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Standing beside a massive 16ft diameter redcedar stump is Hans Tammemagi

Call for Port Renfrew Foresters not to chop down ancient trees

The Forest Practices Board (FCB) said the trees in question, cut by logging company Teal-Jones, were between 500 and 1,000 years old. Logging the trees was legal, but the board in a report released Thursday called for foresters and land managers to get “creative” about conserving trees of exceptional size, form, age or historical significance.
News Coverage
CRD Director Mike Hicks and son

Avatar hopes high in Port Renfrew chamber

To mark the first anniversary of the discovery of the groves by the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA), the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce is adding its voice to the chorus calling for the grove’s long-term preservation.
News Coverage
Flagging tape marked "Falling Boundary" in the lower Avatar Grove when the forest was initially surveyed for logging.

Port Renfrew’s ‘Avatar Grove’ To Become Eco-Tourism Site

The Ancient Forest Alliance is planning monthly public hikes to the Grove which features 50 hectares of old growth trees, located in an area just discovered by the Alliance a year ago.
Announcements
Hikers gather around the largest alien shaped cedar in the Lower Avatar Grove

Island’s own Avatar Grove to open near Port Renfrew

In hopes of increasing public interest in saving the area from logging, the group is planning monthly public hikes to the grove, starting in January. Meanwhile, the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce has repeated its call for protection of the old-growth stand.
News Coverage
"Canada's gnarliest tree" grows in Avatar Grove

Avatar Grove, the Cathedral Grove of Port Renfrew, under increasing threat due to BC Government intransigence

The BC Ministry of Forests and Range recent rejection of the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce's and the Sooke Regional Tourism Association's request that the Avatar Grove near Port Renfrew be spared from logging has the Ancient Forest Alliance preparing for a ramped-up battle. The organization already has over 2000 members on its “Save the Avatar Grove” Facebook Group and 7000 members on its main Facebook Groups, and will be working to ramp-up membership in the Avatar Grove Group in preparation for a future “Ancient Forest Week of Action” of protests, events, and rallies (dates to be announced) at various BC government offices in numerous communities.
News Coverage
MP Keith Martin stands in front of "Canada's Gnarliest Tree" in the endangered Upper Avatar Grove.

Ancient Forest Alliance supports MP Keith Martin’s proposal to expand Pacific Rim National Park Reserve to include Canada’s grandest old-growth forests

Port Renfrew, BC – The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) is supporting Member of Parliament (Esquimalt- Juan de Fuca) Keith Martin’s proposal to extend Pacific Rim National Park Reserve’s boundaries to protect adjacent endangered forests, including the grandest stands of old-growth trees in Canada. Last week Martin joined Ancient Forest Alliance activists TJ Watt and Brendan Harry on a guided tour through the spectacular Avatar Grove and a nearby clearcut filled with giant stumps near the national park reserve.
Media Release
Ancient Forest Alliance

Tall Tree Festival in Port Renfrew

The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) would like to extend a huge THANK YOU to everyone at Radio Contact Productions, Bigfish Lodge, Wild Coast Cottages, and Sitka Surfboards for organising such a successful event and so generously supporting the AFA. Thanks, as well, to all the volunteers, the event sponsors, the amazing musicians, and everyone who attended in support of the AFA!
Announcements
2011 Tall Tree Music Festival - Port Renfrew

Tall Tree Music Festival in Port Renfrew, Friday June 25 – Sunday June 27

This weekend festival in Port Renfrew is being hosted by various local businesses, including the Bigfish Lodge, Wild Coast Cottages, Sitka Surfboards, and Radio Contact Productions, in support of the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA). The festival will feature bands and DJs from across Canada playing in a coastal venue with views over the West Coast Trail and the Port San Juan. Proceeds from the ticket sales will be donated to the AFA. For more information, please visit https://www.radiocontact.ca/
Announcements
San Juan Spruce tree and the Red Creek Fir - some of the Canada's largest trees found right nearby!

Reinventing Renfrew

When members of the Ancient Forest Alliance asked Port Renfrew restaurant owner Jessica Hicks to host a public meeting about a stand of old growth trees dubbed Avatar Grove, Hicks thought she might use the event as a fundraiser for the fledgeling environmental group. Then, reflecting on her Coastal Kitchen Cafe’s place in the community and the smouldering tension between environmentalists and B.C.’s logging towns, Hicks decided a simple information session might ruffle fewer feathers.
News Coverage
Ancient Forest Alliance

Discover Sooke Blog – Avatar Grove in Port Renfrew

From the Discover Sooke tourism website: "Over the long weekend, Mrs. Discover Sooke and I, made the trek west from Sooke to Port Renfrew to visit the much talked about piece of land with a few remaining first growth forest trees standing on it. This piece of land has been dubbed “Avatar Grove”, after the movie, for its large and gnarly trees."
News Coverage