Archive for month: March, 2021

Chek News
March 20, 2021

B.C.’s New Democrat government, once an ally of environmentalists in protecting the province’s ancient forests, is now facing increasingly heavy criticism for its failure to stop the logging of the province’s remaining old growth trees.

Premier John Horgan has recently seen his constituency office targeted for protest by those opposed to old growth logging, a forest company in his riding blockaded by activists and his forests minister grilled by the opposition B.C. Greens in the legislature. On Friday, as many as 300 environmental supporters marched through downtown Victoria to demand government halt old growth logging.

At issue is whether the government is following recommendations in an expert panel report it commissioned, one of which calls for a halt to old growth logging, in areas where ecosystems are at high risk of irreversible biodiversity loss. That pause was supposed to be in place by this month, according to the report’s timeline, to give the province time to craft an old growth plan.

Forests minister Katrine Conroy insists government has taken “a first step” by in September deferring logging in 353,000 hectares at nine locations, including Clayoquot Sound and McKelvie Creek on western Vancouver Island, as well as H’Kusam near Campbell River.

“It’s complicated,” Conroy said in an interview. “It’s not just as easy as to say, oh yes we’ll have a moratorium on all old growth in the province, which is actually something the report did not recommend. They recognized there is going to be some old growth logging in the province.”

However, only a small fraction of the old growth Conroy deferred from logging is actually high-productivity and at risk of logging — and in some cases the province is double-counting forests it has already preserved. It also isn’t actually banning logging in those protected areas, instead allowing companies to harvest second growth in and amongst the ancient trees. The reprieve comes with a two-year expiration date.

Environmental groups and the Greens accuse the NDP of dragging its feet on the file, out of fear of harming blue-collar forestry jobs in unions like the United Steelworkers, which continue to be power-brokers within the New Democratic party.

“Here’s the problem with how they’ve approached it, they come out and make announcements like, ‘Oh look at the good work we’ve done,’ and then you go pick it apart and realize it’s not an honest statement at all,” said Green leader Sonia Furstenau.

The province’s expert report. which was completed and released during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, recommended detailed consultation with First Nations, a new forestry framework, bringing forestry management into compliance with targets to maintain biological diversity for old growth, as well as more robust mapping, policy, and old growth classifications. Overall, B.C. should enact legislation that declares the conservation of ecosystem health and biodiversity as its overarching goal, the strategic review recommends.

Little, if any, of that has actually happened, say critics. Instead, they accuse the government of leading with rhetoric and platitudes from the premier and his ministers.

“I’m afraid we’re not going anywhere,” said Furstenau. “By the time anything actually starts to happen in earnest, the forest that will be lost by then, you can’t replace them, and that will be the legacy of this government. It will be a legacy of destruction of ecosystems that were astonishingly rare.”

‘Hardly’ any old growth left, say activists

B.C. has roughly 50 million hectares of forest, of which 13.7 million is considered old growth — trees more than 250 years old on the coast and 140 years old in the interior. But not all old growth fits the commonly-associated picture of gigantic and soaring Douglas Fir or Western Red Cedar trees — much of it is bog, or small high-alpine trees that are old but nonetheless small enough to grab with one hand.

Only 108,000 hectares is large, old, picturesque traditional old growth forest, and that’s less than eight per cent of what was there in the past due to logging, said Rachel Holt, a longtime old growth ecologist who runs Veridian Ecological Consulting and has crunched the province’s forestry numbers.

“There’s hardly any of it left,” she said. “It is highly endangered. If it’s not protected, it’s going to be logged in the near future.”

Conroy has responded to criticism by arguing September’s deferral of 350,000 hectares of old growth will give the province the time to do the consultation required with First Nations, forestry companies, environmental groups and forestry-dependent communities about how to balance valuable old growth logging with environmental protection. There are also aboriginal communities that depend on old growth logging and partner with forestry companies to provide jobs for their community, she said.

“For some people, it will never be enough what we do, because they have that laser focus only on old growth, not on any of the other issues that come up with this,” said Conroy. “There’s thousands of people across the province who have good family supporting jobs because of the forest industry, and we have to make sure we take that into consideration.”

The old growth report recommended government begin indigenous consultation and defer logging in ecosystems at very high risk within six months, so it can work on other goals that could take as a long as three years. That six months was up in March. Conroy argues both recommendations are underway, but environmental groups say the NDP is just stalling for time.

“The NDP are banking on a strategy which is that there’s a whole lot more rural working class votes than urban idealist tree hugging super leftist types in Victoria so we’re not going to be catering to that protest crowd,” said Ken Wu, who has spent 30 years campaigning to save old growth forests and is now executive director of the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance.

“But the reality is if you look at public opinion poling the vast majority of people, pervading different classes and areas, is we need to save old growth and log second growth.

“The NDP have read it wrong. They are classic old-school industrial union labour guys.”

Furstenau, Holt and environmentalists like Wu point to Conroy’s claim 350,000 hectares of old growth has been deferred for protection as an example of the NDP playing with numbers to distract the public from its inaction.

Of the 350,000 hectares Conroy deferred in September, 100,000 hectares is not forested at all, and a further 100,000 hectares doesn’t contain old trees, calculated Holt. The remaining approximately 150,000 hectares of old growth contains actually 5,637 hectares of productive old growth, and 1,849 hectares of that was already protected, she said. That means less than one per cent of what the minister announced as protected is actually what the public would consider traditional large old growth forests, she said.

The goal is to give the perception of progress where little exists, said Wu.

“They are like, let’s let Ken Wu sputter about productivity distinctions in complex phrases while we trot out our simple sounding catchy statistics and words, and then let the confusion set in to buy time to talk and log,” he said. “But I think people are getting more and more aware.”

The flashpoint of the entire dispute is Fairy Creek, an ancient temperate rainforest and valley near Port Renfrew. A group of protesters have blockaded access to the area for almost eight months in a bid to prevent forest company Teal Jones from logging in the area.

“This is the last stand for old growth forests,” said Joshua Wright, a spokesperson for Rainforest Flying Squad, the environmental group running the blockades.

Teal Jones is in B.C. Supreme Court this week seeking an injunction that, if enforced, could see the protesters arrested.

Wright said he expects a similar scene as in 1993, when almost 1,000 people were arrested for protesting logging Clayoquot Sound, in what became known as the War in the Woods. That incident also occurred during the last NDP government in B.C.

“There was the war in the woods in the 1990s — that was 30 years ago, but it’s still going,” said Wright. “If we don’t stop it now … they will all be gone in a matter of years. What we’re planning on doing is taking a last stand for these forests.”

Conroy said the province has to take the time necessary to craft policies that balance logging and forest protection, or else the system won’t be sustainable for the future. Forestry companies need to partner with local First Nations and pursue diverse long-term goals as well, she said.

“My goal is to have a sustainable forest industry,” she said. “I look at my grandkids, if they want to work in the forest industry I want to make sure if when they are old enough they can. And if they want to go for hikes in the woods and see old growth forests and see those forests, that they have that opportunity too.”

Furstenau said the province simply needs to have the courage to follow the expert report’s call for a paradigm shift in how it protects old growth forests. Anything short of that is a betrayal of what Horgan has previously promised, she said.

“It is disappointing but not out of character,” said Furstenau. “This is what we’ve seen from successive governments from this province, and now we’re at the point where we’re literally talking about the last bits of remaining old growth and whether we just let it all get chopped down or do we actually make an effort to change things.”

The B.C. government is facing criticism it has failed to protect old growth forests from logging. (Photo by TJ Watt, submitted to CHEK News)

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National Observer
March 15, 2021

Environmental groups and the BC Green Party say the province’s failure to defer old-growth logging will exhaust the last remaining stands while a new forestry plan is developed. Photo by Louis Bockner

B.C.’s forestry minister made clear a moratorium on old-growth logging is off the table as she responded to critics of the government’s progress on a promise to overhaul its approach to forestry on Thursday.

BC Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau pressed Minister Katrine Conroy during question period tooutline what meaningful actions government was taking to immediately protect critical old-growth forests, suggesting instead that the NDP was employing the “old strategy of talk and log.”

The questions arose after a coalition of environmental groups issued the province failing grades six months after it promised to act on recommendations stemming from a review of B.C.’s old-growth forestry practices.

Government intends to implement the old-growth panel recommendations to develop new holistic approaches to old-growth forests, Conroy said, adding a divisive, patchwork approach to the management of ancient forests took place in the past.

“Those who are calling for a return to the status quo are putting B.C.’s majestic old-growth and vital biodiversity at risk, and those who are calling for an immediate moratorium are ignoring the needs of thousands of workers and families in forest-dependent communities right across our province,” she said.

“We want old-growth forests to be appreciated by people today, and in years to come,” Conroy said.

“It’s also a priority for our government to support good jobs for people in B.C.’s forestry sector.”

The old-growth panel’s recommendations did not call for a complete moratorium on old-growth logging, but rather a deferral of operations within the first six months of the staged process to shift to a new approach to forestry, Furstenau clarified.

“The government has not responded to the advice that was given,” she said.

“The first step is the immediate interim protection across B.C. to create breathing room and protect what we have left.”

“When the minister says, ‘We can’t rush this,’ it’s like hearing we can’t rush CPR when someone needs it,” says Torrance Coste of the Wilderness Committee on the urgent need for the government to defer logging in B.C.’s #oldgrowth forests. #bcpoli

Government has already initiated two of the immediate recommendations, Conroy said, pointing to the collaboration with First Nations to establish old-growth logging deferrals in nine areas across the province.

Action has also started on other recommendations to improve public information and compliance, Conroy said.

“While we’ve taken these important first steps as recommended by the panel within six months, we know there is much more work to do,” Conroy said.

“We are dedicated to continuing in this important work with government-to-government discussions with Indigenous leaders, and talking to our partners in labour, industry, environmental organizations and communities.”

Torrance Coste, a campaigner with the Wilderness Committee — one of the trio of environmental groups that issued the negative report card on the province’s progress around the panel’s recommendations — agreed it was a critical priority for government to engage with First Nations to make the focus shift from timber harvesting to prioritizing ecological integrity in old-growth forestry management.

However, during that lengthy consultation process, it is urgent to protect what little remains of B.C.’s big-tree, old-growth forest ecosystems, Coste said.

“Absolutely, government needs to engage with First Nations. These forests grow in their territories and any solution needs to be centred in Indigenous rights,” Coste said.

“But if 10 years down the road, First Nations want to make the choice to either log their old-growth or protect it, they won’t have that choice if government doesn’t implement those deferrals now.”

The Wilderness Committee, along with the Ancient Forest Alliance and the Sierra Club BC, wants the province to meet the old-growth panel’s recommendations to develop a staged plan for its forestry transition, complete with concrete milestones and funding for the process, particularly for First Nations where logging deferral will cause economic hardship.

The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations (FLNRO) did not clarify if any more logging deferrals are planned — as promised by the NDP during the election — or whether concrete funds or timelines for the transition are being established.

“The economic impacts of its recommendations need to be analyzed,” FLNRO said in an email Friday.

The panel’s timeline for recommendations indicated when work should be started — not completed — and the timeline was developed prior to the pandemic, the ministry added.

“COVID-19 is impacting every community and (First) Nation in the province, presenting added challenges to the engagement process,” FLNRO said.

“That said, we are moving forward with this engagement process, but it will take time.”

Coste disputed there is any time left to avoid old-growth deferrals, particularly for the most at-risk, valley bottom old-growth, as it’s more easily accessible, worth more, and being targeted by logging companies.

There is only around 400,000 hectares of big-tree old-growth left in the province, he said.

“What you picture when you close your eyes and think of old-growth forest, that’s very, very scarce,” Coste said.

“You might think it’ll get protected because that’s what the panel recommended.

“But, when the minister says, ‘We can’t rush this,’ it’s like hearing we can’t rush CPR when someone needs it.”

Rochelle Baker / Local Journalism Initiative / Canada’s National Observer

[Editor’s Note: This story was updated Monday morning to correct a figure in this story that stated there were 200,000 hectares of old growth in B.C. when it should read there are 400,000 hectares.]

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An environmental group is giving the B.C. government a failing grade on its promises to protect old-growth forests. Paul Johnson has reaction from the province and more from the Canadian musician who’s lending his voice to the cause.

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The Canadian Press
Friday March 12, 2021

Forests Minister Katrine Conroy says B.C. will hold talks with Indigenous nations and engage others in the forest sector to determine the next areas where harvesting may be deferred. (TJ Watt/Ancient Forest Alliance)

VANCOUVER — The most at-risk ecosystems should be set aside from logging while British Columbia shifts its forestry policies toward a more sustainable system, says a forester who helped write a provincial report on old-growth forests.

The report last April co-written by Garry Merkel urged B.C. to act within six months to defer harvesting in old forest ecosystems at the highest risk of permanent biodiversity loss.

“There (are) some of those ecosystems targeted for harvesting right now,” he said in an interview this week, six months after B.C. released the report and pledged to implement the recommendations from the panel of two independent foresters who were commissioned to write it. “I do share the impatience of a lot of folks.”

At the same time, Merkel said he doesn’t question the government’s commitment to implementing the panel’s recommendations and the process overall will take years. “This is very much in my mind an intergenerational process that we’re working through.”

Old-growth forests are crucial to the overall health of ecosystems in the province, said Merkel, affecting everything from the raindrops that collect in the tree canopy to the water that runs in salmon streams below.

The risk of biodiversity loss is high when at least 30 per cent of the natural old forest in an ecosystem is not kept intact, he said, adding B.C.’s old growth retention targets in some areas are lower than that threshold.

The old growth panel’s report says it’s projected that almost all of B.C. would be at high risk of biodiversity loss once most of the available old forest is harvested under the current management approach.

Just over 13 million hectares of old forests remain in B.C., according to provincial data. The report notes as much as 80 per cent of that land consist of smaller trees with lower commercial value.

A separate analysis by independent ecologists published and submitted to the province last spring says about 415,000 hectares of old-growth forests that produce the biggest trees with the highest ecological and cultural value remain in B.C. It also says the distribution of large protected areas was “biased towards higher elevation and lower productivity ecosystems.”

The province announced last September it would temporarily defer old growth harvesting in close to 353,000 hectares in nine different areas, while further work was underway to protect up to 1,500 exceptionally large trees.

The deferral areas consist of a combination of old growth and second growth, or trees that are planted or regenerate in previously cleared forests.

Forests Minister Katrine Conroy said in an interview the deferrals protect 196,000 hectares of old growth, and that road maintenance and harvesting second growth are still allowed.

The province was able to act quickly in those areas because it had already been working with nearby First Nations, she added.

B.C. will hold discussions with First Nations and others, including forestry companies, workers and environmental groups, to determine the next areas where harvesting may be deferred, said Conroy.

The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs and conservation groups in the province wrote a letter last month calling on the government to provide funding for First Nations that would forego revenue in the event of harvesting deferrals.

The letter also requests funding for economic diversification through eco-tourism, stewardship programs and activities consistent with protecting old growth, similar to the plan for the Great Bear Rainforest on B.C.’s north coast.

It points to a value-added forest industry using second growth trees as a sustainable way forward, which would mean exporting fewer unprocessed logs and manufacturing more wood products, such as treated lumber, timber-frame homes, shakes and shingles.

“We need to be retooling mills all across B.C. to process smaller, second-growth trees,” said Andrea Innes, a campaigner with the Ancient Forest Alliance. “We need to be investing in research and development to make sure that we’re staying competitive in the global market and being able to produce high-quality products … while also making jobs.”

In statements released Thursday, the Ancient Forest Alliance, Wilderness Committee and Sierra Club B.C. say the province has yet to develop an old growth transition plan with key dates and milestones following the panel’s recommendation to approve one in six to 12 months.

They urge the government to immediately defer logging for all at-risk old growth and commit to transition funding for First Nations affected by deferrals.

Inness said much of the 353,000 hectares set aside last fall consist of lower productivity forests, and only about 3,800 hectares of that land was previously unprotected, productive old-growth forest that would have been logged otherwise.

The Forest Ministry said in an email the deferral areas contain both old and younger trees because old forests don’t always grow in continuous patches.

The proposed timeline in the panel’s report was drafted before the COVID-19 pandemic, which has affected the province’s work “quite significantly,” said Conroy.

Susan Yurkovich, president of the B.C. Council of Forest Industries, said no one wants to harvest beyond what is sustainable because the future of the industry relies on access to wood fibre at a reasonable cost.

Yurkovich said old growth represents about a quarter of the trees harvested in B.C. each year. But Inness said tens of thousands of hectares of the most ecologically valuable trees are being cut.

About 38,000 jobs are tied to harvesting old growth in B.C., said Yurkovich.

The province needs a clear plan that reflects an array of views, prioritizes forest health and provides stability for everyone from industry to Indigenous communities to tourism operators, she said.

“I value parks and protected areas as well. We would also like to say out loud that we also value the working forest,” she said. “It builds communities, it provides very significant contributions to the GDP of our province and those things fund schools and hospitals and roads.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 12, 2021.

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