Recent News

A dwindling black-tailed deer population on the Island is further at risk after clearcutting near Caycuse Valley, according to Ken Wu, president of the Ancient Forest Alliance, who has called on the province to protect more old-growth forests.

The Ancient Forest Alliance has released a video clip documenting the recent clearcutting of an extremely rare old-growth Douglas fir forest on Vancouver Island that served as vital wintering habitat for the Island’s diminishing black-tailed deer population.

Meet 1:00 pm in Port Renfrew at the new Tourist Info Center (right side of the road upon entering town), after which time we’ll drive in a convoy to the Avatar Grove. Hike 1:30 – 3:30 pm. Cost: sliding scale - $25 to $100 per individual (children are free)

McKay is the author of twelve books of poetry and has been publishing since 1973. His poems are ecologically centred, inspired by the conflict between inspiration and spiritual, instinct and knowledge and he sees his writing as “nature poetry in a time of environmental crisis.”

Canada’s largest tree, a western redcedar named the “Cheewhat Giant” stands in a remote location near Cheewhat Lake west of Lake Cowichan. The tree is over six meters (20 feet) in trunk diameter, 56 meters (182 feet) in height and 450 cubic meters in timber volume (or 450 regular telephone poles’ worth of wood).

The move to protect the grove has the support of the local chamber of commerce and the logging company that has the cutting rights to the area, but Wu says without park status, there is no guarantee the grove will not be logged in the future.

Speaking on CFAX 1070 with Adam Stirling Tuesday afternoon, the group's spokesperson Ken Wu says the government made the commitment on Saturday

On Saturday, the Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations publicly stated their commitment to designate the entire Avatar Grove off limits to logging through an Old-Growth Management Area (OGMA).