awareness of all endangered old-growth forests and bolster the regional eco-tourism industry. Port Renfrew, historically a logging town that now promotes eco-tourism and has been dubbed the “Tall Trees Capital of Canada” in recent years due to its proximity to the Avatar Grove, Central Walbran Valley, Big Lonely Doug (Canada’s 2ndlargest Douglas-fir), Eden Grove, Red Creek Fir (the world’s largest Douglas-fir), Harris Creek Spruce (an enormous Sitka spruce), and San Juan Spruce (previously Canada’s largest spruce until the top broke off last year), now has the Jurassic Grove as potentially another first rate addition to its roster of big tree attractions. Thousands of tourists from around the world now come to visit the old-growth trees around Port Renfrew, hugely bolstering the regional economy of southern Vancouver Island. The Ancient Forest Alliance is encouraging people who visit the area to stay in local accommodations, buy food and groceries in local stores, buy gas from the new Pacheedaht-owned gas station in town, and camp in the Pacheedaht campground to help boost the local economy with eco-tourism dollars.

The Ancient Forest Alliance calling on the BC government to implement a comprehensive science-based plan to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests, and to also ensure a sustainable, value-added second-growth forest industry.

The Green Party, which holds the balance of power for the NDP minority government, is in favour of protecting BC’s endangered old-growth forests, while the NDP’s 2017 election platform states that “In partnership with First Nations and communities, we will modernize land-use planning to effectively and sustainably manage BC’s ecosystems… forests and old growth…We will take an evidence-based scientific approach and use the ecosystem-based management of the Great Bear Rainforest as a model.” (see page 61 of their platform at: https://action.bcndp.ca/page/-/bcndp/docs/BC-NDP-Platform-2017.pdf). If taken literally and seriously, this would almost certainly result in the protection of the remaining endangered old-growth forest on BC’s southern coast and in the BC Interior, where old-growth forests are far scarcer and more endangered than in the Central and Northern Coast (Great Bear Rainforest) where 85% of the forests (including the vast majority of the old-growth) were set aside in protected areas and under the ecosystem-based management.

More Information on Old-Growth Forests

In recent times, the voices for old-growth protection have been quickly expanding, including numerous Chambers of Commerce, mayors and city councils, forestry unions, and conservation groups across BC who have been calling on the provincial government to expand protection for BC’s remaining old-growth forests.

BC’s premier business lobby, the BC Chamber of Commerce, representing 36,000 businesses, passed a resolution in 2016 calling on the province to expand protection for BC’s old-growth forests to support the economy, after a series of similar resolutions passed by the Port Renfrew, Sooke, and WestShore Chambers of Commerce. See: https://16.52.162.165/media-release-historic-leap-for-old-growth-forests-bc-chamber-of-commerce-passes-resolution-for-expanded-protection/

Both the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM), representing the mayors, city and town councils, and regional districts across BC, and Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC), representing Vancouver Island local governments, passed a resolution last year calling on the province to protect the Vancouver Island’s remaining old-growth forests by amending the 1994 land use plan. See: https://16.52.162.165/media-release-ubcm-passes-old-growth-protection-resolution/

The Private and Public Workers of Canada (PPWC), formerly the Pulp, Paper, and Woodworkers of Canada, representing thousands of sawmill and pulp mill workers across BC, passed a resolution earlier this year calling for an end to old-growth logging on Vancouver Island. See: https://16.52.162.165/conservationists-applaud-old-growth-protection-resolution-by-major-bc-forestry-union/

The Ahousaht First Nation band north of Tofino in Clayoquot Sound announced earlier this year that 82% of their territory will be off-limits to commercial logging. They now need provincial legislation and funding to help make their vision a reality.

Old-growth forests are vital to sustain unique endangered species, climate stability, tourism, clean water, wild salmon, and the cultures of many First Nations. On BC’s southern coast, satellite photos show that at least 75% of the original, productive old-growth forests have been logged, including well over 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow. Only about 8% of Vancouver Island’s original, productive old-growth forests are protected in parks and Old-Growth Management Areas. Old-growth forests – with trees that can be 2000 years old – are a non-renewable resource under BC’s system of forestry, where second-growth forests are re-logged every 50 to 100 years, never to become old-growth again.

See maps and stats on the remaining old-growth forests on BC’s southern coast at: www.ancientforestalliance.org/old-growth-maps.php

In order to placate public fears about the loss of BC’s endangered old-growth forests, the logging industry’s PR-spin typically over-inflates the amount of remaining old-growth forests by including hundreds of thousands of hectares of marginal, low productivity forests growing in bogs and at high elevations with smaller, stunted trees, lumped in with the productive old-growth forests where the large trees grow (and where most logging takes place), while at the same time failing to include vast tracts of cut-over corporate-owned forest lands (which were managed as if they were public lands until recent years) which along with other private lands constitute about 800,000 hectares or ¼ of Vancouver Island, in their stats. See a rebuttal to some of the industry PR-spin and stats about old-growth forests towards the BOTTOM of the webpage: https://16.52.162.165/action-alert-speak-up-for-ancient-forests-to-the-union-of-bc-municipalities-ubcm/

The Ancient Forest Alliance calling on the BC government to implement a comprehensive science-based plan to protect all of BC’s remaining endangered old-growth forests, and to also ensure a sustainable, value-added second-growth forest industry.

From left to right: Jens Wieting (Sierra Club of BC); Andrea Inness (AFA); Dan Hager (Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce); Ken Wu (AFA); and Arnold Bercov (Public and Private Workers of Canada) by an old-growth redcedar tree in Stanley Park.

New BC government must reform forest policies, say environmentalists, businesses, and union

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Conservationists with the Ancient Forest Alliance and Sierra Club of BC joined representatives from the Public and Private Workers of Canada (PPWC) forestry union and the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce to shine a spotlight on needed government policies to protect BC’s old-growth forests and ensure a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry, during the 2017 Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) General Assembly in Vancouver.

Vancouver, BC – A coalition of BC environmentalists, unions, and business representatives is taking shape and, with the 2017 Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) General Assembly underway this week in Vancouver, the groups are calling on the new BC NDP government to take action to protect the province’s endangered old-growth forests and ensure a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry.

The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA), along with representatives from the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce and the Public and Private Workers of Canada (PPWC), representing thousands of forestry workers across BC, and Sierra Club of BC, held a press conference on Tuesday among the old-growth trees of Stanley Park to discuss the new forest policies they want the BC government to implement.

The 2017 Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) General Assembly being held in Vancouver brings together forestry sector leaders from around the world, including representatives from industry, unions, environmental NGOs, indigenous groups, and government policy makers.

“With over 800 delegates from 80 countries gathering in Vancouver right now to discuss responsible forest management, it’s a great time to highlight the need for a major policy shift in BC to protect endangered old-growth forests and forestry jobs,” said Ken Wu, Executive Director of the Ancient Forest Alliance. “Third party eco-certification can be an effective way to raise the sustainability of logging companies, but ultimately having strong laws and policies is most important. We see the election of this new government as a very positive development, and it presents the greatest opportunity in decades to create win-win solutions for forestry workers, businesses, First Nations, the environment and the climate.”

The Ancient Forest Alliance is asking for a series of policy changes that can be rolled out over both short- and longer-term timelines. This includes a comprehensive, science-based law to protect old-growth forests, partly modeled after the ecosystem-based management approach used in the Great Bear Rainforest, which set aside 85% of thel forests on BC’s north and central coast. It also includes financial support for sustainable economic development and diversification of First Nations communities, known as “conservation financing,” while supporting First Nations land use plans. While these longer-term solutions are being developed, an interim halt to logging in old-growth “hotspots” – areas of high conservation value – must be implemented to ensure the largest and best stands of remaining old-growth forests are kept intact while a larger plan is developed.

There are also a number of policies that can be readily implemented more quickly. For example, the BC government is currently finishing work on developing a Big Tree Protection Order as a policy option, which if implemented would protect the biggest trees on the coast with buffer zones. In addition, forest reserves such as many Old-Growth Management Areas that currently exist only on paper should be made legally binding, and the system should be quickly expanded to protect additional endangered old-growth forests. The NDP government should also direct BC Timber Sales (BCTS), the BC government’s logging agency, to discontinue issuance of old-growth cut blocks. Finally, annual funding needs to be directed to establish a park acquisition fund, which would allow the BC government to purchase and protect private lands of high conservation, cultural or recreational value.

“We are excited to work constructively with this new government and hope to start seeing policy changes in the very near future,” said Andrea Inness, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner. “In the province’s most significant old-growth ‘hot spots’, getting at least a temporary halt to logging is step one, so we’re not in a ‘talk and log’ situation where endangered old-growth forests are being logged while policy negotiations take place, limiting our options for protection.”

The forestry worker unions, PPWC and Unifor, agree there needs to be regulations and incentives in place that ensure a value-added second growth forest industry. Recommended regulations include increasing the province’s log exports tax on second-growth logs and banning or quickly phasing out the export of old-growth log exports. Incentives include providing relief on PST, stumpage fees or property taxes for companies investing in second-growth milling equipment.

“We’re a union that supports sustainable forestry jobs and environmental protection,” said Arnold Bercov, President of the Public and Private Workers of Canada. “The NDP government has expressed concern for jobs as BC mills are continuing to shut their doors, putting people out of work. Port Alberni’s Somass sawmill closed in June and PPWC’s Long Hoh and Ladysmith mills have faced log shortages and temporary closures. The futures of these mills are now in jeopardy. We want to see action from this government to protect our forestry jobs, support wood manufacturing jobs in both First Nations and non-First Nations communities, and to protect endangered old-growth forests.”

In addition to unions, the AFA works closely with the business community, like the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce, which has led BC’s business community in rallying behind old-growth protection for economic reasons. The groups are urging the Ministry of Forests to consider the province’s broader business community, which also has a stake in responsible forest policy and conservation.

“The Ministry of Forests’ decision-making process on forests should include the interests of the broader business community,” said Dan Hager, business owner and President of the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce. “In many places, such as Port Renfrew, many businesses stand to gain from protecting more old-growth forests. The protection and promotion of the Port Renfrew area’s record-breaking big trees, along with the famed Avatar Grove, has prompted our former logging town to rebrand itself for old-growth forest tourism. We’re now known as the ‘Tall Trees Capital of Canada.’”

“Old-growth forests in many places can have a much greater value standing than as lumber and logs,” said Hager. “Thanks to ‘tall tree’ tourism, we’re seeing jobs, real estate development and property values go up in Port Renfrew. It sets a good example to other communities that there are jobs and enormous economic benefits to protecting old-growth forests.”

“We have learned in the Great Bear Rainforest that solutions for old-growth conservation, communities, and certainly for forestry are possible. We are losing the remaining old-growth on Vancouver Island at a faster pace than primary rainforest gets logged in tropical countries. The climate crisis means that we must keep carbon stored in old-growth forests, which must now be considered a non-renewable resource and will not grow back as we know it. The time for action is now,” said Jens Wieting, forest and climate campaigner, Sierra Club of BC.

 

More Background Information

Old-growth forests are vital to sustaining unique endangered species, climate stability, tourism, clean water, wild salmon, and the cultures of many First Nations. On BC’s southern coast, satellite photos show that at least 75% of the original, productive old-growth forests have been logged, including well over 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow. Only about 8% of Vancouver Island’s original, productive old-growth forests are protected in parks and Old-Growth Management Areas. Old-growth forests – with trees that can be 2000 years old – are a non-renewable resource under BC’s system of forestry, where second-growth forests are re-logged every 50 to 100 years, never to become old-growth again.

In recent times, the voices for old-growth protection have been quickly expanding, including numerous Chambers of Commerce, mayors and city councils, forestry unions, and conservation groups across BC who have been calling on the provincial government to expand protection for BC’s remaining old-growth forests.

BC’s premier business lobby, the BC Chamber of Commerce, representing 36,000 businesses, passed a resolution in May of 2016 calling on the province to expand protection for BC’s old-growth forests to support the economy, after a series of similar resolutions passed by the Port Renfrew, Sooke, and WestShore Chambers of Commerce. See: https://16.52.162.165/media-release-historic-leap-for-old-growth-forests-bc-chamber-of-commerce-passes-resolution-for-expanded-protection/

Both the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM), representing the mayors, city and town councils, and regional districts across BC, and Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC), representing Vancouver Island local governments, passed a resolution last year calling on the province to protect the Vancouver Island’s remaining old-growth forests by amending the 1994 land use plan. See: https://16.52.162.165/media-release-ubcm-passes-old-growth-protection-resolution/

The Private and Public Workers of Canada (PPWC), formerly the Pulp, Paper, and Woodworkers of Canada, representing thousands of sawmill and pulp mill workers across BC, passed a resolution earlier this year calling for an end to old-growth logging on Vancouver Island. See: https://16.52.162.165/conservationists-applaud-old-growth-protection-resolution-by-major-bc-forestry-union/

The Ahousaht First Nation north of Tofino in Clayoquot Sound also announced early this year that 82% of their territory will be off-limits to commercial logging. They now need provincial legislation and funding to help make their vision a reality. See: [Original article no longer available]

The Ancient Forest Alliance calling on the BC government to implement a comprehensive science-based plan to protect all of BC’s remaining endangered old-growth forests, and to also ensure a sustainable, value-added second-growth forest industry.

The NDP’s 2017 election platform states that “In partnership with First Nations and communities, we will modernize land-use planning to effectively and sustainably manage BC’s ecosystems, rivers, lakes, watersheds, forests and old growth, while accounting for cumulative effects. We will take an evidence-based scientific approach and use the ecosystem-based management of the Great Bear Rainforest as a model.” (see page 61 of their platform at: https://action.bcndp.ca/page/-/bcndp/docs/BC-NDP-Platform-2017.pdf – Link no longer available). If taken literally and seriously, this would almost certainly result in the protection of the remaining endangered old-growth forest on BC’s southern coast and in the BC Interior, where old-growth forests are far scarcer and more endangered than in the Central and Northern Coast (Great Bear Rainforest) where 85% of the forests (including the vast majority of the old-growth) were set aside in protected areas and under the ecosystem-based management.

Environmentalists stand in solidarity with BC mill workers as mills experience shutdowns and shift reductions due to log shortages

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VANCOUVER ISLAND, BC – Today at noon the Ancient Forest Alliance will join members of the Public and Private Workers of Canada (formerly the Pulp, Paper, and Woodworkers of Canada) (PPWC at www.PPWC.ca) as they rally at their Long Hoh mill in Errington (at 1125 Clark Road between Qualicum Beach and Port Alberni off Highway 4, from 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm) on Vancouver Island in protest of raw log exports following the shut down and shift reductions in the mill since last month, with another shutdown and major shift reductions pending this week for their Ladysmith mill, due to a shortage of logs. In total about 130 workers could be affected by the closures and shift reductions.

Long Hoh Enterprise’s specialty mill was forced to shutdown or run reduced operations on some days since August, due to a log supply shortage, leaving 50 mill workers negatively affected.  Workers at the Ladysmith sawmill, also unionized by the PPWC and which processes smaller diameter hemlock and Douglas-fir logs, is also expected to stop most production due to a log shortage, affecting a maximum of 85 workers.  
 
Wednesday’s rally at the Long Hoh mill in Errington is aimed at raising awareness on the impact of exporting vast amounts of raw, unprocessed logs cut in BC to foreign mills in the USA, China, Japan, and Korea on BC’s coastal mill workers, undermining existing and potential wood processing jobs in BC. While a slow-down in logging occurred recently due to the fire hazard (although coastal logging continued in the west coast “fog zone”), at the same time a large amount of raw logs have been exported to foreign mills – but which could have been processed in BC mills to offset the impacts of the logging slow-down.
 
“These mill shutdowns are a red flag that the new BC government must have the courage to address,” said Arnold Bercov, President of the PPWC. “Log shortages are forcing mills to close their doors while at the same time raw logs are loaded onto ships and exported to foreign markets. And what’s worse is that repeated mill shutdowns contribute to eventual permanent mill closures.”
 
“With all the raw logs being exported, we could instead be building new mills and value-added facilities with those logs here in BC. That’s why we’re coming together today – to ask the BC government to take action with new policies to restrict log exports and to support wood processing in BC before more existing and potential jobs are lost,” said Cam Shiell, Forestry Officer with the PPWC.
 
The AFA’s Ken Wu has been working with the PPWC (formally the Pulp and Paper Workers of Canada), which represents thousands of BC forestry workers, to end raw log exports for the past 15 years, and more recently, to end old-growth logging on Vancouver Island. In March, the PPWC passed a resolution calling on the BC government to end the logging of 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 sustainable economic development. 75% of Vancouver Island’s productive forest lands are second-growth forests already, including over 90% of the high productivity forests.
 
The AFA hopes to work with the new NDP government on policies to ensure a sustainable forestry industry that supports value-added jobs from second-growth stands while protecting endangered old-growth forests at the same time. 
 
“We are interested to hear what the new government’s policies are and what actions they will take to restrict raw log exports and to promote wood processing in BC,” stated Andrea Inness, Forest Campaigner with the Ancient Forest Alliance. “We have presented the NDP government with a list of policy recommendations that will help ensure a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forestry industry in BC and we look forward to working with them to turn these recommendations into tangible results.”
 
The recommendations include increasing the log exports tax on second-growth raw logs to curb their export and to encourage domestic processing, banning old-growth raw log exports, creating financial incentives for investment in second-growth mills (for example, by reducing stumpage fees for tenure holders who invest in new second-growth mills or exempting the PST on the purchase of second-growth wood processing equipment in mills), and facilitating the marketing of eco-certified, value-added, second-growth wood products using a portion of stumpage fees.
 
“We need to do more with less. We need to make sure that every second-growth tree cut down in BC is processed in BC to create more jobs here, while the province protects our endangered old-growth forests. That way, we can save old-growth forests while employing more British Columbians in the second-growth wood processing sector. Increasing raw log exports of both old-growth and second-growth logs is taking us in the opposite direction – it’s doing less with more. We are losing both our forests and our jobs.” stated Ken Wu, Executive Director of the Ancient Forest Alliance. “That is, in order to protect our endangered old-growth forests while sustaining forestry employment levels simultaneously, the province must ensure that instead of raw log exports to foreign mills, that those logs are processed in BC mills – and that concrete regulations and incentives are put in place to ensure that this happens,”
 
In its campaign platform, the BC NDP promised to “work with industry, local governments and First Nations to expand wood manufacturing capacity and create new jobs” and to “find fair and lasting solutions that keep more logs in BC for processing.”
 
The PPWC and AFA wants to see these commitments fulfilled soon.
 
Background
 
Since 2013, nearly 26 million cubic metres of raw logs valued at more than $3 billion were shipped from B.C to foreign mills in China, the USA, Japan, Korea, and other nations. According to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, the nearly 6.3 million cubic metres exported from B.C. in 2016 is enough wood to build 134,000 houses – roughly half of Vancouver’s single-family housing stock. Using a conservative estimate, more than 3,600 B.C. workers could have been employed processing that wood.
 
Over the past couple decades, more than 100 B.C. mills have closed and 40,000 forestry jobs lost. As old-growth stands are depleted and harvesting shifts to the second-growth, B.C.’s forestry jobs are being exported as raw logs to foreign mills due to a failure to retool old-growth mills to handle the smaller second-growth logs and invest in related manufacturing facilities.
 
At its core, the massive export of raw logs has been driven by a combination of the BC Liberal government’s deregulation of the forest industry and by the industry’s unsustainable depletion of the biggest best old-growth trees at the lower elevations.
 
The overcutting of the prime stands of old-growth redcedars, Douglas-firs and Sitka spruce in the lowlands that historically built the wealth of the forest industry – and for which coastal sawmills were originally built to process – has resulted in diminishing returns as the trees get smaller, lower in value, different in species, and harder to reach high up the mountainsides and in the valley headwaters. Today, more than 90 per cent of the most productive old-growth forests in the valley bottoms on B.C.’s southern coast are gone.
 
Coastal mills generally haven’t been retooled to handle the changing profile of the forest with smaller trees as the lowland ancient forests have been depleted.  At a critical juncture in 2003, the BC Liberal government removed the local milling requirements (through the Forestry Revitalization Act), allowing tenured logging companies to shut down their mills instead of being forced to retool them to handle the changing forest profile. This allowed the companies to then export the unprocessed logs to foreign countries.
 
The logging industry’s and the previous BC Liberal government's spin that logs must first be offered to BC mills before they can be exported, a policy known as the “surplus test”, was considered by many to be a disingenuous PR-line. Ex-premiers Gordon Campbell and Christy Clark had facilitated the closure of most coastal mills in BC during their 16 year reign by removing the local milling requirement of logging companies, while failing to enact any major incentives or regulations in its place to attract new manufacturing investments. Given that they helped to shut down most of the mills, of course most log exports became surplus to the domestic milling capacity. However, many existing BC mills continue to need domestic logs that are intended for export. Unfortunately, many are hesitant to bid on the logs for fear of being cut out of future, long-term direct sales agreements with the same logging companies (ie. most mills require a secure log supply through direct contracts with logging companies. That is, bidding on raw logs is a secondary source of logs to direct sales contracts – and it is potentially risky, as it could jeopardize their relationship with one of the few major companies with logging rights on Crown lands. “There are loopholes in the system big enough to steer a log barge through,” stated Ken Wu, the AFA’s executive director.
Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce President Dan Hager checking out the ancient trees in the Lower Avatar Grove.

Avatar Grove Boardwalk Completed – High Quality Boardwalk Showcases One of Canada’s Most Magnificent Old-Growth Forests!

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After 4 years of hard work, with the support of hundreds of volunteers and supporters, the Avatar Grove boardwalk near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island has finally been completed by the Ancient Forest Alliance. The boardwalk protects the tree roots and vegetation from excessive trampling, enhances visitor safety, and supports the booming eco-tourism economy in the region by providing public access to one of the grandest old-growth forests in North America.
 
Port Renfrew, British Columbia – After 4 years of hard work, the Avatar Grove now has a high quality, one kilometre-long trail and boardwalk that includes extensive stairs, steps, walkways, bridges, and viewing platforms. Located only 20 minutes from Port Renfrew, the Avatar Grove is home to one of the most spectacular and easily accessible stands of monumental old-growth trees in BC and has become among the province’s most popular old-growth forest tourism destinations, featured in numerous national and international media pieces. The completion of the boardwalk enhances the public’s ability to explore the incredible ancient forest that helped the town rebrand itself as the “Tall Trees Capital of Canada.”
 
See attached photos (captions at bottom) and also photo galleries showcasing the boardwalk construction from the past two weekends: https://bit.ly/2vkskEN and https://bit.ly/2urzSGt (media are free to reprint photos. Credit to 'TJ Watt' when possible)
 
“We’re really excited to have finally completed the Avatar Grove Boardwalk after years of hard work involving hundreds of volunteers. This was a major undertaking for a small organization like ours but for many of those involved, it has become a labour of love. We now have a kilometre-long trail with sections of high quality boardwalk for visitors with diverse abilities to enjoy one of Canada’s most magnificent ancient forests,” stated Avatar Boardwalk Coordinator TJ Watt of the Ancient Forest Alliance. “We are grateful to the Pacheedaht First Nation, who donated the first batch of wood, followed by the support of the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce, hundreds of volunteers and donors, and many generous sponsors.”
 
“The massive trees at Avatar Grove have become iconic and tourists from around the world are making Port Renfrew a ‘must see’ destination. This boardwalk will give many of our visitors and guests up close and personal access to ‘be’ with these trees, where before the terrain may have been too much of a challenge for some of them”, stated Dan Hager, president of the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce.
 
“Avatar Grove” is a popular nickname for the Nuu-cha-nulth Pacheedaht name of “T’l’oqwxwat” and is in the unceded territory of the Pacheedaht First Nation. It was protected by the BC government in 2012 after an intense two-year public awareness campaign led by the AFA in partnership with the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce.
 
The Ancient Forest Alliance began construction of the boardwalk in 2013 to protect the tree roots and understory vegetation from foot traffic, enhance visitor safety and access, and support the local eco-tourism economy.  The organization’s plan was to finish construction by the fall of 2016, but hurricane force winds during an October 2016 storm knocked down dozens of trees, damaging the trail and boardwalk. Since then, the AFA has been working to clear and fix the boardwalk, and has made improvements upon its original design.
 
Since the Avatar Grove was protected and its boardwalk constructed, it has allowed visitors from all over the world to discover BC’s unique and magnificent old-growth forests.
 
“The Avatar Grove’s real significance is that it serves as an example to other communities that protecting old-growth forests benefits the economy by hugely bolstering local businesses and jobs”, Ken Wu, executive director of the Ancient Forest Alliance stated. “In helping to revitalize Port Renfrew’s economy, it has clearly counteracted the old, false narrative that saving old-growth forests harms the local economy. The Avatar Grove and its boardwalk have been the most important catalyst for BC’s ancient forest movement in recent times and have helped to shape the fate of endangered forests across the province.”
 
Avatar Grove has prompted the former logging town of Port Renfrew to rebrand itself for old-growth forest tourism, landing the town its nickname the “Tall Trees Capital of Canada.” The town is also located near the province’s most popular ancient forest destinations including the Central Walbran Valley, Big Lonely Doug (Canada’s 2nd largest Douglas-fir), Red Creek Fir (the world’s largest Douglas-fir), Harris Creek Spruce (an enormous Sitka Spruce), San Juan Spruce (previously Canada’s largest spruce until the top broke off last year), Eden Grove, and Jurassic Grove.  They attract hundreds of thousands of tourists from around the world, strengthening the economy of southern Vancouver Island. The Ancient Forest Alliance is encouraging people who visit the area to stay in local accommodations, buy food and groceries in local stores, and camp in the Pacheedaht-run campground to help boost the local economy with eco-tourism dollars.
 
The Ancient Forest Alliance would like to thank the Pacheedaht First Nation, BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations (Recreation Sites and Trails Division), Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce, Mountain Equipment Co-op, Patagonia Elements, Sitka Society for Conservation, Public Conservation Assistance Fund, Port Renfrew Marina & RV Park, and the hundreds of individual donors and volunteers for their support in building the boardwalk!
 
More information on BC’s Old-Growth Forests
 
Old-growth forests are vital to sustaining unique endangered species, climate stability, tourism, clean water, wild salmon, and the cultures of many First Nations. On BC’s southern coast, satellite photos show that at least 75% of the original, productive old-growth forests have been logged, including well over 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow. Only about 8% of Vancouver Island’s original, productive old-growth forests are protected in parks and Old-Growth Management Areas. Old-growth forests – with trees up to 2,000 years old – are a non-renewable resource under BC’s system of forestry, where second-growth forests are re-logged every 50 to 100 years, never to become old-growth again.
 
The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC government to implement a comprehensive, science-based plan to protect all of BC’s remaining endangered old-growth forests and to also ensure a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry.
 
Ultimately driven by Avatar Grove’s economic significance, various chambers of commerce, starting with the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce, have called for increased protection of BC’s ancient forests. The BC Chamber of Commerce, BC’s premier business lobby representing 36,000 businesses, passed a resolution last May, calling on the province to expand protection for BC’s old-growth forests to support the economy, after a series of similar resolutions passed by the Port Renfrew, Sooke, and WestShore Chambers of Commerce. See: www.ancientforestalliance.org/news-item.php?ID=1010
 
Both the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM), representing the mayors, city and town councils, and regional districts across BC, and Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC), representing Vancouver Island local governments, passed a resolution last year calling on the province to protect Vancouver Island’s remaining old-growth forests by amending the 1994 land use plan. See: https://16.52.162.165/media-release-ubcm-passes-old-growth-protection-resolution/
 
The Private and Public Workers of Canada (PPWC), formerly the Pulp, Paper, and Woodworkers of Canada, representing thousands of sawmill and pulp mill workers across BC, recently passed a resolution calling for an end to old-growth logging on Vancouver Island. See: https://16.52.162.165/conservationists-applaud-old-growth-protection-resolution-by-major-bc-forestry-union/
 
See maps and stats on the remaining old-growth forests on BC’s southern coast at: www.ancientforestalliance.org/old-growth-maps.php
 
In order to placate public fears about the loss of BC’s endangered old-growth forests, the previous BC Liberal government’s PR-spin typically over-inflated the amount of remaining old-growth forests by including hundreds of thousands of hectares of marginal, low productivity forests growing in bogs and at high elevations with smaller, stunted trees, in with the productive old-growth forests, where the large trees grow (and where most logging takes place). See a rebuttal to some of the BC government’s PR-spin and stats about old-growth forests towards the BOTTOM of the webpage: https://16.52.162.165/action-alert-speak-up-for-ancient-forests-to-the-union-of-bc-municipalities-ubcm/
7. Avatar Boardwalk Coordinator TJ Watt and volunteers Matthew Varley

Avatar Boardwalk Nears Completion

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For Immediate Release

After 4 years of hard work, the Avatar Grove boardwalk near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island is expected to be completed by the end of this coming long weekend. 

This weekend a team of volunteers with the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) will undertake a final stint of boardwalk construction in the Avatar Grove. Volunteers will build a new platform, stairs, steps, and walkways, and install signage, finishing the major project. Located only 20 minutes from Port Renfrew, the Avatar Grove is home to one of the most spectacular and easily accessible stands of monumental old-growth trees in BC and has become among BC’s most popular old-growth forest tourism destinations, featured in numerous national and international media outlets. The completion of the boardwalk will enhance the public’s ability to explore the incredible ancient forest that helped the town rebrand itself as the “Tall Trees Capital of Canada.”

See a photo gallery showcasing the boardwalk construction from this past weekend: https://bit.ly/2vkskEN

“We’re really excited to finally complete the Avatar Grove Boardwalk after years of hard work involving hundreds of volunteers. This was a major undertaking for a small organization like ours but for many of those involved, it has become a labour of love. We now have a kilometre-long trail with sections of high quality boardwalk for visitors with diverse abilities to enjoy one of Canada’s most magnificent ancient forests,” stated Avatar Boardwalk Coordinator TJ Watt of the Ancient Forest Alliance. “We are grateful to the Pacheedaht First Nation, who donated the first batch of wood, followed by the support of the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce, hundreds of volunteers and donors, and many generous sponsors.”

“Avatar Grove” is a popular nickname for the Nuu-cha-nulth Pacheedaht name of “T’l’oqwxwat” and is in the unceded territory of the Pacheedaht First Nation. It was protected by the BC government in 2012 after an intense two-year public awareness campaign led by the AFA in partnership with the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce.

The Ancient Forest Alliance began construction of the boardwalk in 2013 to protect the tree roots and understory vegetation from foot traffic, enhance visitor safety and access, and support the local eco-tourism economy. The organization’s plan was to finish construction by the fall of 2016, but hurricane force winds during an October 2016 storm knocked down dozens of trees, damaging the trail and boardwalk. Since then, the AFA has been working to clear and fix the boardwalk, and has made improvements upon its original design.

Since the Avatar Grove was protected and its boardwalk constructed, it has allowed visitors from all over the world to discover BC’s unique and magnificent old-growth forests.

“The Avatar Grove’s real significance is that it serves as an example to other communities that protecting old-growth forests benefits the economy by hugely bolstering local businesses and jobs”, Ken Wu, executive director of the Ancient Forest Alliance stated. “In helping to revitalize Port Renfrew’s economy, it has clearly counteracted the old, false narrative that saving old-growth forests harms the local economy. The Avatar Grove and its boardwalk have been the most important catalyst for BC’s ancient forest movement in recent times and have helped to shape the fate of endangered forests across the province.”

Avatar Grove has prompted the former logging town of Port Renfrew to rebrand itself for old-growth forest tourism, landing the town its nickname the “Tall Trees Capital of Canada.” The town is also located near the province’s most popular ancient forest destinations including the Central Walbran Valley, Big Lonely Doug (Canada’s 2nd largest Douglas-fir), Red Creek Fir (the world’s largest Douglas-fir), Harris Creek Spruce (an enormous Sitka Spruce), San Juan Spruce (previously Canada’s largest spruce until the top broke off last year), Eden Grove, and Jurassic Grove. They attract hundreds of thousands of tourists from around the world, strengthening the economy of southern Vancouver Island. The Ancient Forest Alliance is encouraging people who visit the area to stay in local accommodations, buy food and groceries in local stores, and camp in the Pacheedaht-run campground to help boost the local economy with eco-tourism dollars.

The Ancient Forest Alliance would like to thank the Pacheedaht First Nation, BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations (Recreation Sites and Trails Division), Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce, Mountain Equipment Co-op, Patagonia Elements, Sitka Society for Conservation, Public Conservation Assistance Fund, Port Renfrew Marina & RV Park, and the hundreds of individual donors and volunteers for their support in building the boardwalk!

More Information on BC's Old-Growth Forests

Old-growth forests are vital to sustaining unique endangered species, climate stability, tourism, clean water, wild salmon, and the cultures of many First Nations. On BC’s southern coast, satellite photos show that at least 75% of the original, productive old-growth forests have been logged, including well over 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow. Only about 8% of Vancouver Island’s original, productive old-growth forests are protected in parks and Old-Growth Management Areas. Old-growth forests – with trees up to 2,000 years old – are a non-renewable resource under BC’s system of forestry, where second-growth forests are re-logged every 50 to 100 years, never to become old-growth again.

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC government to implement a comprehensive, science-based plan to protect all of BC’s remaining endangered old-growth forests and to also ensure a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry.

Ultimately driven by Avatar Grove’s economic significance, various chambers of commerce, starting with the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce, have called for increased protection of BC’s ancient forests. The BC Chamber of Commerce, BC’s premier business lobby representing 36,000 businesses, passed a resolution last May, calling on the province to expand protection for BC’s old-growth forests to support the economy, after a series of similar resolutions passed by the Port Renfrew, Sooke, and WestShore Chambers of Commerce. See: www.ancientforestalliance.org/news-item.php?ID=1010

Both the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM), representing the mayors, city and town councils, and regional districts across BC, and Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC), representing Vancouver Island local governments, passed a resolution last year calling on the province to protect Vancouver Island’s remaining old-growth forests by amending the 1994 land use plan. See: https://16.52.162.165/media-release-ubcm-passes-old-growth-protection-resolution/

The Private and Public Workers of Canada (PPWC), formerly the Pulp, Paper, and Woodworkers of Canada, representing thousands of sawmill and pulp mill workers across BC, recently passed a resolution calling for an end to old-growth logging on Vancouver Island. See: https://16.52.162.165/conservationists-applaud-old-growth-protection-resolution-by-major-bc-forestry-union/

See maps and stats on the remaining old-growth forests on BC’s southern coast at: www.ancientforestalliance.org/old-growth-maps.php

In order to placate public fears about the loss of BC’s endangered old-growth forests, the previous BC Liberal government’s PR-spin typically over-inflated the amount of remaining old-growth forests by including hundreds of thousands of hectares of marginal, low productivity forests growing in bogs and at high elevations with smaller, stunted trees, in with the productive old-growth forests, where the large trees grow (and where most logging takes place). See a rebuttal to some of the BC government’s PR-spin and stats about old-growth forests towards the BOTTOM of the webpage: https://16.52.162.165/action-alert-speak-up-for-ancient-forests-to-the-union-of-bc-municipalities-ubcm/

Those who are interested in volunteering at the August 5th- 7th construction weekend to help complete the Avatar Grove boardwalk are encouraged to contact the Ancient Forest Alliance by emailing info@16.52.162.165 or calling (250) 896-4007.

Ancient Forest Alliance welcomes new BC Government and Cabinet

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For Immediate Release

The Ancient Forest Alliance looks forward to working with Premier Horgan and Ministers Scott Fraser, George Heyman, and Doug Donaldson to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests and ensure a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry.

The Ancient Forest Alliance welcomes and congratulates the new British Columbia NDP government and its new cabinet after yesterday’s swearing-in ceremony at the Legislature.

The Ancient Forest Alliance is working with diverse partners to protect the province’s old-growth forests and to ensure a sustainable, value-added forest industry, and is encouraged by Premier John Horgan’s picks for several ministerial positions.

“With this new government, I believe we may be entering a period of rapid progress in environmental sustainability in this province. Green-Social Democratic governing alliances around the world, in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand in recent decades have made great strides forward in environmental and climate progress, in the expansion of renewable energy and clean tech businesses, and in social justice,” stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director. “The battle over BC’s old-growth forests has been going on for almost 50 years now and it’s time this government finally lay this issue to rest. We look forward to working constructively with this government in the months to come.”

“Old-growth forests are vital for endangered species, many First Nations cultures, tourism, the climate, clean water, and wild salmon. I think today, in 2017, if you were to ask the average British Columbian if they’d like to see our endangered old-growth forests protected while focusing on developing a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry, the vast majority would agree. Most people would recognize it as a win-win proposition,” stated Andrea Inness, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner.

Of particular interest are three new ministers who are most relevant to the Ancient Forest Alliance’s goals:

The Honourable Scott Fraser is the MLA for the riding of Alberni-Pacific, and has been appointed as the Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation. Mr. Fraser has worked hard for years to stand up for sustainable forestry jobs in BC, making it his priority to campaign for old-growth forest protection and against raw log exports and the deregulation of corporate-owned forest lands on Vancouver Island. He has advocated for the protection of local old-growth forests in the Port Alberni area, including McLaughlin Ridge, the Cameron Valley Fire Break, and Horne Mountain above Cathedral Grove. In 2013 he received the Ancient Forest Alliance’s “Forest Sustainability Award” for his great work (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQbEH7u2Efc). Financial support from the province for BC’s First Nations communities for sustainable economic development and diversification, including a transition to a value-added, second-growth forest industry by the BC government, is a vital component of any policy to protect old-growth forests. Mr. Fraser’s position may facilitate such a needed policy shift.

George Heyman, the MLA for Vancouver Fairview, is now the new Minister of Environment. Heyman was previously the executive director of the Sierra Club of BC and before that was the president of the BC Government Employees Union. Heyman oversaw the Sierra Club of BC during the bulk of the organization’s negotiations with industry, First Nations, and the province regarding the Great Bear Rainforest (the province’s Central and North Coast), which resulted last year in a final agreement to protect 70% of its forests, including 85% of its old-growth forests, while providing over $120 million to First Nations communities to develop conservation-based economies linked to the increased protection. Under Heyman, the Sierra Club of BC supported the Ancient Forest Alliance’s call for the BC government to purchase and protect endangered old-growth forests on Island Timberland’s private lands on Vancouver Island, and the Sierra Club of BC has joined with 18 other organizations calling on the province to establish a land acquisition fund to protect endangered ecosystems across BC. The Ancient Forest Alliance is looking forward to working with Mr. Heyman in regards to these and other initiatives.

Doug Donaldson, the MLA for Sitkine, is now the new Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development. Thus far, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigners have not had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Donaldson, but understand that he has been involved in environmental advocacy against open netcage fish farms and hydraulic fracking in northern BC, as well as advocating for a stronger environmental impact assessment process. These are positive signs to conservationists and the Ancient Forest Alliance hopes to work closely with the new minister as the key leader who can implement the NDP’s key election promise to use the Ecosystem-Based Management model of the Great Bear Rainforest as a model for managing the province’s old-growth forests.

The Ancient Forest Alliance is excited to work with these new ministers, along with Premier Horgan himself, who during his 2011 bid for the NDP leadership made protecting old-growth forests one of his core policy planks – take note, the Ancient Forest Alliance’s Ken Wu had endorsed Horgan’s commitment to protect old-growth forests then, but not necessarily all aspects of Horgan’s platform). Horgan also joined the Ancient Forest Alliance to visit the Avatar Grove with the news media in 2010, advocating for the protection of old-growth forests in BC. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02HQc1UEWXw

The NDP’s 2017 election platform states that “In partnership with First Nations and communities, we will modernize land-use planning to effectively and sustainably manage BC’s ecosystems, rivers, lakes, watersheds, forests and old growth, while accounting for cumulative effects. We will take an evidence-based scientific approach and use the ecosystem-based management of the Great Bear Rainforest as a model.” (see page 61 of their platform at: https://action.bcndp.ca/page/-/bcndp/docs/BC-NDP-Platform-2017.pdf). If taken literally and seriously, this would almost certainly result in the protection of the remaining old growth forest on BC’s southern coast and in the BC Interior, where old-growth forests are far scarcer and more endangered than in the Central and Northern Coast (Great Bear Rainforest) where 70% of the forests and 85% of the old-growth forests were protected under the Ecosystem-Based Management plan there.

The NDP minority government has been sworn-in to replace the previously governing Liberal party after signing a governing agreement with the 3 Green Party MLAs, who have spoken with the Ancient Forest Alliance that old-growth forest protection and value-added forestry jobs will be central features of their agenda.

More Information on Old-Growth Forests

Old-growth forests are vital to sustaining unique endangered species, climate stability, tourism, clean water, wild salmon, and the cultures of many First Nations. On BC’s southern coast, satellite photos show that at least 75% of the original, productive old-growth forests have been logged, including well over 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow. Only about 8% of Vancouver Island’s original, productive old-growth forests are protected in parks and Old-Growth Management Areas. Old-growth forests – with trees that can be 2000 years old – are a non-renewable resource under BC’s system of forestry, where second-growth forests are re-logged every 50 to 100 years, never to become old-growth again.

Over the past year, the voices for old-growth protection have been quickly expanding, including numerous Chambers of Commerce, mayors and city councils, forestry unions, and conservation groups across BC who have been calling on the provincial government to expand protection for BC’s remaining old-growth forests.

BC’s premier business lobby, the BC Chamber of Commerce, representing 36,000 businesses, passed a resolution last May calling on the province to expand protection for BC’s old-growth forests to support the economy, after a series of similar resolutions passed by the Port Renfrew, Sooke, and WestShore Chambers of Commerce. See: www.ancientforestalliance.org/news-item.php?ID=1010

Both the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM), representing the mayors, city and town councils, and regional districts across BC, and Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC), representing Vancouver Island local governments, passed a resolution last year calling on the province to protect the Vancouver Island’s remaining old-growth forests by amending the 1994 land use plan. See: https://16.52.162.165/media-release-ubcm-passes-old-growth-protection-resolution/

The Private and Public Workers of Canada (PPWC), formerly the Pulp, Paper, and Woodworkers of Canada, representing thousands of sawmill and pulp mill workers across BC, recently passed a resolution calling for an end to old-growth logging on Vancouver Island. See: https://16.52.162.165/conservationists-applaud-old-growth-protection-resolution-by-major-bc-forestry-union/

The Ahousaht First Nation north of Tofino in Clayoquot Sound recently announced that 82% of their territory will be off-limits to commercial logging. They now need provincial legislation and funding to help make their vision a reality. See: [Original article no longer available]

The Ancient Forest Alliance calling on the BC government to implement a comprehensive science-based plan to protect all of BC’s remaining endangered old-growth forests, and to also ensure a sustainable, value-added second-growth forest industry.

See maps and stats on the remaining old-growth forests on BC’s southern coast at: www.ancientforestalliance.org/old-growth-maps.php

In order to placate public fears about the loss of BC’s endangered old-growth forests, the previous BC Liberal government’s PR-spin typically over-inflated the amount of remaining old-growth forests by including hundreds of thousands of hectares of marginal, low productivity forests growing in bogs and at high elevations with smaller, stunted trees, lumped in with the productive old-growth forests, where the large trees grow (and where most logging takes place). See a rebuttal to some of the BC government’s PR-spin and stats about old-growth forests towards the BOTTOM of the webpage: https://16.52.162.165/action-alert-speak-up-for-ancient-forests-to-the-union-of-bc-municipalities-ubcm/