Ancient Forest Alliance

VIDEO: Fight to save local landmark going international

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It’s the best, worst-kept secret on Vancouver Island.

A 100-hectare forest wonderland: pristine, untouched and about a thousand years old.

But there are real and imminent fears this space may not be long for this world.

It is de facto owned by logging company Teal Jones.

The firm hasn’t applied to the provincial government for a logging permit yet, but activists with the Ancient Forest Alliance claims the company is making plans to cut.

The alliance, local government, and tourism associations have been asking the BC government to protect this area, so far without success.

But is the fight to preserve a local landmark about to get international profile?

That’s the plan according to cast of “The Buried Life,” an MTV show about tying up life’s loose ends, featuring four guys from Vancouver Island.

The show’s producers are promising a flash-mob protest in Toronto on Friday, near another national landmark – the Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame.

More Avatar Grove videos:

"Canada's gnarliest tree" grows in Avatar Grove

Avatar Grove, the Cathedral Grove of Port Renfrew, under increasing threat due to BC Government intransigence

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The BC Ministry of Forests and Range recent rejection of the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce’s and the Sooke Regional Tourism Association’s request that the Avatar Grove near Port Renfrew be spared from logging (see https://www.vancouversun.com/travel/chops+down+protect+Avatar+Grove/3361175/story.html) has the Ancient Forest Alliance preparing for a ramped-up battle. The organization already has over 2000 members on its “Save the Avatar Grove” Facebook Group (https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=480609145246#!/group.php?gid=480609145246&v=wall) and 7000 members on its main Facebook Groups, and will be working to ramp-up membership in the Avatar Grove Group in preparation for a future “Ancient Forest Week of Action” of protests, events, and rallies (dates to be announced) at various BC government offices in numerous communities.

“The Avatar Grove is like the Cathedral Grove of Port Renfrew. It is the most easily accessible of the monumental, endangered old-growth stands on the South Island. If the Avatar Grove falls, Port Renfrew and southern Vancouver Island won’t get another chance like this for another thousand years,” stated Brendan Harry, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner. “The BC government could quickly protect the Avatar Grove by enacting a Land Use Order that would make the area off limits to logging. The existing Old-Growth Management Area covers only a small fraction of what is a small area to begin with, and it excludes the vast majority of the largest trees.”

The Avatar Grove grows in the Gordon River Valley about a 15 minute drive from Port Renfrew, only a couple minutes past the end of a paved road, on gentle terrain. It is full of large numbers of giant, ancient redcedars and some Douglas firs, including “Canada’s Gnarliest Tree”, an old-growth redcedar with an enormous, contorted burl. The area is within Tree Farm License 46 and is threatened with being logged by the Teal-Jones Group. The Minister of Forests and Range states that one-fourth of the Grove is protected in an Old-Growth Management Area. The Grove enjoys widespread support, including from local Liberal MP Keith Martin (who is proposing the area’s inclusion in his proposed expansion of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve), local NDP MLA John Horgan, and many businesses and community groups in Port Renfrew and Sooke.

See photos of the Avatar Grove (photos can be reprinted with credit to TJ Watt) at:
https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=480609145246#!/group.php?gid=480609145246&v=photos

and in the new photogallery (along with other big tree photos from southern Vancouver Island) at:
https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/

“Why would the BC Liberal government jeopardize millions of dollars in potential tourism revenues and long-term local jobs for a few weeks of logging work for maybe half a dozen people? The vast majority of the forests on the South Island are second-growth now, they should be sustainably logging and value-adding them instead of trying to cut down the last tiny remnants of old-growth here,” stated Harry.

On Vancouver Island, there were over 2.3 million hectares of productive old-growth forests at the time of European colonization – only 600,000 hectares remain unlogged today. About 200,000 hectares of this has been protected in parks and Old-Growth Management Areas, while another 400,000 hectares remain unprotected. The BC government recently announced the protection of 39,000 hectares of old-growth forests on northern and central Vancouver Island, which the Ancient Forest Alliance is commending them for – however, the protections do not extend to southern Vancouver Island and still exclude 90% of the endangered ancient forests.

In percentages, about 75% of Vancouver Island’s original, productive ancient forests have been logged, including 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow, and 87% of the productive ancient forests on the South Island south of Port Alberni. Less than 10% of the original, productive ancient forests on Vancouver Island are protected.

Old-growth forests are important for tourism, wildlife, the climate, clean water, and many First Nations cultures.

“We have so little old-growth forests left. The BC government needs to undertake a Provincial Old-Growth Strategy that will protect our remaining endangered ancient forests across Vancouver Island and BC, ensure the sustainable logging of second-growth forests, and end the export of raw logs to foreign mills.”

A waterfall cascades through the old-growth redcedars in the endagered Avatar Grove.

B.C. chops down bid to protect ‘Avatar Grove’

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Big trees would bring more money into Sooke and Port Renfrew than logging a unique, old-growth grove, community groups have told the provincial government.

But the province is refusing to budge from its position that sufficient old growth has already been protected in that area.

The Sooke Regional Tourism Association and Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce wrote to the province asking that the area just outside Port Renfrew, nicknamed Avatar Grove, should be saved and that the Teal-Jones Group, which has cutting rights, should be offered a replacement piece of Crown land.

“Tourism would contribute more value and benefit many more people than cutting old-growth sites located in accessible tourism development areas,” tourism association president Neil Flynn said in a letter to Forests Minister Pat Bell.

But the reply from the ministry says 24 per cent of the grove is in an old-growth management area, meaning no cutting is permitted.

“I think it is important to mention that not all old-growth forests can be protected. A certain amount must be harvested to provide a viable and sustainable wood supply to the forest industry, which is an important component of the provincial economy,” says the letter from the ministry’s field operations staff.

Teal-Jones has not yet applied for a cutting permit in Avatar Grove, but a land swap would not be possible as the entire land base of TFL 46 is already under tenure, said company spokesman John Pichugan.

Overview map of new old-growth management areas recently created on the central and north coast of Vancouver Island.

Old-growth protection boosted

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The province is almost doubling the amount of Vancouver Island old-growth forest protected from logging and development.

More than 38,700 hectares on northern and north-central Vancouver Island will be designated as old-growth management areas, meaning the trees cannot be cut.

“We have been working to identify critical areas that represent the ecosystem and these are some pretty significant areas,” said Forests Minister Pat Bell.

“We felt it was important to expand old-growth representation in the area.”

The protected patches are north of Campbell River and Sayward and west of Port Hardy and Port McNeill.

The increase will mean 83,600 hectares in old-growth management areas on Vancouver Island, in addition to 438,000 hectares of park and protected areas, some of which include old-growth.

Simultaneously, the province has brought in a land-use order to protect almost 1,600 hectares of endangered coastal Douglas fir ecosystem, but has not included a parcel near Nanoose Bay that residents and local governments have fought to save.

The Snaw-naw-as First Nation has been issued a forest licence to log a 64-hectare block of coastal Douglas fir which is home to endangered plants and animals.

Bell said he revisited the decision because of the controversy. “I have had another good look at District Lot 33 because there were some mixed views on whether it was particularly high-value coastal Douglas fir and the conclusion was that it wasn’t,” he said.

Environmentalists like the additional protection, but say it is not enough and want to see more old-growth protection on southern Vancouver Island.

There are concerns about the government’s piecemeal approach to old-growth and fears that many of the areas protected are swamp or high-altitude scrub instead of big, old trees in valley bottoms.

There are also worries that old-growth management areas are set by regulation, rather than legislation, so can be removed at the whim of government.

“It’s definitely a step forward, but it’s not nearly enough and I would encourage them to go a lot further,” said Ken Wu of the Ancient Forest Alliance.

Out of the original 2.3 million hectares of old-growth on Vancouver Island, 1.7 million hectares have already been logged and much remaining old-growth is stunted alpine trees or bogs, Wu said. “We want an overarching policy to protect what remains.”

Less than one per cent of the remaining coastal Douglas fir ecosystem is protected and the Nanoose parcel must be included, Wu said.

“There’s no room to leave pieces out,” he said.

Tria Donaldson of Western Canada Wilderness Committee said there are many examples of government scrapping or moving old-growth management zones. Also, because allowable cut in the area remains the same, logging often becomes more intense in adjacent areas, she said.

“Old-growth is one of the key draws on Vancouver Island, but old-growth management zones don’t offer long-term protection. We are asking for no old-growth logging, full stop. So, this is far away from what we need.”

Environmentalist Vicky Husband said she doubts whether the new management zones are large, prime areas of old tree forest.

“Are they adjacent to intact or protected areas, are they south-facing slopes [that are] so important for wildlife and winter range?” she asked.

“So little is left and almost no prime valley bottom habitat.”

Bell said it is positive that old-growth management areas are flexible as it allows government to respond to changing situations.

The newly protected areas represent a mixture of land types, Bell said.

“This is not just about big trees. It’s about good representation of an ecosystem,” he said.

Article by Dr. Keith Martin

Saving Our Forest Giants

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Saving our Forest Giants

 

Port Renfrew is the furthest outpost of my riding. It is a land of extraordinary beauty with mountains that hug a rugged coastline, rivers that run through deep valleys, and a land that harbours significant biodiversity. This area also contains some of the oldest and most majestic living things on our planet. In the area of the Gordon River Valley and further north in the upper Walbran Valley are some of the largest trees on the planet. A few weeks ago, I went into this remote area with a small team from the Ancient Forest Alliance to document these giant Western Red Cedars, Sitka Spruce and Douglas Fir that jut out of the surrounding valley floors like spires from cathedrals.

These trees are very important as they harbour a wide variety of plants and animals when alive, and when they fall, they also provide homes for everything from black bear to fungi. As standing behemoths or fallen giants, they are integral parts of their ecosystems.

However, my trip was also a race against time. For as you read this article, these giants of the forest are being cut down. As I stood in the middle of a clear-cut, I could hear the sharp crack as another tree was being cut down. Less than one kilometer away, I could see the top of a mountain being clearcut. In this clear-cut I stood atop a stump of a recently fallen tree that was at least 6 metres in diameter. Looking at the tightly packed rings of the tree showed that it was more than a thousand years old, yet it would have taken only minutes to cut it down.

Beyond the obvious loss of these magnificent giants is the tragedy that we can do better; cutting down these trees provides a short term benefit and a much larger,

long term loss. We can save these trees and in fact get more money from them alive than dead. Ecotourism walks to see these giants and their habitats with informed guides can provide much more revenue and jobs than cutting these trees for lumber and paper. Secondary growth could still be harvested. This would provide employment in an area that has had chronically high unemployment and low incomes. In many communities,

aboriginal and non aboriginal people have created businesses to guide people through the beautiful areas they live in. It is especially valuable when ethnocultural tours are provided. The region from Sooke to Port Renfrew is an ideal area for ethno-cultural tourism. Only two and a half hours from Victoria, it is a much shorter drive than to go to

Cathedral Grove up island, and is much more impressive.

Let’s work to stop the clear-cutting of old growth trees on South Vancouver Island. If we do this then we will provide long term economic opportunities and save these giants forever. These trees are more valuable to tourism and to the ecosystem than as lumber.

by Dr. Keith Martin, MP

MP Keith Martin stands in front of "Canada's Gnarliest Tree" in the endangered Upper Avatar Grove.

MP Keith Martin wants to expand Pacific Rim park

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The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) is supporting Member of Parliament (Esquimalt- Juan de Fuca) Keith Martin’s proposal to extend Pacific Rim National Park Reserve’s boundaries to protect adjacent endangered forests, including the grandest stands of old-growth trees in Canada.

Recently Martin joined Ancient Forest Alliance activists TJ Watt and Brendan Harry on a guided tour through the spectacular Avatar Grove and a nearby clearcut filled with giant stumps near the national park reserve.

Last fall, Martin proposed to expand Pacific Rim National Park Reserve to protect threatened forest lands along the southwest coast of Vancouver Island, in part to protect former Western Forest Products lands by Jordan River and the Juan de Fuca Trail that were threatened by development due to their removal from Tree Farm License 25. While the Capital Regional District has recently purchased the lands by Jordan River and the Sooke Potholes, other forested areas with high conservation and recreation values remain threatened in the region, particularly old-growth forests on Crown lands near Port Renfrew and Crown and private lands adjacent to the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail Provincial Park. Martin has expressed an interest in including such areas in his proposal, which he intends to introduce as a private members bill in the House of Commons at a future legislative session.

“These trees are some of the oldest living creatures on our planet. Cutting them down provides a short term benefit and a much larger long term loss. Ethno-tourism and eco-tours would provide for long term jobs and economic security in this area that has suffered from chronically high unemployment. We are in a race against time to save these forest giants. I am asking the provincial and federal governments to work with the forestry companies to stop this destruction of our old growth forests in the Gordon River Valley, Upper Walbran and surrounding areas,” said Dr. Martin.

Located on unprotected Crown Lands less than a 15 minute drive from Port Renfrew, Avatar Grove is home to dozens of some of the South Island’s largest redcedars and Douglas firs, including several trees with trunks reaching over 12 feet in diameter.

Nanoose Bay resident Helga Schmitt walks through the endangered old-growth coastal Douglas fir forest which the province has approved for logging by the Snaw-naw-as First Nation despite pleas by local governments and community groups to save the area.

Endangered forest turns into Island battleground

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The fate of a small patch of endangered Vancouver Island forest has put local residents and politicians at odds with the province and a First Nations band.

The Snaw-naw-as First Nation has been issued a one-time forest licence by the province to cut 15,000 cubic metres of wood west of Nanoose Bay to raise much-needed cash — even though the rare remnant of endangered coastal Douglas fir forest contains endangered plants and animals.

The licence was issued despite a provincial commitment not to approve logging in coastal Douglas fir forests until a protection strategy is in place.

Pleas to save District Lot 33 from the chainsaw are coming from politicians and community groups, fuelled by expert opinions that the 64-hectare block of Crown land should not be cut. But the province and Snaw-naw-as First Nation are not budging.

Snaw-naw-as administrator Brent Edwards said the economic development project is urgently needed by the 231-member band.

The cutting permit has not yet been approved, but logging will start as soon as the paperwork is in place, said Edwards, who expects the band to net about $750,000.

“We are not trying to polarize people or anything, but we have an agreement with the province,” said Edwards, pointing out 80 per cent of the remaining coastal Douglas fir ecosystem is in private hands.

Those who want the ecosystem protected should be looking at private land instead of the sparse areas of Crown land available for treaty settlement or agreements with First Nations, he said.

On eastern Vancouver Island, the majority of land claimed by First Nations falls within the E&N land grant and private land is not on the treaty negotiation table.

But the First Nation is meeting growing resistance from the community and local governments, said Annette Tanner of Western Canada Wilderness Committee. “They want to see this diverse ecosystem, home to many red and blue listed species, including a herd of elk, protected and preserved,” she said.

Qualicum Beach council, the Regional District of Nanaimo and the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities have all passed resolutions asking the province to take another look at the issue.

“This is a very sensitive piece of property,” said Barry Avis, Qualicum Beach councillor and association vice-president.

“For myself, there’s a level of frustration. Does the voice of the people mean nothing?”

The Forest Practices Board has also upheld a complaint by Nanoose Bay resident Kathy McMaster, saying the province did not abide by its commitment to defer issuing new forest tenures until its stewardship strategy was in place.

Board chairman Al Gorley said the bigger problem is the potential extinction of coastal Douglas fir forests.

Adding to the controversy is a biologist’s report to the company contracted by Snaw-naw-as to lay out cutblocks, which lists globally and provincially imperilled species in the forest. In the leaked memo, the biologist recommends against harvesting stands within the licence.

The province is working toward protecting about 1,600 hectares of Crown-owned coastal Douglas fir forest, most of it on Vancouver Island, with the ultimate goal of protecting 20 per cent of the remaining ecosystem.

But Forests Minister Pat Bell, who could not be reached for comment, has said reports show District Lot 33 is not prime land and does not meet criteria for protection, although he has agreed to review the Forest Practices Board report.

Scott Fraser, Alberni-Pacific Rim MLA, said a 2006 consultant’s report to the government says the forest is in good condition and should not be cut, so Bell is “either misinformed or misinforming the public.”

It is the government’s duty to protect species at risk, Fraser said.

“You can’t get more endangered than this, but there’s no Environment Ministry oversight, even though the decision goes completely against the strategy of protecting critical habitat.”

Environment Ministry spokesman Suntanu Dalal said Environment Minister Barry Penner would not comment, saying the Forests Ministry is taking the lead on the file.

Edwards said the Snaw-naw-as will try to mitigate harm to endangered species and will obey all provincial regulations.

“You can’t log without having impacts, but if there are fingers to be pointed, it’s not at us,” he said.

Berni Pearce of Arrowsmith Parks and Land-Use Council, a community-based conservation group, said the First Nation is being presented with a terrible choice. “[They can] benefit from an economic opportunity while contributing to the destruction of the [coastal Douglas fir] — their forest home over ages past — or forego this opportunity, conserve the CDF forest and end up with nothing for their people. This is an unacceptable situation,” she said.

The parks and land-use council is recommending that the province protect District Lot 33 and ask the federal government for help in paying compensation or providing suitable economic opportunities.

2011 Tall Tree Music Festival - Port Renfrew

Inaugural Tall Trees Music Festival grows deep roots

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The streets of Toronto were lit up by burning police cars on the weekend of June 26. But back on the Island, music fans were lighting other things as they danced to the music of Jon and Roy, Current Swell, the Racoons, DJ Tedder, Listening Party and other local acts at the first ever Tall Trees Music Festival.

Taking place in Port Renfrew, located on Pacheedaht First Nations territory, the festival was a perfect example of local bands playing for local fans, all in front of a backdrop of tall trees and eagles silhouetted against the West Coast sunset.

Tall Trees offered fans a chance to see some of the best up-andcoming musicians the area has to offer in the loose musical region of surf, folk, rock, and drum and bass/mash up DJ’s

“This festival is a beauty; one hell of a time. It was pretty bang on and I think it should be an annual thing. Just epic,” said Scottie Stanton of Victoria’s Current Swell. “There’s a lot of local talent. And you know there is that festival vibe that you just cannot pay enough for. It’s the best feeling in the world to be around a bunch of people that have the greatest energy.”

DJ Tedder, who moved to Victoria from South Africa when he was 10, agreed.

“It’s a great vibe out here, everyone is happy and friendly, good hope for next year. The setting makes all the difference. It’s a total B.C. vibe.” For Patrick Codere of Mindil Beach Markets, Tall Trees was a bit of an educational experience.

“There is so much to learn from watching other bands,” he said.

“The vibe in Victoria’s music scene is awesome. If you go to a bill of three bands at least one of them is going to be good.”

The band, who hail from the Sunshine Coast and Victoria, felt right at home tucked away amongst the trees playing folkfunk- reggae inspired music with a touch of Jurassic 5.

The festival was put on by Radio Contact, a promotional companycollective based in Victoria. Three Point Property group asked Radio Contact if they would promote and put on an event on an ocean-view bluff set for development by the company. The site, previously a campsite, was eloquently located in the belly of the San Juan Valley.

“The festival grounds seem to speak for themselves. The venue is so awesome, I love it out here. Pretty much everything I’ve heard this weekend I’ve enjoyed,” said Jon Middleton of Jon and Roy, who will be playing at Rifflandia in Victoria this fall.

As Middleton and I stood on the boardwalk talking about Victoria’s growing music scene, the hillside to the west was blanketed with beautiful first and second growth forest, while the eastern hills were juxtaposed with massive clear-cut logging. It’s a paradoxical combination of landscapes that small town B.C. culturally navigates in order to have a prosperous province. The balance between conservation and industry is an act that Port Renfrew is historically familiar with, and one that was represented well at the Tall Tree Music Festival in the contrast between the development work of Three Point Properties, and the conservation work of the Ancient Forest Alliance, who will be receiving most of the proceeds from the festival.

“Everything that we do, we try to have an benefit aspect to,” said Mike Roma of Creative Design/Radio Contact. “And in this case the Ancient Forest Alliance is interested in preserving and protecting a great portion of Port Renfrew.”

“Not only do we want to have a festival here to promote music, but also to promote the community. I think it’s been a massive success, surpassing all our expectations.” Katrina Andres, Operations Director for the Ancient Forest Alliance, said the festival was very positive.

“I had a great time and it seemed like a really successful event. I hope Radio Contact can do it annually,” she said.

Many of the musicians who performed at Tall Trees came not only to make music, but to support the area as well.

“I signed the Ancient Forest Alliance petition,” said Roy Vizer of Jon and Roy. “It’s nice that this sort of [show] brings awareness to the issues in the area. It brings a lot of money to the cause.”

Singer-songwriter Vince Vaccaro moved to Victoria from Montreal when he was 12. His music is a dreamy hybrid of folk and Xavier Rudd earth-tones. The combination of Montreal’s artistic blood, with a Zephyr muse is one worth paying attention to.

Vaccaro believes that we have a responsibility to keep our environment and our economy working together sustainably.

“Our province is our garden, and if we don’t manage it well, our jobs and industries are going to collapse,” he said. “If we don’t find a way to make logging sustainable, then we aren’t doing ourselves any favors in logging for our short-term gains.”

Vaccaro put his money where his mouth is, stepping in to help the Ancient Forest Alliance.

“I’m going to grab the Ancient Forest Alliance clip board and try and sign people up on the petition. There are only two of them, and they are really trying to not be in people’s faces too much, which is good. People are here to party,” he said smiling.

Nanoose Bay resident Helga Schmitt walks through the endangered old-growth coastal Douglas fir forest which the province has approved for logging by the Snaw-naw-as First Nation despite pleas by local governments and community groups to save the area.

Forestry agency has no guidance on conflict over Douglas fir stand

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Note: Here is a recent news article about the Nanoose Bay Forest, followed by the media release from the Forest Practices Board, that notes that the province must do more to protect the highly endangered Coastal Douglas Fir ecosystem, yet does not prescribe further action. The AFA does not believe that any old-growth forests within the Coastal Douglas Fir zone on Crown or private lands should be allocated for logging – only 1% of the original old-growth remains in the Coastal Douglas Fir zone.

–Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance

The provincial forestry watchdog agency agrees the province should allow a mature coastal Douglas fir forest in Nanoose to be logged, but stops short of saying how it can be done.

The Forest Practices Board investigated a complaint against the B.C. Forests Ministry for issuing a woodlot licence for District Lot 33, a 64-hectare property containing rare coastal Douglas fir forest in Nanoose Bay.

Two years ago, the province granted a woodlot licence to the Snaw-naw-as (Nanoose) First Nation to log DL 33. The band’s five-year licence allows up to 15,000 cubic metres of timber to be cut on roughly a third of the property. Logging is expected to start this summer.

In its complaint, the Arrowsmith Parks and Land Use Council said the woodlot licence conflicts with a provincial obligation to protect 1,600 hectares of Crown land to preserve rare Douglas fir forests.

The Forest Practices Board said while it agrees, there may be too little Crown land and too many competing interests to meet that obligation.

“Sometimes the best we can do is lay the facts out as objectively as possible and report on that,” said Al Gorley, board chairman.

Kathy McMaster led a petition to stop the logging and says she is disappointed the board didn’t offer any solutions to protect the property.

“The report is critical of the government, quite rightly, but it doesn’t make any recommendations for changing this. It says there isn’t enough land for government to do what it wants to do and it’s too bad.”

The Snaw-naw-as needs the timber for economic development. Its next step is to get final approval for its cutting permit. No word was available when that is expected to happen.

 

 

Forest Practices Board News Release, 18 June 2010:

Co-operation Key to Survival of Coastal Forest Ecosystem

VICTORIA – An investigation report released today upholds a public complaint about proposed logging in a rare forest type near Nanoose Bay on Vancouver Island.

Local residents filed a complaint with the board when they discovered about one-third of the 64-hectare parcel of coastal Douglas fir forest, known as DL 33, was slated to be logged, contrary to provincial government promises.

“In order to meet an Interim Measures Agreement with the Nanoose First Nation, the Province did not abide by its commitment to defer issuing new forest tenures until its stewardship strategy was in place,” said board chair Al Gorley.

As part of its stewardship strategy for the coastal Douglas fir (CDF) ecosystem, the Province identified 1,600 hectares of Crown]owned forest for potential protection. However, the Ministry of Forests and Range issued the tenure for DL 33 before the proposed protection order was approved, on the basis that it did not include DL 33. The ministry has not yet issued a permit to begin logging.

“Taken in isolation, DL 33 is important, but is not the real issue,” said Gorley. “It is a symptom of a problem that has been more than 100 years in the making. Given the large proportion of CDF on private land, and competing interests and priorities on provincial land, there may be little the Province can do on its own to ensure long-term viability of this ecosystem.”

The Province controls just 23,500 hectares (about nine percent) of the remaining CDF forests, and has protected 7,600 hectares to date. The proposed order would protect another 1,600 hectares. The board’s report notes that the stewards of private, federal and local government lands will have to participate further in conservation if greater viability of the ecosystem is desired.

This is the board’s third complaint investigation involving management of the CDF by the Province. In 2005, the board recommended a conservation protocol be developed before any further logging of CDF on Crown land. Then, in 2007, the board recommended the Province finalize a stewardship strategy for management of this ecosystem.

The Forest Practices Board is B.C.’s independent watchdog for sound forest and range practices, reporting its findings and recommendations directly to the public and government. The board is required to investigate public complaints about forest planning and practices.

A map of the riders 260km round trip Big Trees Pedal Powered Tour.

Trees and Bikes: The Big Tree Tour

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The Big Tree Tour is a fundraising ride started by four friends who happen to be very passionate about the work the Ancient Forest Alliance is doing. “We also like riding bikes,” said Big Tree Tour organizer and rider Leroy Nixon. The purpose of the tour is to raise awareness about the preservation of our ancient forests through ecotourism and human-powered travel.

The four riders will embark on a 260 kilometer tour of southern Vancouver Island that took place from June 3-6. It started in Victoria, went up to the Cowichan River Valley, across the Vancouver Island Range, then continued through to the Wild West Coast forest in Port Renfrew – where there was a day-long break – then back to Victoria. The tour included some of the most beautiful scenery this province has to offer, with visits to the world’s oldest, largest and most endangered trees.

The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) is a new organization that is motivated to protect British Columbia’s old growth forests. Ken Wu, co-founder of the AFA, said, “This is a very original awareness and fundraising tour to the biggest trees in Canada. BC’s magnificent but highly endangered old-growth rainforests are natural world wonders, they need all the help they can get. As a new organization the Ancient Forest Alliance is extremely grateful to these pedal-powered advocates for their support.”

If you wish to donate to the cause, there are donation jars in Vancouver at Dream Cycle, and Bikes on the Drive or at Fairfield Cycles in Victoria. You can also sponsor a rider online at bigtreetour.tumblr.com