Media Release

Oct 28 2016

Media Release

Avatar Grove Boardwalk damaged by windstorm – Completion launch delayed until Spring

Damage to the famed Avatar Grove Boardwalk in the Lower Grove due to the hurricane-force winds during the October 15 storm has delayed the completion launch of the Avatar Grove Boardwalk until next spring. The Ancient Forest Alliance had literally just completed the boardwalk a week before the storm, after 3 years of hard work involving a hundred volunteers, and was about to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony last week to announce its completion – but now the launch will be delayed until the boardwalk can be repaired and the trail cleared, which will take several months due to the wet winter weather. The winter storm resulted in at least 30 trees crashing down over the Avatar Grove Trail in the Lower Grove, damaging sections of the boardwalk. Luckily none of the grove’s famed giant redcedars or Douglas-firs fell during the storm.

Sep 22 2016

Media Release

Old-Growth Clearcutting Fragments “Big Lonely Doug’s Mountain” as Calls for Protection Expand during National Forest Week and before UBCM Annual General Meeting

New clearcuts and roads are fragmenting Edinburgh Mountain, one of the largest contiguous blocks of old-growth forest left on southern Vancouver Island, home to the spectacular Eden Grove ancient forest (aka “Christy Clark Grove”) and Big Lonely Doug, Canada’s 2nd largest Douglas-fir tree. In addition, the mountainside above Eden Grove and Big Lonely Doug are threatened with two new planned clearcuts. Conservationists are renewing their call for the provincial government to protect Vancouver Island's old-growth forests during National Forest Week (Sept.18 to 24) and before the Union of BC Municipalities AGM (Sept.26 to 30) next week. 

Aug 4 2016

Media Release

Rare cougar sighting – Mother and juvenile filmed and photographed in the Walbran Valley’s endangered old-growth forest

This past weekend in the Walbran Valley’s endangered old-growth forest, conservation photographer TJ Watt of the Ancient Forest Alliance captured a photograph and video of a rare cougar encounter – two cougars in fact, a large and smaller one, likely a mother with her juvenile offspring. In the brief encounter, the large adult cougar casually bounded across the road, pausing in one instant long enough for Watt to get a somewhat blurry photo through his front window, while the juvenile meandered for about 20 seconds along the road, allowing Watt to capture several seconds of shaky video.

May 31 2016

Media Release

Historic Leap for Old-Growth Forests – BC Chamber of Commerce Passes Resolution for Expanded Protection

The BC Chamber of Commerce passed a resolution at its annual general meeting in Kelowna yesterday calling on the provincial government to increase protection for the province’s old-growth forests. The resolution calls on the province to: “Support the increased protection of old-growth forests in areas of the province where they have or can likely have a greater net economic value for communities if they are left standing for the next generation and beyond.”

Feb 26 2016

Media Release

Old-Growth Momentum Grows as Businesses, City Councils, and Naturalists Speak Up & Renowned Filmmaker Comes to Port Renfrew

Interest and concern for the fate of Vancouver Island’s endangered old-growth forests is on the rise, as a renowned filmmaker and his crew arrived earlier this week from the US to do a piece about the old-growth forests around Port Renfrew. In addition, a growing and diverse base of businesses, municipal councils, and natural history associations have joined the chorus of concerned citizens calling on the province to protect the endangered old-growth forest in the Central Walbran Valley on Vancouver Island near Port Renfrew.