Here's a new piece by Shaw TV about the importance of old-growth forests of Port Renfrew for the tourism economy, focused on the Avatar Grove and the Walbran Valley, and featuring Dan Hager, president of the local Chamber of Commerce, and the AFA's Ken Wu and TJ Watt.
See video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85ZbPbd0R2Q
It was an historic moment 20 years in the making.
Today it was announced an agreement has been reached between the province, 26 First Nations, environmental groups and the forest industry to protect 85% of BC’s Great Bear Rainforest from logging.
“It preserves land with cultural, ecological and spiritual ties vitally important to the people who have lived there for millennia,” said BC Premier Christy Clark at a press conference in Vancouver.
“I stand here today proud, happy, but still a little bit upset that it’s taken this long for us to find that balance that we were looking for for the last 20 years,” said Dallas Smith, President of the Nanwakolas Tribal Council.
The Great Bear Rainforest covers 6.4 million hectares and is the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world.
The best known species to call it home is the Spirit, or Kermode, bear.
20 years ago the battle to protect it began with protests and blockades — that was followed by an international campaign against BC forest products, which cost millions of dollars in contracts.
“International pressure was definitely key to bring the parties together to collaborate,” said Richard Brooks, Greenpeace Canada’s Forest Campaign Coordinator.
There will still be logging in the remaining 15%, but the parties involved say it will be under some of the strictest regulations in North America.
Ken Wu, executive director of the Ancient Forest Alliance, says now that BC’s northern rainforest is protected, it’s time to focus on Vancouver Island.
“We actually have the most significant or grandest ancient forests remaining,” said Wu.
“These are Jurassic Park-type landscapes, primeval ancient landscapes and we only have 6% of our productive forests under protection.”
Wu says if nothing is done to protect places like the Walbran Valley from logging, old growth-dependent species here will eventually go extinct.
But he hopes with today’s unprecedented agreement, it will never come to that.
“This basically changes the political dynamic in terms of forests in this province, in fact, in this country, so it’s a huge leap forward,” Wu said.
[Chek News article no longer available.]
VANCOUVER – A jewel in the crown of British Columbia’s magnificent landscape — the Great Bear Rainforest — has been largely protected from logging in a landmark agreement between First Nations, forest companies, environmental groups and the government, Premier Christy Clark said Monday.
The land-sharing deal 20 years in the making will protect 85 per cent of the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world, located on B.C.’s central coast about 700 kilometres northwest of Vancouver.
The Great Bear Rainforest, stretching from the Discovery Islands northwards to Alaska, is 6.4 million hectares, and more than half the region is covered by ancient forests. The agreement ensures 85 per cent of the forests — 3.1 million hectares — are permanently off limits to logging.
“This is what Vancouver used to look like,” said Clark as images of vast forests were displayed on screens during a news conference at the University of B.C.
“It is proof of what we can do if we decide to find common purpose,” she said.
Clark’s government will introduce legislation this spring that enshrines the deal and includes benefits-sharing agreements with area First Nations.
Twenty six First Nations, environmental groups, coastal forest companies and the government reached the agreement after more than a decade of negotiations.
The agreement also ends the commercial grizzly bear hunt and protects habitat for the marbled murrelet, northern goshawk, mountain goat and tailed frog.
Coastal First Nations spokeswoman Chief Marilyn Slett said reaching the pact was not an easy task but the eco-based management pact is the “modern term to describe what we’ve always done. Our leaders understand our well-being is connected to the well-being of our lands and waters.”
Coast Forest Products Association chief executive officer Rick Jeffery said the deal involved complex talks between groups with opposing points of view, but compromise and success was achieved over time.
“It’s unprecedented in the history of our province,” said Jeffery. “It’s a unique solution for a unique area.”
Environmentalist Richard Brooks said 95 per cent of the area was open to logging 20 years ago, but protests, blockades and ensuing negotiations resulted in Monday’s agreement that ensures most of the forests will not be logged.
“Each of us took tremendous risks to step into the unknown and bridge the huge divide,” said Brooks, describing the collaboration. Three environmental groups, Greenpeace, Forest Ethics and Sierra Club of B.C., are part of the deal.
Jens Wieting of the Sierra Club said logging in the remaining part of the forest will be tightly controlled.
“There is certainty for forestry, 15 per cent of the region’s rainforest will remain open for forestry under very stringent logging rules, the most stringent that you can find in North America.”
The area was officially named the Great Bear Rainforest by then-premier Gordon Campbell in 2006. Environmentalists had given the area the name years before that in an effort to protect the central coast from logging.
The area is also home to the kermode or sprit bear and is where nine area First Nations declared bans on bear hunting in their traditional territories.
Wieting said those involved in the agreement realized the region is globally important because there are so few temperate rain forests left on the planet.
“It is larger than the Netherlands or Belgium or Switzerland and it is really a global responsibility to find solutions to protect the ecological integrity and support communities in this region.”
Read more: https://globalnews.ca/news/2489812/most-of-b-c-s-great-bear-rainforest-protected/
High in the trees that have been growing in the Walbran Valley on Vancouver Island for up to 1,000 years, unique colonies of insects and invertebrates are thriving.
Carpets of soil which develop in the massive branches of the old-growth trees contain a plethora of species not found anywhere else on Earth and, since 1995, University of Victoria entomologist Neville Winchester has climbed more than 2,000 trees to document and catalogue this life in the tree-tops.
“These ancient forests are a repository of biodiversity,” said Winchester, who has had more than a dozen beetle mites, aphids and flies named after him and who is giving a public talk this Friday at 6:30 p.m. at the University of Victoria.
Together with UVic graduate students, Winchester has conducted one of the most extensive canopy research projects in North America, using ropes to scale trees the equivalent of 18-storeys high in the Carmanah and Walbran valleys.
“Then I take my mom’s bulb planter and take a sample of the suspended soils, which can be up to 60 centimetres in depth,” he said.
Despite overwhelming scientific evidence of unique ecosystems, Winchester is fighting a battle he thought had been won two decades ago when massive protests and demonstrations — part of the ‘War in the Woods’ that marked the 1980s and 1990s in B.C. — erupted over plans to log Carmanah Walbran.
At that time, Winchester was already doing canopy research and, when the government of the day responded to overwhelming public opposition and created the Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park, taking in 16,450 hectares of the old growth forest, he believed the war was over.
But now, part of the Central Walbran, just outside the park boundary, is under threat.
“I have the feeling that ‘here we go again.’ The same issues that were present then have surfaced again. They have been simmering for 20 years,” said Winchester, who finds it difficult to believe that politicians cannot look at the evidence and ban old-growth logging in the area.
“It’s greed, ignorance and arrogance. The scientific evidence is out there and it shows that these areas and these species are essential to protect biodiversity,” he said.
“By taking these trees down or by causing disruption you are committing species to go extinct… . Who would feel good about species going extinct just because we have mismanaged a resource? That’s the bottom line.”
The province has granted Surrey-based Teal Jones Group a permit for a 3.2-hectare cutblock east of Carmanah Walbran Park.
The cutblock is in the 500-hectare Central Walbran where, unlike the valley further south which is tattered with cutblocks, there is contiguous old-growth.
“It’s where our forests reach their most magnificent proportions,” said Ken Wu of the Ancient Forest Alliance.
“These are the classic giants. The biggest and the best — and some of the largest remaining tracts and finest old growth western red cedars are in areas such as Castle Grove, together with old-growth dependent species such as the Queen Charlotte goshawk and marbled murrelet,” Wu said, emphasizing the importance of these areas for tourism as well as biodiversity.
Business leaders in Port Renfrew have called on the B.C. government to immediately ban logging in the unprotected part of the Walbran Valley, saying tall tree tourism is now a multi-million dollar business and the highest value would come from stopping further logging of old growth trees.
At the heart of the problem is the original configuration of the park, said Torrance Coste of the Wilderness Committee.
A large chunk, surrounded by park and known colloquially as “The Bite,” was left without protection.
“It was a big concession to logging interests. When the park was laid down, there was no consensus or agreement from the environmental side,” Coste said.
Logging has already degraded old-growth on the south side of Walbran Creek, and environmentalists are not happy about Teal Jones plans for seven more cutblocks in that area, but the line in the sand is the approved cutblock on the north side of the river, said Coste, who wants to see the 486-hectare northern section of The Bite protected.
Protests started in the area in November, but, three weeks later, a court injunction restricted access and stopped protesters from interfering with logging operations.
On January 4, in a B.C. Supreme Court ruling, the injunction was extended until the end of March.
Coste said that, although he and the Wilderness Committee are named in the injunction, the role of the group has been to record and advocate, not participate in blockades.
However, he believes the injunction is heavy-handed and designed to discourage people from going into the Walbran Valley.
There is a great need for eyes on the ground and for British Columbians to let the province know that it is not acceptable to log some of the last low-elevation old-growth on southern Vancouver Island, he said.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations said in an e-mail that the ministry facilitated a meeting between the company and environmental groups in December to discuss how concerns could be addressed and another meeting is scheduled for next month.
The 3.2-hectare area that Teal Jones plans to log is part of a special resource management zone, which limits cutblock size to five hectares, and the company will use helicopter harvesting, meaning there will be no trails, roads or use of heavy equipment, the province said.
Conserving old growth and biodiversity are important parts of the province’s long-term resource management plans, said the spokesman.
“Of the 1.9 million hectares of Crown forest on Vancouver Island, 840,125 hectares are considered old growth, but only 313,000 hectares are available for timber harvesting,” the e-mail reponse read.
Coste remains hopeful that the province will have a change of heart.
“Nowhere else on Vancouver Island do we have the opportunity to protect such a large tract of contiguous old-growth,” he said.
“It’s an opportunity we absolutely can’t afford to miss.”
Winchester is hoping science will convince the government of the need for protection and he will publicly share findings from his years of research at a lecture Friday Jan.29, 6.30 p.m. at the University of Victoria Student Union Building Upper Lounge.
Admission is by donation with proceeds going to the Friends of Carmanah/Walbran campaign to protect the Central Walbran Ancient Forest.
Read more: [Original article no longer available]
The Delica stops along a narrow, twisting section of the Walbran Main just a few miles from the Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park border. We scramble from the van for a view across a broad valley overlooking two strings of hills that lead into the distance. At the bottom of the valley is a confluence of rushing water, a distant waterfall visible as a thin twisting ribbon glistening white amid a landscape otherwise green.
It’s a deceiving green, as it hides the wealth within. A forest may seem just a forest, but TJ Watt, a campaigner for the Ancient Forest Alliance, points out the details.
“Second growth forest will look quite monotonous. The trees will typically be all the same height and generally the same shade of green, almost looking like a lawn, very uniform, whereas old-growth forests tend to look messy, to put it the simplest way.
“You have trees of varying heights so one will be sticking up higher than the other. Because of gaps in the canopy you’ll have these dark shadows that give the forest more of a 3D look to it. They often have more mosses or lichens so from a distance you can sometimes see those hanging off the tree branches. And also if there is a lot cedar there, then you often see the dead tops of the cedar trees sticking out; they look like white spires. That doesn’t necessarily mean the trees are dead, but sometimes the leader section of the tree has died off. Once you get used to seeing those, you can really tell the forests apart from a distance.”
What we’re looking at across this wide valley is a messy forest – the indication it is old-growth. In the valley bottom is Castle Grove, one of the finest remaining examples of ancient red cedar stands. It and the surrounding old growth on the lower slopes make up one of the largest intact chunks of endangered, unharvested forest remaining on Vancouver Island.
It’s a rare view. On Vancouver Island south of Barkley Sound, about 90 percent of the original forest has been logged, along with about 95 percent of the lowland old growth.
“What we’re really down to is the last remnants of the classic giants and it’s the best of the classic giants because it’s literally in the Carmanah-Walbran-San Juan-Gordon River, these four southern valleys where you get the very best growing conditions in the entire country. If you go north it gets colder, as you go east it gets drier,” says Ken Wu, a campaigner for the Ancient Forest Alliance.
What we’re looking at is a snapshot of what soon won’t exist. Eight cutblocks are proposed for the slopes surrounding Castle Grove, and one has been approved.
It’s what Ken and TJ are here to fight.
“It would turn that whole region into a Swiss cheese if they were approved and cut,” TJ says.
It’s a region already well sliced. Right behind us is a cleared slope of stumps, debris and encroaching scrub. That cutblock was logged in 1992, when Ken walked through the wreckage to come upon a 16-foot-wide stump.
“It was as wide as the Castle Giant, the biggest known tree in the Walbran. That area was really a gargantuan Jurassic Park kind of stand – it was really one of the most significant, grandest old-growth forests in the world, and now they’ve logged it.”
For TJ, as a new activist at the time, seeing that stump had a profound impact.
“It was one of the first moments I realized old-growth logging was not a thing of the past and these giant trees were still being cut down each and every day. To think this is still happening another 10 years later is disheartening, but makes me resolve to fight harder to keep it from happening any more.”
The fight in the Walbran is escalating and while Ken believes the first cutblock is almost certain to be logged, – unlike the others, it has received approval – he believes mounting public pressure could turn the tide in favour of preserving the remainder.
And the pressure is building.
The Ancient Forest Alliance spearheaded the drive to save nearby Avatar GroveÜ, an old-growth forest outside Port Renfrew. Ken credits the support of the Port Renfrew chamber in helping win that battle.
The support to save the Walbran is already much stronger – particularly as a host of conservation groups are now involved in the Walbran. But Ken believes it is the business support, not the environmental support, that will be tip the balance.
“The reason Avatar was protected was support from the Chamber of Commerce and the business community. That’s one of the key things we’ll be working on – the outreach to all the restaurants and B&Bs and lodges.”
If there’s a lesson learned from Avatar Grove, it is that conservation has a payback. The grove is widely accredited to a growth in tourism to the Port Renfrew region and is a key item of the region’s tourism menuÜ. Clearcuts, on the other hand, never make the must-see list.
A variety of petitions, protests and initiatives are planned by the various groups battling the logging, but another emerging element is a protest camp – at the Walbran Witness Camp, the same location for the camp in the early 1990s. That served as the base for the blockades that led in part to the inclusion of the Lower Walbran Valley into Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park. A spray-painted slogan, painted by a protestor while dangling over the river on a log, still clearly proclaims “Wilderness forever” on the bridge.
The park is populated full-time by only a small band of diehards, though the weekend population tends to swell. At the moment (November, 2015) no blockades are planned; the camp residents are only keeping an eye on the progress of the logging with one brief clash between protesters and policeÜ.
Trails criss-cross the area around the Witness Camp, many leading to the monster trees that can be found nearby. One is the Emerald Giant, and Ken offers a laugh as he sees the sign, proclaiming it “aka Mordor Tree.”
“I named it that back when Lord of the Rings was popular,” Wu says. “It seemed fitting because it looked like Mordor with the turrets for branches.”
He concedes the new name sounds nicer and is more applicable as the Giant is adjacent to the Emerald Pool, a stretch of river that almost glows its namesake colour (the pool is pictured on page 17). We stop to admire a thick patch of tiny mushrooms growing from an adjacent tree. It’s an area that possesses an unspeakable beauty, from the smallest detail to the largest giant spruce.
Previous ‘wars in the woods’ have garnered international attention, and many Canadians must wonder at the fuss. Yet’s it’s hard to believe those who would let the Walbran be logged would fail to be emotional at the bulldozing of the Serengeti or strip mining in the Grand Canyon. Wu sees no difference.
“If you think about where the natural wonders of the earth are, say the Grand Canyon in the U.S. or the Serengeti Plains of Tanzania, I’d argue that the coastal rainforests of Vancouver Island rank up among them. And the Carmanah Walbran is just too beautiful; I just can’t describe it in words.”
To help the war in the woods to save the Walbran, help with any of the initiatives by the supporting conservation groups: the Sierra Club of British Columbia, the Wilderness Committee, the Ancient Forest Alliance or the Friends of Carmanah/Walbran. For driving instructions, the Friends of Carmanah/Walbran website has detailed instructions.
Island Tides, a great newspaper serving the Gulf Islands, has printed the full article on the 16 conservation and recreation groups in BC calling on the BC government to establish a $40 million/year land acquisition fund to purchase and protected endangered ecosystems on private lands. Places like McLaughlin Ridge in Port Alberni's drinking watershed, Horne Mountain above Cathedral Grove, the Cameron Valley Firebreak (similar to a 2nd Cathedral Grove but unprotected), the Koksilah, Muir Creek, Stillwater Bluffs, the Day Road Forest…and hundreds of other endangered areas on private lands could benefit from such a fund.
See the full article in the Island Tides at: https://islandtides.com/assets/reprint/environment_20160128.pdf
A plan to establish an annual $40-million provincial fund to purchase private land now has 16 conservation and recreation groups behind it.
“That’s just going to continue to grow,” said Ken Wu of the Ancient Forest Alliance.
Wu said that the push to preserve more land takes in a variety of needs, including protecting watersheds that supply drinking water and helping tourism by keeping natural areas intact. He said he expects tourism businesses to start getting behind the fund.
The call for a provincial fund has picked up momentum with a report from the University of Victoria’s Environmental Law Centre that included a “menu” of funding options used by governments across North America.
“They don’t even have to raise taxes for a good chunk of this,” Wu said, noting one measure that has worked well in other places is using unredeemed deposits from beverage containers.
Dubbed “pops for parks,” it is estimated that the strategy could generate $10 million to $15 million a year.
“If you don’t return [the containers], then that money, in places like New York state and a lot of jurisdictions in the U.S., is used by the government to expand their protected-area system,” Wu said.
The report also suggested a special tax on non-renewable resources such as oil and gas and a tax on real-estate speculation.
Wu said an example of how such funds can work is the Capital Regional District’s park-acquisition fund, which is supported by a household levy.
“The places that people love in the Greater Victoria region — like the Sooke Hills, the Sooke Potholes, Jordan River for surfing — those were secured from development as a result of the CRD’s leadership,” he said.
Among the sites on Vancouver Island that could benefit from a provincial fund are the Koksilah area near Shawnigan Lake and the mountainside above Cathedral Grove, Wu said.
The provincial government had a land-acquisition budget until 2009, but Wu said it was significantly smaller than what is being proposed.
The government did not comment on the proposal.
For Immediate Release – January 21, 2016
16 major conservation and recreation organizations call on the BC government to establish a $40 million/year fund to purchase and protect endangered ecosystems on private lands.
Momentum is growing as 16 major BC conservation and recreational groups have now signed onto the call for the BC government to establish a dedicated provincial fund that can be used to purchase and protect endangered private lands of high environmental and recreational significance.
A variety of proposed funding mechanisms for a BC Natural Lands Acquisition Fund (aka “Park Acquisition Fund”) are detailed in a recently released report (www.elc.uvic.ca/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/FindingMoneyForParks-2015-02-08-web.pdf) prepared for the Ancient Forest Alliance by the University of Victoria’s Environmental Law Centre (ELC), which calls on the province to establish an annual $40 million fund.
The organizations signed on include:
The report, Finding the Money to Buy and Protect Natural Lands, provides a “menu” of possible ways that funds can be allocated or generated for a dedicated fund to purchase vital green spaces and natural areas from willing sellers of private lands. These mechanisms include:
The above initiatives could be combined with one or more of the many other proven mechanisms for park funding. This could include: dedication of funds from the sale of Crown lands, property transfer taxes, income tax check-offs, sales of environmental licence plates, gas taxes, sales taxes, taxes and fines on environmentally harmful products and actions, and a variety of other fees and taxes.
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 diverse and rich ecosystems are found on private lands – which tend to be found in temperate lower elevations and valleys where most humans live. As a result, private lands are disproportionately important for conservation efforts in BC. In particular, southeastern Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, the Lower Mainland, the Sunshine Coast, and the Okanagan Valley contain much of the private lands in BC, the greatest concentrations of endangered species, and the most heavily visited natural areas, and would benefit the most from such a fund.
“Many regional districts in BC already have dedicated land acquisition funds to protect green spaces, such as the Capital Regional District in the Greater Victoria region”, stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director. “The BC government should do its part and step forward with a fund to purchase endangered ecosystems, old-growth forests, drinking watersheds and areas of high recreational and scenic value on private lands for future generations of British Columbians. While private citizens, land trusts, and environmental groups can help, they simply don’t have enough funds to purchase enough of the lands at risk in a timely manner before their demise, in most cases. Only governments have those kinds of funds.”
“We’ve outlined a menu of practical funding options that are used by governments across North America to purchase private lands for conservation. Some mechanisms don’t even require additional taxes — such as the so-called ‘pops for parks’ funding which simply captures a current industry windfall from unredeemed beverage container proceeds,” stated Calvin Sandborn, Legal Director of the University of Victoria’s Environmental Law Centre. “Such a fund could remedy many land-use disputes and environmental concerns — while permanently enhancing the tourism economy and quality of life for all British Columbians.”
A $40 million fund to expand conservation lands would amount to less than one tenth of 1% of BC’s $40 billion annual provincial budget (ie. 1/1000th). Studies have shown that for every $1 invested by the government in BC’s provincial park system, another $9 is generated in the provincial economy as visitors spend their funds in local restaurants, campsites, motels, grocery stores, gas stations, etc.
The provincial Natural Lands Acquisition Fund would be similar to the park or land acquisition funds of various regional districts in BC which are augmented by the fundraising efforts of private citizens and land trusts. The Land Acquisition Fund of the Capital Regional District of Greater Victoria has been foundational in helping to protect endangered ecosystems and lands of high recreational and scenic value. The fund generates about $3.7 million each year and has contributed approximately $35 million dollars to the purchase of almost 4500 hectares of land around Victoria since its establishment in the year 2000. The CRD’s funds are raised through an average $20-per-household levy each year and has been pivotal for protecting lands of high environmental and/or recreational value at Jordan River, the Sooke Hills, Sooke Potholes, adjacent to Thetis Lake Park, and on Mount Maxwell on Salt Spring Island. See: https://www.crd.bc.ca/docs/default-source/parks-pdf/summary-of-2014-regional-parks-land-acquisition-fund.pdf?sfvrsn=2
Here is a media release and action alert from the Mount Moresby Adventure Camp on Haida Gwaii, where a forest that is central as a learning centre for the children and youth of Haida Gwaii is threatened by planned logging by TimberWest (whose managing agent for their Forestry Licence there is Teal-Jones):
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Children’s Educational Forest on Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) Threatened by TimberWest Forest Corp.’s Logging Plans
The BC government is one step away from approving a permit allowing Teal-Jones, a Surrey based logging company, to log a 16 hectare area on behalf of TimberWest Forest Corp. It is an area that more than 1,300 Haida Gwaii students have used for 10 years as an outdoor classroom to learn about the natural sciences, outdoor education, leadership, and forest stewardship.
The Mount Moresby Adventure Camp Society programs are part of the school curriculum in the Haida Gwaii School District, and most youth on the islands attend the camp’s Outdoor Education and week-long Forest Stewardship Programs. Local educators and parents are calling on the province to halt the logging plans that would be devastating for the future of the most highly used outdoor education facility for youth on Haida Gwaii.
Angus Wilson, Superintendent of Schools, explains the importance of this outdoor classroom to the youth of Haida Gwaii: “Mount Moresby Adventure Camp has been an integral part of the curriculum for all School District 50 learners. So important, in fact, that students return to it several times in their career for the combination of scientific, cultural, physical and social learning that it provides. To lose this safe, organised, and just plain fun resource would be a deathblow to Haida Gwaii student’s outdoor education opportunities.”
Dave McLean, a high school teacher in Masset says, “Students have told me that it [the camp] was one of the most significant, most defining events that happened in their high school years.”
“We live in a resource-based community, and we are supportive of the logging industry,” explains Toby Sanmiya, executive director for the camp. “We have a good relationship with Taan Forest, a local Haida-owned logging company, and we collaborate with them to deliver forest stewardship programs to our youth. We aren’t trying to stop logging, we are just asking them [TimberWest] to relocate this one cutblock.”
“The outdoor classroom that is the forest next to Mt. Moresby Camp is one of the few advantages our isolated schools have compared to schools with access to science centres, museums and industry tours,” explains Lorrie Joron, teacher, and former principal at George M Dawson Secondary. “They need this hands-on real-life experience.”
Speak up for the youth of Haida Gwaii and for this integral part of our islands!
Send an email to:
Honorable Steve Thompson, BC Minister of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations: steve.thomson.mla@leg.bc.ca
Cc your email to:
Honorable Christy Clark, BC Premier: premier@gov.bc.ca
Honorable Mary Polack, BC Minister of Environment: mary.polak.mla@leg.bc.ca
John Horgan, NDP Opposition Leader: oppositionleader@leg.bc.ca
Harry Bains, Opposition Critic for Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations: harry.bains.mla@leg.bc.ca
Jennifer Rice, MLA for the North Coast constituency: jennifer.rice.mla@leg.bc.ca
Please tell the above politicians that you want them to commit to:
***Be sure to include your full name and your home mailing address so they know you’re a real person! Thank you!
For more information, contact Mount Moresby Adventure Camp at:
Toby Sanmiya (250) 626-9048
If you live in the Duncan area join us for a slideshow about the endangered Central Walbran Valley!
The Cowichan Valley Naturalist Society presents:
Ken Wu and TJ Watt of the Ancient Forest Alliance on
The Ecology and Status of the Central Walbran Ancient Forest
When: Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016, 7:00 pm
Where: The HUB, 2375 Koksilah Road, Cowichan Station (south of Duncan)
Learn about the old-growth forest ecology, wildlife, relevant policies, and conservation status of the Central Walbran Valley's old-growth forests in the context of southern Vancouver Island. Discussion to follow.
Find out what you can do to help protect the area's ecology and to ensure sustainable second-growth forestry jobs
Free. Donations appreciated to cover hall rental.
Questions: cvns@naturecowichan.net
