Ancient Forest Alliance

Cathedral Grove, Canada’s Most Famous Old-Growth Forest, Under Threat as Island Timberlands Moves to Log Adjacent Old-Growth Mountainside

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Port Alberni, Vancouver Island – Cathedral Grove, Canada’s most famous old-growth forest, is under threat as one of the province’s largest logging companies, Island Timberlands, began falling a new logging road right-of-way last week towards a stand of old-growth Douglas-fir trees on the mountainside above Cathedral Grove. Cathedral Grove is in the 300 hectare MacMillan Provincial Park, an area smaller than Vancouver’s Stanley Park, located along the Cameron River at the base of Mount Horne where the planned logging would occur.

Last week conservationists with the Port Alberni Watershed-Forest Alliance came across the new road construction activities. Fallers had cleared several hundred metres of a new logging road through a second-growth forest, heading towards a stand of old-growth Douglas firs where the planned logging will take place on Mount Horne. Earlier in March, survey tape marked “Falling Boundary” and “Road Location” was found in the planned cutblock that comes as close as 300 meters from the park boundary. An aerial overflight by Ancient Forest Alliance activists this past Tuesday confirmed the existence of new road construction activities headed towards the grove. See PHOTOS and a MAP of the flagged logging cutblock at: https://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/photos-media/cathedral-grove-canyon/

The planned logging will have numerous detrimental effects, including: fragmenting the continuous forest cover and wildlife habitat on the slope above Cathedral Grove; destroying some of the last remaining 1% of BC’s old-growth coastal Douglas-fir trees; destroying the wintering habitat of black-tailed deer in an area previously planned to sustain them; increasing siltation of the Cameron River (which runs through Cathedral Grove) during the heavy winter rains as soil washes down from the new clearcut and logging road; and destroying part of the Mount Horne Loop Trail, a popular hiking and mushroom-picking trail that the cutblock overlaps – Island Timberlands has now closed access to the trail.

See the Times Colonist article on the original cutblock discovery, from March: https://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/old-growth-near-cathedral-grove-set-for-imminent-logging-activists-1.90194
See the CHEK TV clip from the original cutblock discovery, from March: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3exaYAqSrzw

The flagged cutblock by Island Timberlands is estimated to be about 40 hectares and lies on the southwest facing slope of Mt. Horne on the ridge above the park and highway that millions of tourists visit annually. The logging would take place in an area formerly intended as an Ungulate Winter Range to protect the old-growth winter habitat of black-tailed deer – a plan that was not followed through when the BC Liberal government deregulated the lands in 2004 by removing them from their Tree Farm Licence.

Island Timberlands’ resumption of logging activities adjacent to Cathedral Grove appears to perfectly coincide timing-wise – either by sheer coincidence or by callous intention – with last week’s solidarity rally in Cathedral Grove involving half a dozen community conservation groups. The increased cooperation between diverse conservation groups has been prompted by heightened concerns about Island Timberlands’ widespread escalation of old-growth logging in many areas around Port Alberni recently. See the media release about last week’s rally at: https://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/news-item.php?ID=705

Island Timberlands is currently engaged in multiple logging incursions into other highly endangered old-growth forests besides Mount Horne. This includes recent logging and/or road-building at McLaughlin Ridge, Juniper Ridge, Labour Day Lake, and the Cameron Valley Firebreak in the Port Alberni area (see: https://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/news-item.php?ID=678); plans to log the Stillwater Bluffs near Powell River and the Day Road Forest near Roberts Creek on the Sunshine Coast; and plans to log old-growth forests at Basil Creek and the Green Valley on Cortes Island. See spectacular PHOTOS of most of these forests at: https://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/photos-media/

Until recently much of these lands under threat were regulated to the stronger standards found on public lands. However, in 2004, the BC Liberal government removed 88,000 hectares of Weyerhaeuser’s private forest lands, now owned by Island Timberlands, from their Tree Farm Licences, thereby removing the planned old-growth, scenic, wildlife, and endangered species habitat protections, as well as the riparian protections and the restrictions on raw log exports, on those lands. Alberni-Pacific Rim Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Scott Fraser has repeatedly worked to hold the BC government to account to remedy the situation by getting Island Timberlands to hold-off from logging these hotspots until a political solution can be implemented.

Island Timberlands (IT) is the second largest private land owner in BC, owning 258,000 hectares of private land mainly on Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, and Haida Gwaii. Conservationists are calling on Island Timberlands to immediately back-off from its logging plans in old-growth and high conservation value forests until these lands can be protected either through purchase or through regulation.

Conservationists are also calling for a provincial plan to protect the province’s old-growth forests, to ensure sustainable second-growth forestry, and to end the export of raw, unprocessed logs to foreign mills. For private lands, conservationists are calling on the BC Liberal government to re-establish and bolster the former BC park acquisition fund (eliminated after the 2008 provincial budget). A dedicated provincial fund of $40 million per year (about 0.1% of the $40 billion annual provincial budget), raising $400 million over 10 years, would go a long way towards purchasing and protecting old-growth forests and other endangered ecosystems on private lands across the province. The fund would be similar to the existing park acquisition funds of various regional districts in BC, such as the $3 million/year Land Acquisition Fund of the Capital Regional District around Greater Victoria, which are augmented by the fundraising efforts of private citizens and land trusts.

BC’s old-growth forests are vital to support endangered species, tourism, the climate, clean water, wild salmon, and many First Nations cultures whose unceded lands these are. About 75% of the original, productive old-growth forests have already been logged on BC’s southern coast, including over 90% of the valley-bottom ancient forests where the largest trees grow, and 99% of the old-growth coastal Douglas fir trees. See maps and stats at: https://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/

QUOTES:

“On October 19, MLA Scott Fraser and myself met with Island Timberlands’ CEO Darshan Sihota, and asked him if he was intending to save any old-growth Douglas-fir forests – his reply was that it was his legal right to log it ALL. So despite the BC government’s scientists formerly intending these vital wildlife habitats for protection when they were still within the Tree Farm Licence, Island Timberlands sees nothing wrong with harvesting the old growth forests across all their lands. This even includes the mountainside above Cathedral Grove, Canada’s most famous old-growth forest,” stated Jane Morden, coordinator of the Port Alberni Watershed-Forest Alliance.

“Cathedral Grove is BC’s iconic old-growth forest that people around the world love – it’s like the redwoods of Canada. The fact that a company can just move to log the mountainside above Canada’s most famous old-growth forest – assisted by the BC government’s previous deregulation of those lands and their current failure to take responsibility – underscores the brutal collusion between the BC Liberal government and the largest companies to liquidate our ancient forest heritage,” stated Ken Wu, executive director of the Ancient Forest Alliance. “Island Timberlands needs to back off from Cathedral Grove and other endangered old-growth forests, while the BC Liberal government must take responsibility for allowing this destruction to happen. They broke it, now they have to fix it, either by purchasing or re-regulating these lands.”

“This is not about a company just wanting the right to log its own private lands unfettered, as the government and industry PR-spin suggests. These corporate private lands were previously regulated to public land standards for over half a century in exchange for the BC government’s granting of free Crown land logging rights to the companies back then – what has happened is that the regulations on private lands were removed recently, while the companies were still allowed to keep their Crown land logging rights,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance photographer and campaigner.

“Cathedral Grove is the mascot of old-growth forests in Canada. If we can’t ensure its ecological integrity because of the BC government’s inaction – or complicity – it really gives a black eye to BC’s environmental reputation in the international community,” stated Annette Tanner, chair of the Mid-Island Wilderness Committee, who has led the fight for the ecological integrity of Cathedral Grove for over a decade.

Ancient Forest Alliance

Conflict Escalates with Island Timberlands as Conservation Groups Rally in Cathedral Grove in Solidarity

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October 22, 2013
For Immediate Release

Conservation Groups Rally in Solidarity in Cathedral Grove against Island Timberlands’ Coastal Old-Growth Logging

Island Timberlands’ recent expansion of logging operations in multiple endangered old-growth forests on Vancouver Island has prompted diverse community conservation groups to call on the company to immediately back-off and for the BC Liberal government to be responsible and protect these lands.

Diverse community conservation groups rallied together in Cathedral Grove on Vancouver Island today calling on Island Timberlands to immediately back away from its ongoing and planned logging of old-growth and high conservation value forests on Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, and Cortes Island, and for the BC Liberal government to be responsible and protect these lands.

Almost 60 protesters rallied in the parking lot of Cathedral Grove near Port Alberni, unfurling banners and leafletting tourists in the Grove. The rally included representatives and supporters from half a dozen local conservation groups, including the Port Alberni Watershed-Forest Alliance, Save the Day based in Roberts Creek, Wildstands Alliance based on Cortes Island, Friends of Stillwater Bluffs near Powell River, Wilderness Committee Mid-Island Chapter based in Qualicum Beach, and Ancient Forest Alliance based in Victoria.

Island Timberlands is currently engaged in multiple logging incursions into highly endangered old-growth forests. This includes recent logging and/or road-building at McLaughlin Ridge, Juniper Ridge, Labour Day Lake, and the Cameron Valley Firebreak in the Port Alberni area (see: www.staging.ancientforestalliance.org/news-item.php?ID=678); flagging Mount Horne, the mountainside above Cathedral Grove, for potential logging (see: www.timescolonist.com/news/local/old-growth-near-cathedral-grove-set-for-imminent-logging-activists-1.90194); plans to log the Stillwater Bluffs near Powell River and the Day Road Forest near Roberts Creek on the Sunshine Coast; and plans to log old-growth forests at Basil Creek and the Green Valley on Cortes Island. See spectacular PHOTOS of most of these forests at: www.staging.ancientforestalliance.org/galleries.php

Extremely rare groves of old-growth Coastal Douglas-firs, of which only 1% remain, constitute much of these contentious forest lands. Most such stands in the Port Alberni area were previously intended to become Ungulate Wintering Ranges for Roosevelt elk and deer, or Wildlife Habitat Areas for endangered species like the Queen Charlotte Goshawk – until the BC Liberal government deregulated these lands in 2004 by removing them from their Tree Farm Licence. Conservationists believe that there may be less than 900 hectares left of these forests that were formerly intended for protection in the Port Alberni area – less than half of what stood until just a few years ago (2400 hectares).

Conservationists are calling on Island Timberlands to immediately back-off from its logging plans in old-growth and high conservation value forests, while calling on the BC Liberal government to re-establish and bolster the former BC park acquisition fund (eliminated after the 2008 provincial budget). A dedicated provincial fund of $40 million per year, raising $400 million over 10 years, would go a long way towards purchasing and protecting old-growth forests and other endangered ecosystems on private lands across the province. The fund would be similar to the existing park acquisition funds of various regional districts in BC, such as the $3 million/year Land Acquisition Fund of the Capital Regional District around Greater Victoria, which are augmented by the fundraising efforts of private citizens and land trusts.

Island Timberlands (IT) is the second largest private land owner in BC, owning 258,000 hectares of private mainly on Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, and Haida Gwaii.

Old-growth forests are vital to support endangered species, tourism, clean water, wild salmon, climate stability, and many First Nations cultures whose unceded territories these are.

QUOTES:

“‘No Community Stands Alone’ is about all of our groups dealing with Island Timberlands’ ongoing and planned logging of endangered old-growth forests,” stated Jane Morden, coordinator of the Port Alberni Watershed-Forest Alliance. “At a recent meeting we asked Island Timberlands ‘will Island Timberlands save any old growth forest?’ and their reply was that it is their private land and they intend to log it. But, the government should also take responsibility for allowing this to happen. It was their legislation in 2004 that cancelled any existing and planned protections.  The government has an obligation to protect these lands for generations to come.”

“This is not about a company just wanting the right to log its own private lands unfettered, as the government and industry PR-spin suggests. The fact is that these lands once had stronger environmental regulations and planned designations to protect protect elk and deer winter ranges, old-growth forests, scenery, riparian forests for salmon and clean water and that restricted raw log exports, until the BC Liberal government removed or did not implement them,” stated Ken Wu, executive director of the Ancient Forest Alliance.  “That is, these corporate private lands were previously regulated to public land standards for over half a century in exchange for the BC government’s granting of free Crown land logging rights to the companies back then – what has happened is that the regulations on private lands were removed recently and intended regulations were never put in place, while the companies were still allowed to keep their Crown land logging rights.”

“I believe that major public and markets pressure has so far helped to keep Island Timberlands from logging on Cortes Island,” stated forest activist Zoe Miles, from Cortes Island's Wildstands Alliance. “But we don’t know how long this will last, and it certainly hasn't stopped them from carrying out the same destructive, short-term logging projects in other small communities.”

“No community stands alone. That's the new reality. Forest management has become unprofessional and coastal communities have had enough. We now stand together, and call on the BC government to reinstate integrity and public oversight of forestry on private lands as well as public lands,” stated Cec Robinson of Wildstands Alliance on Cortes Island.

“’Save the Day’ felt it was important to show our support to the Vancouver Island groups trying to protect special areas from the Island Timberland style of logging. We have seen their methods of logging in our own neighbourhood and are currently trying to protect a beautiful forest that they are threatening to log in the near future, home to a double 40 foot waterfall and is a place used by many members of our community for recreation and connecting with the natural world,” stated Brett Heneke of Save the Day, a Roberts Creek organization working to protect the Day Road Forest on the Sunshine Coast.

“Island Timberlands is logging Labour Day Lake, which is a community recreation area and is the headwaters of the Cathedral Grove, the official drinking watershed for the Town of Qualicum Beach, and the community of Dashwood,” stated Annette Tanner, Chair of the Mid-Island Wilderness Committee chapter based in Qualicum Beach.  “We have been gathering petitions to stop the logging of the Cathedral Grove watershed since 2000.”

“These forested lands are being fought for by a united group of activists because so much is at stake,” said Jason Addy of the Friends of Stillwater Bluffs near Powell River. “These lands and their trees provide immeasurable value to their communities, and for all the people of BC, as integral parts of a living forest ecosystem.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Island Timberlands Moves to Log Contentious Old-Growth Forests and Deer Winter Range Intended for Protection on Vancouver Island

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Island Timberlands is moving full throttle to log some of their most contentious old-growth forest lands near Port Alberni, including “Juniper Ridge”, an ungulate winter range formerly intended for protection, and Labour Day Lake, the headwaters of Cathedral Grove’s Cameron River.

See beautiful photos of the highly scenic Juniper Ridge here: https://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/photos-media/juniper-ridge/

Earlier this week, Island Timberlands began road construction into an ungulate winter range formerly intended for protection for black-tailed deer in an old-growth forest near Port Alberni on Vancouver Island, an area referred to by conservationists as “Juniper Ridge”. Juniper Ridge is an increasingly rare tract of old-growth forest filled with highly endangered old-growth Douglas-fir trees, sensitive ecosystems of brittle reindeer lichens growing on open rocky outcrops, and an abundance of juniper shrubs. The area, roughly 20 hectares in size, is a one hour drive from the town of Port Alberni and is located between Ash and Turnbull Lakes. This is a popular recreational area where many Alberni locals and tourists fish, camp, canoe, and hike.

“The old-growth forest and lichen-covered rocky outcrops on Juniper Ridge are endangered and sensitive ecosystems largely growing on extremely thin soils. It would take many centuries for the old-growth forest to fully recover here after logging. Unfortunately, with the trend of harvesting smaller sized trees with shorter logging rotations, these old growth Douglas- fir ecosystems will never have the chance to return,” stated Jane Morden, coordinator of the Watershed-Forest Alliance based in Port Alberni. “This forest is heavily used by wintering deer, and was intended to be preserved for this purpose. This area is also a popular recreation destination for locals and tourists going hiking, fishing and boating.”

The Watershed-Forest Alliance, with support from Alberni-Pacific Rim MLA Scott Fraser, have met with and have asked Island Timberlands to stay out of all previously planned Ungulate Winter Range and Wildlife Habitat Areas. The land was largely deregulated in 2004 due to its removal from Tree Farm Licence (TFL) 44 and planned protections were never implemented. A subsequent agreement between the former licencee and the BC government was supposed to have resulted in the protection of these lands, but has not been pursued. Instead the company has chosen to simply log these high conservation value forests. Of the original 2400 hectares of lands intended for protection, only about 900 hectares remain unlogged which amounts to just over 1% of the total 74,000 hectares removed from TFL 44.

 

“The BC government never implemented the planned environmental protections on these lands a few years ago, putting them in jeopardy. Now they need to do the right thing and properly protect these lands, either by purchasing them or re-regulating them and putting in place the intended protections,” stated Jane Morden, coordinator of the Watershed-Forest Alliance.

Recent logging that began in early June also threatens the old-growth subalpine forests at Labour Day Lake, not an intended Ungulate Winter Range, but a popular recreation destination not far from Port Alberni. The lake is surrounded by ancient yellow cedars and mountain hemlocks and is the headwaters of the Cameron River which flows into the famed Cathedral Grove.

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the provincial government to establish a BC Park Acquisition Fund of at least $40 million per year, raising $400 million over 10 years, to purchase old-growth forests and other endangered ecosystems on private lands across the province, such as Juniper Ridge and Labour Day Lake. The fund would be similar to the park acquisition funds of various regional districts in BC which are augmented by the fundraising efforts of private citizens and land trusts.

“Island Timberlands needs to put the brakes on their plans to log any more of their forests that were formerly protected or planned for protection and other contentious old-growth forests, otherwise they’ll face increasing international markets pressure. Meanwhile Christy Clark’s BC Liberal government must step forward to protect these lands. Part of what’s needed is a BC Park Acquisition Fund, similar to those of many regional districts, to purchase endangered ecosystems on private lands for protection,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner.

Island Timberlands also plans or has been logging numerous other contentious forests, including:

  • The south side of Mt. Horne on the mountain above the world-famous Cathedral Grove
  • McLaughlin Ridge, a prime old-growth deer winter range and important habitat for the endangered Queen Charlotte Goshawk. With trees similar in size to Cathedral grove, McLaughlin Ridge helps to protect the China Creek Watershed which is the source of drinking water for the city of Port Alberni.
  • Cameron Valley Firebreak, a rare valley bottom-to-mountain top old-growth forest that the company has already logged large swaths of.
  • The west side of Father and Son Lake, a popular fishing area for local Port Alberni residents.
  • Pearl Lake, near Strathcona Provincial Park.
  • Stillwater Bluffs near Powell River.
  • Day Road Forest near Roberts Creek.
  • Old-growth and mature forests on Cortes Island.

The Ancient Forest Alliance and local conservationists are calling for the protection of old-growth forests, sustainable logging in second-growth forests, and an end to the export of raw logs to foreign mills in order to ensure a guaranteed log supply for BC mills.

BACKGROUNDER:

In 2004 the BC Liberal government removed 88,000 hectares of Weyerhaeuser’s forest lands, now owned by Island Timberlands, from their Tree Farm Licences (TFL’s), thus removing many environmental protections and exempting the area from many other intended protections.  This includes designated protections such as Riparian Management Reserves, the prohibition against conversion of forest lands to real estate developments, and provincial restrictions on raw log exports on those lands; and planned protections such as Old-Growth Management Areas, Wildlife Habitat Areas, Visual Quality Objectives, as well as Ungulate Winter Ranges (UWR’s) at Juniper Ridge, McLaughlin Ridge, Cameron Valley Firebreak, forests by Father and Son Lake, and south Mt. Horne by Cathedral Grove.

The original logging rights on public (Crown) lands on Vancouver Island were granted to logging companies for free earlier last century on condition that the companies allowed their adjacent private forest lands to be placed into regulatory designations known as Tree Farm Licences (TFL’s), in order to control the rate of cut, ensure their logs went to local mills, and to ensure environmental standards on those private lands.
In recent times the companies (Weyerhaeuser in 2004 and Western Forest Products in 2007) greatly benefitted from the removal of their private lands from their TFL’s as it allowed them to log previously protected forests, to export raw logs, and to sell-off forest lands to developers – but meanwhile were still allowed to retain their Crown land logging rights (despite no longer upholding the conditions of the original agreement on their private lands).

This failure to uphold the original agreement is considered by many to be a breach of the public interest. Weyerhaeuser has since moved off the coast, with the company’s former private lands now owned by Island Timberlands and its Crown land logging rights held by Western Forest Products.
 

An example of High Productivity Old-Growth Forest. Ancient Forest Alliance volunteer Mary Vasey stands amongst old-growth redcedars in the unprotected Upper Castle Grove in the the Walbran Valley on southwestern Vancouver Island.

"The Good, the Bad, and the Wobbly"

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“The Green, Liberal, and NDP platforms on old-growth logging and sustainable forestry can best be summarized as ‘The Good, the Bad, and the Wobbly’,” stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director. “The Greens have committed to ending logging of our endangered old-growth forests, the BC Liberals are still spinning their anti-environmental fairy tale that ‘old-growth forests are not disappearing’, and the NDP are trying to figure out how far they’ll go to protect old-growth forests but have not provided any details or made any strong commitments.”

On old-growth logging and sustainable forestry, the parties’ platforms are as follows:

The Green Party’s platform can be described as “Good”.
The Greens have committed to a science-based plan to fully protect BC’s old-growth forests in endangered regions, to reduce the unsustainable overcutting of second-growth forests with longer rotations and to phase-out clearcutting, and to increase the fee on raw log exports to support value-added processing of BC wood products.  https://www.greenparty.bc.ca/forest_action_plan and https://www.greenparty.bc.ca/forestry

The BC Liberals’ platform can be described as “Bad”.
The BC Liberals maintain that old-growth forests are not disappearing, that raw log exports are necessary, and continue to support the status quo of large-scale old-growth liquidation. See this article in the Times Colonist.

The BC Liberals have been promoting misleading statistics for a decade where they’ve overinflated the amount of remaining old-growth forests by including vast tracts of stunted, non-commercial “bonsai” forests in bogs and at high altitudes 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?” Wu noted. “The BC Liberals have been the ‘Despoilers of Beautiful BC’ when it comes to supporting large-scale old-growth logging and unsustainable forestry across most of the province.”

The NDP’s platform platform can be described as “Wobbly” or “Vague”.
The NDP mention protecting “valuable old-growth forests” in their main platform (see page 42: https://www.bcndp.ca/files/BCNDP-Platform-2013-Web.pdf- Link no longer available), but don’t provide any key details like “how”, “how much”, “where”, and “when”. The party has not committed to ending old-growth logging in any region of BC, nor to a science-based old-growth protection plan for the province. The party says it aims to reduce raw log exports, but provides no details how except to “work with stakeholders”. During the election campaign, thousands of people have written emails and called NDP candidates (see https://www.BCForestMovement.com – Link no longer available) asking them to end logging of endangered old-growth forests. The NDP’s position has evolved from no mention of old-growth, sustainable forestry or the environment in their status quo Forestry Platform (April 15), to a brief mention of old-growth in their Main Platform (April 24), and in recent days increasing mention of saving old-growth forests in their various PR initiatives (but still lacking detailed, strong commitments).

“As the NDP are likely to be the next government, I sure hope they remember the 1990’s ‘War in the Woods’, and that they truly listen to the conservation movement and implement a science-based old-growth protection plan that will end endangered old-growth logging and ensure a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry,” stated Ken Wu.

New maps of BC’s southern coast highlight the ecological crisis in BC’s forests due to old-growth logging. At least 74% of the original, productive old-growth forests have been logged, including at least 91% of the biggest, best old-growth stands (ie. the“classic” high productivity valley-bottom old-growth forests with the largest monumental trees most heavily visited by tourists and featured in photos). See the new maps and statistics at: https://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/

Ancient forests are vital to sustain endangered species, tourism, the climate, clean water, wild salmon, and many First Nations cultures.

The BC Conservatives have made no mention in their platform or website about old-growth protection, sustainable forestry, or anything environment-related to forestry. About the only mention of forestry in their platform is a strange statement that “the BC Liberals have shown little enthusiasm for the development of British Columbia’s abundant natural resources.” “They must have a pretty scary platform on the environment if they think that,” Wu observed.

MORE BACKGROUND INFO:

How has the NDP’s Position Evolved on Old-Growth Forests?

– From 2006-2008 (Forestry Critic Bob Simpson) the party called for a “Provincial Old-Growth Plan for the Coast and Interior”. During this time, Simpson moved the party into a strong position in favour of protecting old-growth forests, but was ousted from the party a couple years later.

– In 2011 during Adrian Dix’s NDP party leadership bid, Dix had quickly followed the lead of his opponent, John Horgan, who was also vying for party leadership and who had made old-growth forest protection a key part of his platform. Dix soon followed, committing to: “Develop a long term strategy for old growth forests in the Province, including protection of specific areas that are facing immediate logging plans…” See point 4 under “Ecosystem Management” at: [Original article no longer available] . This commitment has since not been further developed, re-mentioned, or even officially adopted by the party.

– On April 15, 2013, the NDP’s Forestry Platform was launched (Forestry Critics Norm MacDonald and Bill Routley). There was no mention of old-growth forests, sustainability, or the environment. See: https://www.bcndp.ca/files/BG-BCNDP-130415_-_Forestry.pdf

– On April 22 (Earth Day), 2013, the NDP’s Environment Platform was launched. There was no mention of old-growth forests in the media release or in public. See: https://www.bcndp.ca/newsroom/dix-invests-green-projects-ends-carbon-credit-fund-and-reaffirms-opposition-enbridge

– On April 24, 2013, the NDP’s Main Platform was launched. The words “Protect significant ecological areas like wetlands, estuaries and valuable old-growth forests” were included in the Environment section. This was a recent step forward, but still vague without details. See page 42: https://www.bcndp.ca/files/BCNDP-Platform-2013-Web.pdf

Tracts of old-growth forests are regularly protected in BC each year through the implementation of regional land use plans that designate new Old-Growth Management Areas (OGMA’s), often in marginal old-growth stands with stunted trees – while at the same time larger areas of productive old-growth forests are logged.

Key questions about the NDP’s old-growth commitment include if it would be above and beyond the protection levels of current land use plans; if it would be a limited, ad-hoc approach on the party’s whim wherever they choose to or choose not to protect, or if would be a comprehensive, systematic protection plan across the province; if it would involve science-based conservation assessments that set old-growth protection/ restoration targets in each ecosystem and region of the province that must be met to minimize biodiversity loss; and if they would actually end old-growth logging in any regions deemed endangered by science.

“A crucial question is if the NDP’s old-growth protection commitment would exceed the inadequate protection levels of the status quo under the BC Liberals and restrict or fully end the logging of endangered old-growth forests in any regions of the province. Without further details, the NDP’s stance could very well be just a continuation of the unsustainable status quo. In fact, BC’s top industry insiders say it is,” stated Ken Wu.

The presidents of BC’s two largest old-growth logging industry associations, Rick Jeffrey of the Coast Forest Products Association (CFPA) and John Allen of the Council Of Forest Industries (COFI), have both stated that the NDP’s forestry platform represents the status quo, with little difference from the BC Liberal government’s policies. See “Parties’ Forestry Platforms Show Few Differences, Industry Insiders Say”: https://www.timescolonist.com/parties-forestry-platforms-show-few-differences-industry-insiders-say-1.111472 and “Global TV: Cathedral Grove and NDP on Forestry” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOz232HDx3Y

See spectacular photos of our old-growth forests at: https://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/photos-media/.

See a recent ancient forest campaign video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6YTizBF-jE

A map of the remaining productive old-growth forests left on Vancouver Island and the SW Mainland as of 2012.

New Maps Highlight BC’s “Crisis in the Woods” due to Old-Growth Logging

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Media Release
May 10, 2013
 
New Maps Highlight BC's “Crisis in the Woods” due to Old-Growth Logging
 
New maps of BC’s southern coast highlight the ecological crisis in BC’s forests due to old-growth logging. The most conservative figures from the preliminary analysis of Vancouver Island and the southwest mainland reveal that at least 74% of the original, productive old-growth forests have been logged, including at least 91% of the biggest, best old-growth stands (ie. the“classic” high productivity valley-bottom old-growth forests with the largest monumental trees that are most heavily visited by tourists and featured in photos).
 
See the new maps and statistics at:  www.staging.ancientforestalliance.org/old-growth-maps.php
 
“These new maps clearly show the ecological crisis in BC’s forests due a century of overcutting BC’s biggest, best old-growth stands, particularly at the lower elevations. The high-grade depletion of our ecologically richest ancient forests – which continues on a large scale today – has resulted in the increasing collapse of ecosystems and rural communities,” stated Vicky Husband, the noted Victoria-based conservationist who helped pioneer the development of the first old-growth forest cover maps of Vancouver Island in the early 1990’s. “In the '90's we were still fighting for intact watersheds, whole valleys – those are all gone, except in Clayoquot Sound.  Today, almost all of our ancient forests are tattered and fragmented, and we need the BC government to have the wisdom to implement a science-based old-growth protection plan immediately to save what remains. In addition, they must ensure a sustainable, value-added second-growth forest industry.”
 
The new maps are based on 2012 BC Ministry of Forests inventory data (site productivity, stand height and volume, elevation, terrain) for the Crown lands and 2011 satellite photos and logging data for the private lands. The figures are derived from a preliminary data analysis based on the most conservative calculations (ie. erring on the lower side of what percentages of productive old-growth forests have been logged), with a more comprehensive analysis to be released in the near future.
 
“As a result of the high-grade depletion of the biggest trees, the forest industry has been left with diminishing returns as the trees get smaller, lower in value, and more expensive to reach. Most remaining old-growth forests in the province are on low productivity sites at high elevations, on rocky mountainsides, and in bogs of little to no commercial timber value,” stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director. “The BC government for the past decade has been spinning a tale that all is well in the woods and that ‘old-growth forests are not disappearing’ by their promotion of totally misleading statistics. They fail to provide context on how much productive old-growth once stood across the entire land base, and always include vast tracts of stunted, non-commercial ‘bonsai’ forests in bogs and at high altitudes in their statistics. It’s like combining your Monopoly money with your real money and then claiming to be a millionaire, so why curtail spending?”
 
• See a photogallery of Canada's biggest trees found in High Productivity, Valley Bottom Old-Growth Forests (91% have been logged on BC's southern coast) at:  www.staging.ancientforestalliance.org/photos.php?gID=1

• See a photogallery of Low Productivity Old-Growth Forests (much of the remaining old-growth forests) at:  www.staging.ancientforestalliance.org/photos.php?gID=22

 
Other key findings of the preliminary analysis include:
 
• Of the 5.5 million hectares of old-growth forests originally on BC’s southern coast, 2.2 million hectares (40%) were “low productivity” old-growth forests (generally smaller, stunted trees growing in bogs, in the subalpine zone, or on steep rocky slopes – most of which have little to no commercial timber value), while 3.3 million hectares (60%) were medium to high productivity old-growth forests (large trees targeted by logging).  NOTE: Medium to high productivity forests are referred to here as simply “productive”.
 
• Of 3.3 million hectares of productive old-growth forests on BC’s southern coast, only 860,000 hectares (26%) currently remain.
 
• Only 260,000 hectares (8% of the original) of productive old-growth forests are protected in parks and Old-Growth Management Areas (OGMA’s).
 
• Of 360,000 hectares of the high productivity, valley-bottom stands (ie. the biggest, best stands with the richest biodiversity – the “classic” iconic old-growth forests of coastal BC) that once existed, only 31,000 hectares (9%) remain.
 
• Only 11,700 hectares (3% of the original) of the high productivity, valley bottom old-growth forests are protected in parks and Old-Growth Management Areas.
 
MORE BACKGROUND INFO
 
Ancient forests are vital to sustain endangered species, tourism, the climate, clean water, wild salmon, and many First Nations cultures.
 
The evidence of collapsing ecosystems due to massive old-growth logging is revealed through the dramatic decline of old-growth dependent species across the province, like spotted owls, marbled murrelets, and mountain caribou.
 
BC’s spotted owl population was once estimated to consist of 1000 breeding adults, or likely several thousand individuals – today less than a dozen individuals are believed to exist in BC’s wilds. Marbled murrelets, a seabird that nests in old-growth trees, are considered to have undergone a “substantial to moderate decline” by BC’s Conservation Data Center. Mountain caribou populations, found in BC’s interior, have declined by 40% since the 1990’s, from 2500 individuals in 1995 to 1500 individuals today.
 
The BC government more than tripled the amount of unprocessed, raw logs leaving the province to foreign mills during their reign of power, according to recent figures provided by BC’s Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations (Min. of FLNRO) to the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA).

From 2002 to 2012, over 47 million cubic meters of raw logs were exported from BC to foreign mills in China, the USA, Japan, Korea, and other nations. This contrasts to about 14.8 million cubic meters from 1991 to 2001 under the previous government. Over the past two years alone, in 2011 and 2012, record levels of raw logs were exported from BC, 13.2 million cubic meters in total.
 
At its core, the massive export of raw logs has been driven by a combination of the BC government’s deregulation of the forest industry and by the industry’s unsustainable depletion of the biggest best old-growth trees at the lower elevations.

The overcutting of the prime stands of old-growth redcedars, Douglas-firs and Sitka spruce in the lowlands that historically built the wealth of the forest industry – and for which coastal sawmills were originally built to process – has resulted in diminishing returns as the trees get smaller, lower in value, different in species, and harder to reach high up the mountainsides and in the valley headwaters. Today, more than 90 per cent of the most productive old-growth forests in the valley bottoms on B.C.’s southern coast are gone.
 
Coastal mills generally haven’t been retooled to handle the changing profile of the forest with smaller trees as the lowland ancient forests have been depleted. Today hemlock and Amabilis fir stands (“hem-bal” in industry jargon) constitute most of the remaining old-growth stands, and Douglas-fir, cedar, and hemlock constitute most of the maturing second-growth stands. At a critical juncture in 2003 the BC Liberal government removed the local milling requirements (through the Forestry Revitalization Act), thus allowing tenured logging companies to shut down their mills instead of being forced to retool them to handle the changing forest profile. This allowed the companies to then export the unprocessed logs to foreign countries.

In a report for the B.C. Ministry of Forests (Ready for Change, 2001), Dr. Peter Pearse described the history of high-grade overcutting in BC`s coastal forests: “The general pattern was to take the nearest, most accessible, and most valuable timber first, gradually expand up coastal valleys and mountainsides into more remote and lower quality timber, less valuable, and costlier to harvest. Today, loggers are approaching the end of the merchantable old-growth in many areas … Caught in the vise of rising costs and declining harvest value, the primary sector of the industry no longer earns an adequate return …”

B.C.’s coastal forest industry, once Canada’s mightiest, is now a remnant of its past. Over the past decade, more than 70 B.C. mills have closed and over 30,000 forestry jobs lost. As old-growth stands are depleted and harvesting shifts to the second-growth, B.C.’s forestry jobs are being exported as raw logs to foreign mills due to a failure to retool old-growth mills to handle the smaller second-growth logs and invest in related manufacturing facilities.

In his 2001 report, Pearse also stated: “Over the next decade, the second-growth component of timber harvest can be expected to increase sharply, to around 10 million cubic metres … To efficiently manufacture the second-growth component of the harvest, 11 to 14 large mills will be needed.” Today, more than a decade later, there is only one large and a handful of smaller second-growth mills on the coast.

While old-growth forests are being liquidated, second-growth stands are also currently being overcut at a rapid pace mainly for raw log exports, thus limiting future options in general for a sustainable forest industry.
 
See spectacular photos of our old-growth forests at: https://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/photos-media/  (NOTE: Media are free to reprint any photos, credit to “TJ Watt” if possible. Let us know if you need higher res shots too)
 
See a recent ancient forest campaign video at:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6YTizBF-jE

Authorized by the Ancient Forest Alliance, registered sponsor under the Election Act.
Ancient Forest Alliance, Victoria Main PO, PO Box 8459, Victoria, BC, V8W 3S1 Canada

A ship loaded with raw logs awaiting export. Nanaimo

BC Liberal Government More Than Tripled Raw Log Exports to Foreign Mills

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The BC Liberal government more than tripled the amount of unprocessed, raw logs leaving the province to foreign mills during their reign of power, according to recent figures provided by BC’s Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations (Min. of FLNRO) to the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA).

From 2002 to 2012, over 47 million cubic meters of raw logs were exported from BC to foreign mills in China, the USA, Japan, Korea, and other nations. This contrasts to about 14.8 million cubic meters from 1991 to 2001 under the NDP government. Over the past two years alone, in 2011 and 2012, record levels of raw logs were exported from BC, 13.2 million cubic meters in total. [see info sources and details below]

“The BC Liberals have decimated the province’s forestry workforce through massive raw log exports, industry deregulation, and unsustainable practices. 30,000 BC forest workers lost their jobs and over 70 mills were shut down under the BC Liberals, yet they’ve allowed companies to cut at near record levels,” stated Arnold Bercov, national forestry officer of the Pulp, Paper, and Woodworkers of Canada. “Under the BC Liberals, we lost both our forests and our jobs, it’s nuts.”

Conservationists and forestry workers have found common ground in opposing raw log exports and have joined together in numerous rallies and protests over the past decade for sustainable forestry. The BC Liberal government expedited raw log exports by removing the local milling requirements (appurtenancy) that historically tied companies with logging rights on Crown lands to also provide BC milling jobs; by removing vast areas of Tree Farm Licences that once regulated private forest lands on Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast; by issuing record numbers of log export permits on Crown lands; by removing log export restrictions from vast regions of BC’s northern coast; and by overruling the recommendations of their own Timber Exports Advisory Committee.

At the same time the BC Liberal government failed to create any regulations or adequate incentives to retool old-growth mills to handle second-growth logs or to develop value-added facilities. “The BC Liberal government has been a failure on both counts: to ensure that BC logs go to BC mills that can process them, and to foster new mills and value-added facilities to handle logs currently without BC processors,” stated Bercov.

“If we’re going to protect our endangered old-growth forests while maintaining forestry employment levels, we need to do more with less – that is, we need to develop a value-added, sustainable second-growth forest industry. Ramping-up raw log exports while overcutting our forests goes precisely in the opposite direction, it’s doing less with more,” stated Ken Wu, executive director of the Ancient Forest Alliance. “The BC Liberal government’s forestry policies can be summed up as: liquidate the old-growth, close the old-growth mills; liquidate the second-growth, export the raw logs; remove the TFL’s and sell-off prime forest lands for real estate development. The BC Liberals have acted as the despoilers of beautiful British Columbia for both natural and human communities.”

Additional BackGround Info

BRITISH COLUMBIA – RAW LOG EXPORTS

Year      Crown lands (m3)   Private Lands (m3)   TOTAL (m3)

2002        1.5 million                 2.3 million                 3.8 million
2003        1.5 million                 2.1 million                 3.6 million
2004        1.2 million                 2.3 million                 3.5 million
2005        1.8 million                 3.0 million                 4.8 million
2006        1.5 million                 2.8 million                 4.3 million
2007        0.9 million                 2.6 million                 3.5 million
2008        1.0 million                1.9 million                  2.9 million
2009        1.3 million                1.4 million                  2.7 million
2010        2.5 million                2.0 million                  4.5 million
2011        4.0 million                2.8 million                  6.8 million
2012        4.0 million                2.4 million                  6.4 million

Total        21.2 million             25.6 million                46.8 million (rounded sum) 

                                                                                        47,025,665 (exact sum)

Source: Ministry of Forest, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations (MFLNRO) – data provided to the Ancient Forest Alliance in April, 2013

See a chart on historic log export levels (eg. through the 1990`s under the NDP government) on page 20 of the Log Exports Review at: https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/ftp/het/external/!publish/web/exports/generating-more-wealth.pdf

See the decline in forestry employment levels in BC, most dramatic during the reign of the BC Liberal party: https://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/drop-in-employment-in-bcs-forestry-sector/

There were about 1,067 cubic metres of timber harvested per job in 2019: https://theorca.ca/resident-pod/less-bang-for-our-bucking/

At its core, the massive export of raw logs has been driven by a combination of the BC Liberal government’s deregulation of the forest industry and by the industry’s unsustainable depletion of the biggest best old-growth trees at the lower elevations.

The overcutting of the prime stands of old-growth redcedars, Douglas-firs and Sitka spruce in the lowlands that historically built the wealth of the forest industry – and for which coastal sawmills were originally built to process – has resulted in diminishing returns as the trees get smaller, lower in value, different in species, and harder to reach high up the mountainsides and in the valley headwaters. Today, more than 90 per cent of the most productive old-growth forests in the valley bottoms on B.C.’s southern coast are gone.

Coastal mills generally haven’t been retooled to handle the changing profile of the forest with smaller trees as the lowland ancient forests have been depleted. Today hemlock and Amabilis fir stands (“hem-bal” in industry jargon) constitute most of the remaining old-growth stands, and Douglas-fir, cedar, and hemlock constitute most of the maturing second-growth stands. At a critical juncture in 2003 the BC Liberal government removed the local milling requirements (through the Forestry Revitalization Act), thus allowing tenured logging companies to shut down their mills instead of being forced to retool them to handle the changing forest profile. This allowed the companies to then export the unprocessed logs to foreign countries.

In a report for the B.C. Ministry of Forests (Ready for Change, 2001), Dr. Peter Pearse described the history of high-grade overcutting in BC`s coastal forests: “The general pattern was to take the nearest, most accessible, and most valuable timber first, gradually expand up coastal valleys and mountainsides into more remote and lower quality timber, less valuable, and costlier to harvest. Today, loggers are approaching the end of the merchantable old-growth in many areas … Caught in the vise of rising costs and declining harvest value, the primary sector of the industry no longer earns an adequate return …”

B.C.’s coastal forest industry, once Canada’s mightiest, is now a remnant of its past. Over the past decade, more than 70 B.C. mills have closed and over 30,000 forestry jobs lost. As old-growth stands are depleted and harvesting shifts to the second-growth, B.C.’s forestry jobs are being exported as raw logs to foreign mills due to a failure to retool old-growth mills to handle the smaller second-growth logs and invest in related manufacturing facilities.

In his 2001 report, Pearse also stated: “Over the next decade, the second-growth component of timber harvest can be expected to increase sharply, to around 10 million cubic metres … To efficiently manufacture the second-growth component of the harvest, 11 to 14 large mills will be needed.” Today, more than a decade later, there is only one large and a handful of smaller second-growth mills on the coast.

While old-growth forests are being liquidated, second-growth stands are also currently being overcut at a rapid pace mainly for raw log exports, thus limiting future options in general for a sustainable forest industry.

Authorized by the Ancient Forest Alliance, registered sponsor under the Election Act
Ancient Forest, Alliance, Victoria Main PO, PO Box 8459, Victoria, BC, V8W 3S1 Canada

Proposal for UN World Heritage Site for the Giant Cedars in BC’s Inland Rainforest Gains Momentum

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Proposal for UN World Heritage Site for the Giant Cedars in BC’s Inland Rainforest Gains Momentum
Cooperation between conservationists across BC is ramping up a public awareness campaign to protect BC’s globally rare Inland Temperate Rainforest and to have one of its finest natural areas, highlighted by giant redcedars, designated as a UN World Heritage Site east of Prince George.

Conservationists in BC’s interior will join coastal activists to expand the awareness-raising campaign, including a presentation this Thursday, May 2 in Victoria (7-9 pm, Ambrosia Centre, 638 Fisgard St.) by Dr. Darwyn Coxson, Ecosystem Science & Management professor at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC), and Ancient Forest Alliance campaigners Ken Wu and TJ Watt of Victoria.

The “Ancient Forest Trail,” readily accessible from Highway 16, is located in B.C.’s Inland Temperate Rainforest, about 130 kilometers east of Prince George. It features massive western red cedars, some estimated to be over 1000 years old, and an internationally significant lichen flora. The area, known for generations to First Nations and other local communities, was flagged for harvesting in 2006 but subsequently declared off-limits to logging through an Old-Growth Management Area after a major public outcry. Surrounding and nearby old-growth and mature forests remain unprotected.

New research led by the University of Northern British Columbia shows that these old-growth cedar stands have been reduced to less than 4% of the 130,000 hectare forest type in which they are found (the “Interior Cedar Hemlock slim very wet cool” bioegeoclimatic zone or ICHvk2) – while only 96 hectares, or less than 0.1%, are currently protected in BC’s provincial parks. To help secure better representation of such forests, the report recommends the BC government extend the boundary of nearby Slim Creek Provincial Park to include the area surrounding the Ancient Forest Trail in the region around Dome Creek.

In effect this step is seen as preparatory to a bid for World Heritage Site status under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
See: [Original UNBC.ca article no longer available]

“Becoming a Provincial Park or Conservancy and then a World Heritage Site will ensure the long-term protection of the ancient cedar stands, which to date, have been cared for by local community groups,” says the article’s lead author, UNBC Ecosystem Science and Management Professor Darwyn Coxson, who co-wrote the study with UNBC Environmental Planning professor David Connell, and Trevor Goward of the University of British Columbia. The study, which was published in the BC Journal of Ecosystems and Management, went through extensive peer review. It emphasizes that protected designation for this area would help to diversify the regional economy by building upon a regional tourist attraction, which has already developed at the area.
See the report at: https://jem.forrex.org/index.php/jem/article/view/206

B.C.’s temperate rainforests are best known on the coast, in such places as Clayoquot Sound, the Walbran and Carmanah Valleys, Avatar Grove, and the Great Bear Rainforest. However, another major tract of temperate rainforest, the Inland Temperate Rainforest, occurs in southeastern B.C ., stretching roughly from the Revelstoke area north to near Prince George. About 800,000 hectares of rainforest ecosystem exists in B.C.’s Interior within the wettest portions of the Interior Cedar Hemlock zone, with huge redcedars and diverse wildlife including grizzlies, wolverine, and the endangered mountain caribou. The ecosystem is also well known for for its exceptional lichen diversity, specifically linked to old-growth forests. Unfortunately, a quarter century of logging has eliminated the vast majority of old-growth stands within this ecosystem.

“While BC has many incredibly diverse forest types, there’s no doubt that one of the most charismatic – and heavily hit by the logging industry – has been the old-growth Inland Temperate Rainforests with its thousand year old cedars. These are among Earth’s most spectacular forests, and the BC government needs to protect them for wildlife, tourism, the climate, and First Nations cultures,” stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director. “Not only do specific areas like the 16,000 hectares around the Ancient Forest Trail need strong legislated protection, but we also need a more comprehensive Provincial Old-Growth Plan to protect endangered old-growth forests across BC, including our remaining old-growth Inland Temperate Rainforests.”

“Temperate rainforests are limited to about a half dozen widely scattered regions in both hemispheres. Of these the inland temperate rainforest formation occurs in only two: western Canada and southern Europe. B.C. has the only such tracts on the planet that can in any sense be called pristine. This must be seen as a globally-significant conservation priority,” stated lichenologist Trevor Goward, co-author of the report and contributor to the award-winning book, Temperate and Boreal Rainforests of the World, published in 2011.

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC government to establish a comprehensive, science-based Provincial Old-Growth Plan. The plan would entail protection targets and timelines to ban or quickly phase-out old-growth logging in regions where scientific assessments deem it necessary to sustain ecosystem integrity, while at the same time the government is encouraged to ensure a value-added second-growth forest industry with a reduced, sustainable rate of cut.

Authorized by the Ancient Forest Alliance, registered sponsor under the Election Act
Ancient Forest, Alliance, Victoria Main PO, PO Box 8459, Victoria, BC, V8W 3S1 Canada

Old-growth redar stump - Klanawa Valley

NDP Full Platform Released Today – Old-Growth Protection Mentioned and $1 million/year Allocated to Protect Endangered Species and Habitat

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NDP Full Platform Released Today – Old-Growth Protection Mentioned and $1 million/year allocated to Protect Endangered Species and Habitat

Today BC NDP leader Adrian Dix announced the party’s full platform – see: www.bcndp.ca/files/BCNDP-Platform-2013-Web.pdf

The platform includes a brief mention of protecting old-growth forests, and allocating $1 million/year to protect endangered species habitats.

“On old-growth forests, the NDP may be starting to move forward, but their position is still mysterious like the Ogopogo. There appears to be a head popping above the surface, and there could be something huge and substantive underneath – or it could be a fleeting illusion. We encourage the party to make it substantive and not ‘more of the same’. The crucial details are how much, where, and when they’ll protect old-growth forests – and if it’s above and beyond the unsustainable status quo. There’s a large scale ecological crisis underway in BC’s old-growth forests as we lose biodiversity and as ecosystems collapse, and continuing the status quo is simply untenable. We encourage the NDP to come forward with a detailed, stronger commitment on protecting old-growth forests,” stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance’s executive director.

“The $1 million/year for endangered species habitat for three years is better than nothing, but it’s small. We need a much more comprehensive land acquisition fund to purchase and protect endangered ecosystems on private lands on a much larger scale before they’re gobbled up by development,” Wu continued.

The Environment Platform (page 42) states the party will “Protect significant ecological areas like wetlands, estuaries and valuable old-growth forests.” The recognition of the importance of protecting old-growth forests is a step forward for the party, which made no mention of old-growth or the environment in their previously released Forestry Platform, to the chagrin of conservationists. However, the critical details of “how much”, “where”, and “when” are not mentioned in today’s platform.

Tracts of old-growth forests are regularly protected in BC each year through the implementation of regional land use plans that designate new Old-Growth Management Areas (OGMA’s), often in marginal old-growth stands with stunted trees – while at the same time larger areas of ancient forests are logged. The crucial question on old-growth policy is if the NDP’s old-growth plan will exceed the inadequate protection levels of the status quo under the BC Liberals and restrict or end the logging of endangered old-growth forests in any region of the province.

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling for BC’s politicians to commit to the protection of BC’s endangered old-growth forests, to ensure a sustainable, value-added second-growth forest industry, and to end the export of raw, unprocessed logs to foreign mills. 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.

In the party’s Fiscal Plan (page 54), under the “Protecting our Environment” budget, the party allocates $1 million/year to “protect endangered species and habitats”. This may be similar to limited version of a BC park acquisition fund that the Ancient Forest Alliance has been calling on the NDP to reinstate. The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling for a $40 million/year BC park acquisition fund – equivalent to about 1/1000th of the provincial budget – in a provincial fund similar to the park acquisition funds of many Regional Districts like the Capital Regional District around Victoria. The fund would be used to help purchase significant tracts of endangered private lands of high conservation, scenic, and recreation value to add to BC’s protected areas system. Private lands constitute about 5% of BC’s land base, or about 4 million hectares, and include some of the rarest and most endangered ecosystems in the province, including the drier Douglas-fir dominated old-growth forests, Garry Oak meadows, wetlands, deciduous riparian forests, sage-filled grasslands, and the semi-arid “pocket desert” in the South Okanagan. The BC Liberals nixed the province’s park acquisition fund after the 2008 budget.

“Studies have shown that for every $1 spent by the BC government on our protected areas system, another $9 in tourism revenues is generated in the provincial economy,” stated TJ Watt, campaigner and photographer with the AFA. “What better investment can we make than to spend a modest sum each year to protect Beautiful British Columbia?”

The BC Green Party has committed to a science-based plan to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests. See: [Original article no longer available]

The BC Liberals still hold their unscientific, anti-environmental stance that “old-growth forests are not disappearing” and that they’ve managed them well, and are leaving a legacy of old-growth forest liquidation and environmental deregulation across most of BC. Over 30,000 BC forestry jobs lost were lost under their reign, while tens of millions of raw logs were exported.

NDP Leader Adrian Dix, during his 2011 campaign to become party leader, promised to: “Develop a long term strategy for old growth forests in the province, including protection of specific areas that are facing immediate logging plans.” (see point #4 in “Ecosystem Management” [Original article no longer available]. While several NDP MLA’s have championed protecting specific old-growth forests while in Opposition, which the Ancient Forest Alliance has given kudos for, at this time Dix and the NDP party as a whole have not followed up by developing any comprehensive plan with specifics on old-growth protection.

See spectacular photos of our old-growth forests at: https://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/photos-media/ (NOTE: Media are free to reprint any photos, credit to “TJ Watt” if possible. Let us know if you need higher res shots too)

See a recent ancient forest campaign video at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6YTizBF-jE

Authorized by the Ancient Forest Alliance, registered sponsor under the Election Act
Ancient Forest, Alliance, Victoria Main PO, PO Box 8459, Victoria, BC, V8W 3S1 Canada
“The NDP’s environment platform is like a blurry moving sasquatch video in regards to potential old-growth forest protections and park creation – you can’t discern if it’s real and significant

NDP Environmental Platform is like a "Blurry Sasquatch Video” on Old-Growth Forest Protection and Park Creation – Details Needed

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For Immediate Release
April 22, 2013
NDP Environmental Platform is like a “Blurry Sasquatch Video” on Old-Growth Forest Protection and Park Creation – Details Needed
Today on Earth Day BC NDP leader Adrian Dix announced the party’s environment platform, stating that an NDP government would “reinvest in BC’s parks” and “protect  endangered species and habitats”. A version of the media release (not posted online) also stated the party would work to “acquire” “wetlands” and “old-growth forests”. See the main media release at:  www.bcndp.ca/newsroom/dix-invests-green-projects-ends-carbon-credit-fund-and-reaffirms-opposition-enbridge
“The NDP’s environment platform is like a blurry moving sasquatch video in regards to potential old-growth forest protections and park creation – you can’t discern if it’s real and significant, or if it’s just Dix in a fake gorilla costume running to get attention,” stated Ken Wu, the Ancient Forest Alliance’s executive director. “We need the NDP to commit to a science-based plan to fully protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests on Crown lands, to ensure sustainable second-growth forestry, and to commit to a BC park acquisition fund to purchase and protect endangered ecosystems on private lands. We can’t discern any of these things with their vague and ambiguous statements with almost no details. We’re hoping a stronger and more detailed plan is yet to come…we’re waiting. At least it looks like they may be starting to move forward on forest protection commitments.”
The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling for a BC park acquisition fund, a provincial fund similar to the park acquisition funds of many Regional Districts like the Capital Regional District around Victoria.  The fund would be used to help purchase significant tracts of endangered private lands of high conservation, scenic, and recreation value to add to BC’s protected areas system. Private lands constitute about 5% of BC’s land base, or about 4 million hectares, and include some of the rarest and most endangered ecosystems in the province, including the drier Douglas-fir dominated old-growth forests, Garry Oak meadows, wetlands, deciduous riparian forests, sage-filled grasslands, and the semi-arid “pocket desert” in the South Okanagan. The BC Liberals nixed the province’s park acquisition fund after the 2008 budget.
“Studies have shown that for every $1 spent by the BC government on our protected areas system, another $9 in tourism revenues is generated in the provincial economy,” stated TJ Watt, campaigner and photographer with the AFA. “What better investment can we make than to spend a modest sum each year to protect Beautiful British Columbia?”
The AFA is also calling for a sustainable forestry overhaul. This includes protecting BC’s endangered old-growth forests where already 75% of the original, productive old-growth forests have been logged on BC’s southern coast, including over 90% in the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow.
Most of BC’s remaining old-growth forests are found on Crown lands, which constitute over 90% of the province, and any old-growth plan in BC must fundamentally focus on protection measures on Crown lands.
Old-growth forests are vital for supporting endangered species, tourism, the climate, clean water and salmon, and many First Nations cultures.
Last Monday, the NDP released their forestry platform that made no mention of protecting old-growth forests, sustainable forestry, or the environment. It essentially continues the unsustainable status quo of old-growth forest liquidation and overcutting at the expense of ecosystems and communities. See last week’s media release:  staging.ancientforestalliance.org/ndp-full-platform-released-today-old-growth-protection-mentioned-and-1-million-year-allocated-to-protect-endangered-species-and-habitat/
The BC Green Party has committed to a science-based plan to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests. See: www.andrewjweaver.ca/bc_green_party_forestry_action_plan
The BC Liberals still hold their unscientific stance that “old-growth forests are not disappearing” and that they’ve managed them well, and are leaving a largely anti-environmental policy legacy of old-growth forest liquidation and environmental deregulation in most of BC, with over 30,000 forestry jobs lost as tens of millions of raw logs were exported.
NDP Leader Adrian Dix, during his 2011 campaign to become party leader, promised to: “Develop a long term strategy for old growth forests in the province, including protection of specific areas that are facing immediate logging plans.” (see point #4 in “Ecosystem Management”) [Original article no longer available]
While several NDP MLA’s have championed protecting specific old-growth forests while in Opposition, which the Ancient Forest Alliance has given kudos for, at this time Dix and the NDP party as a whole have not followed up, developed any specifics, or officially adopted Dix’s earlier leadership promise for a province-wide old-growth plan.
“We’ve heard that the NDP might still come forward with a stronger, specific, more detailed commitment to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests.  We sure hope they do, and if so we’ll be sure to give the NDP credit. Until then, their position on old-growth forests and sustainable forestry at this time is not distinguishable from the BC Liberals’ policies of short-sighted resource depletion and ecosystem-destruction,” stated Wu.
See spectacular photos of our old-growth forests at:  https://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/photos-media/  (NOTE: Media are free to reprint any photos, credit to “TJ Watt” if possible. Let us know if you need higher res shots too)
See a recent ancient forest campaign video at:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6YTizBF-jE
Authorized by the Ancient Forest Alliance, registered sponsor under the Election Act
Ancient Forest, Alliance, Victoria Main PO, PO Box 8459, Victoria, BC, V8W 3S1 Canada
Mountain Caribou are Canada's largest old-growth dependent animal.

Conservationists Launch Petition for BC’s Endangered Mountain Caribou, Call on BC’s Politicians to Protect Ecologically Vital Forests

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Conservationists have launched an on-line petition calling on BC’s politicians to commit to protecting critical lowland forests that buffer the province’s gravely endangered Mountain Caribou against predators. Clearcuts adjacent to Mountain Caribou habitat support increased moose and deer, and so bolster predator populations that also prey on caribou. See the petition at: www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/help-save-canada-s-mtn-caribou

Mountain Caribou are the world’s most southerly reindeer and Canada’s largest old-growth dependent animal. Resident almost exclusively in British Columbia, their population has declined precipitously in recent decades, from 2500 animals in 1995, to 1900 animals by 2007, to 1500 animals by 2013 (i.e., a 40% decline since the 1990s). Since 2002, they have been formally designated as Threatened in Canada. See: www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/speciesconservation/mc/

The petition comes in response to pending plans by Canfor to undertake major logging in the Clearwater Valley adjacent to the southern boundary of Wells Gray Provincial Park. It calls for an immediate moratorium on logging in the valley through a provincial Land Use Order. It also urges the B.C. government to establish low-elevation “Caribou Matrix Management Zones” throughout the range of the Mountain Caribou. Such management zones are needed adjacent to high-elevation winter habitat, which already receives protection. Link here for maps and further details: www.wellsgrayworldheritage.ca

The petition has the backing of the Ancient Forest Alliance (www.AncientForestAlliance.org), a provincial conservation group working to protect BC’s endangered forests, and is being spearheaded by Trevor Goward, a well-known lichenologist and naturalist who makes his home in the Clearwater Valley.

“Surely it ‘s unthinkable that the BC government would endorse logging plans guaranteed to enhance wolf and cougar populations adjacent to Wells Gray, home of one of the largest remaining mountain caribou herds anywhere,” stated Goward. “Wells Gray’s southern herd has declined by about one-third in the past decade. If we can’t maintain a viable population of Mountain Caribou in a vast wilderness park like Wells Gray, then what hope is there of doing so elsewhere? This makes a mockery of B.C.’s Mountain Caribou Recovery Strategy.”

“BC’s politicians have a moral obligation to save one of BC’s most endangered and iconic large mammals by establishing a moratorium on industrial logging in the Clearwater Valley by Wells Gray Park, and to restrict logging in the lowland matrix habitat across the Mountain Caribou’s range,” stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director. “We’ve seen old-growth dependent species decline, including the Spotted Owl, Marbled Murrelet, and now the Mountain Caribou, under successive BC Liberal and NDP governments who’ve lacked the will to do what it takes to halt their slide towards extinction. Now is the time, before the upcoming election, for BC’s politicians to commit to make it right.”

On paper the BC Liberal government’s 2008 Mountain Caribou Plan looks good, promising to rebuild BC’s Mountain Caribou population from 1,700 in 2008 to 2,500 animals by 2027. This will be achieved, it claims, through a three-pronged approach comprising: first, 2.2 million hectares of mostly high-elevation forests set aside as winter habitat; second, intense predator control targeted at wolves and cougars; and third, management of mechanized backcountry winter recreation.

Actually, one government caribou recovery team argued for inclusion of a fourth prong, what they called ‘matrix habitat’: low to mid-elevation forest not necessarily occupied by mountain caribou but capable, when logged, of supporting moose and deer and hence their predators in substantial numbers. “What the recovery team was urging,” notes Goward “was a commitment by government to refrain from creating ever more clearcuts in matrix habitat. Unfortunately, this did not happen. As a consequence, the government’s plan has largely entrusted the Mountain Caribou’s future to a costly regime of predator control: a war on wolves.”

“The very idea that a workable recovery strategy could be founded on a war against predator populations largely of its own creation seems incredible. It is like hoping to raise chickens without building a chicken coop. You can blast away at predators as long as you like, but the problem never disappears. Sooner or later you lose your chickens,” Goward notes.

Wells Gray Provincial Park supports the world’s second largest populations of Mountain Caribou. However, since 2002 the park’s southern herd has declined from 325 animals to only 200 animals a few years ago. By creating more habitat for deer and moose, and hence for predators, the pending logging proposal by Canfor would further stress a herd already in serious decline.

Goward would like to see an extension to the park’s boundaries southward to help make Wells Gray ecologically self-sustaining. This has been done twice in the past: once in the mid- ‘50s, and again in the mid- ‘90s. The habitat needs of Mountain Caribou played a major role in both decisions. Protecting a small area adjacent to the park would be a significant step towards the recovery of the Wells Gray herd.

The Ancient Forest Alliance is running a campaign calling on the province to protect old-growth and endangered forests, to ensure sustainable, value-added forestry jobs, to implement a sustainable rate of cut, and to end the export of raw, unprocessed logs from BC to foreign mills.

Authorized by the Ancient Forest Alliance, registered sponsor under the Election Act
Ancient Forest, Alliance, Victoria Main PO, PO Box 8459, Victoria, BC, V8W 3S1 Canada