News Coverage Archives

Here’s what B.C. needs to do to save forestry

Jul 31 2012/in News Coverage/by TJ Watt

As a publicly owned resource, British Columbia’s forests must be harvested in a manner that pro-motes sustainability and healthy forests that are ecologically diverse. This would protect and promote existing and new jobs in communities dependent on well-managed forests. Here, then, are the principal recommendations of the Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada (PPWC):

FOREST INVENTORY

The PPWC demands the B.C. government take an inventory of our working forestland base to determine what the annual allowable cut would be. This will be done with a goal of long-term sustainability and future silvicultural needs, using the best science avail-able. It will take into account climate change, industry and community needs, as well as a social contract for land use to be developed with input from all stakeholders. The contract must have a goal of zero wood waste as this waste leads to lost job opportunities in both the traditional forest products industry and the emerging bio-economy. Zero tolerance for wood waste beyond the woody debris that should be left behind at logging sites to ensure soil and water protection.

The PPWC calls for a politically independent chief forester to be appointed in consultation with the previously mentioned stakeholder group.

EXPORT LANGUAGE

The B.C. Forests Ministry, along with labour, industry and communities, must develop a strategy that moves industry away from the current escalating dependence on log exports. This would then promote tertiary, secondary and value-added industries within our province. On the coast, we must promote a second-growth strategy that integrates protected old-growth areas as well as a new milling strategy for that second growth. The initiatives to end log exports must come from governments and forest-dependent communities. The PPWC has always and will continue to advocate for the export of manufactured products, not raw logs.

DEALING WITH PINE BEETLE FALL DOWN IN ANNUAL ALLOWABLE CUT

Rather than ignoring the fall down in timber supply within beetle-infested areas, we must put a strategy in place that will lessen the impact on directly affected communities.

To meet these goals, government needs to appoint a permanent forest commissioner’s office to be funded out of a portion of provincial stump-age fees and assigned responsibility for working directly with affected communities, First Nations, the provincial forest service and the industry to identify top reforestation priorities and to guide public investments in restoring forest health.

This office would also have responsibility for administering a retraining program. The PPWC will not support moving into parks and protected areas to address timber shortfalls. This does not address the long-term issue of fall down in the annual allowable cut.

FSC CERTIFICATION

It must be the stated goal of government, industry, and community forests to achieve Forest Stewardship Council certification across British Columbia within three years.

ENERGY SECTOR COMPETITION

With the increased competition for fibre from the energy sector, its requirement must also be addressed. The highest-value use of the resource must always be of paramount importance in terms of providing jobs, stable communities and functioning ecosystems.

Priority needs to be given to solid wood production and the “fallout” from the solid wood industry be the source of wood fibre and jobs in the pulp and paper industry as well as the emerging bioenergy industry. The government must work with existing or new wood-manufacturing plants to achieve that necessary balance.

The prospects for growth and employment opportunities in the forest sector and in their communities are bleak without a healthy land base. The PPWC encourages the government to look at these recommendations and to recognize that the need for investment in the land base and in workers is imperative.

Arnold Bercov is national forest resource officer with the Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada. Stuart Blundell is national environment officer with the union.

Saving ‘Avatar Grove’: the battle to preserve old-growth forests in British Columbia

Jul 23 2012/in News Coverage/by TJ Watt

Follow the link below to read the excellent interview and to see some of TJ’s top photos from Vancouver Island’s endangered ancient forests: https://news.mongabay.com/2012/0723-hance-watt-interview.html

With more than one million unique visitors per month, Mongabay.com is one of the world’s most popular environmental science and conservation news sites. The news and rainforests sections of the site are widely cited for information on tropical forests, conservation, and wildlife.

Big trees by the numbers

Jul 16 2012/in News Coverage/by TJ Watt

Big trees by the numbers

Vancouver Island is home to some of the largest trees on the planet. From the well-known towering giants of Cathedral Grove to those newly discovered near Port Renfrew, ancient forests have been wowing visitors to Canada’s West Coast for centuries.

1778
The year Captain James Cook set foot on Vancouver Island. Even then, the Red Creek Fir, the world’s largest Coast Douglas fir near Port Renfrew, would have been an 800-year-old sentinel.

2009
The year Ancient Forest Alliance photographer TJ Watt discovered a rare stand of ancient red cedars just outside Port Renfrew. In a clever marketing move, the group dubbed the trees “Avatar Grove” after the popular movie, helping spark a big tree tourism boom in the former logging town.

333
The number of cubic metres of wood in the San Juan Spruce, Canada’s largest spruce, near Port Renfrew. That’s like rolling 333 telephone poles into one tree.

3671 mm
The amount of rain that falls annually in Port Renfrew, more than twice what Vancouver gets in a year.

96 metres
The height of the tallest tree in Canada, the Carmanah Giant, located in Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park. The giant is as tall as London’s Big Ben.

12,000
The number of protesters who blocked logging in Clayoquot Sound in the summer of 1993, the largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history. Meares Island, the site of Canada’s first logging blockade, now draws upward of 5,000 visitors a year to its Big Tree Trail, accessible via a 10-minute water taxi ride from Tofino.

Read the article online: https://www.upmagazine.com/story/article/big-trees-numbers

‘Big trees’ of Avatar Grove are pure magic

Jul 5 2012/in News Coverage/by TJ Watt

There are some places so precious that just standing there makes you proud to be a Canadian.

Avatar Grove is one of those.

Some of the oldest, biggest, and most gnarly trees in the country stand in these woods, found by hikers like T.J. Watt. He’s so passionate about ancient forests, the professional photographer calls himself a “big tree hunter.”

“I knew that only 4% of the old-growth forest was left in southern Vancouver Island,” he says, while hiking in the woods near Port Renfrew, at the far western edge of Canada. “For the most part, we just saw large stumps. Basically, I thought there was no hope of finding ancient trees.”

But Watt was determined, and his search along the Gordon River here led him through thick undergrowth to massive red cedars and Douglas firs.

He found enough giants in the forest in late 2009 to alert Victoria biologist Ken Wu, then with the Western Canada Wilderness Committee. By the time the pair returned in January 2010, trees in the grove already had been flagged for logging.

“We couldn’t leave them,” Watt says in a strangled voice. “Those logging flags were just unbelievable. We had a real sense of urgency about saving these trees.”

The men immediately founded the Ancient Forest Alliance, drawing such international attention they had 15,000 hits on their Facebook page in only a few days.

“We knew it could be gone in a month or so, and then we held a press conference in the forest. We didn’t have any bank account, but we got media attention around the world,” Watt recalls.

International students from Korea, Mexico, Japan, and Brazil, all studying at the University of Victoria, joined Canadian naturalists in visiting Avatar Grove, named for the fantasy landscape in James Cameron’s movie, Avatar.

Public pressure mounted for saving the trees, and in February, the BC government declared a 59-hectare chunk of forest off-limits to logging. Provincial tourism officials were so excited by new visitors arriving in Port Renfrew, they added Avatar Grove and other tree sites to “natural wonders” along the new Pacific Marine Circle Route.

In addition to the spectacular Avatar Grove, the 74-metre-tall “world’s largest Douglas fir” is also in Port Renfrew, along with the 68-metre San Juan Spruce, tallest in Canada and second tallest in the world. Together, these trees have made Port Renfew the “big trees capital of Canada.” Some are are estimated to be close to 1,000 years old.

Port Renfrew is known already as one of the best spots to get fresh food, hot shower, and a cosy bed for those starting or leaving the rugged 75-km West Coast trail. (Reservations must be made through Parks Canada. Peak hiking season is mid-June to mid-October.) Port Renfrew is also the terminus for the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail, a 47-km wilderness trek along the southwest coast of Vancouver Island.

“Port Renfrew has traditionally been a resource-based town, with logging and fishing,” says Watt, whose dad owns the Port Renfrew Marina. “What’s bringing people now are the trees.”

Jessica Hicks, co-owner with husband Tom Wyton, of the Coastal Kitchen Cafe, says the surge in international travellers has been “incredible.”

A couple of visitors a day would ask directions to ancient trees just last year, and now it’s 40 or more a day, she says. Local businesses had to produce more maps to keep up with demand.

“It’s a forever thing,” she says. “Hundreds, then thousands of people are coming from all over the world, from the Gulf Islands to Germany to see the trees. It’s not crowded, and we really like these people — they respect the environment.”

AVATAR MOVIE INSPIRES AN ECO-TRAVEL DESTINATION

Hicks says after 12 years in business in Port Renfrew, she’s been “amazed” by the extra business in the past two years. “T.J. and the others have really made a difference here,” she says. “It’s awesome — interest is growing, but it’s not so huge that anyone is producing Avatar Grove T-shirts yet.”

Brothers Jon and Tim Cash, chefs from Toronto, bought a large oceanfront property and added a luxury lodge with private cabin and three upscale yurts, all with Pacific or San Juan Inlet views. Their Soule Creek Lodge opened in 2001.

“More people are more interested in the trees than Botanical Beach, which used to be the big draw,” says Jon Cash, former Chamber of Commerce president here. “The beach would draw 60,000 people a year and now, it’s all about the trees. People will drive across the country to find the largest tree.”

Guests from the Netherlands, France, and England are drawn by eco-marketing of the “Jewel of the West Coast,” and Cash says he’s now handing out thousands of maps for self-guided tours of the big trees, compared to hundreds just a few years ago.

Visitors are drawn not only by the ancient giants, but wildlife, including Roosevelt elk, deer, wolves, bears, and cougars. Pileated woodpeckers, hawks, and bald eagles are common.

Hikers can roam the woods for hours without seeing anyone. Some hikes, like Avatar Grove, are more demanding, so the Ancient Forest Alliance assesses hiking difficulty on its website.

Watt is still searching for more ancient trees, figuring he just found the “eighth-largest Douglas fir in Canada,” estimated at more than three metres in width.

These giant trees can be found less than a half hour from the road in Port Renfrew. (TJ Watt photo)

It’s not recommended for novices, but Watt climbed the San Juan Spruce and found eagles near its top. Branches were so dense, they support a mat of “suspended soil in the mass a foot thick,” he says. “It really shows what we’ve got and what we could be losing.”

The Ancient Forest Alliance is campaigning to have Avatar Grove protected as a provincial park, and is raising money to build a boardwalk to make the giant trees there more accessible. (See its Facebook page.)

“We have an opportunity to leave behind a green legacy, of saving the last of the old-growth forests, or we could be the last liquidators of the ancient forest,” Watt cautions. “Most old growth is tucked away in valleys and so it’s hard to see.”

Avatar Grove and the other giants here are less than a half-hour from the road.

MORE ABOUT AVATAR GROVE

Location. The forest is about a two-hour drive west of Victoria along Highway 14, a paved road that is mostly two lanes. There’s no gas station, so be certain to fill up before heading to Port Renfrew.

Where to Stay: There’s camping, RV sites, cabins and two main hotels, Soule Creek Lodge ($145-$215/night, including breakfast; $36 dinner for guests only, BYOB) and Port Renfrew Resorts ($190 and up/night for waterfront, log cabins).

Dining Tips: Bison burgers and fish and chips are popular at Coastal Kitchen Cafe, but hardly anyone leaves without a platter-sized, chocolate pecan cookie. They’re $3 and homemade daily.

The pub at Port Renfrew Resorts has a pool table and big-screen TVs indoors and an outdoor deck overhanging the San Juan Inlet. It also features aboriginal art and carving throughout the grounds, and historical photos of area fishing and logging.

Soule Creek Lodge asks guests each morning about food allergies and preferences, then the chefs prepare a feast with local, seasonal ingredients. Fresh-from-the-dock fish includes sockeye salmon, tuna, and halibut, all wild and caught nearby.

Old-growth logs head out of the the Gordon River Valley near Lake Cowichan on Vancouver Island

B.C. warned not to touch reserves for short-term supply

Jun 26 2012/in News Coverage/by TJ Watt

When a special committee of the provincial legislature came to the Interior town of Valemount last week seeking views on how to maintain timber harvests in forests decimated by the pine beetle, it reopened some old wounds for Valemount Mayor Andru McCracken.

A decade ago, Valemount was a thriving forestry town with a large sawmill. There was a district forestry office at nearby McBride, employing 25 people, which oversaw the timber supply in the Robson Valley Forest District.

The district office closed in 2003 as part of a provincewide cutback of government services. The sawmill closed and was dismantled in 2006 after a legislative change removed the requirement that timber be processed locally. Most Robson Valley timber now goes to a mill 300 kilometres away in Prince George.

The Robson Valley’s largely hemlock and cedar forests have not been hit hard by the pine beetle. But timber in the dead forests to the west of Valemount is drying and cracking to the point it can no longer be turned into lumber.

To access more timber, the B.C. government is floating a plan that includes logging in areas that were previously off limits for environmental or “visual quality objectives” and changing the boundaries of forest districts to add timber to one district at the expense of another.

Victoria has already announced plans to ease logging restrictions in the Fraser timber supply area, including upper Stave Lake, upper Harrison Lake and Chehalis Lake.

McCracken is concerned that Valemount will lose control over what timber it has left.

The special committee, struck on May 16, is travelling across the Interior seeking public consultation until July 12 and is to submit a report with recommendations Aug. 15. Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad is the chair.

Rustad said people speaking at the hearings have been passionate in their views.

“When we are in Burns Lake [which lost its mill in a fire Jan. 21] we are hearing, ‘We want to have our mill rebuilt,’ and in a lot of other communities we are hearing, ‘Whatever you do, don’t put our mills at risk.’ This is a very serious issue across the entire mountain pine beetleimpacted area,” he said.

The plan to take a second look at the remaining timber supply, came about shortly after it was discovered there is not enough timber in the Burns Lake area to warrant rebuilding the sawmill. The government wants to drum up enough timber through other means to save Burns Lake and, by extension, other resource towns also faced with dwindling timber supplies for their mills.

The beetle has destroyed 10 million cubic metres of timber.

“To put that in perspective that’s enough wood to feed eight fairly sizable sawmills. And eight sawmills represents about a third of the forest industry throughout that area,” said Rustad.

Besides logging in forest reserves and changing administrative boundaries, the committee is considering: . Increasing the harvest of marginally economic timber.

. Shifting to area-based tenures giving forest companies more management control over the land.

. More intensive forest management through fertilization and silviculture.

McCracken is flattered that the government wants his opinion but he thinks it’s a bit late to be asking. And he is concerned that the province may end up taking even more timber from the Robson Valley to feed beetleaffected mills to the West.

“We are in a colonial situation,” he said.

McCracken isn’t the only one concerned.

The Association of B.C. Professional Foresters, environmentalists and even the forest industry and the University of B.C. dean of forestry have expressed concerns, specifically over the second look at forest lands that are set aside for ecological reasons.

“The message we want out there is: ‘We are not going to damage our environmental standards,” said John Allan, president of the Council of Forest Industries, which intends to submit a brief. “I am struggling with how you would free up anything more than a few scraps of timber without doing environmental damage.”

Allan said the effect of the beetle is a critical problem that deserves a broader and deeper examination than the committee can accomplish with its tour. The economic future of the forest industry is at stake, he said.

“This issue is so important it calls for more than a few meetings in the middle of summer.”

The 5,400 members of the Association of B.C. Forest Professionals are urging that the government put the forests first.

The forests are the province’s most valuable renewable resource, said Mike Larock, who is travelling to towns along with the committee. He said the professional association fears sustainability may be damaged for political expediency.

“We think that just by focusing on one end product, or one benefit, you actually lose sight of the forest, the very thing that provides all the benefits,” he said.

John Innes, dean of the faculty of forestry at the University of B.C., said that the mills running out of timber will be able to gain a short-term timber supply if reserves are logged but it could be at the expense of sustainable forests.

“What people seem to forget – and I don’t really understand this – is that there was extra capacity created to process this lumber when the beetle reached its peak. Surely people then realized that this was a temporary thing; that it wasn’t going to last.”

Because of the risks of going into the reserves, the outcomes for industry and the environment are uncertain, he said.

“We have never had such proposals for what, in my view, are a pretty regressive step in forest management.”

Vancouver Sun Article: https://www.vancouversun.com/technology/warned+touch+reserves+short+term+supply/6840692/story.html#ixzz1yvXxjait

Province to ease logging restrictions in Fraser region

Jun 25 2012/in News Coverage/by TJ Watt

The B.C. government plans to relax logging restrictions on about 9,500 hectares of Crown land, including the well-loved getaway of Harrison Lake.

Areas slated for reduced protection within the Fraser timber supply area include upper Stave Lake and Chehalis Lake, as well as upper Harrison Lake. They had been partly protected previously because of their natural beauty.

The planned changes result from an industry-requested review of Crown lands managed under “visual quality objectives” of the Forest and Range Practices Act. The objectives are used to protect all or part of scenic areas and travel corridors for the benefit of communities and tourism. In some cases, logging must follow natural landscape contours, employ selective cutting, or utilize helicopters without road construction.

Lloyd Davies, a visual resource management specialist with the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, said in an interview that industry argued that the upper end of Harrison Lake received fewer visitors than the south end, near the tourist destination of Harrison Hot Springs. They also noted a major landslide had severely damaged three campgrounds and restricted public access at Chehalis Lake in December 2007.

Logging restrictions in upper Stave Lake will be relaxed to bring the level of protection for viewscapes into line with the rest of the lake.

The Vancouver Sun received details of the changes following a freedom-of-information request.

The relaxations in logging of scenic areas is a concern for tourism operators dependent on wilderness viewscapes.

Fraser River Safari in Mission con-ducts scenic boat tours of Stave Lake and would like to see less logging to benefit tourism in the area.

“It is a concern,” said company co-owner Jo-Anne Chadwick, noting the situation is compounded by reckless public use of Crown land, including rampant littering. “We are working hard to get people to understand, to connect with nature.”

The province plans to make logging less restrictive across 9,453 hectares and more restrictive across 1,200 hectares, mainly to preserve views-capes at Alouette Lake. The difference is 8,253 hectares – an area about 20 times the size of Stanley Park.

Management will not change across another 35,867 hectares.

“We’ve looked at it and tried to make balances,” Davies said.

He noted the province rejected a relaxation of logging requirements in other scenic areas such as along the Coquihalla Highway and Pitt River.

An order allowing the changes is expected to take place as soon as June 29.

Dan Gerak, owner of Pitt River Lodge, said he can support logging that respects the importance of maintaining “visual quality” for tourism operators – something that major clearcuts do not.

“We have seen areas in the Pitt where the company is able to take timber out and leave strips, and from the ground it is hard to see that any-thing is gone. That we are okay with, but not big clearcuts in visually sensitive areas.”

Gerak added that face-to-face dialogue is important because the detailed maps provided by forestry are “very hard to understand for the average person that isn’t in forestry.”

Leave Old Growth Alone Says Union

Jun 25 2012/in News Coverage/by TJ Watt

A major forest sector union is coming out against proposals from the British Columbia government that could see protected areas opened to logging.

“It’s just short term gain for probably long term pain,” said Arnold Bercov, the forest resource officer for the Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada, which represents some 2,000 workers in the sector in the province. “As I tell the guys, [if we] cut them all down tomorrow we’re screwed and we don’t cut any down.”

The B.C. Legislature has a committee touring Interior communities this week asking the public where timber supply should come from as cut levels are reduced in the wake of the mountain pine beetle epidemic.

A cabinet document leaked in April outlined several possibilities, including logging at an unsustainable rate, cutting down more old growth and wildlife habitat, and allowing cabinet to make decisions instead of the chief forester. Premier Christy Clark confirmed at the time the document reflected the discussion cabinet was having and that the B.C. public needed to have.

Bob Matters, the chair of the wood council for the United Steelworkers Union, which represents the most forest sector workers in the province, in April told The Tyee that his union generally supported the government’s direction.

USW members include those who worked at the Babine Forest Products sawmill in Burns Lake before it burned after a January explosion. The difficulty finding a timber supply for Hampton Affiliates Ltd. to justify rebuilding the mill led to the production of the cabinet document and the appointment of the legislature’s committee.

No jobs without trees

“I’m not trashing any other union,” said the PPWC’s Bercov. “They can come to whatever conclusion they want.”

He said he’s sympathetic to the Steelworkers, to people who are out of work and to the mill owners. “Nobody’s going to rebuild the mill unless they have fibre supply.”

At 62 years old, Bercov has worked in the industry since he was a teenager. When he started, he said, he didn’t think about where the trees came from and didn’t care, but over time that changed. “I think, where does it end?”

If every tree is protected, there are no jobs, he said. But if everything is logged there are no jobs either, he said. “All I’m saying is we have to find that balance.”

For six years, some of it as co-chair, Bercov was on the board of the Forest Stewardship Council of Canada, the certification and labelling organization that promotes responsible forest management. Through that experience he saw the value of hearing and respecting the perspectives of environmentalists, First Nations, the industry and others, he said.

And today he and the PPWC made a joint a statement with the conservationist group Ancient Forest Alliance on the proposal to log protected areas. Bercov, by the way, said he respects AFA executive director Ken Wu and “I value what he tells me.”

Working with Wu

Wu is of course against logging in protected areas, which he compares to burning your house for firewood.

“This is precedent-setting,” he said, noting the industry in other parts of the province says it faces timber shortages. “There’s no way we’re going to let them do that.”

The legislative committee will hear from stakeholders in Vancouver for three days, but Wu said the committee should add opportunities for the public also to voice their concerns in Victoria and Vancouver.

The committee needs to hear that there is strong opposition to taking trees from areas set aside for old growth, wildlife habitat and views. “It’s rewarding unsustainable behaviour with more unsustainable behaviour,” he said. “You don’t reward the unsustainable activity of the industry with more unsustainable activities.”

There are various reasons the forest industry is facing reduced cuts, he said. They include the expansion of the mountain pine beetle from years of forest fire suppression and climate change and from the industry’s over cutting, he said.

Wu said conservationists are watching the positions the province’s political parties take on logging protected areas and are prepared to make it an election issue.

Bercov said it’s not in his union’s interest to reignite a war between the industry and environmentalists. “Just to go in and renew the battles with environmentalists is a loser for the province,” he said. “I don’t think our union’s interested in refighting them. I’d rather work with environmental groups than against them.”

The province needs to look at ways to get more value from the trees the industry cuts, he said. That means reducing log exports and getting the highest value possible out of each log. It also means more intensive tree planting and silviculture, he said.

And it means managing the reduction in timber in the interior and other areas, rather than desperately seeking more, he said. “Cutting down reserves and angering people isn’t a solution. It’s short term.”

A better managed forest would lead to more jobs, he said. “We want to create employment, not at any cost, but I think you’d create more employment if you did thing right,” he said. “To me it’s about jobs. We want to create as many jobs as we can out of every tree that’s cut here.”

It’s entirely possible to protect the forest, look after the needs of wildlife and still have enough timber supply to provide jobs, he said. “Balance always works best.”

Avatar Grove’s popularity creates need for trail

Jun 10 2012/in News Coverage/by TJ Watt

Thousands of pairs of feet have tromped through Avatar Grove over the last two years, and now the old-growth forest needs some protection from too much love.

The Ancient Forest Alliance, which brought Avatar Grove into the public eye and lobbied for its protection, has asked the Forests Ministry for permission to build a trail and boardwalk.

“We want to improve accessibility and it’s vital to protect the ecology and make sure the tree roots don’t get worn down,” said TJ Watt, the Alliance campaigner who discovered the grove.

The group, supported by the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce, is prepared to fundraise and use volunteer labour to build the trail, Watt said.

However, it is looking for an engineer to help with design and safety issues, he said.

A heavily used but unofficial trail has been created through the trees by the many tree-loving tourists and a boardwalk and steps are particularly needed in wet areas and steep slopes, Watt said.

“People visit year-round, even in rain and snow,” he said. “I would guess tens of thousands of people have been there now.”

Platforms will be created beside the much-photographed gnarly tree and other areas of particular significance.

Access from the logging road is currently hit-and-miss, so signs are needed to direct people to the one-kilometre trail and to ask them to stay on the trail and pack out litter, Watt said.

Rosie Betsworth, Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce president, said the public passion for tall trees has put the community – which previously relied largely on logging – back on the map.

“I am surprised how many people love big, old trees,” she said.

“People are coming to Port Renfrew, not just for camping and fishing, they are coming in herds to see tall trees. – One of the most often asked questions in Port Renfrew is ‘How do you get to Avatar Grove?’ ”

The grove was discovered by Watt in February 2010. Shortly afterward, much of it was flagged for logging, as only 24 per cent was protected through an old-growth management area.

The Ancient Forest Alliance spearheaded a campaign to protect the grove and, earlier this year, the provincial government expanded the old-growth management area to 59 hectares.

The environmental group is now fighting to protect another stand of old-growth trees it has nicknamed Christy Clark Grove.

Watt said that even though he immediately saw the magic of the gnarly trees, ferns and massive Douglas firs, he is surprised the area has become such a tourism driver.

“But it is the most fantastic place for people to come and experience B.C.’s coastal rain forest,” he said.

Times Colonist article: https://www.timescolonist.com

It’s a land of giants in Port Renfrew’s ancient Avatar Grove

May 31 2012/in News Coverage/by TJ Watt

Link to original article: www.straight.com/article-697301/vancouver/its-land-giants-ancient-avatar-grove

The grey, weathered sticks poking out the top of the thick forest canopy near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island’s southwest tip look like so much deadwood to an untrained eye.

But for a man whose aim is to draw visitors to the Island’s western shore to experience the awesomeness of old-growth forests, they are a reason to get excited. Very excited.

“Those candelabra tops are a sign of ancient red cedars,” explains T J Watt, cofounder of the Ancient Forest Alliance, a nonprofit organization that seeks to protect old-growth forests and ensure sustainable forestry jobs in B.C. “When I first saw those tops, I knew instantly we’d found a treasure trove of big trees.”

The year was 2009 and Watt was searching for an accessible, iconic stand of trees that could serve as a rallying point in a marketing campaign for the Alliance. He found the tract—dubbed Avatar Grove by the group after the James Cameron blockbuster film (brilliant marketing move or majorly lame, you decide)—just a 10-minute walk/scramble from a logging road and a 20-minute drive from the logging town of Port Renfrew. Single Mothers College Grants

Thanks to the Alliance’s efforts, this extraordinary collection of giant western red cedars, Douglas firs, and Sitka spruces—which is estimated to be between 500 and 1,000 years old—has been mapped and is now protected from logging.

Finding the grove takes a bit of pre-trip planning. There are no location markers, just paper signs in plastic sleeves and flagging tape hanging from trees to mark the starting point of the primitive trail. Visitors will need a map (available for free on the Alliance’s website) or, better yet, a guide to find the giants. Watt is happy to lead groups to the most impressive trees, including, in his words, “Canada’s gnarliest”: a massive cedar with a four-metre-wide trunk that’s distorted with lumpy, bumpy fungus growth.

These days, the Alliance is busy fundraising to build a boardwalk to the grove. “We’ve had thousands of people visit in the last two years,” Watt says. “Steps on the trail’s steeper sections and boardwalks around the most popular trees will protect the forest floor and make it easier for people of all abilities to see the incredible trees.”

Keen for more? The Alliance’s website also provides directions to the Red Creek Fir (the world’s largest Douglas fir) and the San Juan Sitka spruce (Canada’s largest spruce), both located near Port Renfrew and accessible via poorly maintained gravel roads.

Access: To reach Avatar Grove, take Highway 14 to Port Renfrew (just over a two-hour drive west of Victoria) and follow the directions at the Ancient Forest Alliance website

Vancouver Island circle route: Drink in the wine, the scenery, the air

May 20 2012/in News Coverage/by TJ Watt

There is air, there is fresh air, and then there is the brisk, briny, oxygen-thick air that rides in on wild ocean waves.

That’s the air you’ll breathe when you round the tip of southern Vancouver Island and follow the Pacific Marine Circle Route. This 158-mile scenic drive begins in Victoria, hugs the western coastline to Port Renfrew, then travels across the island to Cowichan Bay before returning to B.C.’s capital.

You could drive it in a day, but don’t. Take time to enjoy the natural beauty, outdoor adventures and fine food and wine along the route. Consider these nine locations where Oregonians can, quite literally, come up for air. College scholarships for women

Capital start (Victoria)
Even before you’ve left Victoria’s burbs, the circle route’s attractions begin. Wildplay West Shore Victoria, seven miles from downtown, offers a treetop obstacle course featuring wobbly bridges, suspended rope swings, tightropes, ladders, cargo nets and other fun challenges. Two miles farther, on the grounds of Royal Roads University, is Hatley Park National Historic Site, a beautifully preserved Edwardian estate complete with castle.

Wildplay West Shore Victoria, 1767 Island Highway, wildplay.com. Hatley Park National Historic Site, 2005 Sooke Road, hatleypark.ca.

Ultra outdoors (East Sooke)
One moment you’re hiking the sea-sprayed shoreline, the next climbing bluffs covered with salal, kinnikinnick and Oregon grape, the next descending into ravines thick with Douglas fir and Sitka spruce. The six-mile Coast Trail in East Sooke Regional Park is considered one of Canada’s premier — and rugged — day hikes. Multiple access points make shorter walks possible.

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For a screaming good time, try Adrena Line Zipline Adventure Tours’ eight-line forest canopy course. Toast your bravery post-tour with a shot of “Adrenaline” — cranberry juice, raspberry vodka and Sour Puss raspberry liqueur — at the 17 Mile Pub next door.

If lazing on sun-warmed rock is more your thing, visit Sooke Potholes Regional Park, where ice-age-carved canyons and polished rock pools (the “potholes”) offer clear, cold water for swimming.

East Sooke Regional Park, crd.bc.ca/parks/eastsooke. Adrena Line Zipline Adventure Tours, 5128C Sooke Road, adrenalinezip.com. Sooke Potholes Regional Park, https://www.crd.bc.ca/parks-recreation-culture/parks-trails/find-park-trail/sooke-potholes

Splurging and seaweed (Sooke)
“I want to immerse my guests in British Columbia — the food, the art, the scenery,” says Frederique Philip, owner, along with husband Sinclair, of the much-celebrated Sooke Harbour House. Spoil yourself with an oceanfront room including private fireplace and dinner in the award-winning restaurant, where the focus is on seafood, wine and local, organic ingredients including herbs, edible flowers and vegetables from the inn’s own gardens.

At low tide, take a tour of the ocean’s garden in front of the inn with Diane Bernard, aka “the Seaweed Lady.” On my two-hour tour, Bernard, who supplies chefs with edible seaweed and makes a line of seaweed-based skin care products called Seaflora, has our group taste different seaweed (surprisingly not gross) and rub the gel-like substance found on rockweed (a kind of marine aloe vera) on our skin.

Sooke Harbour House, 1528 Whiffen Spit Road, sookeharbourhouse.com. Seaflora wild seaweed tour, sea-flora.com.

Make a point (West Coast Road)
Bob Liptrot, owner of Tugwell Creek Honey Farm and Meadery, has been keeping bees for 50 years and making mead for his family for 35. Taste the results when you stop by (Wednesday to Sunday, April to October) for free samples.

There’s something intoxicating about a restaurant where binoculars are provided on each table. Point-No-Point Resort is the perfect stop for lunch (think creamy seafood chowder, cold smoked albacore tuna, seafood linguine) or, if a private cabin with no television, Internet or cellphone service appeals, a stay.

Tugwell Creek Farm and Meadery, 8750 West Coast Road, tugwellcreekfarm.com. Point-No-Point Resort, 10829 West Coast Road, pointnopointresort.com

Surf’s up (Jordan River)
Originally a logging camp, Jordan River is ground zero for surfers seeking ride-worthy waves. Looking for lunch? Locals recommend the laid-back Shells Fish and Chips.

Further on, popular China Beach, part of the Juan de Fuca Provincial Park, is a great place to see roaring surf and, if you’re lucky, whales, seals and sea lions. This is also the southern trailhead for the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail, a 29-mile route that rivals the West Coast Trail, with two significant differences: No reservations are required, and there are multiple access/bail-out points. Sombrio Beach, farther north, is another sweet surf spot.

Shells Fish and Chips, 11950 West Coast Road, Jordan River. Juan de Fuca Provincial Park, https://bcparks.ca/explore/parkpgs/juan_de_fuca/

Trails and fish tales (Port Renfrew)
It’s hard to tell who likes Port Renfrew more: the fishers who come to town to enjoy exceptional salmon and halibut fishing or the hikers who end (or begin) their epic treks on the Juan de Fuca or West Coast Trail.

At low tide, hike the 1.7-mile Botanical Loop to Botanical Beach to peer into rich tide pools filled with anemones, urchins, starfish and other colorful sea creatures. Reserve a cabin at the Port Renfrew Resort and join hungry hikers and fishers downing platters of fresh crab and pitchers of beer on the resort’s deck.

Port Renfrew, portrenfrewcommunity.com. Port Renfrew Resorts, 17310 Parkinson Road, portrenfrewresorts.com

Canada’s biggest trees (Avatar Grove)
They are spectacularly tall and wide and old. The western red cedars, Douglas firs and Sitka spruce trees of Avatar Grove, 20 minutes outside Port Renfrew, have become a magnet for big-tree tourists since being discovered in 2009 by TJ Watt, founder of the Ancient Forest Alliance.

Thanks to the alliance, Avatar Grove is now protected and mapped. But with no location signage and primitive trails, you’ll need a map (available on the alliance website) or, better yet, a guide, to find the giants. Watt is happy to lead groups to the most impressive trees, including, in his words, “Canada’s gnarliest.”

Keen for more? Detour off the circle route on poorly maintained gravel roads to see the Red Creek Fir (the world’s largest Douglas fir) and the San Juan Sitka spruce (Canada’s largest).

Ancient Forest Alliance, ancientforestalliance.org

Bountiful (Cowichan Valley)
The Cowichan Valley boasts Canada’s only maritime Mediterranean climate. No wonder the local farms and wineries produce such a mouth-watering bounty, including white asparagus, balsamic vinegar, organic greens, artisan cheeses (including water buffalo mozzarella), spirits and fine wines.

Make a reservation for lunch at Merridale Estate Cidery, where you can learn about cider- and spirit-making, then wash down tasty bistro offerings with a flight of six cider samplers.

Tourism Cowichan, https://www.tourismcowichan.com, Merridale Estate Cidery, 1230 Merridale Rd., https://www.merridale.ca

By the bay (Cowichan Bay)
Brightly painted clapboard buildings sit on stilts at the edge of the water in Cowichan Bay. Stroll the main (only) street and gather provisions for a hyper-local meal: fine artisan cheese from Hilary’s Cheese and Deli; a baguette made from locally grown and milled Red Fife wheat at True Grain Bread; spot prawns from Cowichan Bay Seafoods; and wild berry ice cream from the Udder Guy’s Ice Cream Parlour.

Check in to the Oceanfront Suites at Cowichan Bay, where every room has a kitchen. Slide open your oceanfront windows, lay out your bounty, uncork a bottle of local wine and make a toast — to fresh food, fresh adventures and fresh air.

Shops on Cowichan Bay Road: Hilary’s Cheese and Deli, True Grain Bread, truegrain.ca; Cowichan Bay Seafood, cowichanbayseafood.com; Udder Guy’s Ice Cream Parlour, udderguysicecream.com. Oceanfront Suites at Cowichan Bay, 1681 Cowichan Bay Rd., oceanfrontcowichanbay.com.

Map: https://www.hellobc.com/road-trips/pacific-marine-circle-route/