Clear-cutting threatens Echo Lake eagle colony (includes VIDEO and PHOTO GALLERY)

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**To view VIDEO and PHOTOGALLERY, visit: https://globalnews.ca/news/1906359/clear-cutting-threatens-echo-lake-eagle-colony/ **

Every fall, hundreds of eagles descend upon the Fraser Valley to roost in the treetops surrounding Echo Lake. Experts say there is no other place like it in the world.

“This is eagle central. It’s the place that if you want to protect the largest concentration of raptors on earth, this is just about it here,” says Ken Wu of Ancient Forest Alliance.

The area is a perfect marriage of mountain and river valley, sheltering the eagles from the wind while the perch upon the branches of the ancient Douglas Firs and Red Cedars.

“It’s really the last of the last. It’s like coming across a sasquatch these days. this is a very special area,” says Wu.

The fight continues to protect old-growth forest from logging. While the B.C. Government announcing 55 hectares were protected as old growth management areas, there are still 40 hectares that fall under a woodlot license.

“It’s about one-third the size of Stanley Park. It should be a no-brainer that you protect a hundred hectares of old growth forest here when there’s so little that remains,” says Wu.

Stephen Ben-Oliel owns property around Echo Lake and says over the years he’s watched the clear-cutting get closer. He says without protection from the ministry, logging companies can’t be left on their own to do the right thing.

“A cedar can be worth $50,000 and a fir tree that’s got the right grain is $10,000 to $15,000. It’s called a Class-A roller. It goes into plywood,” says Ben-Oliel.

Minister of Forests Steve Thomson told Global News that there are no plans to log the 40 unprotected hectares.

“We need to work with the woodlot operator. Woodlot operators leave wildlife trees and wildlife tree areas… I’ve been advised no logging is planned,” Thomson says.

Wu says if there are no plans for logging, why not include the patch of old-growth in the already protected lands.

Eagle expert David Hancock says the strength of the trees is a direct result of the eagle activity over hundreds of years.

He adds if the area was cleared, there is a risk the eagles may not return.

Read more and see VIDEO and PHOTOGALLERY at: https://globalnews.ca/news/1906359/clear-cutting-threatens-echo-lake-eagle-colony/

Echo Lake home to diverse and endangered species

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Preliminary surveys by biologists reveal diverse, endangered, and new species inhabiting the extremely rare lowland old-growth forest at Echo Lake west of Agassiz. Conservationists ramp-up call for the BC government to protect the area from logging.

A biodiversity survey (ie “Bio-Blitz”) of an extremely rare but endangered lowland old-growth forest between Agassiz and Mission, the Echo Lake Ancient Forest, famous for its bald eagles, has revealed that it is also home to a large diversity of flora and fauna. This includes many species at risk such as various bats, frogs, snails, dragonflies, and moss. The surveys, conducted over a weekend last year by biologists and naturalists, and co-ordinated by the Ancient Forest Alliance, have now been compiled and will be submitted to the BC Ministry of Environment’s Conservation Data Centre and Wildlife Species Inventory. Over two days, approximately 174 plant, 55 vertebrate, 153 invertebrate, and 38 fungi species were found around Echo Lake.

“These biodiversity surveys show that protecting all of Echo Lake’s surrounding old-growth and mature forests is important not only for saving the largest night-roosting site for bald eagles on Earth, but also for a large diversity of other species, including many species at risk,” stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director. “And these new findings are just the tip of the iceberg from just a single weekend of surveys – future surveys will undoubtedly turn up much more. It further re-enforces the fact that it should be a no-brainer for the BC government to protect all of Echo Lake’s surrounding forests.”

In 2013 the BC government protected 55 hectares or over half of the old-growth forests around Echo Lake in an Old-Growth Management Area (OGMA) on Crown lands primarily on the lake’s south side. However, they left out about 40 hectares or so of old-growth and mature forests from the OGMA on the north and west side of the lake within a Woodlot Licence where the ancient trees can be logged.

Echo Lake is the largest night-roosting site for bald eagles on Earth, where as many as 700 bald eagles roost in the ancient Douglas-fir and cedar trees around the lake at night during the fall salmon runs. Along the nearby Chehalis and Harrison Rivers, as many as 10,000 bald eagles come to eat the spawning salmon during some years, making the area home to the largest bald eagle/ raptor concentration on Earth.

The area is in the traditional, unceded territory of the Sts’ailes First Nation band, who run the Sasquatch EcoLodge and whose members run eagle watching tours nearby.

Among the hundreds of species identified in the survey, some of the more interesting finds include the little brown bat, the northen red legged-frog, the barn swallow and the olive-sided flycatcher. A spider called the Theonoe stridula was also identified, a newly-recorded species for the first time in B.C.

Other species found through the survey or observed at other times at Echo Lake include Vaux’s swifts (a swallow-like bird associated with old-growth forests), pileated woodpeckers (Canada’s largest woodpecker, associated with older conifer forests and deciduous forests), red-breasted sapsuckers (associated with older forests), osprey, turkey vultures, river otters, beavers, black bears, bobcats, cougars, mountain goats, black-tailed deer, and bald eagles.

“The BC government so far has shown itself to be stubborn and intransigent on protecting the north and west sides of Echo Lake, which will lead to heightened conflict. Instead, they need to work with the local Woodlot Licencee, First Nations, adjacent private land owners like myself, and conservationists to ensure the area’s legal protection. This would entail shifting the Woodlot Licence boundaries – perhaps just 40 hectares or so of the existing 800 hectare tenure – into a second-growth forest in the vast region with an equivalent timber value, and then expanding the Old-Growth Management Area to encompass all of the forests around Echo Lake,” stated Stephen Ben-Oliel, a private landowner on the eastern shore of Echo Lake.

Ben-Oliel and his wife Susan are planning to organize an Echo Lake Festival on August 8-9, filled with natural history tours, musicians, art performances, tree-climbing workshops, and other activities to celebrate and help promote the protection of the remaining endangered forests around the lake. Updates on the festival will be posted in the future at www.ProtectEchoLake.com

The Ancient Forest Alliance is also calling for a larger provincial plan to protect the remaining endangered old-growth forests across BC while ensuring sustainable second-growth forestry jobs. Some of the key policies the organization is calling for include:

• A Provincial Old-Growth Plan based on science that would protect the remaining old-growth forests in the province in the regions where they are endangered (eg. Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, BC Interior).

• Ensuring sustainable logging of second-growth forests, which now constitute the vast majority of forested lands in southern British Columbia.

• Ending the export of raw logs to foreign mills in order to ensure a guaranteed log supply for BC mills and value-added manufacturers.

• Supporting the retooling of old-growth mills and the development of value-added processing facilities to handle second-growth logs.

In the Lower Mainland, about 80% or more of the original, productive old-growth forests have already been logged, including about 95% of the valley bottom ancient forests where the largest trees grow and most biodiversity is found. See maps and stats of the old-growth forests on BC’s southern coast at: https://16.52.162.165/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/

“How many jurisdictions on Earth still have trees that grow as wide as living rooms and as tall as downtown skyscrapers? What we have here is something exceptional on the planet. Our ancient forests make British Columbia truly special – while we still have them,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner. “More than ever we need the BC government to have the wisdom to protect our incredibly rare and endangered old-growth forests like at Echo Lake”.

Read more: https://www.agassizharrisonobserver.com/news/echo-lake-home-to-diverse-and-endangered-species/

 

 

Race is on to save Fraser Valley’s bald eagles, Echo Lake old-growth forest

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Up to 700 bald eagles roost in a small grove of old-growth trees around Echo Lake in the Fraser Valley each fall. Does this sound like the kind of place that should be logged?

It is in British Columbia, where ancient trees are seen as just another replaceable commodity.

The lake sits in a small valley surrounded by mountains near where the Chehalis River joins the Harrison, and both flow into the Fraser.

When salmon return to spawn, the eagles spend their days feasting on fish on the river banks, then, just as darkness descends, fly up to roost in the towering Douglas firs and cedars surrounding Echo Lake.

“They don’t come every night. It’s unpredictable,” says Stephen Ben-Oliel, who has lived on the lake for 20 years. “But when they come, it’s remarkable. You look up and it’s like aircraft circling a busy airport. They drop down and start to stack up in the trees.”

Mr. Ben-Oliel says bird experts who came to study the phenomenon told him the eagles have been using Echo Lake as a roost for 8,000 years.

But they might not be returning for much longer if a provincial government logging plan goes ahead.

A few years ago, Mr. Ben-Oliel went for a walk in the towering forest near his home and was shocked to find flags marking trees for logging.

Not all the trees are ancient. But many are, mixed in with younger, second-growth timber that grew after a forest fire 150 years ago.

“You can go in the forest there and there are trees 150 years old, and there are trees 1,000 years old,” Mr. Ben-Oliel said.

It is the big, old giants that the eagles like best.

“I don’t know why they choose those trees, but I think they feel safe up there, away from anything that might come in the night to kill them,” he said.

They might be safe from predators, but not from the B.C. government, which is allowing many of the last remaining patches of old growth on the West Coast to be logged.

Mr. Ben-Oliel, with support from the Ancient Forest Alliance, started a campaign in 2012 to save the Echo Lake forest. In 2013, the government protected 55 hectares – just over half the old-growth around the lake.

But Mr. Ben-Oliel is horrified the plan still allows about 40 hectares of old growth and mature forest to be logged on the north and west sides of the lake.

“The tallest old-growth firs that ever existed on Earth used to stand in the Chehalis Valley [near Echo Lake],” he said. “But if you drive up there now, you’ll see that, over the years, they’ve taken it all. It is now like the surface of Mars in many places.”

He fears that fate awaits “the last little pocket” of old growth at Echo Lake.

“They are quietly sneaking out the last of our great legacy,” Mr. Ben-Oliel said. “It’s appalling that old growth forests aren’t protected in B.C. ”

Ken Wu of the Ancient Forest Alliance has been campaigning for a provincial plan to protect B.C.’s remaining endangered old-growth forests. His team recently did a “bio-blitz” at Echo Lake, recording the richness of the ecosystem there, which is home to everything from red-legged frogs to black bears.

The government’s old-growth strategy, he said, “is piecemeal, weak and inadequate.”

Mr. Wu said only about 1 per cent of the big, ancient trees are left.

“The classic giant cedars and Douglas firs that historically built the logging industry of southern British Columbia were essentially annihilated by the 1950s [by logging],” he said. “It’s as rare as a black rhino to have low elevation, spectacular old growth [such as at the lake], so this is something incredibly rare.”

He said the Echo Lake forest has been spared the axe until now only because mountains and private land made access difficult.

“They can get in by building an expensive road, or they can heli-log it,” Mr. Wu said of logging companies working in the Chehalis area. “We heard next year they may move in.”

The government says its old-growth strategy protects the big, old trees that are becoming increasingly rare. But it does not.

On his dock, Mr. Ben-Oliel has a section of a stump from a recently cut tree. He counted 716 rings.

“That tree was cut, floated down the Fraser whole and shipped to China,” he says. “That’s a travesty.”

In B.C., that’s also government policy. And it needs to change before Echo Lake and the few remaining places like it are lost.

Read more: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/race-is-on-to-save-fraser-valleys-bald-eagles-echo-lake-old-growth-forest/article23576358/

A Northern Red Legged-Frog spotted during the Echo Lake Bio-Blitz. (listed as a species of Special Concern by COSEWIC and Blue-Listed or threatened provincially)

Diverse and Endangered Species found at Echo Lake Ancient Forest near Vancouver

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For Immediate Release
March 19, 2015

World’s Largest Night-Roosting Site for Bald Eagles, the Endangered Echo Lake Ancient Forest, also Home to Diverse and Endangered Species

Preliminary surveys by biologists reveal diverse, endangered, and new species inhabiting the extremely rare lowland old-growth forest at Echo Lake east of Mission. Conservationists ramp-up call for the BC government to protect the area from logging.

Mission, BC – A biodiversity survey (ie “Bio-Blitz”) of an extremely rare but endangered, lowland old-growth forest between Mission and Agassiz (about a 2 hour drive east of Vancouver), the Echo Lake Ancient Forest, famous for its bald eagles, has revealed that it is also home to a large diversity of flora and fauna. This includes many species at risk such as various species of bats, frogs, snails, dragonflies, and moss. The surveys, conducted over a weekend last year by biologists and naturalists, and coordinated by the Ancient Forest Alliance, have now been compiled and will be submitted to the BC Ministry of Environment’s Conservation Data Centre and Wildlife Species Inventory. Over 2 days, approximately 174 plant, 55 vertebrate, 153 invertebrate, and 38 fungi species were found around Echo Lake.

“These biodiversity surveys show that protecting all of Echo Lake’s surrounding old-growth and mature forests is important not only for saving the largest night-roosting site for bald eagles on Earth, but also for a large diversity of other species, including many species at risk,” stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director. “And these new findings are just the tip of the iceberg from just a single weekend of surveys – future surveys will undoubtedly turn up much more. It further re-enforces the fact that it should be a no-brainer for the BC government to protect all of Echo Lake’s surrounding forests.”

In 2013 the BC government protected 55 hectares or over half of the old-growth forests around Echo Lake in an Old-Growth Management Area (OGMA) on Crown lands primarily on the lake’s south side. However, they left out about 40 hectares or so of old-growth and mature forests from the OGMA on the north and west side of the lake within a Woodlot Licence where the ancient trees can be logged. See the media release from 2013: www.ancientforestalliance.org/news-item.php?ID=565

See spectacular images of Echo Lake Ancient Forests at: www.ancientforestalliance.org/photos.php?gID=20

See a Youtube Clip at: https://youtu.be/HPstV14oZ6s

Echo Lake is the largest night-roosting site for bald eagles on Earth, where as many as 700 bald eagles roost in the ancient Douglas-fir and cedar trees around the lake at night during the fall salmon runs. Along the nearby Chehalis and Harrison Rivers, as many as 10,000 bald eagles come to eat the spawning salmon during some years, making the area home to the largest bald eagle/ raptor concentration on Earth.

The area is in the traditional, unceded territory of the Sts’ailes First Nation band, who run the Sasquatch EcoLodge and whose members run eagle watching tours nearby.

Among the hundreds of species identified in the survey, some of the more interesting finds include:

Species at Risk including:

  • Little Brown Bat (listed as Endangered by the federal government’s COSEWIC)
  • Northern Red Legged-Frog (listed as a species of Special Concern by COSEWIC and Blue-Listed or threatened provincially)
  • Barn Swallow (listed as Threatened by COSEWIC, Blue-listed provincially)
  • Olive-Sided Flycatcher (listed as Threatened by COSEWIC, Blue-listed provincially)
  • Brotherella roellii (type of moss) (COSEWIC status Endangered, Red-listed or endangered provincially)
  • Monadenia fidelis or Pacific Sideband (type of snail) (Blue-listed provincially)
  • Epitheca canis or Beaverpond Baskettail (type of dragonfly) (Blue-listed provincially

A newly-recorded species for the first time in BC:

  • Theonoe stridula (type of spider)

Other species found through the survey or observed at other times at Echo Lake include Vaux’s swifts (a swallow-like bird associated with old-growth forests), pileated woodpeckers (Canada’s largest woodpecker, associated with older conifer forests and deciduous forests), red-breasted sapsuckers (associated with older forests), osprey, turkey vultures, river otters, beavers, black bears, bobcats, cougars, mountain goats, black-tailed deer, and bald eagles. 

“The BC government so far has shown itself to be stubborn and intransigent on protecting the north and west sides of Echo Lake, which will lead to heightened conflict. Instead, they need to work with the local Woodlot Licencee, First Nations, adjacent private land owners like myself, and conservationists to ensure the area’s legal protection. This would entail shifting the Woodlot Licence boundaries – perhaps just 40 hectares or so of the existing 800 hectare tenure – into a second-growth forest in the vast region with an equivalent timber value, and then expanding the Old-Growth Management Area to encompass all of the forests around Echo Lake,” stated Stephen Ben-Oliel, a private landowner on the eastern shore of Echo Lake.

Stephen and his wife Susan are planning to organize an August 8-9 Echo Lake Festival filled with natural history tours, musicians, art performances, tree-climbing workshops, and other activities to celebrate and help promote the protection of the remaining endangered forests around the lake. Updates on the festival will be posted in the future at www.ProtectEchoLake.com 

The Ancient Forest Alliance is also calling for a larger provincial plan to protect the remaining endangered old-growth forests across BC while ensuring sustainable second-growth forestry jobs. Some of the key policies the organization is calling for include:

  • A Provincial Old-Growth Plan based on science that would protect the remaining old-growth forests in the province in the regions where they are endangered (eg. Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, BC Interior).
  • Ensuring sustainable logging of second-growth forests, which now constitute the vast majority of forested lands in southern British Columbia.
  • Ending the export of raw logs to foreign mills in order to ensure a guaranteed log supply for BC mills and value-added manufacturers.
  • Supporting the retooling of old-growth mills and the development of value-added processing facilities to handle second-growth logs.

In the Lower Mainland, about 80% or more of the original, productive old-growth forests have already been logged, including about 95% of the valley bottom ancient forests where the largest trees grow and most biodiversity is found. See maps and stats of the old-growth forests on BC's southern coast at: www.ancientforestalliance.org/old-growth-maps.php 

“How many jurisdictions on Earth still have trees that grow as wide as living rooms and as tall as downtown skyscrapers? What we have here is something exceptional on the planet. Our ancient forests make British Columbia truly special – while we still have them,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner. “More than ever we need the BC government to have the wisdom to protect our incredibly rare and endangered old-growth forests like at Echo Lake”.
 

AFA’s TJ Watt wins Eco-Hero Award!

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Congratulations to the AFA’s photographer and campaigner TJ Watt, who through popular vote was tied for first place in the local Eco-Hero competition by Hemp & Company! We’re proud of TJ, who’s photography has gone around the world to highlight the beauty and the plight of BC’s endangered old-growth forests. Thanks for everyone’s support and votes!

Hemp & Company no longer in operation.

Comox Lake watershed logging under the microscope following boil water advisory

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Logging company officials maintain harvesting increases in the Comox Lake watershed in recent decades had nothing to do with the extended boil water advisory in the Courtenay area. But as more severe storms wreck havoc on the ecosystem, which provides the drinking water for tens of thousands in the Comox Valley, a local conservation group says it’s time to rethink forestry practices.
“What’s the right level of logging in the watershed? That’s what we have to figure out,” said David Stapley, project manager with the Comox Valley Conservation Strategy Community Partnership (CVCSCP). “We believe from our research that it contributes to turbidity pollution in the lake when we have these high rainfall and snow events.”
Logging has come into focus in the wake of a one-and-a-half month boil water advisory in the Comox Valley, something that will be addressed at a forum called Re-Think Our Watershed to be held Feb. 24 at the Stan Hagen Theatre. CVCSCP is organizing the event which will feature a presentation from a TimberWest Corp. representative, the company most active in the watershed.
Neither BC Hydro nor the Comox Valley Regional District have evidence that logging was directly responsible for the elevated turbidity levels that prevented health officials from lifting the boil water advisory, but the events have sparked a conversation about the impact of logging on the environment.
A review by the CVCSCP found while it took 100 years to log 54 per cent of private forest lands in the Comox Lake watershed, between 1999 and 2009 16.2 per cent of this area was logged – a rate three times higher than before.
Domenico Iannidinardo, chief forester and VP sustainability for TimberWest said the company has full-time staff dedicated to monitoring the watershed and has water quality as a top priority.
“When it comes to forestry and drinking water, these are the two greatest renewable resources the Comox Valley has,” he said. “TimberWest has continued to adapt its plans, integrate science and work with the community.”
Island Timberlands LP and the Hancock Timber Resources Group are also present in the watershed, but don’t log as much in the area.
Some environmentalists are concerned the increase in logging has weakened the ecosystem.
“With that extensive logging you’ve got a network of logging roads, ditching and culverts,” Stapely said, adding that leads to erosion, which causes turbidity in lakes and rivers. “How much of that is from logging, how much of that is natural? We’d have to do a study.”
Not everyone agrees, including some loggers who have spent a good chunk of their lives trudging up and down the hills above Comox Lake.
Ken Cottini was based out of the Comox Valley for 34 years, watching Crown Zellerbach turn into Fletcher Challenge and then into TimberWest.
Before the snippers and other machinery were brought in there would be up to 25 fallers at a time working above Comox Lake, he remembers.
In many ways forestry companies have tightened up their act, he says, but notes loggers have always had a commitment to keeping the watershed intact – although they wouldn’t have phrased it that way decades ago.
“There was always cases of guys not wanting to fall into fish bearing creeks,” he said. “There’s only so much you can do if you’re ordered to do it.”
But things have improved significantly, he says. In the past loggers wouldn’t think twice about cutting into swamps to open up a setting, for example.
And it wasn’t until the 90s that water quality came to the fore.
Meanwhile TimberWest was going through its own changes.
The company had been absent from the Comox Lake watershed throughout the 1980s as second-growth forests were allowed to mature.
TimberWest returned to the area the following decade and began increasing the volume of logs it pulled out of the watershed.
Cottini recalls the TimberWest environmental committee he sat on bringing concerns from loggers about a jump in harvesting from about 300,000 cubic metres in the entire district (which includes Campbell River, Mount Washington and Comox Lake) past 400,000 cubic metres and beyond, in the mid 90s.
After Paul McElligott was appointed president and CEO in 2000, the company’s approach to logging on Vancouver Island took a dramatic turn, with harvesting levels shooting up past a million cubic metres per year, he said.
Workers were concerned this rate just wasn’t sustainable and would hurt both employment levels and the environment in the not too distant future.
“When they brought in the new management team from Quebec and the US it was ‘Screw the labour,'” he said. “It became all about money.”
TimberWest put an American expansion plan behind them and focused on “delivering value to its unitholders from its B.C. operations,” according to a company press release from the era.
One key element opposed by the TimberWest environment committee was the method of determining sustainability on a company-wide basis instead of within a particular district of operations, Cottini explained.
“We questioned them every step of the way,” he said, noting one of the practices that bothered loggers was instances of “robbing areas that are immature.”
TimberWest officials say they only log up to three per cent of forest lands in any given area and are committed to looking at the integrity of the watershed as a whole.
“There are many people who get up every morning looking forward to managing this forest very carefully,” Iannidinardo said. “Drinking water is the top planning priority for our operations in the watershed.”
Collective bargaining in the 2000s brought in significant new changes to how forest lands are managed, Cottini reflected.
“What happened was they got to contract all their lands out,” he said. “They can always download blame.”
And while Cottini says he believes contractors are held to account by TimberWest in the Comox Valley watershed and doesn’t think the company has violated any rules on purpose, he says no matter what way you look at it, things have shifted.
“We would hold them to certain standards,” he said. “It’s a whole different ballgame now.”
Since then, TimberWest has been sold to a pair of pension funds, the BC Investment Management Corp. and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board.
But Cottini doesn’t believe logging played a significant part in bringing on the boil water advisory.
While he conceded timber extraction certainly is one of the many factors affecting the watershed, it’s the changes he’s seen in recent years to the entire climate that have the bigger impact, he said.
“The weather’s going to keep evolving, too,” he said, suggesting what he feels the regional district should do to safeguard water quality. “That’s why I believe in a filtration system. We might as well get ahead of it instead of lagging behind.”
TimberWest officials say they leave buffer zones that range from 5-35 metres depending on the type of stream and soil on the bank.
The company also holds regular training sessions with planning and harvesting contractors.
Rod Bealing, executive director of the Private Forest Landowners Association, maintains the penalties for mismanaging the forest and watershed are so severe it keeps logging companies on the straight and narrow.
“There’s a lot of long-term planning that goes into it,” he said. “We all live in the same communities and drink the same water.”
Lyle Quinn, a Merville resident who logged in the Comox Lake watershed last year for Fall River Ltd., said he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary take place on the cut block this year that would have triggered significant turbidity.
The biggest difference was due to the warm weather they could log longer than usual.
“It was the worst bloody year for rain,” he said. “We used to be shut down all winter. Now we log all winter.”

Environmentalists explain importance of old growth

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With logging in the Alberni Valley not showing any signs of slowing down, Jane Morden and Sarah Thomas of the Watershed Forest Alliance and local biologist Mike Stini spent several hours on Sunday, Feb. 15 showing Coun. Chris Alemany and his wife, Theresa, and kids, Jade and Josh, around the Cameron Firebreak.

While the area is not a part of the city’s watershed, the old growth and steep terrain make it similar to McLaughlin Ridge, a steep slope above China Creek. China Creek is Port Alberni and Beaver Creek’s main drinking water source, with current turbidity levels low enough that that the city is applying for a filtration waiver. According to city engineer Guy Cicon, current water conditions make him confident that the city will receive the waiver.

The WFA is concerned that if old growth in McLaughlin Ridge is logged, the natural filtration it provides will be lost.

Read more: https://www.albernivalleynews.com

Company pressured to halt harvesting of old-growth within city’s watershed

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Some Island Timberlands' stakeholders are adding pressure to the forestry company over the harvesting of old growth within Port Alberni's watershed.

As logging continues in McLaughlin Ridge near Cathedral Grove, the B.C. Teachers Federation voted to ask Island Timberlands to sell the forestry land it owns in the steeply sloped area. The motion passed Jan. 31 at a BCTF assembly of district representatives, urging the forestry company to sell McLaughlin Ridge to “an organization(s) that will conserve and preserve forest lands.”

The old growth forest is within the China Creek watershed, the drinking water source for more than 20,000 people in Port Alberni and Beaver Creek. Ken Zydyk, president of the Alberni Teachers Union, said the request for Island Timberlands to divest the land was first approved by public educators in Port Alberni.

“There are many teachers concerned about the current practices of Island Timberlands,” he said.

Local teachers wonder if the harvesting in McLaughlin Ridge ensures “the protection of our watershed so that Port Alberni can continue to have high quality, clean water,” added Zydyk.

The Jan. 31 motion also asks Island Timberlands to gain certification from the Forest Stewardship Council, an international system that promotes “strict environmental and social standards,” according to the council's website.

Canadian members of the Forest Stewardship Council include Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries, the National Aboriginal Forestry Association and B.C.-based Brinkman and Associates Reforestation. The teachers' request now goes to the B.C. Investment Management Corporation, a major Island Timberlands shareholder. The BCIMC invests pensions for teachers and other public sector employees around the province.

“Teachers are uncomfortable that we put some of our salary towards our pension, it's like a savings account that we access later,” Zydyk said, adding that the concern was if teachers' funds are “being used in a socially responsible way.”

The forestry company has met with municipal officials on almost a monthly basis since city council voted last August to join a lobbying effort to halt harvesting in McLaughlin Ridge.

This push is being led by the Watershed Forest Alliance, a local environmental group that fears the forestry activity is unsustainable, harming McLaughlin Ridge's wildlife and compromising Port Alberni's source of drinking water.

A letter from Island Timberlands to the city in August 2014 said the company's construction of logging roads, harvesting and replanting is executed with a focus on water quality. The company stated lots are usually replanted within nine months of harvesting.

The administrative body that enforces provincial law on private forestry companies has deemed Island Timberlands to be acting responsibly. The Private Managed Land Council has investigated the company's activities in the China Creek Watershed.

“Their report concluded that our practices are above average for coastal operations,” wrote Morgan Kennah, IT's community affairs manager, in the letter to the city. “The study noted that although harvesting activity has increased in the area in the past decade, the hydrological capacity for the watershed to balance this harvesting with current forest cover and regenerating forests is below the threshold for best management in watersheds.”

Turbidity – or water cloudiness – has been an issue raised in the push to halt logging in the watershed. Turbidity can interfere with municipal water treatment systems, a concern that led Island Health to issue boil water advisories for Nanaimo and the Comox Valley after heavy rain in December. An advisory was not given for the Alberni Valley, as turbidity levels fell within the province's standard for healthy drinking water.

Island Timberlands' letter to the city noted that selling McLaughlin Ridge would be costly and bring no guarantee that water quality will improve.

“Acquiring land in the watershed in an attempt to impact seasonal turbidity will certainly be expensive, and is highly unlikely to eliminate the need for filtration,” wrote Kennah.

Meetings between the Watershed Forest Alliance, city officials and the B.C. Ministry of Forests are expected to continue.

On the agenda for Tuesday's council meeting, a motion proposed to form the Alberni Valley Watershed Management Committee to oversee forestry and drinking water issues.

Read more: https://www.avtimes.net/news/local-news/company-pressured-to-halt-harvesting-of-old-growth-within-city-s-watershed-1.1759064

Donations by Businesses, Artists & Organizations

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Thanks to the generous support of donors, the Ancient Forest Alliance has quickly grown to become BC’s leading grassroots organization working for the protection of endangered old-growth forests and forestry jobs across the province.

Over the past several years since the AFA was founded, local businesses, green enterprises, artists, environmental foundations, and other organizations have bolstered the AFA’s important work through many fundraising initiatives such as yoga studio Karma Classes, gift raffles, ‘Haircut not Clearcut’ salon fundraisers, in-kind donations, proceeds from products or services, music festivals, concerts and special benefit events.

Thanks to our 2014 Donors!

In 2014, the AFA received significant support from a variety of granting programs and creative fundraisers. We are very grateful for the major support provided by Mountain Equipment Co-op’s Community Contributions Grants and MEC Victoria’s vote of preferred organizations, LUSH Handmade Cosmetics’ Charity Pot program and employee vote of preferred organizations, Patagonia Victoria’s 1% for the Planet contributions, Evergreen Foundation’s funding for a Douglas-fir ecosystem restoration project, Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation’s grant supporting the Avatar Grove boardwalk construction, and Ball Foundation’s grant towards our nature and climate campaign work. In March the annual Tree Huggers’ Ball dance party fundraiser, organized by the UVic Ancient Forest Committee, once again raised significant funds and awareness for the AFA.

To celebrate Earth Day, Grassroots Eco-Salon organized a ‘Haircuts not Clearcuts’ fundraiser, North Park Bike Shop and Café 932 raised funds from the day’s sales, and Sea Flora Wild Organic Seaweed Skincare donated proceeds from an Earth Day seaweed hike.

The AFA’s Boardwalk Fundraiser in June, hosted by Stickleback Restaurant, received support from businesses such as the West Coast Trail Express, Soule Creek Lodge and Pathfinders Design & Technology.

This summer, the Heritage Boardshop donated 50% of entry proceeds from the Salt Spring Skate Competition, the new owners of Vorizo Cafe on Hornby Island pledged support and displayed AFA posters and educational newsletters in the café, and the popular Tall Tree Music Festival once again came to Brown Mountain near Port Renfrew and lent its support to the AFA’s work to protect old-growth forests near Port Renfrew and beyond.

Throughout the year, yoga studios such as Moksha Yoga Victoria, Ananda Ayurveda, and Feel Good Yoga hosted their own Karma Class fundraisers, clothing company Hemp & Co. produced a variety of unique and popular AFA clothing items, West Coast Wonders pledged support from their guiding operations, local designers Emma Glover Design and Cat Abyss Clothing lent support through their creative work, and Port Renfrew Marina hosted many boardwalk volunteers during the boardwalk construction workparties. Banyen Books & Sound has been assisting the AFA’s efforts through sales of AFA cards at their store, and many businesses – Hoyne Brewing, River Road Chocolates, Cottlestone Apiary, Beehive Wool Shop, Olive the Senses, Third Eye Pinecones, Nightingale Naturals, Two Blooms Organics, The Copper Hat, Full Circle Studio Arts, Tonic Jewelry, LUSH, and Escents Aromatherapy – donated items to our fall raffles.

This holiday season, Inspire Hair Design provided funds from every appointment over the month of November, Trees Organic Coffee House generously offered space in their Yaletown café for the AFA’s holiday sales booth, Bon Macaron Patisserie, Cordial Wildcrafted Consumables, La Tana Bakery and Pedersen’s Rentals donated items to our year end events in Victoria, and Eternal Abundance Grocer and Vegan Café began selling AFA merchandise to help raise funding and awareness among their customers.

We look forward to working with many more such supporters in 2015 and beyond as we pursue our ambitious goal of ensuring legislated protection for endangered old-growth forests across the province!

For more information on supporting the AFA as a business or organization, see here.

For a full list of businesses, artists and organizations that have supported the AFA, see here.
 

Thank You from the Ancient Forest Alliance!

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The Ancient Forest Alliance is most grateful to the Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) for their major support provided through their Community Contributions grant program. This funding support will allow the AFA to expand our capacity as an organization and strengthen our campaign to protect endangered old-growth forests on Vancouver Island! See MEC's website at: www.MEC.ca

The AFA would also like to thank Innerlife Health Services (innerlife.ca) for their Community Clinic on January 25th, offering BodyTalk sessions with proceeds to the Ancient Forest Alliance, as well as Climbing Arborist (www.climbingarborist.com) and the Mat Fernandez Project for supporting the AFA through their film screening event on January 30th, which included Darryl Augustine's (Roadside Films) AFA documentary. Thank you to all who were involved for your dedicated support!