Ancient Forest Alliance’s One Year Anniversary, Organization Prepares for Province Wide Tour

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The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) reached its one year anniversary today, after being launched at a press conference in the old-growth forests of Francis King Regional Park in Victoria a year ago (see AFA news archives at https://16.52.162.165/recent-news/). Since then the non-profit environmental organization has become perhaps the fastest growing environmental group in BC, snowballing to 18,000 supporters through Facebook and by email, and garnering hundreds of news stories in the media on its campaigns.

“We’ve grown so fast, like a young spruce in the sunlight alongside a rainforest river, because we’ve had perfect growing conditions. Today, the vast majority of people on Vancouver Island and increasingly across BC, get it – that we need to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests for wildlife, the climate, and tourism, while ensuring sustainable second-growth forestry and ending raw log exports to protect BC forestry jobs,” stated Ken Wu, the AFA’s executive director.  “It’s a minority opinion to still say ‘let’s take it to the end of the resource and export the raw logs.’ 15 years ago, this was not necessarily the case.”

 

The currently leaderless BC Liberal and BC NDP parties presents an opportunity for change in BC politics, and as such the AFA will be pushing hard for strong old-growth forest and forestry jobs policies within both parties. As part of the organization’s “100,000 Strong for Ancient Forests and BC Forestry Jobs” public education and mobilization campaign, the AFA is launching a slideshow tour to dozens of communities throughout the province, starting in early February, to build public pressure on the parties. The BC Liberals currently contend that BC’s old-growth forests are not endangered and raw log exports should continue, while the NDP is calling for a provincial old-growth strategy (how much protection this would entail has not been specified yet) and increased restrictions on raw log exports. The Green Party is calling for a phase-out of old-growth logging and to ban raw log exports

 

Over the past year the AFA has organized a torrent of public hikes, slideshows, rallies, protests, petition drives, and letter-writing campaigns on Vancouver Island and in the Lower Mainland. On university campuses and in provincial swing ridings, it has also helped to empower and train new forest activists.

 

A particular strength of the organization is the spectacular nature photography of AFA campaigner and co-founder TJ Watt, whose photos of Vancouver Island’s old-growth trees and giant stumps are increasingly being featured in national and international media publications. See some of Watt’s magnificent photos at the AFA’s online photogallery at:

https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/  

 

“By photographing BC’s largest trees and stumps, often in the hinterland along rough logging roads that few people traverse, we’ve been able to bring the ancient forests – and their clearcut devastation – to the homes of millions of people. We’ve sort of become the eyes and ears of the forest to alert people of what’s going on in one of the world’s most spectacular and endangered ecosystems,” states TJ Watt. “Many Canadians still don’t know that we have trees that can grow nearly twice the height of Niagara Falls with trunks as wide as a living room – and fewer realize they are still being cut down.”

 

The organization is perhaps best known for popularizing the “Avatar Grove”, an endangered stand of easily accessible, monumental old-growth redcedars and Douglas firs in close proximity to Port Renfrew. Within the Grove are several trees with spectacular, large burls growing out of their sides, including a burly cedar that has been dubbed “Canada’s Gnarliest Tree”.  The campaign to save the Avatar Grove has garnered support from the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce, Sooke Regional Tourism Association, and from all levels of the region’s political representatives, including federal Liberal MP Keith Martin, provincial NDP MLA John Horgan, and Regional Director Mike Hicks. See photos at https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/

 

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC government to:

 

– Undertake a Provincial Old-Growth Strategy that will inventory and protect the remaining old-growth forests in regions where they are scarce (eg’s. Vancouver Island, Southern Mainland Coast, Southern Interior, etc.)

– Ensure the sustainable logging of second-growth forests, which now constitute the majority of forest lands in southern BC.

– End the export of BC raw logs to foreign mills in order to ensure a guaranteed log supply for BC wood processing facilities.

– Assist in the retooling of coastal BC sawmills and the development of value-added facilities to handle second-growth logs.

– Undertake new land-use planning processes to protect endangered forests based on new First Nations land-use plans, ecosystem-based scientific assessments, and climate mitigation strategies through forest protection

 

75% of the ancient forests have been logged on Vancouver Island (see “Before” and “After” Maps at https://16.52.162.165/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/), while less than 10% of our productive forests are in protected in parks and Old-Growth Management Areas, and the situation is similar throughout southern BC. Tens of thousands of hectares of ancient forests fall each year in BC.

 

Old-growth forests are important for species at risk, the climate, tourism, supplying clean water, and for many First Nations cultures.

 

“Right now, with the unprecedented situation of both the BC Liberals and NDP being simultaneously leaderless, we have a first rate opportunity to push both parties to commit to new, strong policies to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests and forestry jobs. We’ll give public credit to any politicians who move their party forward on these issues but we’ll also point out those who are firmly committed to the backwards, destructive status quo,” states Ken Wu.

Ken James of the Youbou TimberLess Society (YTS)

The closure of the Youbou Sawmill, 10 years later

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 The closure of the Youbou sawmill 10 years ago and the resulting formation of the historically important environmentalist and forestry workers alliance, the Tree-Huggers and Tree-Cutters Alliance are being commemorated by activists this week.

The Youbou TimberLess Society (YTS) will be hosting a film screening of their documentary videos Stump to Dump, and Log Exports, produced by Lake Cowichan Secondary School students, at the Duncan United Church Hall, Jan 20, at 7 p.m.

A discussion with YTS members and Ken Wu and TJ Watt of the Ancient Forest Alliance will follow.

“The closure of the Youbou sawmill in 2001 because TimberWest wanted to export raw logs instead of processing them in the community set the stage for a historically important alliance between the workers and environmentalists, who both opposed the mill’s closure and the export of raw logs to foreign mills,” states Ken James, President of the Youbou TimberLess Society.

“Who knew it would have set the stage for a much larger cooperation between environmentalists and forestry workers?”

“Ken James, Roger Wiles, Darreld Rayner, and the whole Youbou TimberLess Society crew are seriously historically important figures for the betterment of this province,” states Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director. “Prior to them coming on board, environmentalists and forestry workers were typically pitted against each other, often in extreme conflicts, while the forest companies went laughing to the bank with profits from liquidating our endangered ancient forests and eliminating BC milling jobs.”

On January 26, 2001, TimberWest closed its Youbou sawmill on the shores of Lake Cowichan.

This move threw 220 workers into unemployment.

The company claimed the mill was unprofitable; a claim contested by many, and upon its closure subsequently continued to log at breakneck speeds while exporting the unprocessed logs to US and Asian sawmills. TimberWest is the largest exporter of raw logs from BC.

A few months before the mill’s closure, sawmill worker Ken James and environmentalist Ken Wu (at the time the executive director of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee’s- WCWC- Victoria chapter, now with the Ancient Forest Alliance) were invited to speak together at a forum at the BC Government Employees Union building in downtown Victoria to an audience of a hundred forestry workers and environmentalists.

The two groups found much in common in their perspectives to end raw log exports and to ensure a sustainable second-growth forest industry.

Subsequently, the two groups started to attend and speak at each other’s rallies and events.

The cooperation between the Youbou TimberLess Society and the Victoria WCWC paved the way for further cooperation between environmentalists and the Pulp, Paper, and Woodworkers of Canada (PPWC) union in Nanaimo and Crofton on Vancouver Island, led by Arnie Bercov, and forestry workers with the Save Our Valley Alliance (SOVA) in Port Alberni.

Environmentalists also started to work on specific projects and speak at events with the United Steelworkers (USW) union, BC’s main logging union, which took over the International Woodworkers of America IWA union around the same time, and with the Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers (CEP) union, against increasing raw log exports and the deregulation of the forest industry through the so-called Forestry Revitalization Act in 2004.

“The cooperation between environmentalists and forestry workers that we pioneered has dismantled much of the ‘jobs versus the environment’ framing of BC’s forestry debate,” states Ken James.

“Today, the vast majority of people support saving jobs and the environment by protecting our last old-growth forests on Vancouver Island, ensuring sustainable second-growth forestry, and ending the export of raw logs to foreign mills.

The only problem is the BC government still doesn’t get it. But they will have to, not long from now,” states Ken Wu.

Link to original article: https://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_central/lakecowichangazette/business/113969939.html

Interview with TJ Watt – Photographer and Environmentalist

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Please follow this link to read the interview and see the photographs: https://dondenton.ca/2011/01/11/tj-watt-interview/

 

 

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Ancient Forest Alliance

VIDEO: Victoria Community TV Presents: Face to Face with Avatar Grove

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We are joined by Ken Wu and TJ Watt from The Ancient Forest Alliance, along with some great images of this magnificent old growth forest.

We also talk about ‘the big picture’ of saving what is left of BC’s old growth forests, and the threats that still face it today.

You can watch the video on cable television as well:

On Channel 11 – In Victoria and Saltspring Island

Saturday, Jan. 15 at 11AM and 11:30PM

Sunday Jan 16 at 10AM and 9PM

Unfortunately, the link to the video from ICTV Victoria on Vimeo doesn’t exist anymore.

 

Ken James of the Youbou TimberLess Society (YTS)

Tree-Huggers and Tree-Cutters Celebrate 10 Year Alliance

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Activists commemorate formation of “Tree-Huggers and Tree-Cutters Alliance” on 10 year anniversary of Youbou sawmill’s closure on Vancouver Island

 

The closure of the Youbou sawmill on Vancouver Island 10 years ago and the resulting formation of the historically important environmentalist and forestry workers alliance, the “Tree-Huggers and Tree-Cutters Alliance” are being commemorated by activists next week.  The Youbou TimberLess Society (YTS) will be hosting a film screening of their documentary videos “Stump to Dump”, and “Log Exports” produced by Lake Cowichan Secondary students, at the Duncan United Church Hall on Jan 20th at 7pm.  A discussion with YTS members and Ken Wu and TJ Watt of the Ancient Forest Alliance will follow.

 

“The closure of the Youbou sawmill in 2001 because TimberWest wanted to export raw logs instead of processing them in the community set the stage for a historically important alliance between the workers and environmentalists, who both opposed the mill’s closure and the export of raw logs to foreign mills,” states Ken James, President of the Youbou TimberLess Society. “Who knew it would have set the stage for a much larger cooperation between environmentalists and forestry workers?”

 

“Ken James, Roger Wiles, Darreld Rayner, and the whole Youbou TimberLess Society crew are seriously historically important figures for the betterment of this province,” states Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director. “Prior to them coming on board, environmentalists and forestry workers were typically pitted against each other, often in extreme conflicts, while the forest companies went laughing to the bank with profits from liquidating our endangered ancient forests and eliminating BC milling jobs.”

 

On January 26, 2001, TimberWest closed its Youbou sawmill on the shores of Lake Cowichan, throwing 220 workers into unemployment. The company claimed the mill was unprofitable, a claim contested by many, and upon its closure subsequently continued to log at breakneck speeds while exporting the unprocessed logs to US and Asian sawmills. TimberWest is the largest exporter of raw logs from BC.

 

A few months before the mill’s closure, sawmill worker Ken James and environmentalist Ken Wu (at the time the executive director of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee’s- WCWC- Victoria chapter, now with the Ancient Forest Alliance) were invited to speak together at a forum at the BC Government Employees Union building in downtown Victoria to an audience of a hundred forestry workers and environmentalists. The two groups found much in common in their perspectives to end raw log exports and to ensure a sustainable second-growth forest industry. Subsequently the two groups started to attend and speak at each other’s rallies and events.

 

The cooperation between the Youbou TimberLess Society and the Victoria WCWC paved the way for further cooperation between environmentalists and the Pulp, Paper, and Woodworkers of Canada (PPWC) union in Nanaimo and Crofton on Vancouver Island, led by Arnie Bercov, and forestry workers with the Save Our Valley Alliance (SOVA) in Port Alberni. Environmentalists also started to work on specific projects and speak at events with the United Steelworkers (USW) union, BC’s main logging union, which took over the International Woodworkers of America – IWA union around the same time, and with the Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers (CEP) union against increasing raw log exports and the deregulation of the forest industry through the so-called “Forestry Revitalization Act” in 2004.

 

“The cooperation between environmentalists and forestry workers that we pioneered has dismantled much of the ‘jobs versus the environment’ framing of BC’s forestry debate” states Ken James.

 

“Today, the vast majority of people support saving jobs and the environment by protecting our last old-growth forests on Vancouver Island, ensuring sustainable second-growth forestry, and ending the export of raw logs to foreign mills. The only problem is the BC government still doesn’t get it.  But they will have to, not long from now,” states Ken Wu.

 

2 MOST IMPORTANT LETTERS to WRITE for ANCIENT FORESTS

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***FIRST LETTER to WRITE***
 
First Rate Opportunity with leaderless BC Liberal and BC NDP parties –
WRITE your MLA!
 
Right now, the ruling BC Liberal Party and the opposition BC New
Democratic Party are holding leadership contests after each of their
party leaders resigned a few months ago. This rare and unusual
situation presents a first rate opportunity to push both parties to
commit to new, strong policies to protect BC’s endangered old-growth
forests and forestry jobs.
 
The BC Liberals currently contend that BC’s old-growth forests are not
endangered and raw log exports should continue, while the NDP is
calling for a provincial old-growth strategy (how much protection this
would entail they have not specified yet) and increased restrictions
on raw log exports. The Green Party is calling for a phase-out of
old-growth logging and to ban raw log exports.
 
Of all times, your BC Liberal or NDP provincial MLA (Member of the
Legislative Assembly) representative in your political riding needs to
hear from YOU, loud and clear, that you expect them to:
 
– Commit their party to new forest policies to end logging of
endangered old-growth forests. Old-growth forests are important for
sustaining endangered species, the climate, tourism, recreation, water
quality, and First Nations cultures.
– Ensure sustainable second-growth forestry. Second-growth stands now
constitute most of the forested lands in southern BC.
– End raw log exports to foreign mills in order to sustain BC forestry jobs.
 
Be sure to include your home mailing address so they know you are a
real person and that you live in their riding.
 
You can find your MLA’s email address by going to:
Link no longer available
 
Good News: John Horgan, an NDP leadership candidate who has been an
outspoken advocate for protecting the Avatar Grove (see
https://www.johnhorgan.ca/files/images/John_Horgan_October_2010_E-Newsletter.pdf – article no longer available
), led the charge this week among contending NDP leadership hopefuls
for a stronger environmental direction on forestry (please let him
know if you support this at john.horgan.mla@leg.bc.ca). The Public Eye
Online (Jan.11) stated that at his campaign launch:
 
“Mr. Horgan took a strong anti-corporate line while articulating his
commitment to preserve old growth forests. ‘Our commitment, as New
Democrats, is to use our second growth forests to create jobs here, in
our communities, not offshore. Old growth forests will be the bedrock
of our tourism industry. Second growth forests will be the bedrock of
a value-added forest industry that creates jobs here in British
Columbia for British Columbians in the public interest – not in the
interest of shareholders in Toronto or Bermuda but people right here.’”
 
Lets push ALL NDP and Liberal MLA’s and candidates to take a strong
stance to save BC’s endangered ancient forests and forestry jobs!


 ***SECOND LETTER to WRITE***
 
Flores Island in Clayoquot Sound threatened by logging!
 
Flores Island, perhaps the most beautiful place in Canada and the
largest island in Clayoquot Sound by Tofino, is at risk of being
logged.
 
See our SPECTACULAR PHOTOGALLERY of Flores Island by AFA photographer
TJ Watt at: https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/
 
Flores Island is one of the largest contiguous tracts of old-growth
rainforest left on BC’s southern coast and is certainly among Earth’s
most stunningly scenic places. The largely unlogged island is home to
large populations of cougars, wolves, bears, and deer in its ancient
forests and gray whales, humpback whales, porpoises, orcas, sea
otters, and sea lions in its marine waters.
 
Spectacular old-growth redcedar and Sitka spruce stands have been
recently surveyed and flagged for logging on eastern Flores Island,
which has some of the densest stands of giant trees in the world, and
landing pads for heli-logging have been carved into the forest.
Logging could begin as soon as early 2011.
 
Please take action and write a letter to the BC Liberal government.
For full details, visit the Friends of Clayoquot Sound webpage.

Example of spectacular temperate rainforest on Vancouver Island contrasted with nearby logging of old-growth forest.

Poor BC Logging Practices "add to gas emissions"

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Massive emissions of greenhouse gases are coming from BC’s coastal forests because of poor logging practices and inadequate management, according to a new report by environmentalists.

The carbon from coastal rainforests, much of which comes from Vancouver Island, is not counted in BC’s official emissions tally as, at the international level, Canada and the provinces decided against including forests.

If they were included, emissions numbers for BC would increase by 24 per cent, said Jens Wieting, coastal forests campaigner for Sierra Club BC and author of the group’s report, “Restoring the Balance for Climate and Species.”

“These emissions are not caused by the mountain pine beetle or large fires, as in other parts of BC. They are mainly produced by inadequate logging practices and insufficient management, and it’s time for that to change,” Wieting said.

Coastal rainforests have the ability to store massive amounts of carbon, which should make them a key asset in the fight against global warming, he said.

“We are throwing away a tremendous opportunity and our best defence against climate change.”

Clearcutting in old-growth forests, that have accumulated carbon for thousands of years, is pushing species to extinction, Wieting said.

Vancouver Island has the most forest ecosystems at a very high risk for species extinction and the lowest level of overall protection — only 13.2 per cent — he said.

Making matters worse, about 45 per cent of the 42,000 hectares of new Vancouver Island Old Growth Management Areas, although a step in the right direction, consists of poor- productivity ecosystems, Wieting said.

“Vancouver Island belongs in the ICU [intensive care unit]. It is in the worst shape with the risk of species extinction and protection of productive ecosystems,” he said.

New areas off-limits to logging are not chosen on the basis of ecosystems with the highest risk for species extinction and only six per cent would meet the high productivity criteria, the report says.

Climatologist Andrew Weaver, University of Victoria Canada Research Chair in Climate Modelling and Analysis, said the report underlines the need to think about the bigger picture when it comes to forest plans.

“The Sierra Club is absolutely spot-on that forests are a huge potential source and potential sink of carbon and it’s a lot better to use them as a sink rather than turning them into a source,” he said.

Weaver said he does not know whether it is feasible for carbon emissions from forests to be included in Canada’s reports to the international community on greenhouse gas emissions, a recommendation of the report. “But what matters is not the UN bookkeeping perspective, it’s the climate care perspective. … The atmosphere doesn’t really care how you account for carbon, it cares about what goes up,” he said.

Other recommendations in the report include shaping forest policy around using forests as carbon sinks. To do that there must be increased conservation, improved forest management and measures to reduce the risks of fire and pests, it says.

Old-growth forest clearcut new Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island

Certification fails to protect B.C. forests

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In response to increasing public outcries over his complete mismanagement of forests in the public interest, Forest Minister Pat Bell is frequently taking refuge behind forest certification programs. But are third-party stamps of approval really, as Bell claims, a guarantee that our forests — a trillion-dollar publicly owned asset — are being managed sustainably?

To date, some 54 million hectares (98 per cent) of British Columbia’s Crown forestland have been certified by one of three bodies.

Two industry-funded programs — the Canadian Standards Association and Sustainable Forest Initiative — between them account for 51.5 million hectares, while the third, more autonomous Forest Stewardship Council’s (FSC) certifications apply to 2.6 million hectares.

Companies seek certification for obvious reasons. It provides them with marketing eco-labels for buyers who might otherwise boycott their products if not assured that the wood comes from sustainably managed forests.

All three certification bodies purport to assure foreign markets that forest practices are regulated and the laws obeyed.

But what does this actually mean? Certification is only as good as the laws, regulations and operating policies governing forest use in B.C. After a decade of deregulation of forest management, legislation has been rendered weak, timber-centric and ineffective at protecting other forest values.

All three programs also suggest that B.C.’s forestlands are actively managed, with a strong, consistent role played by the provincial Forest Service and in particular B.C.’s chief forester. As well, the certifiers claim that the province’s wealth of biological diversity is conserved.

But dig just a little into such claims and questions soon arise.

First, forest companies annually cut about one per cent of forestland for which they are legally held responsible to replant or reforest.

This leaves government responsible for the lion’s share of forest management on almost all Crown forestland. Some 70 management units cover the forested area of B.C. of which 37 are timber supply areas (TSAs) and 33 are tree farm licences (TFLs). Yet not one government-managed TSA currently has even a forest management plan.

Second, B.C.’s chief forester, who is responsible for setting sustainable logging rates in all 70 management units every five years, uses a forest inventory that is outdated, incomplete, unreliable and grossly underfunded, and for which Bell and his cabinet colleagues must take responsibility due to their continued cutting of forest management staff (1,006 in the past decade) and budgets.

Third, on the biological diversity front, an inadequate patchwork of laws and policies has, according to the David Suzuki Foundation, placed more than 1,900 (43 per cent) of the province’s 4,373 species at risk of extinction or extirpation, leaving B.C. one of the few jurisdictions in Canada without stand-alone legislation to protect biodiversity.

If any doubt remains about Bell’s assertion that certification ensures sound forest management, consider as well that all three certification bodies accept a system of forest management in B.C. that relies completely on:

– A computer model, largely unverified beyond research plots, of how trees grow and how much timber they will yield over time that doesn’t adequately take into account that trees die naturally, even in “healthy” plantations;

– Little or no midterm monitoring to see how many planted or reforested trees have survived and are yielding the timber they are projected to (Note: FSC does require monitoring); and

– An outdated forest inventory that fails to report properly the extent of forestland in the province insufficiently stocked with trees following logging activities, forest fires or insect attacks — an area that may now amount to nine million hectares, or three Vancouver Islands in size.

In short, we have a poor handle on what is in our forest warehouse and at the worst of times — as if we were Future Shop on the eve of Boxing Day, with no clear idea of how many computers and widescreen TVs we had in stock. Take another box store, Ikea, and ask why it doesn’t buy B.C. forest products.

With wholly inadequate forest health monitoring in light of climate change, a disbanded forest research branch, a pathetic tree-planting program (relative to the area of insufficiently reforested land), a negligible stand-tending program, one remaining growth-and-yield forester for the province, and a forest inventory program in name only, on what basis do the three certification bodies assure foreign buyers of our forest products that B.C.’s forests are sustainably managed?

And how much longer can Bell keep up the pretence that “we have some of the best forest practices in the world”? That claim might have held true for the last decade of the last century, but today it has become a hollow echo from the past in the dark tunnel of deceit.

So what are the leadership candidates’ positions — both B.C. Liberal and New Democrat — on forestry and the environment, and how will they restore the public interest to both files and put the supernatural back into British Columbia?

Anthony Britneff recently retired from a 39-year career with the B.C. Forest Service where he held senior positions in the inventory, silviculture and forest health programs.

Link to original article: https://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Certification+fails+protect+forests/4001831/story.html#ixzz1A8crfyqM