Almost 80% of Vancouver Island’s productive old-growth forests have been logged, including 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow and the richest biodiversity resides. Stumps as wide as 16 feet (5 metres) in diameter have been found freshly cut. The oldest stump to be dated in British Columbia was from a tree 1,835 years old! Below are photographs of only some of the big stumps that have been found. How many others are there? How many more will there be before this destruction is stopped?

Some viewers may find this content to be very disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised.

Upper Walbran Stump
Circumference: 44ft
Diameter: 14ft
Species: Redcedar
Valley: Upper Walbran Valley, Vancouver Island
Estimated Date Cut: 2006
Photographer: TJ Watt

Gordon River Stump
Circumference: 38ft
Diameter: 12ft
Species: Redcedar
Valley: Gordon River, Port Renfrew Area, Vancouver Island
Estimated Date Cut: July 2007
Photographer: TJ Watt

Gordon River Stump
Circumference: 40ft
Diameter: 13ft
Species: Redcedar
Valley: Gordon River, Port Renfrew area, Vancouver Island
Estimated Date Cut: March 2010
Photographer: TJ Watt

Gordon River – Hollow Stump
Circumference: 39ft
Diameter: 12.5ft
Species: Redcedar
Valley: Gordon River, Port Renfrew area, Vancouver Island
Estimated Date Cut: March 2010
Photographer: TJ Watt

Bugaboo Creek Stump
Circumference: 45ft
Diameter: 15ft
Species: Redcedar
Valley: Bugaboo Creek, Gordon River Valley, Port Renfrew area, Vancouver Island
Estimated Date Cut: 2008
Photographer: TJ Watt

Gordon River Fresh Stump
Circumference: 44ft
Diameter: 14ft
Species: Redcedar
Valley: Gordon River, Port Renfrew area, Vancouver Island
Estimated Date Cut: March 2010
Photographer: TJ Watt

Gordon River Massive Stump
Circumference: 45ft
Diameter: 15ft
Species: redcedar
Valley: Gordon River, Port Renfrew area, Vancouver Island
Estimated Date Cut: 2010
Photographer: TJ Watt

Bugaboo Creek Stump
Circumference: 47ft
Diameter: 15ft
Species: Redcedar
Valley: Bugaboo Creek, Gordon River Valley, Port Renfrew area, Vancouver Island
Estimated Date Cut: 2008
Photographer: TJ Watt

Upper Walbran Clearcut
Circumference: 34ft
Diameter: 11ft
Species: Redcedar
Valley: Upper Walbran Valley, Vancouver Island
Estimated Date Cut: 2006
Photographer: TJ Watt

Bugaboo Creek Clearcut
Circumference: 35ft
Diameter: 11ft
Species: Redcedar
Valley: Bugaboo Creek, Gordon River Valley, Port Renfrew area, Vancouver Island
Estimated Date Cut: 2007
Photographer: TJ Watt

Massive Redcedar Stump
Circumference: Nearly 40ft
Species: Redcedar
Valley: Gordon River Valley, Port Renfrew area, Vancouver Island
Estimated Date Cut: Early 2010

Ancient Redcedar Stump
Species: Redcedar
Valley: Gordon River Valley, Port Renfrew area, Vancouver Island

Since coming to power, the NDP government has so far continued with the destructive status quo of massive old-growth forest liquidation. Despite their 2017 election-platform promise to manage BC’s old-growth forests based on the “ecosystem-based management” approach of the Great Bear Rainforest (where most of the forests on BC’s Central and North Coast were set aside from logging), they haven’t made any concrete policies to protect ancient forests.

Now is the time to make the transition to sustainable logging in second-growth forests instead, and to protect what little remains of these incredible ecosystems.

Amazing organizations like the Ancient Forest Alliance represent the main hope we have of saving what little remains of these ancient forest ecosystems. Please support them in protecting British Columbia’s precious old-growth forests and forestry jobs.

Photo Credit
Photography by TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance

Ancient Forest Alliance
Street Address: Central Building, #303-620 View Street, Victoria, BC
Mailing Address: Victoria Main PO, PO Box 8459, Victoria, BC V8W 3S1
Phone: 250-896-4007
Email: info@ancientforestalliance.org
Website: www.ancientforestalliance.org

Featured Image
Klanawa Valley Giant Stump: This massive redcedar stump was discovered by the Ancient Forest Alliance, freshly cut in the Klanawa Valley, northwest of Nitinat Lake on Vancouver Island, in June 2011.

Source: Biggest Stumps – Ancient Forest Alliance

Nigel Kuzemko, CEO of Steelhead LNG, writes that critics of his company’s proposed Malahat LNG project (“Malahat LNG plan includes extensive consultation,” comment, Feb. 27) are making “inaccurate claims about the project and about LNG itself.” He fails to identify the inaccurate claims and offer corrections.

His commentary is as vague as the public presentations about the project offered by Steelhead LNG over the past six months. Little information about the project has been made available by Steelhead. We critics are doing our research so we can effectively engage in a “discussion based on facts and science,” but unless the “myths and misconceptions” are identified, it is impossible to respond.

Steelhead fails to adequately address many “concerns and interests” that have been raised. For instance, when they state Malahat First Nation purchased the Bamberton property making them a partner in the Steelhead project, they fail to acknowledge that the Saanich Inlet is a shared territory with the other W?SÁNEC´ people who have long and well-documented treaty rights to their territory.

Last October, the National Energy Board granted Steelhead LNG a licence to export six million tonnes of LNG per year from their Bamberton site. The project will require tremendous amounts of power and air or water for its cooling systems. No matter which technology they finally settle on, Malahat LNG will negatively affect the quality of marine and human life in the area.

Steelhead calls the Saanich Inlet an industrial site. What they fail to recognize is that the inlet has been in recovery for more than 20 years. In the past decade, the owner of Bamberton undertook a comprehensive and award-winning site remediation, costing a reported $12 million.

Local residents have been proud of the work we have done to minimize our impacts on the inlet. It is highly unlikely the people who invested in property near the inlet consider it industrial.

The Saanich Inlet is not well suited for an LNG facility. It is a highly populated area, with a well-developed local economy and a narrow, shallow entrance. An existing deep-water port and proximity to international shipping lanes hardly justifies this proposal in this location.

There are many other opportunities that Malahat First Nation could consider for their Bamberton lands that would provide benefits to the community, and generate revenue, jobs and prosperity.

Kuzemko’s hypothetical jobs need to be considered in the context of the real and thriving economy that already exists in the inlet, based on property values, recreation and tourism. How will the cumulative emissions affect Butchart Gardens, one of the area’s largest employers? What will be the cascading effect on tourism in the southern Vancouver Island region? And how will the plant affect the planned recovery of the inlet waters and the return of a viable fishing industry?

Make no mistake; the company is not looking for permission or approval from the communities. Steelhead LNG is only looking for an approval from provincial and federal regulators. Steelhead’s community-consultation process is an exercise in assessing the obstacles. Every point raised by critics will be mitigated and as long as the proposed mitigation measures are deemed to be reasonable by the regulators, not the community, the box is checked.

On Feb. 16, the Saanich Inlet Network sent a letter to Steelhead LNG requesting copies of all their completed studies and technical designs as soon as they were available and, in addition, a timeline of when we can expect to receive this information.

Kuzemko’s charges of inaccurate information cannot be addressed until he identifies his specific concerns. For now, all we can do is respond to his vague references as best we can.

The Saanich Inlet Network (saanichinlet.net) is a volunteer-driven local group that is working hard to research LNG in B.C. in an effort to gain a better understanding of the industry and the implications of a project of this scale in our community.

By Adam Olsen
Adam Olsen is a member of the Tsartlip First Nation and the Saanich Inlet Network.
Website: www.adamolsen.ca

More on the proposed Malahat LNG project
Saanich Inlet Network: www.saanichinlet.net
Blog Post: WSANEC First Nations stand opposed to Malahat LNG (March 1st, 2016)
Blog Post: Paddle for the Inlet with the Saanich Inlet Network (October 6th, 2015)
Blog Post: Wake Up! Stand Up! Protect Mother Earth! (September 3rd, 2015)
Blog Post: Keepers of the Air, Land and Water (August 17th, 2015)

Norway’s salmon-farming industry is hitting a wall. Because salmon farming began earlier there than in British Columbia, I wanted to get a glimpse of where we might be headed if our industry continues on its current path. This is the reason I organized the Wild Salmon Delegation to Norway, which spent two weeks there this month.

What we found is an industry beset by problems such as disease outbreaks, sea-lice infestations and farmed-salmon escapes. The situation in Norway is dire — one headline we saw read: “Five years left to save wild salmon.”

Norway’s fisheries minister Per Sandberg spoke at the Wild Salmon in the North conference in Alta, Norway, acknowledging “the mid-Norway situation has been very serious since the end of December.” The crisis is so bad that the Norwegian industry is making headlines by beginning to shift to closed-containment.

B.C.’s industry is over 90 per cent Norwegian-owned, uses the same methods to rear fish and is plagued by similar problems. Will a shift to closed containment in Norway lead to a similar shift here?

The place where I live — Clayoquot Sound UNESCO Biosphere Reserve — is renowned for old-growth forests and the battles to protect them. But not many people know there are 20 salmon-farm tenures in the sound, with 15 of them held by Cermaq, a Norwegian-based company.

The global salmon-farming industry originated in Norway in the 1970s. By the ’80s, Norwegian salmon-farming companies began to move into British Columbia’s pristine waters. Today, B.C.’s salmon-farming industry is over 90 per cent Norwegian-owned.

While overseas, we learned about the similarities and differences between British Columbia and Norway, heard the emerging Norwegian consensus that open-net pen salmon farming is a dinosaur technology, and witnessed the tide change unfolding daily in major Norwegian media.

Dan Lewis (third from right) of Clayoquot Action with the Wild Salmon Delegation in Norway. Photo: Clayoquot Action Tofino

Norwegians were surprised to learn about the nitrogen pump in B.C. — wild salmon transport ocean-based nitrogen up rivers and fertilize the growth of ancient temperate rainforests. This connection between wild salmon, monumental cedars and the bears, wolves and eagles was novel to them. They also wanted to learn about the importance of cedar and salmon to indigenous cultures throughout B.C.

Delegate John Rampanen, a citizen of Ahousaht First Nation, met Sami indigenous people of northern Norway, who have depended on reindeer and wild salmon for millennia, learning that they are also negatively impacted by industries such as salmon farming and mining.

Some things are different in Norway, where, for example, the biomass of farmed salmon is 1,000 times bigger than the biomass of wild salmon, and the wild-salmon economy is a thing of the past.

In British Columbia, the wild-salmon economy is eight times bigger than salmon farming — supporting indigenous, commercial, recreational and sports fisheries, as well as a $1.4-billion ecotourism industry. Salmon farming puts this pre-existing economy at risk.

A clear consensus emerged over the two weeks in Oslo, Bergen and Alta, through meetings with wild-salmon advocates, academics and journalists. When asked the question: “How can Canada avoid the problems Norway is experiencing with open-net pen salmon farming?”, without hesitation every person we asked replied: “Shifting to closed-containment production is the only way forward.”

Signs of a tide change beginning to sweep the industry were breaking daily in major Norwegian media. Dagbladet, the country’s second biggest paper, ran a story pointing out that catches are plummeting in the Alta, “the world’s best salmon river,” as the amount of farmed salmon in the nearby Altafjord increases. The production manager of Grieg Seafood’s operations in Alta was quoted saying: “The only solution is to get the fish into closed containment.”

The following day, the front page of the Bergen paper read: “CEO of Marine Harvest prepared to invest US $100M: if everything works as planned, closed-containment systems will replace open-net pen salmon farms.” It has taken decades for this industry to acknowledge that their problems will only be solved by isolating farmed salmon from wild salmon.

Young Pink Salmon with sealice infestation in the Broughton Archipelago, British Columbia. Photo Copyright: Alexandra Morton

The question for Canada is, do we wait another couple of decades before acknowledging that salmon aquaculture has undesirable side-effects?

While B.C. salmon runs are greatly diminished from historic levels, what is left is world-class and definitely worth fighting for. Wild salmon face a multitude of challenges, but aquaculture is one that is entirely within our ability to regulate.

Moving salmon farms out of the ocean into closed containment will allow wild-salmon populations to rebound and continue to support cultures, economies and ecologies throughout the province as they have for millennia.

By Dan Lewis
Executive Director
Clayoquot Action
Article reproduced with the kind permission of Dan Lewis.

Contact Information
Clayoquot Action
Box 511, Tofino, BC, V0R 2Z0
Email: info@clayoquotaction.org
Phone: 1-877-422-9453
Website: www.clayoquotaction.org

More Information
Alexandra Morton
For nearly forty years, Alexandra Morton has dedicated her life to restoring the balance between the people and the wild salmon off the coast of British Columbia, Canada.

Photo Credit
Feature Photo: The Wild Salmon Delegation in Norway. Photo: Clayoquot Action Tofino

In recent years, there has been considerable public concern in Port Alberni over logging in its China Creek drinking watershed, in particular over McLaughlin Ridge’s magnificent old-growth Douglas-firs which shelter wintering deer and is also home to endangered species in the Alberni Valley.

Additional concerns have also erupted over proposed logging along “The Hump’s” forested highway buffer, at the “Lookout”, on Mount Horne above Cathedral Grove, and at the Cameron Valley Firebreak – which is akin to a “second Cathedral Grove” with its rare ancient Douglas firs and herds of Roosevelt elk. All of these stands are owned by Island Timberlands.

McLaughlin Ridge, the Cameron Valley Firebreak, and Mount Horne were all intended to be protected as Ungulate Winter Ranges for wintering deer and/or elk until negotiations between the B.C. government and Island Timberlands fell apart, subsequent to the lands’ removal in 2004 from their Tree Farm Licence (TFL). These lands, along with another 78,000 hectares, were once regulated to stronger public standards within their TFL’s – their removal thereby deregulated most of the environmental laws that otherwise would have protected the scenery, riparian zones for water quality and wild salmon, deer and elk winter ranges, endangered species habitats, and many old-growth stands, as well as restrictions on raw log exports.

However, hundreds of Port Alberni residents have attended public forums in recent years to speak out about the fate of these forests, and hundreds more have attended rallies against raw log exports where forestry workers and conservationists have stood together in solidarity. The Port Alberni city council has also passed a resolution calling for the protection of McLaughlin Ridge in the drinking watershed and has met with Island Timberlands over the past year seeking a conservation solution. During the same period, Island Timberlands seems to have taken pause at McLaughlin Ridge and has indicated that they are open to potential buyers – for how long, we don’t know.

Lois Lake north of Port Alberni in the Alberni Valley, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Photo: BritishColumbia.com

The fact that so many Port Alberni residents are standing up for both environmental protection and sustainable forestry jobs today seems quite incredible if you remember the early 1990’s. During the era of the Clayoquot Sound protests, Alberni had a reputation among environmentalists as the town to avoid while hitch-hiking to Tofino. Today, Port Alberni has become a major centre of environmental concern for forests. For those who’ve experienced the history, it may seem quite remarkable – but not if you realize that it’s in the interest of forestry workers to ensure a sustainable industry that retains jobs, and for environmentalists to support sustainable forestry jobs in order to transform the economic and political forces causing the environmental destruction.

Port Alberni in the 1970’s was reputed to have the highest per capita income of any town in Canada due to numerous high-paid, unionized forestry jobs based on the “green gold” – vast stands of accessible, valley-bottom giant Douglas firs, Sitka spruce, and red cedars in the region. By 2014, with the best old-growth stands long since depleted, Port Alberni was ranked at the bottom of MoneySense magazine’s annual list of the best places to live in Canada. Port Alberni residents have been understandably irked by the label, given the down-to-earth kindness of many of the local people and the area’s natural beauty.

The situation in Port Alberni, from extreme economic prosperity to significant collapse, has been shared by many of B.C.’s coastal communities over the past two decades – and in fact, by communities around the world as a result of the pattern of unsustainable, high-grade resource depletion.

B.C.’s forest industry was historically built on logging the biggest and best old-growth stands in the valley bottoms and lower slopes. Over time, the remaining trees have become smaller in size, lower in value and more expensive to reach on steep slopes at high elevations, far away in valley headwaters. Today on Vancouver Island, over 90% of the productive, valley-bottom old-growth forests that historically built the forest industry have now been logged. This has resulted in diminishing returns for the forest industry as expenses have gone up and revenues have declined, resulting in the closure of old-growth dependent sawmills everywhere and the loss of thousands of forestry jobs. In the mid 1990’s almost 100,000 people were directly employed in B.C.’s forest industry – today, about 60,000 remain.

Totem Pole in Port Alberni, Alberni Valley, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Photo: BritishColumbia.com

Around the world – whether one looks at fishing down the food chain or old-growth logging – this pattern of high-grade resource depletion of taking too much, too fast of the biggest and best, has resulted in the collapse of both ecosystems and of resource dependent communities. Not only do we lose the biodiversity – and water quality in this case – we lose the jobs.

The decline in forestry employment has particularly been exacerbated as the B.C. Liberal government has largely deregulated the forest industry, removing the local milling requirement in 2003 that – had it remained – would have mandated that companies convert their old-growth mills to handle the maturing second-growth stands. Instead, as the original mills shut down, there has been a mass exodus of raw, unprocessed logs leaving the province for foreign mills, facilitated by the B.C. government which has been marketing our logs and last old-growth stands in China.

However, the people of Port Alberni are speaking up today for their drinking watershed, their last old-growth stands, and for sustainable, second-growth forestry jobs. An individual of particular note is Jane Morden, the coordinator of the Port Alberni Watershed-Forest Alliance, and her team of concerned residents who have worked hard to bring these issues to the forefront of municipal and provincial attention in recent years. Over the past year there have been talks between the municipality and the company towards a possible resolution for McLaughin Ridge – although nothing is ever certain until there is legislation and funding, which will require provincial leadership now.

In a move that could bolster the local momentum, 16 major conservation and recreation organizations, including the Port Alberni Watershed Forest Alliance and the Ancient Forest Alliance, signed a statement in January calling on the B.C. Liberal government to establish a $40 million/year Natural Lands Acquisition Fund that would help to purchase and protect private lands of high environmental value – for example, McLaughlin Ridge and Mount Horne by Port Alberni.

In other words, there is hope – Port Alberni, long known as the forestry capital of Vancouver Island, could become the forest sustainability capital of Vancouver Island if we all keep working for a better future.

By Ken Wu
Executive Director, Ancient Forest Alliance
For Alberni Thrive, Port Alberni, British Columbia.
Port Alberni Watershed-Forest Alliance – Helping to protect the future of Alberni Valley Forests.

Original Article:
Ancient Forest Alliance: Port Alberni, Vancouver Island’s Forestry Capital – Sustainability Champion?

Photo Credit:
Feature Photo: Cathedral Grove, MacMillan Provincial Park, Vancouver Island, BC. Photo: BritishColumbia.com.

Spirit of the West Adventures is one for the bucket list. Not only do they kayak to some of the world’s most beautiful waters, off the coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, but the company is doing their upmost to protect the places they visit. Their website is very thorough, with lots of information on all aspects of their kayaking trips in BC. Guests acknowledge and are held accountable to their company philosophies and environmental actions. These philosophies are part of the reason guests choose to kayak with Spirit of the West Adventures.

Their list of green actions is impressive; from the wood-fired hot tub at basecamp to wild salmon dinners, solar charging en route to campaign against deforestation, and nurturing relationships with First Nations groups. This company has earned the gold-level certification from Green Tourism Canada for their efforts, and are leaders in their sustainability actions.

What’s Green About Spirit of the West Adventures?

There are many ways that Spirit of the West Adventures tries to minimize their environmental impact on their kayaking trips, as well as in their general operations. Some of their major initiatives include reducing their fuel consumption and contributing to non-profit organizations like One Percent for the Planet.

While kayaking, they practice minimum impact camping in order to preserve the nature of the coast, and they abide by all whale-watching guidelines and do their best to avoid disturbing wildlife during their normal behaviour in their natural habitat.

More ways Spirit of the West Adventures reduces impact on the earth:

• Hot tub is heated with scavenged waste wood from local beaches rather than electricity.
• Use only 100% recycled, unbleached paper, and always print double sided.
• Use CFLs and LEDs, as well as natural lighting as much as possible.
• Purchase clothing and products from ethical sources (Me to We T-shirts).
• Use as much local and organic food products as possible (from local farms, fishermen and bakeries), and serve locally roasted, fair-trade organic, shade grown coffee from Aroma Specialty Coffee Roasters on Quadra Island.
• Compost all organic waste and recycle everything they possibly can.
• Use eco-friendly yard maintenance practices (native species, electric mower, rainwater collection and pesticide-free gardening practices).
• Energy-efficient washer and dryer, plus hang drying clothes.
• Low-flow shower head and taps, and low-flush toilets.
• Use only biodegradable and phosphate-free dish soaps.
• Offer free use of rechargeable batteries on trips, along with solar charging.
• Give every guest a Spirit of the West re-usable mug to use while on their trip, which encourages continued use of a travel mug once back home.
• Plan trips to maximize commuting and carpooling so fuel consumption is most efficient.
• Strong connection with the community: fundraising, loaning transport vans, giving back and staff volunteering

What’s Next for Spirit of the West Adventures?

With so much achieved so far, and a strong personal environmental philosophy, it is now a matter of continuing to lead in order to to maintain their gold award. Having some longer term goals will be a focus, such as solar PV and hot water. Green Tourism recommends they use guest feedback to understand how to solve issues like improving commuting, energy efficiency and reducing food miles even further. Connecting with guests on this level also becomes an additional mechanism for communicating all the other excellent initiatives the company has already implemented. All in all, Spirit of the West has done a great job in creating a truly sustainable business.

Learn more about this fantastic company and the great people who run it: Rick Snowdon and Breanne Quesnel.

Spirit of the West Adventures
P.O. Box 569
Heriot Bay
Quadra Island, BC
V0P 1H0

Phone: 250-285-2121
Toll Free: 1-800-307-3982 (From Canada/USA)
Fax: 1-888-389-5736
Email: info@kayakingtours.com
Website: www.kayakingtours.com

Source Article: Green Tourism Canada, December 1, 2015

I started Bees Please Farms because I wanted to support honey bees. I conceived the idea of offering bee hive hosting to people in the city as a way to do this. I was thrilled when I looked online and found a company doing this successfully in Vancouver, and one in Seattle as well. When I started getting interested in bees I realized that there were a lot of other people on Vancouver Island who wanted to support them, but weren’t interested in actually becoming beekeepers.

People would ask me how to support native bees in their area, what to plant for bee gardens, and what they could do to help. This idea grew naturally and soon I was creating a brand new business in Victoria, British Columbia. At about the time I was fine-tuning the logistics, I got a call about Rent the Chicken and asking if I knew anything about it. I instantly Googled and fell in love with the idea. I knew that the two rental projects complemented each other perfectly.

Honey bee harvesting pollen from blooming flowers.

Rent the Chicken provides you with a way to try out chickens without the commitment. Buying or raising chickens takes quite a bit of planning and forethought. Then there is the matter of where to house them. Buy a kit? Build from scratch? What about predators? At Bees Please we take the guesswork out of getting chickens. A variety of chicken breeds will give customers a choice. You can choose either two or four chickens, and each hen lays from 4 to 7 eggs per week.

First you get your name on the list for Spring chickens by putting down a $50 deposit. Then in April we give you a call to schedule a delivery. When we come to your house we have everything you need to get started with chickens: a portable coop, 2 to 4 laying hens, feeder, waterer, all the feed you need, and an instruction book. There are bags of shavings available, as well as upgrading to Organic feed.

Organic eggs: Each backyard hen lays from 4 to 7 eggs per week.

The Bee hive hosting is a bit different from the chickens. We deliver all that you need, but then we do all of the work for you! Your rental fee also pays for the servicing of the bees, and renters get jars of honey from the hives while feeling good about helping pollinate local plants. Beekeeping is not easy, and bees face daily challenges from mites, wasps, beetles, diseases, pesticides and lack of quality foraging. At Bees Please we do our best to keep our bees safe, happy and healthy. However, bee mortality rates in BC are as high as 30% in some years. There is a chance your bees may die, through no fault of ours or yours.

All hives will have their bees replaced each Spring. Bee hive hosting is limited due to the fact that bee packages are expensive; the rental fee does not even cover the cost of a family of bees. We will be raising bees at Bees Please as well, but this takes time. Bee hives can be split no more than once a year. Also, and most importantly, quality of service is our top priority at Bees Please. We cannot fill all requests for bees simply based on the time each hive needs. For this reason it is best to put down your deposit as soon as you know you want bees, because the hives go quickly.

It’s so exciting to go into your backyard to get your own eggs!

I am thrilled to have such a vibrant community such as Victoria to share my business with. I have received incredible support and interest since launching my chicken and bee rental business. It gives me great joy to meet with future renters. It is like we already have something wonderful in common and I am just helping them make it happen.

At Bees Please we strive to bring people and nature just one step closer. In the environmental movement there is a saying that “if you don’t know about something, you don’t love it or have a need to protect it.” Whether it is honey bees and other pollinators, or knowing where your food comes from, we are here to make that connection just that much stronger.

Bee happy. Bee healthy. Bee loved.

By Kate Fraser
Bees Please Farms
Victoria, British Columbia
Website: www.beespleasefarms.com

Photo Credits
Feature Image: Kate and Mike Fraser with their two sons and the family hens. Photo: Feature Photography
Honey Bee Image: Photo courtesy BritishColumbia.com
Organic Eggs Image: Photo courtesy BritishColumbia.com
Bottom Image: Kate and Mike Fraser with their son and two family hens. Photo: Feature Photography

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

The residents of the quaint village of Ucluelet, on the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island, are justifiably proud of their Ucluelet Aquarium, which exhibits the amazing marine life that inhabits the waters of neighbouring Barkley Sound and Clayoquot Sound.

Not out of the ordinary, you might say, but Ucluelet Aquarium is unique in that they capture their marine creatures before the commencement of each season, and release the critters safely and humanely back into their marine habitat at the end of the season.

The animals on display at Ucluelet Aquarium may not be aware that they provide a stimulating hands-on and close-up learning environment for 30,000 adults and children every year, but the interesting and beautiful specimens are quite possibly aware that their well being is the primary concern of the aquarium … and that care is evident in the respectful and careful way they are treated and exhibited.

The Catch-and-Release practice minimizes the impact on the environment and ensures that displays are always new and interesting. The aquarium is located right on the promenade on Ucluelet Harbour, with fresh seawater from the harbour flowing directly through their exhibit tanks.

Saturday, December 6th, is the big release day this year, and the public is invited to participate and assist with the heartwarming and popular venture. All marine residents, including the Great Pacific Octopus, the starfish, sea urchins and sea cucumbers, and many species of fish, will be returned to the wild – back into the same areas and habitat from where they were collected.

These critters will likely be warmly welcomed back into their local hood, but man, do they ever have some explaining to do. Setting out to fetch dinner and returning six months later empty handed requires a pretty convincing explanation, and we all know how intelligent an octopus is, so Mister Octopus Prime had better have a plausible story prepared if he hopes to enjoy an eight-arm embrace from Missus Great Pacific.

Ucluelet Aquarium
180 Main Street
Ucluelet, BC V0R 3A0

Phone: 250-726-2782
Website: www.UclueletAquarium.org