Entries by TJ Watt

Celebration of Nature, Music and Dance – Ancient Forests and Sound

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Old-growth forests are our natural heritage, and BC’s south coast holds one of the last such ecosystems on Earth. Our ancient forests support a complex network of which we are all part, yet these forests continue to be logged at a rate that will soon lead to their extinction if we do not make a change. The Ancient Forest Alliance is a grassroots environmental organization that works to foster knowledge and connection to these forests, as well as to advocate politically for their protection.

Prospect of logging in Douglas fir ecosystem above Nanoose Bay worries neighbouring municipalities

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To the Nanoose First Nation, District Lot No. 33 is a prime piece of forest in the middle of its traditional territory, rich with towering old-growth Douglas firs over which the band holds legal timber harvesting rights.

To neighbours, environmentalists and municipal officials throughout the region, DL 33 is a pristine example of the endangered coastal Douglas fir ecosystem found only in B.C.’s Georgia Basin and Washington State’s San Juan Islands.

Victoria Natural History Society article

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A new organization has recently emerged in the world of BC’s non-profit environmental community: the Ancient Forest Alliance. Founded in January 2010 by former Wilderness Committee activists, the new organization seeks to continue the grassroots education and mobilization campaigns to protect old-growth forests, but with a new twist: without charitable status, which will enable the organization to get more political in its criticisms or endorsements of politicians. This will become a great motivator for the BC government and all political parties to embrace a conservation agenda to protect the disappearing ancient forests of Vancouver Island and southern British Columbia. In addition, the organization will be building broad-based support among First Nations, businesses, faith groups, scientists, and members of naturalist clubs for ancient forest protection.

Fundraising Update – Please support the Ancient Forest Alliance!

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The Ancient Forest Alliance – BC’s newest major grassroots environmental group founded just 3 months ago – needs your support GREATLY.

We launched a fundraising campaign on March 22, with a goal of raising $20,000 by June 21.

So far, over 120 generous individuals have contributed over $7000. THANK YOU for your generous support!

Upcoming AFA Events and Hikes!

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Sunday, April 25 – Nature/ Old-Growth Walk in Mount Douglas Park: Oak Bay-Gordon Heads’ Old Growth in its Own Backyard

Thursday, April 29 – Vancouver Island’s Biggest Trees and Biggest Stumps – Launch Presentation of the new Oak Bay – Gordon Head Ancient Forest Committee

Saturday, May 1st – Lower Mainland Old-Growth Hike up Sumas Mountain (near Abbotsford at Whatcom Road Exit)

Earth Day Media Release: Avatar’s James Cameron Invited by Environmental Group to Visit the Endangered “Avatar Grove” of Ancient Trees

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British Columbian environmentalists with the new environmental group, the Ancient Forest Alliance, are inviting James Cameron, director of the blockbuster film Avatar, to visit a spectacular but endangered old-growth forest on Vancouver Island nicknamed the “Avatar Grove” and to endorse its protection.

Today, the film Avatar is being released on DVD and blue ray disc to coincide with Earth Day, a release date chosen by Cameron in order to raise environmental awareness. Avatar is the highest grossing film at the box office in world history, generating $2.7 billion (US) in sales internationally (the next highest was the Titanic, also directed by Cameron, which grossed $1.8 billion US).

Protect Haro Woods

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Haro Woods is a 9 hectare urban forest in the municipality of Saanich, near the University of Victoria. In this second-growth stand of Douglas firs, western redcedars, shore pine, and arbutus trees are substantial numbers of deer, threatened red-legged frogs, raptors, and owls. It is heavily used as a recreation area by local residents, who have also been lobbying for its protection as a park for several decades.

Forest industry pays for many services

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NOTE: The following letter to the editor by Dave Lewis of the Truck Loggers Association, who support raw log exports and apparently the demise of union jobs in the forest service, fails to mention that the long-term decline in the coastal forest industry over the span of 20 years is due to the depletion of the old-growth resource (the biggest, best, and most accessible trees in the lower elevations), that ancient forests are worth more standing economically when factoring in tourism, hunting, angling, non-timber forest products, and carbon storage (according to a 2007 SFU study on the Fraser TSA), and that the government’s elimination of processing requirements without any incentives to stimulate investment in second-growth processing and value-added manufacturing has contributed greatly to the demise of a huge section of the industry and the workforce (ie. manufacturing – which Dave Lewis cares little about it seems…) – Ken Wu

Stand up for Avatar Grove

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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…