Conservationists Measure Near Record-Size Cedar in the Endangered Central Walbran Valley on Vancouver Island, British Columbia

Conservationists with the Ancient Forest Alliance have located and measured two huge western red cedar trees, one of which makes it into the top 10 widest red cedars in BC, in the endangered Central Walbran Valley on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The Tolkien Giant comes in as the 9th widest western red cedar in BC, according to the BC Big Tree Registry.

The Tolkien Giant has been tentatively measured at 14.4 metres (47 feet) in circumference or 4.6 meters (15 feet) in diameter, and about 42 meters (138 feet) in height. Another tree, the “Karst Giant” has been tentatively measured at 12.1 meters (40 feet) in circumference or 3.9 meters (13 feet) in diameter (no height measurement yet) and although it does not make the top 10, it is still an exceptional tree.

See photos online here: Ancient Forest Alliance

“In the giant trees and in the soil, the old-growth temperate rainforests on Vancouver Island store more carbon per hectare than even tropical rainforests do – and massive amounts of carbon are released when they are logged and converted into second-growth tree plantations, which will take 200 years of growth to re-sequester the lost carbon,” stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director.

Not only are old-growth forests important for the climate, but also for tourism, endangered species, clean water, wild salmon, and many First Nations cultures. TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance

“Poor forest management and destructive logging are one of the largest greenhouse gas emissions sources in the province and at a time when Christy Clark is touting her climate change record in Paris, the province needs to come up with a science-based Old-Growth Protection Plan to save the endangered ancient forests of Vancouver Island and beyond.”

“Not only are old-growth forests important for the climate, but also for tourism, endangered species, clean water, wild salmon, and many First Nations cultures,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer. “The Central Walbran Valley includes the grandest ancient red cedar forests in all of Canada, in large part because the region has the finest growing conditions in the country. But its days may be numbered unless the BC Liberal government wakes up.”

The Tolkien Giant lies within a narrow and tenuous forest reserve (an Old-Growth Management Area), but logging is planned in the old-growth forest on the adjacent slope, including in the grove where the Karst Giant is found. The Karst Giant is found exactly on the boundary of a proposed cutblock and it is unclear whether or not it will be cut or left standing (but even if left standing, it would be exposed to being blown down by the fierce winter winds through the adjacent clearcut).

Ancient Forest Alliance
The Ancient Forest Alliance is a British Columbian organization working to protect the endangered old-growth forests of BC and to ensure sustainable forestry jobs in the province.
Website: Ancient Forest Alliance

Source Article: Ancient Forest Alliance, December 4, 2015
The source article contains more information on Ancient Forest Alliance’s calls on Premier Clark to Counteract Climate Change by Protecting Old-Growth Forests.

Related Posts:
Why Vancouver Island’s Walbran Valley Rainforest Matters
Drones used in BC Old-Growth Forest Conservation

Photo Credits
Featured Photo: AFA’s Ken Wu measuring the Tolkien Giant in the Central Walbran Valley.
Photo by TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance
Bottom Photo: TJ and Ken beside the Karst Giant in the Central Walbran Valley.
Photo: Ancient Forest Alliance

A new Sierra Club map of B.C.’s southern coastal rainforest shows why the Walbran rainforest on Vancouver Island matters, and what we stand to lose for species, carbon and beauty, if the proposed logging goes ahead.

A few weeks ago, the B.C. government issued the first of eight logging permits for the Walbran requested by logging company Teal Jones, despite a public outcry and opposition from many environmental groups.

In the last few days, activists have reported on social media about road crew and helicopter activity near cutblock 4424, indicating that Teal Jones could start logging any day.

To defend the issuing of the permit, the B.C. government has stated that a large portion of the Walbran remains protected in a park. This is correct. But to allow further logging of the remaining old-growth in this area is inexcusable considering that the Walbran is literally the last place on Southern Vancouver Island with old-growth rainforest of this type, size, and intactness.

The state of the awe-inspiring, “big tree” old-growth rainforest ecosystems on Vancouver Island reflects what author J. B. MacKinnon has described as our 10 percent world. Globally, there are now countless examples which show that we have reduced the original biological richness of our lands, oceans, ecosystems, plants and animals by about 90 percent.

The same happened to the biggest ancient trees in the rainforest valleys in the southern portion of the B.C. coast. About 90 percent of the most productive forests with the capacity to grow the largest trees have been logged and converted to young forests. Today, there remain very few old-growth areas that are big enough to support healthy populations of salmon and endangered species like the marbled murrelet.

Map of the Central Walbran Valley showing recently approved cutblock and Black Diamond Grove.
Geoff Senichenko, Wilderness Committee.

In fact, our analysis shows that the Walbran Valley is the most urgent opportunity to increase protection of contiguous, old-growth rainforest and habitat on Vancouver Island.

We examined 155 landscape units on Vancouver Island and B.C.’s south coast (landscape units are areas of land used for long-term planning of resource management and usually 50,000 to 100,000 hectares in size).

Only three percent (five landscape units), including the Walbran, remain primarily covered by “big-tree” old-growth rainforest with the highest level of intactness (with over 70 percent old-growth). Vancouver Island is home to four of these five remaining “big tree” old growth landscape units. Three of them are mostly protected, but almost 40 percent of the Walbran landscape unit with 4,500 hectares of the remaining old-growth remains unprotected.

Our analysis focused on the remaining percentage of good and medium productivity old-growth forest, i.e. types of forests that are characterized by towering trees and high bio mass and carbon storage per hectare. Of these types of forest, combined, less than 30 percent remain as old-growth on Vancouver Island and the South Coast, and only about six percent of the original old-growth has been set aside in protected areas.

North of Vancouver Island, the Great Bear Rainforest Agreements are expected to protect the ecological integrity of one of the largest mostly intact temperate rainforest regions of the world. In Clayoquot Sound, northwest of the Walbran, the Ahousaht First Nation announced in October an end to industrial logging in their territory, which spans most of the intact rainforest valleys in this region.

But we must not allow these important refuge areas for species that depend on ancient rainforests to become isolated from other old-growth areas. With its outstanding intactness, the Walbran represents the only remaining opportunity in the southern half of the island to save a more contiguous area of productive old-growth rainforest, create connectivity and allow species like the marbled murrelet to find quality habitat between Clayoquot Sound and the Olympic Peninsula.

A larger protected area would give species that depend on this rainforest at least a fighting chance to survive, considering the level of degradation and fragmentation of rainforest on Vancouver Island. And only larger areas are resilient enough to withstand increasing climate change impacts like stronger droughts, stronger storms and other extreme weather events.

In addition, old-growth coastal rainforest store record high amounts of carbon per hectare, accumulated over thousands of years, and steadily sequester more carbon from the atmosphere. Clearcutting old-growth releases enormous amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

A recent Sierra Club B.C. report revealed that, over the past decade, B.C.’s forests as a whole have shifted to being net emitters of carbon. This contrasts starkly to their historic role capturing huge amounts of carbon from the atmosphere. While the mountain pine beetle and more wildfires have tipped the balance, our analysis shows that destructive logging practices have been, and remain, the biggest factor contributing to B.C.’s forest carbon emissions.

Lastly, B.C.’s coastal temperate old-growth forests are a global treasure and spectacularly beautiful. Parks and protected areas offer immeasurable recreational joy for visitors and tourists from near and far and support our billion-dollar tourism industry.

Many are shocked to see the sea of clearcuts they must traverse to access the remaining larger, less developed rainforest wilderness areas on Vancouver Island. The Walbran with its unique intact ecological rainforest values is one of the fantastic areas people on Vancouver Island care about and want to see fully protected.

Sierra Club and Wilderness Committee activists explored the area slated for logging in September and found monumental cedars, massive Sitka spruce, hemlock, amabalis fir, and Douglas fir trees. They named the area Black Diamond Grove for its steep slope. The crown jewel of the Black Diamond Grove is the Leaning Tower Cedar, a cedar approximately three metres wide at its base and probably as old as 1,000 years.

The Leaning Tower Cedar. Photo Torrance Coste, Wilderness Committee.

With so little left, how can our society allow logging the last of the endangered old-growth on the island, instead of protecting it for our children, for example my friend Leonie (11 years). She wrote a letter to the Times Colonist and asked the B.C. government to protect the endangered rainforest in the Walbran. I am standing with Leonie: we should protect all of the Walbran.

Sierra Club B.C. is calling for a provincial government action plan to protect and restore B.C.’s forests in light of climate change impacts. Protection of rare and endangered old-growth rainforest ecosystems on Vancouver Island and the south coast is particularly urgent, because once cut, old-growth as we know it will not grow back. B.C.’s forest industry must shift to harvesting sustainable levels of second-growth forest and value-added manufacturing. The transition will not be easy, but in a 10-percent world, denial is no viable option. The logging permit for the Walbran should be our wake-up call.

By Jens Wieting
Jens Wieting is the forest and climate campaigner for Sierra Club B.C. He will speak about conservation and connectivity from the Great Bear Rainforest to Vancouver Island on November 17 at the University of Victoria. Reproduced with the kind permission of Jens Wieting – Source Article on The Georgia Strait

Photo Credit
Featured Photo: Worksite in the Walbran Valley. Photo by Torrance Coste, Wilderness Committee, BC.

The Ancient Forest Alliance on Vancouver Island is building a boardwalk at the Avatar Grove near Port Renfrew in British Columbia. Significant progress was made in the Lower Avatar Grove in September and October, with close to 25 metres of new boardwalk and bridges constructed over the area that is prone to flooding – just in time for the heavy winter rains!

The Ancient Forest Alliance’s TJ Watt was generously assisted by two dozen volunteers, including students from Pearson College in Metchosin, who also added traction to stairs and portions of the boardwalk, restored parts of the trail that were showing signs of wear, and helped mark the route more clearly. There are still several key sets of stairs and bridges to be built and signs to erect, particularly along the lower loop trail, but they are making great headway and aim to finish the boardwalk by early summer 2016.

Avatar Grove has become one of BC’s most popular hiking trails, and is perhaps the second most heavily-hiked old-growth forest in BC, after Cathedral Grove in MacMillan Provincial Park. The boardwalk is vital to protect the delicate understory, to enhance visitor safety, and to improve access to this majestic grove.

Avatar Grove is located near the community of Port Renfrew on southern Vancouver Island, accessed by a paved road from Lake Cowichan, or from Victoria along West Coast Highway 14, passing through Sooke and Jordan River.

Ancient Forest Alliance
The Ancient Forest Alliance is a British Columbian organization working to protect the endangered old-growth forests of BC and to ensure sustainable forestry jobs in the province.
Website: Ancient Forest Alliance

Photo Credits
Top Image: BritishColumbia.com
All other Images: Ancient Forest Alliance
Additional Images: Ancient Forest Alliance on Facebook

Central Walbran Valley Logging Conflict Escalates

A logging permit for the first of eight proposed cutblocks in the Central Walbran Valley was issued in September by the government of British Columbia to logging company Teal-Jones. The Central Walbran Valley, near Port Renfrew, is Canada’s most spectacular old-growth forest, and one of the largest unprotected old-growth forests left on southern Vancouver Island in BC.

Conservationists are preparing for an escalation in the conflict, and are employing remotely-piloted drones, a new tool in the battle to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests. The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) is using a small drone equipped with a GoPro camera to monitor and document the endangered old-growth forests of the Central Walbran Valley. This has allowed the organization to capture aerial video footage of old-growth forests threatened by logging on steep, rugged terrain that otherwise would take hours to hike to.

Helicopter-based logging, or heli-logging, is expected for several of the eight proposed cutblocks in the Central Walbran Valley, including the first approved Cutblock 4424, due to the difficulty of road access in the mountains.

View Video of the Central Walbran Ancient Forest that includes recent HD Drone Footage.

“Drones are a new tool in the tool box that are helping us raise the environmental awareness about remote endangered areas that are normally out of the public spotlight, where companies believe they can log with little scrutiny. Plus it allows us to get some spectacular footage of our magnificent but endangered old-growth forests from vantage points rarely seen”, stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance photographer and campaigner who shot the Walbran videos.

“Teal-Jones and the BC government have committed themselves to an intense battle by aggressively moving to log southern Vancouver Island’s most contentious ancient forest. The logging companies have already clearcut the vast majority of the richest and grandest old-growth forests on Vancouver Island – over 90% – and now they’re complaining that they’re running out of options. They’ve boxed themselves into a corner through their own unsustainable history of overcutting the biggest and best old-growth stands – and now they’re contending that it’s the conservationists’ fault and that they must log the last unprotected lowland ancient forests to survive. The one thing the BC government must not do is to reward unsustainable practices with more unsustainable practices – but that’s just what they’ve done by granting the first cutting permit to Teal-Jones in the Central Walbran Valley. It’s a myopic government facilitating the demise of an ecosystem for a company intent to go just about to the very end. Instead they need a quick transition or exit strategy to get completely out of our last ancient forests and into a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry,” stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director.

A 14-foot Stump in the Upper Walbran Valley, with Castle Grove in the distant background.

The 500-hectare Central Walbran Valley is one of the largest contiguous tracts of unprotected old-growth forest left on southern Vancouver Island (south of Barkley Sound) where about 90% of the original, productive old-growth forests have already been logged. It is home to the Castle Grove, perhaps the most extensive and densely-packed monumental western redcedar groves in Canada. The upper reach of the Castle Grove is threatened by several of the proposed Teal-Jones cutblocks. Species at risk include Queen Charlotte Goshawks, marbled murrelets, screech owls, and red-legged frogs, while coho salmon and steelhead trout spawn in the rivers.

The Central Walbran is popular for hikers, campers, anglers, hunters, and mushroom pickers, and is located on public (Crown) lands in Tree Farm Licence 46 near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht Nuu-chah-Nulth territory. About 5,500 hectares of the Lower Walbran Valley were included in the Carmanah-Walbran Provincial Park in 1994, while about 7,500 hectares in the Central and Upper Walbran Valleys were left unprotected.

Conservationists are escalating pressure on the BC government and the company through protests and public awareness campaigns, calling on the company to back off and the BC government to protect the two ancient forests. Teal-Jones Group is a Surrey-based company that logs and sells endangered old-growth forests – including ancient redcedar trees – for pulp, paper, and solid wood products.

Environmentalists are calling on the BC government to protect these areas from logging through expanded Old-Growth Management Areas (OGMA’s), core Wildlife Habitat Areas (WHA’s), and Land Use Orders (LUO’s).

On BC’s southern coast (Vancouver Island and SW Mainland), satellite photos show that about 75% of the original, productive (moderate to fast growth rates, forests of commercial value) old-growth forests have been logged, including over 91% of the valley bottoms and high-productivity, lowland forests where the largest trees grow. Only 8% of the original, productive old-growth forests on BC’s southern coast are protected in parks and Old-Growth Management Areas.

In a recent Vancouver Sun and Province article, the Teal-Jones spokesperson was quoted as claiming that “only 11,080 hectares of