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Til the Last Tree

Nov 3 2011/in Announcements

To make a pledge of any amount to Hall and Jackett’s ride to benefit the Ancient Forest Alliance, please go to: https://www.tilthelasttree.com/p/donate.html

Two cyclists on a cross-Canada bicycle trip to raise funds and awareness to protect BC’s old-growth forests are now nearing completion of their meandering, 11,000 kilometer cycling and bird-watching journey – almost 6 months after commencing their tour that they’ve dubbed “‘til the last tree” (see https://www.tilthelasttree.com/ ).Musician Jaime Hall and wildlife biologist Nigel Jackett began their tour from Newfoundland in May, taking sponsorship pledges for the Victoria-based environmental organization, the Ancient Forest Alliance (https://ancientforestalliance.org/),as they’ve progressed. The couple, now in BC, are due to arrive in Victoria around November 10.

Pledges are based on the number of bird species spotted by Jackett and Hall, and the couple have now seen more than 300 species. Individuals can also make a donation to down load Hall’s songs or simply make a straight donation to the Ancient Forest Alliance. They have now raised almost $4000 in donations and sponsorship pledges for the Ancient Forest Alliance, which so far has run on a budget of about $45,000 in 2011.

“What a phenomenal experience it has been to see the diversity of my own country with the detail that comes from traveling by bicycle. We’re glad to have had the opportunity to undertake such an epic journey, and to raise funds and awareness for a cause we truly believe in,” stated Jaime Hall. “As it turns out, cycling the distance of one and a half times Canada’s length has also got us into the best shape of our lives!”

“I’m amazed at the diversity of ecosystems in Canada –from the Carolinian deciduous forests of southern Ontario to the prairie grass lands of southern Saskatchewan to the temperate rainforests of British Columbia. I’m thrilled that such a great experience will contribute to the protection of Canada’s natural heritage and biodiversity,” stated Nigel Jackett.

Jaime Hall grew up in the Okanagan, was trained as a classical pianist, and is a song-writer and musician with a passion for nature and conservation. Nigel Jackett is an Australian-born biologist who worked for the BC government surveying for species-at-risk in 2007 and 2008.

Highlights of their trip have included:

– Newfoundland. The people are friendly and the starkly beautiful landscapes are unique in Canada

– Secretly camping in a Toronto waterfront park, and going unnoticed.

– Experiencing the spectacle of spring and fall bird migration.

– An 82 year-old retired coastguard taking them in his boat to look for puffins off the southern tip of Nova Scotia.

– Communicating, or rather trying to communicate, in their broken French in Quebec and New Brunswick: “Nous traverson le Canada en bicyk!”

– Arriving at the gates to BC: the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta!!

The Ancient Forest Alliance is a new, Victoria-based non-profit environmental organization working for the protection of BC’s old-growth forests, to ensure the sustainable logging of second-growth forests, and to end the export of raw, unprocessed logs from BC to foreign mills. The organization was founded in January, 2010, and works within the law through rallies, hiking trips, slideshows, photography, letter-writing campaigns, petition drives, and media campaigns to inform and mobilize citizens to push the BC government to protect ancient forests and BC forestry jobs. See the organization’s photo gallery of Canada’s largest trees and stumps at: https://ancientforestalliance.org/photos-media/

“We’re most grateful to Hall and Jackett for their great support in promoting our cause. As a new organization with very limited funds, the completion of their tour will greatly bolster our organization at a critical time,” stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance co-founder. “We’re looking forward to celebrate their arrival after 6 months!”

To make a pledge of any amount to Hall and Jackett’s ride to benefit the Ancient Forest Alliance, please go to: https://www.tilthelasttree.com/p/donate.html

The Ancient Forest Alliance will host a welcoming event and slideshow on Monday, November 14 by Hall and Jackett where they will present photos of the highlights of their tour from 7:00-8:30 pm at the Garry Oak Room in the Fairfield Community Center at 1335 Thurlow Road by Moss St.

Welcome to Avatar forest in B.C.

Nov 3 2011/in News Coverage

PORT RENFREW, B.C.—Pink ribbons knotted to tree branches at the side of a gravel logging road mark the entry to an amazing earthly experience, something so different from anything most people have experienced it might be on another world.

The air is cool, damp and even smells green. Look up and there is no blue sky, just scraggy branches and the tops of 60-metre trees, that allow sunlight to hit the mossy ground only in broken beams of light.

This is Avatar Grove, a 50-hectare piece of untouched old-growth forest, about 110 kilometres northwest of Victoria.

Through a karma-like convergence, natural-born enemies, environmentalists, business leaders and politicians are joining hands to protect it from logging and create a nature-lover’s paradise.

It’s as if the happy-ending script is writing itself at Avatar Grove — a sequel of sorts to the Hollywood blockbuster, unfolding in the few remaining dark, moody and ancient big-tree forests on southern Vancouver Island.

“When we came across the area, it was at the same time the movie ‘Avatar’ was released,” said Ken Wu, co-founder of the Victoria-based Ancient Forest Alliance. “‘Avatar’ was about saving old-growth forests, albeit on an alien moon.

“We wanted people to make the connection that here on earth we have real spectacular old growth (forests) that are endangered and that need protecting,” he said, standing near a huge cedar marked in spray paint with the number five, signifying that it once faced a chainsaw death.

Wu said choosing the name Avatar Grove, courting the business community in nearby struggling Port Renfrew and getting the ear of the B.C. government has sparked a groundswell to declare the rugged coastal area the Big Trees Capital of Canada.

The Ancient Forest Alliance spent the summer taking busloads of tourists into Avatar Grove to see the mysterious forest, especially the alien-shaped western red cedar, nicknamed Canada’s gnarliest tree for is Volkswagen-sized burl that makes it look like something out of one of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy novels.

“Port Renfrew really is the biggest trees capital of Canada,” said Wu. “The fact is the largest Douglas fir tree on earth is near town. The biggest spruce tree in Canada is also near town. The biggest tree in Canada, the Cheewaht cedar, is also north of town.

“And we’ve got the gnarliest tree at the Avatar Grove,” he said. “It’s an exceptional place for big-tree tourism and I think this is the year people are starting to recognize that and are coming to see them.”

Rosie Betsworth, Port Renfrew’s Chamber of Commerce president, agrees with Wu and the Ancient Forest Alliance that the big trees are something to see. It’s also offering a tourism boost to the community that, until recently, considered logging and fishing its lifeblood.

“The majority (here) can see the value of tourism dollars,” she said. “And now that there’s probably a handful of loggers left in this community, it is no longer a logging town.”

Betsworth said environmentalists like Wu and photographer T.J. Watt, who discovered Avatar Grove in 2009 while scouting the area’s few remaining old-growth stands, convinced locals that there is money in saving trees as opposed to cutting them down.

“For a small group of very broke guys, my God, they’ve made so much movement,” she said.

Steve Thomson, B.C.’s minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources, said the government halted planned logging of Avatar Grove and is awaiting the results of a public consultation process on the area’s future.

But he suggested it already appears logging is no longer a viable option.

“The province has published its intent to adjust the old-growth management area to protect that grove,” he said.

Watt said Avatar Grove and the other huge trees in the Port Renfrew area, where many hillsides are scarred from clear-cut logging, are living examples of Mother Nature’s majesty that are located steps from easily accessible roads.

“Right away we knew we had something special because I couldn’t think of anywhere else where you could see trees of this size and get there in something like a Honda Civic.”

Direct lin to article: https://www.thestar.com/travel/northamerica/article/1080406–welcome-to-avatar-forest-in-b-c

Thank You Metropol Printshop!

Nov 2 2011/in Thank You

A big thanks goes out to Victoria based Metropol Printshop for volunteer their postering service time by putting up our recent ancient forest rally posters on all the downtown poles! This is a tremendous help and time saver when you’re organizing a large event!

Metropol offers many printing services for things such as posters, postcards, handbills, business cards, stickers, and other eco-friendly printing along with postering services around town!

Check Metropol out online.

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!

Employment

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?

Announcements

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.

Media Release