Ancient Forest Alliance
FIND A PAGEFIND A PAGE
  • Home
  • About Us
        • The six AFA team members stand beside each other in front of an old-growth Douglas-fir tree.
        • Our Mission & Team
        • History & Successes
        • Work With Us
        • Contact Us
  • Our Work
    • Campaigns
    • Building Alliances
    • Activity Reports
  • Ancient Forests
    • Hiking Guides
    • Old-Growth 101
    • Old-Growth Forests in BC: FAQs
    • Before & After Old-Growth Maps
    • Myths & Facts
    • Directions to Avatar Grove
    • Port Renfrew Big Trees Map
  • Recent News
    • Recent News
    • Media Releases
    • Research & Reports
    • Publications
    • Educational
  • Photos & Media
        • Map of Gallery Locations
        • Themes
          • Biggest Trees
          • Biggest Stumps
          • Low Productivity Old-Growth
        • Videos
        • Vancouver Island North
          • East Creek Rainforest
          • Klaskish Inlet
          • Quatsino
            • Grove of Giant Cedars Clearcut in Quatsino Sound
            • Quatsino Old-Growth Under Threat 2023
            • Mahatta River Logging
          • Spruce Bay
          • Tsitika Valley
          • White River Provincial Park
        • Vancouver Island Central
          • Barkley Sound
            • Vernon Bay
          • Clayoquot Sound
            • Canada’s Most Impressive Tree – Flores Island
            • Flores Island
            • Meares Island
            • Sydney River Valley
          • Cortes Island
            • Children’s Forest
            • Squirrel Cove Ancient Forest
          • Nootka Island
          • Port Alberni
            • Cameron Valley Firebreak
            • Cathedral Grove Canyon
            • Juniper Ridge
            • Katlum Creek
            • Nahmint Valley
            • Nahmint Logging 2024
            • McLaughlin Ridge
            • Mount Horne
            • Taylor River Valley
          • Tahsis
            • McKelvie Valley
            • Tahsis: Endangered Old-Growth Above Town
        • Vancouver Island South
          • Carmanah
            • Climbing the Largest Spruce in Carmanah
            • Carmanah Research Climb
          • Caycuse Watershed
            • Before & After Logging – Caycuse Watershed
            • Before and After Logging Caycuse 2022
            • Caycuse Logging From Above
            • Lower Caycuse River
            • Massive Trees Cut Down
          • Klanawa Valley
          • Koksilah
          • Mossy Maples
            • Mossy Maple Gallery
            • Mossy Maple Grove
          • Port Renfrew
            • Avatar Boardwalk
            • Avatar Grove
            • Big Lonely Doug and Clearcut
            • Bugaboo Ridge Ancient Forest
            • Eden Grove
            • Exploring & Climbing Ancient Giants
            • Fairy Creek Headwaters
            • Granite Creek Logging
            • Jurassic Grove
            • Loup Creek
            • Mossome Grove
            • Mossome Grove Tree Climb
          • Walbran Valley
            • Castle Grove
            • Central Walbran Ancient Forest
            • Hadikin Lake
            • Walbran Headwaters At Risk
            • Walbran Overview
            • Walbran Logging
        • Haida Gwaii
        • Sunshine Coast
          • Day Road Forest
          • Mt. Elphinstone Proposed Park Expansion
          • Powell River
            • Eldred River Valley
            • Mt. Freda Ancient Forests
          • Roberts Creek Headwaters
          • Stillwater Bluffs
        • Inland Rainforest
          • Ancient Forest/ Chun T’oh Whudujut Provincial Park
          • Parthenon Grove
        • Mainland
          • Echo Lake
          • Kanaka Bar IPCA Proposal
  • Take Action
    • Send A Message to the BC Government
    • Sign Petition
    • Sign a Resolution
  • Store
  • Donate
  • Click to open the search input field Click to open the search input field Search
  • Menu Menu
  • Store
  • Donate
News Coverage
AFA's Hannah Carpendale nestled in a gnarly old-growth red cedar tree in the Echo Lake Ancient Forest.Oct 12 2012

Group aims to protect eagles’ night roost

Oct 12 2012/News Coverage

Link to Globe and Mail online article

A small grove of timber in the Fraser Valley used as a night roost by flocks of eagles has long been a secret known only to a few people in British Columbia.

But now an environmental group, the Ancient Forest Alliance, and a landowner who has property adjacent to the roosting trees are working together to publicize the area, in the hopes of saving it from logging.

“I would say between 25 and 50 hectares has to be protected – which is not a huge amount to save what is a natural wonder of the world,” said Stephen Ben-Oliel, who first learned of the eagle roost when he bought land at Echo Lake 17 years ago.

In the late fall, thousands of eagles gather along the nearby Harrison and Chehalis rivers to feast on spawning salmon, a major ecotourism draw and focus of the annual Fraser Valley Bald Eagle Festival, which this year is held Nov. 17 and 18.

But while boat and hiking tours have long allowed people to see the eagles feeding along the rivers, few knew where the birds went when darkness fell.

Mr. Ben-Oliel says they come by the hundreds, just at dusk, to settle in the big trees cupped in the small valley that holds Echo Lake, east of Mission.

“They are like a secret and that little valley is like a secret,” he said. “People living in the Fraser Valley often don’t know there’s a lake there because it’s surrounded by mountains. It’s a hidden valley, with this secret of the eagles.”

Mr. Ben-Oliel said a Ministry of Forests land use plan under study for the Fraser Valley sets aside part of the old-growth timber around Echo Lake, but would allow a swath of trees that the eagles perch in at night to be logged.

“The outside of this valley has all been hammered by logging. Why not save this little place.…Why not leave this as the place they sleep?” he asked.

Mr. Ben-Oliel said the birds don’t come in large numbers every year, but when they do it is a major wildlife event.

“Some years it’s like you are in the middle of a National Geographic shot and then, for reasons I don’t understand, in other years there aren’t many,” he said. “They come in singly just at dusk, from the end of November through December and into January. There are certain points, about an hour before the sun sets, when the sky is not empty of them. Sometimes they are circling one of the two small mountains, in groups of 15 to 20, but then they start to stack up in the trees. It’s not something that is easily photographed because it’s twilight, but you see their white heads sticking up like golf balls around the lake.”

Ken Wu, executive director of the Ancient Forest Alliance, said the provincial land use plan sets aside trees on one shore of Echo Lake, but not the other. “It all needs to be saved,” he said, arguing the government needs to double its plan to save 45 hectares.

Mr. Wu said his organization, which searches for the last remaining patches of old growth around the province, then lobbies to save them, became aware of Echo Lake in 2007, when the area was first slated for logging.

Protests at that time persuaded the government to hold off, he said, but now a detailed land use plan for the Fraser Valley is being finalized, which would allow a portion of the Echo Lake timber to be cut. Mr. Wu said he has been unable to find any comparable old growth anywhere in the Lower Mainland. The trees are 300 to 600 years old.

“I mean, it is exceedingly scarce. It’s like coming across a Sasquatch these days, to find valley bottom, low elevation old growth in the Lower Mainland.”

In an e-mail, Vivian Thomas, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Forests, said the government is now accepting public comment on Fraser Valley land use plans, and concerns about Echo Lake will be considered in that process. She also said the government is looking at a proposal to designate 1,500 hectares in the Harrison and Chehalis area for wildlife management, which could protect winter feeding areas for eagles.

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on X
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
https://ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Echo_Lake_Hannah_Twisted_Cedar.jpg 600 400 TJ Watt https://ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/cropped-AFA-Logo-1000px.png TJ Watt2012-10-12 00:00:002023-04-06 19:09:06Group aims to protect eagles’ night roost
Search Search

Recent News

  • Thank you to these businesses and organizations!Jul 9 2025
  • My Comox Valley Now: Commercial logging isn’t happening in BC parks; says BC MinisterJul 4 2025
  • Flores Island Tyson
    One-Year Anniversary of Clayoquot Sound Old-Growth ProtectionsJun 26 2025
View All Posts

Categories

Archive

Find us on

  • Link to Facebook
  • Link to Instagram
  • Link to Youtube
  • Link to TikTok
  • Link to Bluesky
  • Link to Reddit

Take Action Template

Take action by sending an instant message to protect old-growth forests!

Related Posts

My Comox Valley Now: Commercial logging isn’t happening in BC parks; says BC Minister

Jul 4 2025
In a letter to the Ancient Forest Alliance and Endangered Ecosystems Alliance, Minister of Environment and Parks Tamara Davidson confirmed that there’s no commercial logging happening in provincial parks and it isn’t permitted under the BC Parks Act. The letter comes following reports of potential commercial salvage logging and fuel load reduction projects happening in these parks.
Read more
News Coverage
https://ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2-Old-Growth-Douglas-Fir-Kentucky-Alleyne-Park.jpg 1467 2200 TJ Watt https://ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/cropped-AFA-Logo-1000px.png TJ Watt2025-07-04 16:18:482025-07-04 16:55:54My Comox Valley Now: Commercial logging isn’t happening in BC parks; says BC Minister

My Cowichan Valley Now: Conservationists call for BC forestry industry to be modernized

Mar 24 2025
Conservationists call for BC’s forestry industry to be modernized amid ongoing US tariff threats.
Read more
News Coverage
https://ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/3-Eden-Grove-Ken-Wu-1536x1024-1.jpg 1024 1536 TJ Watt https://ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/cropped-AFA-Logo-1000px.png TJ Watt2025-03-24 16:23:282025-03-24 16:24:21My Cowichan Valley Now: Conservationists call for BC forestry industry to be modernized

Toronto Star: The best place to go forest bathing? The ancient groves of Vancouver Island offer a meditative journey back in time

Mar 21 2025
British Columbia is home to some of the most enormous trees on the planet. Credit for the rise of tall-tree tourism here goes to the Ancient Forest Alliance, a charitable organization that advocates for protecting B.C.’s endangered old-growth forests.
Read more
News Coverage
https://ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/1-Avatar-Grove-Tourists-1.jpg 1200 1800 TJ Watt https://ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/cropped-AFA-Logo-1000px.png TJ Watt2025-03-21 11:20:502025-03-21 11:27:17Toronto Star: The best place to go forest bathing? The ancient groves of Vancouver Island offer a meditative journey back in time
Two people stand on a rock by the Fraser River in Kanaka Bar territory.

VIDEO: Inside Kanaka Bar’s Conservation Plan: Protecting Rare Ecosystems & Indigenous Culture

Feb 21 2025
We're excited to share an amazing new video with you featuring the Kanaka Bar Indian Band's proposed T’eqt’aqtn Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA).
Read more
News Coverage
https://ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Inside-Kanaka-Bar-Video-Thumbnail-scaled.jpg 1440 2560 TJ Watt https://ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/cropped-AFA-Logo-1000px.png TJ Watt2025-02-21 14:04:192025-02-28 17:05:19VIDEO: Inside Kanaka Bar’s Conservation Plan: Protecting Rare Ecosystems & Indigenous Culture
See All Posts

Take Action

 Donate

Support the Ancient Forest Alliance with a one-time or monthly donation.
How to Give

 Send a Message

Send an instant message to key provincial decision-makers.
Take Action

Get in Touch

Phone

(250) 896-4007 (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm)

Address

205-620 View Street
Victoria, B.C. V8W 1J6

Privacy Policy

  • Link to Facebook
  • Link to Instagram
  • Link to Youtube
  • Link to TikTok
  • Link to Bluesky
  • Link to Reddit

Resources

  • Recent News
  • Old Growth FAQs
  • Research & Reports
  • Photos & Media
  • Videos
  • Hiking Guides
  • Old-Growth 101

Who We Are

  • Our Mission & Team
  • History & Successes
  • Activity Reports
  • Contact
Ancient Forest Alliance

The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) is a registered charitable organization working to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests and to ensure a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry.

AFA’s office is located on the territories of the Lekwungen Peoples, also known as the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations.
Copyright © 2025 Ancient Forest Alliance • All Rights Reserved
Earth-Friendly Web Design by Fairwind Creative
Scroll to top
Ancient Forest AllianceLogo Header Menu
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Our Mission & Team
    • History & Successes
    • Work With Us
    • Contact Us
  • Our Work
    • Our Work
    • Activity Reports
    • Building Alliances
    • Campaigns
  • Ancient Forests
    • Hiking Guides
    • Old-Growth 101
    • Old-Growth Forests in BC: FAQs
    • Before & After Old-Growth Maps
    • Myths & Facts
    • Directions to Avatar Grove
    • Port Renfrew Big Trees Map
  • Recent News
    • Recent News
    • Research & Reports
    • Media Releases
    • Publications
    • Educational
  • Photos & Media
    • Map of Gallery Regions
    • Themes
      • Biggest Trees
      • Biggest Stumps
      • Low Productivity Old-Growth
    • Videos
    • Inland Rainforest
      • Ancient Forest/ Chun T’oh Whudujut Provincial Park
      • Parthenon Grove
    • Mainland
      • Echo Lake
      • Kanaka Bar IPCA Proposal
    • Haida Gwaii
    • Sunshine Coast
      • Day Road Forest
      • Mt. Elphinstone Proposed Park Expansion
      • Roberts Creek Headwaters
      • Stillwater Bluffs
    • Sunshine Coast: Powell River
      • Eldred River Valley
      • Mt. Freda Ancient Forests
    • Vancouver Island South
      • Climbing the Largest Spruce in Carmanah
      • Carmanah Research Climb
      • Klanawa Valley
      • Koksilah
    • VI South: Caycuse Watershed
      • Before & After Logging – Caycuse Watershed
      • Before and After Logging Caycuse 2022
      • Caycuse Logging From Above
      • Lower Caycuse River
      • Massive Trees Cut Down
    • VI South: Mossy Maples
      • Mossy Maple Gallery
      • Mossy Maple Grove
    • VI South: Port Renfrew
      • Avatar Boardwalk
      • Avatar Grove
      • Big Lonely Doug and Clearcut
      • Bugaboo Ridge Ancient Forest
      • Eden Grove
      • Exploring & Climbing Ancient Giants
      • Fairy Creek Headwaters
      • Granite Creek Logging
      • Jurassic Grove
      • Loup Creek
      • Mossome Grove
      • Mossome Grove Tree Climb
    • VI South: Port Alberni
      • Cameron Valley Firebreak
      • Cathedral Grove Canyon
      • Juniper Ridge
      • Katlum Creek
      • Nahmint Valley
      • Nahmint Logging 2024
      • McLaughlin Ridge
      • Mount Horne
      • Taylor River Valley
    • VI South: Walbran Valley
      • Castle Grove
      • Central Walbran Ancient Forest
      • Hadikin Lake
      • Walbran Headwaters At Risk
      • Walbran Overview
      • Walbran Logging
    • Vancouver Island Central
      • Barkley Sound: Vernon Bay
      • Nootka Island
    • VI Central: Clayoquot Sound
      • Canada’s Most Impressive Tree – Flores Island
      • Flores Island
      • Meares Island
      • Sydney River Valley
    • VI Central: Cortes Island
      • Children’s Forest
      • Squirrel Cove Ancient Forest
    • VI Central: Tahsis
      • McKelvie Valley
      • Tahsis: Endangered Old-Growth Above Town
    • Vancouver Island North
      • East Creek Rainforest
      • Klaskish Inlet
      • Mahatta River Logging
      • Quatsino
      • Spruce Bay
      • Tsitika Valley
      • White River Provincial Park
  • Take Action
    • Send a Message
    • Sign Petition
    • Sign a Resolution
  • Store
  • Donate