Here’s what B.C. needs to do to save forestry

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As a publicly owned resource, British Columbia’s forests must be harvested in a manner that pro-motes sustainability and healthy forests that are ecologically diverse. This would protect and promote existing and new jobs in communities dependent on well-managed forests. Here, then, are the principal recommendations of the Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada (PPWC):

FOREST INVENTORY

The PPWC demands the B.C. government take an inventory of our working forestland base to determine what the annual allowable cut would be. This will be done with a goal of long-term sustainability and future silvicultural needs, using the best science avail-able. It will take into account climate change, industry and community needs, as well as a social contract for land use to be developed with input from all stakeholders. The contract must have a goal of zero wood waste as this waste leads to lost job opportunities in both the traditional forest products industry and the emerging bio-economy. Zero tolerance for wood waste beyond the woody debris that should be left behind at logging sites to ensure soil and water protection.

The PPWC calls for a politically independent chief forester to be appointed in consultation with the previously mentioned stakeholder group.

EXPORT LANGUAGE

The B.C. Forests Ministry, along with labour, industry and communities, must develop a strategy that moves industry away from the current escalating dependence on log exports. This would then promote tertiary, secondary and value-added industries within our province. On the coast, we must promote a second-growth strategy that integrates protected old-growth areas as well as a new milling strategy for that second growth. The initiatives to end log exports must come from governments and forest-dependent communities. The PPWC has always and will continue to advocate for the export of manufactured products, not raw logs.

DEALING WITH PINE BEETLE FALL DOWN IN ANNUAL ALLOWABLE CUT

Rather than ignoring the fall down in timber supply within beetle-infested areas, we must put a strategy in place that will lessen the impact on directly affected communities.

To meet these goals, government needs to appoint a permanent forest commissioner’s office to be funded out of a portion of provincial stump-age fees and assigned responsibility for working directly with affected communities, First Nations, the provincial forest service and the industry to identify top reforestation priorities and to guide public investments in restoring forest health.

This office would also have responsibility for administering a retraining program. The PPWC will not support moving into parks and protected areas to address timber shortfalls. This does not address the long-term issue of fall down in the annual allowable cut.

FSC CERTIFICATION

It must be the stated goal of government, industry, and community forests to achieve Forest Stewardship Council certification across British Columbia within three years.

ENERGY SECTOR COMPETITION

With the increased competition for fibre from the energy sector, its requirement must also be addressed. The highest-value use of the resource must always be of paramount importance in terms of providing jobs, stable communities and functioning ecosystems.

Priority needs to be given to solid wood production and the “fallout” from the solid wood industry be the source of wood fibre and jobs in the pulp and paper industry as well as the emerging bioenergy industry. The government must work with existing or new wood-manufacturing plants to achieve that necessary balance.

The prospects for growth and employment opportunities in the forest sector and in their communities are bleak without a healthy land base. The PPWC encourages the government to look at these recommendations and to recognize that the need for investment in the land base and in workers is imperative.

Arnold Bercov is national forest resource officer with the Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada. Stuart Blundell is national environment officer with the union.

Read more:  https://www.vancouversun.com/life/Here+what+needs+save+forestry/6939269/story.html

Opening protected areas not ideal: Bercov

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Opening protected areas and parks in B.C. to logging wouldn’t be in the best interests of forestry workers, or the industry itself, according to Arnold Bercov.

Bercov is the president of Pulp and Paper Workers of Canada, Local 8, which represents workers at the Harmac pulp mill at Duke Point and Western Forest Products’ sawmill in Ladysmith. His concerns come at the same time that a special committee, struck by the government in May, is travelling across the province seeking public input into ways to add to the province’s wood inventory, particularly in areas in the Interior that have been ravaged by the ongoing mountain pine beetle infestation.

The committee, headed by Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad, is to submit a report with recommendations to the government on Aug. 15.

To access more timber, the Clark government is floating a plan that includes logging in areas that were previously off limits for environmental or visual quality reasons and changing the boundaries of forest districts to add more timber to the supply. Bercov said that while the focus of the committee is currently on the Interior, he fears that any changes to policy that would allow more logging in protected areas would inevitably apply to the Island.

“It’s just a loser of an idea that doesn’t serve anyone well,” Bercov said. “I predict it would restart the environmental wars over forestry practices in the province and I believe that it would be a huge mistake. While there are no jobs if all the trees are protected, there will also be no jobs after everything is logged. We need to find a balance.”

The Association of B.C. Professional Foresters, environmentalists and even the University of B.C.’s dean of forestry have expressed concerns, specifically over the second look at forest lands that are set aside for ecological reasons.

“The message we want out there is: ‘We are not going to damage our environmental standards,'” said John Allan, president of the Council of Forest Industries, which intends to submit a brief to the committee. “I am struggling with how you would free up anything more than a few scraps of timber without doing environmental damage.”

Bercov suggested better planning and management practices on behalf of the forest companies and the government to ensure a future supply of wood is what’s needed, and not moving into sensitive and protected areas for logging.

“People should make it a point to have their voices heard by the government on this issue,” he said.

Read more:   https://www.canada.com/Opening+protected+areas+ideal+Bercov/6898961/story.html

Old-growth clearcut near the Avatar Grove in the Gordon River Valley.

Saving ‘Avatar Grove’: the battle to preserve old-growth forests in British Columbia

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Follow the link below to read the excellent interview and to see some of TJ’s top photos from Vancouver Island’s endangered ancient forests: https://news.mongabay.com/2012/0723-hance-watt-interview.html

With more than one million unique visitors per month, Mongabay.com is one of the world’s most popular environmental science and conservation news sites. The news and rainforests sections of the site are widely cited for information on tropical forests, conservation, and wildlife.

Avatar Grove

Big trees by the numbers

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Big trees by the numbers

Vancouver Island is home to some of the largest trees on the planet. From the well-known towering giants of Cathedral Grove to those newly discovered near Port Renfrew, ancient forests have been wowing visitors to Canada’s West Coast for centuries.

1778
The year Captain James Cook set foot on Vancouver Island. Even then, the Red Creek Fir, the world’s largest Coast Douglas fir near Port Renfrew, would have been an 800-year-old sentinel.

2009
The year Ancient Forest Alliance photographer TJ Watt discovered a rare stand of ancient red cedars just outside Port Renfrew. In a clever marketing move, the group dubbed the trees “Avatar Grove” after the popular movie, helping spark a big tree tourism boom in the former logging town.

333
The number of cubic metres of wood in the San Juan Spruce, Canada’s largest spruce, near Port Renfrew. That’s like rolling 333 telephone poles into one tree.

3671 mm
The amount of rain that falls annually in Port Renfrew, more than twice what Vancouver gets in a year.

96 metres
The height of the tallest tree in Canada, the Carmanah Giant, located in Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park. The giant is as tall as London’s Big Ben.

12,000
The number of protesters who blocked logging in Clayoquot Sound in the summer of 1993, the largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history. Meares Island, the site of Canada’s first logging blockade, now draws upward of 5,000 visitors a year to its Big Tree Trail, accessible via a 10-minute water taxi ride from Tofino.

Read the article online: https://www.upmagazine.com/story/article/big-trees-numbers

 

Elk are among the wildlife you will find among the towering trees in Avatar Grove.

‘Big trees’ of Avatar Grove are pure magic

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There are some places so precious that just standing there makes you proud to be a Canadian.

Avatar Grove is one of those.

Some of the oldest, biggest, and most gnarly trees in the country stand in these woods, found by hikers like T.J. Watt. He’s so passionate about ancient forests, the professional photographer calls himself a “big tree hunter.”

“I knew that only 4% of the old-growth forest was left in southern Vancouver Island,” he says, while hiking in the woods near Port Renfrew, at the far western edge of Canada. “For the most part, we just saw large stumps. Basically, I thought there was no hope of finding ancient trees.”

But Watt was determined, and his search along the Gordon River here led him through thick undergrowth to massive red cedars and Douglas firs.

He found enough giants in the forest in late 2009 to alert Victoria biologist Ken Wu, then with the Western Canada Wilderness Committee. By the time the pair returned in January 2010, trees in the grove already had been flagged for logging.

“We couldn’t leave them,” Watt says in a strangled voice. “Those logging flags were just unbelievable. We had a real sense of urgency about saving these trees.”

The men immediately founded the Ancient Forest Alliance, drawing such international attention they had 15,000 hits on their Facebook page in only a few days.

“We knew it could be gone in a month or so, and then we held a press conference in the forest. We didn’t have any bank account, but we got media attention around the world,” Watt recalls.

International students from Korea, Mexico, Japan, and Brazil, all studying at the University of Victoria, joined Canadian naturalists in visiting Avatar Grove, named for the fantasy landscape in James Cameron’s movie, Avatar.

Public pressure mounted for saving the trees, and in February, the BC government declared a 59-hectare chunk of forest off-limits to logging. Provincial tourism officials were so excited by new visitors arriving in Port Renfrew, they added Avatar Grove and other tree sites to “natural wonders” along the new Pacific Marine Circle Route.

In addition to the spectacular Avatar Grove, the 74-metre-tall “world’s largest Douglas fir” is also in Port Renfrew, along with the 68-metre San Juan Spruce, tallest in Canada and second tallest in the world. Together, these trees have made Port Renfew the “big trees capital of Canada.” Some are are estimated to be close to 1,000 years old.

Port Renfrew is known already as one of the best spots to get fresh food, hot shower, and a cosy bed for those starting or leaving the rugged 75-km West Coast trail. (Reservations must be made through Parks Canada. Peak hiking season is mid-June to mid-October.) Port Renfrew is also the terminus for the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail, a 47-km wilderness trek along the southwest coast of Vancouver Island.

“Port Renfrew has traditionally been a resource-based town, with logging and fishing,” says Watt, whose dad owns the Port Renfrew Marina. “What’s bringing people now are the trees.”

Jessica Hicks, co-owner with husband Tom Wyton, of the Coastal Kitchen Cafe, says the surge in international travellers has been “incredible.”

A couple of visitors a day would ask directions to ancient trees just last year, and now it’s 40 or more a day, she says. Local businesses had to produce more maps to keep up with demand.

“It’s a forever thing,” she says. “Hundreds, then thousands of people are coming from all over the world, from the Gulf Islands to Germany to see the trees. It’s not crowded, and we really like these people — they respect the environment.”

AVATAR MOVIE INSPIRES AN ECO-TRAVEL DESTINATION

Hicks says after 12 years in business in Port Renfrew, she’s been “amazed” by the extra business in the past two years. “T.J. and the others have really made a difference here,” she says. “It’s awesome — interest is growing, but it’s not so huge that anyone is producing Avatar Grove T-shirts yet.”

Brothers Jon and Tim Cash, chefs from Toronto, bought a large oceanfront property and added a luxury lodge with private cabin and three upscale yurts, all with Pacific or San Juan Inlet views. Their Soule Creek Lodge opened in 2001.

“More people are more interested in the trees than Botanical Beach, which used to be the big draw,” says Jon Cash, former Chamber of Commerce president here. “The beach would draw 60,000 people a year and now, it’s all about the trees. People will drive across the country to find the largest tree.”

Guests from the Netherlands, France, and England are drawn by eco-marketing of the “Jewel of the West Coast,” and Cash says he’s now handing out thousands of maps for self-guided tours of the big trees, compared to hundreds just a few years ago.

Visitors are drawn not only by the ancient giants, but wildlife, including Roosevelt elk, deer, wolves, bears, and cougars. Pileated woodpeckers, hawks, and bald eagles are common.

Hikers can roam the woods for hours without seeing anyone. Some hikes, like Avatar Grove, are more demanding, so the Ancient Forest Alliance assesses hiking difficulty on its website.

Watt is still searching for more ancient trees, figuring he just found the “eighth-largest Douglas fir in Canada,” estimated at more than three metres in width.

These giant trees can be found less than a half hour from the road in Port Renfrew. (TJ Watt photo)

It’s not recommended for novices, but Watt climbed the San Juan Spruce and found eagles near its top. Branches were so dense, they support a mat of “suspended soil in the mass a foot thick,” he says. “It really shows what we’ve got and what we could be losing.”

The Ancient Forest Alliance is campaigning to have Avatar Grove protected as a provincial park, and is raising money to build a boardwalk to make the giant trees there more accessible. (See its Facebook page.)

“We have an opportunity to leave behind a green legacy, of saving the last of the old-growth forests, or we could be the last liquidators of the ancient forest,” Watt cautions. “Most old growth is tucked away in valleys and so it’s hard to see.”

Avatar Grove and the other giants here are less than a half-hour from the road.

MORE ABOUT AVATAR GROVE

Location. The forest is about a two-hour drive west of Victoria along Highway 14, a paved road that is mostly two lanes. There’s no gas station, so be certain to fill up before heading to Port Renfrew.

Where to Stay: There’s camping, RV sites, cabins and two main hotels, Soule Creek Lodge ($145-$215/night, including breakfast; $36 dinner for guests only, BYOB) and Port Renfrew Resorts ($190 and up/night for waterfront, log cabins).

Dining Tips: Bison burgers and fish and chips are popular at Coastal Kitchen Cafe, but hardly anyone leaves without a platter-sized, chocolate pecan cookie. They’re $3 and homemade daily.

The pub at Port Renfrew Resorts has a pool table and big-screen TVs indoors and an outdoor deck overhanging the San Juan Inlet. It also features aboriginal art and carving throughout the grounds, and historical photos of area fishing and logging.

Soule Creek Lodge asks guests each morning about food allergies and preferences, then the chefs prepare a feast with local, seasonal ingredients. Fresh-from-the-dock fish includes sockeye salmon, tuna, and halibut, all wild and caught nearby.