Entries by TJ Watt

Thank You to MEC, LUSH, and True North Goods!

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Mountain Equipment Coop (MEC) Victoria: THANK YOU to the staff at MEC Victoria for voting to support the AFA through their 1% for the Planet contributions! We are extremely grateful for the continued support towards our current old-growth campaigns! See their website at www.MEC.ca

LUSH: Great thanks once again to LUSH (www.lush.ca) for their major support through their Charitable Giving Program, bolstering the AFA’s campaign for the establishment a New Protected Areas Fund in BC! We are so grateful to LUSH for their continued passion and support for the AFA’s work!

True North Goods: We are excited to be a new beneficiary of True North Goods (www.truenorthgoods.com), an outdoor goods and apparel company showing their dedication to protecting the outdoors for future generations to explore by donating a portion of all proceeds to the AFA!

Sustainable forestry cause draws 100 for Duncan rally

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A march and rally for sustainable BC forestry garnered a crowd of upwards of 100 at Charles Hoey Park Friday afternoon.
The event, organized by the Pulp, Paper, and Woodworkers of Canada and the Ancient Forest Alliance, and attended by folks from up and down the Island, had a message for the provincial government: exported logs equals exported jobs and that’s not acceptable.
“If you’re going to cut a tree down and give it to somebody else, leave the goddamn thing in the ground,” PPWC president Arnie Bercov told the group.
“In 2004, at a critical juncture, as the majority of the prime old growth forests were logged out and huge areas of second growth forest matured, the BC Liberal government removed the local milling requirement that would have required that the licensees for the Crown lands would have had to convert their old growth mills to handle second growth logs,” Wu said. “But, at that critical time they removed the requirement through the so-called Forestry Revitalization Act, then came a wave of mill closures across the province…There’s been no incentives and regulations by the government, no leadership by the government to ensure that there’s a sustainable value-added second growth industry…” Wu said.

**DEADLINE OCT 31st!** Help Establish a new South Okanagan Similkameen National Park – Please SEND a MESSAGE now!

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The Province of B.C. recently announced a new proposed conservation framework, including national park designation, for the South Okanagan-Similkameen Valleys and they have invited public comments until October 31. This is wonderful news! And now we need to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to establish a national park here.

Please take the time to SEND a MESSAGE to let the province know what makes this area special to you, and why this deserves the highest level of protection – especially by including Area 2 in the national park.

Go to: https://sosnationalpark.wordpress.com/

Help Create a Sizeable Inland Rainforest Protected Area east of Prince George! (Nov. 2nd, 4:00 pm deadline!)

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The Province of BC is looking at establishing a new protected area in the "northern wetbelt" rainforest east of Prince George next to Slim Creek Provincial Park, and is soliciting feedback on a plan to protect the unique ecosystems of the beloved Ancient Forest (where thousands of people have now hiked the trails among the giant cedars).

PLEASE sign-on to a letter supporting a new protected area, including on an expanded scale based on science, at: https://goo.gl/6UpY9m

The Province is also accepting email comments on the plan; send your feedback to ancientforest@gov.bc.ca before Nov. 2, 4 p.m.

See here for more details on taking action to protect this area!

Photo Gallery of Avatar Grove Boardwalk Construction! October 2015

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A big show of gratitude and thanks to the over 20 volunteers who came out to build boardwalk at Avatar Grove last weekend and to the many of you who have donated towards this project so far! We made significant progress in the lower grove, constructing close to 80ft (25 m) of new boardwalk and bridges over the area prone to flooding. These vital improvements come just in time before the heavy winter rains begin. There’s still a few key sets of stairs and bridges to get built but we’re making great headway on what has become one of the island’s most popular hiking trails! 

BC Sustainable Forestry March & Rally!

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DATE: Friday, October 30, 2015
LOCATION: Duncan, BC
TIME & PLACE: Begins at 12:00 Noon at Trunk Road and Highway 1, then march down to Charles Hoey Park (by the train station)

Join forestry workers, environmentalists, unions, politicians, and diverse community members for a march and rally to end the export of raw logs and to support a sustainable, second-growth forest industry in BC.

Bring your friends and family!  Invite others and coordinate rides on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1693082370937511/

Organized by the Pulp, Paper, and Woodworkers of Canada (PPWC – see: www.PPWC.ca) with the support of the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA – see www.AncientForestAlliance.org).

Details HERE.  For more info contact Cam Shiel at camshiell78@gmail.com

Forest Dance Film ‘Verge: Dancing a Scarred and Sacred Landscape’ Screening at Planet in Focus Film Fest (Toronto, Oct 21-25, 2015)

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Later this week, the short film 'Verge: Dancing a Scarred and Sacred Landscape' will be screening at the Planet in Focus Film Festival (https://planetinfocus.org) in Toronto. 'Verge' is a collaboration between filmmaker Leslie Kennah, choreographer Anna Kraulis, and the AFA's Hannah Carpendale, and features dancers moving through the magnificent Avatar Grove and the devastated clearcut landscape surrounding Big Lonely Doug, near Port Renfrew on southern Vancouver Island. The festival, which runs from Oct 21-25th, will feature a diversity of environmental films, workshops and other activities. 'Verge' will be screening alongside feature length film 'Puffin Patrol' on Sunday Oct 25 – for more details on the screening, visit https://planetinfocus.org/events/puffin-patrol/ 

**TICKET CONTEST: 2 free festival tickets are available for AFA supporters – for a chance to win one, please contact info@ancientforestalliance.org **