Avatar Grove Boardwalk Damaged by Winter Storm – Lower Grove Closed for Now

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Last weekend's hurricane-force winds in Port Renfrew resulted in at least 30 trees (luckily none of the spectacular giants) crashing down over the Avatar Grove trail in the Lower Grove, damaging sections of the boardwalk (see photos HERE). This is unfortunate, as the Ancient Forest Alliance had literally just completed the boardwalk a week before after 3 years of hard work and was about to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony to launch its completion. We now have to clear the trail and fix the boardwalk, steps, and platforms in the Lower Grove before we re-open it, which will take several months given the wet winter weather that is descending upon us. For now the Upper Avatar Grove remains open. Thank you for your patience and your support! We look forward to launching the fixed and completed boardwalk in the spring!

Thank You to Sitka!

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Thank you to Sitka (https://sitka.ca/) for raising $4000 for the AFA to construct our Avatar Grove boardwalk. We are most grateful for their generous help in making this project a reality!

Thank You to Joshua Wright!

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Thank you to 13-year-old Joshua Wright, one of our great young donors, who has raised $350 for the AFA through the sale of his drawings. Joshua came to support our Avatar Boardwalk construction efforts in late September.  We are SO grateful for conscious young people who also take action to make the world a better place. Thank you Joshua!

Avatar Grove Boardwalk Construction – Sept 2016

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Here are some photos from the final volunteer boardwalk construction weekend at the Avatar Grove near Port Renfrew! The group of dedicated volunteers got together and worked two 10 hour days to complete most of the final major projects at the grove. These included two new staircases near the entrance of the Upper Grove which connect to a new walkway and vastly improve ease of access; a new set of stairs and walkway up a steep root section in the Upper Grove; railings around the deck a stairs leading down to the creek; adding rock and gravel to some muddy areas; and more! The feedback we’ve been receiving from folks on the trail has been excellent. Thank you so much to the volunteers and donors who've contributed over the past three years – we couldn’t have done it without you!! A big thanks as well goes to MEC and Sitka for contributing funding and to the Pacheedaht First Nation who donated a large portion of the wood. There will still be periodic upgrades to various spots on the trail but the major work is essentially done. Stay tuned for more!

Thank You to Gavin Wright!

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Thank you to 9 year old Gavin Wright, who collected donations at his lemonaide stand for the Ancient Forest Alliance! He showed up to present his batch of donations to us after the film screening of Hadwin's Judgement. We're most grateful to Gavin for his initiative to help our organization and campaigns!

Hadwin’s Judgement Screening – THANK YOU!

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Last night almost 600 people showed up for the benefit screenings in Victoria of Hadwin's Judgement, based on John Vaillant's book The Golden Spruce, for the Ancient Forest Alliance! Thanks to all of you who came out and to producer Elizabeth Yake, author John Vaillant, the Cinecenta theatre, and the volunteers who made such a successful night for our organization and cause!

VICTORIA: Hadwin’s Judgement – Film Screening Fundraiser for the Ancient Forest Alliance! Sept. 29

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WHEN: Thursday September 29th, showings at 7pm and 9:15pm
WHERE:UVic Cinecenta (UVic Student Union Building, 3800 Finnerty Rd. – see MAP)
TICKETS: $15 (or $9 for students) ***ADVANCE TICKET SALES NOW CLOSED***  Limited supply still left for 7pm showing at the door. Greater number of tickets left for 9:15pm showing (box office opens 40 min before each showtime)
Q&A to follow with:
  • John Vaillant, award-winning author of The Golden Spruce
  • Elizabeth Yake, producer of Hadwin’s Judgement
  • Ken Wu and TJ Watt, founders of the Ancient Forest Alliance

ABOUT THE FILM – HADWIN’S JUDGEMENT

2015 Canada/UK 87 minutes
Directed by Sasha Snow
Produced by Elizabeth Yake, Dave Allen, David Christensen & Yves J. Ma
Featuring Doug Chapman, Herb Hammond, John Vaillant
Winner of VIMFF Best Canadian Film * Nominated for Canadian Screen Award for Best Feature Length Documentary & Best Cinematography
Hadwin’s Judgement is a spellbinding and visually stunning account of environmentalism, obsession, and myth set in the Pacific Northwest.  It chronicles one man’s resolute struggle to reconcile what he regarded as an intolerable and conspiratorial affront – not just to the land, but to humanity as well.  Based on John Vaillant’s award-winning book The Golden Spruce, the film covers the events that led up to the infamous destruction of an extraordinary 300-year-old tree held sacred by the indigenous Haida nation of Haida Gwaii, British Columbia.
Grant Hadwin, a logging engineer and formidable survivalist, lived and worked happily for many years in BC’s remote and ancient forests.  But witnessing the devastation wrought by clear-cutting finally drove him to commit what some would say was an extraordinary and perverse act, one that ran contrary to all he had come to value.
A compelling hybrid of drama and documentary, Hadwin’s Judgement interweaves speculation, myth and reality to explore the possible motives for Hadwin’s unprecedented crime and the consequences of his actions.  He film charts his emotional crusade against the destruction of the world’s last great temperate rainforest, a crusade that ends tragically with a mystery – and a prophetic warning – that seal Hadwin’s fate as both madman an visionary.
Proceeds of this film screening go to the Ancient Forest Alliance in their work to protect British Columbia’s endangered old-growth forests and to ensure a sustainable, second-growth forest industry. www.AncientForestAlliance.org

 

‘Twist and Shout’ Forest Under Threat

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Check out the website of the Sunshine Coast (Roberts Creek area) based conservation group the Elphinstone Logging Focus who are working to achieve a 2000 hectare expansion to the protected area on Mount Elphinstone. BC Timber Sales has given the go ahead to log the ‘Twist and Shout’ forest within the proposal, which includes numerous veteran old-growth Douglas-firs and redcedars, and local activists have been non-violently protesting there for weeks. See a comprehensive list of updates and coverage and events and how to take action on the “Twist and Shout” section of their website at: https://www.loggingfocus.org/campaigns/protect-the-twist-and-shout-forest/

Also check out some great photos of the forest there by Shel Neufeld: https://www.facebook.com/shel.n.neufeld/posts/10154336717750155?pnref=story

Scarves for Sustainability Fundraiser – NOW until August 31st!

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From now until August 31st, you can support the AFA by purchasing a scarf through the Scarves for Sustainability initiative at https://scarvesforsustainability.com! Scarves for Sustainability is a project that emerged from the Royal Roads University BCom program with the mission of helping to protect old-growth forests in BC. Scarves for Sustainability sells light, high quality custom silk scarves printed with images of BC’s protected old-growth forests, visible on both sides of the scarf. Through this initiative, they will be donating 100% of the profit from the sale of the scarves to the Ancient Forest Alliance to support our work to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests!

Thank you to Angeline Arsenault, Darren Chan, Maria Fadda, Myles Cook and Nicole Melanson, the creators of the Scarves for Sustainability initiative, for your generous vision and creative support!
 

Photo Gallery: Avatar Boardwalk Construction – August 13/14 2016

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Here are some PHOTOS of this past weekend’s boardwalk construction at Avatar Grove! [view photogallery here]

Thanks to the hard work of many volunteers and the generous support from Sitka (who've raised the funds for the last 2 rounds of wood – amazing!!) we've managed to finish a few more key pieces in our push to launch the trail by the end of September! These improvements include a new 30ft walkway over exposed roots in the Upper Grove, finishing the stairs and railings at the new viewing platform, adding steps at two drop-offs in the Lower Grove, landscaping around the main entrance and trail, adding mesh traction to much of the boardwalk, and many other tasks! The popularity of Avatar Grove continues to grow exponentially (at times there were 30 cars there over the weekend!) making the boardwalk even more necessary to help protect the area's ecological integrity and improve visitor access and safety. There are still some key areas to finish before the launch but we’re making great headway thanks to YOUR support! We’d like to send our greatest thanks to all the incredible volunteers that came out and made the weekend possible: Matthew, Ben, Alex, Erin, Andrew, Olivia, Sherrie, Shiraz, Jordan, Tiara, Stu, Robyn, Roland, Kevin, Ian. Thanks again as well to Sitka for hosting events to raise money for the boardwalk!

If you'd like to help out, please contact AFA boardwalk coordinator TJ Watt: tj@15.222.255.145 Construction or trail building experience is an asset but not required.

To donate to the boardwalk construction, please visit: https://16.52.162.165/avatar-grove-boardwalk-now-completed-and-open/