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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Ancient Forest Alliance
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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May 27 2016

‘Insane Damage’: Activist Accuses Logger of Breaking Disclosure Law

The East Creek Rainforest near the Brooks Peninsula on NW Vancouver Island, until recent years was one of the most intact old-growth valleys left on the southern coast until LeMare and Lionsgate logging began clearcutting huge sections of its ancient forests. This is an ecological travesty.

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Ancient Forest Alliance
May 26 2016

ELF sets up new protest camp, wins backing from Sierra Club

The Elphinstone Logging Focus is working to stop a BC Timber Sales (a BC government-directed logging cutblock) cutblock in the biologically rich mature forests on the slopes of Mount Elphinstone near Gibsons: https://www.coastreporter.net/news/local-news/elf-sets-up-new-protest-camp-wins-backing-from-sierra-club-1.2263907 You can see their website here: https://www.loggingfocus.org/

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May 11 2016

A crisis in Island’s old-growth forests

Here's a letter from Oak Bay-Gordon Head MLA and Green leader Andrew Weaver about the need for the province to support a science-based plan to protect the endangered old-growth forests of BC.

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Apr 17 2016

Overwhelming beauty: Almost every inch of Port Renfrew, B.C., inspires awe

This travel feature in the Globe and Mail focuses on Port Renfrew and talks about the Ancient Forest Alliance and the Avatar Grove/ boardwalk (***take note we'll be recruiting more volunteers and raising funds to try to finish the boardwalk by this summer): "There’s a fascinating back story to Avatar Grove, which only got its name a few years back after the Ancient Forest Alliance campaigned to have the area saved from logging and it was declared a protected area in 2012. Named after James Cameron’s epic 2009 movie, it’s home to some of the most ancient trees on Vancouver Island and just a few minutes drive from Port Renfrew. Unlike Cathedral Grove, a protected old-forest area on the way to Tofino, Avatar Grove is no simple stroll. Although the AFA has been laying down boardwalk to protect the root systems of the trees, there’s still plenty of clambering over logs and navigating slippery slopes before you reach the famous Gnarly Tree. You spend so much time looking where you’re going, in fact, that when you finally stop and look up, it’s more than a little overwhelming. Thoughts crash through your mind in rapid succession: Oh wow, that’s so beautiful. Oh man, that’s so big! And, most importantly: How the hell did anyone even think about logging this treasure?"

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Apr 1 2016

Vancouver Island’s old-growth forest an ‘ecological emergency’: Sierra Club

Here's a good article by Justine Hunter of the Globe and Mail, with a photo of the Walbran Valley by the AFA's TJ Watt. The article features Jens Wieting of the Sierra Club of BC and Dr. Richard Hebda: Just one-tenth of Vancouver Island’s most productive old-growth rainforest with the tallest trees remains unlogged, he said, and some of that is currently approved for logging. The B.C. government states that on Vancouver Island, 46 percent of the forest on Crown land is still covered by old-growth forest, but Mr. Wieting said that figure is inflated because the province includes less productive ecosystems such as bogs or sparsely treed high elevations. What remains, he said, is a patchwork of forests that are too small to ensure biodiversity. “For Vancouver Island and British Columbia’s south coast, we believe it is urgent to develop a new conservation plan to safeguard the remaining intact areas and to restore older second growth so that we can have some connectivity,” he said in an interview.

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Mar 22 2016

Council endorses Pop for Parks

More good news! THANKS to all of you who wrote letters, the Saanich council has voted overwhelmingly (8 to 1) in favour of our resolution asking the province to implement a natural land acquisition fund (using the "pop for parks" mechanism") to purchase and protect endangered ecosystems on private lands in BC, similar to the CRD's land acquisition fund that has been key to protect the Sooke Hills and Potholes, Jordan River, Mount Maxwell, and other key green spaces. Saanich now joins the councils of Victoria and Highlands in passing the resolution. Also see the AFA and ELC's original media release at: https://ancientforestalliance.org/news-item.php?ID=950

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Mar 16 2016

Ancient Forest with some of the largest cedar trees in B.C. will be class A park

Great news! The province has established a new 11,900 hectare protected area east of Prince George that includes important tracts of the famous ancient redcedar groves (including around the famous Ancient Forest Trail) in the inland temperate rainforest. Thanks to the Lheidli T'enneh First Nation, the Northern Wetbelt Working Group (who have been working for a substantially more extensive, science-based protected areas network in the region to protect more of the inland temperate rainforest) and the province for this important step forward in old-growth forest protection! Also take note you can still sign-on to the Northern Wetbelt Working Group's letter for expanded protection in the region (if you haven't already) at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/16hq-R8ZOylR-wLSz9OjbxRdf4NYHYnG9Uo1Lu12qr0U/viewform

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