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Sierra Club BC reacts to Premier Horgan’s Ada’itsx/Fairy Creek and Central Walbran deferral announcement

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 

June 9, 2021 

Sierra Club BC Senior Forest and Climate Campaigner Jens Wieting offers the following statement in response to today’s deferral announcements. 

“Hearing first from the Pacheedaht, Ditidaht and Huu-ay-aht First Nations and now from the province that old-growth logging will be deferred for two years in the Ada’itsx/Fairy Creek watershed and the Central Walbran gives us a glimpse of hope for two small but highly endangered old-growth forest areas on Vancouver Island. 

“But studying the maps shared today by the B.C. government is a sobering experience and shows a consistent pattern: Minimize conservation, even temporary deferrals, to the absolute minimum; defend timber access as much as possible. 

“Ada’itsx/Fairy Creek is a dramatic example for this pattern, with hundreds of hectares of intact contiguous old-growth adjacent to the watershed left out of the deferral area. The province even insisted on creating a Zone B to allow for some degree of logging in the watershed.  

“The BC NDP government shows great creativity to defend business as usual and almost none when it comes to enabling communities and First Nations to protect the last old-growth forests. 

“At the current pace, the B.C. government will not be able to win the race to save what’s left and restore what’s damaged for future generations. The April 2020 old-growth panel recommendations included one indispensable step that came with an expiry date – defer logging in all at-risk old-growth forests within six months. Any further delay would be irresponsible.  

“In May, after a year of almost no action to protect at-risk forests, a group of independent experts shared a map with the province that used criteria from the old-growth panel report to identify the most endangered forests that need immediate deferrals from logging. Their maps show 1.3 million hectares of forests that need interim protection, 2.6 percent of all forests in B.C.  

“Today’s deferral announcement for Ada’itsx/Fairy Creek and Central Walbran adds up to 2,000 hectares or 0.15 percent of the forests that need interim protection. Almost all at-risk forests across the province remain open for logging, including thousands of hectares on Southern Vancouver Island.” 

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For more information about the deferral map developed by independent experts go here: https://sierraclub.bc.ca/new-map-of-at-risk-old-growth-forests-in-bc-is-a-first-step/ 


Media contact:

Jens Wieting, Senior Forest and Climate Campaigner | Sierra Club BC
jens@sierraclub.bc.ca, (604) 354-5312

 

Photo by TJ Watt/Ancient Forest Alliance

Teal-Jones on brink of violating Wildlife Act; risks destroying fragile western screech-owl forests

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Teal-Jones appears to be ignoring notice of confirmed screech-owl sightings during mating season in the Caycuse Valley and surrounding areas in Ditidaht and Pacheedaht territories

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 21, 2021 (Endangered Species Day)

VANCOUVER / UNCEDED xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh AND səlilwətaɬ TERRITORIES — Western screech-owls in Caycuse Valley area face imminent risk of logging, putting Teal-Jones at risk of contravening the Wildlife Act, according to a Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNRORD) biologist.

Western screech-owls (Megascops kennicottii) are occupying an area in the Caycuse Valley that is under threat of being logged. Royann Petrell, a retired UBC professor, has evidence of the threatened western screech-owls living in four locations throughout the Valley and neighbouring watersheds like Fairy Creek. She captured audio recordings and photos of the owls five times within the past two months.

“It’s incredible to know that threatened western screech-owls live here, but also worrying as their old-growth habitat is at risk of being logged,” said Donna Clark and Sara Ross of the Community Nest Finding Network. “Identifying and protecting their nesting sites is essential in saving a species that’s already lost so much habitat.”

Under the BC Wildlife Act it is an offence for anyone to harm, molest or destroy a nest that is occupied by a bird or egg. According to email correspondence with Royann, a biologist working for FLNRORD notified Teal-Jones that in order to ensure compliance with the Wildlife Act, they recommended they delay harvest at the Caycuse site until after breeding season.

“There are regulations in place, admittedly weak ones, that attempt to protect wildlife in B.C. from harm,” said Charlotte Dawe, Conservation and Policy Campaigner for the Wilderness Committee. “If Teal-Jones cannot even respect the few laws to save at-risk wildlife, then perhaps it’s not a company that should operate here at all.”

Western screech-owls are listed under the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA) as threatened. Under SARA, responsibility is first given to the province to protect habitat and nests. But if B.C.’s laws do not effectively protect the species or the residence of its individuals, the federal minister of environment must recommend an order be made to protect the individuals and their nests.

“We have a law in Canada to protect wildlife at risk. A federal order to protect western screech-owl habitat is possible if B.C. fails on habitat protection,” said Dawe. “Both the B.C. government and Teal-Jones need to take recovery of at-risk wildlife seriously or risk federal intervention.”

Western screech-owls kennicottii subspecies rely on old-growth forests, where there is a high density of dead trees required for breeding and fewer predators.

“When old-growth gets destroyed for short-term economic profits we lose critical biodiversity habitat forever. Right now the only thing standing between western screech-owls and Teal-Jones chainsaws is forest defenders who are getting dragged off in cuffs by the RCMP,” said Mark Worthing, Coastal Projects Lead at Sierra Club BC. “With the absence of any endangered species legislation in B.C. and a rarity of political leadership on the biodiversity crisis, it feels like the environment minister is also a rare and endangered species.”

Teal-Jones is poised to log several cutblocks in the upper Caycuse Valley. This week, the RCMP is enforcing an injunction against blockades that have prevented this logging to date, and have arrested over 20 people there in the last three days.

The groups are calling on Premier John Horgan to respect wildlife living in the forest and halt operations until wildlife biologists can complete studies to confirm habitat requirements for a stable population of owls in the region. At the very least, no further forestry activity should continue during the active breeding season.

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Media contacts:

Mark Worthing, Coastal Projects Lead | Sierra Club BC
mark@sierraclub.bc.ca, (250) 889-3575

Charlotte Dawe, Conservation and Policy Campaigner | Wilderness Committee
charlotte@wildernesscommittee.org, (778) 903-3992

Donna Clark | Community Nest Finding Network
donnaclarkbc@gmail.com, (778) 879 3711

 

 

Top banner photo by Aaron Maizlish (CC BY-NC 2.0)

Sierra Club BC: New map of at-risk old-growth forests in BC is a first step towards solutions

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At-risk old-growth still unprotected, as RCMP clears path for logging companies on Vancouver Island

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 19, 2021

Unceded Coast Salish Territories (VANCOUVER, BC) — Independent researchers, forester Dave Daust and forest ecologists Dr. Rachel Holt and Dr. Karen Price, have taken the next step towards solutions for B.C.’s old-growth crisis and developed a provincial map showing the 1.3 million hectares of old-growth stands that are most at risk and in need of immediate deferrals from logging.

The B.C.-based experts used the criteria from the independent old-growth panel recommendations that the provincial government promised to implement last fall but has so far failed to enact. The suggested deferrals would give temporary protection to 2.6 percent of B.C.’s total forest area.

The map shows the last old-growth forests with big, tall trees; in addition, old-growth forest ecosystems that are now below an alarming threshold (less than 10 percent of their original extent), as well as particularly old or ‘ancient’ stands that are currently without protection.

This new map is being shared the same week that the RCMP has started to arrest forest defenders and clear a path for logging companies targeting at-risk old-growth forests in the Fairy Creek and Caycuse areas in the territories of Pacheedaht and Ditidaht Nations. Despite containing at-risk old-growth forests, large swaths of these areas remain open to logging over one year after the province received the recommendations calling for deferrals.

“Provincial inaction has forced the hand of Indigenous leadership to call for deferrals on all remaining old-growth lands. In a time of crisis, we are seeing old-growth percentages dropping by the day and we don’t have time to wait for the province any longer,” said hereditary Kwakwaka’wakw chief An’anxwisa’gamayi, Mak’wala, Rande Cook.

“This science-based map building on the provincial old-growth panel report is the crucial missing step to enable emergency interim protection for the most endangered at-risk forests. Using deferrals, the B.C. government can ensure sufficient time for a sincere process with Indigenous governments to identify what support is needed for communities and Nations that seek to protect the last old-growth forests instead of logging it for short-term relief,” said Jens Wieting, Sierra Club BC’s Forest and Climate Campaigner.

The B.C. government promised to fully implement the recommendations from the old-growth panel in October 2020. The panel’s top recommendations include more collaboration between provincial and Indigenous governments, deferrals for at-risk forests within six months, a transition plan to support forest-dependent communities, and a paradigm shift to safeguard biodiversity and the ecological integrity of all forests in B.C.

“I wouldn’t even call what the Horgan government is doing talk and log anymore. With the scientific consensus in place, they are now engaged in the politics of predatory delay. Deferrals are what make space for a safe conversation to cultivate public trust and free, prior and informed consent for the future of old-growth forests and biodiversity. Without indigenous consent and science-based deferrals all we’re left with is an outcome designed to please greedy logging corporations above all else,” said Mark Worthing, Sierra Club BC’s Coastal Projects Lead.

More than one year after the B.C. government received the recommendations, old-growth logging continues unabated, almost all at-risk old-growth forest remains without protection, and the provincial government has moved to increase the number of cutting permits compared to last year.

Additionally, the provincial government didn’t include funding to increase protection in the 2021 budget and there is no sign of a transition plan to support communities faced with the inevitable end of old-growth logging in coming years.

“This new expert map offers the B.C. government an opportunity to take the first step towards the promised paradigm-shift for ecological integrity for forests, and away from the abyss of ecological and cultural collapse,” added Wieting.

“Immediate deferrals for the most endangered old-growth forests would allow for government-to-government dialogue about the future of old-growth in B.C. without time pressure and the risk of losing more critical stands. It would also demonstrate that the province takes the public’s interest more seriously than short-term profit for logging corporations and deescalate the conflicts we are seeing on Southern Vancouver Island and elsewhere.”

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Maps and backgrounder are available at: https://veridianecological.ca/old-growth-resilience/ 


Media contacts:

Rande Cook, An’anxwisa’gamayi, Mak’wala
Randecook07@gmail.com, (250) 704-6777

Mark Worthing, Coastal Projects Lead | Sierra Club BC
mark@sierraclub.bc.ca, (250) 889-3575

Jens Wieting, Senior Forest and Climate Campaigner | Sierra Club BC
jens@sierraclub.bc.ca, (604) 354-5312

This map shows the best 3% of tall and large OLD forests for every forested ecosystem, mapped ancient forests and rare forests, and the mapped harvest history in the province.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo by TJ Watt/Ancient Forest Alliance

Sierra Club BC reacts to court decision on Fairy Creek injunction application by Teal Jones

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Sierra Club BC statement in response to today’s court decision on the injunction application by logging company Teal-Jones Group to remove Fairy Creek/Ada’itsx forest defenders.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 1, 2021

Sierra Club BC is calling on the B.C. government to speed up solutions to avert imminent risk of losing irreplaceable at-risk ecosystems after court grants injunction to Teal-Jones logging company, clearing the path to clearcutting in one of the last intact old-growth areas on Vancouver Island.

“The confrontation between logging company Teal-Jones and forest defenders in court is the result of the ongoing failure of the provincial government to follow through on their promise and deliver solutions to protect globally rare and endangered old-growth forest like the spectacularly intact Fairy Creek rainforest in Pacheedaht territory,” said Sierra Club BC senior forest and climate campaigner Jens Wieting.

“This whole issue is a continuation of the provincial government pitting Indigenous bands (as defined by the Indian Act) against the people making up the Nations that those bands are said to govern. This is the same colonial government that removes Indigenous people from the land and diminishes their ability to be self-sustaining by way of displacement. These policies coerce Indigenous Nations to choose between financial impoverishment and the impoverishment of land and resources,” said Ma̱k’wa̱la – Dakota Smith, Sierra Club BC’s forest relations coordinator.

“Without leadership from the provincial government, including adequate funding to First Nations and forestry dependent communities that currently see no alternative to logging the last old-growth trees for short-term relief, there is no hope for the promised paradigm-shift in forest management,” added Wieting. “Support for Indigenous-led conservation solutions and transition in the forestry sector is paramount to give communities a real choice, prepare for the inevitable end of old-growth logging and to safeguard natural life support systems that we have brought so close to collapse.”

Earlier this month, Sierra Club BC partnered with Ancient Forest Alliance and Wilderness Committee to issue a report card assessing the B.C. government’s progress on protecting old-growth forests. March 11, 2021 marked exactly six months since the provincial government published the report from its independent old-growth panel, followed by the promise of Premier John Horgan to implement the panel’s recommendations in “totality”.

The panel called for a paradigm-shift to safeguard the biodiversity of forests in B.C. with a three-year framework, including logging deferrals for all at-risk old-growth forests within the first six months. Half a year later almost all at-risk forests remain open for logging and the B.C. government has not developed a plan with milestone dates and funding, leaving First Nations and forestry workers with uncertainty about whether conservation, economic diversification and the transition to sustainable second-growth forestry will be adequately funded.

Meanwhile, the province is locking in species extirpation, climate disaster and new conflict by auctioning new cutblocks in old-growth forests through its own agency, BC Timber Sales, including 927 hectares on Vancouver Island alone in 2021.

“Once again, our government has made promises it chooses not to fulfill. This time it not only failed its Indigenous constituents, but also forestry workers, specifically loggers, by refusing to take swift action. This failure will leave the Indigenous Nations here without access to traditional regalia and canoes. It will also leave the next generation of forestry workers in an unstable job sector,” added Ma̱k’wa̱la – Dakota Smith.

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Information about the March 11 report card and a backgrounder can be found here


Media contacts:

Jens Wieting, Senior Forest and Climate Campaigner | Sierra Club BC
jens@sierraclub.bc.ca, (604) 354-5312

Ma̱k’wa̱la – Dakota Smith, Forest Relations Coordinator | Sierra Club BC
makwala@sierraclub.bc.ca, (250) 514-7800

 

Photo by TJ Watt/Ancient Forest Alliance

Sierra Club BC calls for government leadership to resolve conflict over Walbran rainforest

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

VICTORIA—Sierra Club BC is extremely concerned about the ongoing absence of government leadership to resolve the conflict over logging in the Walbran valley.

As a result of the B.C. government’s inadequate response to the severity of the concerns expressed over old-growth logging in this valley, the conflict reached a new level last week.

Teal Jones sought and received an injunction (since narrowed by the court) and filed a civil suit targeting environmental activists who have been speaking up to protect endangered rainforest in the Walbran Valley. Teal Jones’ legal hardball tactics are outrageous and deliberate attempts to stifle public debate and limit people’s ability to access public land and engage in legitimate, law-abiding activity.

The company and the provincial government should take the protest and the concerns of thousands of citizens seriously and seek a solution, not legal confrontation.

There is overwhelming public support to fully protect the remaining contiguous old-growth rainforest in the Walbran, the only unprotected area with this level of intactness remaining on Southern Vancouver Island. There is also overwhelming evidence that the Walbran Valley represents a unique opportunity to protect a larger intact old-growth area on Vancouver Island, with very high species habitat and carbon values, in an area with fragile karst features that should be safeguarded.

“Ongoing inaction by the B.C. government regarding the Walbran Valley is putting outstanding ecological values at risk, while compromising our ability to resolve conflict over resource management in a collaborative manner,” said Sierra Club BC’s forest and biodiversity campaigner Mark Worthing.

“Government inaction undermines both environmental and economic interests. People of conscience feel they are not being heard and have been left with nowhere else to turn. It is time for the B.C. government to seek solutions and de-escalate the situation.”

Sierra Club BC is joining other environmental organizations and thousands of citizens who have called on the BC government to:

  1. Rescind the permit for cutblock 4424
  2. Seek lasting protection for the 485 hectare Central Walbran Ancient Forest in a manner that respects First Nations rights and interests; and,
  3. Assist Teal-Jones with discontinuing old-growth logging and transitioning to second-growth forestry.

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Contact:

Mark Worthing

Forests & Biodiversity Campaigner, Sierra Club BC

250-889-3575

 

Featured image by Rachel Grigg

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