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ACTION ALERT: Speak up for ancient forests. Submit your feedback on Budget 2021 by June 26th!

Jun 17 2020/in Take Action

Right now until 5:00 pm, Friday, June 26th, the BC government is seeking input from British Columbians on their priorities for the 2021 provincial budget. This is a critical opportunity for us to request funding for old-growth forest protection!

Budget 2021 will set the tone for a post-COVID-19 BC. With $1.5 billion in stimulus spending, overwhelming public support, and a promise to “build back better” after COVID, the BC government needs to prioritize spending for environmental conservation, an area which typically receives decreased funding and attention following an economic downturn.

Protecting ancient forests while supporting First Nations communities is critical for ensuring a healthy, just, and resilient British Columbia. And, although regulatory measures such as science-based protection targets are desperately needed for ancient forests on Crown lands, BC also needs to allocate funding in Budget 2021 to protect endangered old-growth forests and other ecosystems on private lands and support the long-term economic and social well-being of First Nations communities that want to protect ancient forests in their territories.

Please join us in calling on the BC government to commit funding in Budget 2021 for:

A provincial Natural Lands Acquisition Fund for the purchase and protection of endangered ecosystems on private lands to sustain wildlife, clean water, recreation and tourism;
Conservation financing for the sustainable economic development of First Nations economies in lieu of old-growth logging;
Indigenous-led land use planning and protected areas to maintain the significant cultural values of ancient forests while supporting First Nations’ communities and wellbeing.

To submit your feedback, visit the Budget 2021 consultation website, where you can either make a written, audio, or video submission (see our suggested wording for a written submission below) or complete the online survey (see our handy survey guide below).

SUBMIT YOUR FEEDBACK NOW

Written submission

To the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services,

BC’s coastal and temperate old-growth forests are vital for sustaining unique and endangered species, BC’s multi-billion dollar tourism industry, many First Nations cultures, a stable climate, and clean water for communities and wild salmon.

Recent independent research shows that only a tiny fraction (less than 3%) of BC’s highly productive old-growth forests (those capable of growing big trees) remain standing today. Studies have also shown that keeping old-growth forests standing can provide a greater overall economic benefit than cutting them down when factoring in the values listed above.

I therefore recommend the BC government prioritize the conservation of endangered old-growth forests in its 2021 provincial budget by:

1) Establishing a dedicated $40 million per year BC Natural Lands Acquisition Fund to purchase private lands of high conservation, scenic, cultural, and recreational value from willing sellers to add to BC’s parks and protected areas system. This $40 million annual fund should increase by $10 million/year until the fund reaches $100 million/year.

2) Contributing funding toward the sustainable development and economic diversification of Vancouver Island First Nations communities in lieu of old-growth logging, similar to the $120 million (including $30 million in provincial funds) provided to First Nations in the Great Bear Rainforest in support of ecosystem-based management in that region.

3) Allocate dedicated funding toward the planning, implementation, and management of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) in BC. IPCAs are increasingly being recognized as innovative and effective mechanisms for conserving lands and waters while also supporting the languages, cultures, health, wellbeing, jobs, and economies of Indigenous communities and must be supported and funded in Budget 2021.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

[your name]

Survey guide

Question 1. The B.C. government is committed to making life more affordable, delivering the services people count on and building a resilient, sustainable economy. What are your top three priorities to help make life better for you and your community as we come through COVID-19?

In addition to your own views, please include one or both of the following points.

Note: To edit the text below, copy and paste it into a Word document or a similar program, edit, then copy/paste into the survey.

1. To create a resilient and truly sustainable economy, we must protect the natural ecosystems on which we all depend for our health and survival. Many of BC’s most endangered ecosystems are found on privately-owned lands and support large concentrations of endangered species, wild salmon habitat, drinking watersheds, the climate, important First Nations cultural sites, and outstanding tourism and recreational opportunities. The BC government must allocate funding to the creation of a provincial Natural Lands Acquisition Fund to systematically purchase and protect endangered ecosystems on BC’s private lands for the benefit of communities and species alike.

2. Recent research shows that only a tiny fraction of BC’s productive old-growth forests remain standing today. In order to protect endangered old-growth forests on a large scale while also supporting the long-term economic and social wellbeing of Indigenous communities, the BC government must increase funding for Indigenous-led land-use planning, allocate dedicated funding to the creation of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas, and financially support the sustainable economic development and diversification of First Nations communities.

Question 2. Aside from the immediate need to keep people healthy and safe through the COVID-19 pandemic, what actions should government prioritize to help strengthen B.C.’s economy? Please rank your top three choices by entering 1, 2 or 3 in the answer column.

Complete as you see fit. In the “other” category, you may choose to add the following:

Invest in an expedited transition to a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry while also protecting old-growth forests and other endangered ecosystems on private and Crown lands.

Question 3. If you had one dollar to put toward programs and services across government, how would you choose to divide it? Enter whole numeric values only (no decimals). Total of all entries must equal 100.

Complete as you see fit. In the “other” category, you may wish to include “Environmental protection.”

Question 4. Given the ongoing demand for government programs, supports and services, how would you like to see your government continue to pay for them? Please choose up to three.

Please complete as you see fit.

Please help us spread the word by sharing this page with your network. **We need thousands of British Columbians to request funding for old-growth protection in Budget 2021!**

Questions about the Budget 2021 consultation process? Visit the Budget 2021 website for more information.[Original article no longer available]

Most of B.C.’s massive old trees are ghosts, existing only on paper

Jun 16 2020/in News Coverage

Seattle Times
June 16, 2020

*1 of 3 | A freshcut portion of an old-growth cutblock on the Upper Walbran on Vancouver Island in 2002. (Steve Ringman / The Seattle Times)*

Most of British Columbia’s old-growth forests of big trees live only on maps, and what’s left on the ground is fast disappearing, a team of independent scientists has found.

A recent report revealed the amount of old-growth forest still standing in the province has been overestimated by more than 20% and most of the last of what’s left is at risk of being logged within the next 12 years.

In the report, the scientists revealed most of the forest counted as old growth by the province is actually small alpine or boggy forest. It’s old — but the trees are not the giants most people think of when they are referring to old growth.

Less than 1% of the forest left in the province is composed of the productive ground growing massive old trees, some more than 1,000 years old, including coastal temperate rainforests on Vancouver Island and a fast-vanishing inland old-growth temperate rainforest on the west slopes of the Rockies, unique in the world.

While the authors agree with B.C.’s official tally that 23% of the forest in the province is old growth, “that is incredibly misleading,” said Rachel Holt, an ecologist based in Nelson, B.C., and an author of the report.

“They are mixing in bog forests where the trees are no taller than me, and I am 5 feet tall, and they are mixing in high-elevation tiny trees. They are old and valuable but they are not what you, or I, or anyone else thinks of when they think of old growth.”

Most of that forest is unprotected, and unless something changes in B.C. policy, three-quarters of it will be logged within 12 years, the scientists found.

The scientists did the analysis and issued the report in part to inform a panel that has been taking public testimony about the value of old growth from First Nations conservationists and others across the province. The results of the panel’s work are intended to inform a path forward for the management of old growth.

Meanwhile, the losses are continuing and what’s really needed now is a moratorium on further cutting, the scientists stated in the report.

Change is in the works, but won’t be immediate, Doug Donaldson, minister of Forests, Land, Natural Resource Operations, and Rural Development said in an email to The Seattle Times.

“We are taking seriously the challenge of managing our vital old forests […] in B.C. That’s why we launched a review and engagement process by two independent experts to examine the issue and provide recommendations,” Donaldson wrote.

“Addressing the issue of managing old growth forests while supporting workers and communities has been a challenge for more than 30 years … This is a problem many years in the making and it won’t be solved immediately. We need a science-based approach … that respects and understands the benefits of old growth to biodiversity in our forests …

“We agree that more work needs to be done… to resolve this.”

At stake are more than big trees. Orca whales also rub on beaches downstream and adjacent to some of the forests being cut. Salmon, primarily chinook, are the primary food source for the northern and southern resident populations of orca whales. Salmon depend on cool, clean water in the streams where they spawn and rear, streams that wind through forests ultimately to saltwater where hungry orcas hunt.

“Salmon connect the land to the sea,” said Andrew Trites, director of the Marine Mammal Research Unit at the University of British Columbia’s Vancouver campus. “All of us are hoping that there is going to be enough fish to feed the southern residents and northern residents.

“How we treat and take care of our forests ultimately determines the fate of our salmon populations. This isn’t just about controlling fishing, it is about controlling what we do on the land.”

Old-growth forests also shelter a vast suite of terrestrial life. Insects that live nowhere else thrive in the worlds within worlds of old-growth canopies. Bears den in the cavities of massive gnarly old trees, and birds, including pileated woodpeckers, nest and feed in their branches. Inland rainforests host lichen that are a primary food of mountain caribou, now pushed to the brink of extinction by loss of the forests they depend on.

The Grey Ghost herd in the south Selkirks, the only mountain caribou in the Lower 48, is already functionally extinct.

Cutting and replanting the old-growth forests that supported caribou and other wildlife will produce fiber, but not the ecological web of life that was lost, said Karen Price, another author on the report.“They are not forests, they are plantations.”

More than 25 years ago, after the so-called War in the Woods over logging in the old growth at Clayoquot Sound, some B.C. old growth remains protected. But all over the province, the losses still continue, Price said. There is no one forest, no one place at risk and most of the valley bottom old growth is already gone.

For years she taught forest ecology at the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre on the west side of Vancouver Island, and could take her students to see valley bottom old-growth stands minutes from the classroom, Price said. Before long the students had to take a two-hour bus ride to see old growth because so much had been cut. “We could stand our whole class on one of the stumps, 24 students.”

Old-growth forest and forests in general are under assault around the globe as climate change cranks up both the assaults on big trees, and the need to preserve them.

Bugs, wind, drought and fire are taking out big old trees disproportionately as the climate warms. Yet one of the best defenses against a roasting climate is forests and especially big old trees. Big trees hold 50% of the above ground biomass in a forest and their ability to store carbon is without equal. To moderate the effects of climate change, foresters need to retain the largest trees, and recruit more by letting forests grow, scientists have found.

Price said the team put the report out to alert the public to just how little old growth is left, and the reality that cut blocks are still being drawn by B.C. Timber Sales on what’s left for logging.

“It wasn’t a surprise to any of us,” Price said. “But we were frustrated that nobody knew this.”

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Scientists conclude B.C.’s count of old-growth forest greatly overestimated

Jun 9 2020/in News Coverage

Vancouver Sun
June 9, 2020

An independent report by a trio of scientists warns that the tiny amount of old-growth forest remaining in B.C. is in peril if the province doesn’t implement sweeping policies to protect it.

The report, released last month by Karen Price, Rachel Holt and Dave Daust, was done to aide the province’s Old Growth Strategic Review, a two-person expert panel expected to provide its own report soon. The scientists volunteered their time to inform the panel and submitted their own findings over the past six months.

The scientists found that the province’s count of 13.2 million hectares of old forest — about 23 per cent of forested areas in the province — is accurate but does not tell the whole story.

“We believe that (number) to be a misleading and unhelpful piece of information, so we looked at that in more detail,” said Holt, who owns Veridian Ecological Consulting and has been a contractor for First Nations, industry and the province over the past two decades.

Of the 13.2 million hectares of old-growth forest in B.C., about 80 per cent is home to small trees and only three per cent supports the large trees British Columbians picture when they are thinking about old-growth, the scientists found.

“We need to have representation of all these different ecosystem types — including the ones that have big trees — and we don’t have that in our protection,” Holt said.

The scientists said they found that more than 85 per cent of productive forest sites have less than 30 per cent of the amount of old-growth that would be expected naturally. Of those, half have less than one per cent of expected old-growth.

“This current status puts biodiversity, ecological integrity and resilience at high risk today,” they said in their report.

The scientists recommend three key actions, starting with government immediately stopping the harvesting of the “rarest of the rare” trees.

This would mean retaining all old forest in any ecosystem that has less than 10 per cent of old trees remaining, focusing on retaining higher-productivity sites and the irreplaceable older and ancient forests, and retaining productive, mature stands — smaller management units of trees used for forestry — where there is little or no old-growth left.

They recommend government develop and implement “ecologically defensible” targets for the protection of old forest, protecting at least 30 per cent of each naturally occurring ecosystem.

And they recommend government improves how it implements policy, such as closing loopholes used by the forest industry, to ensure old-forest retention protects the last remaining productive old forest, and provides functional forests for years to come.

“Without immediate action, we will lose these globally priceless values — and still have to deal with a volume-based industry that has not planned ahead for transition,” the scientists wrote.

“The provincial government must provide funding, commitment and management authority to ensure that staff can implement effective forest conservation. Little human effort is tasked with protecting old-forest values, while much is focused on harvesting.”

Minister Doug Donaldson said in an email that his ministry is aware of the report.

“Building a consensus on managing old-growth forests has been a challenge for more than 30 years, this includes trying to get all parties to agree on what is and is not old-growth and how old-growth areas are measured,” said Donaldson, who is minister of forests, lands, natural resource operations and rural development.

He said the problem is “many years in the making” and won’t be solved immediately, which his why his ministry launched a review and engagement process. Donaldson said the solution will require more work with environmental organizations, First Nations, industry and other groups.

“We’re all excited by the buzz this is creating inside and outside government,” said the independent report’s lead author, Karen Price. “We hope that our work will support the minister in his attempts to build policy focused on resilience.”

The full report is available at veridianecological.ca.

neagland@postmedia.com

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