Port Alberni – Conservationists are calling for much stronger, comprehensive old-growth protection policies in BC after having discovered a major logging threat to Canada’s most famous old-growth forest, Cathedral Grove in MacMillan Provincial Park on Vancouver Island.
Thanks to the Powell River Voices, Sierra Club, and Communication, Energy, and Paperworkers (CEP) for hosting a great evening with a full house last night, with a presentation and discussion on raw log exports, TFL expansion/forest privatization, and ancient forest protection.
"At first glance Bill 8 — the Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act — looks like housekeeping legislation. Read a little closer and one discovers one of the most pernicious pieces of forest legislation to be tabled in the legislature since a forests minister lost his job over the same issue in 1989. Bill 8 includes an addition to the Forest Act that would allow the forests minister to invite corporations to roll over their forest licences into Tree Farm Licences (TFL), effectively transferring private ownership rights to the corporation without any reciprocal benefit in the public interest…"
The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) is planning a provincial tour to mobilize communities in key swing ridings in a bid to stop the BC government's anti-environmental forest policies, including old-growth logging, raw log exports, and the recent proposal to increase the privatization of public forest lands by expanding Tree Farm Licences for major companies, and to ensure that the incoming government adopts new, sustainable policies. The tour will begin immediately after the organization’s March 16 “Pre-Election Rally for Ancient Forests and BC Forestry Jobs”
If any of you are in Powell River, this Wednesday March 6th Ken Wu of the AFA will be speaking there at a forum on raw log exports and sustainable forestry from 7-9pm, at the United Church, 6932 Crofton St. Organized by Powell River Voices, Sierra Club and CEP union.
The Cowichan Valley Naturalists have a busy schedule of free public events coming up in the next few weeks.
Myths and Facts about the Proposed TFL Expansion Bill, by Independent MLA Bob Simpson
An area of rainforest near Prince George is so unique that it should be designated as a provincial park and protected as a United Nations World Heritage Site, says a new study by the University of Northern B.C. The area, called the Ancient Forest, contains massive stands of giant red cedars usually associated with wet coastal forests, as well as rare plants and lichens.
To celebrate, this coming Sunday, March 3, the organization will hold an “Ancient Forest Biodiversity Hike” for the public to see a magnificent old-growth Douglas fir grove in Goldstream Provincial Park, on the campground side of the park (Meet at 1:00 pm at the top parking lot by Sooke Lake Rd. and Humpback Rd. near the pub, hike finishes by 3:00 pm – easy to moderate difficulty) with Ken Wu ,TJ Watt, and Joan Varley from the AFA and naturalists Darren and Claudia Copley of the Victoria Natural History Society. The organization will also have a “Meet and Greet” afterwards with snacks, drinks, and a fun slideshow with staff from 4:30 to 6:00 pm on Sunday at its office at 827 Broughton St. in Victoria.
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