Entries by TJ Watt

Like lichen? Name of species up for grabs in fundraiser

Normally, the person who makes the discovery gets the right to name a newly discovered species but Goward decided to auction off that right to raise funds for the Ancient Forest Alliance and The Land Conservancy of British Columbia.

Likin’ a lichen? Why not put your name on it forever?

National Geographic explorer Wade Davis, who lives in the Stikine Valley in northern B.C., has made a $3,000 bid.

And Andy MacKinnon, a noted author who works as a forest ecologist for the B.C. government, has offered $3,200.

Naming rights to new lichen species up for sale

The money will go to two conservation projects — to help the Ancient Forest Alliance protect B.C.’s old growth forests, and help the Land Conservancy buy private lands in the Clearwater Valley to expand Wells Gray Provincial park.

Wade Davis and Andy MacKinnon, BC’s Best Known Botanists, Make Bids for Naming Rights for New Species of Old-Growth Forest Lichens as part of Conservation Fundraiser

“We’re lucky to have BC’s Rock Star botanists, Wade Davis and Andy MacKinnon, support this ground-breaking conservation fundraiser,” stated Ken Wu, co-founder of the Ancient Forest Alliance. “Wade has a long history as a great conservationist and ethnobotanist, working for decades to protect BC’s wilderness as well as tropical ecosystems and cultures. Andy co-authored ‘Plants of Coastal BC’, which many think of as the ‘Bible of BC Botany’. He is also the foremost authority on old-growth forest ecology in this province.”

Camping in Port Renfrew? Try the Pacheedaht Campground and RV park!

To get to the campground from Victoria take West Coast HWY #14 and turn RIGHT onto Deering rd immediately upon reaching Port Renfrew. Cross the single lane bridge over the San Juan River and once on the other side there is camp parking on both the left and right hand side of the road.

The Week – We’ve Still Got Wood

To celebrate Parks Day this past week, the AFA captured a YouTube video of Canada’s largest tree, a western red cedar named the Cheewhat Giant, growing in a remote location near Cheewhat Lake, north of Port Renfrew and west of Lake Cowichan. The tree remains the country’s biggest with a trunk diametre over six metres (20 feet).

Eco-tourism in Port Renfrew

The Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce has partnered with the Ancient Forest Alliance, the advocacy group that leads tours of the majestic ‘Avatar Grove’, to funnel more tourists into the area and feed the local economy.

Parks Day Alert: Video clip of “Canada’s Largest Tree” and old-growth logging

The clip features Canada�s largest tree, a western redcedar named the Cheewhat Giant growing in a remote location near Cheewhat Lake within Pacific Rim National Park Reserve north of Port Renfrew and west of Lake Cowichan. It also features new clearcuts and giant stumps of redcedar trees, some over 4 meters (14 feet) in diameter in the Klanawa Valley adjacent to Pacific Rim National Park Reserve and also near the Carmanah-Walbran Provincial Park (in the Nitinat Lake/Rosander Main region) logged in 2010 and 2011.

Canada’s Largest Tree – The Cheewhat Giant!

Click to see Canada’s largest tree, a western redcedar named the Cheewhat Giant growing in a remote location near Cheewhat Lake within Pacific Rim National Park Reserve on southerwestern Vancouver Island!

The clip also features new clearcuts and giant stumps of redcedar trees, some over 4 meters (14 feet) in diameter in the nearby Klanawa Valley and Nitinat Lake/Rosander Main region.