News Coverage

NOTE: The following letter to the editor by Dave Lewis of the Truck Loggers Association, who support raw log exports and apparently the demise of union jobs in the forest service, fails to mention that the long-term decline in the coastal forest industry over the span of 20 years is due to the depletion of the old-growth resource (the biggest, best, and most accessible trees in the lower elevations), that ancient forests are worth more standing economically when factoring in tourism, hunting, angling, non-timber forest products, and carbon storage (according to a 2007 SFU study on the Fraser TSA), and that the government's elimination of processing requirements without any incentives to stimulate investment in second-growth processing and value-added manufacturing has contributed greatly to the demise of a huge section of the industry and the workforce (ie. manufacturing - which Dave Lewis cares little about it seems...) - Ken Wu

On the heels of issuing layoff notices to 294 public service workers Monday, the B.C. government is planning for another round of cuts in the Ministry of Forests by early summer. At a time when lumber prices are booming but the industry is far from recovering, it's either the worst time to slash jobs -- according to the leader of the Opposition -- or an opportune time to cut, according to an industry leader.

You don't have to drive hours out of Victoria to find old-growth trees or, for that matter, politicians who are hanging onto their seats by a thread.

I had the pleasure March 28 of joining 80 other members of the Ancient Forest Alliance to experience the small grove of old growth trees near Port Renfrew known (informally) as Avatar Grove.

As one of the 80 hikers who visited Avatar Grove on March 28 with the Ancient Forest Alliance, I find it somewhat ironic that the Vancouver Olympics showcased the natural beauty of B.C.'s old-growth forests.

Last weekend, Monday hit the road with environmentalist Ken Wu and the Ancient Forest Alliance (along with 80 other curious community members) to pay a visit to what the AFA is calling "Canada's gnarliest tree".

So I finally went to see Avatar in 3-D. It was breathtaking, of course. But what struck me the most was at the end; I realized that I had viewed this epic story of environmental degradation through plastic 3-D glasses made in China.

I had the pleasure last Sunday to experience the small grove of old-growth trees near Port Renfrew known informally as the Avatar Grove