Entries by TJ Watt

Cathedral Grove, Canada’s Most Famous Old-Growth Forest, Under Threat as Island Timberlands Moves to Log Adjacent Old-Growth Mountainside

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Port Alberni, Vancouver Island – Cathedral Grove, Canada’s most famous old-growth forest, is under threat as one of the province’s largest logging companies, Island Timberlands, began falling a new logging road right-of-way last week towards a stand of old-growth Douglas-fir trees on the mountainside above Cathedral Grove. Cathedral Grove is in the 300 hectare MacMillan Provincial Park, an area smaller than Vancouver’s Stanley Park, located along the Cameron River at the base of Mount Horne where the planned logging would occur.

Groups protest logging in Qualicum Beach watershed

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Extremely rare groves of oldgrowth Coastal Douglas-firs, of which only 1% remain, constitute much of these contentious forest lands, they say.

"These corporate private lands were previously regulated to public land standards for over half a century in exchange for the BC government's granting of free Crown land logging rights to the companies," said Ken Wu, executive director of the Ancient Forest Alliance. "What has happened is that the regulations on private lands were removed recently, while the companies were still allowed to keep their Crown land logging rights."

Rally Against Logging Old-Growth Forests

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Coast News – "Ken Wu of the Ancient Forest Alliance says the deregulation of large areas of old growth forest by the government in 2004 has enabled the company to start logging areas that animals like elk and deer, and endangered species like the Queen Charlotte Goshawk, rely upon for survival…'…they’ve got to back off from the areas that were previously designated for protection. These areas are the ecological gems; the high conservation-value forests and extremely rare old growth forests where deer and elk spend the winter. Those areas were all off-limits to logging until the government removed those environmental laws just a few years ago.'"

Protesters target old-growth logging on Island

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"Protesters from the Ancient Forest Alliance, the Port Alberni Watershed-Forest Alliance and several other groups unfurled a banner reading 'Hands off old growth' and handed leaflets to visitors stopping at Cathedral Grove on Highway 4.
Conservationists are calling on Island Timberlands to suspend plans to log old-growth forests while asking the provincial government to restore a park acquisition fund, and earmark $40 million a year for a decade to go into the fund."

RALLY: Island Timberlands – Hands Off our Old-Growth Forests! Tuesday, Oct. 22

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Join a diverse collaboration of community groups standing together to stop Island Timberlands' ongoing and planned logging of high conservation value forests on Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast. Hold a sign, help leaflet tourists to raise awareness, or just come out to show your solidarity!

• When: Tuesday, October 22, 2013
• Time: 12:30 – 1:30 pm
• Where: Cathedral Grove parking lot

Avatar Grove Hike and Boardwalk Fundraiser Sunday Oct. 20th

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Join Ancient Forest Alliance organizers Ken Wu and TJ Watt on Sunday, Oct. 20th for a fantastic forest hike to learn about old-growth forest ecology, see the progress of the boardwalk so far, and find out how you can help support the completion of this important project!