When is a grove of 600 to 800-year-old Douglas Fir trees not an old growth forest?
That's the question the Campbell family and other residents on Sonora Island will ask TimberWest Forest Corporation, western Canada's largest timber and land management company, at a meeting today in Campbell River.
TimberWest, owned by two pension funds, bills itself as “a leader in sustainable forest management and is committed to Vancouver Island communities.”
It also says it practices “stewardship that maintains biodiversity.”
But the Campbells and other coastal residents contend that the company's cutting practices are not as sustainable as advertised.
At issue are groves of stunning old growth fir and cedar on southeast side of Sonora Island, just northeast of Campbell River on Vancouver Island.
Because TimberWest owns renewable Crown harvest rights to an area that falls partly within the southernmost boundary of the Great Bear Rainforest, it must manage these forests according to Ecosystem Based Management (EBM).
It's a government approved land use system that manages human activities such as logging in a way that “ensures the co-existence of healthy, fully functional ecosystems and human communities.”
When the provincial government implemented EBM in 2009, the rules stated that 30 per cent of each original forest type had to be left intact at a bare minimum to conserve ecological integrity.
Although adhering to this principle has been touted as a success by government and industry, the Campbells say it's not being honoured or enforced.
In fact they've been raising concerns about the logging of old growth forests in the region since the 1990s.
In particular they are concerned about the survival of small groves of untouched coastal Douglas fir and cedar, that now exist, much like plains buffalo, at less then one per cent of their historic prevalence, on the islands and adjacent Mainland coast.
Residents challenged TimberWest
Due to past logging, Sonora Island lies within an area where the goal of saving 30 per cent of these ancient trees remains far below target.
But in a July 2010 letter TimberWest announced plans to log on the island in an area containing many ancient trees.
Rick Monchak, operations manager for TimberWest, assured the Campbells in the letter that, “All of the proposed development is within second growth [already logged] timber and should be well away from the watersheds…”
Last year the Campbells and other families challenged the veracity of the company's assessment.
The company pushed in a logging road anyway.
In February of last year the Sonorans then hiked and explored the laid-out cut-block.
There they found survey tape labeled “Falling Boundary” wrapped around ancient stands of Douglas fir and cedar.
Some of the untouched groves contained huge trees measuring up to eight feet in diameter and over 200 feet tall. Depending on their quality some of the trees could be worth tens of thousands of dollars.
Altogether the Campbells measured and catalogued 160 massive trees in one single cut-block and took pictures.
“We were furious,” says Fern Kornelsen another long time Sonoran resident.
Shortly afterwards, at a meeting in the TimberWest office in Campell River, senior registered professional foresters tried to assure the Campbells that the approved cutblock consisted of “second growth timber.”
“Oh those are big trees they said, looking at the photos, but there are not enough of them,” they told the Campbells.
Later, on a trip taken with the Campbells to the area in question, a TimberWest forester admitted “this is the nicest and largest area of this type of old growth in the landscape unit.”
Company officials then explained that their definition of old growth was a forest with more than 50 percent of the stand volume belonging to trees over 250 years old.
Forest Practices Board bows out
The Forest Practices Board was then called upon to help mediate the dispute.
But the board withdrew two months later, issuing a statement to the Sonorans, saying, “We agreed that now is a good time for the Board to pull back from direct involvement to allow you a chance to resolve your concerns with TimberWest.”
“We thought the board would reprimand the company and uphold the law,” said Jody Eriksson, another Sonoran resident, “but that didn't happen.”
The issue, however, soon caught the attention of Greenpeace, Forest Ethics Solutions, and the Sierra Club and other industry watchdogs.
They wanted to know if the principles of EBM were being enforced in other parts of the Great Bear Rainforest.
They also wondered if TimberWest had tailored a definition of old growth that allowed them to search out and cut the last remaining stands of old forest by calling them second growth.
“How did TimberWest pull that off?” asked Valerie Langer of Forest Ethics Solutions in a blog post. “By using a bizarre, technically unheard of, definition they made up.”
In April 2013 the Sonora residents commissioned, at a cost of several thousand dollars, an independent environmental assessment by Madrone Environmental Services Ltd.
The 77-page report, which called for better mapping and verification of old growth on the island, concluded the proposed cut-block was indeed old growth:
“Based on the data collected, we conclude that the sampled 5.6 ha area of Sonora 11-370 West consists of 'old forest' as that term is intended to be understood for the purposes of the Objectives for landscape level biodiversity under South Central Coast Order.”
Doug Hopwood, one of the co-authors of the report and a Registered Professional Forester, noted that he was “unable to find any documented scientific basis” for the TimberWest's definition of old growth.
Definition 'in progress': TimberWest
TimberWest says a relevant definition for old growth has yet to be nailed down.
In a response to Tyee inquiries, Domenico Iannidinardo, vice president of sustainability and chief forester for TimberWest explained the company “voluntarily deferred harvest and began working with the Sonora Island community to develop a definition for old growth stand that the parties could agree to. An independent specialist was jointly retained to oversee development of the definition, a piece of work that is in progress.”
The company's chief forester added, “that the Forest Practices Board, the Province and First Nations are aware of the joint work on the old growth stand definition. The province also has a representative on the team that is working on the definition of old growth stand. Once the definition has been developed it will be shared with the Province and First Nations.”
But the Sonorans feared that TimberWest would continue to cut the few remaining stands while negotiating the new definition.
On Oct. 14, 2013 Iannidinardo promised that wouldn't happen.
He explained in a letter that the company would follow “a precautionary approach while this work on the definition of an old growth stand continues in adherence to the South Coast Conservation Order.”
In addition “we have no plans to harvest stands in the Thurlow [includes Sonora] and Grey Landscape Units that will or might have the potential to meet the final definition of an old growth stand.”
Members of the Sonora community then travelled to a familiar patch of rare old growth in the Grey Landscape Unit on the Mainland to see if TimberWest kept its word.
That's where they say they found a recent cut-block full of tall, straight, giant trees dominated by Douglas fir over 500 years old and equally impressive stands of western red cedar.
Unfortunately, they claim, the trees were already felled and lying on the ground.
The community is meeting with TimberWest on Jan. 24 to discuss the company's reasons for the cutting of so many ancient trees.
TimberWest's Iannidinardo told The Tyee the company is “engaged in complex discussions with our neighbours on Sonora Island on a range of issues pertaining to the Gray Landscape Unit including the definition of old growth stand. As part of the discussions we are providing answers to a number of questions raised by the Sonora Island community.”
'Where is the government?'
Ross Campbell, a business owner and long-time Sonoran resident wants to see more government involvement on the issue.
“Our government relies on timber companies' commitment to 'Professional Reliance' to ensure the health and future of our public forests, but with practices such as TimberWest's it is clear the spirit and intent of EBM is not being upheld in the woods.”
Added Ross: “And just where is the government?”
Other members of the community said protecting ancient trees is one thing but policing forest companies in order to enforce provincial law is another issue altogether.
“That job that should not fall on the shoulders of citizens but appears to be required with so little government oversight or enforcement,” said Farlyn Campbell, a life-time Sonora resident.
TimberWest is owned by two Canadian pension funds, the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation and Public Sector Pension Investment Board.
The company says its goal is to “earn an international reputation as an environmentally responsible supplier of forest products through stewardship of its lands.”
Read more: https://thetyee.ca/News/2014/01/24/BC-Old-Growth/
Tree growth never slows
/in News CoverageMany foresters have long assumed that trees gradually lose their vigour as they mature, but a new analysis suggests that the larger a tree gets, the more kilos of carbon it puts on each year.
“The trees that are adding the most mass are the biggest ones, and that holds pretty much everywhere on Earth that we looked,” says Nathan Stephenson, an ecologist at the US Geological Survey in Three Rivers, California, and the first author of the study, which appears today in Nature. “Trees have the equivalent of an adolescent growth spurt, but it just keeps going.”
The scientific literature is chock-full of studies that focus on forests' initial growth and their gradual move towards a plateau in the amount of carbon they store as they reach maturity. Researchers have also documented a reduction in growth at the level of individual leaves in older trees.
In their study, Stephenson and his colleagues analysed reams of data on 673,046 trees from 403 species in monitored forest plots, in both tropical and temperate areas around the world. They found that the largest trees gained the most mass each year in 97% of the species, capitalizing on their additional leaves and adding ever more girth high in the sky.
Although they relied mostly on existing data, the team calculated growth rates at the level of the individual trees, whereas earlier studies had typically looked at the overall carbon stored in a plot.
Estimating absolute growth for any tree remains problematic, in part because researchers typically take measurements at a person's height and have to extrapolate the growth rate higher up. But the researchers' calculations consistently showed that larger trees added the most mass. In one old-growth forest plot in the western United States, for instance, trees larger than 100 centimetres in diameter comprised just 6% of trees, but accounted for 33% of the growth.
The findings build on a detailed case study published in 2010, which showed similar growth trends for two of the world’s tallest trees — the coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) and the eucalyptus (Eucalyptus regnans), both of which can grow well past 100 metres in height. In that study, researchers climbed, and took detailed measurements of, branches and limbs throughout the canopy to calculate overall tree growth. Stephen Sillett, a botanist at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California, who led the 2010 study, says that the latest analysis confirms that his group’s basic findings apply to almost all trees.
Decline in efficiency
The results are consistent with the known reduction in growth at the leaf level as trees age. Although individual leaves may be less efficient, older trees have more of them. And in older forests, fewer large trees dominate growth trends until they are eventually brought down by a combination of fungi, fires, wind and gravity; the rate of carbon accumulation depends on how fast old forests turn over.
“It’s the geometric reality of tree growth: bigger trees have more leaves, and they have more surface across which wood is deposited,” Sillett says. “The idea that older forests are decadent — it’s really just a myth.”
The findings help to resolve some of these contradictions, says Maurizio Mencuccini, a forest ecologist at the University of Edinburgh, UK. The younger trees may grow faster on a relative scale, he says, meaning that they take less time to, say, double in size. ”But on an absolute scale, the old trees keep growing far more.”
The study has broad implications for forest management, whether in maximizing the yield of timber harvests or providing old-growth habitat and increasing carbon stocks. More broadly, the research could help scientists to develop better models of how forests function and their role in regulating the climate.
Read more: https://www.nature.com/news/tree-growth-never-slows-1.14536
Kwakiutl protest logging
/in News CoveragePort Hardy – With the blessing of the Kwakiutl Hereditary Chief, the Kwakiutl Indian Band held a peaceful protest last Thursday, January 9, at an Island Timberlands logging operations in Port Hardy.
Band members carried signs proclaiming the area as Kwakiutl traditional territory and gathered at the entrance of the site. Fallers in the area reportedly ceased operations and left the site, as the protestors drummed and sang.
In a release, the band said that, “This logging is symptomatic of the long-standing disregard by Canada and B.C. to act honourably to meet their commitments and obligations of the ‘Treaty of 1851’.”
A B.C. Supreme Court decision on June 17, 2013, upheld the Kwakiutl’s Douglas Treaty and “encouraged and challenged” both the federal and provincial governments to begin honourable negotiations with the First Nation “without any further litigation, expense or delay.”
Band representatives explained that logging operation along Byng Road is in the area of a cultural use trail and said they had not been consulted before falling began in the area.
“The Kwakiutl people have never ceded, surrendered, or in any way relinquished aboriginal title and rights to our traditional territories,” explained the release.
“We continue to hold aboriginal title, and to exercise our rights in and interests in all of our traditional territories. Our aboriginal title and rights are recognized and protected by Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, which recognizes our occupation of the territories before the assertion of British sovereignty and affirms our rights to the exclusive use and occupancy of the land and to choose what uses the land can be put to. These Constitutional Rights apply throughout our traditional territories.”
Economic Development Manager Casey Larochelle said that the continued failure of B.C. and Canada to recognize the unextinguished title and rights of the Kwakiutl reflected poorly on the ‘Honour of the Crown.’
Lands and Resources Coordinator Tom Child explained that current logging operations were taking place in a culturally sensitive area, including trapline sites and a medicinal plant harvest site in addition to the trail.
The representatives expressed frustration at the Crown’s minimization and “narrow legal interpretation” of the Douglas Treaty and the lack of meaningful consultation with the Kwakiutl.
“Canada and B.C. need to consult in good faith with the Kwakiutl to create a new course for comprehensive implementation of the Treaty of 1851,” said the release. “Rather than simply being an archaic document with narrow legal interpretation, this treaty should be seen as a living document to guide how the Kwakiutl and the new settlers to this land co-exist. There is a shared history and a future that will continue to bind ‘all peoples’ together.”
See more: https://issuu.com/blackpress/docs/i20140116100029732/1?e=1205826%2F6374208
Surprise! Old growth trees are ‘star players’ in gobbling greenhouse gas.
/in News CoverageThe oldest trees in a forest aren't just passively clinging to the carbon they've drawn from the atmosphere and stored as leaves and wood – they're capturing CO2 at a pace that increases with each passing year.
That's the surprising result from an exhaustive new study of tree growth and carbon storage, a key element in Earth's carbon cycle and a focus of international efforts to draw up a new international climate treaty.
For years, conventional wisdom held that even if old-growth trees weren't felled by fire, disease, lightning, or chain saws, they retained no additional carbon as they entered their golden years. They were valuable as storage bins for the carbon they had taken up and stored as they grew. But few counted on old-growth trees to continue sequestering CO2 from the atmosphere in their senior years.
That bit of arboreal ageism began to change in 2008, when researchers published a study showing that old-growth forests actively added to their carbon stocks, although at a slower pace than forests with younger demographics.
Now, an international research team has shown that, for many tree species across the globe, old trees accumulate carbon at an increasing rate as time passes. On average, trees whose trunks are about three feet across add nearly 230 pounds of dry mass to their girth each year. That's about three times more mass than a younger tree of the same species with a trunk half as wide would add.
This does not mean that trees will save the planet from the relentless rise of heat-trapping CO2 in the atmosphere resulting from human industrial activities and land-use changes, researchers caution.
The fact that concentrations continue to rise in itself shows that natural sinks for carbon aren't keeping up with human emissions, although they are moderating the increase the atmosphere sees.
Nor do the results imply that old-growth forests are better at soaking up and retaining CO2 on a given day than large stands of young trees or forests with a broader mix of young and old, says Nathan Stephenson, a forest ecologist with the US Geological Survey's Western Ecological Research Center in Three Rivers, Calif. Mortality rates in these younger forests tend to be lower, allowing more trees to carry on the vital work of photosynthesis. And proportionately fewer trees are dying at any one time, limiting the net amount of carbon dioxide that returns to the atmosphere as the dead trees decompose.
Still, in managing forests for the carbon they actively acquire and hold in long-term storage, “you need to know who your star players are on the team. It turns out that the star players in an old forest are the old trees, not the young trees.”
The results are “very exciting,” says Doug Boucher, director of tropical forest and climate initiative at the Union of Concerned Scientists, an environmental group based in Cambridge, Mass. “It reinforces the value of old-growth forests for the storage of carbon in the biosphere.”
Beyond a tendency to anthropomorphize the life cycle of trees, doubts about the capacity of older trees to increase their carbon stores had some basis in earlier research, Dr. Stephenson says.
Researchers looking at the role of leaves noted that as trees grew older, their leaves became less efficient at taking up CO2 – which would be expected to show up as a slowdown in carbon accumulation. And in stands where the trees were all about the same age, net CO2 storage declined as the trees aged.
A couple of studies, each focusing on an individual species, found that the older trees in their samples bucked conventional wisdom. But the results weren't overwhelming enough to overturn it.
Stephenson and his colleagues culled their measurements from records kept at research stations worldwide. Their sample included more than 670,000 trees, representing 403 species from six continents. Their measurements focused on increases in trunk diameter at a standard height above the ground.
Overall, 98.6 percent of the species in the sample experienced increased mass with age, suggesting that while a tree might reach a maximum height, it could add mass along its trunk indefinitely, with biggest trees adding the most mass.
One reason, Stephenson explains, is that as trees grow, they continue to add branches and leaves. Even though the carbon uptake of an individual leaf might decline with time, an older tree has many more leaves than its younger siblings. A decline in leaf efficiency is more than offset by an increase in numbers.
As for the sequestration declines seen in old stands of trees of similar age, such stands started out with many more trees, which would have boosted their carbon-sequestration potential. “You can pack a lot more young trees on a patch of land than old trees,” Stephenson says.
The study's results have important implications for managing forests in a warming climate, he adds.
In regions such as the US's Mountain West, climate-related contributions to wildfire frequency and intensity, as well as to more-frequent infestations of insects such as the Mountain pine beetle, already are putting more-intense stress on forests.
“Maybe if environmental changes are hitting your biggest trees the hardest, this is sort of an added impetus to go: 'Oh my gosh, we need to mitigate that,' because these are the star players in pulling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere,” he says.
Read more: https://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2014/0116/Surprise!-Old-growth-trees-are-star-players-in-gobbling-greenhouse-gas
163 Years of Delay, Denial and Dishonour: Kwakiutl First Nation Marks Treaty Anniversary with Day Twelve of Protest
/in News CoverageToday, Kwakiutl commemorates the 163rd anniversary of its 1851 “Douglas” Treaty as the First Nation enters into its twelve day of protest against the Province of British Columbia, Canada and Forest Companies over the controversial clear-cutting of cedar trees on lands with exclusive Kwakiutl Aboriginal title, rights & interests, and Treaty rights.
“The people of Kwakiutl have been left with no choice but to protest and stop Canada and BC from allowing Companies to cut and remove cedar trees from our Land,” said Chief Coreen Child of Kwakiutl First Nation.
Cedar is vital to the Kwakiutl people, contributing to every facet of life—from ceremony to sanctuary. “As our respected ones taught us, the trees are the 'standing people'. They have the same energy as a bear, a salmon, a mountain, or a human being. The trees in the forest are like family,” said Tom Child, Lands Manager and Band Member of Kwakiutl First Nation.
At the centre of Kwakiutl's protest is an 1851 Treaty with the British Crown, which stipulated that lands and waters were to be set-aside for the exclusive use by Kwakiutl to maintain livelihood “as formerly” and for “generations to follow”.
“Our people viewed the Treaty as vital to protecting land, water, and a way of life,” said Chief Child. “But treaty implementation never happened. It was denied. And by way of denial, natural resource based industries sprang up around us and decimated our lands and waters,” said Chief Child.
In June 2013, after a century and a half of Crown neglect, the BC Supreme Court found that BC and Canada had failed to implement and respect Kwakiutl “Douglas” Treaty and “challenged” both levels of government to begin honourable negotiations with the First Nation “without any further litigation, expense or delay.” Kwakiutl considered this aspect of the judgment a victory because it put to rest, once and for all, the Provincial Crown's denial of Kwakiutl rights, title and interests.
As of this writing, BC has appealed the ruling and Canada has fallen silent. Both levels of government claim they do not have a mandate to implement Kwakiutl's 1851 Treaty.
Kwakiutl believes it has been left with little recourse but to protest, and views its actions as part of a larger struggle shared by First Nations across Canada.
“There is a resistance growing across Canada because the Crown continues with its shopworn practice of dispossession, and if it works, why change it. It's infringing, insulting and infuriating. Here, we live amidst the most resource rich Nation in the world and our people continue to be mired in a system of poverty and stigma that still dresses itself in assimilationist clothing,” said Chief Child.
In the wake of anniversary and protest, Kwakiutl First Nation calls upon the federal and provincial Crown governments to cease their delay tactics, stop their denial of Aboriginal rights, title and interests, and acknowledge that the Treaty of 1851 exists and needs to be honoured and implemented.
“Our Treaty is alive and well,” said Kwakiutl Councillor, Ross Hunt, Jr. “It stands as testament to Kwakiutl self-government and the principles of Kwakiutl law. Tonight, in heat of our protest fire and in the heart of Kwakiutl territory, our forests will ring with traditional games and songs. We invite BC and Canada to celebrate the honour with us.”
See more: https://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1727448
SFU Slideshow: The Campaign to Protect BC’s Endangered Ancient Forests!
/in AnnouncementsFriday, Feb.7, 2014
4:30 to 6:00 pm
West Mall Center rm 3253, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby
Join Ken Wu of the Ancient Forest Alliance for a slideshow presentation about the politics and ecology of British Columbia's endangered ancient forests. Hear about the BC government's forth-coming “Forest Giveaway Plan” to increase corporate certainty over BC's public forest lands by expanding Tree Farm Licences across the province. See spectacular photos of the Echo Lake Ancient Forest, Walbran Valley, Avatar Grove, Mossy Maple Grove, Koksilah Ancient Forest, Horne Mountain/Cathedral Grove, McLaughlin Ridge, and find out how you can help protect BC's endangered ancient forests and ensure sustainable second-growth forestry jobs!
Free! Refreshments served.
Invite others on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/events/293424334115588/
Organized by the SFU Ancient Forest Committee
How Many Old Growth Trees Make a Forest?
/in News CoverageWhen is a grove of 600 to 800-year-old Douglas Fir trees not an old growth forest?
That's the question the Campbell family and other residents on Sonora Island will ask TimberWest Forest Corporation, western Canada's largest timber and land management company, at a meeting today in Campbell River.
TimberWest, owned by two pension funds, bills itself as “a leader in sustainable forest management and is committed to Vancouver Island communities.”
It also says it practices “stewardship that maintains biodiversity.”
But the Campbells and other coastal residents contend that the company's cutting practices are not as sustainable as advertised.
At issue are groves of stunning old growth fir and cedar on southeast side of Sonora Island, just northeast of Campbell River on Vancouver Island.
Because TimberWest owns renewable Crown harvest rights to an area that falls partly within the southernmost boundary of the Great Bear Rainforest, it must manage these forests according to Ecosystem Based Management (EBM).
It's a government approved land use system that manages human activities such as logging in a way that “ensures the co-existence of healthy, fully functional ecosystems and human communities.”
When the provincial government implemented EBM in 2009, the rules stated that 30 per cent of each original forest type had to be left intact at a bare minimum to conserve ecological integrity.
Although adhering to this principle has been touted as a success by government and industry, the Campbells say it's not being honoured or enforced.
In fact they've been raising concerns about the logging of old growth forests in the region since the 1990s.
In particular they are concerned about the survival of small groves of untouched coastal Douglas fir and cedar, that now exist, much like plains buffalo, at less then one per cent of their historic prevalence, on the islands and adjacent Mainland coast.
Residents challenged TimberWest
Due to past logging, Sonora Island lies within an area where the goal of saving 30 per cent of these ancient trees remains far below target.
But in a July 2010 letter TimberWest announced plans to log on the island in an area containing many ancient trees.
Rick Monchak, operations manager for TimberWest, assured the Campbells in the letter that, “All of the proposed development is within second growth [already logged] timber and should be well away from the watersheds…”
Last year the Campbells and other families challenged the veracity of the company's assessment.
The company pushed in a logging road anyway.
In February of last year the Sonorans then hiked and explored the laid-out cut-block.
There they found survey tape labeled “Falling Boundary” wrapped around ancient stands of Douglas fir and cedar.
Some of the untouched groves contained huge trees measuring up to eight feet in diameter and over 200 feet tall. Depending on their quality some of the trees could be worth tens of thousands of dollars.
Altogether the Campbells measured and catalogued 160 massive trees in one single cut-block and took pictures.
“We were furious,” says Fern Kornelsen another long time Sonoran resident.
Shortly afterwards, at a meeting in the TimberWest office in Campell River, senior registered professional foresters tried to assure the Campbells that the approved cutblock consisted of “second growth timber.”
“Oh those are big trees they said, looking at the photos, but there are not enough of them,” they told the Campbells.
Later, on a trip taken with the Campbells to the area in question, a TimberWest forester admitted “this is the nicest and largest area of this type of old growth in the landscape unit.”
Company officials then explained that their definition of old growth was a forest with more than 50 percent of the stand volume belonging to trees over 250 years old.
Forest Practices Board bows out
The Forest Practices Board was then called upon to help mediate the dispute.
But the board withdrew two months later, issuing a statement to the Sonorans, saying, “We agreed that now is a good time for the Board to pull back from direct involvement to allow you a chance to resolve your concerns with TimberWest.”
“We thought the board would reprimand the company and uphold the law,” said Jody Eriksson, another Sonoran resident, “but that didn't happen.”
The issue, however, soon caught the attention of Greenpeace, Forest Ethics Solutions, and the Sierra Club and other industry watchdogs.
They wanted to know if the principles of EBM were being enforced in other parts of the Great Bear Rainforest.
They also wondered if TimberWest had tailored a definition of old growth that allowed them to search out and cut the last remaining stands of old forest by calling them second growth.
“How did TimberWest pull that off?” asked Valerie Langer of Forest Ethics Solutions in a blog post. “By using a bizarre, technically unheard of, definition they made up.”
In April 2013 the Sonora residents commissioned, at a cost of several thousand dollars, an independent environmental assessment by Madrone Environmental Services Ltd.
The 77-page report, which called for better mapping and verification of old growth on the island, concluded the proposed cut-block was indeed old growth:
“Based on the data collected, we conclude that the sampled 5.6 ha area of Sonora 11-370 West consists of 'old forest' as that term is intended to be understood for the purposes of the Objectives for landscape level biodiversity under South Central Coast Order.”
Doug Hopwood, one of the co-authors of the report and a Registered Professional Forester, noted that he was “unable to find any documented scientific basis” for the TimberWest's definition of old growth.
Definition 'in progress': TimberWest
TimberWest says a relevant definition for old growth has yet to be nailed down.
In a response to Tyee inquiries, Domenico Iannidinardo, vice president of sustainability and chief forester for TimberWest explained the company “voluntarily deferred harvest and began working with the Sonora Island community to develop a definition for old growth stand that the parties could agree to. An independent specialist was jointly retained to oversee development of the definition, a piece of work that is in progress.”
The company's chief forester added, “that the Forest Practices Board, the Province and First Nations are aware of the joint work on the old growth stand definition. The province also has a representative on the team that is working on the definition of old growth stand. Once the definition has been developed it will be shared with the Province and First Nations.”
But the Sonorans feared that TimberWest would continue to cut the few remaining stands while negotiating the new definition.
On Oct. 14, 2013 Iannidinardo promised that wouldn't happen.
He explained in a letter that the company would follow “a precautionary approach while this work on the definition of an old growth stand continues in adherence to the South Coast Conservation Order.”
In addition “we have no plans to harvest stands in the Thurlow [includes Sonora] and Grey Landscape Units that will or might have the potential to meet the final definition of an old growth stand.”
Members of the Sonora community then travelled to a familiar patch of rare old growth in the Grey Landscape Unit on the Mainland to see if TimberWest kept its word.
That's where they say they found a recent cut-block full of tall, straight, giant trees dominated by Douglas fir over 500 years old and equally impressive stands of western red cedar.
Unfortunately, they claim, the trees were already felled and lying on the ground.
The community is meeting with TimberWest on Jan. 24 to discuss the company's reasons for the cutting of so many ancient trees.
TimberWest's Iannidinardo told The Tyee the company is “engaged in complex discussions with our neighbours on Sonora Island on a range of issues pertaining to the Gray Landscape Unit including the definition of old growth stand. As part of the discussions we are providing answers to a number of questions raised by the Sonora Island community.”
'Where is the government?'
Ross Campbell, a business owner and long-time Sonoran resident wants to see more government involvement on the issue.
“Our government relies on timber companies' commitment to 'Professional Reliance' to ensure the health and future of our public forests, but with practices such as TimberWest's it is clear the spirit and intent of EBM is not being upheld in the woods.”
Added Ross: “And just where is the government?”
Other members of the community said protecting ancient trees is one thing but policing forest companies in order to enforce provincial law is another issue altogether.
“That job that should not fall on the shoulders of citizens but appears to be required with so little government oversight or enforcement,” said Farlyn Campbell, a life-time Sonora resident.
TimberWest is owned by two Canadian pension funds, the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation and Public Sector Pension Investment Board.
The company says its goal is to “earn an international reputation as an environmentally responsible supplier of forest products through stewardship of its lands.”
Read more: https://thetyee.ca/News/2014/01/24/BC-Old-Growth/
UBC Forestry Forum and Rally – Thursday Jan.23 at UBC
/in AnnouncementsThe UBC Faculty of Forestry and the Pulp, Paper, and Woodworkers of Canada (PPWC) union are organizing a forestry forum on Thursday, Jan.23 st UBC with diverse environmental, industry, and First Nations speakers. Prior to the forum, the PPWC will be holding a brief rally where Arnie Bercov (PPWC), Valerie Langer (ForestEthics), and Ken Wu (Ancient Forest Alliance) will speak about the importance of protecting old-growth forests, ensuring sustainable value-added forestry and ending raw log exports. Rally from 3:15 to 4:00 pm at the Martha Piper Fountain, and Forum from 4:30-7:00 pm at the Forest Sciences Center rm.1005, 2424 Main Mall.
See PPWC website: www.ppwc.ca/news
UBC campus map: www.maps.ubc.ca/PROD/index.php
Carbon emissions from BC forests alarming: environmental group
/in News CoverageAn environmental group is calling on the provincial government to take action as B.C.’s forests continue to emit more carbon dioxide than they absorb.
“We’re concerned this has become a long-term problem,” said Jens Wieting from environmental advocacy group the Sierra Club.
Ideally, a healthy forest will absorb more carbon in the soil and trees than it releases, for example through burning, decomposition and logging. This is sometimes called a carbon sink.
Due to a number of factors — including pine beetle infestation, slash fires, wood waste and clear cutting — B.C.’s forests have not done this since 2003, and are emitting carbon dioxide at alarming rates, the group said.
According to the province’s own data, net carbon dioxide emissions from forestland in 2011 were 34.9 million tonnes, equivalent to more than half of B.C.’s total official emissions for that year. However, only carbon emissions from deforestation and afforestation (new or replanted forests) are included in the province’s official total. As a result, forestland emissions from other sources are “not part of any policy discussions,” Wieting said.
“There’s a lack of policy, planning and awareness all around. Not to mention the lag time for this data and need for more research.”
Dave Crebo, a spokesman for the Ministry of Environment, said forestland emissions are not included in official totals because “emission estimates for this sector have a high degree of uncertainty relative to estimates in other sectors.”
Forestland emissions are also not included in national inventories.
However, an agreement recently reached under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on a new forest carbon accounting framework could change that.
“Canada and B.C. are reviewing this new reference-level based framework,” Crebo said.
Wieting has said the province has gotten away with poor forest management for the past 100 years, in part because of its temperate climate. But climate change could alter that.
Carbon dioxide is the most significant driver of global climate change. The greenhouse gas traps heat from the atmosphere and radiates it back toward Earth.
“We already have climate impacts,” Wieting said, citing the pine beetle infestation, landslides and droughts, which increase the risk of forest fires. “So we have to double our efforts to maintain healthy forests for clean water, for clean air and for our children. This requires government action.”
Wieting is calling on the province to release detailed data about forestland emissions in a timely fashion (the most recent numbers are from 2011). He also wants to see a forest-management plan that reduces carbon emissions, clear-cut logging and wood waste.
“We can do something about this,” he said. “It’s not too late.”
Read more: https://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/carbon-emissions-from-b-c-forests-alarming-environmental-group-1.792564
Trees accelerate growth as they get older and bigger, study finds
/in News CoverageMost living things reach a certain age and then stop growing, but trees accelerate their growth as they get older and bigger, a global study has found.
The findings, reported by an international team of 38 researchers in the journal Nature, overturn the assumption that old trees are less productive. It could have important implications for the way that forests are managed to absorb carbon from the atmosphere.
“This finding contradicts the usual assumption that tree growth eventually declines as trees get older and bigger,” said Nate Stephenson, the study's lead author and a forest ecologist with the US Geological Survey (USGS). “It also means that big, old trees are better at absorbing carbon from the atmosphere than has been commonly assumed.”
The scientists from 16 countries studied measurements of 673,046 trees of more than 400 species growing on six continents, and found that large, old trees actively fix large amounts of carbon compared to smaller trees. A single big tree can add the same amount of carbon to the forest in a year as is contained in an entire mid-sized tree, they found.
“In human terms, it is as if our growth just keeps accelerating after adolescence, instead of slowing down. By that measure, humans could weigh half a tonne by middle age, and well over a tonne at retirement,” said Stephenson.
“In absolute terms, trees 100cm in trunk diameter typically add from 10-200 kg dry mass each year averaging 103kg per year. This is nearly three times the rate for trees of the same species at 50cm in diameter, and is the mass equivalent to adding an entirely new tree of 10-20cm in diameter to the forest each year,” said the report.
The findings back up a 2010 study which showed that some of the largest trees in the world, like eucalyptus and sequoia, put on extraordinary growth as they get older.
“Rapid growth in giant trees is the global norm, and can exceed 600kg per year in the largest individuals,” say the authors.
The study also shows old trees play a disproportionately important role in forest growth. Trees of 100cm in diameter in old-growth western US forests comprised just 6% of trees, yet contributed 33% of the annual forest mass growth.
But the researchers said that the rapid carbon absorption rate of individual trees did not necessarily translate into a net increase in carbon storage for an entire forest. “Old trees can die and lose carbon back into the atmosphere as they decompose,” says Adrian Das, another USGS co-author. “But our findings do suggest that while they are alive, large old trees play a disproportionately important role in a forest's carbon dynamics. It is as if the star players on your favourite sports team were a bunch of 90-year-olds.”
“It tells us that large old trees are very important, not just as carbon reservoirs. Old trees are even more important than we thought,” said University College London researcher Emily Lines, another co-author of the paper.
Understanding of the role of big trees in a forest is developing rapidly even as they come under increasing threat from the fragmentation of forests, severe drought and new pests and diseases. Research in 2012 showed that big trees may comprise less than 2% of the trees in any forest but they can contain 25% of the total biomass and are vital for the health of whole forests because they seed large areas.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jan/15/trees-grow-more-older-carbon
Thanks to Cat Abyss Clothing!
/in AnnouncementsThanks to Cat Abyss Clothing, a new eco-friendly clothing company who will donate 10% of proceeds to the Ancient Forest Alliance from their kickstarter campaign. See their Facebook page and the link to their campaign at: https://www.facebook.com/catabyss