Conservationists Welcome NDP Government’s Big Tree Protection Announcement, Set Sights on More Comprehensive Old-Growth Plan

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Victoria, BC – The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) welcomes the NDP government’s announcement that it will protect 54 of the biggest trees listed on the BC Big Tree Registry with buffer zones and hopes for more comprehensive, science-based old-growth forest protection under the BC government’s proposed old-growth strategy.

“We welcome this positive step toward protecting some of the biggest and oldest trees on Earth,” stated Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner Andrea Inness. “It’s a small step, but it may signal there’s more comprehensive action to come.”

“The BC government’s old-growth plan must now be scaled up exponentially. We need protection at all spatial scales: at the tree, grove, landscape unit/watershed, and ecosystem level.”

“We’re glad to hear the 54 trees will be protected with buffer zones, which, although small in this case at only one hectare, are vital to minimize the risk of damage due to factors exacerbated by surrounding harvesting activities, such as strong winds, and to enhance ecosystem protection and tourism value.”

“The NDP’s approach to protecting big trees should not be based only on trees listed on the BC Big Tree Registry, though, which is a small subset of BC’s biggest trees based on what some big tree enthusiasts have found. Many of BC’s biggest trees are not on the big tree registry.”

The AFA also welcomes the NDP’s commitment to change regulations later this year to protect more of BC’s biggest trees. If effective, such a legal mechanism would help protect the environmental, recreational, and cultural values of BC and could bolster BC’s tourism industry, significantly enhancing the province’s status as a preferred destination for nature-lovers far and wide.

“It’s important they get the details right, though,” stated AFA campaigner and photographer TJ Watt. “These regulatory protections must include adequate buffer zones of at least 2 hectares and must avoid loopholes that allow big trees to be logged in certain circumstances. The minimum size thresholds for protection should also be lowered, as 50% of the diameter of the widest trees found still only captures the most extremely rare, exceptionally big trees.”

“It must also be a comprehensive policy that’s rolled out across BC’s coast and expanded to the Interior.”

The AFA is hopeful the NDP’s big tree protection regulations will also be expanded to include protection of BC’s “grandest groves,” where there is an exceptional number and density of large trees, to ensure ancient forests with the greatest ecological, recreational, and scenic values are conserved for future generations to enjoy.

“BC’s biggest trees and grandest groves truly stand out as some of the province’s most spectacular natural assets and are disproportionately valuable for tourism and often for biodiversity. But much more work is needed to protect old-growth forests on a much greater scale.”

“A more comprehensive, legislated plan is still desperately needed to protect the province’s old-growth ecosystems on a larger scale in order to sustain biodiversity, clean water, and the climate,” stated Inness.

The AFA is hopeful the NDP government’s consultation process and resulting old-growth strategy result in such legislated changes, for example, through amendments to the Forest and Range Practices Act in the spring of 2020.

“The next step, however, should be immediate moratoria on logging of old-growth ‘hotspots’ with the highest ecological and recreational value. Otherwise the grandest, most intact forests will continue to be whittled away while the government figures out its old-growth plan.”

“To sustain forestry jobs, the BC government must also ensure the development of a sustainable, value-added second-growth forest industry and end the export of vast amounts of raw, unprocessed logs to foreign mills.”

“Today’s announcement is like the bang of the starting gun at the beginning of the race. It kicks things off. Let’s just hope there are much more exciting things to come and that the NDP’s old-growth strategy is a sprint, not a marathon that drags on for years. Time is running out for the last of BC’s remaining productive old-growth forests and we need province-wide, science-based solutions fast.”

In the press release accompanying today’s announcement, the NDP government claimed that 55% of the old-growth on BC’s coast is protected. This figure is highly misleading for a number of reasons. The BC government is including vast areas of low-productivity sub-alpine and bog forests with little to no commercial value, which aren’t endangered, and are ignoring largely cut-over private lands, which make up almost 25% of Vancouver Island’s land base. They also lump the Great Bear Rainforest (where 85% of forests have been set aside from commercial logging) in with the south coast, where old-growth forests are highly endangered and where old-growth logging continues at a scale of about 10,000 hectares a year.

Finally, the BC government fails to mention how much old-growth has previously been logged on the south coast: almost 80% of the original productive old-growth forest and over 90% of the low elevation, high-productivity stands (e.g. the very rare, monumental old-growth stands currently being logged in the Nahmint Valley and other hotspot areas).

“By focusing only on the fraction of old-growth protected of the fraction remaining, the more old-growth forest that’s logged outside the 55% that’s protected, the higher that number rises,” stated Inness. “If all the unprotected old-growth forests are logged, the BC government could then make the claim that ‘100% of the old-growth forests on the coast are protected!’”

UBC scientists find high mutation rates generating genetic diversity within huge, old-growth trees

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UBC News
July 8th, 2019

Study provides clues on how trees evolve to survive

The towering, hundreds of years old Sitka spruce trees growing in the heart of Vancouver Island’s Carmanah Valley appear placid and unchanging.

In reality, each one is packed to the rafters with evolutionary potential.

UBC researchers scraped bark and collected needles from 20 of these trees last summer, sending the samples to a lab for DNA sequencing. Results, published recently in Evolution Letters, showed that a single old-growth tree could have up to 100,000 genetic differences in DNA sequence between the base of the tree, where the bark was collected, and the tip of the crown.

Each difference represents a somatic mutation, or a mutation that occurs during the natural course of growth rather than during reproduction.

“This is the first evidence of the tremendous genetic variation that can accumulate in some of our tallest trees. Scientists have known for decades about somatic mutations, but very little about how frequently they occur and whether they contribute significantly to genetic variation,” said Sally Aitken, the study’s lead researcher and a professor of forestry at UBC. “Now, thanks to advances in genomic sequencing, we know some of the answers.”

The researchers chose the Sitka spruce because it’s among the tallest trees growing in the Pacific Northwest, and sampled the exceptional trees in Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park.

“Because these trees live so long and grow so tall, they’re capable of accumulating tremendous genetic variation over time,” explained Vincent Hanlon, who did the research as part of his master of science in the faculty of forestry at UBC.

“On average, the trees we sampled for the study were 220 to 500 years old and 76 metres tall. There’s a redwood tree in California that’s 116 metres tall, but these Sitka spruce were pretty big.”

The researchers say more time and further studies will be needed to understand exactly how the different somatic mutations will affect the evolution of the tree as a species.

“Most of the mutations are probably harmless, and some will likely be bad,” explained Aitken. “But other mutations may result in genetic diversity and if they’re passed onto offspring they’ll contribute to evolution and adaptation over time.”

Studying somatic mutation rates in various tree species can shed light on how trees, which can’t evolve as rapidly as other organisms like animals due to their long lifespans, nonetheless survive and thrive, Aitken said.

“We often see tree populations that adapt well to local climates and develop effective responses to changing stresses such as pests and bugs,” she added. “Our study provides insights on one genetic mechanism that might help make this possible.”

See the original article

ACTION ALERT: Have Your Say on Changes to BC’s Forest Practices Legislation

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The BC Government is currently seeking public feedback on proposed changes to the Forest and Range Practices Act, the main piece of legislation governing forest practices in BC. The amendments will focus on issues like climate change, biodiversity, government oversight, and public trust in forestry management decisions.

This is a rare and critical opportunity for British Columbians to speak up for science-based protection of BC’s endangered old-growth forests!

The Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA) has reduced government accountability and oversight and put the fox (timber industry) in charge of the henhouse (BC’s public lands, including rare and endangered old-growth forests). It also prioritizes timber supply over all other forest management objectives and includes loopholes around old-growth protection big enough to drive a logging truck through! The results have been a disaster and BC’s ancient forest ecosystems, biodiversity, climate, and communities are paying the price. 

Now is our chance to demand bold and sweeping changes to this outdated law.

Current legislated targets for old-growth protection are set too low and are not based on science, meaning we are losing the species, ecosystem services, tourism and recreation opportunities, and valuable carbon stores that old-growth forests provide. It’s high time the NDP government stopped placating the timber industry and started prioritizing the health and resilience of BC’s forest ecosystems. And it starts with strengthening the Forest and Range Practices Act.

Amendments to FRPA must:

  • Mandate the establishment of higher, legally-binding old-growth protection targets, based on the latest science, to sustain the long-term ecological integrity of old-growth forest ecosystems;
  • Prioritize forest connectivity and climate resilience;
  • Prioritize the management of biodiversity over timber supply across landscapes; and 
  • Close the loopholes that allow much of Earth’s grandest forests and biggest trees to be logged.

Read the BC government’s discussion paper for more information and details on the proposed changes.

Until Monday, July 15th, the BC government is accepting public comments on amendments to FRPA through an online survey. We have provided responses to the survey questions below to make it as easy as possible for you -simply copy, paste, and edit your responses as needed.

SUBMIT YOUR FEEDBACK (suggested survey answers below) Question 1. How should the Province identify opportunities and priorities for adapting forest management to a changing climate, such as mitigating the effects of beetle infestations, drought and fire?

  • Prioritize forest ecosystem health, connectivity, and resilience over timber supply to ensure forest ecosystems and the species that depend on them can cope with the impacts of climate change. Recent studies show that mature and old-growth and older forests are more resilient and can better protect communities from climate impacts like droughts and flooding better than younger forests.
  • Strengthen protection of valuable forest carbon sinks (i.e. old-growth forests).
  • Recognize the BC forest sector’s contribution to provincial greenhouse gas emissions and prioritize management approaches that significantly reduce forestry emissions (for example, by ending slash burning).

Question 2. What factors should be considered in the planning of forest operations to reduce the risks of wildfire around your community?

  • Logging and clearcuts that readily dry out have been shown to make landscapes more prone to fires. Protecting more forests around communities and curtailing forestry around communities will help reduce the frequency of fires.
  •  Forest operations must aim to minimize activities that exacerbate climate change impacts such as fires, flooding, droughts, and landslides.
  • Silvicultural practices must be changed to reduce wildfire risks near communities. This can be done, for example, by planting climate appropriate tree species and actively reducing fuel build-up in second-growth forests via thinning and controlled burns.

Question 3. A vital step in landscape-level planning is understanding what is important to the public. Based on what is important to you or your community, what information on the condition of resource values (such as species-at-risk habitat) do you think is necessary to support the planning process?

  • The current amount, in hectares and percentages, of protected and unprotected old-growth forest that remains in each landscape unit, by ecosystem type and productivity level, compared to their original extent (pre-European colonization).
  • Maps showing the geographic location of these remaining old-growth forests and their existing land use designations, both legislated (Parks, TFLs, Private, Crown, etc.) and regulatory (OGMAs, WHAs, etc.).
  •  Information on biodiversity (at all scales), including biodiversity hotspots for species richness, endangered species concentrations, underrepresented plant communities, and rare element occurrences.
  • Various species at risk habitat, including critical habitat.
  • Freshwater quality and salmon stock data and trends.
  • Forest industry and other industry tenures, leases and activities over the landscape.

Question 4. How would you like to be involved in the planning process?

  • Members of the public should be given meaningful, timely opportunities for public engagement at all levels of forest planning, including online commentary.
  • Landscape planning must be well-funded and be done quickly.
  • Landscape planning must also be multi-stakeholder processes (including environmental non-governmental organizations, among others) and co-managed by provincial and Indigenous governments.

Question 5. Resource roads are a valuable asset in the province as they provide access for the forest industry, ranchers, other resource users, and the public for commercial and recreation purposes. Yet, these same road networks are costly to maintain and have potential negative impacts on wildlife, water quality and fish habitat. What values do you believe are important to consider when planning new roads, road use and maintenance, and deactivation in your area?

  • Minimize on road construction wherever possible. Road densities may be the single largest source of lasting environmental degradation in landscapes.
  • Maintaining habitat connectivity and supporting species that rely on large tracts of undisturbed forest for survival.
  • Maintaining sufficient interior forest habitat and reducing the amount forest edge ecosystem.
  • Maintaining access to areas that provide valuable recreation and tourism opportunities while ensuring habitat connectivity and ecological integrity take priority.
  • Ensuring minimal impacts to freshwater quality, especially in drinking watersheds and salmon-bearing waterways.

Question 6. How can the Province improve transparency and timelines of information regarding proposed operational and landscape-level objectives, plans and results?

  • Provide meaningful, timely opportunities for public engagement at all levels of forest planning.
  • Forest Stewardship Plans must be more detailed on specific cutblock plans and roads, be publicly available online, and require public consultation spanning at least 120 days (twice the current 60-day period) to allow ample time for public comment.
  • Require licensees and provincial decision-makers to demonstrate how public comment substantially informed proposed plans, operations and approval decisions.

Question 7. What information will help inform your feedback on plans that may impact you, your community or your business (e.g., maps of cutblocks and roads planned in your area, hydrological assessments, wildlife habitat areas or recreation opportunities, etc.)?

  • Maps of planned cutblocks and roads, forest reserve designations (e.g. OGMAs, WHAs), old-growth forest ecosystems (at the BEC zone and, where possible, site series level) and productivity classes, species-at-risk habitat, recreation opportunities, and information such as surveys, assessments, and studies relied on by licensees to demonstrate consistency with government objectives, approval tests, and statutory requirements should all be made publicly available in order to inform feedback on proposed plans.

Question 8. What additional values should be considered in FRPA that will allow us to manage forest and range practices in a better way?

  • Science-based old-growth forest retention on a scale sufficient to ensure their long-term ecological integrity must be added as a management objective.
  • Through FRPA, the BC government must establish an independent science panel to: a) Evaluate the conservation status of all forest ecosystems, b) Establish evidence-based old-growth and other biodiversity targets to be applied through landscape level planning with associated, legally-binding timelines.
  • These targets must take ecosystem types, forest productivity, and elevation distinctions into account and must not be based on representation alone, but also on landscape ecology and conservation biology principles to ensure long-term ecological integrity.

FRPA amendments must also:

  • Establish biodiversity as a high management priority in all forest ecosystems through an explicit FRPA objective.
  • Remove the constraint “without unduly reducing the supply of timber from British Columbia’s forests” from all FRPA legal objectives and from the Government Actions Regulation and add the constraint “without unduly reducing the resilience of ecosystems” to timber and other ‘use’ objectives.
  •  Include a hierarchy of old-growth forest reserve establishment where old-growth forests take priority over second-growth and high productivity forests take priority over low.
  • Restrict the movement of Old Growth Management Area boundaries.

Question 9. In what ways should the Province strengthen government oversight and industry accountability regarding forest and range activities to better address the challenges of climate change and the interests of all British Columbians?

  • Require licensees to provide sufficient information for provincial decision-makers to evaluate operational plans and proposed forest operations for consistency with legal objectives and require government approval of site-level plans.
  •  Require that decision-makers provide written reasons to the public demonstrating how proposed logging and road-building are consistent with statutory tests, legal objectives, Indigenous rights and public comment.
  • Require provincial decision-makers to determine whether proposed forest operations are consistent with:  a) maintaining and where necessary restoring healthy, fully functioning forest ecosystems that support ecological, social and cultural resiliency, and  b) the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
  • Remove existing, lengthy bureaucratic steps required to set objectives and give government the authority to set objectives, informed by public input, for a particular area.

Thank you for submitting your feedback! Can you go a step further?

Send an email to Forests Minister Doug Donaldson, Premier John Horgan, and other decision-makers telling them the 2020 Forest and Range Practices Act amendments must include science-based protection of old-growth forests! 

Directions to Avatar Grove and the big trees.

Avatar Grove with BC KAIROS Rolling Justice Bus

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Last week, the BC KAIROS Rolling Justice Bus embarked on four day tour to see some of Vancouver Island’s most spectacular ancient forests and learn more about the issues surrounding them. AFA’s TJ Watt and forest ecologist Andy MacKinnon helped kick off day one of the tour at Avatar Grove in Canada’s Tall Trees Capital, Port Renfrew, sharing what makes old-growth forests so unique and why they’re worth more standing than as stumps! Thanks to BC-KAIROS for hosting this informative tour, raising awareness for BC’s ancient forests, and having the AFA along!

ACTION ALERT: Speak up for Ancient Forests. Submit your Feedback on Budget 2020 Before June 28th!

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Suggested wording for your submission:

Across British Columbia, old-growth forests have significant economic, social, and environmental value.

Old-growth forests:
• Support unique and endangered species that cannot flourish in second-growth forests;
• Are vital pillars of BC’s multi-billion dollar tourism industry, with tourists coming from around the world to visit BC’s old-growth forests and parks;
• Are vital to many First Nations cultures;
• Store vast amounts of atmospheric carbon, potentially allowing local communities to benefit from rapidly expanding carbon markets;
• Supply clean water for communities and for wild salmon, which in turn supports commercial and recreational fisheries; and
• Are important for non-timber products, such as mushrooms, wild berries, and medicines.

Studies have shown that keeping old-growth forests standing can provide a greater overall economic benefit than cutting them down when factoring in the values listed above. Across British Columbia, local communities stand to gain greater revenues and jobs by protecting nearby old-growth forests.

A century of industrial logging has reduced BC’s remarkable old-growth forests to a fraction of their original extent. Today, almost 80% of the original productive old-growth forests on BC’s south coast have been logged, including well over 90% of the highest productivity forests with the greatest biodiversity and biggest trees. As more of BC’s carbon-rich old-growth forests are logged every year, unique species and entire ecosystems are being pushed to the brink of collapse.

I therefore recommend the BC government prioritize the conservation of endangered old-growth forests in its 2020 provincial budget by:

1) Establishing a dedicated $40 million per year BC Natural Lands Acquisition Fund to purchase private lands of high conservation, scenic, cultural, and recreational value from willing sellers to add to BC’s parks and protected areas system. This $40 million annual fund should increase by $10 million/year until the fund reaches $100 million/year.

A $40 million Natural Lands Acquisition Fund would amount to only 0.07% of BC’s approximately $60 billion annual budget and would generate significant financial returns for the province. In fact, studies have shown that, for every $1 invested by the BC government in our parks system, another $9 is generated in the provincial economy through tourism revenues.

British Columbia’s most endangered ecosystems are often found on privately-owned lands, many of which are under threat from logging and real estate developments. Private land trusts, while important, are simply unable to raise enough funds fast enough to buy all of BC’s endangered private lands before many of them are destroyed. The BC government must develop a comprehensive, strategic plan with sufficient, consistent government funding to protect endangered ecosystems on private lands before they are lost.

2) Contributing funding toward the sustainable development and economic diversification of Vancouver Island First Nations communities in lieu of old-growth logging, tied to the creation of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (an initiative known as conservation financing).

Many First Nations communities on Vancouver Island make significant revenues from old-growth logging, yet lack a range of alternative economic development opportunities that would support their local economies into the future and allow them to transition away from old-growth logging, should they wish to. In order to protect old-growth forests, create jobs, and improve community wellbeing, the BC government should support conservation financing solutions as an alternative to old-growth logging, similar to the $120 million (including $30 million in provincial funds) provided to First Nations in the Great Bear Rainforest in support of ecosystem-based management in that region.

This is a fundamentally important precursor for the large-scale protection of endangered old-growth forests in BC and for the NDP government to effectively implement its 2017 election platform commitment to apply ecosystem-based management of old-growth forests across BC.

 

 

 

 

Note: You may also wish to present your feedback in person to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government at a public hearing (in-person or via teleconference). Click here [Original article no longer available] for the dates and locations of public hearings being held across BC and read this handy guide [Original article no longer available] on how to prepare presentations and submissions to the Committee. You can also submit an audio or video submission here. [Original article no longer available]

 

 

Questions about the Budget 2020 consultation process? Visit the Budget 2020 website [Original article no longer available] for more information.

 

Please help us spread the word by sharing this page with your network! We need as many British Columbians as possible to speak up and request funding for old-growth protection in Budget 2020.

 

 

 

 

Every year, the BC government consults British Columbians on their financial priorities for the upcoming provincial budget. The consultation process for the 2020 provincial budget is happening now until 5:00 pm on Friday, June 28th, giving us a golden opportunity to request dedicated funding for old-growth forest protection.

 

Horne Mountain

 

A BC Land Acquisition Fund would allow endangered ecosystems on private lands (like Horne Mountain, pictured here) to be purchased and protected.

 

 

The Ancient Forest Alliance has long called for a legislated, science-based plan to protect endangered old-growth forests on Crown lands, along with regulations and incentives to support the transition to a sustainable, second-growth forest industry. But these regulatory measures aren’t enough to ensure the protection of endangered forests on private lands or secure the long-term economic and social well-being of First Nations communities that want to protect old-growth forests in their territories, but are dependent on revenues from old-growth logging.

 

 

To protect old-growth forests, the BC government must commit funding to two key initiatives in its 2020 budget:

 

  • A provincial Natural Lands Acquisition Fund for the purchase and protection of endangered ecosystems on private lands; and
  • Conservation financing for the sustainable economic development of First Nations economies in lieu of old-growth logging, tied to the creation of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas.

 

 

Funding for these initiatives is critical for the large-scale protection of BC’s endangered forests. Even modest funding in the 2020 budget would send a positive signal that the BC government is willing to take action in the interests of BC’s ancient forests and First Nations communities and would create momentum for greater funding commitments in future budgets.

 

 

PLEASE SPEAK UP FOR ANCIENT FORESTS AND SUBMIT YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE 2020 PROVINCIAL BUDGET TODAY!

 

Follow these easy steps to submit your feedback:
1) Copy the prepared submission below,
2) Visit the budget consultation website [Original article no longer available], select Make a written, audio or video submission, and hit “next,”
3) Fill in your contact details and skip to the next page,
4) Paste the prepared submission into the “comments” box,
5) Follow the instructions and submit!

 

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR FEEDBACK [Original article no longer available]

 

 

 

Suggested wording for your submission:

Across British Columbia, old-growth forests have significant economic, social, and environmental value.

Old-growth forests:
• Support unique and endangered species that cannot flourish in second-growth forests;
• Are vital pillars of BC’s multi-billion dollar tourism industry, with tourists coming from around the world to visit BC’s old-growth forests and parks;
• Are vital to many First Nations cultures;
• Store vast amounts of atmospheric carbon, potentially allowing local communities to benefit from rapidly expanding carbon markets;
• Supply clean water for communities and for wild salmon, which in turn supports commercial and recreational fisheries; and
• Are important for non-timber products, such as mushrooms, wild berries, and medicines.

Studies have shown that keeping old-growth forests standing can provide a greater overall economic benefit than cutting them down when factoring in the values listed above. Across British Columbia, local communities stand to gain greater revenues and jobs by protecting nearby old-growth forests.

A century of industrial logging has reduced BC’s remarkable old-growth forests to a fraction of their original extent. Today, almost 80% of the original productive old-growth forests on BC’s south coast have been logged, including well over 90% of the highest productivity forests with the greatest biodiversity and biggest trees. As more of BC’s carbon-rich old-growth forests are logged every year, unique species and entire ecosystems are being pushed to the brink of collapse.

I therefore recommend the BC government prioritize the conservation of endangered old-growth forests in its 2020 provincial budget by:

1) Establishing a dedicated $40 million per year BC Natural Lands Acquisition Fund to purchase private lands of high conservation, scenic, cultural, and recreational value from willing sellers to add to BC’s parks and protected areas system. This $40 million annual fund should increase by $10 million/year until the fund reaches $100 million/year.

A $40 million Natural Lands Acquisition Fund would amount to only 0.07% of BC’s approximately $60 billion annual budget and would generate significant financial returns for the province. In fact, studies have shown that, for every $1 invested by the BC government in our parks system, another $9 is generated in the provincial economy through tourism revenues.

British Columbia’s most endangered ecosystems are often found on privately-owned lands, many of which are under threat from logging and real estate developments. Private land trusts, while important, are simply unable to raise enough funds fast enough to buy all of BC’s endangered private lands before many of them are destroyed. The BC government must develop a comprehensive, strategic plan with sufficient, consistent government funding to protect endangered ecosystems on private lands before they are lost.

2) Contributing funding toward the sustainable development and economic diversification of Vancouver Island First Nations communities in lieu of old-growth logging, tied to the creation of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (an initiative known as conservation financing).

Many First Nations communities on Vancouver Island make significant revenues from old-growth logging, yet lack a range of alternative economic development opportunities that would support their local economies into the future and allow them to transition away from old-growth logging, should they wish to. In order to protect old-growth forests, create jobs, and improve community wellbeing, the BC government should support conservation financing solutions as an alternative to old-growth logging, similar to the $120 million (including $30 million in provincial funds) provided to First Nations in the Great Bear Rainforest in support of ecosystem-based management in that region.

This is a fundamentally important precursor for the large-scale protection of endangered old-growth forests in BC and for the NDP government to effectively implement its 2017 election platform commitment to apply ecosystem-based management of old-growth forests across BC.

 

 

 

 

Note: You may also wish to present your feedback in person to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government at a public hearing (in-person or via teleconference). Click here [Original article no longer available] for the dates and locations of public hearings being held across BC and read this handy guide [Original article no longer available] on how to prepare presentations and submissions to the Committee. You can also submit an audio or video submission here. [Original article no longer available]

 

 

Questions about the Budget 2020 consultation process? Visit the Budget 2020 website [Original article no longer available] for more information.

 

Please help us spread the word by sharing this page with your network! We need as many British Columbians as possible to speak up and request funding for old-growth protection in Budget 2020.

 

 

 

 

New Old-Growth Clearcut Mars the Scenery from the Popular Gordon River Bridge at Avatar Grove

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Before-and-After Photos Reveal Logging Destruction on Edinburgh Mountain, a “Hotspot” of Exceptional Old-Growth Forest near Port Renfrew

Port Renfrew, BC – Old-growth clearcutting approved by the NDP government has now marred the scenic view from the popular bridge over the Gordon River by the Avatar Grove, one of the most popular nature tourism destinations in BC. Before-and-after images taken by conservationists with the Ancient Forest Alliance highlight the destructive impacts of recent clearcut logging by the Teal Jones Group on Edinburgh Mountain, a “hotspot” of high conservation, scenic, and recreational value near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island. The photos, taken before logging commenced and then after most of the clearcutting was completed, reveal the felling of exceptional ancient forest, including giant redcedars and rare, ancient Douglas-fir trees within a 15.6 hectare cutblock.

“These images provide a glimpse into the shocking situation that’s playing out all over BC’s south coast,” stated Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer TJ Watt, who captured the images. “Old-growth forests once teeming with life and some of Canada’s largest trees are being destroyed, never to be seen again in our lifetime. The logging on Edinburgh Mountain adds to the approximately 75 hectares of ancient forest already logged by Teal Jones that has further fragmented what was once almost 1,500 hectares of stunning, intact ancient rainforest. Two new logging roads are also under construction on the mountain as we speak. To top it off, now they have started to mar the view from the Gordon River Bridge with their old-growth clearcutting, a bridge where hundreds of thousands of tourists view the scenery of what was previously a contiguous old-growth and second-growth forest canopy.”

The clearcutting came to within approximately 50 feet of an enormous Douglas-fir tree, tossing trees and debris around its base. The giant tree measures 33’9″ft (11.4m) in circumference or 10’8″ft in diameter, making it the sixth-widest Douglas-fir in Canada according to the BC Big Tree Registry (seventh widest when including the Alberni Giant in the Nahmint Valley), and is not protected.

Edinburgh Mountain Ancient Forest, as it’s known by conservationists, located in Pacheedaht First Nation territory, is home to Big Lonely Doug, Canada’s second largest Douglas-fir tree, which stands alone in a clearcut at the base of the mountain, and is important habitat for endangered northern goshawks and threatened marbled murrelets. It also contains one of the finest and most endangered lowland, valley-bottom, old-growth forests left on Vancouver Island: the spectacular Eden Grove.

The area is one of about two dozen old-growth forest “hotspots” on Vancouver Island identified by conservationists, which represent some of the island’s last remaining, exceptional, intact, and unprotected old-growth areas. Others include the spectacular Nahmint and Central Walbran Valleys, East Creek Rainforest, and Nootka Island.

“These hotspots are in need of immediate protection by the BC government,” stated Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner Andrea Inness. “Most of them are actively being logged and time is running out to prevent them from becoming tattered fragments, like the majority of Vancouver Island’s remaining productive old-growth. While the BC government assures British Columbians that they’re working on an old-growth strategy, they have yet to reveal any details and continue to send the wrong signals. In the meantime, failure to protect these old-growth hotspots will result in considerable losses in terms of biodiversity, ecological processes, opportunities for tourism, and First Nations cultural values, and could spark significant conflict.”

In the case of Edinburgh Mountain, significant opportunities are lost with each cutblock that’s logged, including potential tourism revenues for the nearby town of Port Renfrew, which has been dubbed the Tall Tree Capital of Canada having capitalized on the outstanding old-growth forests and record-sized trees in the region.

“It’s frustrating to see the BC government’s outdated forest policies threaten Port Renfrew’s growing tourism economy,” stated Watt. “Thousands of tourists come to see Renfrew’s spectacular old-growth forests and ancient giants each year. The destruction of Edinburgh Mountain undermines the town’s image as an eco-tourism destination, particularly because it’s so visible. While driving along the Gordon River bridge on the way to Avatar Grove, where you once saw a beautiful, fully intact old-growth forest on the mountainside, there’s now a big ugly clearcut that spoils the view. Tourists must shake their heads when they see how BC manages its globally rare old-growth forests.”

“The NDP government has an economic and ecological imperative to cultivate a forest industry for the future that supports sustainable jobs and conserves the many values ancient forests provide like biodiversity, carbon storage, cultural values, and clean water,” said Inness. “The Ancient Forest Alliance, along with other conservation groups and the BC Greens, are calling on the NDP government to take immediate action to protect old-growth hotspots while there’s still time and develop long-term, science-based solutions for BC’s endangered old-growth forests while supporting the sustainable economic diversification of First Nations communities whose unceded territories these are.”

“Meanwhile, the NDP government needs to facilitate a shift to a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry using incentives and regulations to phase out raw log exports and support retooling of mills to handle second-growth trees.”

“We have a global responsibility to safeguard BC’s ancient forests, given the climate emergency and unprecedented global biodiversity decline that we’re faced with. A shift to a science-based approach that also maintains forestry jobs is entirely possible. It just takes political leadership.”

Background Information

Old growth forests are integral to British Columbia for ensuring the protection of endangered species, climate stability, tourism, clean water, wild salmon, and the cultures of many First Nations. They have unique characteristics that are not replicated by the second-growth forests they’re replaced with and are a non-renewable resource under BC’s forest system, where forests are logged every 50-80 years, never to become old-growth again.

The BC government often states that 520,000 hectares of old-growth forests are protected on Vancouver Island and will never be logged and that 55 percent of the old-growth on BC’s coast is protected, but these figures are misleading. These figures include vast areas of low-productivity forest – stunted, marginal forests that grow at high elevation or in bogs and are therefore at low to no risk of being logged. They also leave out enormous swathes of largely cut-over forests on private lands, which make up more than a quarter of Vancouver Island and which are largely managed under provincial authority. Finally, the BC government fails to consider how much old-growth has already been logged on Vancouver Island: almost 80% of the original productive old-growth forest and over 90% of the low elevation, high-productivity stands where the largest trees grow. Only about 8% of Vancouver Island’s original old-growth forests are protected in parks and Old Growth Management Areas.

For more information, see our December 2018 media release marking the commencement of the logging on Edinburgh Mountain by Teal Jones Group: https://16.52.162.165/new-logging-operations-underway-on-edinburgh-mountain-an-old-growth-forest-environmental-hotspot-near-port-renfrew-on-vancouver-island/

 

Province-wide rallies to protect old-growth forests

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Global News
June 6, 2019

Environmental activists rallied across B.C. Thursday, demanding the government do more to protect B.C.’s old-growth forests. Kylie Stanton reports.

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Premier’s office one of 17 rallies across B.C. calling for protection of old-growth forest

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Sooke News Mirror
June 6, 2019

Protestor questions Horgan’s commitment to mitigate ‘climate degradation’

Dozens of constituents showed up outside the community office of Premier John Horgan Thursday afternoon as part of province-wide protest against the logging of old-growth on the Island.

Steve Gray of the BC-Yukon KAIROS Rolling Justice Bus spoke on the need to transition old-growth logging jobs to second-growth and other sectors.

“We say loggers need to transition away from logging old growth forests now. We say the government should lend them a hand,” he said.

“Re-tool our mills to handle second growth. Lend them a hand.”

Gray questioned the Horgan’s commitment to mitigate “climate degradation,” citing the premier’s support for the Site C hydroelectric dam and $6 billion in tax exemptions for the liquified natural gas industry.

Bruce Fogg, executive assistant to the premier, said he would relay the message to Horgan, who was aware of the issue.

“I will certainly take back [to Horgan] information that he’s already aware of, that you folks have some very strong opinions on this very complex issue,” he said before the crowd drowned out his voice.

In her speech, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner Andrea Inness urged action and offered steps to protect B.C. forests.

This included halting the logging of old-growth ‘hotspots’ with the “greatest” conservation and recreation value; creating a “comprehensive, science-based” plan to protect endangered old-growth across the province; implementing a natural lands acquisition fund to buy and protect old-growth on private lands; introducing sustainable development and economic diversification of First Nations communities tied to the creation of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas like tribal parks; and supporting an “expedited transition to a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry.”

Inness noted the government is inviting feedback from the public on ways to improve the Forest and Range Practices Act until July 15, which can be submitted on the B.C. government website.

Today, 79 per cent of “the original productive old-growth forests on Vancouver Island have been logged, including 90 per cent of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow,” according to the B.C. Green Party.

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AFA’s Youth Supporters

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We find inspiration knowing that younger generations are taking action to learn about and protect BC’s ancient forests as our now and future leaders. We’d like to send a shout-out to some of these amazing youth!

Thank you very much to Fiona and Melody for organizing a ‘Toonie Party’ for their 10th birthday, which raised $200 with support from family and friends. We’d also like to give thanks to the students from Wishart Elementary School who delivered petition signatures to Mitzi Dean at the Legislature; to Emma’s class at Regent Christian Online Academy for interviewing Joan, our Admin Director (and Emma’s Grammy) to learn about AFA’s work and how non-profit organizations can make a difference in this world; to Ben and his brothers in California for starting a ‘Save the World’ club to educate their community about pressing environmental issues; and to the Toronto students who presented on Big Lonely Doug at their Earth Day Symposium. Thank you all for your courage and support!

 

Grade 5 students from Wishart Elementary School with their old-growth poster-board.
L-to-R: Jennifer Neufeldt, Addison Foulis, Carter Hobson, & Maddie Kimola,

B.C. Greens call for halt on logging Island old-growth

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Times Colonist
May 14, 2019

The provincial government should immediately halt the logging of old-growth forests on Vancouver Island, the B.C. Green Party said Monday. However, B.C.’s minister of forests rejected a moratorium, saying it would be devastating for the Island’s forestry workers.

In the legislature, the Green Party called on the government to impose a moratorium on old-growth logging and develop more sustainable forestry practices that protect vital ecosystems.

The call comes amid uncertainty around the B.C. government’s plans to log 109 hectares of old-growth forest near Juan de Fuca Provincial Park.

“Our coastal old-growth is not a renewable resource — and there’s not much left,” Sonia Furstenau, Green MLA for Cowichan Valley, said in a statement. “These globally rare ecosystems support threatened species — including wild salmon — and keep our water and air clean.”

Furstenau said the government should protect the last few remaining intact old-growth forest “hot spots” on Vancouver Island and transition to second-growth logging, which focuses on cutting trees that have regrown after a timber harvest.

“Logging old-growth is short-sighted,” said Furstenau. “It jeopardizes the job stability, local economies, and ecosystem health.”

Forests Minister Doug Donaldson said more than 500,000 hectares of old-growth forests on Vancouver Island are already protected in provincial or national parks or other designated areas.

“Over half the old-growth forests on the coast of Vancouver Island are protected. So we have a lot of old-growth forest protected already,” Donaldson told the Times Colonist. “And the remainder of the areas that are being managed, if we implement an immediate moratorium in those areas, the impacts to the forest sector on Vancouver Island would be devastating.”

There are 24,000 people who work directly in the forestry sector and many of those people would lose their jobs if a moratorium is imposed, said Donaldson, adding there are not enough second-growth trees to replace old-growth cutblocks.

Last week, the Ministry of Forests confirmed that a controversial plan to log old-growth forests near Juan de Fuca Provincial Park had been postponed for a second time following a public outcry.

The ministry said B.C. Timber Sales, a government agency, had pulled its advertisements for the auction of 109 hectares of forest in seven cutblocks — including two that come within 50 metres of the park.

The ministry said it needed more time to engage with a local stakeholder who was missed during the initial referral process.

Jon Cash, co-owner of Soule Creek Lodge, received an email from B.C. Timber Sales saying the sale had been “postponed/ removed” to allow for more engagement with the lodge.

Cash has said the noise of chainsaws and road blasting will be devastating for the lodge, which is located near the proposed clearcuts.

Donaldson said the ministry also plans to investigate information provided by environmental groups that there are legacy trees — particularly old and large trees — in the cutblock.

“Best practices of B.C. Timber Sales is to preserve those legacy trees, so that’s why the timber sale was taken off B.C. Bid,” Donaldson said.

The Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce decried the original logging plans, saying clear-cutting the forests would do irreparable harm to tourism in a region that has branded itself Canada’s Tall Tree Capital.

The Green Party says 79 per cent of the original productive old-growth forests on Vancouver Island have been logged, including 90 per cent of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow. Despite that, B.C. Timber Sales continues to auction off the remaining Crown-owned old-growth for logging.

Green MLA Adam Olsen, the party’s forestry spokesman, acknowledged the importance of forestry jobs, but said thousands of jobs have been lost over the decades due to poor forestry management.

“We want high-paying jobs that are not vulnerable to boom-bust economics,” he said. “There are mills on Vancouver Island that can only process old-growth.

“But old-growth is a finite resource, and most of it is already gone. That means those forestry jobs are at risk.”

In February, environmental advocacy group Sierra Club B.C. delivered a petition signed by 20,000 British Columbians to five NDP MLA constituency offices, including the Vancouver-Fairview office of Environment Minister George Heyman.

In June 2018, 223 scientists from nine countries signed a letter urging the provincial government to take immediate action to protect B.C.’s temperate rain forests.

The B.C. Greens say they’ve received more than 20,000 emails from British Columbians asking why the province fails to protect old-growth trees.

In the next six months, Donaldson said, the government will begin a public consultation process with First Nations groups and communities across Vancouver Island as it develops a sustainable forest management plan.

Last year, the NDP government protected an additional 70,000 hectares of old-growth forests on southern Vancouver Island and the southern mainland to ensure an undisturbed habitat for marbled murrelet and coastal northern goshawk, Donaldson said.

An additional 1,000 hectares of old-growth Douglas fir was also protected on the east side of Vancouver Island.

Furstenau said the government is inflating the amount of old-growth forest that is protected.

“The government cannot continue to talk about a future strategy while actively logging these endangered forests,” Furstenau said. “They must act now, or British Columbians and future generations will suffer consequences.”

kderosa@timescolonist.com
lkines@timescolonist.comm

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