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World’s largest Douglas fir at risk, fearful environmentalists charge

Feb 26 2010/in Media Release

The world’s largest Douglas fir could be at risk, say Vancouver Island environmentalists.

The 74-metre-tall tree towers over the surrounding forest in the Red Creek area east of west coast town of Port Renfrew, about 100 km northwest of Victoria.

But new logging tape marks an area about 50 metres away from the giant tree and environmentalists fear the tourist attraction will shortly be surrounded by a clearcut, making it susceptible to being blown down.

“The San Juan Valley is like a giant wind tunnel and this increases its exposure,” said Ken Wu of the Ancient Forest Alliance, a Vancouver Island-based environmental organization.

“This is the biggest Douglas fir on earth and it should be a first-class tourist attraction, but people will be walking through a clearcut to get to it. It is totally myopic.”

In Port Renfrew, tourists often ask how to find the Red Creek fir, said Chamber of Commerce president John Cash.

Chamber members, who want to see big trees preserved as tourist attractions, recently put up directional signs to the fir so visitors would not get lost on logging roads.

Wu said it appears the area comes under B.C. timber sales designation, meaning the province considers it a cut-block for small businesses.

But Forests Ministry spokeswoman Vivian Thomas said there are no immediate plans to harvest in the Red Creek fir area.

“In fact they helped improve the road access so people could go view the tree,” she said.

“Also, the tree itself is part of a public recreation site, so the immediate area is protected from logging.”

The Ancient Forest Alliance is supporting a proposal by Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca Liberal MP Keith Martin to extend Pacific Rim National Park down the west coast of Vancouver Island, with an expanded park to include the Red Creek fir.

The Avatar blues

Feb 26 2010/in News Coverage

When you stop and think about it, post-Avatar depression isn’t as bizarre a phenomenon as it seems.

If news reports and postings on fansites such as Naviblue and Avatar Forums are to be believed, many filmgoers are feeling as blue as those tall, peace-loving Na’vi aliens after watching James Cameron’s stunning 3-D sci-fi epic.

Some have even said they felt suicidal after removing their 3-D goggles when the closing credits rolled on the blockbuster that, with a $2.5-billion box-office take, has dethroned Titanic as the world’s top-grossing film.

Such dark thoughts have spawned online forum threads with titles like Ways to Cope With the Depression of the Dream of Pandora Being Intangible.

“I have a depression. It makes me want to go to Pandora and stay there,” wrote a user named loverofnature, referring to the idyllic planet where gentle blue-skinned natives who live in harmony with nature are threatened by Earthmen.

In an apparent metaphor for the way European settlers wiped out native Americans, the glowing planet is being exploited by a corporation strip-mining a rare mineral, since the human race has depleted Earth’s natural resources.

When some twentysomething moviegoers left a screening of Avatar at Silver City the other day complaining they felt “bummed-out” that Earth wasn’t more like Pandora, I felt like snapping: “Get a grip! It’s only a movie.”

It wasn’t until I took a closer look at some online forums for fans and like-minded victims of Avatar-induced melancholia that I realized it isn’t just the usual web wingnuts sounding off. Reassuringly, thoughtful concerns are also being aired.

Many viewers recognize that Avatar — apart from its exotic, computer-generated and Oscar-worthy beauty — is a cautionary environmental parable that shrewdly blurs the line between fact and fiction.

While it’s bizarre some avid Avatar fans don’t seem to get that Pandora, with its wondrous alien ecosystem and weird wildlife, is a Utopian fantasy world, their sudden sorrow is understandable.

The pristine planet is a reminder of how beautiful our own blue planet was before we messed with it.

(One idealistic poster named Jorba has even pledged to start his own Na’vi tribe on Earth. OK.)

“Are there other people out there who think humanity is going south?” asks another, LifeOnATree.

She laments how she and so many others feel compelled to buy things that aren’t necessary.

“I need them to ‘bear’ the world around me,” LifeOnATree writes.

Avatar is just one of many tales of doom and gloom out there. From such apocalyptic fantasies as I Am Legend, The Road and The Book of Eli to chilling real-world exposés of humanity’s self-destruction like An Inconvenient Truth and Collapse, it appears “feel-bad” movies have become fashionable.

“When we have these movies that talk about the end of the world or life as we know it, or an unstoppable force, it can put us into a sense of helplessness or dread or fear,” Victoria registered clinical counsellor Lisa Mortimore explains. “Psychophysiologically our bodies can go into immobility in response to that shutdown, and that can translate into depression.”

While Avatar might spark a so-called depression, I see it as more of a rude awakening with an upside. Such films can inspire a shift in consciousness and an appreciation for what we’ve too long taken for granted.

Ken Wu, co-founder of Victoria-based Ancient Forest Alliance, a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of B.C.’s old-growth forests, says it irks him so many people are unaware we have “the real Pandora” on our doorstep.

“It struck me as being an incredible analogy of what’s happening on earth,” says the five-time Avatar viewer. “We have giant moss and fern-draped ancient trees almost as large as Home Tree, spectacular creatures like bears, wolves, mountain lions, wolverine and elk in our forests, and giant blue whales, killer whales, elephant seals and huge stellar sea lions along our wild coast. People just need to be more aware.”

Wu advises those stricken with depression to take a stand.

His group has even come up with a three-step “cure”, starting with helping to protect disappearing ancient trees such as Avatar Grove, the film-inspired nickname for a 10-hectare stand on Crown land near Port Renfrew designated for logging.

“Get out and experience nature, take action to defend nature and get others to do the same,” Wu says. “You have to learn to appreciate this beautiful planet.”

Related Stories

Ken Wu beside the Red Creek Fir. Growing in the San Juan Valley near Port Renfrew BC

Largest Douglas fir in the world at risk say environmentalists

Feb 25 2010/in Media Release

Note: In the following article the Forests Ministry representative states that there are no immediate plans to log near the Red Creek Fir – despite the fact that there is an entire logging cutblock laid out adjacent to the Red Creek Fir demarcated by flagging tape labelled “Falling Boundary” (see photos) and a “BC Timber Sales” sign at the top of the hill. We will be inquiring with them for more specifics regarding their statement and the nature of the situation. Note also that my quote should read that visitors would walk “by” a clearcut (ie. in very close proximity to), rather than “through” a clearcut. Also note that Forest Service Recreation Sites offer no legislated protection – they regularly disappear on the whims of the Forest Ministry – and clearly this one isn’t even big enough to prevent a falling boundary just one trees length away from the Red Creek Fir. – Ken Wu and TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance

At almost 74 metres tall, the largest Douglas fir in the world towers over the surrounding forest in the Red Creek area east of Port Renfrew.

But new logging tape marks an area about 50 metres away from the giant tree, and environmentalists fear the tourist attraction will shortly be surrounded by a clearcut, making it susceptible to blowdown.

“The San Juan Valley is like a giant wind tunnel and this increases its exposure,” said Ken Wu of the Ancient Forest Alliance, an Island-based environmental group.

“This is the biggest Douglas fir on earth and it should be a first-class tourist attraction, but people will be walking through a clearcut to get to it. It is totally myopic.”

In Port Renfrew, tourists often ask how to find the Red Creek fir, said Chamber of Commerce president John Cash.

Chamber members, who want to see big trees preserved as tourist draws, recently put up directional signs to the fir so tourists would not get lost on logging roads.

The Ancient Forest Alliance has erected its own sign beside the 1,000-year-old tree, giving its dimensions. The sign replaces one erected by the province decades ago, which was rusted, lying on the ground and surrounded by broken glass.

Wu said it appears the area comes under B.C. Timber Sales designation, meaning the province plans out cutblocks for small businesses.

But Forests Ministry spokeswoman Vivian Thomas said BCTS has no immediate plans to harvest in the Red Creek fir area.

“In fact they helped improve the road access so people could go view the tree,” she said.

“Also, the tree itself is part of a public recreation site, so the immediate area is protected from logging.”

The Ancient Forest Alliance is supporting a proposal by Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca MP Keith Martin to extend Pacific Rim National Park down the west coast of Vancouver Island, with an expanded park to include the Red Creek fir.

Photos by TJ Watt showing Falling Boundary tape – Click for Larger versions

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