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New Old-Growth Clearcut Mars the Scenery from the Popular Gordon River Bridge at Avatar Grove

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Before-and-After Photos Reveal Logging Destruction on Edinburgh Mountain, a “Hotspot” of Exceptional Old-Growth Forest near Port Renfrew

Port Renfrew, BC – Old-growth clearcutting approved by the NDP government has now marred the scenic view from the popular bridge over the Gordon River by the Avatar Grove, one of the most popular nature tourism destinations in BC. Before-and-after images taken by conservationists with the Ancient Forest Alliance highlight the destructive impacts of recent clearcut logging by the Teal Jones Group on Edinburgh Mountain, a “hotspot” of high conservation, scenic, and recreational value near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island. The photos, taken before logging commenced and then after most of the clearcutting was completed, reveal the felling of exceptional ancient forest, including giant redcedars and rare, ancient Douglas-fir trees within a 15.6 hectare cutblock.

“These images provide a glimpse into the shocking situation that’s playing out all over BC’s south coast,” stated Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer TJ Watt, who captured the images. “Old-growth forests once teeming with life and some of Canada’s largest trees are being destroyed, never to be seen again in our lifetime. The logging on Edinburgh Mountain adds to the approximately 75 hectares of ancient forest already logged by Teal Jones that has further fragmented what was once almost 1,500 hectares of stunning, intact ancient rainforest. Two new logging roads are also under construction on the mountain as we speak. To top it off, now they have started to mar the view from the Gordon River Bridge with their old-growth clearcutting, a bridge where hundreds of thousands of tourists view the scenery of what was previously a contiguous old-growth and second-growth forest canopy.”

The clearcutting came to within approximately 50 feet of an enormous Douglas-fir tree, tossing trees and debris around its base. The giant tree measures 33’9″ft (11.4m) in circumference or 10’8″ft in diameter, making it the sixth-widest Douglas-fir in Canada according to the BC Big Tree Registry (seventh widest when including the Alberni Giant in the Nahmint Valley), and is not protected.

Edinburgh Mountain Ancient Forest, as it’s known by conservationists, located in Pacheedaht First Nation territory, is home to Big Lonely Doug, Canada’s second largest Douglas-fir tree, which stands alone in a clearcut at the base of the mountain, and is important habitat for endangered northern goshawks and threatened marbled murrelets. It also contains one of the finest and most endangered lowland, valley-bottom, old-growth forests left on Vancouver Island: the spectacular Eden Grove.

The area is one of about two dozen old-growth forest “hotspots” on Vancouver Island identified by conservationists, which represent some of the island’s last remaining, exceptional, intact, and unprotected old-growth areas. Others include the spectacular Nahmint and Central Walbran Valleys, East Creek Rainforest, and Nootka Island.

“These hotspots are in need of immediate protection by the BC government,” stated Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner Andrea Inness. “Most of them are actively being logged and time is running out to prevent them from becoming tattered fragments, like the majority of Vancouver Island’s remaining productive old-growth. While the BC government assures British Columbians that they’re working on an old-growth strategy, they have yet to reveal any details and continue to send the wrong signals. In the meantime, failure to protect these old-growth hotspots will result in considerable losses in terms of biodiversity, ecological processes, opportunities for tourism, and First Nations cultural values, and could spark significant conflict.”

In the case of Edinburgh Mountain, significant opportunities are lost with each cutblock that’s logged, including potential tourism revenues for the nearby town of Port Renfrew, which has been dubbed the Tall Tree Capital of Canada having capitalized on the outstanding old-growth forests and record-sized trees in the region.

“It’s frustrating to see the BC government’s outdated forest policies threaten Port Renfrew’s growing tourism economy,” stated Watt. “Thousands of tourists come to see Renfrew’s spectacular old-growth forests and ancient giants each year. The destruction of Edinburgh Mountain undermines the town’s image as an eco-tourism destination, particularly because it’s so visible. While driving along the Gordon River bridge on the way to Avatar Grove, where you once saw a beautiful, fully intact old-growth forest on the mountainside, there’s now a big ugly clearcut that spoils the view. Tourists must shake their heads when they see how BC manages its globally rare old-growth forests.”

“The NDP government has an economic and ecological imperative to cultivate a forest industry for the future that supports sustainable jobs and conserves the many values ancient forests provide like biodiversity, carbon storage, cultural values, and clean water,” said Inness. “The Ancient Forest Alliance, along with other conservation groups and the BC Greens, are calling on the NDP government to take immediate action to protect old-growth hotspots while there’s still time and develop long-term, science-based solutions for BC’s endangered old-growth forests while supporting the sustainable economic diversification of First Nations communities whose unceded territories these are.”

“Meanwhile, the NDP government needs to facilitate a shift to a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry using incentives and regulations to phase out raw log exports and support retooling of mills to handle second-growth trees.”

“We have a global responsibility to safeguard BC’s ancient forests, given the climate emergency and unprecedented global biodiversity decline that we’re faced with. A shift to a science-based approach that also maintains forestry jobs is entirely possible. It just takes political leadership.”

Background Information

Old growth forests are integral to British Columbia for ensuring the protection of endangered species, climate stability, tourism, clean water, wild salmon, and the cultures of many First Nations. They have unique characteristics that are not replicated by the second-growth forests they’re replaced with and are a non-renewable resource under BC’s forest system, where forests are logged every 50-80 years, never to become old-growth again.

The BC government often states that 520,000 hectares of old-growth forests are protected on Vancouver Island and will never be logged and that 55 percent of the old-growth on BC’s coast is protected, but these figures are misleading. These figures include vast areas of low-productivity forest – stunted, marginal forests that grow at high elevation or in bogs and are therefore at low to no risk of being logged. They also leave out enormous swathes of largely cut-over forests on private lands, which make up more than a quarter of Vancouver Island and which are largely managed under provincial authority. Finally, the BC government fails to consider how much old-growth has already been logged on Vancouver Island: almost 80% of the original productive old-growth forest and over 90% of the low elevation, high-productivity stands where the largest trees grow. Only about 8% of Vancouver Island’s original old-growth forests are protected in parks and Old Growth Management Areas.

For more information, see our December 2018 media release marking the commencement of the logging on Edinburgh Mountain by Teal Jones Group: https://16.52.162.165/new-logging-operations-underway-on-edinburgh-mountain-an-old-growth-forest-environmental-hotspot-near-port-renfrew-on-vancouver-island/

 

Conservationists condemn BC NDP Government’s plans to log old-growth forest adjacent to Juan de Fuca Provincial Park

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Port Renfrew, Vancouver Island – Conservationists with the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) are outraged that the BC government’s logging agency, BC Timber Sales, is currently auctioning off 109 hectares of old-growth forest adjacent to Juan de Fuca Provincial Park on Vancouver Island. The area, located northeast of Botanical Beach and south of Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht First Nation territory, borders one of the most spectacular sections of the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail with impressive old-growth forests and stunning waterfalls.

The seven planned cutblocks, of which two come to within 50 metres of the Juan de Fuca Provincial Park boundary, would see an estimated 55,346 cubic metres of old-growth – the equivalent of over 1,300 logging trucks – leave the region known as the “Tall Tree Capital of Canada.”

 

An aerial photo of the old-growth forests where B.C. Timber Sales has seven pending cutblocks totalling 109 hectares. Juan de Fuca Provincial Park is along the coast and the town of Port Renfrew in the background.
Photograph By TJ WATT[/caption]

“It’s outrageous that BC Timber Sales has approved the clearcutting of an area more than two Avatar Groves in size so close to one of Vancouver Island’s most popular provincial parks,” stated Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner Andrea Inness. “People come from all over the world to hike the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail. The clearcutting will further degrade and fragment the forest that buffers the park which helps protect the park’s outstanding ecological and recreational values. This is a clear-cut example that BC Timber Sales cannot be trusted to maintain, or even consider, the ecological importance of BC’s ancient forests in its planning.”

BC Timber Sales (BCTS) is the notorious BC government logging agency which manages 20% of the province’s allowable annual cut and which has come under fire across the province for auctioning off old-growth forests to be clearcut in such places as the Nahmint Valley and Schmidt Creek on Vancouver Island and in Manning Provincial Park’s “donut hole.” Earlier this month, Sierra Club BC and Sunshine Coast-based environmental organization Elphinstone Logging Focus revealed that BCTS plans to auction off more than 1,300 hectares of cutblocks in old-growth forests across Vancouver Island in 2019. (See their joint press release)

“BC Timber Sales is going after some of the most significant tracts of the province’s remaining ancient forests despite the fact that, today, they are worth more standing than they are on logging trucks,” stated Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer TJ Watt. “Port Renfrew, a former logging town, has successfully re-branded itself in recent years as the “Tall Tree Capital of Canada” and is seeing a huge increase in eco-tourism, greatly benefiting local businesses. We’re concerned about the impact the logging would have on Port Renfrew’s reputation as an eco-tourism destination in addition to the impact on the environment.”

Falling-boundary tape in one of the seven old-growth cutblocks that were proposed by B.C. Timber Sales near Juan de Fuca Provincial Park.
Photograph By TJ WATT

There are also concerns that logging and the construction of over 10 kilometres of new road could impact nearby businesses, such as Soule Creek Lodge, located just 500 metres from one of the cutblocks.

“My business relies heavily on tourists coming to Port Renfrew to admire big trees and old-growth forests and to visit Botanical Beach and other parts of Juan de Fuca Provincial Park,” stated Soule Creek Lodge owner John Cash. “I’m deeply concerned that all the noise from months of logging operations is going to drive customers away. People come here for peace and quiet and to connect with nature, not to listen to blasting, chainsaws, and trees crashing in the distance.”

“Instead of facilitating old-growth clearcutting right up to a provincial park boundary, the BC government should be helping rural communities like Port Renfrew transition to more diverse and sustainable economies. In this case, the government needs to use its control over BCTS to cancel the old-growth timber sales before the closing date of April 26th and expand the protected area system to buffer the Juan de Fuca Provincial Park,” stated Watt.

“We need to see leadership and vision from Forests Minister Doug Donaldson, not more status quo old-growth clearcutting. He and the BC government must stop using misleading statistics that hide the fact that old-growth forests are endangered on Vancouver Island and start implementing a science-based plan to protect them where they’re endangered across the province,” stated Watt.

Watt recently explored the old-growth forest within one of the proposed cutblocks and found old-growth redcedar trees measuring six to seven feet in diameter with one cedar measuring ten feet, nine inches in diameter, making it eligible for protection under BC Timber Sales’ Coastal Legacy Tree Policy which aims to retain ‘legacy trees’ that exceed certain size thresholds. However, a BCTS representative stated in an email that the agency had conducted a review of the proposed cutblocks and that “no legacy trees were identified.”

 

Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer TJ Watt stands beside a massive redcedar measuring 10’9″ in diameter in one of the cutblocks that was proposed by BC Timber Sales near Port Renfrew.

“BCTS’ Legacy Tree Policy failed to prevent the ninth widest Douglas-fir tree in Canada from being felled in the Nahmint Valley last year,” stated Inness. “Not only does the policy leave big trees standing alone in clearcuts with no buffer zones, BCTS clearly can’t be trusted to fully implement it. The BC government needs to quickly implement its long-overdue Big Tree Protection Order originally meant to protect BC’s biggest trees with buffer zones and which the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development has been working to develop since 2012.”

Background information:
Old growth forests are integral to British Columbia for ensuring the protection of endangered species, climate stability, tourism, clean water, wild salmon, and the cultures of many First Nations. At present, over 79% of the original productive old-growth forests on BC’s southern coast have been logged, including well over 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow. Only about 8% of Vancouver Island’s original productive old growth forests are protected in parks and Old Growth Management Areas.

Due to the popularity of nearby old-growth forests for large numbers of visitors from across the world, the former logging town of Port Renfrew has rebranded itself in recent years as the “Tall Trees Capital of Canada.” Port Renfrew boasts access not only to the popular West Coast and Juan de Fuca trails, but also some of BC’s most popular ancient forest destinations including Avatar Grove, the Central Walbran Valley, Big Lonely Doug (Canada’s 2nd largest Douglas-fir), the Red Creek Fir (the world’s largest Douglas-fir), the San Juan Spruce (previously Canada’s largest Sitka spruce until the top broke off in 2017), Eden Grove, and Jurassic Grove. These ancient forests and trees attract hundreds of thousands of tourists from around the world, strengthening the economy of southern Vancouver Island.

In 2016, The Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce signed a resolution calling on the BC government to increase protection for old-growth forests to benefit the economy. The Sooke and WestShore Chambers of Commerce have also spoken up for the protection of the old-growth forests in the Walbran Valley, while the BC Chamber of Commerce has passed a resolution calling for the increased protection of old-growth forests in BC to support the economy. The Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM), the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC), the Wilderness Tourism Association of BC (WTABC) and the councils of Victoria, Metchosin, and Tofino have all passed resolutions for the protection of remaining old-growth forests on Vancouver Island or across BC.

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC government to implement a series of policy changes to protect endangered old-growth forests, including an interim halt to logging in old-growth “hotspots” – areas of high conservation value, such as the Nahmint Valley – to ensure the largest and best stands of remaining old-growth forests are kept intact; a comprehensive, science-based plan to protect endangered old-growth forests across the province; conservation financing support for First Nations communities in lieu of old-growth logging; and a provincial land acquisition fund to purchase and protect endangered ecosystems on private lands.

The Cheewhat Giant, Canada's largest tree

3 ways to celebrate & support ancient forests this month

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1. Big Tree Poster Giveaway

 

From now until Earth Day (April 22nd, 2019), we’re giving away our Big Tree poster set featuring the San Juan Spruce, Canada’s Gnarliest Tree, and the Cheewhat Giant (valued at $25) for FREE! Pick up your poster set by visiting our Victoria office (303-620 View St) on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday from 11am to 4:30pm, order online (S&H fee applies), or call us at 250 896 4007 to arrange for shipping.

2. Get your 2019 Calendars – NOW ONLY $15!

There’s also still time to order your 2019 AFA calendar featuring spectacular photos of the Nahmint Valley, Meares and Flores Islands, the McKelvie and Caycuse watersheds, wildlife, and more – all taken by the AFA’s TJ Watt. We’ve dropped the price from $25 to $15, with all proceeds going toward our ancient forest campaigns!

 

3. Celebrate Earth Day with our AFA T-shirt photo challenge

Our new AFA t-shirts are a big hit and we want to see photos of you wearing yours in the great outdoors!

 

Snap a photo in a forest wearing your AFA t-shirt and share it on or before Earth Day (Monday, April 22nd) on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter using the hashtag #AFAEarthDay2019 (and make sure your post is public).

 

Order your t-shirt online by Tuesday, April 16th to allow time for shipping before Earth Day or stop by our office to pick one up in person.

 

Ancient Forest Alliance Photographer & Campaigner TJ Watt stands atop an 8ft wide old-growth redcedar stump in a recent clearcut by Teal-Jones on Edinburgh Mt near Port Renfrew.

On International Day of Forests, conservation groups call on B.C. government to immediately halt logging of last intact old-growth areas

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VICTORIA, BC – Environmental organizations Ancient Forest Alliance, Sierra Club BC and the Wilderness Committee are calling on the B.C. government to stop issuing logging permits in B.C.’s last remaining intact old-growth forest “hotspots” and endangered old-growth ecosystems and to implement legislation to protect endangered ancient forests. The call coincides with the International Day of Forests (March 21), declared by the United Nations as a day on which to celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of Earth’s forests.

“The BC NDP government has stated that they’re working on a strategy to protect endangered old-growth forests and are making changes to forestry laws,” stated Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner Andrea Inness. “While we are looking forward to hearing about details and timelines, we’re extremely concerned that the business-as-usual liquidation of old-growth forests is continuing in the last remaining intact old-growth ‘hotspots’ with the greatest conservation, cultural, and recreational values.”

About two dozen hotspots have already been identified on Vancouver Island. These include the Nahmint Valley in Hupacasath and Tseshaht territories near Port Alberni, where the B.C. government has direct control over BC Timber Sales, the provincial agency responsible for planning and issuing logging permits. The Central Walbran Valley and Edinburgh Mountain in Pacheedaht territory close to Port Renfrew and East Creek rainforest in Quatsino territory on Vancouver Island’s northwest coast are also considered critical hotspots.

Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner & photographer TJ Watt stands on top of a giant redcedar stump in a clearcut on Edinburgh Mountain near Port Renfrew.

“After decades of destruction, ancient forests and the web of life that depends on them are close to the brink,” stated Sierra Club BC senior forest and climate campaigner Jens Wieting. “Business as usual will result in species loss and leave communities with ecologically, culturally, and economically degraded landscapes. We need a halt on logging in critical areas to allow options for land use planning and time to strengthen regulation before it’s too late.”

Recent research mapping by the Wilderness Committee revealed that, in just five months, the B.C. government approved 314 new logging cutblocks with a total area of 16,000 hectares in critical southern mountain caribou habitat in B.C.’s Interior. This is despite the Province simultaneously working on a conservation plan to protect the highly threatened species.

“A ‘talk-and-log’ scenario is unacceptable given the ecological emergency we’re currently facing in B.C. The B.C. government must stop issuing logging permits in critical old-growth areas before more species fall through the cracks,” said Wilderness Committee campaigner Torrance Coste. “The NDP government needs to quit dragging their heels and show they’re serious about mountain caribou and endangered old-growth forest protection. They need to come up with both immediate and long-term solutions while there are still intact ancient forests left to protect.”

 Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner & photographer TJ Watt stands next to a giant redcedar tree in Eden Grove on Edinburgh Mountain near Port Renfrew.

Old-growth forests are integral for their cultural values for many Indigenous Nations, as habitat for endangered species, and for climate stability, tourism, clean water and wild salmon. B.C.’s temperate rainforests represent the largest remaining tracts of a globally rare ecosystem covering just half a per cent of the planet’s landmass. Outside the Great Bear Rainforest, the vast majority of provincial old-growth forests have been reduced to small percentages of their original extent. Logging continues with little legal safeguards to ensure a minimum protection based on science. Yet the current rate of old-growth logging on Vancouver Island alone is more than three square metres per second, or about thirty-four soccer fields per day.

Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner Andrea Inness stands beside a freshly fallen old-growth redcedar tree in BC Timber Sales cutblock in the Nahmint Valley near Port Alberni.

The environmental organizations are calling on the B.C. government to implement a science-based plan to protect endangered old-growth forests, in line with the NDP’s 2017 election platform commitment to take “an evidence-based scientific approach and use the ecosystem-based management of the Great Bear Rainforest as a model,” support Indigenous Nations’ sustainable economic development and land use plans, and ensure long-term forestry jobs in improved second-growth forest management and value-added manufacturing.

Background information:
For detailed Vancouver Island old-growth mapping and statistics, see:
https://sierraclub.bc.ca/white-rhino-map-shows-vancouver-islands-most-endangered-old-growth-rainforests/

The B.C. government has often stated that “over 55% of Crown old-growth forests on B.C.’s coast are protected,” but fails to mention that the vast majority of coastal old-growth forests that are protected from logging are in the Great Bear Rainforest, not on Vancouver Island, where old-growth forests are highly endangered and old-growth logging continues at a scale of about 10,000 hectares a year.

The government also claims that “on Vancouver Island, over 40% of Crown forests are considered old-growth, with 520,000 hectares that will never be logged.” However, the government hides the fact that the majority of this total area is low-productivity forest (i.e. stunted, marginal forests that grow along the outer coast, in high elevation, or in bogs and are therefore not at risk of being logged).

These numbers also ignore heavily logged forests on private lands, which make up more than a quarter of Vancouver Island and which are largely managed under provincial authority.

Finally, the B.C. government fails to mention how much old-growth has previously been logged on Vancouver Island: almost 80% of the original productive old-growth forest and over 90% of the low elevation, high-productivity stands (e.g. the very rare, monumental old-growth stands currently being logged in the Nahmint Valley and other hotspot areas).

Conservation groups discover ancient old-growth forest near Port Renfrew: Grove home to record-size Sitka spruce and bigleaf maple trees

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Sooke News Mirror
January 9, 2019

Two Victoria-based forest conservation groups recently discovered an ancient grove near Port Renfrew that they’re calling the “the most magnificent and awe-inspiring old growth forest in the country.”

TJ with the largest spruce in the grove, which measures 10’1″ in diameter!

Members of the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance and the Ancient Forest Alliance found the unprotected grove, with several near-record trees, in the San Juan River Valley in October.

Ken Wu, the executive director of the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance, said the largest trees in grove are near-record size, including a Sitka spruce and bigleaf maple that would rank as the ninth widest on the B.C. big tree registry.

“This is perhaps the most magnificent and stunningly beautiful old-growth forest I’ve ever seen, and I’ve explored a lot of old-growth forests in my time,” said Wu on Wednesday.

He said finding an unprotected forest is significant because many similar areas on Vancouver Island and elsewhere on coastal B.C. have been logged.

The forest has been nicknamed Mossome Grove, short for Mossy and Awesome Grove, because of the trees which are draped in hanging mosses and ferns. The grove is located on Crown land and managed by B.C. Timber Sales.

There are no plans to log the area, but B.C. Timber Sales has come under fire for auctioning off old-growth forests for logging in areas of the Nahmint Valley and Schmidt Creek on Vancouver Island and Manning provincial park.

The Endangered Ecosystems Alliance and Ancient Forest Alliance are calling on the B.C. government to reimplement a comprehensive, science-based plan to protect the province’s endangered old-growth forests.

“Without buffer zones to surround and protect the largest trees, and without also protecting the grandest groves, the B.C. government’s currently proposed big tree protection policy is essentially a Big Lonely Doug Policy’ that will leave a few sad giants standing alone in clearcuts scattered around Vancouver Island,” said Andrea Inness, an Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner.

See the original article here: www.sookenewsmirror.com/news/conservation-groups-discover-ancient-old-growth-forest-near-port-renfrew/

*Note: Mossome Grove stands on Crown lands in the operating area of BC Timber Sales, with some (3-4 hectares) protected in an Old-Growth Management Area and riparian reserve, a portion (3-4 hectares) unprotected within a Woodlot Licence allocated to a forestry company, and the rest is unprotected, falling under the regulatory authority of BC Timber Sales. There are no logging plans for the grove at this time.

Push is on to protect Mossome Grove

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My Campbell River Now
January 9, 2019

EEA’s Ken Wu alongside The Wolly Giant! This bigleaf maple ranks as the ninth widest on the Big Tree Registry with a diameter of 2.29m or 7’6″. It also may very well have the longest horizontal branch of any tree in BC, measuring 23.1m (76ft) long!

Conservationists in B.C. have located, what they say could be, the most magnificent and awe-inspiring old-growth forest in the country on Vancouver Island.

Ken Wu, executive director with Endangered Ecosystems Alliance says the grove consists of giant, prehistoric-looking, shaggy bigleaf maples with tall, straight Sitka spruce, and it was found near Port Renfrew.

“Its about 6 hectares in size. Two hectares are off limits in the old growth management area and the riparian reserve but the other four hectares, most of the growth including the biggest trees are not protected and they could be logged and B.C. Timber Sales actually has a history of putting cutblocks and logging the very biggest trees in the province like up in the Nahmint Valley near Port Alberni in the summer when they cut down the ninth widest douglas fir in the country.”

Wu says the push is on to get the grove, which conservationists are calling “Mossome Grove”, which is short for “Mossy and Awesome”, protected.

To do that, Wu is asking people to contact their MLA or make a request through the Ancient Forest Alliance website.

“The previous government actually protected Avatar Grove within a year and a half time span of us campaigning to save the Avatar Grove, the old growth forest closer to Port Renfrew. This is a small area, it should not be a hard thing for them to do. The last remnants of old growth., especially something like this, their highest and best use is not two by fours, or pulp and paper and toilet paper.”

The BC government is developing a new set of policies to manage BC’s old-growth forests but have not revealed any details yet.

See article here: https://www.mycampbellrivernow.com/31290/push-is-on-to-protect-mossome-grove/

*Note: Mossome Grove stands on Crown lands in the operating area of BC Timber Sales, with some (3-4 hectares) protected in an Old-Growth Management Area and riparian reserve, a portion (3-4 hectares) unprotected within a Woodlot Licence allocated to a forestry company, and the rest is unprotected, falling under the regulatory authority of BC Timber Sales. There are no logging plans for the grove at this time.

Conservationists locate what may be Canada’s most magnificent and photogenic old-growth forest on Vancouver Island

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The Ancient Forest Alliance’s campaigner and photographer TJ Watt by BC’s ninth widest bigleaf maple, the Woolly Giant, completely draped in hanging moss and ferns, in the Mossome Grove (short for “Mossy and Awesome” Grove) near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island.

The “Mossome” Grove (short for “Mossy and Awesome” Grove) consists of giant, prehistoric-looking, shaggy bigleaf maples with tall, straight Sitka spruce, and is found near Port Renfrew

Conservationists in British Columbia have recently located what may very well be the most magnificent and awe-inspiring old-growth forest in the country on Vancouver Island. The spectacular, largely unprotected grove, with several near record-size trees, highlights the need for new policies by the BC government to protect BC’s biggest trees, grandest groves, and old-growth forest ecosystems. The BC government has recently stated that they are currently developing a new set of policies to manage BC’s old-growth forests but have not revealed any details yet.

The 13 hectare grove of immense old-growth Sitka spruce and bigleaf maples draped in hanging mosses and ferns, nicknamed the “Mossome Grove” (short for “Mossy and Awesome” Grove), was initially located in October and explored again in late December by conservationists Ken Wu of the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance and TJ Watt, Andrea Inness, and Rachel Ablack of the Ancient Forest Alliance. The grove is located on Crown land in the San Juan River Valley near Port Renfrew on southern Vancouver Island in the unceded territory of the Pacheedaht First Nation band. Most of the grove is unprotected, with a small portion, about four hectares, lying within an Old-Growth Management Area and in the riparian reserve along the San Juan River.

“This is perhaps the most magnificent and stunningly beautiful old-growth forest I’ve ever seen, and I’ve explored a lot of old-growth forests in my time,” stated Ken Wu, executive director of the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance and former executive director of the Ancient Forest Alliance and the Wilderness Committee’s Victoria office, who has 28 years’ experience exploring and campaigning to protect BC’s old-growth forests. “This is the first time in Canada we’ve located a prominent stand of this rare forest type, with old-growth spruce and maple trees growing together. The combination of giant Sitka spruce, as tall and straight as Roman pillars, and huge, ancient, bigleaf maples draped in hanging mosses and ferns, resembling prehistoric shaggy monsters, makes this perhaps the most photogenic forest in the country. Hollywood could not make a more stunning, picture-perfect forest than this one. This is the best example of ‘charismatic megaflora’ that I’ve ever seen. Of all of BC’s ancient forests, this one deserves protection not only due to the scarcity of its ecosystem type, but because of its sheer unique beauty.”

The Mossome Grove stands on Crown lands in the operating area of BC Timber Sales, with a portion within a Woodlot Licence allocated to the Pacheedaht band and the rest under the regulatory authority of BC Timber Sales. BC Timber Sales is the notorious BC government logging agency which has come under fire across the province for auctioning off old-growth forests to be clearcut in such places as the Nahmint Valley and Schmidt Creek on Vancouver Island, as well as in Manning Provincial Park’s “donut hole”.

Several of the Mossome Grove’s largest trees are near record-sized, including a Sitka spruce that would rank the ninth widest in comparison to those currently listed on the BC Big Tree Registry (with a diameter of 3.1 meters or 10 feet & 1 inch) and a bigleaf maple that would rank the ninth widest on the registry (with a diameter of 2.29 meters or 7 feet & 6 inches). The massive maple, nicknamed the “Woolly Giant”, also may very well have the longest horizontal branch of any tree in British Columbia, measuring 23.1 meters (76 feet) long – more than the height of many second-growth trees – and is covered in thick mats of hanging mosses and ferns, resembling a prehistoric monster.

The Ancient Forest Alliance’s campaigner Rachel Ablack by a huge Sitka spruce among then sword ferns in the Mossome Grove (short for “Mossy and Awesome” Grove) near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island.

Along with its “charismatic megaflora”, the Mossome Grove is also home to “charismatic megafauna”, including significant numbers of Roosevelt elk, black-tailed deer, black bears, wolves, and cougars, who inhabit the productive San Juan River Valley. Old-growth forests on Vancouver Island in the area are also important habitat for the marbled murrelet, northern goshawk, pygmy owl, screech owl, Vaux’s swift, and long-eared bats.

Old-growth Sitka spruce and bigleaf maple stands are best known in the Hoh, Queets, and Quinault Valleys in the Olympic National Park in Washington State, where millions of tourists visit to marvel at the mossy giants. In Canada, such ancient spruce/maple stands are essentially unknown by the conservation movement and tourism industry for the simple reason they are virtually non-existent here, except for this newly-identified stand and possibly a few small patches scattered around southwestern Vancouver Island. At the time of European colonization in BC, there would have been more extensive but still limited old-growth Sitka spruce and bigleaf maples stands in the San Juan, Nitinat, and Fraser Valleys. However, virtually all have been logged or converted to agriculture or urban sprawl (in the case of the Fraser Valley where Vancouver stands today).

“This is like a combination of the monumental Sitka spruce stands of the Carmanah Valley and the gorgeous bigleaf maples of the Mossy Maple Grove that we popularized a few years ago near Lake Cowichan. The two combined are essentially the apex of the grandeur and beauty that could exist in a forest”, stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer. “Photogenically, this grove should be a new poster child for BC’s endangered ancient forests – and the urgent need to protect their beauty. We need old-growth protection at all spatial scales at this time, to save the biggest trees, grandest groves, and old-growth forest ecosystems on a vaster scale.”

Due to its limited size, the scarcity of this forest type, and the fact that there are no trails, the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance and Ancient Forest Alliance are not publicly revealing the Mossome Grove’s location at this time until it can be safeguarded from excessive trampling, and most importantly, from future commercial logging.

The Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development since 2012 has been working to develop a “Big Tree Protection Order”, a policy originally aimed at protecting the largest trees and grandest groves in BC. Successive governments, including the NDP, have dragged out the policy’s development and implementation and appear to be leaving out the most important facets of the proposed policy, that is, to include buffer zones around the largest trees, to include the grandest groves (concentrations of exceptionally large trees), to make the threshold sizes for protection reasonable (instead of protecting only the very few largest trees), and to make the policy legally-binding rather than voluntary. Currently the policy is being piloted in selected parts of Vancouver Island and also in areas managed by BC Timber Sales, where it is called the “Coastal Legacy Tree” policy. The Coastal Legacy Tree policy recently failed to protect the ninth widest Douglas-fir tree in BC in the Nahmint Valley. See: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/old-growth-logging-1.4689648

“Without buffer zones to surround and protect the largest trees, and without also protecting the grandest groves, the BC government’s currently proposed big tree protection policy is essentially a ‘Big Lonely Doug policy’ that will leave a few sad giants standing alone in clearcuts scattered around Vancouver Island,” stated Andrea Inness, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner, referring to Canada’s 2ndlargest Douglas fir, nicknamed ‘Big Lonely Doug’ by AFA campaigners who identified the tree in 2014. “The largest trees and grandest groves are like the ‘icing on the cake’, while protecting old-growth ecosystems on a larger scale, that is, saving the ‘rest of cake’, is ultimately the most important task. But it would be a shame to lose the icing…without it, a cake is not quite the same.”

More background info

While an effective Big Tree Protection Order would be particularly important in cases like the Mossome Grove, more important would be science-based legislation to protect BC’s remaining old-growth forest ecosystems on a much more comprehensive scale. While new legislation and updated land use plans are being developed, moratoria on the most intact and highest conservation value old-growth forests like at the nearby Edinburgh Mountain and Upper Walbran Valley need to be implemented in places, while the BC government needs to also implement incentives and regulations for the development of a value-added, sustainable second-growth forest industry.

Conservation financing support from the provincial and federal governments is also needed for BC’s First Nations communities to help foster sustainable businesses and jobs in the communities based on eco- and cultural tourism, clean energy development, non-timber forest products (e.g. wild mushroom and berry harvests), sustainable seafood harvesting, and value-added second-growth forestry.

To ensure the protection of all ecosystem types, federal and provincial “Endangered Ecosystems Acts” are also needed to establish science-based protection and recovery targets for all ecosystems across Canada, including rare plant communities such as old-growth Sitka spruce and bigleaf maple groves like Mossome Grove.

In the interim, the federal government has committed to protecting 17% of Canada’s land and freshwater ecosystems by 2020 and must greatly step up its prioritization and activity to achieve this target (currently Canada is at 10.6% protection). In particular, most of the provinces, including British Columbia, must still commit to meeting the 17% target, and conservation groups will be lobbying the province to adopt this target shortly.

Old-growth forests are vital to sustaining unique endangered species, climate stability, tourism, clean water, wild salmon, and the cultures of many First Nations. On BC’s southern coast, satellite photos show that at least 75% of the original, productive old-growth forests have been logged, including well over 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow. Only about 8% of Vancouver Island’s original, productive old-growth forests are protected in parks and Old-Growth Management Areas. Old-growth forests, with trees up to 2,000 years old, are a non-renewable resource under BC’s system of forestry, where second-growth forests are re-logged every 50 to 100 years, never to become old-growth again.

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC government to implement a comprehensive, science-based plan to protect all of BC’s remaining endangered old-growth forests while also ensuring a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry.

Due to the popularity of nearby old-growth forests for large numbers of visitors from across the world, the former logging town of Port Renfrew has rebranded itself in recent years as the “Tall Trees Capital of Canada.” Not only is the town located near Mossome Grove, but is also near many of the province’s most popular ancient forest destinations including the Avatar Grove, Central Walbran Valley, Big Lonely Doug (Canada’s 2nd largest Douglas-fir), Red Creek Fir (the world’s largest Douglas-fir), Harris Creek Spruce (an enormous Sitka Spruce), San Juan Spruce (previously Canada’s largest spruce until the top broke off last year), Eden Grove, and Jurassic Grove. These ancient forests and trees attract hundreds of thousands of tourists from around the world, strengthening the economy of southern Vancouver Island. Environmental groups encourage visitors to stay in local accommodations, buy food and groceries in local stores, and camp in the Pacheedaht-run campground to help boost the local economy with eco-tourism dollars.

Various chambers of commerce, starting with the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce, have called for increased protection of BC’s ancient forests. The BC Chamber of Commerce, BC’s premier business lobby representing 36,000 businesses, passed a resolution in May of 2016, calling on the province to expand protection for BC’s old-growth forests to support the economy, after a series of similar resolutions passed by the Port Renfrew, Sooke, and WestShore Chambers of Commerce. See: www.ancientforestalliance.org/news-item.php?ID=1010

Both the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM), representing the mayors, city and town councils, and regional districts across BC, and Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC), representing Vancouver Island local governments, passed a resolution in 2016 calling on the province to protect Vancouver Island’s remaining old-growth forests by amending the 1994 land use plan. See: https://16.52.162.165/media-release-ubcm-passes-old-growth-protection-resolution/

The Private and Public Workers of Canada (PPWC), formerly the Pulp, Paper, and Woodworkers of Canada, representing thousands of sawmill and pulp mill workers across BC, passed a resolution in 2017 calling for an end to old-growth logging on Vancouver Island. See: https://16.52.162.165/conservationists-applaud-old-growth-protection-resolution-by-major-bc-forestry-union/

See maps and stats on the remaining old-growth forests on BC’s southern coast at: www.ancientforestalliance.org/old-growth-maps.php

In order to placate public fears about the loss of BC’s endangered old-growth forests, the BC government’s PR-spin typically over-inflats the amount of remaining old-growth forests by including hundreds of thousands of hectares of marginal, low productivity forests growing in bogs and at high elevations with smaller, stunted trees, in with the productive old-growth forests, where the large trees grow (and where most logging takes place). See a rebuttal to some of the BC government’s PR-spin and stats about old-growth forests towards the BOTTOM of the webpage: https://16.52.162.165/action-alert-speak-up-for-ancient-forests-to-the-union-of-bc-municipalities-ubcm/

Photo Gallery: Old-Growth Logging on Edinburgh Mt. Near Port Renfrew

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New logging has commenced on Edinburgh Mountain, an exceptional old-growth forest “hotspot” near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory on  Vancouver Island and the location of Big Lonely Doug (Canada’s second largest Douglas-fir tree) and the spectacular Eden Grove.

AFA campaigners visited the cutblock December 15th and were dismayed to find scores of giant trees cut down, including two-meter-wide cedars and an extremely rare, two-meter-wide, old-growth Douglas-fir. Over 15 hectares is being logged by Teal Jones, which adds to the over 75 ha of old-growth forest the company has logged on the mountain since 2016.

Just 50 meters away from the active cutblock stands a Douglas-fir tree that is the 6th widest Douglas-fir tree on record, according to the BC Big Tree Registry, and the 7th widest when including the Alberni Giant in the Nahmint Valley. While the near record-sized tree is located within a Wildlife Habitat Area, it remains vulnerable to future logging.

Old-growth hotspots of high conservation and recreational value, like Edinburgh Mountain, are disappearing before our eyes and will be reduced to tattered fragments if action isn’t taken soon. The BC government MUST place an immediate halt on logging in hotspots to ensure the largest and best stands of remaining ancient forests are kept intact and develop a science-based plan to protect endangered old-growth forests across BC!

TAKE ACTION NOW and send a message to the BC government, calling for an immediate halt to logging in old-growth ‘hotspots’ and sweeping new policies to protect BC’s endangered ancient forests! www.ancientforestalliance.org/send-a-message

Read our press release on the recent logging here

Photos: TJ Watt

New Logging Operations Underway on Edinburgh Mountain, an Old-Growth Forest Environmental “Hotspot” near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island

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Conservationists with the Ancient Forest Alliance are dismayed that new logging has commenced on Edinburgh Mountain, an old-growth “hotspot” of high conservation value near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory on western Vancouver Island. A 15.6 hectare cutblock, featuring old-growth forest with monumental redcedars and Douglas-firs, is being logged by Teal Jones Group and adds to the over 75 hectares of old-growth forest the company has logged on Edinburgh Mountain since 2016.

Ancient Forest Alliance’s Rachel Ablack (left) and Endangered Ecosystems Alliance’s Ken Wu (right) sit atop the 2 metre (7 foot) wide stump of a freshly cut western redcedar tree on Edinburgh Mt. near Port Renfrew

Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) campaigners visited the cutblock over the weekend and found scores of giant trees cut down, including two-meter (seven-foot) wide cedars and an extremely rare, two-meter-wide, old-growth Douglas-fir, which had previously been photographed by AFA campaigner TJ Watt while still standing.

“The Ancient Forest Alliance is highly concerned about the future of this magnificent area, which includes almost 1,500 hectares of intact old-growth forest,” stated AFA Campaigner and Photographer TJ Watt. “Edinburgh Mountain is one of the largest contiguous tracts of unprotected ancient rainforest on southern Vancouver Island south of Barkley Sound and, without legislated protection, this spectacular forest is being whittled away, clearcut by clearcut.”

The Edinburgh Mountain Ancient Forest, as it’s known by conservationists, is the location of Big Lonely Doug, Canada’s second largest Douglas-fir tree, which stands alone in a clearcut at the base of the mountain, and is important habitat for endangered northern goshawks and marbled murrelets. It also contains one of the finest and most endangered lowland, valley-bottom, old-growth forests left on Vancouver Island: the spectacular Eden Grove.

60 percent of Edinburgh Mountain is available for logging, with the remaining 40 percent in tenuous forest reserves such as Old Growth Management Areas, whose boundaries can be adjusted to allow logging companies access to commercially valuable forests as they run out of timber elsewhere. The government contends that the removal of such protections requires the protection of other, similar forests, but often it results in the protection of lower quality stands with smaller trees than the original stand.

Just 50 meters away from the active cutblock stands a Douglas-fir tree that is the 6th widest Douglas-fir tree on record, according to the BC Big Tree Registry, and the 7th widest when including the Alberni Giant in the Nahmint Valley. While the near record-sized tree is located within a Wildlife Habitat Area, it remains vulnerable to future logging, as the designation legally allows clearcut logging in almost 75% of the reserve. In fact, in 2010 and 2012, some of the largest trees in Canada were logged within this Wildlife Habitat Area.

“The logging of Edinburgh Mountain not only threatens the ecological integrity of the area, it also extinguishes future tourism opportunities for Port Renfrew, a former logging town that has rebranded itself as the Tall Tree Capital of Canada,” stated Watt. “Hundreds of thousands of tourists have come from around the world in recent years to visit ancient forest groves, such as Avatar Grove, and some of Canada’s largest trees near the town. These visitors expect to see ancient forests, not clearcuts. If kept intact, Edinburgh Mountain could offer spectacular and long-term tourism and recreation opportunities for those visitors. Once it’s logged, those economic opportunities disappear too.”

The new logging on Edinburgh Mountain comes at a time when conservationists are still waiting on the BC NDP government to formulate a plan to implement its 2017 election platform commitment to use the ecosystem-based management approach of the Great Bear Rainforest to sustainably manage old-growth forests across the rest of the province.

“Old-growth ‘hotspot’ areas of high conservation and recreational value, like Edinburgh Mountain, will be reduced to tattered fragments if immediate action isn’t taken,” stated AFA Campaigner Andrea Inness. “The government needs to place an interim halt on logging in hotspots to ensure the largest and best stands of remaining old-growth forests are kept intact, while developing comprehensive science-based legislation to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests. The province’s long overdue Big Tree Protection Order must also be implemented to protect BC’s biggest trees with buffer zones and the province’s grandest groves. Finally, the government needs to create a provincial land acquisition fund to purchase and protect endangered ecosystems on private lands.”

 

Background Information:

Old growth forests are integral to British Columbia for ensuring the protection of endangered species, climate stability, tourism, clean water, wild salmon, and the cultures of many First Nations. At present, over 79% of the original productive old-growth forests on BC’s southern coast have been logged, including well over 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow. Only about 8% of Vancouver Island’s original old growth forests are protected in parks and Old Growth Management Areas.

See maps and stats on the remaining old-growth forests on BC’s southern coast at: www.ancientforestalliance.org/old-growth-maps.php

The AFA is calling on the BC NDP government to protect the ecological integrity of BC’s old-growth forests while maintaining jobs and supporting communities by: implementing a science-based plan to protect endangered old-growth forests; providing financial support for First Nations’ sustainable economic development as an alternative to old-growth logging and formally recognizing First Nations’ land use plans, tribal parks, and protected areas; and curbing raw log exports and providing incentives for the development of value-added, second-growth wood manufacturing facilities to sustain and enhance forestry jobs.

In 2016, The Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce signed a resolution calling on the BC government to increase protection for old-growth forests to benefit the economy. The total flow of dollars spent in Port Renfrew in rental accommodations, restaurants, grocery stores, and businesses in general has increased with Big Tree Tourism. The Sooke and WestShore Chambers of Commerce have also spoken up for the protection of the old-growth forests in the Walbran Valley, while the BC Chamber of Commerce has passed a resolution calling for the increased protection of old-growth forests in BC to support the economy. The Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM), the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC), the Wilderness Tourism Association of BC (WTABC) and the councils of Victoria, Metchosin, and Tofino have all passed resolutions for the protection of remaining old-growth forests on Vancouver Island or across BC.

Ancient Giant Logged in the Nahmint Valley

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Thousands of ancient giants, like the enormous redcedar in this film, are being logged in Vancouver Island’s spectacular Nahmint Valley and many more are at risk. Speak up TODAY and send an instant message to the BC government demanding protection for BC’s endangered old-growth forests at: www.ancientforestalliance.org/send-a-message

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