looking up at the forest canopy

Down a Road and Back

In early September 2021, for many reasons, I drove 4 hours to Fairy Creek, now the location of Canada’s largest public demonstration and protest. As of this writing, in  excess of 950 “Forest Defenders” have been arrested. They are peacefully protesting, focused on ending any further clear cut logging of the remaining 3% of ancient forests in British Columbia.   Another reason for the trip: as a hobby geologist I wanted to explore streams and shorelines, trying to understand earthquakes and plate tectonics which have impacted Vancouver Island.

In preparing for my trip, I did stop in at a store to purchase 2 large cases of toilet paper. At another store, the stop was to purchase a case of peanut butter cups. 

I was able to spend 4 days at Headquarters Camp and Supply Camp.

The first night, I camped at Supply Camp and slept in the back of my small truck. Other nights were a bit more comfortable in my sleeping bag and tent down a Fairy Creek Recreational Site.

Two days were spent at Headquarters camp and Arrest Camp, prepared to follow any police vehicles transporting arrested forest defenders who are dropped off at Port Renfrew. I and others then drive the arrested forest defencers back to their friends and vehicle, parked at Fairy Creek Headquarters. Another day was to visit Avatar Grove and nearby Lonely Doug – the famous single ancient tree.  Lonely Doug is about 900 years in age, standing the the middle of a massive forest clear cut. 

Each day and evening experiences are worthy of its own page upon page of missives.

My return trip, slipped past with many stops totalling 12 hours.  Normally, decade upon decade I would have had my camera to record the trip.  This trip was to be totally non technical, but for a pen and paper to record events.

The  forests along the highway 18, from Duncan to Lake Cowichan over to Port Renfrew, totalling about 100 km., looked so similar to most anywhere on Vancouver Island, into the Okanagan or Northern B.C.  Hundreds of kilometers pass clear cut after clear cut, mixed in with tree farm plantations from 1 year to 60 years of age. After the 60th year, the trees are subject to harvesting. 

Along too many kilometres, a screen of trees hides the thousands of hectares of clear cut forest lands just on the other side of the visibility screen.

Since 1880 to about 1970, the forests have been logged, most being either naturally regenerated trees or purposefully replanted as tree farms. Tree farms which I passed are reaching 60 – 80 years. They are ready for a 2nd if not 3rd clear cutting.  Other lands became towns with various saw mills. Occassionally, flat valley lands were opened up for agriculture.  

My interests in Geology had a few moments exploring a recently closed gravel pit.  The top seam, was typical of the last ice age, 10,000 years ago.  Then came the identifiable layers of beach sediments down to shales at bedrock, going back 100’s of millions of years.  

At the many bridges, I looked over the edge and down the stream channels. Different from my home region, the streams had cut through the soft rocks carving canyons, often over 30 m / 100 feet deep with near vertical sides.  Those crossings, were no place for whacking my way through the forest, then down hill to amble along the stream edges.

Where the slope flattened, streams to rivers, stretched over 100 m / 300 ft shore to shore. The stream beds could be pools and sand bars or up to meter sized boulders, rounded by their millenia rolling down hill, pushed by raging spring floods. Those were the millenia when waters were slow released from a melting snow pack shaded from the Spring and summer heat.

What was missing, and which went deep into my soul was near absolute absence of water in the lower streams and the tiny pools in the meagre shade cast by the short planted trees.  At the lowest end of the Cowichan River, emptying into the sea, there was NO smell of spawned out and dead salmon.  My mind went to the starving bears, eagles, sea birds having an ultra limited food supply, insufficient to put on body fat, so needed to keep them alive through this coming rainy then snow filled winter.

In trying to get to some other recommended geological zones, I had to stop in the village of Lake Cowichan to ask for directions.  The anwer, simplified was the sites were no longer accessible to the general public. The two major logging companies had installed very stout metal gates at the entrance point to most logging roads. Unless you were an employed logger / hauler / road builder, going onto an active logging cut block, travel was prevented.  Thes  gates have also ensured NO more berry picking, mushroom collection, no hunting, no rock hounding.

Year by year, valley by valley, private and share holder owned forestry corporations have been active, earning profits for their investors.  Over the same period, being less than 100 years, community after community have crumbled in health care, educations, housing.  The natural environment has No less crumbled;  a mere shadow of what it once was.

The few remaining forest communities in our province, indeed around the world, are screaming to the humans We need to care for each other!  stop!!! endless consumption of so many products and the profiteering of greed for the power hungry 1%.

I want to hold onto the hope, that in the past 18 Covid months, we have learned that the ME ME ME mantra, has become a huge social collapse.  The chance to shift to WE WE WE, rebirthing a strong social, empathetic co-operations, the right to life promise we humans and wild kingdom so desperately need NOW! 

The forest canopy at Avatar Grove – Photo by Roy L Hales