Tag Archive for: Sierra Club BC

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One temporary forest win as new scenes of destruction emerge

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May 16 2019

As logging companies across the province can no longer easily find big old-growth trees, they’re pushing into increasingly controversial areas, including places we love most.

The 109 hectares of spectacular old-growth stands next to the beloved Juan de Fuca Trail and Port Renfrew—put up for auction by the BC government’s own logging agency BC Timber Sales (BCTS) —are just one shocking example.

Members of our staff visited these stands in Pacheedaht territory in early May and what they saw was breathtaking. Pictures of the area reveal giant cedars, culturally modified trees (CMTs), a northern red-legged frog (a species of concern in BC) and egg masses of the northwestern salamander.

Northwestern salamander egg mass. Photo by Rachel Grigg.

Thanks to many of you, a huge public outcry followed after Sierra Club BC and other groups raised awareness about this proposal. The auction for this cutblock is now on hold, for the moment at least.

But instead of taking the concerns seriously and dropping this proposal for good, BCTS only allowed for a temporary reprieve. They aren’t yet giving up their plan to clearcut. After repeated emails from us, the province passed on this statement from BCTS on May 16, 2019:

“BCTS is no longer advertising the timber sale licence in order to engage with a local stakeholder who was inadvertently missed during the initial referrals.  Since additional engagement needs to occur, at this time we can’t speculate when the timber sale licence may be re-posted and to what degree the current cutblocks may be revised.”

This statement doesn’t help to restore trust, as concerned citizens expect transparency and will want to know when they might have to be ready to fight this proposal again.

And it’s just 109 of more than 8,800 hectares of old-growth forest that BCTS has placed on the chopping block for the coming years.

And just as we cheered this temporary win, field assessments on the north island revealed fresh and shocking new clearcuts.

Together with Torrance Coste, Vancouver Island Campaigner for the Wilderness Committee, Sierra Club BC’s team has been doing assessments for the past two weeks in recent clearcuts and high-value hotspots.

They were blown away by the recent destruction – much of which can be traced directly back to BCTS.  Below, photos show an active BCTS falling block near Tsitika Provincial Park, where ancient cedars and 500+ year-old hemlocks were cut. More images will be released in the coming weeks, but you can see a few shocking initial photos here.

Left: fresh clearcut in Thursday Creek. Right: Torrance Coste stands beside a giant tree in a cutblock. Photos by Mark Worthing.

Sierra Club BC and the Wilderness Committee did site visits to Western Forest Products clearcuts in Eliza Inlet, Northwest Vancouver Island. 

 

Doing some site visits to Western Forest Products Area here in Eliza Inlet, Northwest Vancouver Island. Slides, blown out culverts, huge clear cuts, little creeks pumped full of waste and slash. This industry is a disgrace, don’t believe the PR.

Posted by Mark Worthing on Tuesday, 14 May 2019

 

They also visited Schmidt Creek, where old-growth logging is in full swing. Last year, Sierra Club BC supporters made phone calls to BC’s forest minister Doug Donaldson to direct BCTS to stop planning and auctioning hundreds of hectares of old-growth to the highest bidder in steep slopes close to the globally unique orca rubbing beaches of Robson Bight.

In this video from our recent trip, Sierra Club BC’s Galen Armstong sits beside a 600-year old hemlock that was recently cut in Schmidt Creek. Much of the area has been clearcut since we visited last in the fall, but there is still much that can – and must – be saved from the chopping block.

 

#FieldUpdate: Last year, Sierra Club BC supporters were mobilized to call Minister Donaldson to stop logging old-growth in Schmidt Creek. Despite the public outcry, nothing changed.

We’re devastated to see the destruction since, but there is still some forest left that can be saved. This old-growth habitat is ecologically important to many species-at-risk, including northern resident orcas, northern murrlets, and northern goshawks.

This time around, we must stop this ecosystem from being further destroyed by the BC government. Take action to #SaveOldGrowth 🌲https://sierraclub.bc.ca/rainforestisland/

Learn more about the significance of this region 👉 https://sierraclub.bc.ca/old-growth-logging-a-threat-to-orca-whales/

#bcpoli #cdnpoli

Posted by Sierra Club BC on Friday, 10 May 2019

Torrance and Mark also visited the Upper Tahsish where BCTS is proposing cutblocks in one of the last remaining “hotspots” – the few remaining relatively intact old-growth areas large enough to provide a haven for some of the species that depend on intact rainforests.

Upper Tahsish

Upper Tahsish Valley. Photo by Mark Worthing.

Fresh out of the clearcuts, the Sierra Club BC and Wilderness Committee teams hosted a town hall on forests and climate change in Courtenay. You can watch the replay here:

 

Posted by Sierra Club BC on Friday, 10 May 2019

 

It’s clear that more and more people are getting upset over government inaction on forests. Some elected officials in our provincial legislature are calling for the last old-growth to be protected. We welcome attention to this issue and we would like to see all political parties begin to champion old-growth. To encourage this, BC residents concerned about old-growth need to keep raising the issue with their MLAs.

What can you do right now?

Sierra Club BC’s forest campaign has been gaining a lot of steam these past few months and we have a lot of ways you can get involved.

We’re planning a province-wide day of action on Thursday June 6, calling on the BC government to protect old-growth forests. The action will involve large (or small!) numbers of people showing up at their local MLAs’ offices and carrying out peaceful demonstrations demanding old-growth protection. There will be speakers at some locations.

We’re asking for defenders of forests to organize or join a day of action in your community on June 6. If you can organize an event, please email galen@sierraclub.bc.ca. We’ll share more information about locations and times soon. For now, you can RSVP to our main Facebook event:

RSVP on Facebook

Also, our live weekly forest webinars are still running Thursdays from 12-1pm PDT until May 30. They’ve been a big hit. So far we’ve heard from forest experts like Valerie Langer, Andy Mackinnon and Jens Wieting. Wildcrafter Sharon Mackenzie has shared about gathering and harvesting traditional foods and medicines and Eli Enns (Tla-o-qui-aht) shared about Indigenous-led conservation and tribal parks.

Coming up Thursday May 23, we’ll hear from Kekinusuqs, Dr. Judith Sayers of the Hupacasath First Nation. Finally, we’ll hear from Jennifer Houghton of founder of Boundary Forest Watershed Stewardship Society on May 30.

You can still sign up for the webinars here and join us live on Thursdays or get the recordings emailed to you when they’re published.

Please donate to help amplify our old-growth forest campaign.

 

Feature image: Thursday Creek, by Mark Worthing.

The Pact for a Green New Deal

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May 2019

This past spring, we reached out to our members with a survey. Among other questions, we asked: How can Sierra Club BC best support a socially just transition to a sustainable economy that includes all people?

It’s a huge question, as many of you noted. And there is no easy answer.

There is, however, a vision that is quickly gaining steam across North America. It’s called the Green New Deal, and in our survey many of you called on Sierra Club BC to endorse it.

And many of you responded with suggestions that align closely with some of the foundational ideas being put forth in envisioning a Green New Deal for Canada. Ideas like supporting and listening to young people. Respecting Indigenous rights and title. Guarantees of good work with livable wages. Inclusion of those who have been marginalized. No resource workers left behind.

green new deal, green new deal pact, gnd


We heard you, and that’s why Sierra Club BC has joined a coalition of more than 85 organizations and 75 prominent Canadians including unions, faith groups, artists, scientists and Indigenous leaders in endorsing the Pact for a Green New Deal.

The Pact for a Green New Deal rests on two fundamental principles:

  1. It must meet the demands of Indigenous knowledge and science and cut Canada’s emissions in half in 11 years while protecting cultural and biological diversity.
  2. It must leave no one behind and build a better present and future for all of us.

A Green New Deal for Canada is a plan for massive public investment to meet the demands of justice and climate science, invest in affordable housing and clean transit, and ensure access to good work and clean water for everyone.

It would see the full implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent, and the Truth and Reconciliation Recommendations, and it would create more than a million jobs in the process.

Here in BC, we appear to be headed toward another record breaking wildfire season. Extreme weather as a result of climate change is happening all around us, and getting worse. We need politicians to act more quickly and boldly than ever before to tackle this escalating climate crisis.

And we need a vision for doing it in a way that also addresses other crises we face. Climate change, the continued denial of justice for Indigenous peoples, job losses, rising racism, inequality, global housing instability and exploitation of migrant workers – are inextricably interlinked. To address them all, we need a transformative policy platform that stretches across industries, walks of life, beliefs, and geography.

We’re asking you to stand with us to bring this ambitious vision forward. If you haven’t yet, please read and sign the pledge of support for a Green New Deal for Canada.

Sign Now

green new deal, gnd, green new deal pact

Together, we can make this happen. To do this, we need to show that thousands of people across the country stand behind this vision. And to succeed, we need YOU to help shape it.

Beginning May 18, people across the country will hold town halls in their communities to discuss what we want to see in a Green New Deal. It’s a conversation that must be led from the ground up. We will discuss how a Green New Deal can help our families and communities thrive. We will invite our MPs and local candidates for October’s federal election to sit and listen in.

green new deal, gnd

There are 12 (and counting) town halls scheduled in communities across BC. Sierra Club BC is supporting a town hall in Victoria on Lekwungen territory on May 23 at 6:30pm at the Fernwood Community Centre gym (1240 Gladstone Ave). RSVP on Facebook

Please join a town hall to help us decide what kinds of solutions work best for people in your community.

And if there isn’t a town hall yet in your community, why not organize one? Sign up to organize a town hall.

Now is our chance to gather with people from all walks of life and articulate together a positive vision for our future. This transformative vision will call for a rapid transition to cut our national emissions in half within a decade – and to do it in a way that puts justice first. Are you with us?


Featured Image: Rise and Resist

Event: The End of Ice – Dahr Jamail

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June 4 & June 7

Tour stops in Sooke and Victoria

Registration below

The End of Ice — Bearing Witness and Finding Meaning in the Path of Climate Disruption”

Admission by donation

Dahr Jamail is an award-winning climate reporter and former war correspondent. As one of the few unembedded journalists during the war in Iraq, he won praise from writer/activists like Howard Zinn and Naomi Klein. Since then Dahr’s been reporting from the front lines of climate disruption, from the heights of Alaska’s Denali peaks to the windswept islands of the Bering Sea, from the Great Barrier Reef and Amazon rainforest to Florida’s flooding coastline.

His new book, The End of Ice, is a passionate ode to the wonders of our endangered planet and to those who spend their lives trying to save it. Climbing and diving alongside leading researchers, Dahr finds beauty as well as devastation. Consulting with scientists, local inhabitants, and the natural world itself, he stands in full heartbroken relationship with each wounded place. His reporting is indispensable for understanding what lies ahead for the planet, and for ourselves.

Just as indispensable is how he engages the crucial, existential question of our times — how do we bear witness and find meaning in the path of climate disruption? What, he asks, is the face of hope in a time of mass extinction? And activism in a time of global crisis?

At a time when so many of us are stricken by grief, Dahr Jamail offers a path forward. As he writes, “Grief is something I move through, to territory on the other side. This means falling in love with Earth in a way I never thought possible. It also means opening to the innate intelligence of the heart. I am grieving and yet I have never felt more alive.”

Dahr Jamail will read from The End of Ice, describe his journey, and engage in dialogue with the audience.

Click below to register.

June 4:  Sooke 7 pm, at the Holy Trinity Church (1962 Murray Rd, Sooke)

June 7:  Victoria at 7 pm at the University of Victoria David Turpin Building, Room A110 (3800 Finnerty Rd)

Co-sponsored by: Transition Sooke, UVic Social Justice Studies, KAIROS, Council of Canadians (Victoria), and  Sierra Club BC

EVENT: Green New Deal Town Hall – Lekwungen Territories/Victoria

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Thursday May 23

6:30pm – 9:00pm

Fernwood Community Centre Gym (1240 Gladstone Avenue)

Lekwungen Territory (Victoria)

Join us for a town hall on the Green New Deal at the Fernwood Community Centre gym.

The Green New Deal is a bold vision for tackling climate change and inequality at the same time. That means totally re-organizing our economy to run on 100% renewable energy, creating millions of jobs, respecting the rights, title, and sovereignty of Indigenous Peoples, and enshrining dignity, justice, and equity for all.

The week of May 20 there will be town halls across the country to crowdsource ideas for what a Canadian Green New Deal could actually look like. We have the opportunity to define what it means for our community here in Victoria. We can lobby for massive government investment but we can also start changing the economy ourselves.

We invite people from all walks of life and all movements — Indigenous communities, anti-racist activists, the labour movement, faith groups, anti-povery activists, environmentalists, and everyday people — to come to the town hall and shape this vision. Bring your friends and neighbours.

RSVP on Facebook

Co-hosted by: Rise and Resist, Social Environmental Alliance – SEA, and Sierra Club BC

EVENT: Forests + Climate Change: Townhall Meeting & Community Dialogue

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Friday May 10

6:30pm – 9:00pm

Native Sons Hall (360 Cliffe Avenue)

K’ómoks Territory (Courtenay)

Please join Sierra Club BC, the Wilderness Committee and local Comox Valley activists for an evening of presentations on the climate crisis, the state of old-growth and second-growth forests on Vancouver Island and how these two relate to each other, followed by group discussions about how we can build a just and sustainable future in the Valley and across the Island!

Climate change and decades of mismanagement of forests in and around the Comox Valley are and will continue to be major challenges into the future. How can we build interest in meaningful change on both these interconnected issues simultaneously, and with the speed required? How can we do this in a way that benefits everyone and respects the sovereignty of the First Nations in whose territories we live?

These are the questions we want to dive into.

All perspectives are welcome, and we want to issue a challenge that everyone interested taking part in this conversation: try to bring one other person who may not otherwise attend an event like this!

The Wilderness Committee and Sierra Club BC will be on the road during the first two weeks of May, documenting old-growth forests and logging, meeting with First Nations, local governments and communities up and down Vancouver Island.

The meeting will be held in the Lodge Rooms in the lower level of the Native Sons Hall in downtown Courtenay.

RSVP on Facebook

**This event is being organized on the unceded territory of the K’ómoks First Nation.

 

Feature image: Andrew S. Wright

Logging Vancouver Island’s last ancient stands into oblivion

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Before/after photo taken in 2018 in the Nahmint Valley. Photo: TJ Watt

April 2019

We’ve discovered that another swath of rare old-growth rainforest is slated for imminent destruction on Vancouver Island.

And as in the case of last year’s scandalous clearcuts in Schmidt Creek and in the Nahmint Valley, it’s again the responsibility of the BC government’s own logging agency.

BC Timber Sales (BCTS) plans to auction an area the size of more than three Stanley Parks for industrial clearcutting in 2019.

Together with Elphinstone Logging Focus (ELF), we analyzed BCTS’ sales schedule and found these proposed cutblocks add up to more than 1,300 hectares. The majority target intact productive rainforest ecosystems that have only a fraction of their original extent remaining. These areas are at high risk of losing the plant and animal species that depend on them.

Many of the cutblocks are near Sproat and Nahmint Lakes in Hupacasath and Tseshaht territories close to Port Alberni. Other areas are near Sayward (Ma’amtagila territory) and Gold River (Mowachaht/Muchalaht territory).

Watch Senior Forest and Climate Campaigner Jens Wieting discuss the logging plans on Global TV and read the story in the Globe and Mail.

The B.C. government doesn’t share detailed information about how much old-growth remains in each ecosystem, how much is set aside or what a clear logging threshold should be to protect what’s left.

Government data do show, however, that the majority of the 1,300 hectares listed are forests with an age of 140–250 years. This means they have not previously been logged by industry and have most of the features of old-growth stands older than 250 years.

As big trees older than 250 years become increasingly rare, trees older than 140 years become more important to protect as remaining habitat for old-growth dependent species like marbled murrelets and spotted owls.

Yet Sierra Club BC’s data show that industrial old-growth logging continues at a rate of more than three square metres per second, or about thirty-four soccer fields per day.

Map of proposed cutblocks on Vancouver Island based on BCTS Sales Schedule 2019 fiscal year

Instead of liquidating the last ancient stands, B.C.’s forest stewardship should be focused on supporting good long term jobs in sustainable second-growth forestry and supporting First Nations that seek to protect more forests in their territories.

Recently, the B.C. government stated that it is working on an old-growth strategy. However, we’ve been waiting for details and timelines for months, including updates on what interim steps will be taken before almost all of the remaining endangered ancient forests are logged.

Despite the rapid ongoing loss of the remaining old-growth, the Minister did not offer any updates on additional protection for old-growth.

The B.C. government has introduced changes to forestry regulation. But it remains unclear whether it will use this opportunity to listen to concerned British Columbians and make the crucial improvements needed to protect endangered old-growth ecosystems and other ecological values from destructive logging.

At the end of March, BC’s Forest Minister Doug Donaldson explained in the B.C. Legislature that “there will be sustainable harvesting in old-growth forests on the coast.” He added that “we’re not considering a moratorium on old-growth logging.”

Unless the provincial government changes course to protect and restore what remains of endangered old-growth, communities will be left with ecologically impoverished tree farms that cannot sustain the web of life as we know it. 

That’s why we’re urging the B.C. government to take immediate action for the well-being of Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, for habitat of endangered species, clean air and water, long-term forestry jobs and to save one of the world’s most efficient carbon sinks.

We must start with protecting remaining intact rainforest areas imminently threatened by logging—such as the Central Walbran and East Creek—and using a science-based approach for protecting and restoring the remaining old-growth forest, starting with the most endangered ecosystems.

A comprehensive conservation and forest management plan for Vancouver Island and other parts of B.C. must respect Indigenous rights and interests, enable a transition to sustainable second-growth forestry, support diverse economic activities such as tourism, and reduce carbon emissions.

Take action to defend forests

Feature image by Jens Wieting.

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