Jul 22 2016

‘Generational amnesia’ softens fight for forests

Jack Knox in the Times Colonist: The future of the forests was once seen as being inextricably linked with the identity, economy and culture of the Island, and the resulting tugs-of-war were big news, not just here but abroad. In 1993, the legendary War in the Woods, the massive campaign against Clayoquot Sound logging, drew international attention as 850 protesters were charged. Activist rockers Midnight Oil —whose big, bald singer, Peter Garrett, later became Australia’s environment minister — played a concert at the protesters’ camp. Environmental lawyer Robert Kennedy, Jr. (another kind of rock star) waded into the fray. International pressure, the threat of boycott, eventually contributed to B.C. forestry reform. It would be wrong to drag out some “if a tree falls in the forest” metaphor and say nobody cares about this stuff anymore. They do — and in the mainstream, too. In May the B.C. Chamber of Commerce, hardly a bastion of hemp-hatted hippies, called on the province to expand protection of old-growth forests in areas where they have, or are likely to have, greater economic value if left standing.

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Jul 20 2016

Vancouver Island old growth on brink of collapse, environmental group claims

This spring, the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce pitched a bold policy to the 36,000 businesses that make up the B.C. Chamber of Commerce (BCCC). Its bottom line: old growth forests have greater economic value as a tourism attraction than as logs. "We raised the flag and said, 'Hey, it makes more sense to bring the tourists in than to take the logs out,'" said Hagar. The policy was overwhelmingly supported by members of the BCCC, and this week, management will individually write each of the B.C.'s ministries outlining their new policies. About five years ago, the Ancient Forest Alliance successfully lobbied the B.C. government to protect Avatar Grove, a cluster of 80 metre-tall old growth Douglas fir and western red cedar thought to have sprung up 800 years ago.... That's when Hagar really started to notice some changes. 'People love history and people love this idea of environmental tourism,' he said. 'Old growth, big trees are good for business.'

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Jul 12 2016

The fight to save Echo Lake’s old trees and wildlife has begun

Here's a new story in today's Globe and Mail about the old-growth forest campaign, spearheaded by local landowners Susan and Stephen Ben-Oliel and supported by the Ancient Forest Alliance, to protect all of the forests in the mountains surrounding Echo Lake (a rare lowland old-growth forest between Mission and Agassiz in Sts'ailes territory, and also the world's largest night-roosting site for bald eagles) from logging: “Echo Lake is home to the largest night-roosting site for bald eagles on Earth,” said Mr. Wu, who in 2012 launched a campaign to save the area, then slated for logging. In 2013, the British Columbia government set aside 55 hectares, protecting just over half the old-growth cedars and Douglas firs around the lake. Mr. Wu wasn’t satisfied and since then has been pushing for the addition of another 40 to 60 hectares to the reserve, which would protect the key eagle area. “That would get the bowl, essentially the mountain and forest that rings Echo Lake. So it should be a no-brainer at this point,” he said.

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Jul 10 2016

New calls for a moratorium on old-growth logging

Here's a new Focus magazine article by Briony Penn about Vancouver Island's old-growth forests, featuring forest ecologist Dr. Andy MacKinnon, Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce president Dan Hager, Jens Wieting of the Sierra Club, AFA, Ahousaht and Tofino councils, and the growing support among businesses, chambers of commerce, and municipal councils for protecting BC's old-growth forests.

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Jun 18 2016

Voice of BC: Water, Trees & Climate

The AFA's Ken Wu joins Ben Parfitt of the Centre for Policy Alternatives on a pundit panel on the Voice of BC (aka "the Vaughn Palmer show") on aspects of forest, water, and climate policy in BC.

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Jun 18 2016

Axing old growth a crime against nature

The Vancouver Sun's columnist Stephen Hume came with us to see the endangered Cameron Valley Ancient Forest (ie. "Firebreak"), a truly spectacular lowland stand of densely-packed, monumental old-growth Douglas-firs akin to a "second Cathedral Grove". This grove stands out as among the finest remaining old-growth Douglas-firs anywhere left on the planet and is of international conservation significance. Please share and add your voice to the comments section at the end!

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Jun 5 2016

Vancouver Island growing away from old growth logging?

Here's a very insightful article about the shift underway in the economy and attitudes among the business community and in rural communities (spearheaded by the efforts of the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce and the Ancient Forest Alliance, with a growing chorus of voices gathering steam, including the BC Chamber of Commerce and the AVICC) towards favouring increased protection of old-growth forests - in part to support a more sustainable economy! This is worth sharing! Again take note that the BC government and logging industry's stats on how much old-growth remains and is protected are deliberately misleading by including stunted non-commercial bogs and subalpine stands on steep rocky mountainsides with the productive stands with big trees targeted by the logging industry, and by combining the northern rainforest (the Great Bear Rainforest) where huge progress in protection levels has occurred as a result of environmental boycotts of logging companies (followed by 15 years of negotiations) along with the southern rainforest (Vancouver Island and the southwest mainland) where protection levels are very minor, old-growth forests have been much more heavily logged, and the forests are different (ie. different biodiversity, ecosystems, and generally much larger, grander ancient trees), ie. the northern and southern coasts are two very different regions and should not be confused and mixed together, unless your goal is to mislead people...

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Jun 5 2016

Some say the fate of British Columbia’s old-growth forests rests in the balance

Here's a new article featuring renowned forest ecologist Dr. Andy MacKinnon about the fate of BC's endangered old-growth forests. Take note that the forest industry and BC government are spinning the situation about old-growth forests to make it appear as if they are not endangered and that they are already well protected - this is completely false, and they do this by including vast areas of stunted marginal non-commercial stands (bog forests, high elevation and far northern old-growth forests on steep rock faces with small trees, etc.) with the productive old-growth stands with big trees that have been heavily logged, and by combining the southern rainforest (Vancouver Island and Lower Mainland) with its different ecosystems, higher levels of logging, and far lower protection levels, with the northern rainforests (Great Bear Rainforest) where 20 years of boycotts by environmental groups of logging companies in the area resulted in a far greater level of protection in a more intact region of the province, ie. they are two different regions.

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Jun 4 2016

Editorial: Good ecology is good economics

"The chamber voted this week to ask the province to expand protection of old-growth forests in areas where they have, or likely would have, greater economic value if left standing. Old-growth forests and other pristine areas of B.C. attract an increasing number of visitors, and will continue to generate jobs forever. When an area is logged off, the jobs are gone until the forest regenerates, and that takes a long, long time. We should remember, too, that forests are about more than esthetics or recreation — they are vital to the health of our watersheds and even the air we breathe. Businesses are increasingly recognizing that environmental sustainability is not only good business, it is essential. More and more investors are demanding that corporations be environmentally responsible as well as fiscally responsible. They have recognized what we must all recognize — that if we don’t look after the environment, we won’t have an economy."

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Jun 3 2016

B.C. Chamber of Commerce hugs old-growth trees

BC Chamber of Commerce calls for increased old-growth forest protection in BC: "The resolution also called on the province to enact new regulations — incorporating such strategies as old-growth management areas, wildlife-habitat areas or land-use orders — with an eye on eventually legislating permanent protection through provincial park or conservancy status." While the chamber of commerce also continues to support the forest industry (which is now based primarily on second-growth stands for most of its cut), as it traditionally has for decades, for the organization's membership to also vote to expand protections for old-growth forests and thus "break through" the mold of the old 1990's land use plans (which cap protection levels on Vancouver Island at 13% of the landbase and about 6% of the productive forests) is a new thing - and a very positive leap forward!

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