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"This complaint highlights the strong public interest in seeing more ancient trees and forest stands preserved to live out their natural lives and functions, and managed as a social, economic and ecological asset to the public and surrounding communities," said board chair Al Gorley.

The minister's acknowledgment that more needs to be done to protect monumental trees is not exactly a revelation. Environmental groups, particularly the Ancient Forest Alliance and the Wilderness Committee have been pushing for it for years.

“As a photographer working for a cause you’re always looking for that elusive shot that truly captures both the emotional and the factual aspects of the issue in one image. It’s difficult to get both together but this picture is quickly proving to have done just that. Of the hundreds of thousands of photos I have taken, as sad as it is, this is the one I am most proud of,” notes Watt.

Ancient Forest Alliance photographer T.J. Watt took first place in Outdoor Photography Canada magazine's "Human Impact" photo contest with an image taken in the Gordon River Valley near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island.

“Time is running out for our endangered old-growth forests and B.C.’s coastal forestry jobs. Salt Spring Island is famous as a hub of environmental consciousness — it may very well have the highest density of tree-huggers in North America. It’s a key place for us to build support and expand our strong campaign to protect our ancient forests, ensure sustainable second-growth forestry and to ban raw log exports to foreign mills,”

AFA members spent the last year hunting the south Island for old-growth stands to document and photograph. It’s trying to put pressure on the B.C. government to protect old-growth stands for future generations.

The valuable contribution intact forests make in conserving natural carbon stores to help in the fight against climate change has been largely overlooked in BC. Like a bank account that can store carbon away for hundreds of years, the service of keeping carbon in the ground and out of the atmosphere, is provided free of charge by our intact forests.