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Cathedral Grove at risk from old growth logging uphill from popular site, say conservationists

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CBC News British Columbia
March 8th, 2020

Ancient Forest Alliance demands province set aside money to buy private lands near MacMillan Provincial Park

Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner Andrea Inness stands close to a stream on Mt. Horne, the hillside above the world-famous Cathedral Grove, which she says is being encroached on by old growth logging in the area. (TJ Watt/Ancient Forest Alliance)

Conservationists on Vancouver Island have renewed a demand that the province set aside money to buy private lands to stop the logging of old growth trees.

The call came this week after the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) and the Port Alberni Watershed-Forest Alliance drew attention to logging happening close to one of the most-visited stands of protected old growth trees in the province — Cathedral Grove in MacMillan Provincial Park.

Since late 2019 Mosaic Forest Management has been logging on Mt. Horne, which is uphill from the park known for its ancient Douglas firs, some of which are up to 800 years old. 

Conservationists say that old growth trees in dense forests support biodiversity and are important areas to protect in the fight against climate change. They are also prized by loggers for their value.

Campaigners against the logging on Mt. Horne argue that that by cutting close to the park, and deforesting the hillside above it, Cathedral Grove will become more at risk to windstorms, erosion and the loss of habitat.

In 1997, a severe windstorm toppled hundreds of trees and destroyed sections of the trail in Cathedral Grove. 

“Its ecological integrity continues to be undermined as the B.C. government allows clear cut logging to encroach closer and closer to the MacMillan Provincial Park boundary,” said TJ Watt, with the AFA in a release.

An old growth area logged by Mosaic Forest Management on Mt. Horne, the hillside above the world-famous Cathedral Grove. Second-growth forests are in the foreground. (TJ Watt/Ancient Forest Alliance)

Watt and others have, for years, asked that the province create a natural lands acquisition fund to identify critical areas for biodiversity or with First Nations cultural value and purchase them from private owners.

Vancouver Island’s Capital Regional District has a Land Acquisition Fund, which collects a $20 a year levy from households. Since its creation in 2000, it has purchased and protected around 5,000 hectares of land on southern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands.

Conservationists argue, in this case of Mt. Horne, acquiring land near the park through a similar provincial fund would allow it to expand and protect more old growth areas.

The province says there is no plan to do so however. Its latest budget, with a surplus of more than $200 million, set aside $13 million to help revitalize the forestry sector in lock-step with First Nations, but that does not include money for buying private lands.

The Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNRORD) says the area being logged on Mt. Horne is managed by the Private Managed Forests Lands Act and is subject to dozens of regulations including provisions for protecting critical fish and wildlife habitat, water quality, soil conservation and reforestation.

Reserve areas set aside

Mosaic said in 2019, prior to cutting trees in the area, registered professional biologists surveyed the area and did not identify any species at risk or endangered ecosystems.

It also said that, in the past, it has donated or sold more than 44,000 hectares of private land for conservation on Vancouver Island.

“Most of this area represents the highest ecological quality forest areas in our land base,” said Karen Brandt, director of  government relations and strategic engagement with Mosaic.

“In our working forest, registered professional biologists identify and set aside additional reserve areas for high-quality habitat for ungulates [deer] and threatened species like marbled murrelet.”

The province is currently undergoing an old growth strategic review. Many groups, including the AFA, recommended during public engagement that a land acquisition fund be included in future policies.

Legislative amendments based on that feedback is expected this spring, with regulations in force by 2021.

The red ticker shows the approximate location of Mt. Horne, where old growth logging takes place near MacMillan Provincial Park and Cathedral Grove, a protected area for old growth trees since 1947. (Google Maps)

Read the original article

NOTE:
The BC government’s weak regulations on private managed forest lands and sales of Mosaic private lands for conservation are inadequate measures and have failed to stem the large-scale destruction of BC’s globally rare, coastal old-growth forests.

According to BC government data and satellite imagery, only 8% of original productive old-growth forests are protected in parks and Old Growth Management Areas on BC’s south coast.

Old-Growth Logging on Mountainside Above Cathedral Grove Illustrates Urgent Need for BC Land Acquisition Fund for Protection of Endangered Private Lands

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Old-growth Douglas-fir trees are loaded onto a truck in Mosaic Forest Management clearcut on Mt. Horne, the hillside above the world-famous Cathedral Grove.

Port Alberni, Vancouver Island – Old-growth logging on private lands owned by Mosaic Forest Management (formerly Island Timberlands) on the mountainside above Cathedral Grove has put Canada’s most famous old-growth forest at risk and illustrated the urgent need for provincial funding to purchase and protect endangered ecosystems on private lands. 

Conservationists with the Port Alberni Watershed-Forest Alliance were alarmed to discover logging of intact old-growth on the mountainside late last year and were joined by members of the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) to assess and document the logging, which is now complete. 

Located east of Port Alberni in territories of the K’ómoks and Tseshaht First Nations and the Te’mexw Treaty Association, the large cutblock lies on the southwest facing slope of Mt. Horne roughly 300 metres from the MacMillan Provincial Park boundary where over half a million tourists visit annually to see Cathedral Grove’s extremely rare, ancient Douglas-fir trees, of which less than 1% remain on BC’s south coast. 

“Cathedral Grove is Canada’s most famous old-growth forest,” stated AFA campaigner and photographer TJ Watt. “And yet its ecological integrity continues to be undermined as the BC government allows clearcut logging to encroach closer and closer to the MacMillan Provincial Park boundary. The BC government needs to step in and purchase these and other private lands to protect endangered ecosystems and reduce impacts to this world-famous grove.”

The logging on Mt Horne, which conservationists consider to be an old-growth forest “hotspot” of high conservation and recreational value, will likely have numerous adverse impacts, including destroying some of BC’s last remaining endangered old-growth Douglas-fir stands; fragmenting the continuous forest cover and wildlife habitat on the slope above Cathedral Grove; reducing critical wintering habitat for black-tailed deer; and increasing siltation of the Cameron River (which runs through Cathedral Grove) during the heavy winter rains as soil washes down from the new clearcut and logging road. 

The clearcut has also already destroyed part of the Mount Horne Loop Trail, a popular hiking and mushroom-picking trail, which Mosaic has closed public access to.

“Mt. Horne has outstanding scenic and recreational value and should never have been logged,” stated Jane Morden, coordinator of the Port Alberni Watershed-Forest Alliance. “Even if the loop trail is re-opened, it will now lead through a clearcut, totally degrading the trail’s scenic values. It’s also hard to imagine that logging on Mt. Horne’s steep slopes won’t negatively impact the health and longevity of Cathedral Grove.”

Mt Horne was formerly intended as an Ungulate Winter Range to protect the old-growth winter habitat of black-tailed deer. The mountainside is part in the 88,000 hectares of privately held land that the provincial government allowed to be removed from Tree Farm License 44 in 2004 — with the agreement that critical winter habitats be protected. Both Island Timberlands (now Mosaic) and the BC government have failed to follow through on this promise. 

“This is important wildlife habitat that was once designated for protection,” stated local wildlife expert Mike Stini. “Unless the BC government steps in and protects more old-growth forests and improves forestry regulations on private lands, iconic wildlife species like elk, deer, bears, and cougars – as well as threatened species like marbled murrelet and northern goshawk – will be left with smaller and increasingly fragmented patches of old-growth habitat.”

Old-growth clearcutting by Mosaic Forest Management on Mt. Horne, the hillside above the world-famous Cathedral Grove. Second-growth forests are in the foreground.

In 2013, numerous conservation groups campaigned for the protection of Mt. Horne and the expansion of protected areas around Cathedral Grove to maintain tourism opportunities and wildlife habitat values. Their efforts garnered a massive public outcry, resulting in Island Timberlands placing a halt on their logging plans. However, due to a lack of political will and a dedicated provincial funding mechanism for the Province to purchase and protect the land, Mt. Horne remained vulnerable to future logging. 

“For years, the Ancient Forest Alliance has been calling on the BC government to re-establish a provincial Natural Lands Acquisition Fund for the purchase and protection of private lands,” stated Watt.

“Such a fund would allow for the expansion of the MacMillan Provincial Park boundaries to fully encompass the forests above and adjacent to the world-famous Cathedral Grove. This includes the old-growth forests on Mount Horne and along the Alberni Summit Highway as well as the scenic Cameron Lake and the Cameron River Canyon. With the logging on Mt. Horne now complete, we’ve lost a critical opportunity to safeguard the integrity of this world-renowned ancient forest.”

The Ancient Forest Alliance is also calling for provincial support and funding for the creation of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) to protect places of high conservation and First Nations cultural value, including old-growth forests.

“The federal government has committed $1.3 billion to meet international protected area targets by the end of 2020, which includes funding for the private land acquisition and the creation of new IPCAs, but BC needs to come to the table with matching funding,” stated AFA forest campaigner Andrea Inness. “We were extremely disappointed that, once again, the Province failed to provide even modest funding for land acquisition and protected area expansion in its 2020 budget, despite a projected $227 million surplus and the growing urgency to protect endangered native ecosystems.” 

“Vancouver Island’s Capital Regional District recently approved a 10-year extension on its hugely popular Land Acquisition Fund, which relies on a $20 annual household levy and has protected nearly 5,000 hectares since the fund’s creation in 2000. The BC government needs to start showing the same kind of commitment to protecting BC’s lands and waters for future generations.”

Old-growth logging by Mosaic Forest Management encroaching on streams on Mt. Horne.

Last fall, the BC government commenced a provincial Old Growth Strategic Review and established an independent panel to solicit feedback from British Columbians on how old-growth management could be improved. The panel is expected to submit recommendations to the BC government by the end of April, but the Province plans to delay public release of the report by up to six months. 

“The BC NDP’s action on old-growth thus far is totally inadequate and now they’re delaying action even further,” stated Inness. “Not only is there no commitment or timeframe around the implementation of any new old-growth policies, the Forest Minister said recently he intends to consult old-growth logging proponents once again, before any recommendations from the panel are implemented.”

“Given the overwhelming public feedback calling for increased old-growth forest protection in Spring 2020 amendments to the Forest and Range Practices Act and the government’s proposed Old Growth Strategy, there is no valid excuse for this delay. British Columbians want and expect action on old-growth now.” 

Background Information:

In 2004, the BC government removed 88,000 hectares of Weyerhaeuser’s private forest lands (now owned by Mosaic Forest Management) from their Tree Farm Licences, thereby deregulating vast sections of forest lands including Mount Horne, McLaughlin Ridge and Cameron Firebreak in Hupacasath territory, and Katlum Creek. A follow-up agreement with the corporate landowners was supposed to ensure protection of many of the deregulated old-growth forests (i.e. previously proposed Ungulate Winter Ranges for elk and deer and Wildlife Habitat Areas for species-at-risk), but this agreement was abandoned when the lands were transferred to Island Timberlands. 

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC government to establish an annual $40 million provincial land acquisition fund to purchase and protect private lands in BC. The proposed fund would rise to an annual $100 million by 2024 through $10 million increases each year and would enable the timely purchase of significant tracts of endangered private lands of high conservation, scenic, and recreation value to add to BC’s parks and protected areas system.

BC’s old-growth forests are vital to support endangered species, tourism, the climate, clean water, wild salmon, and many First Nations cultures whose unceded lands these are. About 79% of the original, productive old-growth forests have already been logged on BC’s southern coast, including well over 90% of the valley-bottom ancient forests where the largest trees grow, and 99% of the old-growth Douglas fir trees on BC’s coast. See maps and stats at: https://16.52.162.165/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/

From left: Ancient Forest Alliance volunteer Nathaniel Glickman

Magnificent Old-Growth Forest found on Vancouver Island; 11 foot wide, near-record size Sitka spruce towers in “FernGully Grove”

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Port Renfrew, BC – The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) has located one of the finest and last unprotected stands of old-growth Sitka spruce groves on Vancouver Island, located near Port Renfrew. Nicknamed the “FernGully Grove” for its dense and extensive understory of ferns, it is located on lands owned by TimberWest corporation, in the territory of the Pacheedaht First Nation people, and is just a 10 minute drive from the town of Port Renfrew – a town that has been billed as the “Tall Tree Capital of Canada.”

Similar in feel to a “mini-Carmanah Valley,” the extremely rich, valley-bottom ancient grove is home to an enormous, 11 foot diameter Sitka spruce tree that is wider than the 10th widest Sitka spruce tree currently listed on the BC Big Tree Registry. It is also home to dozens of other 6 to 8 foot wide giants, an understory covered in fields of giant sword ferns, and is exceptional habitat for Roosevelt elk, black-tailed deer, wolves, cougars, and black bears.

There is no survey tape or any indications at this time of logging plans by TimberWest for the grove, to the knowledge of AFA campaigners, who have sent a letter to TimberWest seeking further information about the company’s plans for the area.

“This is the most impressive unprotected Sitka spruce grove we’ve come across in years. It really feels like you’re in a part of the Carmanah Valley. It also has a more luxuriant understory of ferns than we’ve seen anywhere else – so we’ve nicknamed it the ‘FernGully Grove’ for now,” said Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director. “Finding a grove of unprotected giant Sitka spruce is highly significant, given that the vast majority them on Vancouver Island have been logged in the valley bottoms where they grow. This grove needs to be bought and protected by the province. TimberWest has shown itself to be amenable to holding back from logging some contentious sites, such as the Koksilah Ancient Forest, while negotiations for their purchase or protection have been underway. In the case of FernGully Grove, we encourage them to show the same openness to potentially selling the land at fair market value for conservation purposes and, obviously, to holding back from any logging plans there, given that it’s a miniscule fraction of their private managed forest lands.”

“The FernGully Grove area is another prime reason why the new BC NDP government should implement a Land Acquisition Fund to purchase and protect endangered ecosystems on private lands,” stated Andrea Inness, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner. “On Crown lands, where most ancient forests remain, the BC government needs to implement a comprehensive, science-based plan to protect the remaining old-growth forests, while also supporting First Nations land use plans and financing sustainable economic development and diversification in those communities in lieu of old-growth logging.”

“FernGully Grove is another exceptional ‘big tree find’ in the Port Renfrew region, which goes to show it truly deserves its title as the ‘Tall Trees Capital’ of Canada. This area has so much wildlife – elk, deer, wolves, cougars, bears – it could also be called the ‘Serengeti of Vancouver Island.’ For this reason, we’d like to see this area eventually designated more as an ecological reserve rather than as a tourism area, as it should really be kept undisturbed for its wildlife value,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer.

Ancient Forest Alliance activists Ken Wu and TJ Watt, along with volunteer Nathaniel Glickman, located the grove on December 4 after a tough “bushwhacking” expedition through extremely dense salmonberry thickets and across stream channels. They returned the next day to measure the largest tree in the grove, a towering 11 foot (3.34 metre) wide Sitka spruce, which is wider than the tenth widest Sitka spruce in BC listed on the BC Big Tree Registry. The grove is nicknamed “FernGully” after the 1992 animated film in which forest creatures fight to save their rainforest home from logging.

While the Ancient Forest Alliance certainly aren't the first people to have seen this area – as the region as been inhabitated by indigenous peoples for thousands of years and in the past loggers and hunters would have traversed the area – the Ancient Forest Alliance is the first to have identified the grove for its conservation significance in terms of its old-growth forest qualities.

FernGully Grove is located on the private managed forest lands of TimberWest, who are also actively logging second-growth stands near the Red Creek Fir (the world’s largest Douglas-fir tree), where road access has been gated off for months, and have flagged large tracts of second-growth forest along the highway into Port Renfrew for potential future logging. The AFA has concerns about the impacts of this logging and has included their concerns about all three sites in their letter to the company.

 

Background Info on the Proposed BC Land Acquisition Fund

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC government to create a provincial land acquisition fund in order to purchase and protect private lands such as these that have high conservation or recreation value. The AFA has sent a briefing document to Minister of Environment George Heyman, outlining the need for a land acquisition fund and hopes to meet with the minister in the new year to discuss the proposal further.

About 5% of British Columbia’s land base is private, where new protected areas require the outright purchase of private lands from willing sellers, while 95% is Crown (public) lands, where new protected areas are established by government legislation. However, a high percentage of BC’s most endangered and biologically richest and diverse ecosystems are found on private lands, which are disproportionately important for conservation efforts.

The Ancient Forest Alliance’s is proposing a provincial land acquisition fund of $40 million/ year (less than 0.1% of the provincial budget), starting in 2018, and increasing by $10 million per year until reaching $100 million in 2025. The proposed land acquisition fund would enable the timely purchase and protection of significant tracts of endangered private lands of high conservation, scenic, and recreation value to add to BC’s parks and protected areas system. This could include areas such as Vancouver Island’s endangered Garry Oak meadows, grasslands of the Okanagan Valley and old-growth forests on at FernGully Grove, the Koksilah Ancient Forest (owned by TimberWest) near Shawnigan Lake, and Mount Horne (owned by Island Timberlands), the mountainside above the world-famous Cathedral Grove, Canada’s most famous old-growth forest.

Many regional districts in BC have park acquisition funds, which are augmented by the fundraising efforts of private citizens and land trusts. For example, the Capital Regional District (CRD) of Greater Victoria has a Land Acquisition Fund that generates about $3.7 million each year and has spent over $35 million to purchase over 4,500 hectares of land with its partners since the year 2000. The fund has helped to protect the Sooke Hills and Potholes, Jordan River’s popular surfing area, Mount Maxwell on Saltspring Island, and lands between Thetis Lake and Mount Work. Like the CRD’s land acquisition fund, a provincial fund could be used as leverage to raise additional funds from private land trusts, environmental groups and private donors.

A report published by the University of Victoria Environmental Law Centre in 2015 outlined the various funding mechanism available to the BC government for a provincial land acquisition fund. Read the report.

Environmental lawyer Erin Grey also produced a report earlier this year, analyzing the AFA's proposed Pop for Parks program, which would see unredeemed bottle deposits redirected to the purchase and protection of private lands with high conservation values. The report indicates there are no legal or financial barriers to implementing the program in BC – only a lack of political will. Read the report. 

 

More Background Information about Old-Growth Forests

“The new NDP government, supported by the BC Greens, gives us the greatest opportunity in BC's history to finally end the decades-long ‘War in the Woods’ by protecting endangered old-growth forests and ensuring a sustainable, second-growth forest industry,” said Ken Wu, Executive Director of the Ancient Forest Alliance. “The NDP has sent some positive signals, but we need to see clear commitments and action to protect what remains of BC’s old-growth.”

The Ancient Forest Alliance is asking for a series of policy changes that can be rolled out over both short- and longer-term timelines. This includes a comprehensive, science-based law to protect all of BC’s remaining endangered old-growth forests, partly modeled after the ecosystem-based management approach used in the Great Bear Rainforest. It also includes financial support for sustainable economic development and diversification of First Nations communities, known as “conservation financing,” while supporting First Nations land use plans. While these longer-term solutions are being developed, an interim halt to logging in old-growth “hotspots” – areas of high conservation value – must be implemented to ensure the largest and best stands of remaining old-growth forests are kept intact while a larger plan is developed. Regulations and incentives must also be used to ensure a sustainable, value-added second-growth forest industry in BC.

Policies that can be readily implemented more quickly include a Big Tree Protection Order, which the BC government is currently finishing work on developing, which would protect the biggest trees on the coast with buffer zones. Thousands of hectares of Old-Growth Management Areas (OGMA’s) that are currently mapped but not given legal protection status (ie. “non-legal OGMA’s”) should also be made legally-binding immediately. As mentioned earlier, annual funding also needs to be directed to establish a provincial land acquisition fund to purchase and protect private lands of high conservation value.

The NDP’s 2017 election platform states that “in partnership with First Nations and communities, we will modernize land-use planning to effectively and sustainably manage BC’s…forests and old growth. We will take an evidence-based scientific approach and use the ecosystem-based management of the Great Bear Rainforest as a model.” (Read page 61 of their platform). If taken literally, this would almost certainly result in the protection of the remaining old-growth forest on BC’s southern coast and in the BC Interior, where old-growth forests are far scarcer and more endangered than in the Central and Northern Coast (Great Bear Rainforest) where 85% of the forests were set aside under the ecosystem-based management plan there.

Old-growth forests are vital to sustaining unique endangered species, climate stability, tourism, clean water, wild salmon, and the cultures of many First Nations. On BC’s southern coast, satellite photos show that at least 75% of the original, productive old-growth forests have been logged, including well over 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow. See maps and stats.

In recent years, support for increased old-growth protection has broadened to include unions, chambers of commerce and municipalities. For example, the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) and the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC) have passed a resolution calling for an end to old-growth logging on Vancouver Island; the BC Chamber of Commerce, representing 36,000 BC businesses, has called for expanded old-growth forest protection in BC in order to benefit the economy; and the Private and Public Workers of Canada (PPWC), representing thousands of BC forestry workers, has passed a resolution calling for protection of Vancouver Island’s remaining old-growth forests.

Environmental organizations Ancient Forest Alliance, Sierra Club BC, and Wilderness Committee are calling on the BC government to develop a comprehensive, science-based Old-Growth Protection Act to protect endangered old-growth forests and to ensure a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry.
 

Avatar Grove Boardwalk: Preliminary Phase Complete – THANK YOU SO MUCH!

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Avatar Grove Boardwalk: Preliminary Phase Complete – THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Fundraising Continues for Future Upgrades in 2015

**To DONATE go to: https://16.52.162.165/avatar-grove-boardwalk-now-completed-and-open/

The Avatar Grove near Port Renfrew is a majestic old-growth forest of enormous redcedar trees. It has become a major tourism draw, akin to a “second Cathedral Grove”. The now-popular hiking area was saved in 2012 through a campaign lead by the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA), with the help of thousands of our supporters and local tourism businesses with the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce and the Sooke Region Tourism Association. Its protection has bolstered the economy of southern Vancouver Island. Avatar Grove is in the Gordon River Valley, on Crown land in traditional Pacheedaht territory. See photos here: https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/

The AFA has been working since 2013 on construction of a new boardwalk to help protect the area’s delicate understory and tree roots from excessive trampling, to improve visitor access and safety, and to support local eco-tourism.

THANKS to your support, we’ve raised over $12,000 in 2014 so far and have now completed the basic, preliminary phase of the boardwalk, including including vital bridges, steps, tree-viewing platforms, and walkways over several sensitive, steep, slippery and wet sections. This is an incredible improvement from before and one that has been enjoyed by thousands of people already from all across the world. If you’ve yet to visit the grove since the work began, now’s a great time to do so!

***Funding Still Needed for 2015 Upgrades

While the initial phase of the boardwalk is complete, funds are still needed to support important future upgrades, to be continued in the spring of 2015, including walkways across the flat “muddy areas” prone to flooding and steps down the steep slope to the creek in the Upper Avatar Grove.

$100 sponsors 1 metre of boardwalk and you will receive a thank you certificate with your name or a friend’s name if it’s a gift!

  1. Donate securely online: https://16.52.162.165/avatar-grove-boardwalk-now-completed-and-open/
  2. By phone: 250-896-4007
  3. By Mail: Victoria Main PO, Box 8459, Victoria, BC V8W 3S1, Canada

Thank you all again for your tremendous support of this important conservation project! The trails at Avatar Grove will be enjoyed by many many folks for years and years to come.

Earth Day Conservation Vision: Conservationists Propose Expanded Protection around World-Famous Cathedral Grove as Island Timberlands Poised to Log Mountainside Above Park

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Conservationists call on BC government to expand protection around Cathedral Grove, including Mount Horne, the scenic Cameron Lake, the Alberni Summit Highway, and the Cameron River Canyon, as Island Timberlands is poised to log Mount Horne above the world-famous old-growth forest.

Port Alberni, Vancouver Island – Conservationists are calling on the BC government to expand protection around MacMillan Provincial Park to fully encompass the forests above and adjacent to the world-famous Cathedral Grove. Cathedral Grove is Canada’s most popular old-growth forest on Vancouver Island, visited by millions of tourists each year, and is found in the 301 hectare MacMillan Provincial Park. Island Timberlands has built a road through old-growth forests on Mt. Horne, the mountainside above Cathedral Grove, and could potentially commence logging soon of a new cutblock that could come as close as 300 meters away from the park boundary.

The preliminary conservation vision, that must still undergo consultation and refinement, would expand protection around the currently protected lands of 740 hectares (301 hectares in Macmillan Provincial Park and the adjoining 440 hectare Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park) by an additional 2900 hectares. See a map of the vision at: https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/

The proposed expansion through a new provincial conservancy would include the old-growth forests, mature second-growth forests, and some recovering clearcuts around the parks, including:

– Cathedral Grove’s surrounding forests: These are the forests on the mountainsides above MacMillan Park and the main highway, including Mount Horne which is threatened by Island Timberlands. See images of the Mount Horne forest at: https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/cathedral-grove-canyon/

– Highway Scenic Buffer: Forests west of the existing park that currently buffer the main highway (Highway 4) up to the Port Alberni Summit (locally nick-named “The Hump”) to preserve the scenic viewshed of the drive from Cathedral Grove to Port Alberni (including the view for millions of tourists heading towards Tofino).

A year ago, local Port Alberni residents fought Island Timberlands from expanding a massive clearcut that would’ve marred the view along the highway, forcing the company to back off (see https://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/island-timberlands-logging-of-alberni-summit-could-denude-the-hump-1.50473). Now it’s time to secure final protection for the highway’s forested buffer.

– Cathedral Grove Canyon: The spectacular old-growth forests and geological features of the area also known as the Cameron River Canyon, which should be a national treasure, were previously flagged for logging by Island Timberlands until a public outcry raised large-scale awareness. See photos at: https://16.52.162.165/protecting-old-growth-rainforests-to-the-economic-benefit-of-tourism-based-communities/4

– Cameron Lake: Cameron Lake is a highly scenic lake that millions of tourists drive alongside on Highway 4 before reaching Cathedral Grove. The Crown lands on the north side of the lake should be protected, as only a narrow strip along the south side of the lake is currently protected.

The lands would be a combination of unprotected Crown lands (about 1000 hectares) and private lands owned by Island Timberlands (about 1900 hectares) that would require funds from the BC government, other levels of government, and possibly private land trusts for their purchase.

Logging the mountainside above the park would cause increased erosion and siltation into the park, destroy vital old-growth forest wildlife habitat, and ruin scenery and recreational opportunities on the Mount Horne Trail. See a map of the cutblock at www.SaveCathedralGrove.com

“The Horne Mountain block above Cathedral Grove is an area that the BC government’s own scientists consider to be of high conservation value. They worked for years trying to have protections placed on it. Despite environmental concern and public interest, professional foresters of Island Timberlands seem to be moving ahead with their harvesting plans – roads have now been constructed through this intact old growth forest and logging could start soon. Unfortunately, it is hard to imagine that logging on Mt. Horne's steep slopes above Cathedral Grove will have no negative effect on this iconic forest's health and longevity,” stated Jane Morden, coordinator of the Port Alberni Watershed-Forest Alliance.

“Of all places where the BC government needs to show environmental leadership it’s in Canada’s most famous old-growth forest, Cathedral Grove,” stated Annette Tanner, Chairwoman of the Mid-Island Chapter of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee. “The public shouldn’t bear the endless responsibility of safeguarding the park’s ecological integrity from the repeated onslaught of logging threats on adjacent mountainsides above Cathedral Grove. Will the BC government step forward and show leadership to safeguard the ecological integrity for this world-famous ancient forest and expand protection around it?”

“After the redwoods of California, Cathedral Grove is the best known old-growth forest on Earth. It should be a first rate priority for the BC government to stop any logging plans that threaten the park’s ecological integrity and ancient forest that millions of people visit,” stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director. “The BC government deregulated the environmental protections on this land in 2004 and failed to follow-through on an agreement that was supposed to protect the old-growth forests on those lands. They broke it, now they have a responsibility to fix it. The expansion of protected areas around Cathedral Grove, the scenic highway, Cameron Lake, and the Cathedral Grove Canyon will make this a world-class protected area, both ecologically and for tourism.”

“We need the BC government to re-establish a BC Park Acquisition Fund to purchase and protect endangered old-growth forests on private lands, starting with Cathedral Grove – or re-regulate them. In the meantime, Island Timberlands needs to back off if they have any environmental and community conscience,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer.

More Background Info

Cathedral Grove is within the 301 hectare MacMillan Provincial Park, an area smaller than Vancouver’s Stanley Park, located along the Cameron River at the base of Mount Horne where the planned logging would occur. In 1997 the postage-stamp-sized park saw roughly 10% of its largest trees blow down in a winter storm, exacerbated by clearcutting near the park’s edge.

The protected areas expansion is a preliminary vision, still in development, being proposed by the Ancient Forest Alliance and local conservationists.

The new roads and planned logging will have numerous detrimental effects, including: fragmenting the continuous forest cover and wildlife habitat on the slope above Cathedral Grove; destroying some of the last remaining 1% of BC’s old-growth Douglas-fir trees on BC's coast; destroying the wintering habitat of black-tailed deer in an area previously proposed for protection by BC government scientists to sustain them; likely increasing siltation into the Cameron River (which runs through Cathedral Grove) during the heavy winter rains as soil washes down from a new clearcut and logging road; and destroying part of the Mount Horne Loop Trail, a popular hiking and mushroom-picking trail that the cutblock overlaps.

• See the Times Colonist article (March, 2013) on the discovery of the company’s logging plans: https://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/old-growth-near-cathedral-grove-set-for-imminent-logging-activists-1.90194

• See the CHEK TV clip (March 2013) about the original cutblock discovery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3exaYAqSrzw

Until recently many of these threatened areas were regulated to the stronger standards found on public lands. However, in 2004, the BC Liberal government removed 88,000 hectares of Weyerhaeuser’s private forest lands, now owned by Island Timberlands, from their Tree Farm Licences, thereby not implementing the planned old-growth, scenic, wildlife, and endangered species habitat protections on those lands, and removing the existing riparian protections and restrictions on raw log exports. A follow-up agreement with the corporate landowners was supposed to see the protection of many of the deregulated old-growth forests (ie. proposed Ungulate Winter Ranges for elk and deer, and species-at-risk Wildlife Habitat Areas), but Island Timberlands and the BC Liberal government broke off negotiations several years ago and have failed to continue pursuing a solution. Alberni-Pacific Rim Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Scott Fraser has repeatedly worked to hold the BC government to account to remedy the situation by getting Island Timberlands to hold-off from logging these hotspots until a political solution can be implemented.

The flagged cutblock on Mount Horne by Island Timberlands is estimated to be about 40 hectares and lies on the southwest facing slope of the mountain on the ridge above the park and highway that millions of tourists visit annually. The logging would take place in an area formerly intended by BC government biologists to become an Ungulate Winter Range to protect the old-growth winter habitat of black-tailed deer – a designation that never came to fruition when the BC Liberal government deregulated the lands in 2004 by removing them from their Tree Farm Licence. Mt. Horne and the Cathedral Grove area is in the territorial boundaries of the Hupacasath and Qualicum peoples.

Island Timberlands is currently engaged in multiple logging incursions into other highly endangered old-growth forests besides Mount Horne. This includes recent logging and/or road-building in Kwakiutl First Nations territory near Port Hardy; on McLaughlin Ridge, Juniper Ridge, Labour Day Lake, and the Cameron Valley Firebreak in the Port Alberni area (see: https://16.52.162.165/news-item.php?ID=678); plans to log the Stillwater Bluffs near Powell River and the Day Road Forest near Roberts Creek on the Sunshine Coast; and plans to log old-growth forests near Basil Creek and the Green Valley on Cortes Island. See spectacular PHOTOS of most of these forests at: https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/

Island Timberlands (IT) is the second largest private land owner in BC, owning 258,000 hectares of private land mainly on Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, and Haida Gwaii. Conservationists are calling on Island Timberlands to immediately back-off from its logging plans in old-growth and high conservation value forests until these lands can be protected either through purchase or through regulation.

Conservationists are also calling for a provincial plan to protect the province’s old-growth forests, to ensure sustainable second-growth forestry, and to end the export of raw, unprocessed logs to foreign mills. For private lands, conservationists are calling on the BC Liberal government to re-establish and bolster the former BC park acquisition fund (eliminated after the 2008 provincial budget). A dedicated provincial fund of $40 million per year (about 0.1% of the $40 billion annual provincial budget), raising $400 million over 10 years, would go a long way towards purchasing and protecting old-growth forests and other endangered ecosystems on private lands across the province. The fund would be similar to the existing park acquisition funds of various regional districts in BC, such as the $3 million/year Land Acquisition Fund of the Capital Regional District around Greater Victoria, which are augmented by the fundraising efforts of private citizens and land trusts.

BC’s old-growth forests are vital to support endangered species, tourism, the climate, clean water, wild salmon, and many First Nations cultures whose unceded lands these are. About 75% of the original, productive old-growth forests have already been logged on BC’s southern coast, including over 90% of the valley-bottom ancient forests where the largest trees grow, and 99% of the old-growth Douglas fir trees on BC's coast. See maps and stats at: https://16.52.162.165/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/

Ancient Forest Alliance

VIDEO: Cathedral Grove under threat?

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Here’s Global TV on the Cathedral Grove controversy. Take note that only 1% of old-growth Coastal Douglas-fir trees remain in all ecosystem types across the coast (ie. they are not only scarce in the “Coastal Douglas Fir” biogeoclimatic zone which Island Timberlands seems to imply, but in the Dry Maritime subzone of the Coastal Western Hemlock zone where Cathedral Grove lies and other forest types…) and that the planned designation as Ungulate Winter Range for black-tailed deer in the areas now being logged or roaded by Island Timberlands was supposed to be followed up by legislation but the lands were removed from the TFL – and the company and BC government failed to follow through on an agreement to ensure these areas’ protection.

Direct link to video: https://globalnews.ca/news/7667531/fairy-creek-blockade-old-growth/

Ancient Forest Alliance

Logging Around Cathedral Grove Highlights Need For Forestry Engagement

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Victoria, BC: Recent forestry conflicts highlight need for proactive and inclusive approach to decision making.
The growing opposition to Island Timberlands’ plans to log a forest stand only 300 meters from Cathedral Grove, is only the latest sign that British Columbia’s Forestry management process is in desperate need of a review.

“As of 2:00pm on Monday, we have received over 2300 emails from concerned citizens, voicing their opposition to these plans. I completely understand and agree with the specific concerns raised by this campaign. It hints at a much larger disconnect between the decisions that are getting made, and the process to get there. I think people are feeling like they don’t have a voice”.

The decision to log the stand owned by Island Timberlands, adjacent to Cathedral Grove, goes against the idea of using a scientific approach to managing our forests. Identified previously as important Black-tailed Deer wintering habitat, the fracturing of this habitat will have adverse effects. Furthermore, Cathedral Grove is an iconic tourist attraction on Vancouver Island – it is unsurprising that there has been such a public backlash against logging activity so close by. This is an example of the current conflict driven model of forestry management – and the negative impacts it has on everyone involved.

“The current model for decision making in this sector seems to rely on large public backlash to spur proper engagement. This approach hurts everyone. We need to have a system that transparently and proactively engages citizens in the decision making process. This will benefit companies by removing a measure of uncertainty and will allow local communities to feel like they have the tools to protect their ecosystems.”

“I believe it is time for the BC government to re-engage British Columbia’s forestry stakeholders, including environmental groups, local communities, First Nation’s communities, forestry companies, and experts at our Universities, to develop a more proactive, evidence-based approach to identifying which areas should be logged, and which ecosystems need to be preserved.”

Quotes by Andrew Weaver – MLA, Oak Bay – Gordon Head

[Andrew Weaver MLA website no longer available]

Ancient Forest Alliance

SEND a MESSAGE website to protect the forests around Cathedral Grove

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We've launched a new SEND a MESSAGE website to protect the forests around Cathedral Grove against Island Timberlands' old-growth logging plans, and to protect old-growth forests across BC.

Please take 20 seconds to add your voice, and please SHARE – already 1100 people have sent messages in less than 24 hours since we launched the site!

https://www.savecathedralgrove.com/
 

Ancient Forest Alliance

Old-growth forest near Cathedral Grove to be logged, groups fear

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A new logging road through a formerly protected old-growth forest near Cathedral Grove has conservation groups, and one area MLA, worried that the area’s habitat is under immediate threat.

“I was in the area last [month] and saw they started logging a road,” said Jane Morden of the Port Alberni Watershed-Forest Alliance. “Once it’s in, they can basically log it any time they want.”

Island Timberlands, the company that owns the land, also has closed south-ridge access to the Mount Horne trail — a popular hiking and mushroom-picking area.

The area of concern is a marked 40-hectare cutblock, 300 metres from MacMillan Provincial Park and directly upstream from Cathedral Grove, an international tourist destination known for its ancient Douglas fir trees.

“This will fragment a forest cover and could damage wildlife habitat,” said Ken Wu of the Ancient Forest Alliance. The organization joined others last month in a demonstration against the logging expansion. They’ve also started a campaign to pressure lumber producers to stop buying old-growth wood.

The area is part of 88,000 hectares of privately held land the provincial government allowed to be removed from a tree farm licence in 2004 — with the agreement that critical winter habitats be protected.

Scott Fraser, NDP MLA for Alberni-Pacific Rim, said that when the land went to Island Timberlands, the agreement was cast aside.

“These areas were supposed to be left,” said Fraser, who has been working since 2006 to protect the land, including the Port Alberni watershed. “I have so many outraged constituents, including retired loggers who have never seen this kind of forest activity.”

Fraser said he has met with Steve Thomson, minister of forests, lands and natural resource operations, but has not seen any progress.

“At the speed they’re doing this, it will be gone in two years,” Fraser said. “All we’re asking is to slow down so we can try to protect this area.”

Thomson said he has responded to concerns about logging in the area. “I’ve explained to them that the land in question is privately owned by Island Timberlands, and that the company entitled to log its private forest land,” he said in an email.

He added that the company must comply with provincial acts protecting land, water, fisheries and species at risk while complying with heritage-conservation laws.

Thomson said that while he has had extensive discussions with Island Timberlands about continuing to protect winter ranges for hoofed animals, “this was not a mandatory requirement and, unfortunately, the parties were unable to reach an agreement.”

He said the province would have preferred to have a formal agreement with Island Timberlands to manage wildlife, but the company has indicated that it has its own plan in place.

Island Timberlands did not respond to requests for comment.

Read more, including a map of the estimated cutblock boundary: https://www.timescolonist.com/old-growth-forest-near-cathedral-grove-to-be-logged-groups-fear-1.686058

Ancient Forest Alliance

Flagged as ‘critical’ to deer habitat, area near Cathedral Grove was turned over to logging

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Decade-old government documents show that an area being logged near Cathedral Grove on Vancouver Island was identified by Ministry of Environment biologists as critical winter habitat for deer that had to be protected.

Environmental groups have been protesting the logging in recent weeks, arguing that a 40-hectare patch on Mt. Horne is an important wildlife corridor. But Island Timberlands is permitted to log there because the government took the land out of Tree Farm Licence (TFL) 44 in 2004, putting it under a private land management regime that allows the company to decide what’s best for wildlife.

Government e-mails viewed by The Globe and Mail show that in 2001 and 2002, several officials in the Ministry of Environment fought to protect ungulate winter ranges, describing them as the most important habitat of its kind on Vancouver Island.

“We should be prepared to die in the trenches if designated [ungulate winter ranges] on these lands get thrown out,” Doug Janz, then British Columbia’s senior wildlife biologist, stated in one e-mail to ministry colleagues.

“These drainages have the best quality ungulate winter ranges and the highest use by deer anywhere,” wrote Bob Cerenzia, a wildlife technician at the time. “To have these areas arbitrarily removed from Government protection has me feeling that I have wasted the last 27 yrs. of my working life in which I spent considerable time ‘keeping the hounds at bay’ so to speak. If we cannot ensure the retention of these critical deer winter ranges, then in my opinion, we could lose our deer populations in these drainages!”

The government went ahead with the conversion of TFL 44 lands despite the protests from staff, but ministry officials signed a letter of agreement with Weyerhaeuser, which then held the land, to continue negotiations over the winter ranges.

Mr. Cerenzia, who is now retired from government, said those talks stalled after Weyerhaeuser sold the lands to Island Timberlands. He said the amount of critical winter range left on Vancouver Island has hit rock bottom.

“We shouldn’t be removing any of those regions we identified as critical winter ranges, because we don’t have enough ungulate deer winter range to start with,” he said. Asked what would happen if the critical winter range is cut, Mr. Cerenzia said: “I would say you’d see a drastic reduction in the amount of deer you are going to have out there.”

But the logging company isn’t violating any regulations, said Forest, Lands and Natural Resources Minister Steve Thomson.

“Island Timberlands is fully within its rights to log its private land,” he said in a written statement. “There was an ungulate winter range that covered part of the private land when it [was] managed as part of Tree Farm Licence 44 … however, Island Timberlands now manages for wildlife habitat in a way that meets their needs.”

Darshan Sihota, CEO of Island Timberlands, could not be reached for comment despite several calls.

Scott Fraser, the NDP MLA for the area, just outside Port Alberni, said he has talked with Mr. Sihota about the issue.

“The meeting I had with Mr. Sihota, he said ‘it’s our land and hey, if we were doing anything wrong the minister would have told us,’” Mr. Fraser said. He said Mr. Thomson should step in because the government’s own records show the area is vital to deer, which move there to feed and shelter during the winter.

“There is science on this. This is critical habitat that should never be cut,” Mr. Fraser said. “I have FOI [freedom of information documents] showing ministry staff vehemently disagreed with Island Timberlands doing anything on this land, [saying] that logging it will cause irreparable damage.”

Mr. Fraser said the forest was considered a “no-go area” for decades by the two companies that previously held TFL 44, MacMillan Bloedel Ltd. and Weyerhaeuser.

But after 70,000 hectares on Vancouver Island was removed from TFL 44, the new owners, Island Timberlands, began cutting into the areas identified as ungulate winter ranges, arguing that it could do so without putting deer at risk. Of the 2,400 hectares of land designated for wildlife protection, only about 900 hectares remain unlogged.

Read more: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/flagged-as-critical-to-deer-habitat-area-near-cathedral-grove-was-turned-over-to-logging/article15259479/

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Cathedral Grove Canyon

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