Old-growth redcedar stump in the Klanawa Valley. Vancouver Island

Parks Day Alert: Video clip of “Canada’s Largest Tree” and old-growth logging

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For Immediate Release

Saturday, July 15, 2011

Parks Day Alert: Video clip of “Canada’s Largest Tree” and old-growth logging by Pacific Rim National Park Reserve released today

The Ancient Forest Alliance released a new video clip on Parks Day today about the threats to the ecological integrity of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve and the surrounding old-growth forests.

See the clip “Canada’s Largest Tree – the Cheewhat Cedar” at: https://youtu.be/Xw2Im8nSOdg  

The clip was posted on the organization’s website (www.ancientforestalliance.org) and Facebook profile today, which is the 100 year anniversary of the federal national parks agency Parks Canada (founded in 1911, 26 years after the first national park was created, Banff National Park in Alberta) and the 100 year anniversary of BC’s provincial parks (Strathcona Provincial Park on Vancouver Island was created in 1911).
The clip features Canada’s largest tree, a western redcedar named the Cheewhat Giant growing in a remote location near Cheewhat Lake within Pacific Rim National Park Reserve north of Port Renfrew and west of Lake Cowichan. The tree is over 6 meters (20 feet) in trunk diameter, 56 meters (182 feet) in height, and 450 cubic meters in timber volume (or 450 regular telephone poles worth of wood). Luckily the tree, discovered in 1988, is within the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, which was created in 1971.

The video clip also features new clearcuts and giant stumps of redcedar trees, some over 4 meters (14 feet) in diameter in the Klanawa Valley adjacent to Pacific Rim National Park Reserve and also near the Carmanah-Walbran Provincial Park (in the Nitinat Lake/Rosander Main region) logged in 2010 and 2011.

Extensive logging of the last unprotected old-growth forests is taking place adjacent to the national park in the “West Coast Trail Wilderness” of the Klanawa Valley, Nitinat Lake region, Rosander Main region, Upper Walbran Valley, Gordon River Valley, Hadikin Lake region, San Juan Valley, and a lot of other areas as the market for western redcedar rebounds after the last recession.

“Pacific Rim National Park Reserve is a very narrow, linear park just a couple kilometres wide along much of the West Coast Trail unit that is threatened by logging of adjacent unprotected ancient forests. Nearby old-growth logging threatens the park’s ecological integrity by silting up salmon streams that run into the park, diminishing the contiguous wildlife habitat, and undermining the wilderness experience for hikers who often hear the roar of chainsaws through the narrow buffer of trees along the trail,” states Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance co-founder. “However, more importantly the last unprotected ancient forests in the Upper Walbran Valley, Klanawa Valley, and Gordon River Valley where the Avatar Grove still stands are literally the grandest forests left in Canada. They must be protected, and we need a forward thinking government to do so.”

Former Juan de Fuca Member of Parliament Keith Martin proposed to include the adjacent old-growth forests of the Avatar Grove, Red Creek Fir, San Juan Spruce, Walbran-Carmanah Valleys, Klanawa Valley, the Juan de Fuca Trail and adjacent lands, and endangered ecosystems at Mary Hill and Race Rocks within an expanded Pacific Rim National Park Reserve.

“Former Member of Parliament Keith Martin had a very visionary proposal to expand Pacific Rim National Park Reserve to enhance its ecological integrity and to protect the adjacent old-growth forests on southwestern Vancouver Island. I hope that other politicians will rise to the challenge to protect old-growth forests with the vision that Keith Martin set in motion,” states TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance co-founder. “Future generations will look back at the majority of BC’s politicians today who still sanction the elimination of our last endangered old-growth forests on Vancouver Island, despite the second-growth alternative for logging, and see them as lacking vision, compassion, and a spine. We desperately need more politicians with courage and wisdom to step forward.”

Satellite photos show that about 75% of the original, productive old-growth forests on Vancouver Island have been logged, including 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow and most biodiversity is found. On southern Vancouver Island, south of Barkley Sound, about 87% of the original, productive old-growth forests have been logged.

See “before” and “after” old-growth forest maps at: https://16.52.162.165/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/

See other Ancient Forest Alliance’s Youtube Clips of Canada’s largest trees near Pacific Rim National Park Reserve at:

– World’s Largest Douglas Fir – the Red Creek Fir: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfBWLVj-Xjg  

– Canada’s Largest Spruce – the San Juan Spruce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lql9_hWuFLA&NR=1  

– Canada’s Gnarliest Tree – Save the Avatar Grove: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_uPkAWsvVw  

See spectacular photo galleries of Canada’s largest trees at:

https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/

Flagging tape marked "Falling Boundary" in the lower Avatar Grove when the forest was initially surveyed for logging.

Ancient Forest Alliance and Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce cooperate to Protect Old-Growth Forests and Avatar Grove through new Chamber Info Centre

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Port Renfrew, BC – The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) is supporting the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce during the launch of a new visitor information centre that will help bolster tourism in the region as well as funnel thousands of visitors into the town’s surrounding ancient forests.

The info centre will play host to a media press conference today, Thursday, July 14 at 12:00 noon, followed by a tour of the nearby unprotected Avatar Grove. Port Renfrew Chamber President Rosie Betsworth and Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer TJ Watt will discuss their cooperative efforts to promote and protect the Avatar Grove and other nearby old-growth forests.

Since the locating of Avatar Grove on Crown lands near Port Renfrew by Watt in late 2009 and shortly afterwards its demarcation with survey tape for logging, “Avatar Grove Fever” has hit Port Renfrew, drawing in thousands of new visitors from far and wide who have come to the see the Grove’s gigantic, burl-covered redcedar trees and rare old-growth Douglas-firs. The Grove has also attracted national and international media including Al-Jazeera TV last March.

In the coming weeks the AFA will continue to pump up the number of visitors to Port Renfrew by telling thousands of its supporters to visit the new info centre and to spend their dollars in town to ensure that the financial benefits of old-growth forest recreation and their eventual protection are reflected in the local economy.

“This is a new, revolutionary approach to conservation for an environmental group to forge a cooperative relationship with a Chamber of Commerce and the small business community to protect the environment and bolster the local economy at the same time,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner.

“Port Renfrew’s economy will greatly benefit from the promotion and protection of the Avatar Grove and local old-growth forests. We are positioned to attract tourists from across Canada, the US, Europe and elsewhere who will come to see some of the largest, most magnificent trees in the world here. Our new info center will be a central hub to direct tourists where to go once they arrive,” stated Rosie Betsworth, Chamber of Commerce president. “Our cooperation with the Ancient Forest Alliance has already resulted in thousands of new visitors to our town over the past year.”

In March of 2011 the AFA helped raise over $5,000 for the Port Renfrew Chamber to help cover staffing costs at the new centre. The fundraiser, held at the Sooke Harbour House, drew a crowd of mostly business owners from the Sooke and Port Renfrew region who recognize the economic and environmental benefits of promoting and protecting BC’s world renowned ancient forests.

Port Renfrew has bragging rights as the “big trees capital of Canada”. The world’s largest Douglas-fir tree, the Red Creek Fir, Canada’s largest Sitka spruce, the San Juan Spruce, and the giant, gnarly trees of the Avatar Grove all grow right on its door step. Just a couple of hours drive north grows Canada’s largest tree, the Cheewhat Giant. A “Tall Trees Tour” map of the Port Renfrew area which features photos, driving directions and background information is now available to hand out to tourists.

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC government to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests, ensure sustainable second-growth forestry, ban raw log exports, and assist in the retooling and development of second-growth mills and value-added facilities.

According to satellite photos, about 90% of the original, productive old-growth forests on Vancouver Island have been logged south of Barkley Sound, including about 96% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow. Only about 6% of the Island’s original, productive old-growth forests are protected in parks.

See “before” and “after” old-growth forest maps at: https://16.52.162.165/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/  

See the Ancient Forest Alliance’s Youtube Clips of Port Renfrew’s (Canada’s) largest trees at:

– World’s Largest Douglas Fir – the Red Creek Fir: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfBWLVj-Xjg  

– Canada’s Largest Spruce – the San Juan Spruce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lql9_hWuFLA&NR=1  

– Canada’s Gnarliest Tree – Save the Avatar Grove: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_uPkAWsvVw  

See spectacular photogalleries of the Avatar Grove and Canada’s largest trees at:

https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/  
 

The Al Jazeera film crew and AFA activists TJ Watt and Ken Wu visit Canada's largest spruce

Al Jazeera Covers Ancient Forest Alliance’s Campaign to Save British Columbia’s Endangered Old-Growth Forests and the Avatar Grove

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Victoria, Canada – Al Jazeera, one of the world’s largest international TV news networks, will be featuring a news story this Saturday about the Ancient Forest Alliance’s campaign to protect British Columbia’s endangered old-growth forests and the “Avatar Grove” on Vancouver Island. An Al-Jazeera news crew toured the endangered Avatar Grove, the San Juan Spruce (Canada’s largest spruce tree), and clearcuts near the town of Port Renfrew on southern Vancouver Island last week with Ancient Forest Alliance activists Ken Wu and TJ Watt, and subsequently interviewed BC’s Forests Minister Pat Bell. See Al-Jazeera’s website at: https://english.aljazeera.net/  The news clip is expected to be posted online on Saturday.

 

“This will definitely be the largest news hit we’ve had in many years – I think the last time was sometime in the 1990’s when the campaign to protect Vancouver Island’s old-growth forests was featured in the international TV news media,” stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director. “International audiences will be astounded to see that British Columbia still has thousand year old trees with trunks as wide living rooms and that tower as tall as downtown skyscrapers – and horrified to know that our government still sanctions regularly cutting them down. We desperately need a government plan to save our endangered old-growth forests, to log second-growth forests sustainably, and to end the export of our raw, unprocessed logs to foreign mills in order to sustain Canadian forestry jobs.”

 

Al Jazeera English broadcasts to more than 220 million households in more than 100 countries, and is one of the largest and most esteemed international TV news networks, along with the BBC and CNN. It is the only international news network to have a permanent bureau in Canada in Toronto. The network’s North American viewership has dramatically grown in recent weeks due to its extensive coverage of the recent uprisings in Egypt, Libya,  and throughout the Middle East.

 

75% of Vancouver Island’s ancient forests have already been logged, including 90% of the largest trees that grow in the valley bottoms, according to satellite photos. See “before” and “after” maps at: https://16.52.162.165/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/

 

A couple weeks ago Minister of Forests, Mines, and Lands Pat Bell announced that the British Columbia (BC) government is looking into the possibility of protecting the endangered Avatar Grove near Port Renfrew, and is also looking at developing new legal tools to increase protection of exceptionally grand  heritage trees and groves. See the Minister’s comments in the Vancouver Sun at: [Original article no longer available]

 

“We commend the BC government for considering protection of the Avatar Grove and our province’s largest heritage trees – let’s hope they make good on this. However, much as we need to protect our largest trees, more importantly we need to protect our remaining old-growth forest ecosystems by saving what’s left of them across whole regions, such as on Vancouver Island, because so much has already been logged,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance photographer and campaigner. “This is particularly important if we’re going to sustain our wildlife, water quality, wild salmon, scenery, and wilderness tourism experiences, and to counteract climate change.”

 

The Avatar Grove is the most easily accessible, endangered monumental stand of ancient redcedars and Douglas firs in a wilderness setting on southern Vancouver Island. It also includes what is dubbed “Canada’s Gnarliest Tree”, a giant redcedar with a 3 meter wide burl growing out of its side. It can be accessed not far past the end of a paved road, on relatively gentle terrain, only a 15 minute drive from the town of Port Renfrew. It is home to cougars, wolves, bears, elk, and deer. Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer TJ Watt came across the Avatar Grove in December, 2009, while on an exploratory expedition in the Gordon River Valley. Support for protecting the Avatar Grove is extensive, and includes the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce, the Sooke Regional Tourism Association, and local, elected political representatives at the federal, provincial, and regional levels. See a video clip about the Avatar Grove at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_uPkAWsvVw

 

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC Liberal government to:

 

– Enact a Provincial Old-Growth Strategy to inventory old-growth forests across BC and to protect them where they have been severely depleted by logging, such as on Vancouver Island.

– Ensure the sustainable logging of second-growth forests (60 to 100 year old stands), rather than the dwindling old-growth stands (140 to 2000 years old trees)

– End the export of raw, unprocessed logs from BC to foreign mills in order to sustain the jobs of millworkers in BC. If we are going to leave more trees standing for conservation while sustaining forestry employment levels at the same time, we must do more with the second-growth trees that we log by processing them and creating jobs in the province rather than exporting them to foreign mills.

 

Old-growth forests are important for sustaining endangered species, tourism, the climate, clean water, and many First Nations cultures.  See SPECTACULAR photos of Canada’s largest trees and stumps at:

https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/

 

The Ancient Forest Alliance (www.ancientforestalliance.org) is a new grassroots environmental organization, based in Victoria, British Columbia, working to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests and forestry jobs. The group, founded in January of 2010, now has 20,000 supporters on its supporters lists and Facebook pages. It organizes expeditions to document endangered forests with photography and video, public hiking and camping trips, petition drives (ancientforestalliance.org/ways-to-take-action-for-forests/petition/), letter-writing campaigns, slideshows, and rallies to pressure the BC government to enact new sustainable policies.

 

“This is the first time in years that the BC government has considered developing new legal tools to protect old-growth forests, however limited. They’ve opened the door to expanding protections of our old-growth forests, while recognizing there is a strong public will to see them saved, and that’s good. Now we need a provincial plan to protect our old-growth forests in whole regions where they are endangered,” stated Ken Wu. “The rest of the industrialized world is logging second, third, and fourth-growth trees – very few jurisdictions still have the type of spectacular old-growth forests that we have in British Columbia, and fewer still consider it acceptable to log the last of them.”

AFA Campaign Director Ken Wu sits atop a massive

B.C. looking for new ways to protect ancient trees

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VICTORIA — The province is looking at new ways to safeguard ancient trees or groves of forest giants in response to the wishes of British Columbians, says Forest Minister Pat Bell.

In the wake of a report from the Forest Practices Board last week that said creative ways should be found to protect giant trees, Bell has asked the province’s chief forester to look into the matter.

Bell, who has previously emphasized that B.C. has ample protection for old-growth trees, said the change is driven by the public mood.

“For me, what has changed is not whether or not there’s protection for the 10 largest trees or for unique situations such as Avatar Grove. There’s just a public desire to see something stronger than what already exists,” he said.

Any tweaking of existing rules or new protection tools will be “surgical” in nature, allowing the ministry to protect unique individual trees or specific patches of forest around them, Bell said.

A complaint about giant trees cut adjacent to a stand of massive trees nicknamed Avatar Grove, near Port Renfrew, sparked the Forest Practices Board report. Bell said Avatar Grove could be considered a unique circumstance.

“It is certainly one of the areas which could fall within a measure of this sort,” he said.

However, realistically, there was little chance Avatar Grove would have been logged because of the quality of the wood, said Bell, who has been in contact with the Teal-Jones Group, which holds the cutting licence.

“I have had a chat with them and they are quite interested in working with us on it,” he said.

Rick Jeffery, Coast Forest Products Association president, said he is looking forward to hearing what rule changes might be proposed, but the vast majority of monumental trees and groves are already protected by existing regulations.

“Every once in awhile you run across something like Avatar Grove that hasn’t been captured by those rules and it brings all sort of controversy,” Jeffery said.

“But something like that is by far and away the exception, not the rule.”

Regulations for operating in B.C.’s forests are stringent and the 3.5 million hectares set aside for parks and conservancies contain old-growth and monumental trees, Jeffery said.

“The forest industry operates on only 2.5 million hectares and, in any given year, we are cutting about one per cent of that,” he said.

Bell’s apparent change of heart has surprised Ken Wu of the Ancient Forest Alliance, who has campaigned for protection of old-growth ecosystems.

“I have to admit this was an unexpected surprise considering the rocky relationship the B.C. government has had with our campaign for so long,” Wu said.

“If this is genuine, minister Bell should be commended for taking the first steps toward positive change here. Let’s see if this pans out.”

He argued there is an urgent need to protect old-growth ecosystems on a larger scale.

But Bell said any new protection for special trees will not include a ban on logging old-growth or a new old-growth strategy.

“B.C. has more old-growth today than we ever have had,” Bell said.

“We are not running out of old growth on Vancouver Island or in B.C. They are maturing at a level that exceeds any harvest that is taking place.”

Click here to view original article

Flagging tape marked "Falling Boundary" in the lower Avatar Grove when the forest was initially surveyed for logging.

BC Government considers protecting the Avatar Grove and Ancient Trees

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Yesterday Minister of Forests, Lands, and Mines Pat Bell announced that the BC government is looking into the possibility of protecting the endangered Avatar Grove near Port Renfrew, and is also looking at developing new legal tools to increase protection of exceptional ancient trees and old-growth stands in BC. See the Vancouver Sun here. [Original article no longer available]

“We gladly welcome and commend any move by the BC government to protect the endangered Avatar Grove, and their recognition that ancient forests need more protection,” stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director. “I have to admit this was an unexpected surprise, considering the rocky relationship the BC government has had with our campaign for so long. If this is genuine, Minister Bell should be commended for taking the first steps towards positive change here. Lets see if this pans out.”

Forests Minister Pat Bell’s statements comes on the heels of a new Forest Practices Board report released on Thursday that calls on the BC government and industry to seek “creative ways” to save ancient trees, that the land-use policy framework exists for the BC government to readily protect the Avatar Grove, and that there is a “strong public interest in seeing more ancient trees and forest stands preserved to live out their natural lives and functions, and managed as a social, economic and ecological asset to the public and surrounding communities.” See the report at: https://www.fpb.gov.bc.ca/IRC174_NEWS_RELEASE_Complaint_highlights_public_value_of_ancient_trees.htm

“We need progress for saving ancient forests at all scales – monumental trees, whole stands, and landscape level old-growth protections like valleys and regions. Starting with trees and stands is certainly a welcome beginning, while bearing in mind the greatest need is to protect old-growth ecosystems on a larger scale,” stated Wu. “Protecting an old-growth stand as special as the Avatar Grove from logging would be a first rate government decision that would benefit all British Columbians.”
The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC government to undertake a Provincial Old-Growth Strategy that will inventory and protect old-growth forests in regions where they are scarce, such as on Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland, southern Interior, etc.  The AFA is also calling for the sustainable logging of second-growth forests (which now constitute most of the forests in southern BC) and for a ban on raw log exports to foreign mills.

An effective BC Old-Growth Strategy would necessarily entail legally-binding (not voluntary) old-growth protections at various spatial scales, including on the level of individual trees, stands, and landscapes:

Individual Trees – This is particularly important in regions where scattered “veteran” old-growth trees left behind by the original logging now constitute much of the remaining old-growth remnants, such as in the Coastal Douglas Fir zone on eastern Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast, and around some of the Lower Mainland. This would also be important for saving ancient trees of exceptional size and importance for environmental, tourism, historic, and cultural purposes. Individual old-growth trees also provide sources of lichens and arthropods to colonize surrounding second-growth stands and are often “wildlife trees” for birds, bats, salamanders, bears, small mammals, and invertebrates as they age and die. Protected old-growth veterans should have a significant buffer of protected trees around them.

Stands – Much of southern Vancouver Island consists of scattered “pockets” of old-growth stands dozens to hundreds of hectares in size in the sea of surrounding clearcuts and second-growth tree plantations, such as the 50 hectare Avatar Grove near Port Renfrew. Old-growth stands are important as refugia for both small and larger wildlife (eg. deer wintering range), and can provide high quality nature experiences for tourists and for environmental education and research initiatives. The Cathedral Grove near Port Alberni is perhaps the most famous old-growth stand of high tourism and ecological value in North America.

Landscapes – Protecting the larger and more contiguous tracts of old-growth forests is the most important priority from an ecological perspective. Larger old-growth tracts, such as whole valleys and clusters of valleys, where they still exist are better able to sustain species over time (especially wider ranging creatures like wolves and cougars), store large amounts of carbon, provide clean water for fisheries and as drinking watersheds, provide wilderness tourism experiences, and have greater resilience in the face of climate change. The Upper Walbran Valley, Nahmint Valley, East Creek Valley, and Clayoqout Sound with its scores of intact valleys and islands are examples of larger tracts of ancient forests that need protection on Vancouver Island.

Old-growth forests are important to sustain endangered species, the climate, tourism, clean water, and First Nations cultures. 75% of the original, productive old-growth forests have been logged on Vancouver Island, including 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow and most biodiversity resides. See “before and after” maps at: https://16.52.162.165/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/

The Avatar Grove is the most easily accessible, monumental stand of endangered ancient redcedars and Douglas firs on southern Vancouver Island. Most of the route to the Avatar Grove is paved, it exists on relatively gentle terrain, and is only a 15 minute drive from Port Renfrew. Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer TJ Watt came across the Avatar Grove in December, 2009, while on an exploratory expedition in the Gordon River Valley. Support for protecting the Avatar Grove includes the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce, the Sooke Region Tourism Association, and elected political representatives at three levels, including federal Liberal MP Keith Martin, provincial NDP MLA John Horgan, and Regional Director Mike Hicks. See spectacular photos at:  https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/
See the new Youtube clip “Canada’s Gnarliest Tree – Save the Avatar Grove” at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_uPkAWsvVw

“We’ve had thousands of people sign our petition, write letters, rally, and visit the Avatar Grove. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to save one of the most magnificent, easily accessible stands of monumental trees in BC that will hugely benefit the local economies of Port Renfrew, Sooke, Lake Cowichan, and Victoria,” states TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance photographer and campaigner. “Saving the Avatar Grove would be the gift that keeps on giving. I commend Forests Minister Pat Bell for opening the door to potentially protecting the Avatar Grove – lets hope he makes good on his stated intention.”

Liberal MP Keith Martin stands on top of a massive

Forestry Watchdog Concludes Strong Public Interest for Saving Ancient Forests and that BC Government can Readily Protect Avatar Grove

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The Ancient Forest Alliance is encouraged by several conclusions from yesterday’s report by BC’s Forest Practices Board (FPB) about the Avatar Grove and a nearby clearcut of enormous stumps close to Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island [see photos in the next email – also video clips available by request for TV media].  Click here to see report The Forest Practices Board is a government-appointed, third party watchdog group on BC’s forestry practices. 
 
The report was issued yesterday in regards to a private complaint from a BC resident (a University of Victoria Environment Studies professor) regarding two old-growth areas, one logged and one still standing, in the Gordon River Valley near Port Renfrew:  an ancient stand of near-record size redcedars – now a clearcut of giant stumps (logged in early 2010) – and the nearby Avatar Grove, still standing for now but threatened with potential logging. Both areas were found and highlighted to the media in 2010 by the Ancient Forest Alliance. 
 
“This report brings the welcome conclusions that there is ‘strong public interest’ in protecting our extremely rare, monumental stands of coastal ancient forests like the Avatar Grove, and that the BC government has the legal mechanisms to quickly protect them – if they have the political will,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance photographer and explorer who stumbled across the Avatar Grove over a year ago. “Lets hope the BC government will listen to their own appointed watchdog.”
 
The logged stand of ancient western redcedars investigated by the FPB report was among the most exceptional groves of remaining giant trees in North America until it was cut down – with several tree specimens that were 13 to 15 feet in trunk diameter. The Avatar Grove is perhaps the most easily accessible, endangered stand of monumental ancient Douglas firs and redcedars (some with remarkably giant burls, see the incredible photogallery at:  https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/ ) in BC.  Both areas are featured in the Ancient Forest Alliance’s newest video clip (1 minute), “Canada’s Gnarliest Tree – Save the Avatar Grove” on Youtube, which has had almost 4000 viewers in just two weeks. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_uPkAWsvVw 
 
The report of the Forest Practices Board which investigated concerns about the “special value of trees of exceptional size or form, age or historical significance” that can be from 500 to over 1,000 years old, states that, “Having withstood the ravages of time over many centuries, they can inspire awe and reverence, a sense of spirituality and connection to past events,” and there is “strong public interest in seeing more ancient trees and forest stands preserved to live out their natural lives and functions, and managed as a social, economic and ecological asset to the public and surrounding communities.”
 
The report notes that a miniscule fraction – just 1% – of the Gordon Valley region (“landcape unit”) consists of protected stands of exceptionally large, monumental old-growth trees over 400 years in age, which the complainant to the FPB termed “ancient forests” to distinguish them from regular old-growth forests. In addition, it notes that only 15.7% of the Gordon landscape unit is protected in Old-Growth Management Areas (OGMA’s).
 
The report also states in regards to the endangered Avatar Grove, 75% of which is open for logging (25% is protected within OGMA’s), that “current options to protect the unprotected part of the area include creation of a new park or other reserve, or expansion of the existing OGMAs” and that “If further protection is warranted for Avatar Grove, government has available policy and procedures to guide potential amendment of its land]use objective” to protect the area.
 
The Avatar Grove is the most easily accessible, monumental stand of endangered ancient redcedars and Douglas firs in a wilderness setting on southern Vancouver Island. It can be accessed not far past the end of a paved road, growing on relatively gentle terrain, only a 15 minute drive from Port Renfrew. Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer TJ Watt came across the Avatar Grove in December, 2009, while on an exploratory expedition in the Gordon River Valley. It is home to cougars, wolves, bears, elk, and deer. Support for protecting the Avatar Grove is extensive, and includes the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce, the Sooke Regional Tourism Association, and elected political representatives at all three jurisdictional levels, including federal Liberal MP Keith Martin, provincial NDP MLA John Horgan, and Regional Director Mike Hicks.
 
“If the Avatar Grove falls, Port Renfrew won’t get another chance like this again for many human lifetimes,” stated TJ Watt. “The protection of the Avatar Grove – should the BC Liberal government have the wisdom and foresight – could very well become the ‘breadbasket’ for a tourism dependent community like Port Renfrew. I think most businesses in the community recognize this.”
 
The Ancient Forest Alliance is working to end the logging of endangered old-growth forests in BC, to ensure the sustainable logging of second-growth forests which now comprise most of southern BC’s forest lands, and to end the export of raw logs to foreign mills.
 
Old-growth forests are important for endangered species, the climate, tourism, clean water, and many First Nations cultures.
 
“Our ancient forests are as much a part of BC’s heritage as the Canucks, whale-watching, and Stanley Park,” states Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director. “How many jurisdictions on Earth still have trees that grow as wide as living rooms and as tall as downtown skyscrapers?  And how many still say it’s good to cut down them down? We now have a major second-growth alternative, so it’s nuts to keep logging towards the end of the old-growth resource at this stage in our history.”
 

Ancient Forest Alliance’s One Year Anniversary, Organization Prepares for Province Wide Tour

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The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) reached its one year anniversary today, after being launched at a press conference in the old-growth forests of Francis King Regional Park in Victoria a year ago (see AFA news archives at https://16.52.162.165/recent-news/). Since then the non-profit environmental organization has become perhaps the fastest growing environmental group in BC, snowballing to 18,000 supporters through Facebook and by email, and garnering hundreds of news stories in the media on its campaigns.

“We’ve grown so fast, like a young spruce in the sunlight alongside a rainforest river, because we’ve had perfect growing conditions. Today, the vast majority of people on Vancouver Island and increasingly across BC, get it – that we need to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests for wildlife, the climate, and tourism, while ensuring sustainable second-growth forestry and ending raw log exports to protect BC forestry jobs,” stated Ken Wu, the AFA’s executive director.  “It’s a minority opinion to still say ‘let’s take it to the end of the resource and export the raw logs.’ 15 years ago, this was not necessarily the case.”

 

The currently leaderless BC Liberal and BC NDP parties presents an opportunity for change in BC politics, and as such the AFA will be pushing hard for strong old-growth forest and forestry jobs policies within both parties. As part of the organization’s “100,000 Strong for Ancient Forests and BC Forestry Jobs” public education and mobilization campaign, the AFA is launching a slideshow tour to dozens of communities throughout the province, starting in early February, to build public pressure on the parties. The BC Liberals currently contend that BC’s old-growth forests are not endangered and raw log exports should continue, while the NDP is calling for a provincial old-growth strategy (how much protection this would entail has not been specified yet) and increased restrictions on raw log exports. The Green Party is calling for a phase-out of old-growth logging and to ban raw log exports

 

Over the past year the AFA has organized a torrent of public hikes, slideshows, rallies, protests, petition drives, and letter-writing campaigns on Vancouver Island and in the Lower Mainland. On university campuses and in provincial swing ridings, it has also helped to empower and train new forest activists.

 

A particular strength of the organization is the spectacular nature photography of AFA campaigner and co-founder TJ Watt, whose photos of Vancouver Island’s old-growth trees and giant stumps are increasingly being featured in national and international media publications. See some of Watt’s magnificent photos at the AFA’s online photogallery at:

https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/  

 

“By photographing BC’s largest trees and stumps, often in the hinterland along rough logging roads that few people traverse, we’ve been able to bring the ancient forests – and their clearcut devastation – to the homes of millions of people. We’ve sort of become the eyes and ears of the forest to alert people of what’s going on in one of the world’s most spectacular and endangered ecosystems,” states TJ Watt. “Many Canadians still don’t know that we have trees that can grow nearly twice the height of Niagara Falls with trunks as wide as a living room – and fewer realize they are still being cut down.”

 

The organization is perhaps best known for popularizing the “Avatar Grove”, an endangered stand of easily accessible, monumental old-growth redcedars and Douglas firs in close proximity to Port Renfrew. Within the Grove are several trees with spectacular, large burls growing out of their sides, including a burly cedar that has been dubbed “Canada’s Gnarliest Tree”.  The campaign to save the Avatar Grove has garnered support from the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce, Sooke Regional Tourism Association, and from all levels of the region’s political representatives, including federal Liberal MP Keith Martin, provincial NDP MLA John Horgan, and Regional Director Mike Hicks. See photos at https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/

 

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC government to:

 

– Undertake a Provincial Old-Growth Strategy that will inventory and protect the remaining old-growth forests in regions where they are scarce (eg’s. Vancouver Island, Southern Mainland Coast, Southern Interior, etc.)

– Ensure the sustainable logging of second-growth forests, which now constitute the majority of forest lands in southern BC.

– End the export of BC raw logs to foreign mills in order to ensure a guaranteed log supply for BC wood processing facilities.

– Assist in the retooling of coastal BC sawmills and the development of value-added facilities to handle second-growth logs.

– Undertake new land-use planning processes to protect endangered forests based on new First Nations land-use plans, ecosystem-based scientific assessments, and climate mitigation strategies through forest protection

 

75% of the ancient forests have been logged on Vancouver Island (see “Before” and “After” Maps at https://16.52.162.165/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/), while less than 10% of our productive forests are in protected in parks and Old-Growth Management Areas, and the situation is similar throughout southern BC. Tens of thousands of hectares of ancient forests fall each year in BC.

 

Old-growth forests are important for species at risk, the climate, tourism, supplying clean water, and for many First Nations cultures.

 

“Right now, with the unprecedented situation of both the BC Liberals and NDP being simultaneously leaderless, we have a first rate opportunity to push both parties to commit to new, strong policies to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests and forestry jobs. We’ll give public credit to any politicians who move their party forward on these issues but we’ll also point out those who are firmly committed to the backwards, destructive status quo,” states Ken Wu.

Ken James of the Youbou TimberLess Society (YTS)

Tree-Huggers and Tree-Cutters Celebrate 10 Year Alliance

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Activists commemorate formation of “Tree-Huggers and Tree-Cutters Alliance” on 10 year anniversary of Youbou sawmill’s closure on Vancouver Island

 

The closure of the Youbou sawmill on Vancouver Island 10 years ago and the resulting formation of the historically important environmentalist and forestry workers alliance, the “Tree-Huggers and Tree-Cutters Alliance” are being commemorated by activists next week.  The Youbou TimberLess Society (YTS) will be hosting a film screening of their documentary videos “Stump to Dump”, and “Log Exports” produced by Lake Cowichan Secondary students, at the Duncan United Church Hall on Jan 20th at 7pm.  A discussion with YTS members and Ken Wu and TJ Watt of the Ancient Forest Alliance will follow.

 

“The closure of the Youbou sawmill in 2001 because TimberWest wanted to export raw logs instead of processing them in the community set the stage for a historically important alliance between the workers and environmentalists, who both opposed the mill’s closure and the export of raw logs to foreign mills,” states Ken James, President of the Youbou TimberLess Society. “Who knew it would have set the stage for a much larger cooperation between environmentalists and forestry workers?”

 

“Ken James, Roger Wiles, Darreld Rayner, and the whole Youbou TimberLess Society crew are seriously historically important figures for the betterment of this province,” states Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director. “Prior to them coming on board, environmentalists and forestry workers were typically pitted against each other, often in extreme conflicts, while the forest companies went laughing to the bank with profits from liquidating our endangered ancient forests and eliminating BC milling jobs.”

 

On January 26, 2001, TimberWest closed its Youbou sawmill on the shores of Lake Cowichan, throwing 220 workers into unemployment. The company claimed the mill was unprofitable, a claim contested by many, and upon its closure subsequently continued to log at breakneck speeds while exporting the unprocessed logs to US and Asian sawmills. TimberWest is the largest exporter of raw logs from BC.

 

A few months before the mill’s closure, sawmill worker Ken James and environmentalist Ken Wu (at the time the executive director of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee’s- WCWC- Victoria chapter, now with the Ancient Forest Alliance) were invited to speak together at a forum at the BC Government Employees Union building in downtown Victoria to an audience of a hundred forestry workers and environmentalists. The two groups found much in common in their perspectives to end raw log exports and to ensure a sustainable second-growth forest industry. Subsequently the two groups started to attend and speak at each other’s rallies and events.

 

The cooperation between the Youbou TimberLess Society and the Victoria WCWC paved the way for further cooperation between environmentalists and the Pulp, Paper, and Woodworkers of Canada (PPWC) union in Nanaimo and Crofton on Vancouver Island, led by Arnie Bercov, and forestry workers with the Save Our Valley Alliance (SOVA) in Port Alberni. Environmentalists also started to work on specific projects and speak at events with the United Steelworkers (USW) union, BC’s main logging union, which took over the International Woodworkers of America – IWA union around the same time, and with the Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers (CEP) union against increasing raw log exports and the deregulation of the forest industry through the so-called “Forestry Revitalization Act” in 2004.

 

“The cooperation between environmentalists and forestry workers that we pioneered has dismantled much of the ‘jobs versus the environment’ framing of BC’s forestry debate” states Ken James.

 

“Today, the vast majority of people support saving jobs and the environment by protecting our last old-growth forests on Vancouver Island, ensuring sustainable second-growth forestry, and ending the export of raw logs to foreign mills. The only problem is the BC government still doesn’t get it.  But they will have to, not long from now,” states Ken Wu.

 

A large group of hikers crowd around the massive redcedar dubbed "Canada's Gnarliest Tree" during an Ancient Forest Alliance led public hike to the Avatar Grove in summer 2010.

Endangered Avatar Grove Celebrates One Year Anniversary

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Endangered Avatar Grove Celebrates One Year Anniversary
 
Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce repeats call for its protection, while Ancient Forest Alliance launches plans for monthly public hikes 
 
Port Renfrew, BC – To mark the one year anniversary since identifying the spectacular but endangered Avatar Grove (see the stunning photo gallery here: https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/ ) the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce is repeating its request to the provincial government to protect the Grove while the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) is planning to organize monthly public hikes to the Grove until it is saved.
 
“Since the name ‘Avatar Grove’ was first uttered, we have seen tourist numbers increase and that means exposure for Port Renfrew and tourist dollars spent” states Rosie Betsworth, president of the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce. “To save our beautiful old-growth forests and to stimulate tourism in our community is a win-win for us all.”
 
The 50 hectare stand of lush old-growth temperate rainforest on public (Crown) lands near Port Renfrew has become a major attraction due to the ease of access to its giant, alien shaped redcedars – including “Canada’s Gnarliest Tree” with a massive,12ft diameter burl – and enormous Douglas firs. (For directions visit: https://16.52.162.165/ancient-forests/directions-to-avatar-grove/ ). The Grove exists just 5 minutes past the end of a paved road on relatively gentle terrain, only a 15 minute drive from Port Renfrew. This contrasts to most other old-growth stands that are found in remote areas and on steep slopes which require travel along rough logging roads for considerable distances.
 
“The BC government could immediately protect the Avatar Grove from logging through a new Land Use Order, and later, through a legislated provincial conservancy. It’s the holiday season and everyone is looking for the perfect gift. Saving the Avatar Grove would be the ‘gift that keeps on giving’ – for tourism, recreation, wildlife, and for future generations of Canadians,” says TJ Watt, the AFA campaigner who found the Avatar Grove a year ago.
 
The Avatar Grove was found in December 2009 by AFA Watt and a friend exploring scattered patches of lowland old-growth forest in the Gordon River Valley on southern Vancouver Island.
 
“Near the end of our trip we were getting quite discouraged after finding mostly clear-cuts with giant stumps and second-growth tree plantations,” reflects Watt, “but about 15 minutes before Port Renfrew some massive trees appeared alongside the road and we could see the forked tops of the old-growth redcedars. As soon as we started hiking, we spotted one giant cedar about 10 feet wide at its base, then another, and it just continued. It baffled me that such a spectacular forest is still standing so close to town, on low flat terrain, yet hasn’t been logged. Right away, I knew it had the potential to be the Cathedral Grove of Port Renfrew.”
 
Two months later in February, 2010, Watt and Ken Wu, campaign director of the newly-formed Ancient Forest Alliance, found falling boundary and road location flagging tape throughout the Grove. “I was so eager to share the magnificence of this forest but as we entered we were shocked to find fresh spray paint on all the largest trees and flagging tape around the Grove marked ‘falling boundary’. The timing was uncanny” recalls Watt.
   
Since then, the fight to protect this eco-treasure has become Canada’s fastest growing ancient forest campaign, featured in scores of provincial and national news stories. The AFA has taken hundreds of people to the Grove, while thousands more have visited on their own.
 
 “No matter what time of year, nearly each time I visit the Avatar Grove there’s a line-up of cars. Being only a 2.5 hour drive from Victoria, literally every day people from all walks of life are visiting the Avatar Grove, including families with kids, young couples, older folks, solo hikers, nature groups, tourists, students. You name it, they’ve made a point to see the spectacular, endangered temperate rainforest that BC has to offer. Sadly, despite losing so much of these rare areas already, ongoing old-growth logging means we stand to lose much of what remains,” notes Watt.
 
The movement to save the Avatar Grove has also garnered political support at all levels. Federal, provincial and regional political representatives in the Juan de Fuca area have all joined the call for its protection, including federal Liberal MP Keith Martin, provincial NDP MLA John Horgan, and Regional Director Mike Hicks, who notes the Avatar Grove would make an excellent side visit for those traveling along the newly completed Pacific Marine Circle Route.
 
The Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce and the Sooke Regional Tourism Association have also requested that the BC government protect the Avatar Grove, recognizing the economic significance of eco-tourism in their communities.
 
Yet, despite virtually unanimous support, the BC government has not stepped up to the plate to ensure that the area is spared from logging by the Surrey-based Teal-Jones Group.
 
“The response we’ve received so far from Premier Gordon Campbell and Minister Pat Bell is that 24% of the Avatar Grove is within an Old-Growth Management Area which will not be logged, so ‘don’t worry,’” says Watt. “What they fail to mention is that virtually all of the biggest and best trees on the most accessible terrain where everyone hikes are not protected. If the Avatar Grove falls, Port Renfrew and the region won’t get another chance like this for another thousand years.”
 
 About 75% of Vancouver Island’s original productive old-growth forests have been logged, including 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow, according to satellite photos. Meanwhile, only about 6% of the Island’s original, productive old-growth forests are protected in parks.

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC government to protect our endangered old-growth forests, ensure the sustainable logging of second-growth forests, end the export of raw logs, and assist in the retooling and development of sawmills and value-added facilities to handle second-growth logs.

Ban Old-Growth Wood and Raw Log Exports to China, Ancient Forest Alliance tells BC Liberal government on the Eve of Trade Mission

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The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC Liberal government to ban old-growth wood and raw log exports to China on the eve of the BC Liberal government’s trade mission to China. Starting tomorrow, from October 28 to November 8, Pat Bell, BC’s new Minister of Forests, Mines, and Lands (formerly the Minister of Forests and Range) will be embarking with industry reps on the BC government’s largest trade mission to China so far.

 

“Having just come back from a trip to China, I’m more than convinced that expanding Chinese markets for BC wood without any significant export restrictions or regulations will turn out to be a first rate disaster for BC’s old-growth forests and jobs in our wood manufacturing sector,” states Ken Wu, co-founder of the Ancient Forest Alliance. “China’s monstrous appetite for resources, its enormous base of new middle-class consumers, and its vast amounts of cheap labour will virtually commit BC down a path towards eliminating our last old-growth forests, sawmills and wood manufacturing industries, should the BC Liberals continue to open up Chinese markets without any major regulations.”

  

For several years the BC Liberal government has been spending millions of taxpayers’ dollars to market BC wood products and to lobby Chinese authorities to change building codes in Chinese cities to allow for the construction of six-storey, wood-frame apartments, to promote wooden trusses on roofs, and generally to promote the use of BC wood for construction in a country where concrete, stone, and steel are mainly used.

 

Currently, several hundred thousand cubic meters of coastal old-growth hemlock and some cedar (4% of BC’s cedar sales) are going to China, as well as large amounts of interior pine, spruce, and fir. The BC government is expecting that a new record of almost 6 million cubic meters (2.5 billion board feet) of BC wood will be exported to China this year (see https://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2009-2013/2010FOR0177-001275.htm), with a goal of reaching 14 million cubic meters (6 billion board feet)  within the next few years. Typically about 70 to 80 million cubic meters of wood are logged each year in BC.

 

In order to protect its own sawmilling sector, in 2008 Russia announced that it would implement an 80% tax on the export of raw logs leaving the country, which took effect in 2009. Seeing an opening in the Chinese markets which once relied on Russian logs, Forests Minister Pat Bell began a series of trade missions to China in 2008, which he stated was for BC “lumber, not logs”. However, in 2009 Bell approved the first set of raw logs to be exported to China by Coast Tsimshian Resources from BC’s northern coast. In 2009, the company exported 120,000 cubic meters of raw logs to China, Japan, and Korea.  China is reportedly the world’s largest importer of raw logs.

 

“While in the beginning they’ve largely been purchasing BC lumber, which will keep some BC mills afloat, industry analysts have pointed out that China is really interested in BC’s logs – I suspect for the simple reason that purchasing manufactured products with North American labour costs added is less attractive to the Chinese than manufacturing the raw resource themselves for one-tenth the labour cost,” states Wu. “The BC Liberals opened the gates for raw log exports to China last year, despite their previous hollow assertions that their trade missions were for lumber. So in the not too distant future, I would be surprised if BC’s wood manufacturing industry doesn’t begin a migration to China, like so many other North American industries. BC workers will be able to thank Pat Bell and the Campbell government for facilitating this.”

 

Old-growth forests are important for supporting species at risk, tourism, the climate, clean water for salmon and people, and many First Nations traditional cultures.  75% of Vancouver Island’s productive old-growth forests have already been logged, including 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow.  

 

See “before” and “after” maps of Vancouver Island’s remaining old-growth forests at:  https://www.ancientforestalliance.org/old-growth-maps.php

 

See SPECTACULAR photo galleries of Canada’s largest trees and stumps at:

https://www.ancientforestalliance.org/galleries.php

 

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC Liberal government to:

 

–  Protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests

– Ensure the sustainable logging of second-growth forests, which now comprise the vast majority of the forested land base in southern BC.

– Ban raw log exports to foreign mills to ensure a guaranteed log supply for BC mills and investors

– Provide assistance and incentives for the retooling and development of value-added mills and wood processing facilities to handle second-growth logs.

 

“There’s nothing wrong in principle with selling BC wood products to China. However, because it is such a huge market with so much cheap labour, we have to regulate our exports there to protect BC jobs and our environment – starting with a ban on old-growth wood and raw log exports,” states Wu. “Without the needed controls, the BC Liberal government is committing BC’s economy to a deeper path dependency on old-growth liquidation and raw log exports, which will result in the demise of our last old-growth ecosystems and thousands of BC jobs in the wood manufacturing sector. Who the hell wants that?”