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Stand up for Avatar Grove

Apr 18 2010/in News Coverage

Vancouver Sun – Letters to the Editor

Stand up for Avatar Grove

I recently visited Avatar Grove, a spectacular area of old-growth forest near Port Renfrew. This area is not only devastatingly beautiful but also provides important wildlife habitat and is prime location for eco-tourism.

But the area has recently been flagged for logging and while specific logging plans are unknown, the threat is a real one, just as it is for most of the remaining old-growth of Vancouver Island and B.C.’s south coast.

When will the B.C. government support our future and that of our wilderness, rather than pushing stubbornly forward with short-term corporate profit?

Logging Avatar Grove would be senseless — the immediate destruction of an ecosystem that has been forming for hundreds of years. We can’t let this happen. We need a strategy to protect our endangered old-growth forests and ensure sustainable logging of second growth, as well as a ban on raw log exports to support sustainable forestry jobs.

Many people stand behind Avatar Grove, supporting its protection not only in its own right but as a symbol of other such areas that are currently threatened. With enough public support, we can ensure that Avatar Grove and other endangered old-growth forests remain standing.

Hannah Carpendale

Vancouver

Upcoming AFA Events

Apr 15 2010/in Announcements

1.
Save the Nanoose Bay Forest!

The Coastal Douglas Fir ecosystem covers about 5% of Vancouver Island, located along the Island’s southeastern coast, and is one of Canada’s top 4 most endangered ecosystems. It is characterized by Garry oak, arbutus and Douglas fir trees, camas, manzanita shrubs, alligator lizards, sharp-tailed snakes, and numerous species at risk.

One of the most significant remnants is near Nanoose Bay north of Nanaimo and is currently threatened with logging. On its 60 hectares are numerous old-growth Douglas firs and redcedar veteran trees, second-growth forests, and sensitive wetlands. This area represents one of the rarest opportunities for the BC Liberal government to protect this endangered forest type for free, as it is on public (Crown) lands, whereas as most of the ecosystem is now largely privately owned and would have to be purchased for protection (in fact, most of the zone is covered by the cities of Victoria, Nanaimo, Duncan, and by farmland now).

Please quickly write a letter asking the BC Liberal government (Forest Minister Pat Bell pat.bell.mla@leg.bc.ca – be sure to include your home mailing address so they know you are a real person) to save the Nanoose Bay Forest through a new “land use order” that prohibits logging, and ask them to also do the same for all other parcels of Crown lands within the Coastal Douglas fir ecosystem.

Visit the website for more info at: https://www.nanoosebayforest.com/action.htm

Contact Annette Tanner at wcwcqb@shaw.ca or Kathy McMaster info@nanoosebayforest.com to get involved!
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2.
Slideshow of the Avatar Grove, San Juan Spruce, and Red Creek Fir
Wed., April 21
2:00 pm
Coastal Kitchen Cafe (17245 Parkinson Rd.), Port Renfrew

See a truly spectacular slideshow by Ancient Forest Alliance campaigners TJ Watt and Ken Wu about the endangered Avatar Grove, Red Creek Fir, and San Juan Spruce near Port Renfrew, and on how we can sustain forestry jobs at the same time!

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3.
$4000 raised so far – $10,000 goal for April 22 – Please help us!

Since March 22 when the Ancient Forest Alliance launched its fundraising drive, about 60 generous individuals have donated $4000 to us. However, we are still far short of our goal of $10,000 by Earth Day on April 22, and $20,000 by June 21. Whatever amount you can afford, we can assure you that YOUR support with the Ancient Forest Alliance will go farther with us than with virtually any other major environmental organization in the country. We are the BUSIEST environmental group for the LEAST funding right now! YOU can help us make this a sustainable organization by supporting us…

See our full funding appeal at: https://ancientforestalliance.org/support.php

Currently we need funds to:
– Buy a new digital projector to give slideshow presentations – they cost about $1000.
– Print 100,000 copies of a new educational newsletter that will go into “swing ridings” in BC that will exert disproportionate pressure on the BC Liberal government to change their backwards forest policies. This will cost $5000 for the printing alone.
– Undertake expeditions into endangered ancient forests on Vancouver Island and elsewhere to document their beauty and their destruction.
– Organize Days of Action in front of BC Liberal MLA offices – right now the BC Liberal government contends that Vancouver Island’s endangered old-growth forests don’t require any protection and that raw log exports to foreign mills should continue.
– Establish new Ancient Forest Committees (activism teams) in swing ridings in BC that exert a disproportionate amount of pressure on the BC Liberal government.
– Build vital support among businesses, faith groups, unions, and First Nations

You can donate ONLINE with your credit card at: https://donate.ancientforestalliance.org/

Or you can MAIL in your cheque (made out to “Ancient Forest Alliance”) to: Ancient Forest Alliance
706 Yates Street
PO Box 8459
Victoria, BC V8W 3S1

With YOUR support we will change the history of this province for the best!

For our ancient forests and a sustainable future,

Ken Wu, TJ Watt, Katrina Andres, Michelle Connolly, Tara Sawatsky, Brendan Harry
Ancient Forest Alliance

Old-growth forest clearcut new Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island

Expected layoffs in B.C. government’s Ministry of Forests bad timing says NDP

Apr 14 2010/in News Coverage

On the heels of issuing layoff notices to 294 public service workers Monday, the B.C. government is planning for another round of cuts in the Ministry of Forests by early summer.

At a time when lumber prices are booming but the industry is far from recovering, it’s either the worst time to slash jobs — according to the leader of the Opposition — or an opportune time to cut, according to an industry leader.

Of the 294 notices issued yesterday, 204 are in the Forests Ministry and 38 in the Integrated Land Management Bureau. The remaining 52 positions are in the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources.

The government intends to cut “no more than five per cent” of the 30,000-member civil service — a maximum of about 1,500 full-time equivalent positions — over the next three years.

In a letter to employees Monday, deputy minister Dana Hayden said the sooner the upcoming cuts are identified, the better. “Consequently, the workforce adjustment process for 2011/12 will likely occur before this summer.”

After more than three years in a down market cycle for the forest industry, lumber prices are up substantially — mainly because supply was taken off the market — but the industry is not expected to ramp up overnight, said John Allan, president of the Council of Forest Industries.

B.C. lumber production is down by 37.4 per cent in the last two years.

Allan said the ministry can absorb the cuts and continue to carry out its duties, including enforcement. “I’m frankly not concerned.”

But NDP Opposition leader Carole James slammed the government in question period yesterday, saying it doesn’t make sense to cut forestry workers when the government is trying to open new markets for lumber and diversify the industry. “I think it’s short-sighted and not looking long-term at growth,” said James in an interview.

Government should have run a deficit for at least another year, depending on the economic recovery, so it wouldn’t have had to make such deep cuts and lose so many experienced staff, she said.

The cuts, which include 22 compliance and enforcement staff, will have an impact on the forests ministry’s ability to monitor whether companies are following the law and protecting the environment, she said.

Ken Wu, of the Ancient Forest Alliance, agrees, saying enforcement in B.C.’s forests is already “way down” from the level in the early 1990s. “They never had enough people to begin with,” said Wu.

Rick Jeffery, chief executive officer of Coast Forest Productions Association, said the cutbacks won’t have any impact on the quality of B.C. forest management, however.

The annual allowable cut hasn’t been harvested in the last three years and that trend will likely continue, he noted. “One can ask whether we need as many bodies looking after ministry business if the amount of business they have has significantly dropped.”

Darryl Walker, president of the B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union, said the cuts have already gone too far, and the government appears to have no plan.

“In this day when forestry is in jeopardy — the great industry and engine that drove the building of this province and we seem to be giving up on it — I just don’t understand it,” Walker said.

The Forests Ministry budget drops to $595 million in 2011/12, from $641 million this year.

More people should be working in areas such as research in the ministry, not fewer, Walker said.

“It will turn around and we will want to rebuild the forest industry and yet we’re not doing anything to prepare young people for it.”

2025 Activity Report & Financials

Apr 30 2026

2025 was a milestone year for the Ancient Forest Alliance and the old-growth campaign. Despite the BC government's backsliding on many of its old-growth commitments, there was still much work to be proud of, including celebrating our 15th year working to protect ancient forests. Check out our 2025 Activity Report & Financials to see the impact YOU made on 2025, plus, find out what we have in store for 2026!

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