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AFA Executive Director Ken Wu stands alongside a row of Sitka spruce and western hemlock trees growing in a line out of a nurse log in the unprotected FernGully Grove near Port Renfrew.

Forest advocacy group discovers grove of giant Sitka spruce trees on Vancouver Island

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A B.C.-based forest advocacy group has recently found an ancient grove, home to one of the biggest Sitka spruce trees in the country, on Vancouver Island.

A member of the Ancient Forest Alliance discovered the unprotected grove of giant Sitka spruce trees in the territory of the Pacheedaht First Nation that is near Port Renfrew, a town with the reputation of being the “tall tree capital of Canada.”

Ken Wu, the group's executive director, said he has had his eyes on the forest for many years, but it wasn't until Dec. 4 on a hike that he found the 11-foot-diameter Sitka spruce tree, which is wider than the 10 widest spruce listed on the B.C. big tree registry.

“[The grove] is one of the rarest types of old growth [and the] most beautiful forest,” Mr. Wu said on Sunday.

He said that finding a forest of unprotected giant Sitka spruce is highly significant because the vast majority of them on Vancouver Island have been logged.

The forest has been nicknamed FernGully Grove because of its dense and extensive understorey of ferns and is located on lands owned by TimberWest Forest Corp., but the advocacy group is encouraging the company to sell the land to the province for better protection.

According to a statement sent to The Globe and Mail, TimberWest said it has protected the Sitka spruce tree and the surrounding stand for many years, and it isn't planning to change its operation.

“We are committed to the responsible stewardship of our working forest, and actively solicit the input of interested stakeholders to strike the appropriate balance between ecological, social and economic interests. There are no plans to deviate from the conservation status of this grove in our inventory management,” TimberWest's spokeswoman Monica Bailey said in an e-mail.

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the new BC NDP government to reimplement the provincial land acquisition fund, which was cancelled by the then-Liberal government in 2008, in order to purchase and protect private lands that have high conservation or recreation value.

“The B.C. government needs to implement a comprehensive, science-based plan to protect the remaining old-growth forests, while also supporting First Nations land-use plans and financing sustainable economic development and diversification in those communities in lieu of old-growth logging,” said Andrea Inness, a campaigner from the Ancient Forest Alliance.

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She added that the FernGully Grove area is another key reason why the new provincial government needs to take action soon.

Mr. Wu said the forest has some of the most amazing wildlife population on Vancouver Island such as elk, deer, bear and cougar, and he hopes it can be kept as an ecological reserve rather than a provincial park.

“We don't want lots of people to hike here because there is so much wildlife; they will be driven away if it becomes a tourist area.”

From left: Ancient Forest Alliance volunteer Nathaniel Glickman

Magnificent Old-Growth Forest found on Vancouver Island; 11 foot wide, near-record size Sitka spruce towers in “FernGully Grove”

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Port Renfrew, BC – The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) has located one of the finest and last unprotected stands of old-growth Sitka spruce groves on Vancouver Island, located near Port Renfrew. Nicknamed the “FernGully Grove” for its dense and extensive understory of ferns, it is located on lands owned by TimberWest corporation, in the territory of the Pacheedaht First Nation people, and is just a 10 minute drive from the town of Port Renfrew – a town that has been billed as the “Tall Tree Capital of Canada.”

Similar in feel to a “mini-Carmanah Valley,” the extremely rich, valley-bottom ancient grove is home to an enormous, 11 foot diameter Sitka spruce tree that is wider than the 10th widest Sitka spruce tree currently listed on the BC Big Tree Registry. It is also home to dozens of other 6 to 8 foot wide giants, an understory covered in fields of giant sword ferns, and is exceptional habitat for Roosevelt elk, black-tailed deer, wolves, cougars, and black bears.

There is no survey tape or any indications at this time of logging plans by TimberWest for the grove, to the knowledge of AFA campaigners, who have sent a letter to TimberWest seeking further information about the company’s plans for the area.

“This is the most impressive unprotected Sitka spruce grove we’ve come across in years. It really feels like you’re in a part of the Carmanah Valley. It also has a more luxuriant understory of ferns than we’ve seen anywhere else – so we’ve nicknamed it the ‘FernGully Grove’ for now,” said Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director. “Finding a grove of unprotected giant Sitka spruce is highly significant, given that the vast majority them on Vancouver Island have been logged in the valley bottoms where they grow. This grove needs to be bought and protected by the province. TimberWest has shown itself to be amenable to holding back from logging some contentious sites, such as the Koksilah Ancient Forest, while negotiations for their purchase or protection have been underway. In the case of FernGully Grove, we encourage them to show the same openness to potentially selling the land at fair market value for conservation purposes and, obviously, to holding back from any logging plans there, given that it’s a miniscule fraction of their private managed forest lands.”

“The FernGully Grove area is another prime reason why the new BC NDP government should implement a Land Acquisition Fund to purchase and protect endangered ecosystems on private lands,” stated Andrea Inness, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner. “On Crown lands, where most ancient forests remain, the BC government needs to implement a comprehensive, science-based plan to protect the remaining old-growth forests, while also supporting First Nations land use plans and financing sustainable economic development and diversification in those communities in lieu of old-growth logging.”

“FernGully Grove is another exceptional ‘big tree find’ in the Port Renfrew region, which goes to show it truly deserves its title as the ‘Tall Trees Capital’ of Canada. This area has so much wildlife – elk, deer, wolves, cougars, bears – it could also be called the ‘Serengeti of Vancouver Island.’ For this reason, we’d like to see this area eventually designated more as an ecological reserve rather than as a tourism area, as it should really be kept undisturbed for its wildlife value,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer.

Ancient Forest Alliance activists Ken Wu and TJ Watt, along with volunteer Nathaniel Glickman, located the grove on December 4 after a tough “bushwhacking” expedition through extremely dense salmonberry thickets and across stream channels. They returned the next day to measure the largest tree in the grove, a towering 11 foot (3.34 metre) wide Sitka spruce, which is wider than the tenth widest Sitka spruce in BC listed on the BC Big Tree Registry. The grove is nicknamed “FernGully” after the 1992 animated film in which forest creatures fight to save their rainforest home from logging.

While the Ancient Forest Alliance certainly aren't the first people to have seen this area – as the region as been inhabitated by indigenous peoples for thousands of years and in the past loggers and hunters would have traversed the area – the Ancient Forest Alliance is the first to have identified the grove for its conservation significance in terms of its old-growth forest qualities.

FernGully Grove is located on the private managed forest lands of TimberWest, who are also actively logging second-growth stands near the Red Creek Fir (the world’s largest Douglas-fir tree), where road access has been gated off for months, and have flagged large tracts of second-growth forest along the highway into Port Renfrew for potential future logging. The AFA has concerns about the impacts of this logging and has included their concerns about all three sites in their letter to the company.

 

Background Info on the Proposed BC Land Acquisition Fund

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC government to create a provincial land acquisition fund in order to purchase and protect private lands such as these that have high conservation or recreation value. The AFA has sent a briefing document to Minister of Environment George Heyman, outlining the need for a land acquisition fund and hopes to meet with the minister in the new year to discuss the proposal further.

About 5% of British Columbia’s land base is private, where new protected areas require the outright purchase of private lands from willing sellers, while 95% is Crown (public) lands, where new protected areas are established by government legislation. However, a high percentage of BC’s most endangered and biologically richest and diverse ecosystems are found on private lands, which are disproportionately important for conservation efforts.

The Ancient Forest Alliance’s is proposing a provincial land acquisition fund of $40 million/ year (less than 0.1% of the provincial budget), starting in 2018, and increasing by $10 million per year until reaching $100 million in 2025. The proposed land acquisition fund would enable the timely purchase and protection of significant tracts of endangered private lands of high conservation, scenic, and recreation value to add to BC’s parks and protected areas system. This could include areas such as Vancouver Island’s endangered Garry Oak meadows, grasslands of the Okanagan Valley and old-growth forests on at FernGully Grove, the Koksilah Ancient Forest (owned by TimberWest) near Shawnigan Lake, and Mount Horne (owned by Island Timberlands), the mountainside above the world-famous Cathedral Grove, Canada’s most famous old-growth forest.

Many regional districts in BC have park acquisition funds, which are augmented by the fundraising efforts of private citizens and land trusts. For example, the Capital Regional District (CRD) of Greater Victoria has a Land Acquisition Fund that generates about $3.7 million each year and has spent over $35 million to purchase over 4,500 hectares of land with its partners since the year 2000. The fund has helped to protect the Sooke Hills and Potholes, Jordan River’s popular surfing area, Mount Maxwell on Saltspring Island, and lands between Thetis Lake and Mount Work. Like the CRD’s land acquisition fund, a provincial fund could be used as leverage to raise additional funds from private land trusts, environmental groups and private donors.

A report published by the University of Victoria Environmental Law Centre in 2015 outlined the various funding mechanism available to the BC government for a provincial land acquisition fund. Read the report.

Environmental lawyer Erin Grey also produced a report earlier this year, analyzing the AFA's proposed Pop for Parks program, which would see unredeemed bottle deposits redirected to the purchase and protection of private lands with high conservation values. The report indicates there are no legal or financial barriers to implementing the program in BC – only a lack of political will. Read the report. 

 

More Background Information about Old-Growth Forests

“The new NDP government, supported by the BC Greens, gives us the greatest opportunity in BC's history to finally end the decades-long ‘War in the Woods’ by protecting endangered old-growth forests and ensuring a sustainable, second-growth forest industry,” said Ken Wu, Executive Director of the Ancient Forest Alliance. “The NDP has sent some positive signals, but we need to see clear commitments and action to protect what remains of BC’s old-growth.”

The Ancient Forest Alliance is asking for a series of policy changes that can be rolled out over both short- and longer-term timelines. This includes a comprehensive, science-based law to protect all of BC’s remaining endangered old-growth forests, partly modeled after the ecosystem-based management approach used in the Great Bear Rainforest. It also includes financial support for sustainable economic development and diversification of First Nations communities, known as “conservation financing,” while supporting First Nations land use plans. While these longer-term solutions are being developed, an interim halt to logging in old-growth “hotspots” – areas of high conservation value – must be implemented to ensure the largest and best stands of remaining old-growth forests are kept intact while a larger plan is developed. Regulations and incentives must also be used to ensure a sustainable, value-added second-growth forest industry in BC.

Policies that can be readily implemented more quickly include a Big Tree Protection Order, which the BC government is currently finishing work on developing, which would protect the biggest trees on the coast with buffer zones. Thousands of hectares of Old-Growth Management Areas (OGMA’s) that are currently mapped but not given legal protection status (ie. “non-legal OGMA’s”) should also be made legally-binding immediately. As mentioned earlier, annual funding also needs to be directed to establish a provincial land acquisition fund to purchase and protect private lands of high conservation value.

The NDP’s 2017 election platform states that “in partnership with First Nations and communities, we will modernize land-use planning to effectively and sustainably manage BC’s…forests and old growth. We will take an evidence-based scientific approach and use the ecosystem-based management of the Great Bear Rainforest as a model.” (Read page 61 of their platform). If taken literally, this would almost certainly result in the protection of the remaining old-growth forest on BC’s southern coast and in the BC Interior, where old-growth forests are far scarcer and more endangered than in the Central and Northern Coast (Great Bear Rainforest) where 85% of the forests were set aside under the ecosystem-based management plan there.

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. See maps and stats.

In recent years, support for increased old-growth protection has broadened to include unions, chambers of commerce and municipalities. For example, the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) and the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC) have passed a resolution calling for an end to old-growth logging on Vancouver Island; the BC Chamber of Commerce, representing 36,000 BC businesses, has called for expanded old-growth forest protection in BC in order to benefit the economy; and the Private and Public Workers of Canada (PPWC), representing thousands of BC forestry workers, has passed a resolution calling for protection of Vancouver Island’s remaining old-growth forests.

Environmental organizations Ancient Forest Alliance, Sierra Club BC, and Wilderness Committee are calling on the BC government to develop a comprehensive, science-based Old-Growth Protection Act to protect endangered old-growth forests and to ensure a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry.
 

AFA's Campaigner and Photographer

Conservationists thank the Pacheedaht First Nation for extending protection over 18 hectares of “Jurassic Grove” near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island

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The Ancient Forest Alliance is thanking the Pacheedaht First Nation band for proposing expanded protection for an 18 hectare portion of the stunning “Jurassic Grove”, a monumental old-growth forest of giant redcedars, Douglas-fir, and Sitka spruce trees located a 90 minute drive west of Victoria between Jordan River and Port Renfrew. The proposed expansion in the new management plan of Tree Farm Licence 61, partly owned by the Pacheedaht band, would protect about 30% of the 61 hectares that are still unprotected in the Jurassic Grove (total grove size is 130 hectares). The spectacular grove stands on Crown lands adjacent to the Juan de Fuca Provincial Park on Vancouver Island, in the unceded traditional territory of the Pacheedaht First Nation. See the original media release about Jurassic Grove, identified earlier this year as an exceptional old-growth grove by the Ancient Forest Alliance at: https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/jurassic-grove/ and a Times Colonist piece at: https://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/avatar-grove-the-sequel-introducing-jurassic-grove-1.18540489

“We want to thank the Pacheedaht First Nation for proposing the new protection, this is good news. This is an important step forward for the protection of Jurassic Grove, encompassing 18 hectares of some of the grandest ancient forests left on planet earth. Saving rare giants like these thousand year old trees is like protecting a herd of endangered elephants or rhinos these days – it needs to happen”, stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director.

“We encourage the Pacheedaht and the province to consider protecting the remaining portion of Jurassic Grove, as the additional 43 hectares includes the finest, most accessible parts of the grove on the flatter and gentler terrain – the areas that tourists would be able to readily visit. As many people know, we believe the long-term, sustainable economic future for the Port Renfrew region lies in large part in eco-tourism, which the region has greatly embraced in recent years, currently centred around the Avatar Grove – and perhaps the Jurassic Grove in the future”, stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance photographer and campaigner.

“Lowland old-growth groves on southern Vancouver Island with the classic giants like this are about as rare as finding a Sasquatch these days, with over 95% of them having been logged on the South Island. This is one of the most magnificent unprotected groves in the world, and it’s even easier than the Avatar Grove to get to, along a major paved highway”, stated Andrea Inness, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner.

The new management plan for Tree Farm Licence (TFL) 61, licenced to Pacheedaht Andersen Timber Holdings LP, shows a series of newly proposed Old-Growth Management Areas totaling about 18 hectares of the unprotected portions of the Jurassic Grove. The Jurassic Grove is an old-growth forest that is about 130 hectares in total size, with 70 hectares protected in a pre-existing Wildlife Habitat Area (for the threatened marbled murrelet, a seabird that only nests in old-growth trees), another 18 hectares of newly proposed protections by the Pacheedaht band, and another 43 hectares remaining on unprotected Crown lands which the Ancient Forest Alliance would also like to see protected through new Old-Growth Management Areas (and perhaps one day added to the adjacent Juan de Fuca Provincial Park, at which time “Jurassic Grove” will become “Jurassic Park”). Public comments for the Management Plan close on November 15.

The Ancient Forest Alliance believes that the Pacheedaht would greatly benefit from developing a cultural/eco-tourism industry that showcases ancient forests like the Jurassic Grove, which is one of the grandest (with trees that are 16 feet or 5 metres wide) and most accessible (near the main highway, near Jordan River, with key sections on gentle flat terrain) old-growth forests in Pacheedaht territory. Earlier this year, the Pacheedaht band expanded and upgraded their ocean-front campground where many visitors to the Avatar Grove stay, and they have now completed construction of a new gas station in Port Renfrew which just opened yesterday (see https://www.sookenewsmirror.com/news/new-port-renfrew-gas-station-promotes-community-growth/ and https://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/jack-knox-port-renfrew-community-reborn-and-it-s-a-gas-1.23090134) and which the Ancient Forest Alliance is encouraging all “tall tree tourists” who visit the area to gas-up at.

In the Great Bear Rainforest and Haida Gwaii, conservation groups along with the provincial and federal governments have been helping to finance the sustainable economic development and diversification of First Nation communities to develop tourism and other businesses compatible with the expanded protection of old-growth forests in those regions, with about $120 million in conservation financing provided along with millions of dollars of additional carbon offsetting funds. The AFA and other BC environmental groups are asking that the BC government also look at conservation financing options for other First Nations in BC who may be interested in expanding protection for old-growth forests in their territories.

The Ancient Forest Alliance has been discussing conservation and access issues regarding the Jurassic Grove with the Pacheedaht First Nation band. While the dialogue is underway, the organization is not yet encouraging the public to try visiting the grove, most of which has no trails, has an extremely dense understory, and which is punctuated with steep ravines that are treacherous to traverse.

Jurassic Grove’s easy to access location makes it a potential first rate ancient forest attraction that can help to raise the awareness of all endangered old-growth forests and bolster the regional eco-tourism industry. Port Renfrew, historically a logging town that now promotes eco-tourism and has been dubbed the “Tall Trees Capital of Canada” in recent years due to its proximity to the Avatar Grove, Central Walbran Valley, Big Lonely Doug (Canada’s 2ndlargest Douglas-fir), Eden Grove, Red Creek Fir (the world’s largest Douglas-fir), Harris Creek Spruce (an enormous Sitka spruce), and San Juan Spruce (previously Canada’s largest spruce until the top broke off last year), now has the Jurassic Grove as potentially another first rate addition to its roster of big tree attractions. Thousands of tourists from around the world now come to visit the old-growth trees around Port Renfrew, hugely bolstering the regional economy of southern Vancouver Island. The Ancient Forest Alliance is encouraging people who visit the area to stay in local accommodations, buy food and groceries in local stores, buy gas from the new Pacheedaht-owned gas station in town, and camp in the Pacheedaht campground to help boost the local economy with eco-tourism dollars.

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

The Green Party, which holds the balance of power for the NDP minority government, is in favour of protecting BC’s endangered old-growth forests, while the NDP’s 2017 election platform states that “In partnership with First Nations and communities, we will modernize land-use planning to effectively and sustainably manage BC’s ecosystems… forests and old growth…We will take an evidence-based scientific approach and use the ecosystem-based management of the Great Bear Rainforest as a model.” (see page 61 of their platform at: https://action.bcndp.ca/page/-/bcndp/docs/BC-NDP-Platform-2017.pdf). If taken literally and seriously, this would almost certainly result in the protection of the remaining endangered old-growth forest on BC’s southern coast and in the BC Interior, where old-growth forests are far scarcer and more endangered than in the Central and Northern Coast (Great Bear Rainforest) where 85% of the forests (including the vast majority of the old-growth) were set aside in protected areas and under the ecosystem-based management.

More Information on Old-Growth Forests

In recent times, the voices for old-growth protection have been quickly expanding, including numerous Chambers of Commerce, mayors and city councils, forestry unions, and conservation groups across BC who have been calling on the provincial government to expand protection for BC’s remaining old-growth forests.

BC’s premier business lobby, the BC Chamber of Commerce, representing 36,000 businesses, passed a resolution in 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: https://16.52.162.165/media-release-historic-leap-for-old-growth-forests-bc-chamber-of-commerce-passes-resolution-for-expanded-protection/

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 last year calling on the province to protect the 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 earlier this year 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/

The Ahousaht First Nation band north of Tofino in Clayoquot Sound announced earlier this year that 82% of their territory will be off-limits to commercial logging. They now need provincial legislation and funding to help make their vision a reality.

Old-growth forests are vital to sustain 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 that can be 2000 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.

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 logging industry’s PR-spin typically over-inflates 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, lumped in with the productive old-growth forests where the large trees grow (and where most logging takes place), while at the same time failing to include vast tracts of cut-over corporate-owned forest lands (which were managed as if they were public lands until recent years) which along with other private lands constitute about 800,000 hectares or ¼ of Vancouver Island, in their stats. See a rebuttal to some of the industry 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/

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

Ancient Forest Alliance

Shaw TV: Walbran Valley Update

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Direct link to video: https://youtu.be/A3X9NEoKtpg

Check out the latest Shaw TV news piece on the Walbran Valley, Castle Grove, and Eden Grove ancient forests near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island in Pacheedaht First Nation territory, and what a new provincial government could mean for BC's endangered old-growth forests! It features an interview with the Ancient Forest Alliance's executive director Ken Wu and video footage (including drone footage) and photos taken by the AFA's photographer and campaigner TJ Watt. Thanks to Lorraine Scollan and Heather Leary of Shaw TV for covering these local old-growth forest issues again!

Ancient Forest Alliance

WATCH: Avatar Grove Boardwalk

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Direct link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pNaEbAflsk

Check out the major new Shaw TV piece, featuring the most extensive news coverage on Avatar Grove so far, about the completion of the boardwalk and its significance for Port Renfrew and ancient forest protection! Featuring the Ancient Forest Alliance’s TJ Watt and Ken Wu, Dan Hager of the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce, Jon Cash of Soule Creek Lodge, Kristine Pearson and Pamela Jones of the Pacheedaht First Nation band, Matthew Varley and Scott Harris super volunteers, and Alison Sturrock an international tourist who happened to be hiking there. Thanks to Shaw TV’s Lorraine Scollan and Heather Leary for putting this piece together!

Left to Right: Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) Boardwalk Coodinator TJ Watt

New pathway for ancient forest

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Volunteers have put the finishing touches on one of the region’s newest big-tree destinations.
 
The boardwalk and trail at Avatar Grove, an old-growth forest 20 minutes from Port Renfrew, is complete after four years of work.
 
“If you were to arrive at Avatar Grove, you’ll find a one-kilometre trail with hundreds of metres of high-quality boardwalk that takes you through one of the most spectacular ancient forests in the country,” said TJ Watt, Avatar Grove boardwalk co-ordinator with the Ancient Forest Alliance.
 
The boardwalk protects the tree roots and vegetation from excessive trampling and provides safe public access to the forest, he said. “It allows people to spend more time looking at the trees and less time looking at their feet.”
 
 
Avatar Grove, also known as T’l’oqwxwat, received provincial protection in 2012 after a campaign led by the Ancient Forest Alliance and the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce. Port Renfrew has branded itself the Tall Tree Capital of Canada, as part of its economic shift toward tourism and away from logging.
 
The area includes Big Lonely Doug, an old-growth tree believed to be the second-largest Douglas fir in Canada and stands in the middle of a clearcut. On the road toward Port Renfrew is another old-growth forest that the Ancient Forest Alliance is tentatively calling Jurassic Park, another area it hopes will be protected.
 
Ken Wu, executive director of the Ancient Forest Alliance, said about 300 tourists visit Avatar Grove on a summer weekend afternoon. “Avatar Grove has shown that saving ancient forests benefits the local economy — businesses and jobs. And it’s changed the whole narrative from the previous way of thinking, which was that saving ancient forests would undermine rural economies,” Wu said.
 
The project was supported by the Pacheedaht First Nation, the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce and a team of volunteers at the Ancient Forest Alliance.
 
Strong winds that knocked down several trees in October 2016 delayed the boardwalk completion.
 
Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce President Dan Hager checking out the ancient trees in the Lower Avatar Grove.

Avatar Grove Boardwalk Completed – High Quality Boardwalk Showcases One of Canada’s Most Magnificent Old-Growth Forests!

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After 4 years of hard work, with the support of hundreds of volunteers and supporters, the Avatar Grove boardwalk near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island has finally been completed by the Ancient Forest Alliance. The boardwalk protects the tree roots and vegetation from excessive trampling, enhances visitor safety, and supports the booming eco-tourism economy in the region by providing public access to one of the grandest old-growth forests in North America.
 
Port Renfrew, British Columbia – After 4 years of hard work, the Avatar Grove now has a high quality, one kilometre-long trail and boardwalk that includes extensive stairs, steps, walkways, bridges, and viewing platforms. Located only 20 minutes from Port Renfrew, the Avatar Grove is home to one of the most spectacular and easily accessible stands of monumental old-growth trees in BC and has become among the province’s most popular old-growth forest tourism destinations, featured in numerous national and international media pieces. The completion of the boardwalk enhances the public’s ability to explore the incredible ancient forest that helped the town rebrand itself as the “Tall Trees Capital of Canada.”
 
See attached photos (captions at bottom) and also photo galleries showcasing the boardwalk construction from the past two weekends: https://bit.ly/2vkskEN and https://bit.ly/2urzSGt (media are free to reprint photos. Credit to 'TJ Watt' when possible)
 
“We’re really excited to have finally completed the Avatar Grove Boardwalk after years of hard work involving hundreds of volunteers. This was a major undertaking for a small organization like ours but for many of those involved, it has become a labour of love. We now have a kilometre-long trail with sections of high quality boardwalk for visitors with diverse abilities to enjoy one of Canada’s most magnificent ancient forests,” stated Avatar Boardwalk Coordinator TJ Watt of the Ancient Forest Alliance. “We are grateful to the Pacheedaht First Nation, who donated the first batch of wood, followed by the support of the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce, hundreds of volunteers and donors, and many generous sponsors.”
 
“The massive trees at Avatar Grove have become iconic and tourists from around the world are making Port Renfrew a ‘must see’ destination. This boardwalk will give many of our visitors and guests up close and personal access to ‘be’ with these trees, where before the terrain may have been too much of a challenge for some of them”, stated Dan Hager, president of the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce.
 
“Avatar Grove” is a popular nickname for the Nuu-cha-nulth Pacheedaht name of “T’l’oqwxwat” and is in the unceded territory of the Pacheedaht First Nation. It was protected by the BC government in 2012 after an intense two-year public awareness campaign led by the AFA in partnership with the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce.
 
The Ancient Forest Alliance began construction of the boardwalk in 2013 to protect the tree roots and understory vegetation from foot traffic, enhance visitor safety and access, and support the local eco-tourism economy.  The organization’s plan was to finish construction by the fall of 2016, but hurricane force winds during an October 2016 storm knocked down dozens of trees, damaging the trail and boardwalk. Since then, the AFA has been working to clear and fix the boardwalk, and has made improvements upon its original design.
 
Since the Avatar Grove was protected and its boardwalk constructed, it has allowed visitors from all over the world to discover BC’s unique and magnificent old-growth forests.
 
“The Avatar Grove’s real significance is that it serves as an example to other communities that protecting old-growth forests benefits the economy by hugely bolstering local businesses and jobs”, Ken Wu, executive director of the Ancient Forest Alliance stated. “In helping to revitalize Port Renfrew’s economy, it has clearly counteracted the old, false narrative that saving old-growth forests harms the local economy. The Avatar Grove and its boardwalk have been the most important catalyst for BC’s ancient forest movement in recent times and have helped to shape the fate of endangered forests across the province.”
 
Avatar Grove has prompted the former logging town of Port Renfrew to rebrand itself for old-growth forest tourism, landing the town its nickname the “Tall Trees Capital of Canada.” The town is also located near the province’s most popular ancient forest destinations including the 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.  They attract hundreds of thousands of tourists from around the world, strengthening the economy of southern Vancouver Island. The Ancient Forest Alliance is encouraging people who visit the area 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.
 
The Ancient Forest Alliance would like to thank the Pacheedaht First Nation, BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations (Recreation Sites and Trails Division), Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce, Mountain Equipment Co-op, Patagonia Elements, Sitka Society for Conservation, Public Conservation Assistance Fund, Port Renfrew Marina & RV Park, and the hundreds of individual donors and volunteers for their support in building the boardwalk!
 
More information on BC’s Old-Growth Forests
 
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 and to also ensure a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry.
 
Ultimately driven by Avatar Grove’s economic significance, 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 last May, 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 last year 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, recently passed a resolution 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 previous BC Liberal government’s PR-spin typically over-inflated 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/
AFA Boardwalk Co-odinator TJ Watt carries materials along the new trail.

Volunteer-built boardwalk showcases protected old-growth near Port Renfrew

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Volunteers on Vancouver Island hope the completion of a boardwalk through a section of old-growth forest near Port Renfrew will help prove that B.C.'s giant trees are more valuable standing.

The ancient trees in Avatar Grove have been protected from logging since 2012.
 
But the trails and boardwalk to make them accessible to tourists for viewing, led by the Ancient Forest Alliance, has taken four years to complete.
 
“Hundreds of people have come out to help, to carry buckets of gravel up through the trail, to carry heavy boardwalk planks, hammering thousands of nails and swatting a million mosquitos,” said T.J. Watt, boardwalk coordinator for the group.
 
Port Renfrew has long relied on forestry and commercial fishing as main industries. But outdoor recreation and eco-tourism are a growing part of the economy.
 
In recent years, the town has even rebranded as Canada's tall tree capital, thanks in part to the thousands of visitors per year who now come to see the big trees in Avatar Grove, Watt said.
 
“Avatar Grove really is a case study in showing how protecting old-growth forest can be a huge boom to the economy rather than hindering it,” he said.
 
Materials for the project were paid for through public donations and grants from companies such as MEC and Patagonia, Watt said.
 
Avatar Grove is located on Crown land within the traditional territory of the Pacheedaht First Nation. It received protection from logging following a two-year awareness campaign by the Ancient Forest Alliance.
 
Now that the boardwalk is complete, Watt says attention will now turn to protecting other old-growth areas in B.C.
 
One such area was discovered this spring between Port Renfrew and Jordan River. It has been dubbed Jurassic Grove for the size of the trees.
 
“We feel that other communities around British Columbia can look to Port Renfrew as an example of how they can protect old growth forest in their own community and stand to benefit from that,” he said.
 
“We are not saying end all logging across the province. We just need to do it in a smarter, more sustainable way.”
 

7. Avatar Boardwalk Coordinator TJ Watt and volunteers Matthew Varley

Avatar Boardwalk Nears Completion

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For Immediate Release

After 4 years of hard work, the Avatar Grove boardwalk near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island is expected to be completed by the end of this coming long weekend. 

This weekend a team of volunteers with the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) will undertake a final stint of boardwalk construction in the Avatar Grove. Volunteers will build a new platform, stairs, steps, and walkways, and install signage, finishing the major project. Located only 20 minutes from Port Renfrew, the Avatar Grove is home to one of the most spectacular and easily accessible stands of monumental old-growth trees in BC and has become among BC’s most popular old-growth forest tourism destinations, featured in numerous national and international media outlets. The completion of the boardwalk will enhance the public’s ability to explore the incredible ancient forest that helped the town rebrand itself as the “Tall Trees Capital of Canada.”

See a photo gallery showcasing the boardwalk construction from this past weekend: https://bit.ly/2vkskEN

“We’re really excited to finally complete the Avatar Grove Boardwalk after years of hard work involving hundreds of volunteers. This was a major undertaking for a small organization like ours but for many of those involved, it has become a labour of love. We now have a kilometre-long trail with sections of high quality boardwalk for visitors with diverse abilities to enjoy one of Canada’s most magnificent ancient forests,” stated Avatar Boardwalk Coordinator TJ Watt of the Ancient Forest Alliance. “We are grateful to the Pacheedaht First Nation, who donated the first batch of wood, followed by the support of the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce, hundreds of volunteers and donors, and many generous sponsors.”

“Avatar Grove” is a popular nickname for the Nuu-cha-nulth Pacheedaht name of “T’l’oqwxwat” and is in the unceded territory of the Pacheedaht First Nation. It was protected by the BC government in 2012 after an intense two-year public awareness campaign led by the AFA in partnership with the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce.

The Ancient Forest Alliance began construction of the boardwalk in 2013 to protect the tree roots and understory vegetation from foot traffic, enhance visitor safety and access, and support the local eco-tourism economy. The organization’s plan was to finish construction by the fall of 2016, but hurricane force winds during an October 2016 storm knocked down dozens of trees, damaging the trail and boardwalk. Since then, the AFA has been working to clear and fix the boardwalk, and has made improvements upon its original design.

Since the Avatar Grove was protected and its boardwalk constructed, it has allowed visitors from all over the world to discover BC’s unique and magnificent old-growth forests.

“The Avatar Grove’s real significance is that it serves as an example to other communities that protecting old-growth forests benefits the economy by hugely bolstering local businesses and jobs”, Ken Wu, executive director of the Ancient Forest Alliance stated. “In helping to revitalize Port Renfrew’s economy, it has clearly counteracted the old, false narrative that saving old-growth forests harms the local economy. The Avatar Grove and its boardwalk have been the most important catalyst for BC’s ancient forest movement in recent times and have helped to shape the fate of endangered forests across the province.”

Avatar Grove has prompted the former logging town of Port Renfrew to rebrand itself for old-growth forest tourism, landing the town its nickname the “Tall Trees Capital of Canada.” The town is also located near the province’s most popular ancient forest destinations including the 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. They attract hundreds of thousands of tourists from around the world, strengthening the economy of southern Vancouver Island. The Ancient Forest Alliance is encouraging people who visit the area 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.

The Ancient Forest Alliance would like to thank the Pacheedaht First Nation, BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations (Recreation Sites and Trails Division), Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce, Mountain Equipment Co-op, Patagonia Elements, Sitka Society for Conservation, Public Conservation Assistance Fund, Port Renfrew Marina & RV Park, and the hundreds of individual donors and volunteers for their support in building the boardwalk!

More Information on BC's Old-Growth Forests

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 and to also ensure a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry.

Ultimately driven by Avatar Grove’s economic significance, 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 last May, 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 last year 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, recently passed a resolution 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 previous BC Liberal government’s PR-spin typically over-inflated 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/

Those who are interested in volunteering at the August 5th- 7th construction weekend to help complete the Avatar Grove boardwalk are encouraged to contact the Ancient Forest Alliance by emailing info@16.52.162.165 or calling (250) 896-4007.

One of several monumental western redcedars located in Jurassic Grove.

Stunning Grove of Unprotected Old-Growth Trees Located near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island – Conservationists Hope “Jurassic Grove” will become “Jurassic Park” one day!

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For Immediate Release

VICTORIA – The Ancient Forest Alliance has located an impressive grove of unprotected, monumental old-growth trees only a 90 minute drive west of Victoria between Jordan River and Port Renfrew.

Spanning a 3 kilometer stretch alongside a portion of the 48 kilometre Juan de Fuca Marine Trail Provincial Park, it lies mainly on Crown lands adjacent to the provincial park and its popular coastal hiking trail not far from Highway 14 in the traditional unceded territory of the Pacheedaht band.  The Ancient Forest Alliance’s TJ Watt had explored and identified the area as an old-growth forest of high conservation significance in recent years but came across a particularly accessible grove of giant trees while bushwhacking a few weeks ago.

“Lowland old-growth groves on southern Vancouver Island with the classic giants like this are about as rare as finding a Sasquatch these days – over 95% of the forests like this have been logged on the South Island. This is one of the most magnificent unprotected groves in the world, and it’s even easier than the Avatar Grove to get to. It will help to bolster the public’s interest to see the BC government enact legislation to protect the remaining old-growth forests on Vancouver Island”, stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director. “For now we’ve nicknamed this tract of old-growth forest as the ‘Jurassic Grove’, which could become ‘Jurassic Park’ one day if it is protected. Of course there may be more traditional names for the area, which we’ll be happy to use”.

“This area is like another Avatar Grove – it’s easy to get to, it includes some parts with gentle terrain, and is filled with amazing trees – but it’s even closer to Victoria! When we are able to disclose the exact location when it’s appropriate for wider public access, the Jurassic Grove will undoubtedly become a major source of inspiration and environmental awareness for thousands of people”, stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer. “It’s hard to fathom that at one time the highway between Victoria to Port Renfrew could’ve been lined with ancient forests like this. Now it remains in just a few patches, like the Jurassic Grove, underscoring the need to protect what’s left of our old-growth forests.”

The Ancient Forest Alliance has requested meetings with the Ministry of Forests, BC Parks, and Pacheedaht council to discuss conservation and access issues regarding the area. Until then, the organization is not yet encouraging the public to try visiting the grove, most of which has no trails, has an extremely dense understory, and which is punctuated with very steep ravines.

While most of Jurassic Grove’s 130 hectares of old-growth is protected within a Marbled Murelet Wildlife Habitat Area that is off-limits to logging, about 40 hectares is on unprotected Crown lands without any type of regulatory or legislated protection.

There are no approved or proposed logging plans on these lands, according to Ministry of Forests data on the BC government’s iMAPBC website.

As it abuts against a popular provincial park for hiking, it would be a natural addition to the park and as a buffer to the Juan de Fuca trail – and ultimately as a star attraction for visitors around the world.

“We should make it clear that we did not ‘discover’ this forest, in the sense of being the first humans to see it, of course. People have lived in the area for thousands of years, and hikers mushroom pickers, hunters, surfers, biologists, and loggers (who logged to the edge of this forest several decades ago…and of course who would’ve surveyed it as well) have all traversed the area. What we’ve done is located and identified the old-growth grove here for its high conservation and recreation value”, stated TJ Watt, AFA campaigner and photographer. “However, the days of identifying such unprotected monumental groves are coming to an end, because in a few short years these forests will either be in protected areas, or gone. This area needs legislated protection”.

Jurassic Grove’s easy to access location makes it a potential first rate ancient forest attraction that can help to raise the awareness of all endangered old-growth forests and bolster the regional eco-tourism industry. Port Renfrew, historically a logging town that now promotes eco-tourism and has been dubbed the “Tall Trees Capital of Canada” in recent years due to its proximity to the Avatar Grove, Central Walbran Valley, Big Lonely Doug (Canada’s 2ndlargest Douglas-fir), Eden Grove, Red Creek Fir (the world’s largest Douglas-fir), Harris Creek Spruce (an enormous Sitka spruce), and San Juan Spruce (previously Canada’s largest spruce until the top broke off last year), now has the Jurassic Grove as another first rate addition to its roster of big tree attractions. Thousands of tourists from around the world now come to visit the old-growth trees around Port Renfrew, hugely bolstering the regional economy of southern Vancouver Island. The Ancient Forest Alliance is encouraging people who visit the area to stay in local accommodations, buy food and groceries in local stores, and camp in the Pacheedaht campground to help boost the local economy with eco-tourism dollars.

To the south the BC government has just bought up the 7 parcels of second-growth private forest lands, totalling 180 hectares, from a developer and intends to increase the width of the provincial park to buffer the trail along its first several kilometres, while lands outside the buffer will go to the Pacheedaht First Nation band in Port Renfrew as part of the treaty settlement process. To the north, the Crown land old-growth forests of the Jurassic Grove could also be a natural addition to buffer the trail, whether as an extension of the existing park or as a tribal park/conservancy.

More Information on Old-Growth Forests

Over the past year, the voices for old-growth protection have been quickly expanding, including numerous Chambers of Commerce, mayors and city councils, forestry unions, and conservation groups across BC who have have been calling on the provincial government to expand protection for BC’s remaining old-growth forests.

BC’s premier business lobby, the BC Chamber of Commerce, representing 36,000 businesses, passed a resolution last May 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: https://16.52.162.165/media-release-historic-leap-for-old-growth-forests-bc-chamber-of-commerce-passes-resolution-for-expanded-protection/

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 last year calling on the province to protect the 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, recently passed a resolution 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/

The Ahousaht First Nation band north of Tofino in Clayoquot Sound recently announced that 82% of their territory will be off-limits to commercial logging. They now need provincial legislation and funding to help make their vision a reality. See: (Link no longer available)

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

Old-growth forests are vital to sustain 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 that can be 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.

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-inflates 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, lumped 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/