Mark Hume in Sunday's Globe: “Decisions on the coast would need to include engagement due to the controversial nature of logging old growth,” states the government document in a classic case of bureaucratic understatement. The logging of old growth is widely opposed in B.C. – the public surely won’t welcome a plan where taxpayers are supposed to pay for it.
The plan outlines how the forest industry will be subsidized to go after pockets of old trees “that are uneconomic to harvest” because they are sparsely scattered or are at high elevation.
Some of the costs would be recovered through timber sales, but it is a money-losing proposition. In year four, for example, the province will spend $25-million to get timber worth $6-million.
Why do something like that?
The government justifies this by saying it will keep loggers working and improve the supply of timber, which has been reduced by overcutting, a pine-beetle kill and forest fires.
“They are running out of timber because of overharvesting throughout the province,” environmental activist Vicky Husband said. “This is a desperate move that’s all about keeping up the short-term timber supply, with no consideration for wildlife values. They are going after every last little bit of forest out there, with no consideration for the impact on biodiversity.”
‘Tolkien Giant’ tree at root of B.C. climate change appeal
"Conservationists who want the government to take action on climate change by protecting B.C.'s old-growth forests say they've measured a near-record-size red cedar in Vancouver Island's central Walbran Valley. The Ancient Forest Alliance said the tree that it calls the Tolkien Giant is the ninth-widest western red cedar in the province, according to a list compiled by the University of B.C.'s forestry faculty. It said the tree has a circumference of 14.4 metres, or 47 feet, stands 42 metres high and lies within a protected reserve. However, logging is proposed for an area 200 metres away that includes another huge tree the alliance calls the Karst Giant, executive director Ken Wu said Friday. "Outside the central Walbran, the rest of the upper Walbran is tattered like Swiss cheese. So it means that the little remnants of old-growth are surrounded by clearcuts. "The issue is large-scale industrial logging throughout the central Walbran valley and for this particular tree, they've already cut the other side of the river so they want to ring this area with clearcuts."
Group says giant trees an aid to climate change
See this article in GlobalNews about the call from conservationists for the BC government to act on climate change by protecting giant trees and surrounding old-growth forest in the Central Walbran Valley!
Conservationists Measure Near Record-Size Cedar in the Endangered Central Walbran Valley
Conservationists with the Ancient Forest Alliance have located and measured two huge western redcedar trees, one of which makes it into the top 10 widest redcedars in BC, in the endangered Central Walbran Valley on Vancouver Island. The “Tolkien Giant” comes in as the 9th widest western redcedar in BC, according to the BC Big Tree Registry.
Send a Message to BC Politicians – Save BC’s Grandest Old-Growth Forests!
The two largest tracts of ancient forest left on southern Vancouver Island, the Central Walbran Valley (500 hectares) and Edinburgh Mountain Ancient Forest (1500 hectares), both near Port Renfrew, are threatened by the Teal-Jones Group. Please take 30 seconds and send a message to BC politicians through our website at: www.BCForestMovement.com Thank you!
Inside a fragile landscape
SFU Environmental Studies student Charly Caproff, the Sierra Club of BC's Mark Worthing, and bat and cave specialist Martin Davis, are working to highlight the risk to the limestone karst systems by proposed old-growth logging in the Central Walbran Ancient Forest. Here's an article in the Globe and Mail: "Mr. Davis is skeptical about the government’s commitment to ensure significant karst features are kept intact. He produced a detailed list for the caving community two years ago of karst sites damaged by logging. 'The B.C. Speleological Federation had brought these complaints forward to the provincial government, but no action was taken at that level, despite these practises violating provincial standards,' he said."
B.C.’s wildlife policy skirts issue of habitat loss due to logging
Mark Hume in Sunday's Globe: “Decisions on the coast would need to include engagement due to the controversial nature of logging old growth,” states the government document in a classic case of bureaucratic understatement. The logging of old growth is widely opposed in B.C. – the public surely won’t welcome a plan where taxpayers are supposed to pay for it. The plan outlines how the forest industry will be subsidized to go after pockets of old trees “that are uneconomic to harvest” because they are sparsely scattered or are at high elevation. Some of the costs would be recovered through timber sales, but it is a money-losing proposition. In year four, for example, the province will spend $25-million to get timber worth $6-million. Why do something like that? The government justifies this by saying it will keep loggers working and improve the supply of timber, which has been reduced by overcutting, a pine-beetle kill and forest fires. “They are running out of timber because of overharvesting throughout the province,” environmental activist Vicky Husband said. “This is a desperate move that’s all about keeping up the short-term timber supply, with no consideration for wildlife values. They are going after every last little bit of forest out there, with no consideration for the impact on biodiversity.”
AFA HOLIDAY BOOTHS in Victoria and Vancouver – PURCHASE GIFTS and DONATE IN PERSON!
Visit the AFA's Holiday Booths in VICTORIA and VANCOUVER - see here for details on locations, dates and times to purchase gifts and support the AFA this holiday season!
Black Bear Climbs Old-Growth Tree in Endangered Vancouver Island Forest
Check out what our motion-activated camera captured! This mother black bear and her cub in the endangered Lower Edinburgh Grove are seen checking out the Ancient Forest Alliance's camera and climbing up the enormous old-growth redcedar tree in an area that is threatened with logging by Teal Jones near Port Renfrew, in several clips and photos taken recently. Be sure to Send a Message to help protect this special forest at: www.BCForestMovement.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlMFpADt84c
Vancouver Island’s Ancient Trees
Here's an article in the latest British Columbia Magazine about visiting the old-growth forests of the Port Renfrew region along the "Circle Route"! It also raises the plight of the old-growth forests in the Walbran Valley, Horne Mountain (above Cathedral Grove), and Mossy Maple Grove, and includes a blurb about the Ancient Forest Alliance.
Thank You to MEC, LUSH, and True North Goods!
Mountain Equipment Coop (MEC) Victoria: THANK YOU to the staff at MEC Victoria for voting to support the AFA through their 1% for the Planet contributions! We are extremely grateful for the continued support towards our current old-growth campaigns! See their website at www.MEC.ca LUSH: Great thanks once again to LUSH (www.lush.ca) for their major support through their Charitable Giving Program, bolstering the AFA’s campaign for the establishment a New Protected Areas Fund in BC! We are so grateful to LUSH for their continued passion and support for the AFA’s work! True North Goods: We are excited to be a new beneficiary of True North Goods (www.truenorthgoods.com), an outdoor goods and apparel company showing their dedication to protecting the outdoors for future generations to explore by donating a portion of all proceeds to the AFA!