One of several monumental western redcedars located in Jurassic Grove.

Stunning Grove of Unprotected Old-Growth Trees Located near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island – Conservationists Hope “Jurassic Grove” will become “Jurassic Park” one day!

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For Immediate Release

VICTORIA – The Ancient Forest Alliance has located an impressive grove of unprotected, monumental old-growth trees only a 90 minute drive west of Victoria between Jordan River and Port Renfrew.

Spanning a 3 kilometer stretch alongside a portion of the 48 kilometre Juan de Fuca Marine Trail Provincial Park, it lies mainly on Crown lands adjacent to the provincial park and its popular coastal hiking trail not far from Highway 14 in the traditional unceded territory of the Pacheedaht band.  The Ancient Forest Alliance’s TJ Watt had explored and identified the area as an old-growth forest of high conservation significance in recent years but came across a particularly accessible grove of giant trees while bushwhacking a few weeks ago.

“Lowland old-growth groves on southern Vancouver Island with the classic giants like this are about as rare as finding a Sasquatch these days – over 95% of the forests like this have 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. It will help to bolster the public’s interest to see the BC government enact legislation to protect the remaining old-growth forests on Vancouver Island”, stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director. “For now we’ve nicknamed this tract of old-growth forest as the ‘Jurassic Grove’, which could become ‘Jurassic Park’ one day if it is protected. Of course there may be more traditional names for the area, which we’ll be happy to use”.

“This area is like another Avatar Grove – it’s easy to get to, it includes some parts with gentle terrain, and is filled with amazing trees – but it’s even closer to Victoria! When we are able to disclose the exact location when it’s appropriate for wider public access, the Jurassic Grove will undoubtedly become a major source of inspiration and environmental awareness for thousands of people”, stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer. “It’s hard to fathom that at one time the highway between Victoria to Port Renfrew could’ve been lined with ancient forests like this. Now it remains in just a few patches, like the Jurassic Grove, underscoring the need to protect what’s left of our old-growth forests.”

The Ancient Forest Alliance has requested meetings with the Ministry of Forests, BC Parks, and Pacheedaht council to discuss conservation and access issues regarding the area. Until then, 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 very steep ravines.

While most of Jurassic Grove’s 130 hectares of old-growth is protected within a Marbled Murelet Wildlife Habitat Area that is off-limits to logging, about 40 hectares is on unprotected Crown lands without any type of regulatory or legislated protection.

There are no approved or proposed logging plans on these lands, according to Ministry of Forests data on the BC government’s iMAPBC website.

As it abuts against a popular provincial park for hiking, it would be a natural addition to the park and as a buffer to the Juan de Fuca trail – and ultimately as a star attraction for visitors around the world.

“We should make it clear that we did not ‘discover’ this forest, in the sense of being the first humans to see it, of course. People have lived in the area for thousands of years, and hikers mushroom pickers, hunters, surfers, biologists, and loggers (who logged to the edge of this forest several decades ago…and of course who would’ve surveyed it as well) have all traversed the area. What we’ve done is located and identified the old-growth grove here for its high conservation and recreation value”, stated TJ Watt, AFA campaigner and photographer. “However, the days of identifying such unprotected monumental groves are coming to an end, because in a few short years these forests will either be in protected areas, or gone. This area needs legislated protection”.

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 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, and camp in the Pacheedaht campground to help boost the local economy with eco-tourism dollars.

To the south the BC government has just bought up the 7 parcels of second-growth private forest lands, totalling 180 hectares, from a developer and intends to increase the width of the provincial park to buffer the trail along its first several kilometres, while lands outside the buffer will go to the Pacheedaht First Nation band in Port Renfrew as part of the treaty settlement process. To the north, the Crown land old-growth forests of the Jurassic Grove could also be a natural addition to buffer the trail, whether as an extension of the existing park or as a tribal park/conservancy.

More Information on Old-Growth Forests

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 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: 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, 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 band 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: (Link 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.

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 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.

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 BC government’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). 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/

Ancient Forest Alliance

Conservation Group Releases Pre-Election Summary of BC’s Political Parties’ Policies on Old-Growth Forests and Forest Policies

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VICTORIA – The Ancient Forest Alliance has released a summary of BC’s major political parties’ policy platforms and governance track records (NDP and Liberals) on old-growth forest protection and related forestry issues in BC ahead of the April 9 election.

See the summary infographic and the full analysis here: https://16.52.162.165/2017-provincial-election-summary-bc-party-platforms-on-old-growth-forests-and-related-forestry-issues/

“Forest protection and logging are hot-button topics in many parts of BC, but it’s not always clear where our politicians stand on these issues,” said Ken Wu, the Ancient Forest Alliance’s Executive Director. “We want voters to head to the polls on Tuesday armed with the facts.”

“An informed electorate is key to making democracy work. With the upcoming election, British Columbians have a unique opportunity to influence public policy around the issues that matter, including the health of our forests, wildlife, and watersheds and the creation and retention of sustainable forestry jobs.”

So far, no party has made the protection of old-growth forests a central issue, with the exception of a number of Green Party candidates in certain ridings.

One of the two shining lights of progress that are of interest to the Ancient Forest Alliance is in the Green Party’s forestry platform, where they have committed to identifying and protecting BC’s old-growth forests. Neither the Liberals nor NDP make any mention of old-growth forests in the forestry sections of their platforms.

The other positive light is in the NDP’s environment platform, where they make reference to using the ecosystem-based management approach of the Great Bear Rainforest as a model for old-growth forest management and land use planning in BC. While vague with considerable wriggle room, if interpreted in its strongest, most direct way, such an approach would likely end the logging of old-growth forests across much of the province, such as on Vancouver Island and the southwest mainland where old-growth forests are far more scarce than in the Great Bear Rainforest.

However, the NDP party has not directly stated that they would end old-growth logging anywhere – with the exception of Esquimalt-Metchosin NDP Mitzi Dean, who stated at an all candidates debate recently:
“Within the BC NDP platform we do mention old growth. We are committed to protecting old growth, that is in our platform and we are committed to that. Our strategy around that is that we will use the land planning process to make sure that we will protect old-growth forests. It’s really important to build that plan to protect old-growth forests … Second growth forests will be logged and not old-growth forests and those will be protected …We have it in our platform. We have the intention of protecting old-growth forests. Personally, I am committed to no further old-growth forests being logged as quickly as possible.”

Whether party leader John Horgan will officially commit the party to ending old-growth logging is of interest to the Ancient Forest Alliance.

Alas, the NDP and Liberals’ forestry platforms don’t make mention of old-growth forests and reflect the unsustainable status quo. They both commit to plant more trees, promote more wood construction projects in BC, help expand markets for BC wood, try to get a better softwood lumber deal with the US, and work with forest companies to try to create more jobs. Their forestry platforms state nothing about protecting old-growth forests, restricting raw log exports with specific policies or regulations, or providing incentives for converting old-growth mills for second-growth processing or value-added manufacturing.

As a whole, the NDP’s track record on protecting old-growth forests during their 10 years in power was significantly better than the BC Liberals’ governing track record over 16 years. In that time, the NDP increased protection in BC by 6% systematically across much of the province, while the BC Liberals increased protection by 3%, largely concentrated in the Great Bear Rainforest, Haida Gwaii, and Squamish Nation territory, while refusing any new protected areas across most of the rest of the province.

Besides calling for old-growth protection, the Green platform also proposes tax relief for companies investing in wood manufacturing and speaks of an interest in curbing raw log exports, although fails to propose specific mechanisms. Unlike the BC Liberals and NDP however, the Greens have no governing track record to judge them on.

“In summary, the Greens have the strongest platform for old-growth forests and wood manufacturing jobs, but no governing track record, while the NDP has a stronger platform and track record than the BC Liberals regarding old-growth protection and log exports,” stated Ken Wu.

Court rulings also show that the most important governing body for determining the ultimate fate of BC’s old-growth forests are the province’s diverse First Nations, whose unceded lands encompass most the of BC. The provincial government can facilitate old-growth protection by supporting First Nations’ old-growth conservation plans, like the Tla-o-qui-aht Tribal Parks and the Ahousaht Land Use Vision; providing financial support for sustainable, economic alternatives to old-growth logging in First Nations communities; and by facilitating a shift from old-growth to second-growth forestry policy across BC.

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC government to implement comprehensive, science-based legislation to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests while ensuring a sustainable, value-added second-growth forest industry. Old-growth forests are vital to support endangered species, tourism, the climate, clean water, wild salmon, and many First Nations cultures. About 75% of the original, productive old-growth forests have been logged on BC’s southern coast, including 90% of the valley bottoms with the largest trees and richest biodiversity.

See before and after maps of southwest BC’s old-growth forest cover: https://16.52.162.165/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/

See a new time lapse video showing logging activities in southwest BC since European settlement: https://16.52.162.165/news-item.php?ID=1113

See the parties’ election platforms here:

BC Liberal Platform: https://www.bcliberals.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/2017-Platform.pdf
NDP Platform: https://action.bcndp.ca/page/-/bcndp/docs/BC-NDP-Platform-2017.pdf
Green Platform: https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/greenpartybc/pages/2300/attachments/original/1493054476/2017-platform-bcgreenparty-print.pdf?1493054476

Ancient Forest Alliance's Ken Wu stands alongside a 14ft wide redcedar stump from an old-growth tree cut down on Edinburgh Mountain near Port Renfrew.

Time Lapse Forest Cover Map Shows the Progressive Demise of Vancouver Island’s Old-Growth Forests over the past Century

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For Immediate Release

Time Lapse Forest Cover Map Shows the Progressive Demise of Vancouver Island’s Old-Growth Forests over the past Century

Victoria – A time lapse map of Vancouver Island has been released showing the demise of the Island’s old-growth forests over a century of industrial logging. Well over 90% of the original, high productivity, low elevation old-growth forests on Vancouver Island with the biggest trees have already been logged, according to the data analysis, while over 75% of the moderate to high productivity old-growth forests (ie. the commercially valuable old-growth forests) have been logged. Conservation groups, businesses and chambers of commerce, forestry workers and unions, naturalist clubs, city and town councils across BC, and many First Nations are calling on the provincial government to expand protection for BC’s endangered old-growth forests. Instead, a sustainable, value-added second-growth forest industry would support and enhance employment for BC’s forestry workers.

See the time-lapse map sequence here:  https://youtu.be/c9hTF2oxLjo

A series of new maps have been developed and placed in a time-lapse sequence to show the demise of Vancouver Island’s old-growth forests for over a century. The maps, developed by Commons BC for use by conservation groups and the public, start in 1900 and end in 2016, and were created through a combination of satellite imagery, government data, and archives of old aerial photos. 

They show that the productive old-growth forests have been progressively clearcut across Vancouver Island, starting with the flat lowlands on southeastern Vancouver Island at the turn of the century and progressing west and north through the mountains, up the major valleys and across steep, rugged terrain in recent decades.

“These maps make it clear how successive governments have overseen and facilitated the demise of the greatest ancient rainforests on earth here on Vancouver Island for over a century – and it’s still going on at a rapid pace today. Our second-growth tree plantations don’t replicate the original ancient forests for species, the climate, water conservation, or for recreation and tourism opportunities, and they are to be logged again every 50 to 80 years. Therefore old-growth forests under BC’s system of logging are a non-renewable resource – we’re mining our old-growth forests. Once they are logged, they are not coming back, and future generations will be shocked to see how governments were thinking in this era to take these ecosystems to the brink of extinction,” stated Vicky Husband of Commons BC.

“Next to the US redwoods, Vancouver Island’s old-growth forests are the grandest on Earth. Here, trees can grow as tall as skyscrapers and as wide as living rooms. Given the fact that they are vital for tourism, endangered species, the climate, clean water, and many First Nations cultures – and that most of our forests are now second-growth today – it should be a no-brainer that the BC government needs to move fast to save what’s left of our scarce ancient forests”, stated Ken Wu, Executive Director of the Ancient Forest Alliance. “Instead, they’ve continued to spin the tale that old-growth forests are not endangered on Vancouver Island by including vast tracts of the stunted ‘bonsai’ trees growing in bogs and at the tops of mountains in their statistics. It’s like including your Monopoly money with your real money, and then claiming to be a millionaire, so why stop spending?”

“The full transition into a purely second-growth forest industry is inevitable when the last of the unprotected old-growth forests are logged. We’re just saying let’s do it sooner, while we still have significant tracts of these ancient forests still standing”, stated Arnold Bercov, President of the Public and Private Workers of Canada (PPWC). “By ending raw log exports and creating incentives and regulations for processing and value-adding second-growth logs, we can sustain and enhance forestry employment levels while protecting BC’s endangered old-growth forests at the same time.”

More information: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 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: www.ancientforestalliance.org/news-item.php?ID=1057

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/news-item.php?ID=1100

The Ahousaht First Nation band 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.

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.

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 BC government’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). 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://www.ancientfo<wbr

Ancient Forest Alliance Campaigner & Photographer

Logging Battle Looms as New Road is Pushed into one of Greater Vancouver’s last Lowland Old-Growth Forests – Echo Lake east of Mission

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Road construction has started into the endangered old-growth forest of Echo Lake between Mission and Agassiz in preparation for logging.

Conservationists and local landowners are reacting with alarm as a new logging road by C&H Forest Products has progressed over a kilometer into the contentious old-growth and second-growth forests north of Echo Lake as a precursor to logging three planned cutblocks there.

Echo Lake includes some of the last unprotected lowland old-growth forests in the Lower Mainland. It is renowned as the world’s largest night-roosting site for bald eagles, with hundreds of eagles roosting in the old-growth trees around the lake on some nights during the fall salmon run, and is home to much wildlife and several species at risk. The area is also part of a Community Drinking Watershed for local residents and is in the traditional, unceded territory of the Sts’ailes First Nation band, who run the Sasquatch EcoLodge and whose members run eagle watching tours nearby.

See a recent drone video taken at Echo Lake: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfLbzncf9Us

And the original campaign video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPstV14oZ6s

“The BC government has shown a blatant disregard towards the environmental values and concerns of local residents by shrugging their shoulders and letting the company move ahead with their road-building and logging plans”, stated Susan Ben-Oliel, a private landowner on the east side of the lake. “They are forcing us to broaden our outreach to new allies in preparation for a battle – a battle which could be averted if the BC government took responsibility for finding a solution here, such as a land swap for the licensee involving second-growth forests outside of Echo Lake. I think the BC public is largely unaware and would be horrified to know that this kind of rare, majestic forest is open for logging”.

“Echo Lake is an environmental jewel that includes lowland ancient forest in a region that overwhelmingly consists of second-growth forests, clearcuts, and tiny scraps of old-growth forests with smaller trees growing on high, steep slopes. Today in the Lower Mainland, to find valley-bottom old-growth giant cedars outside of parks is as rare as finding a Sasquatch. It should be a no-brainer that all of the forests around tiny Echo Lake should be protected”, stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director.

The road building plans and the three cutblocks were approved by the Forest Service earlier this year. The cutblocks are a mix of old-growth stands and mature second-growth stands with a large number of old-growth veteran trees in them. The road is now over a kilometer long and will eventually be as close as 100 metres from the lake’s north shore and also less than 100 meters from the area’s finest redcedar grove. While the company’s forestry consultant has indicated to local landowners that the company will leave the old-growth Douglas-firs standing and only log the smaller second-growth trees around them, the logging will nevertheless fragment an otherwise intact forested area in a region that is already heavily fragmented. In addition, these are voluntary measures that can be modified, since the old-growth on the north side has no legal protection, and the plan includes a loophole that allows the old-growth trees to still be cut if the company deems it necessary for “safety reasons”.

Importantly, the company has not committed to leaving the old-growth redcedars standing unless they are rotten or have dead tops, and plans to log the healthy old-growth redcedars. Most of the large cedars are found in the “Ancient Cedar Valley,” the finest old-growth stand at Echo Lake that is just beyond the scope of the current 5 year logging plan. However, if the current plans are completed, they would bring forestry operations less than 100 metres away from the Ancient Cedar Valley, which could become next in line for logging. Dozens of enormous redcedars grow in this valley-bottom area on the western side of Echo Lake, which is the lake’s most heavily visited area. The giant trees there are heavily featured in numerous online photos and news articles about Echo Lake.

Another cluster of large, impressive 140+ year old redcedars have also been marked for potential logging near the start of the Echo Lake trail just beyond the boundaries of the private lands on the lake’s east side. Such a move would be another major source of conflict with local landowners.

Currently the company’s cutting permits have expired for the three planned cutblocks, but the company is likely to reapply shortly.

In 2013, after a campaign by local landowners and the Ancient Forest Alliance, the BC government protected 55 hectares of the old-growth forests on the Crown lands on the south side of Echo Lake in an Old-Growth Management Area (OGMA). However, they left out a similar amount of old-growth and mature forests from the OGMA on the north and west sides of Echo Lake within a Woodlot Licence where the ancient trees are now threatened with logging.

More Background Info

Landowners Stephen and Susan Ben-Oliel, who own a private land parcel on one side of the lake, and who draw their drinking water from the area, were informed last summer by consultants hired by C&H Forest Products that the logging company was planning to begin construction of a 1400 metre long logging road in their Community Watershed. The planned road on Crown lands leads to stands of old-growth redcedars and Douglas-firs on the northwest side of Echo Lake. The couple also discovered a series of recently flagged and spray-painted old redcedars alongside the main trail by Echo Lake in preparation for logging. Over a thousand people have now hiked the trail around Echo Lake since 2013, when the Ancient Forest Alliance began organizing guided tours through the area. In 2015, Forest Minister Steve Thomson stated that there were no logging plans for Echo Lake – See Global TV at: https://globalnews.ca/news/1906359/clear-cutting-threatens-echo-lake-eagle-colony/

See spectacular images of Echo Lake Ancient Forests at: https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/echo-lake/

See various news media articles about Echo Lake from the Vancouver Sun, Globe and Mail, Global TV etc. at the bottom of the campaign page at: www.ProtectEchoLake.com

“The BC government needs to work with the local Woodlot Licensee, First Nations, the adjacent private land owners like myself, and conservationists to ensure the area’s legal protection. This could entail shifting the Woodlot Licence boundaries into an area of second-growth forest with an equivalent timber value and then expanding the Old-Growth Management Area around all of Echo Lake,” stated Susan Ben-Oliel. “The Ministry of Forests has changed the boundaries of the Woodlot Licence in the past, in the 1990’s, and they can do it again if they want to avoid the escalation in the conflict”.

The Ancient Forest Alliance is also calling for a larger provincial plan to protect the remaining endangered old-growth forests across BC while ensuring sustainable second-growth forestry jobs.

In the Lower Mainland, about 80% or more of the original, productive old-growth forests have already been logged, including about 95% of the high productivity, valley bottom ancient forests where the largest trees grow and most biodiversity is found. See before and after maps for BC’s southern coast (Southwest Mainland and Vancouver Island) at: https://16.52.162.165/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/.

Ancient Forest Alliance's campaigner TJ Watt and executive director Ken Wu and Public and Private Workers of Canada (PPWC) president Arnold Bercov with a giant cedar tree at the Avatar Grove near Port Renfrew

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

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

Click here to read the resolution.

“This is a historic leap forward in the snowballing movement to protect the remaining old-growth forests on Vancouver Island. 20 years ago it would’ve been inconceivable that a forestry union would call for an end to old-growth logging anywhere in BC. But the PPWC have always been forward thinking – they realize the future is in the sustainable, value-added second-growth forestry, as second-growth forests now dominate the vast majority of the productive forest lands here. Plus, they’ve always had a strong social and environmental conscience for the broader good of communities, which is how real progress happens. Endangered species, tourism, clean water, wild salmon, the climate, and First Nations cultures will all benefit from keeping Vancouver Island’s remaining old-growth forests alive”, stated Ken Wu, Executive Director of the Ancient Forest Alliance.

“The full transition into a purely second-growth forest industry is inevitable when the last of the unprotected old-growth forests are logged. We’re just saying let's do it sooner, while we still have significant tracts of these ancient forests still standing”, stated Arnold Bercov, President of the Public and Private Workers of Canada (PPWC). “By ending raw log exports and creating incentives and regulations for processing and value-adding second-growth logs, we can sustain and enhance forestry employment levels while protecting Vancouver Island's endangered old-growth forests at the same time.”

The PPWC, along with Unifor (another major BC forestry union) the Ancient Forest Alliance, Sierra Club of BC, Wilderness Committee, and Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, put out a joint call on Monday for an immediate ban to old-growth log exports, progressively higher taxes on second-growth raw log exports to support domestic manufacturing, and additional policies to support sustainable, value-added forestry in rural and First Nations communities. The last 4 years have seen a record breaking volume of raw log exports – over 26 million cubic metres. One-third of which are old-growth and over half of which are from public lands (over the past 5 years), according to new research by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). BC could protect its endangered old-growth forests and sustain and enhance forestry employment levels at the same time if it increases the processing and value-added manufacturing of the second-growth logs (ie. doing more with less), while increasing the export of raw, unprocessed logs goes precisely in the wrong direction (ie. doing less with more). See: www.timescolonist.com/opinion/op-ed/comment-rising-raw-log-exports-bad-for-forests-workers-1.10577445

The PPWC is over 50 years old and represents thousands of workers in sawmills, pulp mills, and work places across British Columbia. Visit www.ppwc.ca/about/

More information:

The PPWC forestry union joins various Chambers of Commerce, mayors and city councils, and conservation groups across BC in calling on the provincial government to protect BC’s 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 editorial board of the Vancouver Sun, the province’s largest newspaper, also called on the BC government last September to show some conservation leadership around Vancouver Island’s old-growth forests, noting that the status quo of old-growth logging is ramping up conflict and uncertainty in the forest industry and requires government action. They wrote:

“There is a legitimate discussion to be had about the value of old-growth forests, about whether what remains on the South Coast and Vancouver Island is sufficiently protected, about the extent to which the remaining inventory should be protected, and about resource jobs and the rights of companies to do legal business. Surely, however, there is also a clear role for the provincial government, which has duties of both environmental stewardship and resource management, to serve as an intermediary in such conflicts by providing clear, science-based, arm’s-length evidence as the foundation for an even-handed conversation and to help the two groups whose interests it represents to find common ground. More leadership and less lethargy from Victoria, please.” See: https://vancouversun.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-victoria-must-intervene-in-renewed-war-in-the-woods

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.

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 BC government’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). “It’s like including your Monopoly money with your real money and then claiming to be a millionaire, so why curtail spending?” stated Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner TJ Watt.

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/ 

Ancient Forest Alliance

New Drone Video of the Endangered Echo Lake Ancient Forest released

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For Immediate Release
December 8, 2016
 
New Video Released of the Endangered Echo Lake Old-Growth Forest, includes amazing Drone Footage
 
Today the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) has released a new HD video that includes spectacular drone footage in the endangered old-growth forests around Echo Lake, between Mission and Agassiz, east of Vancouver.  
 

 
 
The new video follows up on the AFA’s previous drone video “Climbing Big Lonely Doug: Round 2” released a few months ago with already 74,000 views on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ancientforestalliance/videos/1094270450667541/ as well as the organization’s first drone video, released last year, “Save the Central Walbran Valley – Canada’s Grandest Ancient Forest at Risk” at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyMPXHOjlK0
 
The original Echo Lake video (no drone involved) was released by the organization in October of 2012 – watch it here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPstV14oZ6s
 
Local landowners and conservation groups are dismayed at road-building and old-growth logging plans that have been approved by the BC Liberal government in the community drinking watershed at Echo Lake, an extremely rare and endangered lowland old-growth forest between Mission and Agassiz, famous for its monumental redcedars and Douglas-firs, wildlife, and hundreds of roosting bald eagles during the fall salmon run. The region around the Chehalis, Harrison, and Fraser Rivers is considered to have the greatest concentrations of bald eagles on Earth in some years, where as many as ten thousand eagles arrive in November and December during the fall salmon migration.
 
Echo Lake is one of the very last unprotected lowland old-growth forests left in the Lower Mainland region – most remaining unprotected old-growth forests consist of much smaller trees on steep slopes at higher elevations. It is in the traditional, unceded territory of the Sts’ailes First Nation band, who run the Sasquatch EcoLodge and whose members run eagle watching tours nearby, and who have expressed concerns about the fate of the old-growth redcedars around the lake. 
 
In 2013 after a campaign by local landowners and the Ancient Forest Alliance, the BC government protected 55 hectares of the old-growth forests on the Crown lands on the south side of Echo Lake in an Old-Growth Management Area (OGMA). However, they left out a similar amount of old-growth and mature forests from the OGMA on the north and west sides of Echo Lake within a Woodlot Licence where the ancient trees are now threatened with logging.
 
Remotely-piloted drones equipped with high definition video cameras are a new tool being used by conservationists like the Ancient Forest Alliance to monitor and document endangered ecosystems like BC’s old-growth temperate rainforests.
 
The interviews and drone footage for the new Echo Lake video were taken in the late summer and early fall of this year, when road-building seemed imminent at Echo Lake and preliminary logging surveys had taken place. However, so far the road construction has yet to commence, a fortunate situation for the area’s forests that may allow time for a diplomatic solution for all parties involved.
 
“Drones not only allow us to get spectacular footage of our ancient forests to help raise public awareness, but they enable us to see what’s going on with remote logging operations that are normally hard to directly access. It can take hours to hike into these rugged sites where companies normally believe they can log with little scrutiny. However, with our drone, we can now see and film what’s going on in such areas”, stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance photographer and campaigner who made the new Echo Lake drone video.
 
“From what we can see with our drone, it appears that so far the logging company has not yet begun building a road into the Echo Lake area…this gives us a bit of time to find a more diplomatic solution for the logging licensee and all the parties involved, if the BC government were to have the political will to ‘swap out’ the Woodlot Licence at Echo Lake for second-growth forests elsewhere. The Ministry of Forests has changed the boundaries of the Woodlot Licence in the past, in the 1990’s, and they can do it again”, stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director.
 
More Background Info
 
Landowners Stephen and Susan Ben-Oliel, who own a private land parcel on one side of the lake, and who draw their drinking water from the area, were informed last summer by consultants hired by C&H Forest Products that the logging company was planning to begin construction of a 1400 metre long logging road in their Community Watershed. The planned road on Crown lands leads to stands of old-growth redcedars and Douglas-firs on the northwest side of Echo Lake. The couple also discovered a series of recently flagged and spray-painted old redcedars alongside the main trail by Echo Lake in preparation for logging. Over a thousand people have now hiked the trail around Echo Lake since 2013, when the Ancient Forest Alliance began organizing guided tours through the area.
 
Last year, Forest Minister Steve Thomson stated that there were no logging plans for Echo Lake – See Global TV at: https://globalnews.ca/news/1906359/clear-cutting-threatens-echo-lake-eagle-colony/   
 
However, the Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource operations recently approved C&H Forest Products’ road building plans. Conservationists are concerned that once major sections of road are constructed, the company will be motivated to carry out its logging plans in order to recuperate its costs.
 
See spectacular images of Echo Lake Ancient Forests at: https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/echo-lake/
 
See various news media articles about Echo Lake from the Vancouver Sun, Globe and Mail, Global TV etc. at the bottom of the campaign page at: www.ProtectEchoLake.com
 
“The BC government needs to work with the local Woodlot Licensee, First Nations, the adjacent private land owners like myself, and conservationists to ensure the area’s legal protection. This could entail shifting the Woodlot License boundaries into an area of second-growth forest with an equivalent timber value and then expanding the Old-Growth Management Area around all of Echo Lake,” stated Susan Ben-Oliel.
 
Several biological surveys or “bioblitzes” have been organized by the Ancient Forest Alliance that have helped to inventory the area’s large diversity of flora and fauna. Many species at risk such as various species of bats, frogs, snails, dragonflies, and mosses have been found by biologists and naturalists. The data has been submitted to the BC Ministry of Environment’s Wildlife Species Inventory. 174 species of plant, 55 vertebrate, 153 invertebrate, and 38 fungi species were found during the two days of the 2014 bioblitz, while the 2015 bioblitz data is still being compiled.  See the 2014 bioblitz media release at: https://16.52.162.165/news-item.php?ID=868
 
The Ancient Forest Alliance is also calling for a larger provincial plan to protect the remaining endangered old-growth forests across BC while ensuring sustainable second-growth forestry jobs.
 
In the Lower Mainland, about 80% or more of the original, productive old-growth forests have already been logged, including about 95% of the high productivity, valley bottom ancient forests where the largest trees grow and most biodiversity is found. See before and after maps for BC’s southern coast (Southwest Mainland and Vancouver Island) at: https://16.52.162.165/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/
 
“How many jurisdictions on Earth still have trees that grow as wide as living rooms and as tall as downtown skyscrapers? What we have here is something exceptional on the planet. Our ancient forests make British Columbia truly special – while we still have them,” stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner. “More than ever we need the BC government to have the wisdom to protect our incredibly rare and endangered old-growth forests in places like Echo Lake”.
A section of boardwalk damaged in the Lower Grove by a falling hemlock tree.

Avatar Grove Boardwalk damaged by windstorm – Completion launch delayed until Spring

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For Immediate Release
October 28, 2016

Avatar Grove Boardwalk – Winter Storm Damage Delays Completion Launch of Big Tree Showcase Trail until the Spring.

Lower Grove closed until trail clearing and boardwalk repairs can be done, while the Upper Grove remains open to visitors.

Port Renfrew – Damage to the famed Avatar Grove Boardwalk in the Lower Grove due to the hurricane-force winds during the October 15 storm has delayed the completion launch of the Avatar Grove Boardwalk until next spring. The Ancient Forest Alliance had literally just completed the boardwalk a week before the storm, after 3 years of hard work involving a hundred volunteers, and was about to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony last week to announce its completion – but now the launch will be delayed until the boardwalk can be repaired and the trail cleared, which will take several months due to the wet winter weather. The winter storm resulted in at least 30 trees crashing down over the Avatar Grove Trail in the Lower Grove, damaging sections of the boardwalk. Luckily none of the grove’s famed giant redcedars or Douglas-firs fell during the storm.

The entrance to the Lower Avatar Grove has since been cordoned off for the time being, while the Upper Avatar Grove boardwalk remains open and in decent condition.

Note: For safety reasons the Ancient Forest Alliance asks that members of the public do not attempt to clear the fallen trees on their own. The trail clearing will be undertaken by a team of professional arborists who are trained and certified to undertake such operations.

“After anticipating the launch of the boardwalk’s completion after three years of hard work, this is undoubtedly a bit of a disappointment and setback – but it’s only temporary. We’ll get back to work to clear the trail and fix the boardwalk damage over the ensuing months, and launch the boardwalk in the spring. We’re most grateful for the large community of Avatar Boardwalk supporters and volunteers who’ve taken this project so far and who I know will help get this project back on track to completion”, stated TJ Watt, the Ancient Forest Alliance’s photographer and coordinator of the Avatar Grove Boardwalk project. “Avatar Grove has already become a core attraction for visitors from around the world to visit Port Renfrew and Vancouver Island, and the boardwalk’s completion will only enhance its place as one of the great places in Canada to see.”

A 20 minute drive from Port Renfrew, the Avatar Grove (a popular nickname for its Nuu-cha-nulth Pacheedaht name of “T’l’oqwxwat”) is one of the most spectacular and easily accessible stands of monumental old-growth trees in British Columbia, protected in 2012 after an intense campaign led by the Ancient Forest Alliance in conjunction with the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce. Thousands of tourists from around the world now come to visit the Avatar Grove, hugely bolstering the regional economy with Tall Tree Tourism.

The Ancient Forest Alliance began construction of the Avatar Grove Boardwalk in 2013 to protect the tree roots and understory vegetation from excessive trampling, enhance visitor access and safety, and support the local eco-tourism economy.

This last reason for the boardwalk – to support the local eco-tourism economy in Port Renfrew and beyond – has had a significance far beyond Avatar Grove, acting as a “catalyst” to help to shape the fate of endangered old-growth forests across BC. Driven by Avatar Grove’s economic significance, various Chambers of Commerce – starting with the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce in late 2015, followed by the Sooke and Westshore Chambers of Commerce, and culminating in May with the BC Chamber of Commerce, the province’s premier business lobby representing 36,000 businesses – have called on the province to increase the protection of BC’s old-growth forests to support the economy. Similarly, the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM), representing local city, town, and regional district councils across BC, passed a resolution in September calling on the province to amend the outdated 1994 Vancouver Island Land Use Plan to protect the Island’s remaining old-growth forests.

“The Avatar Grove Boardwalk’s real significance is to serve as an example for other communities that protecting old-growth forests is good for the economy, hugely supporting local businesses and jobs. In helping to revitalize Port Renfrew’s economy, it clearly counteracts the old, false narrative that protecting old-growth forests harms rural economies”, stated Ken Wu, the Ancient Forest Alliance’s executive director. “The Avatar Grove has been the most important catalyst in the movement to BC’s endangered old-growth forests in recent times”.

The Avatar Grove Boardwalk has been supported by the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce, Mountain Equipment Co-op, Sitka clothing, the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, Recreation Sites and Trails BC, and the Pacheedaht First Nation who provided much of the wood.

More Background Info

The catalyst for much of the momentum for protecting old-growth forests on Vancouver Island in recent years has been the small community of Port Renfrew, formerly a logging town, which has been transformed in recent years into a big tree tourism destination (dubbed the “Tall Trees Capital of Canada”) as hundreds of thousands of tourists have come from around the world to visit some of Canada’s largest trees in the nearby Avatar Grove, Big Lonely Doug (Canada’s 2nd largest Douglas-fir tree), the Red Creek Fir (the world’s largest Douglas-fir tree), San Juan Spruce (until recently Canada’s largest Sitka spruce tree – its top broke off in a recent storm unfortunately), the Harris Creek spruce (one of the largest Sitka spruce trees in Canada), and the endangered, magnificent Central Walbran Valley. The Ancient Forest Alliance has been working with the local Chamber of Commerce for years to protect the old-growth forests in the area and to complete the Avatar Grove Boardwalk.

• 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.

• Old-growth forests are vital to sustain 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 on the remaining old-growth forests on BC’s southern coast at: www.ancientforestalliance.org/old-growth-maps.php
 

Metchosin Councillor Andy Mackinnon (left) with AFA's TJ Watt and Ken Wu at Big Lonely Doug.

UBCM Passes Old-Growth Protection Resolution

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For Immediate Release
Sept. 28, 2016
 
Old-Growth Protection Advocates Celebrate as Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) Passes Resolution to Protect Vancouver Island’s Remaining Old-Growth Forests! BC Liberal government under increasing pressure to amend outdated 1994 Vancouver Island Land Use Plan
 
Conservationists are celebrating as the members of the Union of BC Municipalities, representing cities, towns, and regional district councils across the province, has passed a resolution with a substantial majority today at their AGM calling on the BC government to amend the 1994 Vancouver Island Land Use Plan to protect the Island’s remaining old-growth forests, which have been decimated from a century of industrial logging.
 
Victoria – Conservationists with the Ancient Forest Alliance are celebrating today as the province’s largest lobby for local governments, the Union of BC Municipalities, passed a resolution with a substantial majority today calling on the BC government to amend the 1994 Vancouver Land Use Plan to protect the remaining old-growth forests. The initiative, sponsored by forest ecologist and Metchosin councillor Dr. Andy MacKinnon, was previously passed last April by the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC).
 
“It’s time that the BC government amend the outdated Vancouver Island Land Use Plan to protect the remaining old-growth forests on Vancouver Island. Our old-growth forests are a non-renewable resource given climate change and the short rotation age of forestry in this province, and the science indicates that we need to protect and restore old-growth forests on much of the coast”, stated Andy MacKinnon, Metchosin councillor, forest ecologist, and champion of the old-growth resolution.
 
“This is a huge leap forward in the campaign to protect the remaining old-growth forests on Vancouver Island! BC largest local governmental lobby now joins the BC Chamber of Commerce, the conservation movement, and hundreds of thousands of citizens asking the BC Liberal government to protect our old-growth forests. The BC government's preferred policy of logging until the end of our unprotected ancient forests is not sustainable – not only for endangered species and tourism, but ultimately for BC’s forestry workers, who need government leadership to ensure a sustainable, second-growth forest industry if they are to have a future”, stated Ken Wu, executive director of the Ancient Forest Alliance.
 
“After the California redwoods, Vancouver Island’s old-growth forests are the grandest on Earth. With 75% of the original productive old-growth forests already logged, including well over 90% of the largest trees in the valley bottoms, it should be a no-brainer for the BC government to protect our last old-growth forests while ensuring a sustainable second-growth forest industry,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer. The resolution by BC’s largest local governmental lobby also follows a resolution earlier this year in May by the BC Chamber of Commerce, the province’s largest business lobby representing 36,000 businesses, calling on the BC government to expand protections for old-growth forests.  See: www.ancientforestalliance.org/news-item.php?ID=1010
 
The editorial board of the Vancouver Sun, the province’s largest newspaper, on Sunday also called on the BC government to show some conservation leadership around Vancouver Island’s old-growth forests, noting that the status quo of old-growth logging is ramping up conflict and uncertainty in the forest industry. They wrote:
“There is a legitimate discussion to be had about the value of old-growth forests, about whether what remains on the South Coast and Vancouver Island is sufficiently protected, about the extent to which the remaining inventory should be protected, and about resource jobs and the rights of companies to do legal business. Surely, however, there is also a clear role for the provincial government, which has duties of both environmental stewardship and resource management, to serve as an intermediary in such conflicts by providing clear, science-based, arm’s-length evidence as the foundation for an even-handed conversation and to help the two groups whose interests it represents to find common ground. More leadership and less lethargy from Victoria, please.”  See: https://vancouversun.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-victoria-must-intervene-in-renewed-war-in-the-woods
 
The catalyst for much of the momentum for protecting old-growth forests on Vancouver Island in recent years has been the small community of Port Renfrew, formerly a logging town, which has been transformed in recent years into a big tree tourism destination (dubbed the “Tall Trees Capital of Canada”) as hundreds of thousands of tourists have come from around the world to visit some of Canada’s largest trees in the nearby Avatar Grove, Big Lonely Doug (Canada’s 2nd largest Douglas-fir tree), the Red Creek Fir (the world’s largest Douglas-fir tree), San Juan Spruce (until recently Canada’s largest Sitka spruce tree – its top broke off in a recent storm unfortunately), the Harris Creek spruce (one of the largest Sitka spruce trees in Canada), and the endangered Central Walbran Valley. The Ancient Forest Alliance has been working with the local Chamber of Commerce for years to protect the old-growth forests in the area, in the territory of the Pacheedaht First Nations Band, and to complete a boardwalk in the now protected Avatar Grove.
 
The Ancient Forest Alliance and various conservation groups had mobilized their supporters to ask their mayors and councils to pressure the UBCM to allow for a vote on the old-growth resolution, as the UBCM’s Resolutions Committee had originally refused to introduce the resolution for a vote at the AGM, citing misleading statistics from the BC government on the state of old-growth forests (see a rebuttal of their stats and arguments at: www.ancientforestalliance.org/news-item.php?ID=1052) Metchosin Councillor Dr. Andy MacKinnon and Victoria Councillor Ben Isitt co-championed the resultion on the floor of the UBCM AGM.
 
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.
 
Old-growth forests are vital to sustain 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 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 BC government’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). “It’s like including your Monopoly money with your real money and then claiming to be a millionaire, so why curtail spending?” stated the Ancient Forest Alliance’s Ken Wu. 
Ancient Forest Alliance Photographer & Campaigner TJ Watt stands atop an 8ft wide old-growth redcedar stump in a recent clearcut by Teal-Jones on Edinburgh Mt near Port Renfrew.

Old-Growth Clearcutting Fragments “Big Lonely Doug’s Mountain” as Calls for Protection Expand during National Forest Week and before UBCM Annual General Meeting

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For Immediate Release
Sept.22, 2016
 
Old-Growth Clearcutting Fragments “Big Lonely Doug’s Mountain” as Calls for Protection Expand during National Forest Week and before UBCM Annual General Meeting
 
New clearcuts and roads are fragmenting Edinburgh Mountain, one of the largest contiguous blocks of old-growth forest left on southern Vancouver Island, home to the spectacular Eden Grove ancient forest (aka “Christy Clark Grove”) and Big Lonely Doug, Canada’s 2nd largest Douglas-fir tree. In addition, the mountainside above Eden Grove and Big Lonely Doug are threatened with two new planned clearcuts. Conservationists are renewing their call for the provincial government to protect Vancouver Island's old-growth forests during National Forest Week (Sept.18 to 24) and before the Union of BC Municipalities AGM (Sept.26 to 30) next week. 
 
See PHOTOS at: https://bit.ly/2d06CsY
 
Port Renfrew – Conservationists with the Ancient Forest Alliance are greatly dismayed to have discovered on a recent hike that the BC government has allowed two old-growth clearcuts of 16 and 18 hectares, totaling 34 hectares (almost 40 football fields), to fragment the old-growth forests on Edinburgh Mountain near Port Renfrew recently. In addition, plans for four new old-growth clearcuts, one approved and three pending approval, and an expanded road network are also underway in the heart of Edinburgh Mountain’s old-growth forests. Two of these clearcuts are planned for the mountainside above Big Lonely Doug, Canada’s 2nd largest Douglas-fir tree (which has become sort of an “old-growth tree mascot” for environmental campaigns) and the spectacular and still intact Eden Grove.
 
Edinburgh Mountain is one of the largest contiguous tract of largely unprotected old-growth forest left on southern Vancouver Island, along with the nearby contentious Central Walbran Valley, and is home to Big Lonely Doug and to the Eden Grove (ie. the Lower Edinburgh Grove, also formerly nicknamed the “Christy Clark Grove” to put pressure on BC’s premier to protect the area). It is near Port Renfrew in Tree Farm Licence 46, held by logging licensee Teal-Jones, in the traditional territory of the Pacheedaht band. See a recent media release: www.ancientforestalliance.org/news-item.php?ID=1040
 
Ancient Forest Alliance photographer and campaigner TJ Watt came across the two recent clearcuts on Edinburgh Mountain earlier this month after hiking 8 kilometers up a steep logging road that has been closed off by gates that have been locked by the logging company for the past year. The logging sites were too far away and too high up in elevation for the environmental group to have used their remotely-piloted drone to survey the area (see our spectacular drone videos of Big Lonely Doug https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGbiW_Q2lCU and the endangered Central Walbran Valley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyMPXHOjlK0)
 
“Edinburgh Mountain is one of the most significant and impressive tracts of ancient temperate rainforest left in BC – right in the heart of the region that has given Port Renfrew the title as the ‘Tall Trees Capital of Canada’. After cutting some magnificent ancient redcedars and Douglas-firs in the heart of Edinburgh Mountain recently, now they’re aiming to log the mountainside above Big Lonely Doug, Canada’s 2nd largest Douglas-fir tree, and the Eden Grove, one of the finest unprotected ancient forests on Earth,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance photographer and campaigner. “It’s up to the BC government to stop this and protect not only Edinburgh Mountain, but all of the remaining ancient forests on Vancouver Island because so little remains.”
 
“It’s time that the BC government amend the outdated Vancouver Island Land Use Plan to protect the remaining old-growth forests, such as at Edinburgh Mountain. I’m hoping at the upcoming Union of BC Municipalities AGM next week that we’ll have a chance to consider the old-growth protection resolution that Metchosin introduced and that was supported by the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities AGM last April. Our old-growth forests are a non-renewable resource given climate change and the short rotation age of forestry in this province, and the science indicates that we need to protect and restore old-growth forests on much of the coast,” stated Andy MacKinnon, forest ecologist and Metchosin Councillor.
 
Dozens of old-growth western redcedars – some of them 8 feet (2.5 meters) in diameter -, yellow cedar, western and mountain hemlocks, and very rare, old Douglas-firs (between 500 to 1000 years in age) have been logged in the two recent cutblocks by controversial, Surrey-based timber company, Teal Jones. The two clearcuts took place in a mid-elevation site in an endangered species conservation area, that is, within the designated buffer zone of a “Wildlife Habitat Area” for the endangered Northern Goshawk, a rare, old-growth associated bird of prey.
 
The logging operations on Edinburgh Mountain are still ongoing, as a new road is being pushed towards another approved cutblock about 12 hectares in extent that will take place in the headwaters of a beautiful creek above the Eden Grove and Big Lonely Doug, and another 10 hectare pending cutblock near this area – unless the government halts the logging plans due to public pressure.
 
About 1500 hectares of contiguous old-growth forests cover the slopes of Edinburgh Mountain, of which over half of which is open to logging, while a minority fraction is protected by various designations (Ungulate Winter Range for deer, Old-Growth Management Areas, and a Wildlife Habitat Area for Northern Goshawks with a no-logging core area and a buffer zone that allows logging).
 
This new incursion of old-growth logging into one of the most contentious ancient forests comes just before a push by conservationists and municipal councillors for an old-growth forest protection resolution at the upcoming AGM from September 26 to 30 of the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM), representing local governments across the province.
Last April, the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC), representing 53 local governments (city, town, and regional district councils), passed a resolution calling on the provincial government to protect Vancouver Island’s remaining old-growth forests. 
 
However, the Resolutions Committee of the UBCM is so far refusing to introduce the old-growth resolution for its members to vote on at their AGM, citing misleading stats from the BC government to downplay the importance of protecting old-growth forests on Vancouver Island (see a debunking of their stats and arguments at: https://16.52.162.165/action-alert-speak-up-for-ancient-forests-to-the-union-of-bc-municipalities-ubcm/)
 
Conservationists and councillors are pushing the UBCM to reconsider their reluctance to allow the AVICC resolution to go to a vote.
 
The UBCM Resolutions Committee has stated that “the protection of old-growth forest on provincial Crown land on Vancouver Island is a regional issue, therefore advocacy on the issue would best be pursued by the area association.”  In response to this, conservationists point out that Vancouver Island is one of the largest tourism draws in the province, generating vast amounts of revenues for the province from visitors around the world – many of whom come to visit its old-growth forests. As such, it is a provincially significant issue that the UBCM should vote on.
 
“Big Lonely Doug, Canada’s 2nd largest Douglas-fir tree, will become even lonelier if Teal Jones gets to log more of Edinburgh Mountain. They've already clearcut the forest directly around Big Lonely Doug and now they want to log most of Doug's mountainous homeland. Because of the ideal growing conditions, Canada’s temperate rainforests reach their most magnificent proportions in the region that includes Edinburgh Mountain – that is, the Gordon River Valley, as well as the adjacent San Juan, Walbran, and Carmanah Valleys. They’re Canada’s version of the American redwoods. Given this fact – and that virtually all of the unprotected ancient forests have either been clearcut or fragmented by logging on southern Vancouver Island – it should be a no-brainer that one of largest, contiguous tracts of old-growth forests should be immediately protected”, stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director.
 
More Background Info
 
Port Renfrew, formerly a logging town, has been transformed in recent years into a big tree tourism destination as hundreds of thousands of tourists have come from around the world to visit some of Canada’s largest trees in the nearby Avatar Grove, Big Lonely Doug (Canada’s 2nd largest Douglas-fir tree), the Red Creek Fir (the world’s largest Douglas-fir tree), San Juan Spruce (until recently Canada’s largest Sitka spruce tree – its top broke off in a recent storm unfortunately), the Harris Creek spruce (one of the largest Sitka spruce trees in Canada), and the endangered Central Walbran Valley.
 
Recently, the province’s premier business lobby, the BC Chamber of Commerce, passed a resolution calling on the BC government to expand protection for the province’s old-growth forests – see: www.ancientforestalliance.org/news-item.php?ID=1010
 
 Similarly, the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC) representing 53 municipal, town, and regional district councils, passed a resolution recently calling on the province to amend the outdated Vancouver Island Land Use Plan of 1994 to protect the remaining old-growth forests. Conservationists are hoping that the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM), representing local governments across BC, will introduce the resolution at their AGM from Sept.26 to 30 this year, which they are refusing to do at this time.  
 
Big Lonely Doug and Eden Grove are just a few kilometers from the now-protected Avatar Grove and the world-famous West Coast Trail of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. Eden Grove is one of Canada’s most magnificent old-growth temperate rainforests, consisting of giant western redcedar, Douglas-fir, and hemlock trees. Species at risk include Northern Goshawks and Marbled Murrelets in the forest, while Coho Salmon and Steelhead spawn in the adjacent Gordon River. It is part of the Edinburgh Mountain Ancient Forest (roughly 1500 hectares of contiguous old-growth forest) located on public (Crown) land in Tree Farm Licence 46 near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory.
 
The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC government to protect the Edinburgh Mountain’s ancient forests from logging through an expanded Old-Growth Management Area, and the Eden Grove through a proposed new “legal tool” to protect BC’s biggest trees and grandest groves, which the Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations is currently developing. 
 
The organization is also 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.
 
Old-growth forests are vital to sustain 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 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 BC government’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). “It’s like including your Monopoly money with your real money and then claiming to be a millionaire, so why curtail spending?” stated the Ancient Forest Alliance’s Ken Wu. 
 
See a rebuttal to the BC government’s misleading statistics on the state of BC’s old-growth forests at: https://16.52.162.165/action-alert-speak-up-for-ancient-forests-to-the-union-of-bc-municipalities-ubcm/
A screenshot from the new Climbing Big Lonely Doug: Round 2 drone video filmed by the Ancient Forest Alliance.

New Spectacular Drone Video of Tree Climbers Scaling Canada’s 2nd Largest Douglas-fir Tree, “Big Lonely Doug”

/in /by
 
For Immediate Release
August 11, 2016
 
New Spectacular Drone Video of Tree Climbers Scaling Canada’s 2nd Largest Douglas-fir Tree, “Big Lonely Doug”
 
Port Renfrew, British Columbia – Today the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) is releasing a spectacular new HD drone video of tree climbers scaling the second largest known Douglas-fir tree in Canada, “Big Lonely Doug”, in a clearcut on Vancouver Island.
 
Watch the Video “Climbing Big Lonely Doug: Round 2” here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGbiW_Q2lCU
 
• The new video follows up on the AFA’s previous “Climbing Big Lonely Doug” video (no drone used) released last year, which has gone viral with over 130,000 views so far: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxPlKVK8RLM
 
• It also follows up on the organization’s first drone video released last year, “Save the Central Walbran Valley – Canada’s Grandest Ancient Forest at Risk”: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyMPXHOjlK0
 
• The original Big Lonely Doug video is at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7LFM9EFKLc
 
Remotely-piloted drones equipped with high definition video cameras are a new tool being used by conservationists like the Ancient Forest Alliance to monitor and document endangered ecosystems such as Vancouver Island’s old-growth temperate rainforests.
 
“Drones not only allow us to get spectacular footage of our ancient forests to help raise public awareness, but they enable us to see what’s going on with remote logging operations that are normally out of the public spotlight due to barriers imposed by the mountains and rugged terrain. Normally it can take hours to hike into these sites where companies, often using helicopters, believe they can log with little scrutiny. However, with our drone, we can now see and film what’s going on in such areas”, stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance photographer and campaigner. 
 
Watt filmed tree climbers Matthew Beatty, Aaron Kinvig, and Elliot Wright of the Arboreal Collective, a group of arborists working to help document and protect old-growth forests in BC, in March of 2016 using the DJI Phantom 3 Pro. Two photographers, Martin Gregus Sr & Jr, from the One 50 Canada Society were also present to document the climb for a cross-Canada book project that will include Big Lonely Doug.
 
“Big Lonely Doug has become the educational mascot of BC’s endangered old-growth forests. His massive size highlights the grandeur of BC’s old-growth forests, while the dramatic contrast of the surrounding clearcut highlights the threat to them posed by industrial logging. The drone footage of tree climbers in this sobering setting will help us raise the public awareness needed to pressure the BC government to save what remains of the adjacent Eden Grove and endangered old-growth forests across British Columbia, and to ensure a sustainable second-growth forest industry instead”, stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director.
 
“Of all trees in Canada, Big Lonely Doug is the most deserving to be climbed and filmed with a drone, due to his impressive nature and educational role for our endangered old-growth forests,” stated TJ Watt. 
 
Big Lonely Doug was nicknamed and first recognized as the 2nd largest Douglas-fir in Canada in 2014 by the Ancient Forest Alliance. It is measured to be 66 metres (216 feet) in height and 3.8 metres (12.4 feet) in diameter. It was once part of the Eden Grove (ie. a new nickname for the Lower Edinburgh Grove), until its surrounding old-growth forests was clearcut by Teal-Jones in 2012. Big Lonely Doug was left behind, along with 2 other trees in the clearcut as wildlife trees but was also used as an anchor for the giant steel cables to yard the rest of the old-growth logs through the clearcut, which has damaged some of the tree's bark. Conservationists are working to protect the rest of the Eden Grove, which has been surveyed for further potential future logging by Teal-Jones. See photos of the area at: www.ancientforestalliance.org/photos.php?gID=16
 
More Background Info
 
Port Renfrew, formerly a logging town, has been transformed in recent years into a big tree tourism destination as hundreds of thousands of tourists have come from around the world to visit some of Canada’s largest trees in the nearby Avatar Grove, Big Lonely Doug (Canada’s 2nd largest Douglas-fir tree), the Red Creek Fir (the world’s largest Douglas-fir tree), San Juan Spruce (until recently Canada’s largest Sitka spruce tree – its top broke off in a recent storm unfortunately), the Harris Creek spruce (one of the largest Sitka spruce trees in Canada), and the endangered Central Walbran Valley. Recently, the province’s premier business lobby, the BC Chamber of Commerce, passed a resolution calling on the BC government to expand protection for the province’s old-growth forests – see: www.ancientforestalliance.org/news-item.php?ID=1010
 
Similarly, the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC) representing 51 municipal, town, and regional district councils, passed a resolution recently calling on the province to amend the outdated Vancouver Island Land Use Plan of 1994 to protect the remaining old-growth forests.
 
Big Lonely Doug and Eden Grove are just a few kilometers from the now-protected Avatar Grove and the world-famous West Coast Trail of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. Eden Grove is one of Canada’s most magnificent old-growth temperate rainforests, consisting of giant western redcedar, Douglas-fir, and hemlock trees. Species at risk include northern goshawks, marbled murrelets, and red-legged frogs in the forest, while coho salmon and steelhead trout spawn in the adjacent Gordon River. It is part of the Edinburgh Mountain Ancient Forest (roughly 1500 hectares of contiguous old-growth forest) located on public (Crown) land in Tree Farm Licence 46 near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory.
 
The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC government to protect the Eden Grove from logging through an expanded Old-Growth Management Area (OGMA), a new Land Use Order (LUO), and/or through a proposed new “legal tool” to protect BC’s biggest trees and grandest groves, which the Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations is currently developing. 
 
The organization is also 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.
 
Old-growth forests are vital to sustain 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 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 BC government’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). “It’s like including your Monopoly money with your real money and then claiming to be a millionaire, so why curtail spending?” stated the Ancient Forest Alliance’s Ken Wu.