Forests

Outside Magazine: Forest Selfies Are Helping Save B.C.'s Old-Growth Trees

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The public response to the before and after images of ancient trees cut down in the Caycuse watershed has been overwhelming. In this Outside Magazine piece, I chat with Malcolm Johnson about the process involved with capturing the beauty and loss of old-growth forests and what's needed to protect them.

“I’d love it if the need for my job didn’t exist. There are plenty of things I’d rather be doing than trudging around photographing giant stumps. It’s emotionally exhausting work, and it’s devastating to go back and see these places that you’ve grown to love get destroyed. Someday it would be nice to not associate feelings of anxiety with the forests I care about and just be able to rest knowing that they’ll be around for generations to come. It’s as simple as that, really."

See the photos and read the article here: https://www.outsideonline.com/2420507/bc-forests-photos-before-after

Before & after old-growth logging of a giant cedar in the Caycuse Valley on Vancouver Island.

McKelvie Valley near Tahsis to be Protected from Logging

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Nice to start the year off with some good news! It looks like the amazing McKelvie Valley near Tahsis will be protected from logging! Congrats to Mayor Martin Davis, the village of Tahsis, and everyone who advocated for its protection over the years. See the news article with details here.

Located in Mowachaht/Muchalaht territory, the McKelvie is the last intact watershed in the Tahsis region and is home to incredible old-growth forests, important wildlife habitat, and is the source of drinking water for the community. Western Forest Products had previously planned to blast roads and clearcut vast swaths of the valley, as highlighted in our 2019 Community Spotlight video below.

It's a great feeling to know that this beautiful area will now remain pristine for years to come and that public efforts and advocacy can and do make a difference!

Caycuse Before & After Old-Growth Logging

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This is not a series I ever hoped to complete but the following are before and after images of giant ancient cedars cut in the Caycuse watershed in Ditidaht territory on southern Vancouver Island. Earlier this month I revisited a magnificent grove that I had explored and photographed earlier this year, only this time it was the stumps of those same trees that would be my focus. Gone were the vibrant flourishes of red, green, and gold. Instead, a bleak, grey landscape lay before, utterly unrecognizable from what I remembered. Heart wrenching as they are, I hope these images stand as stark example of what is still happening everyday across BC everyday and what needs to end now.

We need everyone to SPEAK UP!! Contact Premier John Horgan and demand that the BC NDP show they're serious about saving old-growth by immediately halting logging in the most endangered forests and allocating funding in Budget 2021 for Indigenous protected areas and economic alternatives to old-growth logging.

• Email John Horgan here: premier@gov.bc.ca or here: www.ancientforestalliance.org/send-a-message
• Phone him at: 250-387-1715

• CBC News: Conservationists demand fast action from B.C.'s new forestry minister on protection for old-growth trees
• The Guardian: Photography campaign shows the grim aftermath of logging in Canada's fragile forests
• The Narwhal: In photos: see old-growth go from stand to stump on B.C.’s Vancouver Island
• Outside Magazine: Forest Selfies Are Helping Save BC’s Old-Growth Trees
• Treehugger: Photos Raise Alarm Over Old-Growth Logging in British Columbia

BC government Releases Old Growth Strategic Review Panel’s Report - Takes First Small Step Towards Potential Big Changes for Old-Growth

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BREAKING: The BC government has released the Old Growth Strategic Review Panel’s report and announced it will immediately defer logging in nine areas, including the famous Clayoquot Sound and the intact McKelvie Valley near Tahsis, and protect up to 1,500 of BC’s biggest trees while it works to develop a new provincial approach to old-growth management. More deferrals are also expected after further discussions with First Nations.

These first steps are an encouraging start and the result of concerned people like you speaking up! Thank you!!

But more work still needs to be done. The vast majority of productive big tree ancient forests, of which only 3% remain in BC, are still at-risk. There are also no funding commitments yet for the transition to sustainable, second-growth forestry, for new Indigenous Protected Areas, or for the economic diversification of First Nations communities.

The panel’s report is a blueprint for a complete paradigm shift in how BC manages old-growth forests. Now, the province must commit to fully implementing all 14 recommendations.

• Read our Ancient Forest Alliance press release below for details and our full response: https://www.ancientforestalliance.org/bc-old-growth-panel-report-announcement/

• See the BC government's announcement here: https://archive.news.gov.bc.ca/releases/news_releases_2017-2021/2020FLNR0058-001711.htm

• Read the Old Growth Strategic Review panel's report here: https://engage.gov.bc.ca/app/uploads/sites/563/2020/09/STRATEGIC-REVIEW-20200430.pdf

An aerial view of old-growth forests in Clayoquot Sound, part of a 260,578 ha temporary deferral that will prohibit logging in this area.

Anderson Lake Hike - Walbran Valley

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Spent the weekend in the Walbran and hiked out to Anderson Lake for a swim. In the 15 years I've been going out there now, somehow I’ve never made it all the way to the lake! Thanks to recent trail improvements though by rockstar volunteers, it's much easier to find the way there now. Still a decent trek though - about a 10km round trip that includes a log jam crossing - but nice to take a dip in the lake as a reward! The Sitka spruce are hugely impressive as well and thankfully protected within the provincial park, unlike the endangered cedar groves growing nearby. Maxine’s Tree, one of Canada’s largest sitka spruce trees, is a wonder to behold. It grows about 3/4 of the way along to the trail to Anderson Lake. GPS coordinates for the tree: 48.669953, -124.598958. Google map: https://goo.gl/maps/37aoMxodcJtKYPyg9

Maxine's Tree, one of Canada's largest spruce trees! 265ft tall and 13.2ft wide. A true giant!

Independent Report Reveals BC Government Misleading Public on Status of Old-Growth Forests

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On my birthday last week, an independent report titled "BC's Old Growth Forest: A Last Stand for Biodiversity" was published revealing the dire state of productive old-growth forests in BC (see below).

Despite the brutal reality this research has highlighted, I still consider it one of the best presents ever in that it unequivocally dispels the misleading statistics and tricks peddled by the BC government that try to make it seem like there is no crisis in the woods. They can't hide from this one though and it's already making an impact. My deepest gratitude extends to the report's authors, Dr. Rachel Holt, Dr. Karen Price, and Dave Daust for their most important work on this.

Below are some of the key findings of the report:

1. The BC government maintains there are 13.2 million hectares of old-growth in BC, but fails to acknowledge that only 400,000 ha (or 3%) of those old forests are capable of growing big trees.

2. Highly productive forests with the potential to grow very large trees (like the ones we feature in our photos) cover less than 3% of the province. 97.3% of this 3% has been logged and only 2.7% remains as old-growth.

3. Most (over 75%) of the fraction of remaining high productivity old-growth forests are slated for logging.

4. The province's old-growth protection levels are grossly inadequate, placing most higher productivity forest ecosystems across the province at "high risk" of species loss and losing ecological integrity.

The report's authors, Ancient Forest Alliance, and other conservation groups are calling on the Province to:

1) Enact immediate logging moratoria in:
- all endangered forest types with less than 10 percent old-growth remaining;
- all high productivity old and mature forests;
- landscape units (i.e. clusters of watersheds) at "high risk" of losing ecological integrity;
- very old, irreplaceable forests; and
- remaining intact areas or old-growth ‘hotspots’ like Vancouver Island's Central Walbran Valley.

2) Set legislated, science-based old-growth protection targets for endangered old-growth across the province.

More to come on this but in the meantime you can always contact your MLA to voice your concerns around protecting old-growth (Look them up here: https://www.leg.bc.ca/learn-about-us/members) or send a message to the BC Government here: https://www.ancientforestalliance.org/send-a-message.

Media Coverage:

• The Narwhal: B.C. old-growth data ‘misleading’ public on remaining ancient forest: independent report 
• Vancouver Sun: Scientists conclude B.C.'s count of old-growth forest greatly overestimated
• CBC News: B.C. vastly overestimates size of its old-growth forest, independent researchers say
• Victoria News: Big old trees almost gone forever in B.C., scientists warn
• CKPG Today (with TV news piece): Old growth forests logged to ecological limits: Report

Before & after of BC’s 9th widest known Douglas-fir tree, cut down by BC Timber Sales in the Nahmint Valley near Port Alberni.

Loup Creek: Exploring for Ancient Giants

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In March, I identified a spectacular grove of unprotected ancient giants along Loup Creek near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory. This region was heavily logged in the 1970s and 80s, save for a strip of old-growth along the river. Most of the old-growth that remains today along Loup Creek is protected within an Old Growth Management Area and a Wildlife Habitat Area (WHA) for marbled murrelets. But a prime section (pictured below) containing dozens and dozens of ancient redcedars, giant amabalis fir, and Douglas-fir trees was left unprotected. While bushwhacking, we also spotted ribbons marked "Falling Boundary" and "Road Location", indicating potential future logging plans by Teal-Jones.

The BC government is currently working to expand WHAs for marbled murrelets. We've recommended to the Ministry of Forests that this grove should be added to the adjacent WHA, ensuring a contiguous stretch of old-growth is protected along the river, but we don't know whether they will listen.

Tell BC Forests Minister Doug Donaldson to enact both immediate and longer-term, science-based solutions for ancient forests by: 1) Emailing him at: FLNR.Minister@gov.bc.ca. 2) Tagging him on Twitter using @DonaldsonDoug 3) Phoning his office at: 250-387-6240