For Immediate Release
November 30, 2012
Conservationists Relieved as Forest Company Backs Away from Logging Canada’s Finest Old-Growth Cedar Grove, Vancouver Island’s “Castle Grove” in the Upper Walbran Valley
BC government also moving forward with a “legal tool” to potentially protect BC’s largest trees and monumental groves in spring of 2013 – but more comprehensive “ecosystem-level” old-growth protection also needed
See spectacular PHOTOS of the Castle Grove at: https://ancientforestalliance.org/photos.php?gID=21
(NOTE: Media are free to reprint any photos, photo credit to “TJ Watt” if possible.)
Conservationists are breathing a sigh of relief as Canada’s finest stand of old-growth redcedar trees appears to have been spared the axe – for now. The Castle Grove in the Upper Walbran Valley on southern Vancouver Island (west of Lake Cowichan) had been flagged for logging in August by the Teal-Jones Group and subsequently was the focus of an intense environmental campaign by the Ancient Forest Alliance (www.AncientForestAlliance.org). In addition, the Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations has recently indicated that they intend to follow through on a 2011 promise to create a “legal tool” to potentially protect the province’s largest trees and monumental groves, which the AFA would like to see used to protect the Castle Grove.
“We’re happy that the logging company has given some breathing room for Canada’s finest old-growth redcedar grove – now we need the BC Liberal government to follow up with some legal protection so we don’t ever have to refight this again,” stated Ken Wu, executive director of the victoria-based Ancient Forest Alliance. “We’re also pleased to hear that the BC government is finally moving forward with the potential legal protection for BC’s largest trees and monumental groves – whether this actually happens, what legal form it takes, where the protections are located, and how extensive the protections are, won’t be known until the spring. Most importantly however, we need much more comprehensive ‘ecosystem-level’ protection for BC’s endangered old-growth forests, which are vital to sustain endangered species, tourism, the climate, clean water, wild salmon, and many First Nations cultures. Sustainable, value-added second-growth forestry is also needed to support BC forestry jobs, as most of our forests in southern BC are second-growth now.”
In several recent emails to the Ancient Forest Alliance, the Ministry of Forests stated that while the forest company, the Teal-Jones Group, is still actively pursuing old-growth logging in other areas in the region, the company has backed down from their logging plans in the Castle Grove. The email stated:
“There is no cutting permit application for the Upper Castle Grove area. Apparently the company did some preliminary work, hence the tape, but has decided not to pursue any harvesting in that area.”
Another email stated:
The Ministry…is currently conducting policy analysis and stakeholder consultation around legal tool(s) that could specifically protect the big trees we are already aware of. The ministry is also exploring the feasibility of a legal mechanism that could protect big trees that have not yet been located …Options are currently being identified and will be thoroughly analyzed…conclusions and recommendations will be brought forward by the spring of 2013. “
For the past several months the Ancient Forest Alliance had been bracing for a major escalation in BC’s “War in the Woods” as survey tape marking the “falling boundary” for logging had been discovered in August in Upper Castle Grove. Subsequently, the organization began a public awareness campaign that included media coverage (see the Vancouver Sun and Times Colonist article), photography and video expeditions, slideshow tours, and a major letter-writing campaign among thousands of environmental supporters.
“Not all old-growth forests are created equal – the Castle Grove tops all remaining ancient cedar forests that we know for its combined qualities of grandeur, geographic size, and intactness. It’s a real life Jurassic Park-type landscape, a global treasure that must absolutely be protected,” stated TJ Watt, campaigner and photographer with the Ancient Forest Alliance. “Of all places, the Castle Grove is THE place where a legal designation to protect our monumental ancient groves would make the most sense. The existing so-called ‘Special Management Zone’ in the Upper Walbran Valley has resulted in the area’s old-growth forests being turned into Swiss cheese, punctured with major clearcuts throughout.”
The Castle Grove is an extensive stand of densely-packed enormous redcedars, including the “Castle Giant”, a 16 foot (5 meter) diameter cedar that is one of the largest trees in Canada. It sits on unprotected Crown (public) lands within Tree Farm License 46 in the Upper Walbran Valley. Unfortunately much of the grove is not protected by any forest reserve designations such as Old-Growth Management Areas, Ungulate Winter Ranges or Wildlife Habitat Areas. The Walbran Valley has been the focus of protests against old-growth logging for years, and early protests in 1991 there played an important role in the build-up towards the massive Clayoquot Sound protests near Tofino on Vancouver Island in 1993. Most of western Vancouver Island, including the Walbran Valley, is in unceded Nuu-cha-nulth First Nations territory.
See a beautiful photogallery of the Walbran Valley at: https://ancientforestalliance.org/photos.php?gID=7
In February, 2011, former Minister of Forests Pat Bell promised that the BC Liberal government would implement a new legal tool to protect the largest trees and associated groves after a Forest Practices Board report that investigated the logging of an exceptionally grand stand of ancient redcedars near Port Renfrew showed a deficiency in protection levels for productive stands over 400 years in age. The BC government has indicated that they may be looking at using existing legal tools, namely provincial Recreation Sites and Old-Growth Management Areas, to fulfill this function.
See the BC government’s announcement in February, 2011, about creating a new legal tool to protect BC’s largest trees and groves:
Vancouver Sun and Times Colonist: “B.C. looking for new ways to protect ancient trees” (Feb.16, 2011)
“We don’t care if the BC Liberal government uses new or old tools to protect our endangered ancient groves like the Castle Grove. The main thing is they need to actually designate such areas for protection, otherwise it was simply an empty promise for PR purposes at the time,” stated Ken Wu. “Most importantly, the BC Liberal government needs to implement a much more comprehensive Provincial Old-Growth Strategy to protect old-growth ecosystems on a much larger scale across BC.”
The BC government’s PR-spin inflates the amount of remaining old-growth forests by including hundreds of thousands of hectares of marginal, low productivity forests growing in bogs and at high elevations with smaller, stunted trees, lumped in with the productive old-growth forests (where most logging takes place). “It’s like including your Monopoly money with your real money and then claiming to be a millionaire, so why curtail spending?” stated Ken Wu.
These low productivity forests are extensively protected and are disproportionately represented in parks and regulatory-protections compared to the productive, big-treed forests. The government’s statistics also fail to reveal the context of the remaining old-growth forests, that is, how much of these forests once remained across Vancouver Island, including on the vast corporate-owned private lands on eastern Vancouver Island that until recent years were managed as public lands (until the Tree Farm Licenses were removed, thus deregulating the lands) and where about 95% of the old-growth forests have been logged.
On Vancouver Island, satellite photos show that about 75% of the original, productive old-growth forests have already been logged, including 90% of the valley-bottom ancient forests where the largest trees grow and most biodiversity resides. Only about 10% of Vancouver Island’s original, productive old-growth forests are protected in parks and Old-Growth Management Areas (OGMA’s). Of 2.3 million hectares of original, productive old-growth forests on Vancouver Island, about 1.7 million hectares have now been logged. Of the remaining 600,000 hectares of productive old-growth forests, just over 200,000 hectares are protected in parks and regulatory protections like OGMA’s.
See maps and stats at: https://ancientforestalliance.org/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/
The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC Liberal government and the NDP Opposition to commit to implementing a BC Old-Growth Strategy that will protect old-growth forests wherever they are scarce (such as on Vancouver Island, in the Lower Mainland, in the BC Interior, etc.). The AFA is also calling for the sustainable logging of second-growth forests, which constitute most of the forests in southern BC, and to ensure a guaranteed log supply for BC mills and value-added wood manufacturers by ending the export of raw logs to foreign mills.
Tiny Cortes Island girds for battle with China’s huge CIC wealth fund
/in News CoverageResidents of an idyllic island off the west coast of Canada are facing off against corporate opponents set to include a Chinese sovereign wealth behemoth, the US$480 billion China Investment Corporation (CIC).
Environmental activists and Cortes Island residents last week blockaded land owned by the Island Timberlands (IT) company, in a bid to prevent logging. They object to the environmental impact of felling on the island and fear that jobs and economic benefits will be sent to China.
Cortes Island activist Zoe Miles said that a reported deal for CIC to buy a 12.5 per cent stake in IT was a “huge part of the issue”. She also said that because IT was exporting raw logs to China, not finished products, the bulk of the economic benefits were being exported, too.
With a population of about 1,000, the British Columbia (BC) island is known for its natural beauty and thriving arts community.
“We aren’t anti-logging. We’re opposed to Island Timberlands’ model of industrial-scale logging,” said Miles, who was raised on the island, 160 kilometres north of Vancouver.
“The jobs after the cutting of the trees aren’t staying in BC,” she said. “Our concerns are both ecological and economic. We want to preserve the ecosystem and jobs for locals.”
She said the activists wanted IT to produce a logging plan “that meets the community’s desires”. That included preserving old-growth forest, setting logging back from waterways and not clear-cutting.
Some activists, including Ken Wu from the Ancient Forest Alliance, want the provincial government to protect parts of Cortes by purchasing it.
“You ultimately have to buy the private land that you want protected,” said Wu, whose group wants to re-establish a BC parks acquisition fund. “The government isn’t going to expropriate it.”
The Wall Street Journal reported last month that CIC was negotiating with Brookfield Asset Management to buy one-eighth of IT. Brookfield, with US$150 billion in assets under management, is a general partner and “significant majority shareholder” in IT said Brookfield senior vice-president for communications, Andrew Willis.
Willis said he could not comment on the reported US$100 million CIC deal. He said other investors in IT currently include Canadian provincial retirement funds. CIC did not respond to a request for comment.
The blockade last week resulted in IT withdrawing work crews sent to carve out logging roads. IT, the second-largest private landholder in BC, owns about 1,000 hectares on Cortes.
Mark Leitao, director of human resources at IT, said the firm was considering its next move, but still intended to log its land. “At the moment we are taking a rest and exploring our options … but our plan is to harvest those two blocks, safely,” he said.
IT workers were blocked last week by protesters lying in front of vehicles. Some protesters brought placard-waving children to the site.
Leitao said that the land in question was not virgin forest, having been through “at least one rotation” of logging, perhaps as long as 100 years ago. He said the firm was committed to saving “veteran” trees older than 250 years old.
He said that the land would not face clear-cut logging, in which most or all trees are razed.
“We are managing this tree by tree,” Leitao said. “We believe we have done right.”
Although the goal was to replant, he said that some of the felled land could be sold for property development.
Miles, the activist, said that singling out old trees to be saved was not good enough. “We’d draw a distinction between saving individual old growth trees and saving the old growth forest as a whole,” she said.
Link to original online article.
Media Release: BC’s War in Woods on Cortes Island needs Political Leadership
/in Media ReleaseFor Immediate Release
December 6, 2012
Political Leadership Needed to Resolve Cortes Island’s “War in the Woods” and other Island Timberlands battles
Conservationists renew call for BC Liberals to commit to restoring and expanding a “BC Park Acquisition Fund” to purchase and protect endangered forests on private lands
“While private land trusts are vital for conservation, they simply don’t have the capacity to quickly raise the tens of millions of dollars needed each year to protect most endangered lands before they are logged or developed —only governments have such funds,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer.
See the Ancient Forest Alliance’s petition for a BC Park Acquisition Fund at www.BCParkFund.com [Original article no longer available] and a recent newsletter at https://www.bcparkfund.com/newsletter/June-2012-Parks-Acquisition.pdf [Original article no longer available].
Cortes Island residents rejoice as Island Timberlands temporarily withdraws logging crew
/in News CoverageCortes Island forest activists and residents celebrated today as Island Timberlands (I.T.) withdrew crews and announced that they would not attempt to move forward with operations for at least a week.Tensions on the island had been rising since the residents gathered to stage a logging blockade broke at the end of last week.
“We are feeling pleased that our efforts have kept these forests standing, which is a win for the community,” community organizer Leah Seltzer said.
“But we are also aware that I.T. crews could return to the island as early as next week. We are continuing to organize on the ground, expand the movement and prepare for all possibilities.”
The protests were the latest in an ongoing effort by Cortes Island residents to stop logging on their island, which was originally scheduled to begin in January.
Island Timberlands, which plans to industrial log Cortes Island is owned by Brookfield Asset Management with $110 billion in managed assets and bcIMC with $92 billion in managed assets. Recently, China Investment Corporation, a sovereign wealth fund which manages China’s foreign exchange reserves, has negotiated for a 12.5 per cent stake in Island Timberlands.
Island Timberlands expressed a desire to return to negotiations with Cortes Island residents, and their lawyers will be meeting with legal counsel from Straith Litigation Chambers of West Vancouver, who have been retained by Cortes community stakeholders.
Residents of Cortes Island, BC and supporters from across the province began the blockade in late November, in response to the arrival of contractors.
“This follows years of attempts to get Island Timberlands to join us in an ecosystem-based approach to forestry,” Cortes-raised forest activist Zoë Miles said.
“But we have not been met with willingness on the part of I.T. In fact, their logging plans have consistently failed to meet the wishes of the community.” Islanders’ stated wishes are to conserve provincially designated sensitive ecosystems and old-growth stands, protect wetlands and salmon-bearing streams, and agree to no clear-cut logging.
Many Cortes residents have made it clear that they not categorically opposed to all types of logging: they said they would support it if done in a sustainable manner.
At stake are some of the last 1 per cent of old-growth Coastal Douglas-fir forests, a number of documented threatened species, and provincially designated sensitive ecosystems. Also at stake is a local and provincial economy that could use the long-term forestry jobs, say residents who believe I.T.’s industrial forestry model employs few locals, and only for the short term, while shipping most of their logs raw to Asian markets.
Community members hope that the situation can be resolved in a way that meets local needs. Until then, islanders will be standing in the way of the equipment, and keeping a close eye on any further signs of I.T. activity on the island.
Province has no plans to cut old-growth stand in Walbran, near Port Alberni
/in News Coverage[Times Colonist online article no longer available]
A stand of massive old-growth red cedars in the Upper Walbran Valley has escaped the axe, and the province is now looking for ways to protect unusually big trees.
Environmental groups were preparing for another round of the war-in-the-woods after logging tape was found this summer near Castle Grove and the “Castle Giant.” The western red cedar has a five-metre diameter and is listed in the BC Big Tree Registry as one of the widest in Canada.
But Teal Jones Group of Surrey, which holds the cutting licence, will not be logging that area, a Forests Ministry spokesman said in an emailed response to questions Thursday.
Teal Jones has not applied for a cutting permit in that location and “advised that they were not interested in harvesting in that area,” says spokesman Brennan Clarke.
Teal Jones could not be reached Thursday.
The province is also looking at options for protecting big trees and will be consulting with stakeholders, Clarke said. “Those discussions will also examine ways of providing legal protection for big trees that have not yet been located.”
The recommendations are expected in the spring, he said.
Ken Wu of the Ancient Forest Alliance, which launched a campaign to save the grove, said he is relieved Teal Jones is not planning to cut.
“Now we need the BC Liberal government to follow up with some legal protection so we don’t have to refight this again,” he said.
It is good news that the government is looking at legal protection for BC’s largest trees and monumental groves, Wu said. “Most importantly, however, we need much more comprehensive ecosystem-level protection for BC’s endangered old-growth forests.”
Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park was established in 1990. The lower half of the Walbran Valley and the Upper Carmanah Valley were added in 1995.
Environmentalists have continued to push for protection of the valley’s remaining 7,500 hectares.
The Upper Walbran watershed, where Castle Grove is located, is considered a special management zone, Clarke said. “Management in that area is focused on sustaining and conserving the area’s unique ecological areas.”
Media Release: Conservationists Relieved as Forest Company Backs Away from Logging Canada’s Finest Old-Growth Cedar Grove, Vancouver Island’s "Castle Grove" in the Upper Walbran Valley
/in Media ReleaseFor Immediate Release
November 30, 2012
Conservationists Relieved as Forest Company Backs Away from Logging Canada’s Finest Old-Growth Cedar Grove, Vancouver Island’s “Castle Grove” in the Upper Walbran Valley
BC government also moving forward with a “legal tool” to potentially protect BC’s largest trees and monumental groves in spring of 2013 – but more comprehensive “ecosystem-level” old-growth protection also needed
See spectacular PHOTOS of the Castle Grove at: https://ancientforestalliance.org/photos.php?gID=21
(NOTE: Media are free to reprint any photos, photo credit to “TJ Watt” if possible.)
Conservationists are breathing a sigh of relief as Canada’s finest stand of old-growth redcedar trees appears to have been spared the axe – for now. The Castle Grove in the Upper Walbran Valley on southern Vancouver Island (west of Lake Cowichan) had been flagged for logging in August by the Teal-Jones Group and subsequently was the focus of an intense environmental campaign by the Ancient Forest Alliance (www.AncientForestAlliance.org). In addition, the Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations has recently indicated that they intend to follow through on a 2011 promise to create a “legal tool” to potentially protect the province’s largest trees and monumental groves, which the AFA would like to see used to protect the Castle Grove.
“We’re happy that the logging company has given some breathing room for Canada’s finest old-growth redcedar grove – now we need the BC Liberal government to follow up with some legal protection so we don’t ever have to refight this again,” stated Ken Wu, executive director of the victoria-based Ancient Forest Alliance. “We’re also pleased to hear that the BC government is finally moving forward with the potential legal protection for BC’s largest trees and monumental groves – whether this actually happens, what legal form it takes, where the protections are located, and how extensive the protections are, won’t be known until the spring. Most importantly however, we need much more comprehensive ‘ecosystem-level’ protection for BC’s endangered old-growth forests, which are vital to sustain endangered species, tourism, the climate, clean water, wild salmon, and many First Nations cultures. Sustainable, value-added second-growth forestry is also needed to support BC forestry jobs, as most of our forests in southern BC are second-growth now.”
In several recent emails to the Ancient Forest Alliance, the Ministry of Forests stated that while the forest company, the Teal-Jones Group, is still actively pursuing old-growth logging in other areas in the region, the company has backed down from their logging plans in the Castle Grove. The email stated:
“There is no cutting permit application for the Upper Castle Grove area. Apparently the company did some preliminary work, hence the tape, but has decided not to pursue any harvesting in that area.”
Another email stated:
The Ministry…is currently conducting policy analysis and stakeholder consultation around legal tool(s) that could specifically protect the big trees we are already aware of. The ministry is also exploring the feasibility of a legal mechanism that could protect big trees that have not yet been located …Options are currently being identified and will be thoroughly analyzed…conclusions and recommendations will be brought forward by the spring of 2013. “
For the past several months the Ancient Forest Alliance had been bracing for a major escalation in BC’s “War in the Woods” as survey tape marking the “falling boundary” for logging had been discovered in August in Upper Castle Grove. Subsequently, the organization began a public awareness campaign that included media coverage (see the Vancouver Sun and Times Colonist article), photography and video expeditions, slideshow tours, and a major letter-writing campaign among thousands of environmental supporters.
“Not all old-growth forests are created equal – the Castle Grove tops all remaining ancient cedar forests that we know for its combined qualities of grandeur, geographic size, and intactness. It’s a real life Jurassic Park-type landscape, a global treasure that must absolutely be protected,” stated TJ Watt, campaigner and photographer with the Ancient Forest Alliance. “Of all places, the Castle Grove is THE place where a legal designation to protect our monumental ancient groves would make the most sense. The existing so-called ‘Special Management Zone’ in the Upper Walbran Valley has resulted in the area’s old-growth forests being turned into Swiss cheese, punctured with major clearcuts throughout.”
The Castle Grove is an extensive stand of densely-packed enormous redcedars, including the “Castle Giant”, a 16 foot (5 meter) diameter cedar that is one of the largest trees in Canada. It sits on unprotected Crown (public) lands within Tree Farm License 46 in the Upper Walbran Valley. Unfortunately much of the grove is not protected by any forest reserve designations such as Old-Growth Management Areas, Ungulate Winter Ranges or Wildlife Habitat Areas. The Walbran Valley has been the focus of protests against old-growth logging for years, and early protests in 1991 there played an important role in the build-up towards the massive Clayoquot Sound protests near Tofino on Vancouver Island in 1993. Most of western Vancouver Island, including the Walbran Valley, is in unceded Nuu-cha-nulth First Nations territory.
See a beautiful photogallery of the Walbran Valley at: https://ancientforestalliance.org/photos.php?gID=7
In February, 2011, former Minister of Forests Pat Bell promised that the BC Liberal government would implement a new legal tool to protect the largest trees and associated groves after a Forest Practices Board report that investigated the logging of an exceptionally grand stand of ancient redcedars near Port Renfrew showed a deficiency in protection levels for productive stands over 400 years in age. The BC government has indicated that they may be looking at using existing legal tools, namely provincial Recreation Sites and Old-Growth Management Areas, to fulfill this function.
See the BC government’s announcement in February, 2011, about creating a new legal tool to protect BC’s largest trees and groves:
Vancouver Sun and Times Colonist: “B.C. looking for new ways to protect ancient trees” (Feb.16, 2011)
“We don’t care if the BC Liberal government uses new or old tools to protect our endangered ancient groves like the Castle Grove. The main thing is they need to actually designate such areas for protection, otherwise it was simply an empty promise for PR purposes at the time,” stated Ken Wu. “Most importantly, the BC Liberal government needs to implement a much more comprehensive Provincial Old-Growth Strategy to protect old-growth ecosystems on a much larger scale across BC.”
The BC government’s PR-spin inflates the amount of remaining old-growth forests by including hundreds of thousands of hectares of marginal, low productivity forests growing in bogs and at high elevations with smaller, stunted trees, lumped in with the productive old-growth forests (where most logging takes place). “It’s like including your Monopoly money with your real money and then claiming to be a millionaire, so why curtail spending?” stated Ken Wu.
These low productivity forests are extensively protected and are disproportionately represented in parks and regulatory-protections compared to the productive, big-treed forests. The government’s statistics also fail to reveal the context of the remaining old-growth forests, that is, how much of these forests once remained across Vancouver Island, including on the vast corporate-owned private lands on eastern Vancouver Island that until recent years were managed as public lands (until the Tree Farm Licenses were removed, thus deregulating the lands) and where about 95% of the old-growth forests have been logged.
On Vancouver Island, satellite photos show that about 75% of the original, productive old-growth forests have already been logged, including 90% of the valley-bottom ancient forests where the largest trees grow and most biodiversity resides. Only about 10% of Vancouver Island’s original, productive old-growth forests are protected in parks and Old-Growth Management Areas (OGMA’s). Of 2.3 million hectares of original, productive old-growth forests on Vancouver Island, about 1.7 million hectares have now been logged. Of the remaining 600,000 hectares of productive old-growth forests, just over 200,000 hectares are protected in parks and regulatory protections like OGMA’s.
See maps and stats at: https://ancientforestalliance.org/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/
The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC Liberal government and the NDP Opposition to commit to implementing a BC Old-Growth Strategy that will protect old-growth forests wherever they are scarce (such as on Vancouver Island, in the Lower Mainland, in the BC Interior, etc.). The AFA is also calling for the sustainable logging of second-growth forests, which constitute most of the forests in southern BC, and to ensure a guaranteed log supply for BC mills and value-added wood manufacturers by ending the export of raw logs to foreign mills.
Victoria Outreach Intern Position – Apply Now!
/in AnnouncementsThe AFA is looking for a volunteer intern for 2 months to work at least 15-30 hours a week to staff our holiday season booth to assist in the sale of calendars, cards, and posters sales in December, and to assist in outreach to our supporters to help protect BC’s old-growth forests. Interns will also gain insights about important forest policies and environmental campaigning skills. This position starts ASAP.
To apply, please contact Joan Varley: joan@15.222.255.145
Global TV video: Logging protests on Cortes Island
/in News CoverageDirect link to Global TV video.
Human shield stalls Cortes logging for third day
/in News Coverage[Campbell River Mirror article no longer available]
A Cortes Island blockade of Island Timberlands went into its third day Thursday as swelling ranks of environmentalists, residents and their children maintained a human shield against the logging company’s crews and equipment.
Zoe Miles, a member of Wildstands, says, “For more than four years, community members have attempted to work with the company to develop an ecosystem-based approach to forestry. As road-building equipment moves in, the community is now left with no choice but to stand in its path to defend these ecologically significant forests.”
On Tuesday Island Timberlands trucks were stopped at a logging road gate at Basil Creek by two protesters lying on the ground. Company personnel filmed the protesters, likely in preparation for an application for a civil injunction, Miles told the Mirror. On Wednesday, a number of children joined the cause waving placards.
Protester Leah Seltzer says the ranks of the blockaders are swelling daily with the arrival of off-islanders and offers of financial and legal support are coming in.
“People are here because they want to make it known that the industrial forestry model doesn’t work for local communities and it doesn’t work for the province. Island Timberlands will destroy ecologically-sensitive ecosystems and leave nothing beneficial in its wake. We will be left with devastated ecosystems, a contaminated water supply and no long-term jobs. All the benefit is going to people who live far away and who aren’t aware of the cost of their profits to our community and our province.”
Island Timberlands’ Director of Human Resources Mark Leitao says access to “our private property” has been blocked and the company is reviewing its options. He will not say whether those options include seeking an injunction.
“As a result of community feedback we have made significant changes to our logging plans,” Leitao says. “We will log outside the tourist season. We’ve reduced the size of the blocks and changed the configuration of the openings. We plan to retain the veteran old growth trees – which are by government definition 250 year old trees – where it is safe and operationally feasible to do so.”
Activist and Cortes Island land-owner Tzeporah Berman says, “The majority of their logging is traditional clear-cut logging with devastating ecological implications that result in either a change of land use or a dramatically weakened and simplified ecosystem. Cortes resident and Greenpeace co-founder Rex Weyler agrees: “There’s no excuse for industrial-scale logging in these times. Forward looking and economically viable alternatives exist that are based on community health and ecosystem health. Residents have sought Island Timberland’s participation in this kind of forestry model but have been met with disregard.”
Miles says the community protesters hope the blockade does not escalate.
Echo Lake Ancient Forest – Follow-Up Letters Needed! Please WRITE!
/in Take ActionRecently, over a thousand of you wrote letters to the BC government asking for the full protection of the Echo Lake Ancient Forest near Mission (see www.ProtectEchoLake.com), an extremely rare, lowland old-growth rainforest that is also the world’s largest night-roosting site for bald eagles. The BC government is proposing to protect about 45 hectares, or about half, of the old-growth forests around Echo Lake as an Old-Growth Management Area (OGMA). Unfortunately, the government’s proposal excludes spectacular stands of old-growth redcedars and Douglas firs on the west and north sides of the lake.
These unprotected forests are within a Woodlot License, a smaller logging tenure on Crown lands, which the BC government states is not subject to the creation of new Old-Growth Management Areas. However, it is within the government’s power to shift the Woodlot License boundaries to another second-growth forest area among the thousands of hectares of Crown lands in the region.
PLEASE write a follow-up letter asking the BC Liberal government to:
*** Be sure to include your home mailing address so they know you are a real person.
Write to:
Steve Thomson, BC Minister of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations
FLNR.Minister@gov.bc.ca
And CC your letter to:
Enrique Sanchez, Chilliwack District Old-Growth Management Areas (OGMA’s) – Public Review Coordinator
Enrique.Sanchez@gov.bc.ca
Terry Lake, BC Minister of the Environment
ENV.Minister@gov.bc.ca
Christy Clark, Premier of BC
Premier@gov.bc.ca
Norm MacDonald, BC Opposition Forests Critic
Norm.MacDonald.mla@leg.bc.ca
Will logging of ancient forest be halted before it can begin?
/in News CoverageResidents of Cortes Island have formed a blockade to stop the BC based timber company, Island Timberlands (I.T.), from beginning logging operations in one of BC’s last stands of old growth coastal Douglas-fir forest. For over four years, community members have attempted to work with the company to develop an ecosystem-based approach to forestry. As road-building equipment moves in, the community is now left with no choice but to stand in it’s path to defend these ecologically significant forests.
Yesterday, Island Timberlands trucks were stopped at a logging road gate by two protesters lying on the ground. Company personnel filmed the protesters, likely in preparation for an application for a civil injunction. The protesters did not respond to their questions and community members remained on the site until the end of the day.
Adjacent landowners were among the community members present. One couple explained that they have a water license on Basil Creek which runs through Island Timberlands’ property. I.T. plans to log in the riparian area and within 30 feet of the wetland that feeds the salmon-bearing creek. They wrote to Morgan Kennah, Island Timberland’s Manager for Community Affairs, stating their concerns about water supply and contamination. “I thought I would get a letter from Morgan assuring me that my water supply would be safe,” the landowner stated, “but that never happened. I got no response.” Another community member showed up with Christmas decorations and a Christmas tree to lighten the protesters’ spirits.
Leah Seltzer explained the situation in this way, “People are here because they want to make it known that the industrial forestry model doesn’t work for local communities and it doesn’t work for the province. Island Timberlands will destroy ecologically sensitive ecosystems and leave nothing beneficial in its wake. We will be left with devastated ecosystems, a contaminated water supply and no long-term jobs. All the benefit is going to people who live far away and who aren’t aware of the cost of their profits to our community and our province.”
The threatened lands contain some of the last 1% of old-growth Coastal Douglas-fir forests, and, according to Ken Wu of the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA), are some of the most extensive stands remaining in the endangered “Dry Maritime” forests along BC’s southern coast. The forests also contain a number of documented threatened species and sensitive ecosystems.
At this time, I.T. has contracted several local workers but these jobs will only provide short-term employment. More than 60% of I.T.’s raw logs are shipped out of the province to be processed overseas. Standing exclusively to profit are I.T.’s corporate shareholders, which include Brookfield Asset Management and the BC Investment Management Corporation, the pension fund for provincial employees.
While I.T. claims to use sustainable forestry practices, long-time forest activist and Cortes Island land-owner, Tzeporah Berman, warns us not to be fooled: “The majority of their logging is traditional clearcut logging with devastating ecological implications that result in either a change of land use or a dramatically weakened and simplified ecosystem. The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) that Island Timberlands touts does not ensure strong environmental standards and has little support from First Nations or environmental organizations.”
Cortes resident and Greenpeace co-founder Rex Weyler agrees. “There’s no excuse for industrial-scale logging in these times,” he says. “Forward-looking and economically-viable alternatives exist that are based on community health and ecosystem health. Island Timberlands’ plans are a step backwards. Cortes Island is moving forward.” Residents have sought Island Timberland’s participation in this kind of forestry model but have been met with disregard.
Community members hope that the situation will not escalate, and that I.T. will recognize that Cortes holds a rare opportunity to work with a willing community to create a forestry model that benefits everyone. Until then, islanders will be standing in the way of the equipment, and keeping a close eye on any further signs of I.T. activity on the island.
Read more: https://wildstands.wordpress.com/