Conservation group calls for protection of old-growth on Vancouver Island (PHOTOS)

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October 18, 2022
Victoria Buzz
By Curtis Blandy

A new series of photos has been released by the Ancient Forest Alliance to call for conservation of old-growth forests that are being affected by logging.

The series was captured between 2020 and 2022 by photographer TJ Watt near Lake Cowichan and on the Ditidaht First Nation’s land on southern Vancouver Island.

Watt’s work was funded by a grant partnership awarded by the National Geographic Society and the Royal Canadian Geographical Society in order to provide Canadian explorers, scientists, photographers, geographers and educators with funding on a preservation storytelling basis.

“Capturing these before and after images is quite a difficult process–both technically and emotionally–but I’m committed to exposing the ongoing threats ancient forests face until legislated protection can be achieved for them,” said Watt.

“Only when seeing a side-by-side comparison can one truly grasp the scale of loss and devastation from old-growth logging. Once cut down, not even our great, great-grandchildren will have the chance to see a forest like that there again.”

The provincial government accepted a 2021 recommendation from an independent science panel to defer logging on 2.6 million hectares of at-risk old-growth forests in BC.

The deferrals were to be obtained pending local First Nations approval, however the land in question has not been fully secured for deferral at this time.

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling attention to the areas included in this deferral that continue to be logged to this day.

They claim that this is due to the fact that the province has yet to provide local First Nations with the financing to enable these deferrals.

Lots of the trees photographed by Watt have been identified as ‘big tree’ old-growth groves that met the criteria for deferral.

Many were logged just months before the recommendation came into effect and some were logged before deferrals could be secured by the local First Nations and old-growth activists.

The photos taken by Watt for the Ancient Forest Alliance have been added to their online database of trees and their stumps.

Read the original article 

 

Conservation group buys stand of majestic old-growth as gift for First Nation

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October 11th
National Observer
By Dani Penaloza 

A rare section of diverse old-growth forest in BC, where the coastal rainforest meets the dry interior, has been purchased by a conservation organization and handed back to the Kanaka Bar Indian Band to protect.

In August, the Nature-Based Solutions Foundation (NBSF) bought the eight acres known as “Old Man Jack’s” about 15 kilometres south of Lytton for $99,000 as part of an agreement it made with T’eqt’aqtn’mux First Nation, known as the crossing place people. The group intends to return the land with a conservation covenant.

“Not only does the purchase of Old Man Jack’s allow the community to gather the abundant food and medicine plants here, it gives us the opportunity to employ membership to heal ecosystems damaged by placer mining and other settler activities over the past couple centuries,” said Kanaka Bar Chief Jordan Spinks in the NBSF’s Oct. 11 press release. “The well-being of our lands, culture and people go hand-in-hand.”

Situated along the Fraser River by Siwash Creek, south of the Kanaka Bar A1 Reserve, the property could be one of the rarest and most diverse old-growth forests in BC, containing some of the largest old-growth Interior Douglas firs in the country, western red cedars, Ponderosa pines, bigleaf maples and old-growth Rocky Mountain junipers.

Once title to the land is turned over to the First Nation, the conservation covenant will protect the historic trapper’s cabin and the many archeological and cultural sites on the property, as well as Canada’s largest Rocky Mountain juniper beside the property that’s on a parcel of land also owned by Kanaka Bar.

“The mouth of Siwash Creek has been a key fishing spot for the T’eq’aqtn’mux for millennia. By purchasing this property, people can fish here once again. We may even organize a camp for youth,” said Sean O’Rourke, Kanaka Bar’s lands manager in the press release.

The gift aligns well with Kanaka Bar’s Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area proposal earlier this summer, which plans to protect 350-square-kilometres of traditional territory land.

The Kanaka Bar Indian Band intends to use this land for cultural, conservational, educational and potentially eco-tourism purposes. Community engagement on how exactly the land will be used and managed is underway.

There are also hopes to recover the endangered species of coastal tailed frogs and spotted owls in the area.

“To be able to both protect those lands from industrial resource extraction and support First Nations subsistence and cultural uses of those lands, while keeping the biodiversity intact, is one of the greatest expressions of environmental sustainability and social justice,” said NBSF co-founder Ken Wu in an interview with Canada’s National Observer.

The Nature-Based Solutions Foundation intends to give the land back to the First Nation whose territory it is with an upcoming conservation covenant. #OldGrowth #BC

The NBSF is a new national conservation charity that launched in November. It works to protect the most endangered ecosystems by filling funding gaps needed to expand the protected areas system.

This purchase is the first of other similar initiatives underway and is part of the Old-Growth Solutions Initiative, a collaboration between the NBSF, Endangered Ecosystems Alliance and Ancient Forest Alliance.

Read the original article 

BC Indigenous conservation plan gets private backing

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October 10, 2022
The Globe And Mail 
By Justine Hunter 

Battered by climate disasters, community at Kanaka Bar looks to protect old growth forest and restore ecosystems in a way that supports the First Nation’s self-sufficiency initiatives and sustainable economic development.

Celina Starnes of the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance stands under an old-growth Western redcedar near Kanaka Bar Indian Band, home to the T’eqt’’aqtn’mux, in British Columbia this past Sept. 21. PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAFAL GERSZAK/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

Overhanging a riverbank in the Fraser Canyon, an ancient Western redcedar shows signs of harvesting by past generations of the T’eqt’’aqtn’mux people. The gnarled tree is growing in one of the rarest and most endangered old-growth forests in British Columbia, and a newly sealed land deal has secured its protection. But for the surrounding forest, there is no certainty.

The Kanaka Bar Indian Band – also known as the T’eqt’’aqtn’mux – is proposing an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area to preserve its ancient connection to these lands, and to protect a rich pocket of biodiversity for the planet. In the southern canyon, along the Fraser River, the province’s wet coastal and dry interior zones meet, allowing an unusual variety of species to mingle.

While logging companies have cleared large swaths of old growth in the traditional territories of the T’eqt’’aqtn’mux, evidence of this First Nation’s sustainable harvesting practices is still found in living trees that did not fall to commercial logging: Researchers have confirmed that branches and bark strips have been harvested here from select cedar trees since the early 18th century, or even before then.

MURAT YÜKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: NATURAL RESOURCES CANADA; BC DATA CATALOGUE; KANAKA BAR INDIAN BAND

But the protected area plan awaits the support of Ottawa and Victoria – approval that is caught in a protracted negotiation between the two levels of government over old-growth protection.

The objective of the proposed Indigenous protected area fits into a larger aim shared by the federal government.

Canada has made international commitments to protect 30 per cent of its lands and waters by 2030, and a recent report from World Wildlife Fund Canada says Indigenous-managed conservation will be key to achieving those targets.

Montreal will host a UN conference on biodiversity later this year and heading into that event, the Justin Trudeau government will be pressed to show how it intends to almost double the country’s existing protected areas by 2025 to meet its interim targets.

British Columbia, which boasts the greatest amount of biodiversity in the country, also has interests that align with the Kanaka Bar proposal: The provincial government has pledged to suspend logging in one-third of BC’s remaining’s old-growth forests to protect irreplaceable ecosystems that are disappearing under intensive forestry – but to do that with Indigenous consent, which has been slow to garner.

The Kanaka Bar proposals would hit the sweet spot for both governments: Kanaka Bar intends to protect and restore rare ecosystems in a way that supports the First Nation’s self-sufficiency initiatives and sustainable economic development.

The community’s impetus for conservation has been shaped by commercial logging – 15 per cent of the forests in its proposed conservation area has been logged since the 1960s – mostly in the rich valley bottoms where the greatest old growth is found.

The federal and BC governments are in protracted negotiations to reach a nature agreement that would include permanent old-growth protection.

However, the two sides remain at odds over funding, and which forests would be set aside. The federal government has offered $50-million specifically for BC old growth, a figure that the province dismissed as far too little. Ottawa, meanwhile, is awaiting the matching commitment from the province.

Steven Guilbeault, the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change, toured an old-growth forest in BC on Sept. 1, using the visit as a backdrop to press the provincial government to reach an accord. “We will continue collaborating with the province to get a good deal to protect BC’s beloved nature,” he said in a statement at that time.

Patrick Michell, former chief of the Kanaka Bar Indian Band, was instrumental in launching the proposed T’eqt’aqtn Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area, and he said neither level of government has responded to the invitation to participate. But the plan will move forward anyway: “When we need to do something, we just do it,” he said in an interview.

His community has been buying up private lands when they become available, rather than waiting for the Crown to give them their land back. Their vision for climate resiliency does not include commercial logging of old growth.

“We want to keep the old growth, keep the carbon in the ground,” he said. “For us to have an economy for the next 100 years, we need to invest in something more sustainable and resilient.” Economic development is possible, but within a framework that supports Kanaka Bar’s goals. “We want to work with Canadian corporations. We want to work with the existing transportation industries. But there’s going to be a few new rules. You cannot exacerbate climate change.”

The only firm commitment to the Kanaka Bar conservation plan to date has come from a fledgling environmental non-profit, which bought a piece of private land to gift to the community.

The property known locally as Old Man Jack’s is a tiny parcel, a little more than three hectares, which was scooped up for just under $100,000. It is dwarfed by the more ambitious Kanaka Bar proposal to set aside a large chunk of the southern Fraser Canyon in the First Nation’s traditional territories, including roughly 125 square kilometres of old-growth forests. But it is a concrete start.

Old Man Jack’s property, purchased by the Nature-Based Solutions Foundation, is a showcase for the region, with its unusual mix of coastal and interior species: Ponderosa pine, Interior Douglas fir, Western redcedar, Bigleaf maple, all growing together. “This is peak biodiversity – as multicultural as you can get in a BC forest,” said Ken Wu, co-founder of the foundation, as he pointed out one of the largest Interior Douglas firs in the country.

Mr. Wu started campaigning for BC’s old-growth forests more than two decades ago. The foundation was created last year to raise money to purchase endangered ecosystems, sidestepping the conflict that has marked many campaigns against old-growth logging.

“Protests are important at times,” Mr. Wu said, “but to actually save old-growth forests, it is vital to ensure First Nations have the financial resources in order to realize their conservation visions,” he said. Many First Nations rely on forestry for revenue and jobs – and he said the provincial and federal governments need to bring substantial funding to the table to create viable alternatives.

“There’s no path to actually protect old-growth forests on the ground in British Columbia by going around First Nations communities and leadership,” Mr. Wu said.

The Fraser Canyon was at the epicentre of the twin climate disasters of 2021 in BC The main Kanaka Bar reserve is roughly 14 kilometres south of Lytton, the town destroyed by wildfire in June of 2021, and many members lost their homes in that fire. A series of atmospheric rivers in November then wiped out more homes, highways and other infrastructure, causing millions of dollars of damage to the Kanaka Bar’s run-of-the-river hydro electric facility.

For the past decade, the Kanaka Bar nation has worked on a climate adaptation plan, which has aims to create a self-sufficient community that can withstand whatever climate change brings in the next century. About 70 of the band’s 240 members live on reserve, getting their electricity from solar power. The nation has purchased provincial water rights to ensure their clean water supply. And community gardens supplement the food they obtain from their lands.

The T’eqt’aqtn Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area would help the entire Fraser Canyon’s climate resiliency, said Sean O’Rourke, the Kanaka Bar lands manager, because healthy ecosystems are the region’s best defence against natural disasters.

But it also aims to protect the T’eqt’’aqtn’mux’s archeological sites. Mr. O’Rourke pointed across the Fraser River to the remains of a stone-constructed fishing weir, disrupted by placer miners looking for gold. The rainstorms last November uncovered a petroglyph that is believed to be at least 8,000 years old. It was damaged when treasure hunters removed a piece of it with a jackhammer.

“These connections to the past and connections to the old way of life, that’s a finite thing,” Mr. O’Rourke said. “Once you damage something like that, you’re never going to get it back.”

Read the original article

Band in BC’s Fraser Canyon proposes to protect, manage 350 sq. km swath of land

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July 19, 2022
The Abbotsford News
By Jessica Peters

Indigenous petroglyphs, old growth forest, cultural significance at further risk: Kanaka Bar Band

The wildfire that’s moving through the forests west of Lytton is the newest threat to an area rich in historic and cultural significance.

As of Tuesday morning, the fire is at 2,000 hectares and crews are making progress at containing it.

Just days before the fire started, the nearby Kanaka Bar Band issued a press release proposing that a 350-square km portion of the region just south of Lytton be designated as the T’eqt’aqtn Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA).

It includes maps, photos and details of its Indigenous cultural significance, including petroglyphs and pictographs.

The region has a multitude of climates, from protected parks and pristine watersheds to ancient glaciers. There are trees documented to be the biggest of their kind, fields of culturally significant, endangered plants, numerous distinct archeologicial sites, and even a petroglyph thought to be the oldest in the country.

The Kanaka Bar Band’s territory includes some of the rarest and most endangered old-growth forests in BC.

“The focus of this IPCA is ecosystem restoration and climate resiliency — a necessity after many community members, including our chief, lost their homes in the nearby Lytton fire,” said Sean O’Rourke, lands manager for the band. “We endeavour to prevent all unsustainable uses of our lands and resources to safeguard our unique ecosystems and cultural heritage.”

So what area is this exactly?

Kanaka Bar Band is a Nlaka’pamux First Nation in the Fraser Canyon, about 14 km south of Lytton. Their proposed IPCA encompasses the Kwoiek and Four Barrel watersheds and adjacent parts of the Fraser Canyon, which will include roughly 125 square km of old-growth forests.

They hope to “safeguard” the territory’s unique ecosystems and cultural heritage from further harm, as well as to restore areas that have been damaged by industrial logging and mining over the past century. O’Rourke says that although around 180 square km of intact forest remains, much of the territory was clear cut by Teal Jones in the 1970s-’90s, and significant restoration work is needed.

“Returning the territory to Kanaka Bar will advance the entire Fraser Canyon’s climate resiliency,” O’Rourke said. “Functional, healthy ecosystems are our best defense against natural disasters. After more than a century of profit-driven management, it is time for a different set of values to guide land use. The wildfires and landslides of 2021 make this abundantly clear.”

Their release was undersigned by Kanaka Bar Chief Patrick Michell and the band’s CEO Greg Grayson.

It describes the rich cultural importance of the region, and the connection the people there have to the land, historically and today.

“Kanaka’s territory is located just beyond the edge of the coastal ecosystems, a transitional area home to both rainforest species and those associated with BC’s dry interior,” they write. “Here, old-growth Western red cedar and Ponderosa pine can be seen growing side by side, and endangered whitebark pine thrive in the subalpine.”

The unusual climate creates distinct plant communities not seen elsewhere—like ćewéteʔ (barestem desert-parsley) and old-growth Ponderosa pine/Douglas-fir meadows.

“Before colonization, T’eqt’aqtn, meaning ‘the crossing place’—in reference to two opposing whirlpools that enable the Fraser to be crossed here with just four paddle strokes—was stewarded by T’eqt’aqtn’mux (the people of Kanaka Bar) for over 8,000 years,” the release continues. “At this location, numerous village sites with dozens of house pits—some as big as bingo halls—dot the flats above the Fraser (River); and pictographs and petroglyphs, as well as culturally modified trees, mark important spots and travel corridors.”

There is one old-growth red cedar in Kanaka with 12 separate bark strippings and evidence of sustainable Indigenous logging. It holds the record for Canada’s ‘most culturally-modified tree.’

“What you do to the land (or allow others to do), you do to yourself,” states Chief Patrick Michell. “Kanaka Bar has been subjected to over a century and a half of colonization and greed, and we now face the global existential threat of climate change—but the damage can be reversed. Through this IPCA, we will rehabilitate Kanaka’s Territory and heal not only our lands but our people.”

It’s going to take a lot of work to achieve their goal, they point out.

“Provincial recognition and protected areas legislation, as well as provincial and federal funding for IPCAs, are the most vital pieces necessary to see this through,” they write, adding that they are in the process of completing socio-cultural and bio-physical conservation value assessments, and planning a socio-economic study, land-use plan and stakeholder engagements.

It’s not about never using the land. It’s about using it responsibly.

“The T’eqt’aqtn IPCA will not preclude all land uses and developments,” they state. “Nlaka’pamux will be able to hunt, fish, and gather in these lands like they always have, and visitors who respect community values are welcome.”

The band will work with proponents “whose projects are sustainable and in accordance with the community’s priorities,” and the band continues to develop food self-sufficiency initiatives and an ecotourism economy.

It’s all about creating a stronger future for generations still to come, one where T’eqt’aqtn’mux will be able to sustainably live off and care for their lands, just as their ancestors did.

Their IPCA initiative has support from Nature Based Solutions Foundation, Endangered Ecosystem Alliance, Ancient Forest Alliance, and Nature United.

Read the original article

Canada’s fourth-widest tree located in North Vancouver, estimated to be over 1000 years old

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June 27, 2022
City News
By Monika Gul

A tree recently located in a remote and rugged area of Lynn Headwaters Regional Park may be the fourth widest in Canada. The western redcedar is well over 1,000 years old and 5.8 metres wide, according to a preliminary measurement.

 

One of the widest trees in Canada was found in the Lynn Valley area of North Vancouver.

The tree, nicknamed “The North Shore Giant”, was located by Colin Spratt, a Vancouver big-tree hunter, and Ian Thomas of the Ancient Forest Alliance.

Thomas said he was completely awestruck when he came across the ancient western redcedar in the Lynn Headwaters Regional Park.

“It really resonates with you, for me, at least deeply spiritually to encounter one of the these ancient beings that has survived over the centuries,” says Thomas.

“It’s sort of a deep spiritual reverence, I would say, as well as a total kind of giddy excitement to be able to be in the presence of something like this.”

Thomas said the tree is measured at 5.8 metres (19.1 feet) and they are “very confident (it is) over 1000 years old.”

He added that the measurements are tentative, and an official measurement will be done in the future.

Thomas said while the North Shore Giant is in a safe place, redcedar all over BC are in danger without protection from being cut down.

“The lion’s share of my work is really looking for these unprotected groves and working to try and protect them.”

Thomas said they are calling for the government to invest around $300 million to help ensure the safety of the trees.

“They’re incredibly important for the climate, for the ecology of the wide variety of local species, as well as for tourism and culture. And so what’s really important is that the government invests in protecting these forests.”

According to the Ancient Forest Alliance, 90% of the high productivity old-growth forests with the biggest trees and over 80% of the medium productivity old-growth forests have been logged in BC.

Read the original article.

 

 

CBC News Vancouver: North Shore Giant

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CBC News Vancouver has featured AFA’s Ian Thomas and Vancouver big tree hunter, Colin Spratt on their recent finding of a record-sized western redcedar nicknamed the “North Shore Giant”. See 20:20 in this video clip: https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2047159363721/

Thankfully, the tree and the ancient forest surrounding it, are protected in the remote reaches of Vancouver’s Lynn Headwaters Regional Park in the territory of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations and not at risk of being cut down. But unprotected ancient forests all over BC aren’t as lucky. 

In order to help protect forests still at risk, the BC government must establish a dedicated fund of at least $300 million to support Indigenous-led protected areas initiatives and land-use plans that protect at-risk old-growth forests, Indigenous Guardians programs, and the sustainable economic diversification of First Nations communities in lieu of old-growth logging. Budget 2023 would be a perfect opportunity for them to allocate these funds.

➡️Send a message to the BC government calling for this critical funding: https://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/funding-send-a-message/

Read our full Media Release: https://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/north-shore-giant-canadas-fourth-widest-tree/ 

Ian Thomas of the Ancient Forest Alliance beside the North Shore Giant, the 4th widest tree in Canada, newly identified in a remote corner of Lynn Valley in North Vancouver. Photo Credit Colin Spratt.

Giant tree found in North Vancouver could be Canada’s fourth widest

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June 25, 2022
The Squamish Reporter

Two big tree hunters from Vancouver have just identified the fourth-widest known tree in Canada: an ancient western redcedar tentatively measured at over 5.8 metres (19.1 feet) in diameter and well over a thousand years old.

Nicknamed “The North Shore Giant”, this ancient colossus was found by Colin Spratt, a Vancouver big-tree hunter, and Ian Thomas of the Ancient Forest Alliance, on an expedition deep into the remote reaches of Vancouver’s Lynn Headwaters Regional Park in the territory of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

Lynn Valley has long been renowned for its giant trees. In fact, the tallest trees on Earth might once have grown there, but aggressive logging in the 19th and early 20th centuries eliminated most of those superlative forests. Throughout much of Lynn Valley, gargantuan, castle-like stumps are all that remain of the ancient trees that once dominated the region.

However, in the depths of the watershed, far from the established trails, are remnants of that original old-growth forest – enormous trees many centuries old, still surviving a stone’s throw from the thriving metropolis of Vancouver.

“Finding this colossal ancient tree just demonstrates the sublime grandeur of these old-growth temperate rainforests,” stated Ancient Forest Alliance researcher Ian Thomas. “Luckily this incredible being and the impressive grove in which it stands is safe in a park. Most of our richest ancient forests are still unprotected and in danger of being logged. Even now in Canada, in the year 2022, trees as old as this giant, and entire groves like this one, are still being cut down on an industrial scale.”

The terrain is extremely rugged, with sheer cliffs, treacherous boulder fields, steep ravines, and dense underbrush, which has allowed these monumental trees to remain hidden for so long. The North Shore Giant grows on the slopes west of Lynn Creek on a boulder field among other magnificent ancient redcedars. Further groves of giant trees are found nearby, including one containing Canada’s fifth widest known western hemlock, identified mere hours before the North Shore Giant. The area represents one of the most magnificent tracts of productive ancient forest left in BC.

Colin Spratt and Ian Thomas set out to fully document and explore this incredible ancient forest. On their second expedition and after bushwacking for 10 hours, they finally arrived at the North Shore Giant and realized that this could be the widest tree that has been found in Canada in over 34 years. The current diameter measurement is a preliminary one, following the methodology of the American Forest Association’s Champion Trees Program, which has been the standard used by BC’s own official big-tree registry. Soon, members of the British Columbia Big Tree Committee will visit the tree to confirm the diameter and take official height and crown measurements for entry into BC’s Big Tree Registry.

“When I first saw the tree, I froze in my tracks and the blood drained from my face. I started getting dizzy as I realized it was one of the largest cedars ever found, and one of the most amazing life forms left on earth. Finding this tree is an incredible reminder of what is still out there in the less explored old-growth forests. It’s sobering to realize that in so many areas of BC, unprotected trees and groves just as rare and precious are still being cut down,” said big-tree hunter Colin Spratt.

“This is one of the most remarkable big-tree finds of this century and it just shows how special the old-growth forests in BC are. Unfortunately, unless the BC government hurries up and provides the critical funding – several hundred million dollars more, which is peanuts if you look at their other massive spending projects – they will ensure that the status quo of industrial clearcutting of the last unprotected old-growth stands occurs. In particular, support for Indigenous old-growth protection initiatives and the associated sustainable economic development in the communities is needed, along with a major, dedicated land acquisition fund to purchase and protect old-growth forests on private lands. They can fix all of this if they wanted to in their upcoming budget,” said TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer.

Read the original article

CBC News coverage on 18-month old-growth report card

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Read the CBC News article highlighting our report card with Sierra Club BC and Wilderness Committee that evaluates the BC government’s progress on promised implementation of the Old Growth Strategic Review panel’s recommendations.

We note significant improvements in funding and transparency but emphasize that the provincial government is still moving far too slowly. Essential funding for old-growth conservation still falls short of the estimated $300 million needed from the province to support First Nations communities alone.

Of special note, the province has now stated they are in talks with the federal government to partner on the expansion of protected areas in BC, and will soon have an update on the status of old-growth deferrals. 

These encouraging statements will need to be backed by concrete actions in order for the province to score better on its next report card in September.

18-month report card on the government’s progress implementing the Old-Growth Strategic Review panel’s 14 recommendations.

TJ Watt featured in A Photo Editor

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AFA’s TJ Watt recently sat down for a chat with Creative Director Heidi Volpe at A Photo Editor. 

Read on to find out about how he got into conservation photography, the founding of AFA, the affection he has for Big Lonely Doug, and the impact his photos have on shaping the way people view forests and logging in British Columbia. 

 

TJ Watt Featured in CBC’s Podcast, The Doc Project: Big Tree Hunt

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We’re excited to share that AFA photographer TJ Watt was featured in CBC’s podcast, The Doc Project: Big Tree Hunt, which highlights his efforts to explore, document, and protect ancient forests in B.C.

Read the article at the link or below: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/docproject/photographer-of-giant-old-growth-trees-has-best-and-worst-job-in-the-world-1.6251373

And listen to the podcast documentary: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-115/clip/15880467

Tune in to hear more about TJ’s photography and conservation work and join a remote bushwhacking mission to Vernon Bay in Barkley Sound in the territory of the Uchucklesaht and Tseshaht First Nations, where they explore the area’s incredible-yet-unprotected ancient forests and find monumental redcedar trees up to 12 feet in diameter at risk of being logged.

Photographer of giant old-growth trees has ‘best and worst job in the world’

CBC Radio
November 26, 2021

TJ Watt’s before-and-after shots in clearcut forests part of renewed movement to protect B.C.’s oldest trees.

On an overcast day last August, TJ Watt made his way around the trunk of a giant western red cedar. In one hand, he clutched a yellow measuring tape. With his other, he pushed away a thick undergrowth of salal and ferns.

“It’s a small hike just to get around this thing,” Watt called out. A moment later, he read the measurement of the tree’s girth: a whopping 11.6 metres.

It was the biggest tree that Watt had found all day. To get here, he had hiked several hours off-trail, bushwhacking through dense, moss-laden rainforest, near Barkley Sound on Vancouver Island’s rugged west coast.

An aerial view of unprotected old-growth forests along the coastline of Barkley Sound in the territory of the Uchucklesaht and Tseshaht First Nations. (TJ Watt)

The Victoria-based photographer and activist has spent much of the past 15 years searching for and photographing some of Canada’s biggest, oldest trees. The trees he finds are often upwards of a thousand years old and wide enough to drive a car through.

His backcountry quests are more than just adventures though. Most of the trees that Watt finds are slated to be cut down. Watt’s photographs, which he posts on social media, have become a powerful tool for ramping up public support to protect B.C.’s old-growth forests.

“It can be hard to capture the complexity and the whole essence of this issue,” says Watt, who co-founded the non-profit advocacy group Ancient Forest Alliance 10 years ago. “You have to somehow find a single image that encapsulates all of that, and the feelings that go with it.”

Old-growth logging has long been contentious in B.C. The debate first made headlines in the early 1990s, when hundreds of protesters gathered near Clayoquot Sound for the so-called “war in the woods.”

The protests garnered international media attention and shone a spotlight on logging practices in the province. Clayoquot Sound was ultimately protected and local First Nations have stewarded the area’s forests ever since. But elsewhere in B.C., old-growth logging continued.

In the last fiscal year, the province said $1.3 billion in revenue and more than 50,000 jobs were linked to the forestry sector. Logging is particularly important for some smaller, more remote communities, says Jim Girvan, a forestry economist and former director of the Truck Loggers Association. “If the forest industry wasn’t there operating, those small towns would eventually become ghost towns,” Girvan said.

An old-growth tree is defined in B.C. as one that is older than 250 years in coastal forests, or 140 years in interior forests. According to provincial data, roughly 50,000 hectares of old-growth forest are cut annually. The older, bigger trees tend to have the highest value, says Girvan, which is important for an industry that’s been struggling to keep afloat. “Old-growth logs, for example, are very good for making guitars, and that’s one of the products that a lot of people come to British Columbia for,” he explained.

For his part, Watt says he’s not opposed to logging but argues that it needs to be done differently — for example, in second-growth tree plantations, which replace old-growth forests lost to fire and logging, with trees re-logged every 50-60 years. Watt also feels “there should be a more value-added side to the industry.” Rather than exporting raw logs to other countries, Watt says, those logs should be processed in B.C. to make higher-end products.

Watt’s photographs have also led to a different economic opportunity: tourism. A stand of thousand-year old conifers near Port Renfrew, known as Avatar Grove, was protected after Watt’s photos caught the attention of hikers, ecologists and activists 10 years ago. Today, the area is a protected park and draws thousands of tourists every summer seeking big trees.

Still, many of the trees that Watt has photographed have been cut down. Last year, he hiked into the Caycuse Valley, a few hours north of Victoria, just as logging was set to begin. He decided to try something different: photographing the forest before—and after—it was cleared. “I remember thinking that by tomorrow morning [these trees] won’t be here,” he said. “It’s a very odd experience to feel that you’re essentially taking a portrait of something in its final days.”

Watt returned after logging was complete and took photos from the same vantage points. Then he posted the before-and-after series on social media. The response was almost immediate, he says. “When you refresh the page just a few minutes later and it’s already got a hundred comments and a thousand shares, you can tell that it’s going to blow up in a big way.”

The photos generated some two million views on social media, along with international media coverage, and sparked public outcry. Since then, tensions over old-growth logging have reached a boiling point with more than 900 protesters arrested at anti-logging blockades in the Fairy Creek watershed—not far from the Caycuse Valley where Watt took the before-and-after photos.

In early November—facing increasing public pressure—the B.C. government announced, in principle, a temporary halt to logging in 2.6 million hectares of old-growth forests. The province stated its “intention to work in partnership with First Nations” to develop forest sustainability plans while logging of certain rare old-growth trees is deferred. If the deferrals become permanent, the province estimates that up to 4,500 jobs could be lost. Industry officials have suggested that number could be four times higher.

The announcement came a year and a half after the provincially commissioned old-growth strategy review panel released its recommendations, calling for a “paradigm shift” in logging practices. The panel called for a more ecological approach to managing B.C.’s forests, and a stronger oversight role for First Nations.

“The small communities and logging contractors we spoke with were just as concerned about not losing biological diversity, not damaging our environment, as the people who are protesting out the windows,” said Al Gorley, co-chair of the old-growth review panel.

The provincial announcement came as welcome news for Watt. The giant western red cedar that he’d photographed near Barkley Sound this summer is located in one of the logging deferral areas, meaning it won’t be cut down any time soon.

After more than a decade of documenting trees before they’re cut down, Watt sounded cautiously optimistic. “At the end of the day, I need to know that I did everything I could to make a difference,” he said. “Hopefully our efforts pay off.”

“I think for someone who loves trees,” he added, “I have the best job and the worst job in the world.”