Until recently, the Upper Tsitika Valley on northern Vancouver Island and Catherine Creek may have been the largest remaining tract of contiguous unprotected old-growth forest left on the east side of Vancouver Island. Old-growth logging since 2012, when these photos were initially taken, had since fragmented much of what remained.
The valley bottom forests of the Tsitika Valley provide amazing habitat for Roosevelt elk and black-tailed deer, as well as their predators, cougars and coastal grey wolves. Surveys by ornithologists in the valley, with help from Ancient Forest Alliance, also found its old-growth forests support a population of threatened western screech-owls. Intact old-growth forests also protect the Tsitika River from siltification, which is extremely important for the resident killer whales who have their traditional “rubbing beaches” at Robson Bight in the estuary of the Tsitika.
Much work remains to help ensure the old-growth forests of the Tsitika get the protection they deserve.
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