Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner Andrea Inness walks beside an enormous

NDP under fire for allowing old growth logging near Port Alberni

WATCH more CHEK News coverage about the growing outrage in BC after one of Canada’s widest old-growth Douglas-fir trees was cut down in the Nahmint Valley near Port Alberni.  The piece features interviews from BC Green Party MLA and forest critic Adam Olsen, the AFA's TJ Watt, and Forest Minister Doug Donaldson.

Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner Andrea Inness stands atop Canada's 9th-widest Douglas-fir tree

Old growth logging intensifies in Nahmint Valley

Check out this article from the Nuu-chah-nulth newspaper, Ha-Shilth-Sa, about the massive BC Timber Sales-approved logging happening right now in the Nahmint Valley and the cutting of Canada's ninth-widest Douglas-fir tree (compared to the trees listed on the BC Big Tree Registry). The article includes quotes from old-growth protection advocate Brenda Sayers of the Hupacasath First Nation (one of the Nations in whose territory the logging is taking place).  

Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner Andrea Inness walks beside an enormous

People are furious about the destruction of these old growth giants. And you won’t believe who’s approving it.

Andrea Inness, a forest campaigner with Ancient Forest Alliance, and several other people went on an expedition on May 6, to the Nahmint Valley, which is about an hour outside of Port Alberni on logging roads. Once there, they were horrified to find massive, centuries-old red cedar and Douglas fir trees being cut down.

Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner TJ Watt next to Canada's 9th-widest Douglas-fir tree

Ancient Forest Alliance calls for end to old-growth logging in Nahmint Valley

WATCH: CHEK News video coverage of the 9th-widest Douglas-fir tree, recently felled in the Nahmint Valley near Port Alberni, and see interviews with the AFA's TJ Watt and Andrea Inness and the Port Alberni Watershed-Forest Alliance's Mike Stini.  

Forestry Union President Calls on NDP to Protect BC Forests & Forestry Jobs

Check out this opinion piece by Arnie Bercov, the president of the Public and Private Workers of Canada (PPWC), which represents thousands of forestry workers across BC. The PPWC has joined  in calling on the NDP government to start implementing major policy shifts to end raw log exports, incentivize the development of new second-growth mills and value-added facilities, protect old-growth forests, and support First Nations' land use planning and sustainable economic development

Opinion: Status quo a non-starter in B.C.’s forest industry

Vancouver Sun Op-Ed by Arnie Bercov: Doug Donaldson understands better than most how neglected B.C.’s forests are, and how that neglect is mirrored in troubling job losses and missed employment opportunities in rural towns and First Nations communities. As B.C.’s forests minister, he is also the MLA for the vast Stikine riding where Highway 37 […]

Capturing the art of nature and change

Vancouver Island’s old-growth forests have inspired acclaimed digital artist Kelly Richardson to move to Victoria, to be closer to the inspiration the ancient stands of trees provide. In particular, she has had her eye on Port Renfrew — dubbed the “tall-tree capital” of Canada — and is featuring it in a digital-art creation that will be shown at Imax theatres as part of a film series. The series will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Imax’s invention.

Tall trees draw renowned artist to Saanich

Check out this Saanich News article about artist and UVic visual arts associate professor, Kelly Richardson. Known for hyper-real digital films, Richardson is one of five artists commissioned to produce a large-format digital film short for the 50th anniversary of the invention of IMAX.  Her work will feature and bring attention to the plight of Vancouver Island's endangered old-growth forests. 

Kelly Richardson in Avatar Grove

New Visual Arts Professor Creates Avatar Grove Film Project

Internationally acclaimed artist Kelly Richardson, a new professor in UVic’s Department of Visual Arts, is bringing the old-growth forests near Port Renfrew sharply into focus with a new digital art project. Created with the participation of the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA), Richardson's large-format film will be shot in July at Port Renfrew’s Avatar Grove (a popular nickname for its Nuu-cha-nulth Pacheedaht name of T'l'oqwxwat) by Christian Kroitor, the grandson of IMAX inventor Roman Kroitor, and released on IMAX screens across Canada next year.

Port Renfrew’s Avatar Grove featured in national IMAX series

Sooke News Mirror: A Victoria artist, recognized internationally, will showcase Port Renfrew’s old growth forests in a new IMAX project. Kelly Richardson, who visited Avatar Grove two years ago has chosen it to be featured in her upcoming digital art installation series, which will be projected on IMAX screens across the country in 2019. “Having […]