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Photos Raise Alarm Over Old-Growth Logging in British Columbia

Mar 4 2021/in News Coverage

Photographer TJ Watt hopes his before-and-after images will spur people to action.

TreeHugger
March 4, 2021

TJ Watt stands next to a tree — Before and After: Photographer TJ Watt of the Ancient Forest Alliance stands next to an old-growth tree in B.C.TJ Watt/Ancient Forest Alliance

There are few sights as magnificent as an ancient tree. The towering cedars, firs, and spruces of Canada’s Pacific Northwest can reach diameters of up to 20 feet as they grow over hundreds of years. Some are a thousand years old. They provide wildlife habitats, sustain immense biodiversity that’s still being discovered, and store up to three times more carbon than younger forests.

The old-growth forests of British Columbia remain the world’s largest intact stand of temperate rainforest, but they are under threat from logging. Despite the provincial government’s promises to protect old-growth forests, an area equivalent of 10,000 football fields is razed every year on Vancouver Island alone. This is a devastating loss that TJ Watt of the Ancient Forest Alliance tells Treehugger makes no sense whatsoever.

Watt is a photographer from Victoria, B.C., who has spent countless hours bushwhacking through forests and driving the logging roads of Vancouver Island to capture images that convey both the sheer grandeur of these trees and the unfortunate destruction they face. A recent series of before-and-after shots – depicting Watts standing next to massive trees that are later reduced to stumps – has captivated and alarmed viewers around the world. Indeed, it’s what brought Watt to Treehugger’s attention and started our conversation.

There are few sights as heartbreaking as the death of an ancient tree. When asked why he thinks these pictures have resonated so deeply, Watt said, “It’s not like it’s a black-and-white photo from 1880. This is full color, 2021. You can’t feign ignorance about what we’re doing anymore. It’s just wrong.” He points out that it will be the year 3020 before we see anything like it again, and yet logging companies keep decimating them with the government’s permission.

double headed cedar — A gorgeous pair of cedars destroyed. TJ Watt/Ancient Forest Alliance

Watt hunts for these endangered behemoth trees by using online mapping tools that show where there are pending or approved cutting operations and by spending time in the bush, looking for flagging tape. It’s an ongoing challenge. “There’s no public information saying where five-year logging plans are, but we’re looking for the exact same thing [as the logging companies] – the biggest and best trees, those grand old growth forests – except that I’m looking with the goal of preserving them, and they’re looking with the goal of cutting them down.”

Old-growth trees are desirable for their sheer size (logging companies get more wood for less work) and the tight growth rings that make for beautiful clear wood. But this ancient wood often ends up being used for purposes that wood from second-growth forests could do just as well, minus the environmental damage. “There are ways to manage second-growth forests to gain characteristics that old-growth forests have,” Watt explained. To start, “let them grow longer. There are also new engineered wood products that mimic the quality and characteristics of old wood without having to use old wood.

The “race against time” theme comes up several times in the conversation with Watt. He expresses deep frustration with the B.C. government’s failure to protect these forests. “All the latest science is saying we don’t have time to spare. We need to enact immediate deferrals in most at-risk areas so that we don’t lose most of these precious places.” Delays should be avoided because the logging industry “sees the writing on the wall” and is racing to cut down the best logs as fast as it can.

Ancient old-growth tree cut down — TJ Watt stands next to another ancient tree, tragically logged. TJ Watt/Ancient Forest Alliance

Watt laments how the government portrays logging, lumping productivity classes together. “What’s rare today and highly endangered are the productive old-growth forests with big trees.” These are different from low-productivity old-growth forests, where the trees “look like little broccolis on the coast,” stunted by exposure to wind or growing in inaccessible boggy or rocky places, and therefore not commercially valuable. Watt made a curious analogy:

“Combining the two is like mixing Monopoly money with regular money and claiming you’re a millionaire. The government often uses this to say there’s still more than enough old-growth forest to go around, or they talk about the percentage of what remains, but they’re neglecting to address [the differences between productive and non-productive old-growth forests].”

A recent report called “BC’s Old Growth Forests: A Last Stand for Biodiversity” found that only 3% of the province is suitable for growing big trees.¹ Of that tiny sliver, 97.3% has been logged; only 2.7% remains untouched.¹

Watt isn’t opposed to logging. He realizes we need wood for all sorts of products, but it shouldn’t come from endangered old-growth forests anymore. “We need to move to a more value-based industry, not volume-based. We can do more with what we cut and gain forestry jobs. Right now we’re loading raw unprocessed logs onto barges and shipping them to China, Japan, and the US for processing, then buying them back. There could be more training and jobs programs created to mill that wood here. Mills here can be retooled to process second-growth wood.” He wants to see the government supporting First Nations communities in the shift away from old-growth logging:

“To achieve large-scale old-growth forest protection across BC, the provincial government must commit significant funding for sustainable economic development in First Nations communities as an alternative to old-growth logging, while formally supporting Indigenous land-use plans and protected areas such as Tribal Parks.”

He hopes his photography will inspire other citizens to take action, too. “Humans are visual creatures and I find photography to be the most effective way to communicate what the science and facts are telling us, but in an instantaneous and often more emotionally compelling way.” Many people have reached out to Watt to say they’ve become environmental activists for the first time after seeing the before-and-after shots.

“It is gut-wrenching to go back to these places I love,” Watt said, “but photography allows me to convert that anger and frustration into something constructive.” He urges viewers to take five minutes to get in touch with politicians and let them know what’s on their mind. “We hear from people in politics that the more noise we make, the more support it gives them on the inside to move this along. The B.C. Green Party gets ten times more emails on the issue of old-growth than any other topic in the province. It gives them ammunition when going up against the forestry minister.”

If you’re unsure of what to say, the Ancient Forest Alliance has plenty of resources on its website, including talking points for calling politicians’ offices. There’s a petition asking the government to implement an Old-Growth Strategy that would address many of the issues Watt discusses.

He ends the conversation with a reminder of people’s ability to make a difference. “All of our success comes from people’s belief that they can effect change.” Just because we’re up against a multi-billion dollar industry with tons of lobbyists that want to keep the status quo in place doesn’t mean we can’t be successful. Really, when you think about it, we have no choice but to keep going. We must be the forest’s voice.

View Article Sources

Price, Karen, et al. “BC’s Old Growth Forest: A Last Stand For Biodiversity.” 2020.

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CALL the BC government and demand action for BC’s most at-risk ancient forests

Mar 1 2021/in Take Action

10 Day Countdown for At-Risk Ancient Forests

Thursday, March 11th marks the six-month deadline for the BC government to halt logging in all at-risk old-growth forests in BC, according to its own Old Growth Panel recommendations.

So far, the province has only deferred logging in a mere 3,800 hectares of unprotected, big tree forests, leaving the other 99% on the chopping block.Every day on the countdown to March 11th, we’ll highlight a different endangered ancient forest that deserves an immediate deferral (followed by long-term protection), starting with the spectacular Fairy Creek. For six months, independent blockaders have kept logging company Teal-Jones from clearcutting the Fairy Creek headwaters, but Teal-Jones are now seeking an injunction that could remove the blockaders and leave the valley open to logging again. Filled with ancient yellow cedars up to 1,000 years old or more, Fairy Creek is the last remaining, unprotected, intact valley on Southern Vancouver Island and must remain that way.

NOW is the time to SPEAK UP & pressure the BC NDP stick to their promise!

CALL Premier Horgan & Forests Minister Katrine Conroy and demand they halt logging in at-risk ancient forests across BC by March 11th.

Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) and conservation groups call for critical funding for First Nations old-growth protection initiatives- Joint letter

Feb 25 2021/in Announcements

The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) and conservation groups including Ancient Forest Alliance, Endangered Ecosystems Alliance, Sierra Club of BC, Wilderness Committee, and Stand.earth have sent a joint letter to the BC government calling for financing to support First Nations old-growth protection initiatives. Read the full letter below:

February 24, 2021

Request for Provincial Funding in Developing a Provincial Old-Growth Strategy

To the Honourable:
Premier John Horgan
Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Murray Rankin
Minister of Finance Selina Robinson
Minister of Forests Katrine Conroy
Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy George Heyman
Minister of State for Lands and Natural Resource Operations Nathan Cullen
Minister of Municipal Affairs Josie Osborne

We, the undersigned First Nations and conservation organizations, are calling on your government to provide the critical funding needed to fulfill your obligations to Indigenous peoples and incur the necessary changes to BC’s system of forest management as you develop a new policy framework in consultation with First Nations to manage and protect old-growth forests in BC.

We are pleased that the BC government has committed to implementing all 14 recommendations of the Old-Growth Strategic Review Panel. However, the province has not yet committed to a critical component that would enable this to happen – the requisite funding.

The implementation across the province of the Panel’s immediate-term recommendations for logging deferrals in the most endangered, productive (ie. grandest), oldest, and most intact old-growth forest types, and for the longer-term protection of these and other old-growth forests, cannot be achieved without sufficient funding in a number of areas.

Financial resources for First Nations, including hereditary Title and Rights holders, are needed to implement these deferrals in their territories to forgo the associated revenues to their communities, and to fund Indigenous land use planning, community engagement, management, and stewardship (through initiatives like Indigenous Guardians programs) that are vital to the establishment of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas to protect old-growth forests for future generations.

In addition, conservation financing is vital to support and advance sustainable economic self-determination in First Nations communities to ensure that an equivalent economic alternative to old-growth logging is available for these communities. The financing is needed to assist the development of First Nations businesses in cultural and eco-tourism, clean energy, value-added second-growth forestry, sustainable seafood, and non-timber forest products congruent with old-growth forest protection.

The current landscape of old-growth logging has been exacerbated over years by successive BC governments working to commercialize all old growth timber and foster an economic dependence on old-growth logging in First Nations communities. They have achieved this by arranging agreements for revenue-sharing, employment, joint ventures, and tenures for old growth timber in contentious areas for First Nations, who face limited economic opportunities as a result of years of colonialism and racism.

With a lack of critical and accessible funding, combined with the government’s overwhelming influence resulting in Indigenous dependency on old-growth logging jobs and revenues, First Nations communities are unable to exercise their Title and Rights to freely pursue other economic options consistent with the protection of old-growth forests and Indigenous self-determination. Therefore, consultations conducted by the provincial government without the requisite funding for sustainable economic alternatives maintains the status quo of old-growth logging while removing Indigenous self-determination, decision making and well-being in conservation and stewardship.

For private lands, an annual, dedicated land acquisition fund is needed to earmark and purchase old-growth forests and endangered ecosystems on private lands as new protected areas, including Indigenous Protected Areas. This must be done in consultation with the First Nations whose territory the land is on.

Provincial funding to protect old-growth forests can be augmented by funding from the federal government and conservation organizations. We urge the Province to turn to examples like the Great Bear Rainforest Initiative where $120 million in funding – $60 million from conservation organizations, $30 million from the federal government, and $30 million from the province – helped Indigenous communities develop new businesses and undertake stewardship and restoration programs associated with protecting a third of the Central and North Coasts of BC.

Carbon offsets from the province, businesses and other governments could be a key mechanism to help finance Indigenous protection of old-growth forests, as has been done in the Great Bear Rainforest and the Cheakamus Community Forest of the Lil’Wat and Squamish Nations.

Old-growth forests in British Columbia are keystone ecosystems that support wildlife and endangered species; clean water for communities and wild salmon; the cultural practices, spirituality, livelihoods, and local economies of First Nations; tourism and recreation industries for thousands of British Columbians; and regional and global climate regulation.

First Nations hold Inherent Rights and Title to the unceded lands we occupy. Since time immemorial, First Nations have harvested and been in relationship with the plants and animals of the land and waters for food, medicines, utensils, trade, cultural and ceremonial purposes, including with the wild salmon that spawn in the clean waters provided by old-growth forests and the monumental old-growth red and yellow cedars harvested for dugout canoes, totem poles, long-houses, clothing and regalia. Thus, old-growth forests possess incalculable cultural value and significance for First Nations, the original keepers and stewards of the Land.

Over a century of industrial logging has decimated the vast majority of productive old-growth forests in BC. A recent scientific study found that across BC only 2.7% of the original high productivity old-growth forests with the largest trees and “classic” forest giants still remain.

Today, the large-scale industrial clearcutting of old-growth forests continues, with over 50,000 hectares of old-growth forests being logged every year in BC.

Second-growth forests now constitute the vast majority of productive forest lands in the province, and a sustainable, value-added forest industry can be readily sustained by these second-growth stands.

BC can sustain and even expand forestry employment levels while protecting old-growth forests if the province pro-actively works to increase the jobs to harvest volume ratio in the second-growth forest industry. This shift can be achieved by implementing key incentives (rebates and tax-relief for new investments, education and skills training, R&D, marketing) and regulations (greater restrictions on raw log exports, development of regional log sorts) with a focus on lower volume but more labour-intensive, higher-end products.

In summary, we are asking that the British Columbian government create and fund a Provincial Old-Growth Strategy that will align with the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, fulfill the government’s obligation to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), and uphold a strong framework of First Nations and stakeholder consultations.

Adequate funding must be provided by the province to this end, including funding for the creation of First Nations Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) and land use plans; for the management and stewardship of IPCAs; for the development of conservation-based businesses and economies as an alternative to logging endangered old-growth forests; and for the purchasing and protection of old-growth forests on private lands.

An estimation of costs will be forthcoming regarding the funding needed from the province and other sources to fully implement the 14 recommendations of the Old-Growth Strategic Review Panel through a valuation analysis of the key components needed to support and enable Indigenous old-growth forest protection.

Alongside the development of a new Provincial Old-growth Strategy, it is vital that the province implement a comprehensive system of incentives and regulations to ensure the transition to a value-added, sustainable second-growth forest industry that supports and enhances the employment prospects for the thousands of BC forest industry workers.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

On behalf of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President
Chief Don Tom, Vice-President
Kukpi7 Judy Wilson, Secretary-Treasurer
Ken Wu, Executive Director, Endangered Ecosystems Alliance
TJ Watt, Executive Team, Ancient Forest Alliance
Hannah Askew, Executive Director, Sierra Club BC
Torrance Coste, National Campaign Director, Wilderness Committee
Tegan Hansen, Forest Campaigner, Stand.earth

View a PDF version of the letter here

NOW HIRING: Forest Campaigner

Mar 3 2026

The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) is hiring a passionate Forest Campaigner to join our team and help protect old-growth forests in BC!

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It’s AFA’s 16th Birthday!

Feb 26 2026

On Tuesday, February 24th, we’re celebrating 16 years of working together with you, our community, to ensure the permanent protection of old-growth forests in BC. To mark the date, will you chip in $16 or more to support our work?

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Budget 2026 Shortchanges Nature Protection and Sustainable Forestry Transition At a Critical Time for British Columbia

Feb 20 2026

BC’s Budget 2026 fails to provide the funding needed to secure lasting protection for endangered ecosystems and at-risk old-growth forests in the province.

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