MP Keith Martin stands in front of "Canada's Gnarliest Tree" in the endangered Upper Avatar Grove.

On National Tree Day the Ancient Forest Alliance calls for a “Provincial Heritage Trees Designation” to Protect Canada’s Largest and Oldest Trees

/in

Today, September 21 has been declared “National Tree Day” in Canada and the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) is calling on the British Columbian government to establish a Provincial Heritage Trees and Heritage Groves designation. Such a designation would protect the largest, oldest, and most unique trees of each species, as well as the most magnificent monumental stands of old-growth trees in the province.

*TODAY from 11:00-11:30 am media are invited to join Ancient Forest Alliance cofounders Ken Wu and TJ Watt at the largest Douglas-fir tree (3 meters or 10 feet wide in trunk diameter) in Greater Victoria in Francis King Regional Park’s Heritage Grove for a brief press conference and tour. Please meet in the parking lot by the park’s nature centre off of Munn Rd. Click here for Google Map.

“British Columbia is world renowned for having Canada’s largest trees and some of the most magnificent forests on Earth – how many jurisdictions still have trees with trunks as wide as living rooms and that tower as tall as downtown skyscrapers? What better way to celebrate the trees of Canada than to protect Canada’s largest trees, here on Vancouver Island?” stated Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer TJ Watt. “Just as we have laws to protect 100 year old heritage buildings, we need laws to protect 1,000 year old heritage trees and groves.”

See images of Canada’s largest trees on the Ancient Forest Alliance’s online photo galleries (Media are free to reprint any photos. Credit TJ Watt if possible.)

The province keeps a list of the 10 largest trees of each species through the Big Tree Registry but the list does not confer any legal protection for the trees, and many are unprotected.

Former BC Minister of Forests and Range Pat Bell mentioned in February 2011 that the province would look into creating a new legal tool to protect BC’s largest trees and monumental groves but the BC government has since not mentioned of any progress on this initiative.

Several BC municipalities such as Victoria and Oak Bay already have tree protection bylaws that prohibit the cutting of large trees over a certain trunk diameter, as well as the cutting of rare native species like Garry oak and Arbutus trees without a special permit.

“Not only do we need to protect our largest trees and monumental groves, most importantly the BC Liberal government must protect our endangered old-growth ecosystems on a much larger scale through a Provincial Old-Growth Strategy to sustain our biodiversity, climate, wild salmon, and tourism industry,” stated AFA co-founder Ken Wu. “Most of the world is logging second, third, and fourth growth forests now, and the BC government must ensure the same here instead of facilitating the collapse of our last old-growth ecosystems.”

Already 75% of Vancouver Island’s original, productive old-growth forests have been logged, including 90% of the valley bottoms where the biggest trees grow and richest biodiversity is found. For satellite maps visit: https://ancientforestalliance.org/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/

Ancient Forest Alliance

New Company Develops Online Games for a Better World

/in

For Immediate Release
September 8, 2011

New Company Develops Online Games for a Better World

First new game helps non-profit organization to protect British Columbia’s old-growth forests!

Victoria, Canada – Fuelled by a desire to make a difference, a Victoria, B.C. company is out to create a new way for charities and non-profit organizations to raise funds. Donate2Play Media (https://www.donate2play.com/) creates fun social games for charities. Through the incorporation of fun facts, compelling imagery and the viral nature of social media, Donate2Play provides a novel and lucrative fundraising channel for charities of all varieties.

“Online gaming is one of the largest industries on the Internet, generating tens of billions of dollars in revenues annually – why not funnel some of those revenues towards making the world a better place?” asked Kelly Pereira, Co-Founder of Donate2Play. “Our games will not only raise funds, but also increase awareness about the specific causes promoted by the charity at hand.”

“Wordraiser”, Donate2Play’s inaugural game (see https://www.wordraiser.com) is customized to their first non-profit partner, the Ancient Forest Alliance (https://ancientforestalliance.org/), a Victoria-based environmental organization working to protect British Columbia’s endangered old-growth forests. Wordraiser is a skill-based game for Facebook users in which players solve anagrams to pass through levels, while learning about the Ancient Forest Alliance’s cause. Using Donate2Play’s patent-pending model, players are prompted to donate at key junctures in the game – for donation amounts equal to pocket change.

“We’re very grateful to Donate2Play for choosing us as their first beneficiary. Not only will the game raise greatly needed funds for us, but will also raise awareness among new people on the plight of British Columbia’s endangered old-growth forests by using our photos, environmental fun facts, and petition in the game,” stated TJ Watt, co-founder of the Ancient Forest Alliance. “We’ll be asking our Facebook supporters and the environmentally-minded public to play this game as a contribution to our organization – and to have fun and learn at the same time!”

Donate2Play seeks to help alleviate the headaches of charities from traditional fundraising campaigns: perpetually requesting donations, investing in advertising and finding sponsors. The Donate2play model provides a fun, fresh and engaging way for charities to raise funds, while capitalizing on the growing trends of social media and online gaming.

The first beneficiary of this new model, the Ancient Forest Alliance, has been working through public education and mobilization calling on the BC government to protect the province’s endangered old-growth forests, ensure sustainable logging of second-growth forests and ban raw log exports. Of particular note, the organization has built huge public momentum for the protection of a grove of old-growth trees nicknamed the “Avatar Grove,” near the town of Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island.

Donate2Play was the brainchild of Victoria residents Tomas Ernst, Adrian Pereira and Kelly Pereira. Ernst, having spent the last five years working on development projects in the South Pacific for the World Bank, realized the need for NGOs to develop new, more effective fundraising channels. “Having worked with a number of charities, I’ve always felt the process of giving needed a rethink. So we asked, how could we transform the traditional fundraising process and offer a more value-added experience to the donor?” said Ernst, Co-Founder of Donate2Play Media.

Together with the Pereira’s, who have over a decade of entrepreneurial experience building successful online businesses, the idea to bridge the gap between gaming and fundraising was developed.

“We’ve chosen to support the Ancient Forest Alliance as beneficiaries, as they are a highly respected and deserving new grassroots organization with a most worthy cause,” stated Adrian Pereira, Co-Founder. “We really enjoyed working with AFA – incorporating their brand, high resolution images and interesting facts into the game allowed us to produce an experience that would better educate the player and increase both awareness and funds!”

According to Ken Wu, Co-Founder of the Ancient Forest Alliance, “Donate2Play’s games for a better world could lead to a mini-revolution of increased support for the environmental movement and progressive causes. The concept is genius and we’re happy to work with the founders of Donate2Play who are cutting edge entrepreneurs with a conscience.”

Avatar Grove

Ancient Forest Alliance welcomes proposed interim protection for Avatar Grove

/in

Today the BC government officially proposed to designate the entire Avatar Grove near Port Renfrew as an Old-Growth Management Area (OGMA), pending completion of a 60 day public review period. An Old-Growth Management Area would prohibit logging in the 49 hectare stand of monumental ancient trees. The Avatar Grove’s designation as an OGMA is being welcomed by the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) as an important interim protection for the exceptional grove, which the organization would eventually like to see designated as a provincial conservancy or park.

“The Avatar Grove is an exceptional stand of extremely rare valley-bottom ancient forest that is easy to get to, unlike most other old-growth stands that are on steep slopes, far away on bumpy logging roads. It is fast becoming a pillar of the local economy, not unlike being ‘the Cathedral Grove of Port Renfrew’, and is BC’s most heavily visited unprotected ancient forest. As such we support the Avatar Grove being declared off-limits to logging as an Old-Growth Management Area,” stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance co-founder. “Our much larger goal is to end logging of all endangered old-growth forests because there is so little left, and to ensure sustainable logging of second-growth forests. The BC government needs to devise a comprehensive Provincial Old-Growth Strategy towards these ends.”

The Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations (MFLNRO) is proposing to designated 49 hectares as an Avatar Grove Old-Growth Management Area, as well as an additional 10 hectares of old-growth forests near Axe Creek., for a total of 59 hectares within OGMA’s. However, 57 hectares of OGMA’s will be removed to compensate the logging licensee, Teal-Jones, in Tree Farm Licence 46 for the protection of the Avatar Grove and Axe Creek areas.

“Our goal is to protect all of our endangered old-growth forests, not just the Avatar Grove. As such we’re against the removal of any existing old-growth protections, because so little old-growth remains,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer. “Our ancient forests are vital for supporting endangered species, the climate, clean water, tourism, and many First Nations cultures.”

The Avatar Grove was located by the Ancient Forest Alliance’s TJ Watt in December of 2009, and shortly thereafter was flagged for logging in February of 2010. The AFA has been working with the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce to see the area protected, and organizes regular public hikes to the grove. The Avatar Grove is filled with monumental stands of giant Douglas firs and redcedars – some 14 feet (4 meters) in trunk diameter, including “Canada’s Gnarliest Tree”, a giant redcedar with an enormous burl. It is home to wolves, cougars, bears, deer, and elk. See photos at: https://ancientforestalliance.org/photos-media/

Already about 75% of Vancouver Island’s original, productive old-growth forests have been logged, including 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow. See ”before” and “after” maps at https://ancientforestalliance.org/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/

An old-growth Douglas-fir stand was clearcut in June and July of this year in the Caycuse Valley south of Cowichan Lake and north of the Walbran Valley. The area was important deer wintering habitat.

Recent Old-Growth Clearcutting of Deer Wintering Habitat on Vancouver Island Documented and Posted on Youtube

/in

The Ancient Forest Alliance has released a video clip documenting the recent clearcutting of an extremely rare old-growth Douglas fir forest on Vancouver Island that served as vital wintering habitat for the Island’s diminishing black-tailed deer population.

See the Youtube clip at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LveT-hz-Y2I
(*ignore the swarming blackflies in the clip – apparently they don’t mind logging)

The old-growth stand was clearcut in June and July of this year in the Caycuse Valley south of Cowichan Lake and north of the Walbran Valley. The grove stood on public (Crown) land in Tree Farm License 46. The newly clearcut area is surrounded by an Ungulate Wintering Range (UWR) designated by the Ministry of Forests to sustain deer populations and an Old-Growth Management Area (OGMA) that prohibits logging. Unfortunately an important chunk of the old-growth Douglas firs were left out of protection and have now been clearcut.

“It’s incredible that despite a four-fold drop in Vancouver Island’s deer population in recent decades and despite 99% of our old-growth Douglas firs having already been logged, the BC government is still approving old-growth clearcuts in critical deer wintering habitat,” stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance co-founder. “Clearcutting of old-growth forests not only harms black-tailed deer populations, but also harms the creatures that eat deer – wolves, cougars, bears, First Nations hunters, and non-First Nations hunters.”

Biologists with BC’s Ministry of Environment estimate that Vancouver Island’s deer population has dropped from over 200,000 individuals in the 1970’s to 55,000 individuals by the 2000’s in large part due to the logging of their old-growth wintering habitat. Coastal black-tailed deer populations that live at higher elevations where there is regular snowpack, such as throughout much of Vancouver Island’s interior, spend the winter months in old-growth forests where they find food and shelter. Much of their winter diet consists of lichens that grow in greatest abundance in old-growth forests, hanging on tree branches and falling onto the ground during winter storms. Large, fallen logs and dense thickets of shrubs and young trees in the understories of old-growth forests provide hiding places from predators and shelter during bad weather. Second-growth forests tend to have a scarcity of winter food and shelter.

As old-growth forests diminish in extent from logging, the remaining old-growth patches become unnaturally concentrated with deer in winter seeking food and shelter and which become easy targets for predators. In some instances cougars and wolves will slaughter large numbers of deer due to their natural predatory instincts under such unnatural circumstances – where a century ago stood a vast sea of old-growth forests covering most of Vancouver Island. At least 87% of the productive old-growth forests on Vancouver Island south of Port Alberni and Barkley Sound have already been logged. See “Before” and “After” maps of old-growth forests on Vancouver Island at:
https://ancientforestalliance.org/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/ 

“Now that we’ve released this video clip, I can hear it now: ‘Bah Humbug! Deer don’t need lichens – they eat corn all over the Prairies and have overrun my Gordon Head garden in Victoria!’ loudly proclaim the uninformed. But we’re talking about specific populations of Columbian black-tailed deer that live in regions with regular snowpack, which occurs on about half of Vancouver Island – not any deer species or populations that live anywhere on Vancouver Island or Canada or the world!” remarked an impatient Wu. “More than ever, Christy Clark’s BC Liberal government is morally obliged to enact a comprehensive provincial old-growth strategy that will end the logging of our last endangered ancient forests and ensure sustainable second-growth forestry instead. Why go down to the end of a resource? It’s bad for deer, it’s bad for hunters, it’s bad for the ecosystem, it’s bad for tourism, and it’s ethically wrong. Let’s hope the BC government starts showing some wisdom, foresight, and courage for a better future.”

Previously Ungulate Wintering Ranges and Old-Growth Management Areas have disappeared on Vancouver Island. For example, an important Ungulate Wintering Range for Roosevelt Elk was eliminated north of Sooke in 2007 when the BC government allowed the removal of Western Forest Products’ forest lands from Tree Farm License 25, while ancient forests proposed by local First Nations as Old-Growth Management Areas near Port McNeill were taken off the table from protection with the removal of lands from Tree Farm License 6 at the same time.

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC government to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests through a Provincial Old-Growth Strategy, to ensure sustainable second-growth forestry, and to ban the export of raw logs. Currently the BC government has stated that they will look at developing a new legal tool to protect the largest monumental trees and groves in BC, which if done right would be a welcome initial step forward.

See various photogalleries of old-growth forests and clearcuts on Vancouver Island at:
https://ancientforestalliance.org/photos-media/
(***Note: Media are free to reprint any photos – please give credit to TJ Watt if possible)

See various video clips about Vancouver Island’s largest trees and old-growth forests at:
https://ancientforestalliance.org/photos-media/videos/

Avatar Grove

BC Government Takes Important Step towards Protecting Vancouver Island’s “Avatar Grove”

/in

For Immediate Release

July 25, 2011

BC Government Takes Important Step towards Protecting Vancouver Island’s “Avatar Grove”

The BC government has committed to take an important step towards protecting the Avatar Grove near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island. On Saturday, the Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations publicly stated their commitment to designate the entire Avatar Grove off limits to logging through an Old-Growth Management Area (OGMA). The official designation of an OGMA will be pending the outcome of a public review period, the details of which will be announced in the future. 

“This is good news and is a great success for our campaign – but it’s not the final victory yet for the Avatar Grove. An Old-Growth Management Area is an important step forward and is essentially an interim protection that keeps away logging for now. It’s sort of like wearing a bear costume while foraging alongside grizzlies – you’re never really confident the protection will last,” stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance co-founder. “Ultimately the Avatar Grove will require stronger, more permanent legislated protection as a provincial park or conservancy. In the larger picture, of course, we really need an end to all logging of BC’s endangered old-growth forests, including an immediate ban on old-growth logging on southern Vancouver Island where almost 90% is gone.”

“It’s hard to believe how far, how fast, the campaign to protect the Avatar Grove has come in just a year and a half ago when I stumbled across this incredible stand of ancient trees. In a short time it has become all the rage for thousands of nature-loving tourists coming from far and wide. Avatar Grove has quickly become the ‘Cathedral Grove of Port Renfrew’,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer who found the Avatar Grove in December, 2009. “The Ancient Forest Alliance will continue working with the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce and conducting regular public tours until Avatar Grove receives legislated protection.”

Old-Growth Management Areas (OGMA’s) are regulatory protections in a category similar to Riparian Reserves, Wildlife Habitat Areas, and Ungulate (deer) Wintering Ranges and are not true protected areas. For the most part they prohibit logging, with some minor exceptions. They are established by the Ministry of Forests and can be quietly modified or removed by the bureaucracy or minister without any Legislative vote or debate. They do not show up on any highway maps, and are essentially out of sight and out of mind of the BC public. They do serve as important interim measures against old-growth logging when located in productive stands (ie. commercially valuable stands with large trees, as opposed to marginal, stunted old-growth stands where they are often located as well) and as stepping stones towards more permanent legislated protection.

Provincial parks, provincial conservancies, and ecological reserves on the other hand are legislated protected areas and therefore are stronger and more permanent than regulatory protections like OGMA’s. They are created through a majority vote of MLA’s in the Legislative Assembly – and therefore require a majority vote of MLA’s to be eliminated. They also usually exist on provincial highway maps, which fosters major public awareness, tourism, and environmental concern for their well-being. This makes it extremely difficult if not next to impossible to eliminate parks and legislated protected areas in BC these days, especially with today’s high level of environmental awareness.

The Avatar Grove is an exceptional ancient forest for many reasons. It has some of Canada’s largest trees, including scores of giant western redcedars – some over 4 meters (14 feet) wide, including “Canada’s Gnarliest Tree” with its 3 meter (10 feet) wide burl. It is easy to get to, being only a 15 minute drive from Port Renfrew mostly along paved roads. The Grove itself is found on gentle terrain in the valley bottom and lower slopes, most of which have been logged in southern BC. Virtually all other remaining old-growth stands are far along bumpy logging roads, on steep slopes. It is home to Vancouver Island’s largest wildlife species:  wolves, cougars, black bears, elk, and deer. Since the Grove was found marked for logging in 2010, thousands of tourists have come to meander among its mossy giants. The local Chamber of Commerce and businesses in Port Renfrew, Sooke, and Victoria are championing the Avatar Grove’s protection.

In March, former Minister of Forests Pat Bell stated that the BC government was considering devising a new legal tool to protect the province’s largest trees and monumental groves. See: https://ancientforestalliance.org/b-c-looking-for-new-ways-to-protect-ancient-trees/

So far no announcement has been made about this designation or which unprotected groves will be protected.

“The BC government should be commended for committing to designate the Avatar Grove off limits to logging and to devise a new legal tool to protect BC’s largest heritage trees and groves. We look forward to the details of their progress on these initiatives,” stated Ken Wu. “However, most importantly, Christy Clark’s BC Liberal government fundamentally has a responsibility to undertake a much more comprehensive Provincial Old-Growth Strategy to end logging BC’s endangered old-growth forests because so little remains – it’s nuts to log until the end of the resource, especially when there is a major second-growth alternative now.”

See spectacular photo galleries of Canada’s largest trees at:

https://ancientforestalliance.org/photos-media/

See “before” and “after” old-growth forest maps of Vancouver Island at: https://ancientforestalliance.org/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/

See the AFA’s “Largest Trees” series of 1 minute video clips:

– “Canada’s Largest Tree – the Cheewhat Cedar”: https://youtu.be/Xw2Im8nSOdg

– “Canada’s Gnarliest Tree – Save the Avatar Grove”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_uPkAWsvVw

– “World’s Largest Douglas Fir – the Red Creek Fir”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfBWLVj-Xjg

– “Canada’s Largest Spruce – the San Juan Spruce”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lql9_hWuFLA&NR=1

Naming rights for this new species of Bryoria or “Horsehair Lichen”

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

/in

For Immediate Release

Friday, July 22, 2011

 

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

 

Two of BC’s best known botanists Wade Davis and Andy MacKinnon have made over $12,000 in total combined bids for the naming rights to two newly discovered species of BC lichens as part of a conservation fundraiser.  MacKinnon has bid $3000 while Davis has bid $3200 for each of two new species of lichens found in BC’s inland rainforests:  an old-growth forest dependent “horsehair” lichen and a small “crottle” lichen.

 

Naming rights to the two species will be auctioned-off as fundraisers for two B.C. environmental groups:  the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) (www.ancientforestalliance.org) working to protect B.C.’s old-growth forests and The Land Conservancy (TLC) of British Columbia (www.conservancy.bc.ca), working to purchase private lands in the Clearwater River Valley adjacent to Wells Gray Provincial Park. Bidding will end on October 2, 2011.

 

“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.”

“Besides being an important initiative for BC forest conservation, our naming auction could provide a model for similar ‘taxonomic tithing’ fundraisers elsewhere:  a wonderful way to raise millions of dollars for conservation around the world as new species are discovered,” stated Barry Booth, TLC Northern Regional Manager. “Wade and Andy’s credibility help to show this is a serious and important initiative.”

 

Wade Davis is one of the best known and widely read ethnobotanists on Earth, authoring numerous  books including the international best-seller, “The Serpent and the Rainbow”, and countless articles for “National Geographic’, “Outside”, ”Conde Naste”, and “Fortune” magazines.  He is an Explorer-in-Residence for National Geographic, writing about various regions of the planet while spending much of his time at his Stikine Valley cabin in the Sacred Headwaters region in northern BC.

 

Andy MacKinnon co-authored the “Plants of Coastal BC” which as has sold more than 300,000 copies since coming out in 1994, making it the highest selling botany field guide in Canadian history. Dog-eared copies can be found in the homes of hundreds of thousands of nature enthusiasts.  MacKinnon works as a forest ecologist for the BC government and resides in Metchosin on Vancouver Island.

 

The two lichen species were discovered in B.C. in recent years by botanical researcher Trevor Goward, who also contributed to “The Plants of Coastal BC”. Since then their identity as undescribed species has been supported by two teams of molecular researchers working in Finland and Spain. According to scientific protocol, the right to give a new species its scientific name goes to the person who describes it. However, an online auction running on each organization’s website into the fall will earn the highest bidders the right to name these lichens – whether after loved ones, themselves, or whomever they choose.

 

“Having your name linked to a living species is a legacy that lasts,” said Goward. “It has been almost three centuries since the modern system of biological classification was developed by Carolus Linnaeus; and even now the names of people after whom he christened various plants and animals are still with us. With any luck your name will endure as long as our civilization does. Not even Shakespeare could hope for more than that.”

 

Lichens are small, stationary organisms often mistaken for plants, but better thought of as cooperative (symbiotic) unions of fungi and algae. Instead of invading or scavenging like other fungi, lichen fungi live off sugars from tiny photosynthetic algal cells maintained within the body of the lichen. Lichens are sometimes thought of as fungi that have discovered agriculture: https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/lichens-fungi-that-have-discovered-agriculture

 

Many lichens are sensitive to pollution and disturbance and become rare in urbanized and industrialized landscapes. The conversion of old-growth forests to tree plantations is taking a particularly heavy toll on the abundance and diversity of lichens in British Columbia. Some lichens provide critical winter food for animals like mountain caribou in B.C.’s inland rainforests and black-tailed deer in B.C.’s coastal rainforests.

 

Lichens come in many shapes and sizes. The lichen on loan to the Ancient Forest Alliance is a Bryoria or “Horsehair Lichen”, which forms elegant black tresses on the branches of trees in oldgrowth forests. The Land Conservancy’s lichen is a Parmelia or “Crottle Lichen”, consisting of strap-like lobes pale greyish above and black below. It too inhabits the branches of trees, and grows in the Clearwater Valley, where TLC is working with Goward to create a critical wildlife corridor for southern Wells Gray Park:

https://www.waysofenlichenment.net/wells/corridor

See more fascinating details about the lichens and taxonomic tithing from Trevor Goward at: https://waysofenlichenment.net/tithe/introduction

 

“We’re extremely grateful to Trevor for his innovative fundraising and awareness raising contribution to help us protect B.C.’s last endangered old-growth forests which sustain endangered species, the climate, tourism, and many First Nations cultures. As a new organization with limited funds, we need all the help we can get,” said Ken Wu, co-founder of the Ancient Forest Alliance.

 

“In partnership with Trevor, TLC is raising funds to create a permanent wildlife corridor that connects two separate portions of southern Wells Gray Provincial Park. The acquisition will include two significant donations of land by Trevor and his neighbours and the purchase of three further parcels. This naming auction will help support our campaign and we would like to thank Trevor for choosing TLC. Trevor’s passion and commitment to protecting B.C.’s special places is commendable,” said Barry Booth, TLC Northern Regional Manager.

 

Those who want to make a bid to have one of the new species named after themselves or a loved one should visit the Ancient Forest Alliance’s website www.ancientforestalliance.org or phone 250-896-4007 or contact The Land Conservancy at www.conservancy.bc.ca/ or phone 1-877-485-2422.

Old-growth redcedar stump in the Klanawa Valley. Vancouver Island

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

/in

For Immediate Release

Saturday, July 15, 2011

Parks Day Alert: Video clip of “Canada’s Largest Tree” and old-growth logging by Pacific Rim National Park Reserve released today

The Ancient Forest Alliance released a new video clip on Parks Day today about the threats to the ecological integrity of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve and the surrounding old-growth forests.

See the clip “Canada’s Largest Tree – the Cheewhat Cedar” at: https://youtu.be/Xw2Im8nSOdg  

The clip was posted on the organization’s website (www.ancientforestalliance.org) and Facebook profile today, which is the 100 year anniversary of the federal national parks agency Parks Canada (founded in 1911, 26 years after the first national park was created, Banff National Park in Alberta) and the 100 year anniversary of BC’s provincial parks (Strathcona Provincial Park on Vancouver Island was created in 1911).
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. The tree is over 6 meters (20 feet) in trunk diameter, 56 meters (182 feet) in height, and 450 cubic meters in timber volume (or 450 regular telephone poles worth of wood). Luckily the tree, discovered in 1988, is within the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, which was created in 1971.

The video clip 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.

Extensive logging of the last unprotected old-growth forests is taking place adjacent to the national park in the “West Coast Trail Wilderness” of the Klanawa Valley, Nitinat Lake region, Rosander Main region, Upper Walbran Valley, Gordon River Valley, Hadikin Lake region, San Juan Valley, and a lot of other areas as the market for western redcedar rebounds after the last recession.

“Pacific Rim National Park Reserve is a very narrow, linear park just a couple kilometres wide along much of the West Coast Trail unit that is threatened by logging of adjacent unprotected ancient forests. Nearby old-growth logging threatens the park’s ecological integrity by silting up salmon streams that run into the park, diminishing the contiguous wildlife habitat, and undermining the wilderness experience for hikers who often hear the roar of chainsaws through the narrow buffer of trees along the trail,” states Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance co-founder. “However, more importantly the last unprotected ancient forests in the Upper Walbran Valley, Klanawa Valley, and Gordon River Valley where the Avatar Grove still stands are literally the grandest forests left in Canada. They must be protected, and we need a forward thinking government to do so.”

Former Juan de Fuca Member of Parliament Keith Martin proposed to include the adjacent old-growth forests of the Avatar Grove, Red Creek Fir, San Juan Spruce, Walbran-Carmanah Valleys, Klanawa Valley, the Juan de Fuca Trail and adjacent lands, and endangered ecosystems at Mary Hill and Race Rocks within an expanded Pacific Rim National Park Reserve.

“Former Member of Parliament Keith Martin had a very visionary proposal to expand Pacific Rim National Park Reserve to enhance its ecological integrity and to protect the adjacent old-growth forests on southwestern Vancouver Island. I hope that other politicians will rise to the challenge to protect old-growth forests with the vision that Keith Martin set in motion,” states TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance co-founder. “Future generations will look back at the majority of BC’s politicians today who still sanction the elimination of our last endangered old-growth forests on Vancouver Island, despite the second-growth alternative for logging, and see them as lacking vision, compassion, and a spine. We desperately need more politicians with courage and wisdom to step forward.”

Satellite photos show that about 75% of the original, productive old-growth forests on Vancouver Island have been logged, including 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow and most biodiversity is found. On southern Vancouver Island, south of Barkley Sound, about 87% of the original, productive old-growth forests have been logged.

See “before” and “after” old-growth forest maps at: https://ancientforestalliance.org/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/

See other Ancient Forest Alliance’s Youtube Clips of Canada’s largest trees near Pacific Rim National Park Reserve at:

– World’s Largest Douglas Fir – the Red Creek Fir: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfBWLVj-Xjg  

– Canada’s Largest Spruce – the San Juan Spruce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lql9_hWuFLA&NR=1  

– Canada’s Gnarliest Tree – Save the Avatar Grove: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_uPkAWsvVw  

See spectacular photo galleries of Canada’s largest trees at:

https://ancientforestalliance.org/photos-media/

Flagging tape marked "Falling Boundary" in the lower Avatar Grove when the forest was initially surveyed for logging.

Ancient Forest Alliance and Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce cooperate to Protect Old-Growth Forests and Avatar Grove through new Chamber Info Centre

/in

Port Renfrew, BC – The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) is supporting the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce during the launch of a new visitor information centre that will help bolster tourism in the region as well as funnel thousands of visitors into the town’s surrounding ancient forests.

The info centre will play host to a media press conference today, Thursday, July 14 at 12:00 noon, followed by a tour of the nearby unprotected Avatar Grove. Port Renfrew Chamber President Rosie Betsworth and Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer TJ Watt will discuss their cooperative efforts to promote and protect the Avatar Grove and other nearby old-growth forests.

Since the locating of Avatar Grove on Crown lands near Port Renfrew by Watt in late 2009 and shortly afterwards its demarcation with survey tape for logging, “Avatar Grove Fever” has hit Port Renfrew, drawing in thousands of new visitors from far and wide who have come to the see the Grove’s gigantic, burl-covered redcedar trees and rare old-growth Douglas-firs. The Grove has also attracted national and international media including Al-Jazeera TV last March.

In the coming weeks the AFA will continue to pump up the number of visitors to Port Renfrew by telling thousands of its supporters to visit the new info centre and to spend their dollars in town to ensure that the financial benefits of old-growth forest recreation and their eventual protection are reflected in the local economy.

“This is a new, revolutionary approach to conservation for an environmental group to forge a cooperative relationship with a Chamber of Commerce and the small business community to protect the environment and bolster the local economy at the same time,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner.

“Port Renfrew’s economy will greatly benefit from the promotion and protection of the Avatar Grove and local old-growth forests. We are positioned to attract tourists from across Canada, the US, Europe and elsewhere who will come to see some of the largest, most magnificent trees in the world here. Our new info center will be a central hub to direct tourists where to go once they arrive,” stated Rosie Betsworth, Chamber of Commerce president. “Our cooperation with the Ancient Forest Alliance has already resulted in thousands of new visitors to our town over the past year.”

In March of 2011 the AFA helped raise over $5,000 for the Port Renfrew Chamber to help cover staffing costs at the new centre. The fundraiser, held at the Sooke Harbour House, drew a crowd of mostly business owners from the Sooke and Port Renfrew region who recognize the economic and environmental benefits of promoting and protecting BC’s world renowned ancient forests.

Port Renfrew has bragging rights as the “big trees capital of Canada”. The world’s largest Douglas-fir tree, the Red Creek Fir, Canada’s largest Sitka spruce, the San Juan Spruce, and the giant, gnarly trees of the Avatar Grove all grow right on its door step. Just a couple of hours drive north grows Canada’s largest tree, the Cheewhat Giant. A “Tall Trees Tour” map of the Port Renfrew area which features photos, driving directions and background information is now available to hand out to tourists.

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC government to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests, ensure sustainable second-growth forestry, ban raw log exports, and assist in the retooling and development of second-growth mills and value-added facilities.

According to satellite photos, about 90% of the original, productive old-growth forests on Vancouver Island have been logged south of Barkley Sound, including about 96% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow. Only about 6% of the Island’s original, productive old-growth forests are protected in parks.

See “before” and “after” old-growth forest maps at: https://ancientforestalliance.org/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/  

See the Ancient Forest Alliance’s Youtube Clips of Port Renfrew’s (Canada’s) largest trees at:

– World’s Largest Douglas Fir – the Red Creek Fir: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfBWLVj-Xjg  

– Canada’s Largest Spruce – the San Juan Spruce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lql9_hWuFLA&NR=1  

– Canada’s Gnarliest Tree – Save the Avatar Grove: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_uPkAWsvVw  

See spectacular photogalleries of the Avatar Grove and Canada’s largest trees at:

https://ancientforestalliance.org/photos-media/  
 

The Al Jazeera film crew and AFA activists TJ Watt and Ken Wu visit Canada's largest spruce

Al Jazeera Covers Ancient Forest Alliance’s Campaign to Save British Columbia’s Endangered Old-Growth Forests and the Avatar Grove

/in

Victoria, Canada – Al Jazeera, one of the world’s largest international TV news networks, will be featuring a news story this Saturday about the Ancient Forest Alliance’s campaign to protect British Columbia’s endangered old-growth forests and the “Avatar Grove” on Vancouver Island. An Al-Jazeera news crew toured the endangered Avatar Grove, the San Juan Spruce (Canada’s largest spruce tree), and clearcuts near the town of Port Renfrew on southern Vancouver Island last week with Ancient Forest Alliance activists Ken Wu and TJ Watt, and subsequently interviewed BC’s Forests Minister Pat Bell. See Al-Jazeera’s website at: https://english.aljazeera.net/  The news clip is expected to be posted online on Saturday.

 

“This will definitely be the largest news hit we’ve had in many years – I think the last time was sometime in the 1990’s when the campaign to protect Vancouver Island’s old-growth forests was featured in the international TV news media,” stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director. “International audiences will be astounded to see that British Columbia still has thousand year old trees with trunks as wide living rooms and that tower as tall as downtown skyscrapers – and horrified to know that our government still sanctions regularly cutting them down. We desperately need a government plan to save our endangered old-growth forests, to log second-growth forests sustainably, and to end the export of our raw, unprocessed logs to foreign mills in order to sustain Canadian forestry jobs.”

 

Al Jazeera English broadcasts to more than 220 million households in more than 100 countries, and is one of the largest and most esteemed international TV news networks, along with the BBC and CNN. It is the only international news network to have a permanent bureau in Canada in Toronto. The network’s North American viewership has dramatically grown in recent weeks due to its extensive coverage of the recent uprisings in Egypt, Libya,  and throughout the Middle East.

 

75% of Vancouver Island’s ancient forests have already been logged, including 90% of the largest trees that grow in the valley bottoms, according to satellite photos. See “before” and “after” maps at: https://ancientforestalliance.org/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/

 

A couple weeks ago Minister of Forests, Mines, and Lands Pat Bell announced that the British Columbia (BC) government is looking into the possibility of protecting the endangered Avatar Grove near Port Renfrew, and is also looking at developing new legal tools to increase protection of exceptionally grand  heritage trees and groves. See the Minister’s comments in the Vancouver Sun at: [Original article no longer available]

 

“We commend the BC government for considering protection of the Avatar Grove and our province’s largest heritage trees – let’s hope they make good on this. However, much as we need to protect our largest trees, more importantly we need to protect our remaining old-growth forest ecosystems by saving what’s left of them across whole regions, such as on Vancouver Island, because so much has already been logged,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance photographer and campaigner. “This is particularly important if we’re going to sustain our wildlife, water quality, wild salmon, scenery, and wilderness tourism experiences, and to counteract climate change.”

 

The Avatar Grove is the most easily accessible, endangered monumental stand of ancient redcedars and Douglas firs in a wilderness setting on southern Vancouver Island. It also includes what is dubbed “Canada’s Gnarliest Tree”, a giant redcedar with a 3 meter wide burl growing out of its side. It can be accessed not far past the end of a paved road, on relatively gentle terrain, only a 15 minute drive from the town of Port Renfrew. It is home to cougars, wolves, bears, elk, and deer. Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer TJ Watt came across the Avatar Grove in December, 2009, while on an exploratory expedition in the Gordon River Valley. Support for protecting the Avatar Grove is extensive, and includes the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce, the Sooke Regional Tourism Association, and local, elected political representatives at the federal, provincial, and regional levels. See a video clip about the Avatar Grove at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_uPkAWsvVw

 

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC Liberal government to:

 

– Enact a Provincial Old-Growth Strategy to inventory old-growth forests across BC and to protect them where they have been severely depleted by logging, such as on Vancouver Island.

– Ensure the sustainable logging of second-growth forests (60 to 100 year old stands), rather than the dwindling old-growth stands (140 to 2000 years old trees)

– End the export of raw, unprocessed logs from BC to foreign mills in order to sustain the jobs of millworkers in BC. If we are going to leave more trees standing for conservation while sustaining forestry employment levels at the same time, we must do more with the second-growth trees that we log by processing them and creating jobs in the province rather than exporting them to foreign mills.

 

Old-growth forests are important for sustaining endangered species, tourism, the climate, clean water, and many First Nations cultures.  See SPECTACULAR photos of Canada’s largest trees and stumps at:

https://ancientforestalliance.org/photos-media/

 

The Ancient Forest Alliance (www.ancientforestalliance.org) is a new grassroots environmental organization, based in Victoria, British Columbia, working to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests and forestry jobs. The group, founded in January of 2010, now has 20,000 supporters on its supporters lists and Facebook pages. It organizes expeditions to document endangered forests with photography and video, public hiking and camping trips, petition drives (ancientforestalliance.org/ways-to-take-action-for-forests/petition/), letter-writing campaigns, slideshows, and rallies to pressure the BC government to enact new sustainable policies.

 

“This is the first time in years that the BC government has considered developing new legal tools to protect old-growth forests, however limited. They’ve opened the door to expanding protections of our old-growth forests, while recognizing there is a strong public will to see them saved, and that’s good. Now we need a provincial plan to protect our old-growth forests in whole regions where they are endangered,” stated Ken Wu. “The rest of the industrialized world is logging second, third, and fourth-growth trees – very few jurisdictions still have the type of spectacular old-growth forests that we have in British Columbia, and fewer still consider it acceptable to log the last of them.”

AFA Campaign Director Ken Wu sits atop a massive

B.C. looking for new ways to protect ancient trees

/in

VICTORIA — The province is looking at new ways to safeguard ancient trees or groves of forest giants in response to the wishes of British Columbians, says Forest Minister Pat Bell.

In the wake of a report from the Forest Practices Board last week that said creative ways should be found to protect giant trees, Bell has asked the province’s chief forester to look into the matter.

Bell, who has previously emphasized that B.C. has ample protection for old-growth trees, said the change is driven by the public mood.

“For me, what has changed is not whether or not there’s protection for the 10 largest trees or for unique situations such as Avatar Grove. There’s just a public desire to see something stronger than what already exists,” he said.

Any tweaking of existing rules or new protection tools will be “surgical” in nature, allowing the ministry to protect unique individual trees or specific patches of forest around them, Bell said.

A complaint about giant trees cut adjacent to a stand of massive trees nicknamed Avatar Grove, near Port Renfrew, sparked the Forest Practices Board report. Bell said Avatar Grove could be considered a unique circumstance.

“It is certainly one of the areas which could fall within a measure of this sort,” he said.

However, realistically, there was little chance Avatar Grove would have been logged because of the quality of the wood, said Bell, who has been in contact with the Teal-Jones Group, which holds the cutting licence.

“I have had a chat with them and they are quite interested in working with us on it,” he said.

Rick Jeffery, Coast Forest Products Association president, said he is looking forward to hearing what rule changes might be proposed, but the vast majority of monumental trees and groves are already protected by existing regulations.

“Every once in awhile you run across something like Avatar Grove that hasn’t been captured by those rules and it brings all sort of controversy,” Jeffery said.

“But something like that is by far and away the exception, not the rule.”

Regulations for operating in B.C.’s forests are stringent and the 3.5 million hectares set aside for parks and conservancies contain old-growth and monumental trees, Jeffery said.

“The forest industry operates on only 2.5 million hectares and, in any given year, we are cutting about one per cent of that,” he said.

Bell’s apparent change of heart has surprised Ken Wu of the Ancient Forest Alliance, who has campaigned for protection of old-growth ecosystems.

“I have to admit this was an unexpected surprise considering the rocky relationship the B.C. government has had with our campaign for so long,” Wu said.

“If this is genuine, minister Bell should be commended for taking the first steps toward positive change here. Let’s see if this pans out.”

He argued there is an urgent need to protect old-growth ecosystems on a larger scale.

But Bell said any new protection for special trees will not include a ban on logging old-growth or a new old-growth strategy.

“B.C. has more old-growth today than we ever have had,” Bell said.

“We are not running out of old growth on Vancouver Island or in B.C. They are maturing at a level that exceeds any harvest that is taking place.”

Click here to view original article