Entries by TJ Watt

Action Alert! Canada’s Finest Grove of Old-Growth Cedars under Threat – Speak Up!

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Recently, survey tape for logging was discovered in the Upper Castle Grove in the Walbran Valley on Vancouver Island – that is, in Canada’s finest stand of monumental old-growth red cedar trees.  The Castle Grove is an extensive stand of densely-packed enormous cedars which includes the “Castle Giant”, a 16 foot (5 meter) diameter cedar in the Lower Castle Grove that is one of the largest trees in Canada. The flagging tape for the potential logging comes to within 50 meters of the Castle Giant.

On the big tree trail on Vancouver Island

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These days, visitors to Port Renfrew can pick up a map to the area's largest trees and set out to explore what's been coined the Big Tree Capital of Canada. While some of Canada's largest trees are out of reach of a typical rental car, there are still plenty of accessible giants – aided by the recent paving of the Pacific Marine Circle Route, which allows travellers to drive across the interior of the island and pop out on the east coast near Duncan, rather than doubling back along the same route to Victoria.

Avatar Grove Boardwalk Update

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As many of you are aware, the AFA has been planning for several months to build a boardwalk in the Avatar Grove near Port Renfrew. Our goal is to ensure the ecological integrity of this recently protected area, and to enhance visitor safety by building boardwalk on the more sensitive parts of the existing trail. So far we have been steadily working to complete the requisite applications and numerous studies, reviews and stakeholder consultations in order to obtain approval from the BC government for the boardwalk's construction.

Letter to the Editor – Pine beetle claims refuted

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Re: Kieran Report, Aug. 23-29

In his attempt to blame the NDP government of the 1990s for the pine beetle epidemic in B.C.'s forests, Brian Kieran claims that the "infestation was first detected in Tweedsmuir Provincial Park and could have been contained there if forest companies had been permitted to go into the park and selectively log infested areas” — an argument that has been roundly refuted by everyone with the most rudimentary knowledge of the issue.

Long-Term Vision for Forest Management and Forest Economy Missing

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“These recommendations will not support sustainable change,” said MLA Bob Simpson. “What I see in this report are politicians on both sides passing the buck to local communities with no long-term strategy for success. They’re willing to let communities decide whether to log their protected forests, but what happens when those are gone? The politicians will have moved on, leaving affected communities holding the bag.”

Media Release: Canada’s Finest Cedar Grove Marked for Logging

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The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) is bracing for a potential, major escalation in BC’s “War in the Woods” as survey tape marking the “falling boundary” for logging has been recently discovered in the finest, unprotected stand of monumental old-growth western redcedar trees in Canada:the "Castle Grove" in the unprotected Upper Walbran Valley west of Lake Cowichan on southern Vancouver Island. The Castle Grove is an extensive stand of densely-packed enormous redcedars, including the “Castle Giant”, a 16 foot (5 meter) diameter cedar that is one of the largest trees in Canada.

Markers stir fears of Walbran logging

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Members of the Ancient Forest Alliance found the tape in the Upper Walbran Valley, near Castle Grove, which contains the Castle Giant, a western red cedar with a five-metre diameter. The tree is listed in the provincial big tree registry as one of the widest in Canada.

Ben Parfitt and Anthony Britneff: B.C. MLAs take wrong approach to timber supply crisis

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The real tragedy in the committee members’ recommendations is that they are well aware of where the real challenges lie. The committee acknowledges the essential importance of improved forest inventories—looking at how many healthy trees we have. Why isn’t this the first order of business? B.C. needs an expedited, thorough assessment now, before we have committed to even more unsustainable logging rates.

To proceed with logging increases before such work is done is irresponsible and an insult to forest-dependent communities across the province.

Environmentalist bristles over report urging more logging

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A government report looking at the pine beetle's impact in B.C.'s central interior has taken the wrong approach in urging more logging, says the executive director of Ancient Forest Alliance. Ken Wu says the report's recommendation to increase the timber supply and value of pine-beetle wood could allow for logging in protected forests.