On Feb. 25, two proposed bills, Bill 4 and Bill 5, entered their second reading and almost no one noticed. If passed, the two amendment bills — known as the Park Amendment Act and the Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Statutes Amendment Act — would adversely affect forest-based jobs and our protected areas network, which are anchors for the motto “Super Natural B.C.”
Global TV's (BC's largest TV news station) main news piece about "Big Lonely Doug", which may be Canada's 2nd largest Douglas-fir. Global TV joined the AFA's TJ Watt and Ken Wu on a tour of the tree and clearcut yesterday.
Global TV "pre-news piece" snippet using the AFA's still photos about Big Lonely Doug, which may be Canada's second largest Douglas-fir.
Activists with the Ancient Forest Alliance say provincial government should do more to protect the province’s biggest trees. “There is an urgency to protect these areas because old-growth logging continues right near Port Renfrew,” says Watt. The organization has been calling for provincial legislation to protect big trees and monumental groves. See here for comprehensive coverage including TV news video, gallery of photos and written article on Global TV's website.
"Big Lonely Doug" is covered in a Chinese-language newspaper, the Epoch Times.
"The AFA also warned that the number of tall trees similar to Big Lonely Doug are growing scarce in the Pacific Northwest. 'The days of colossal trees like these are quickly coming to an end as the timber industry cherry-picks the last unprotected, valley-bottom, lower elevation ancient stands in southern B.C. where giants like this grow.'"
Judging from the rings on nearby stumps, the tree could be nearly 1,000 years old. "These types of colossal growth trees historically built B.C.'s logging industry. Now they're just about gone," Wu said. The group is calling for legislation to protect old-growth ecosystems and the big trees they contain. Wu noted the area where Big Lonely Doug was found now has even greater claim as the tall tree capital. The world's largest recorded Douglas-fir stands in the nearby San Juan River Valley and is measured to be 73.8 metres tall and 13.28 metres in circumference. "The biggest spruce is also there, there's the biggest cedar in Cheewhat Lake, and then there's Avatar Grove."
The Ancient Forest Alliance has spent years tracking down Vancouver Island’s largest trees in an effort to bring awareness to the plight of old growth forests. Claiming only 10 per cent of the productive, old growth forest on the Island is under protection, Wu believes more protection is needed. “Second-growth forests in B.C. are logged every 50 years, so if you lose something that doesn’t come back for another 1,000 years, it’s gone for good,” he said. “And all the creatures associated with these ancient forests lose their habitat.” Wu said the forest around Big Lonely Doug would have served as habitat for the endangered Queen Charlotte goshawk.
Here's a news clip by CHEK TV on Big Lonely Doug, the 2nd largest Douglas-fir in Canada, featuring the photos of the AFA's TJ Watt.
Newly-measured “Big Lonely Doug” is a gargantuan, old-growth Douglas-fir tree now standing alone in a recent logging clearcut on southern Vancouver Island. Conservationists call for comprehensive provincial legislation to protect BC’s biggest trees, monumental groves, and endangered old-growth forests on the International Day of Forests today, according to a press release from Ancient Forest Alliance.
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