Canada's Largest Spruce Tree, the San Joseph Spruce - Vancouver Island, BC.

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Canada’s largest spruce tree stretches towards the night sky as a full moon rises over northern Vancouver Island. Located near the San Josef River outside of Holberg in Quatsino territory, the San Joseph Spruce, aka ‘San Jo’s Smiley’, measures 255 ft (77.8 m) tall and 14.3 ft (4.36 m) in diameter. Standing at the base of the tree is akin to being a bug beside the foot of a giant elephant (Ian pictured here is 6’4 for scale). Pretty mind-blowing to say the least.

Please take a moment to reflect on the significance of our forest friends and send an instant message calling for their protection. Fine art prints available here.

[o] Canon 5D MKIV, 15mm fisheye, 30-second exposure, headlamp + moonlight, and a little bit of magic.

Hiking the Nootka Trail on the west coast of Vancouver Island, BC

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In 2020, a group of friends and I spent a week hiking the incredible Nootka Trail along the west side of Nootka Island in Mowachaht/Muchalaht and Nuchatlaht territory. The 35-kilometer-long coastal hike winds along white sandy beaches with waterfalls, wolves, and whales, and through lush rainforest home to towering cedar and spruce trees. It was a heavenly hike, despite hauling a 60lb bag loaded with heavy camera gear in case we saw wildlife, which we most certainly did! Only took me three years to go through the thousand+ photos but I’m happy to finally share some of my faves.

Despite its amazing natural beauty, the majority of Nootka Island still remains unprotected and threatened by industrial logging. Ancient Forest Alliance is currently working to support local First Nations and their Salmon Parks Initiative which will begin to help conserve some of this spectacular region.

Canada's Most Impressive Tree - Flores Island, Clayoquot Sound, BC

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This is huge - literally! I’m thrilled to share images of what may very well be Canada’s most impressive tree. This gargantuan redcedar measures over 17 ft (5 m) wide near its base and 151 ft (46 m) tall. However, unlike most other trees, its trunk gets wider going upwards, culminating in a sprawling fortress-like crown of wooden spires akin to a massive wooden wall of an ancient castle.

This giant could possibly have the largest or near largest wood volume of any tree in Canada for about the first 50 feet of its trunk - the part you see and experience from the ground. This would make it, experientially, perhaps the most impressive tree in Canada, despite other cedars being taller or ranking higher overall.

It grows in a remote region of Flores Island in Ahousaht territory in Clayoquot Sound, BC, and has so far garnered the nickname ‘The Wall’, or ‘ʔiiḥaq ḥumiis’, meaning ‘big redcedar’ in the Nuu-chah-nulth language. The exact location has been asked to be kept private at this time.

I first located and photographed the tree while exploring with my friend, Nathaniel Glickman, as part of my project work as a National Geographic and Royal Canadian Geographical Society Explorer. Approaching it for the first time, I was almost in disbelief that it could be real. The scale of its looming trunk and sprawling canopy was absolutely mind-blowing. It's like a living fortress. In my nearly twenty years of searching for the biggest trees in BC, coming across this one has been the pinnacle of my career thus far.

In the spring of 2023, I returned with Tyson Atleo, Hereditary Representative of the Ahousaht Nation and the Natural Climate Solutions Program Director of Nature United, and members of the Maaqutusiis Hahoutlhee Stewardship Society (MHSS).

Thankfully, the incredible Land Use Vision from the Ahousaht Nation, currently in the late stages of negotiations with the BC government, calls for the protection of 80% of Ahousaht territory, including the ancient forest where this tree is found. This would happen through the creation of new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) to be legislated as Provincial Conservancies by the province.

The BC government must fully fund and support Indigenous-led protection of old-growth across BC, including in the remaining monumental old-growth stands and those identified as most at risk by the province’s science panel, the Technical Advisory Panel. Speak up here.

I commend the Ahousaht Nation for continuing to be such incredible stewards of their lands, which harbour some of the most magnificent ancient forests, trees, and wildlife on Earth. Those interested in exploring their territory near Tofino should consider joining an eco-cultural tour with Ahous Adventures.

See the Ancient Forest Alliance media release, CBC interview and article, and CHEK News video interview.

Mossy Maple Grove in Springtime

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Springtime in the luscious Mossy Maple Grove west of Lake Cowichan in Hul’q’umi'num territory. This rare and spectacular grove is home to super shaggy old-growth bigleaf maple trees adorned with thick mats of hanging moss. Bigleaf maple trees have the unique ability to tap into nutrient-rich soil that develops over time in the canopy through aerial roots that sprout from their branches.

The forest is home to wildlife such as Roosevelt-elk, cougars, wolves, bears, deer, and more, while diverse plants carpet the forest floor. Due to its fantasy-like appearance, the grove has also been nicknamed ‘Fangorn Forest’ after the forest in The Lord of the Rings.

The Ancient Forest Alliance first drew attention to the need to protect this grove, which is found on private lands, in 2011. Most recently, the forest was deferred from logging for at least 25 years through logging company Mosaic’s BigCoast Forest Climate Initiative - a good step forward.

Now it’s up to the BC government to create a Provincial Land Acquisition Fund to help purchase and protect these scarce and valuable old-growth forests found on private lands in perpetuity.

Clearcutting of Grove of Forest Giants on Northern Vancouver Island – Photos and Videos Document the Destruction

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An ancient cedar tree lies prone amidst the destruction of an old-growth clearcut with myself on the trunk for scale. Likely 700+ years old, this tree and scores of others like it would have been standing just before we arrived that day.

However, in 2022, Western Forest Products began clearcutting 25 hectares (roughly 50 football fields) from an incredible old-growth cedar grove in Quatsino territory on northwestern Vancouver Island, BC.

I was floored by the sheer number of monumental redcedars cut down, some nearly 10 feet (3 m) wide. It’s the most shocking example of industrial old-growth logging I’ve witnessed since the logging in the Caycuse and Nahmint Valleys.

Despite being home to scores of giant trees, this particular grove — and likely hundreds of others — was not included in the BC government’s independent old-growth science panel, the Technical Advisory Panel’s (TAP) original logging deferral recommendations due to the forest being incorrectly labeled as 210 years old in the province’s forest inventory database (40 years younger than the province’s 250-year-old threshold for being considered old-growth on the coast).

The TAP made clear recommendations to the BC government that on-the-ground assessments should be used to identify and defer big-tree old-growth forests that were missed in their preliminary analysis. So far, despite requests from us and others, that has not been happening.

As the BC government moves to protect 30% of BC by 2030, it’s imperative that they set ecosystem-based targets based on science that prioritize the most at-risk old-growth forests, such as those with big trees, for protection.

They must also commit significant provincial funding and conjoin it with major federal funds to support sustainable economic alternatives for First Nations linked to deferrals and new protected areas.

Otherwise, irreplaceable ancient forests like this one will continue to fall.

This photo series was created with support from the Trebek Initiative.

SPEAK UP! SEND a MESSAGE to the BC government calling for the protection of endangered old-growth forests.

The photos and story became the TOP STORY on Apple News for a day as well as the most read article on The Guardian for 48 hours.

Before & After Photos and Need for Conservation Financing to Protect Old-Growth Forests Garners National Headlines

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The urgent need for conservation financing from the BC NDP government to help protect old-growth forests while supporting First Nations, along with my latest before and after photos, has made national headlines.

Tyson Atleo, a Hereditary Chief of the Ahousaht First Nation in Clayoquot Sound, notes, ”Conservation comes with economic costs…especially in communities that depend on forestry revenues. It must be paired with some kind of compensation or support for sustainable economic diversification.” The Ahousaht First Nation has been working to implement their Indigenous-led land-use vision for several years.

Conservation financing is the key element that enabled the large-scale protection of old-growth forests in the Great Bear Rainforest and is now needed elsewhere across BC as the province engages with First Nations to fulfill its commitment to protect old-growth forests.

Where will the money come from? Currently, the federal government has put forward $2.3 billion to expand protected areas in Canada – of which BC’s share could be between $200-$400 million - including a dedicated $55.1 million Old Growth Nature Fund, but only if the province matches this funding. In total, that means that anywhere between $600 million to $1 billion (including some likely additional funding from private and non-governmental sources) could be available to protect vital ecosystems in BC. Negotiations are currently underway to create a BC-Canada Nature Agreement, which is likely to be announced by the end of this year.

This agreement has the potential to be a game-changer for conservation in the province if it’s targeted correctly. Primarily, that means towards the sustainable economic diversification of First Nations’ communities linked to the creation of new Indigenous Protected Areas and focused on the most at-risk old-growth forests, such as those with the biggest trees in the rich valley bottoms, which have been the main target of industry.

The Ancient Forest Alliance has been central in advocating for this funding for years. If you haven’t already, please take a moment and send an instant message calling for conservation financing here:

Read the article below, as well as in the National Post, Globe & Mail, Vancouver Sun, Times Colonist, CHEK News, CBC, and more: https://www.thestar.com/politics/2022/11/27/giant-trees-still-fall-amid-old-growth-funding-lag-for-bc-first-nations.html

Canadian Geographic: Before and after photos show devastating effects of intensive logging on B.C.’s old-growth forests

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See this new article by Madigan Cotterill in Canadian Geographic featuring my latest before and after photo series of old-growth logging in the Caycuse Valley on Vancouver Island, BC: https://canadiangeographic.ca/articles/before-and-after-photos-show-devastating-effects-of-intensive-logging-on-b-c-s-old-growth-forests/

Ancient Forests of BC: TJ Watt Photo Exhibition, Presentation, & Fundraiser Oct. 27th, 2022

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I'm excited to share that my first major photo exhibition in a decade will be taking place from Oct. 26th-30th at the Mahon Hall on Salt Spring Island!

See: https://ancientforestalliance.org/tj-watt-photo-exhibition-salt-spring-island/

The show will feature 20 large-scale images that will be mounted on aluminum, signed, and for sale as a fundraiser for the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance and Nature-Based Solutions Foundation, organizations that Ancient Forest Alliance regularly partners with.

There will also be a special event night with snacks and presentations from myself and Ken Wu on Thursday, Oct. 27th from 6:30-9:00pm. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased at the door or online here.

The event open to the public free of charge from 10am-5pm between Oct. 26th-30th as well.

For those who can't attend in person, there is an online store where prints can be purchased.

I hope to see you there and be sure to share the details with any folks you know that might like to go!