Tag Archives: Clearcutting in BC

Arts, Forests

Powell River vs Island Timberlands

Originally published on Heartwood, Field Notes

Powell River has been fighting for its urban forests, which are slated to be logged by Island Timberlands. I.T. has been at the forefront of many forestry conflicts on the west coast of British Columbia, from Cortes Island to Port Alberni to Powell River. Communities are uniting to oppose the logging practices of Island Timberlands, which is the second largest landowner in BC, with over 235,000 Ha. of private managed forestland on Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, and the Sunshine Coast. I.T. is majority owned by the BCIMC, the arms-length investment firm of the BC government, which invests all the public sector pension funds. The BC Teachers’ Federation, whose pensions are invested in I.T., recently filed a motion to oppose I.T,’s more controversial logging practices in the Alberni Valley.

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Forests

98 ‘Old Vets’ on Mount Elphinstone

By Roy L Hales

The great stands of Douglas Fir that many of our ancestors saw are largely gone. Isolated pockets persists.  IN the following interview Ross Muirhead, of the Elphinstone Logging Focus, talks about the attempt to save 98 ‘Old Vets’ on Mount Elphinstone.  ” is an ECO Radio interview broadcast on CKTZ (Cortes Island Community Radio) , CJMP (Powell River Community Radio) and CFSI (Green FM – Salt Spring Island Radio).

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Forests

Global Forest Watch Shows The Loss of US & Canadian Forests

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There have been 150,000 visits to the Global Forest Watch website since it went online Thursday and for good reason. The interactive map is an an  online forest monitoring system, created by the World Resources Institute and more than 40 partners, that allows you to examine changes in the forest cover anywhere in the World. They drew upon many databases, including Google Maps , data from the University of Maryland and satellite imagery. Global Forest Watch has already shown that the World lost 2.3 million kilometres of tree covering between 2000 and 2012. My concerns were more specific, I wanted to know if the forests in Canada and the US are presently emitting, or storing, carbon.

“We don’t have that data yet,” said Forests Communication Officer James Anderson, who then proceeded to show me some of the data the site does have.

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Forests

BC’s Forests at Risk: Logging Practices Must Change

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The health of BC’s forest cover is not good. In many parts of the province, our forests are emitting carbon, rather than absorbing it.

According to a story in the Times Colonist, “the province’s own data (shows that) net carbon dioxide emissions from forestland in 2011 were 34.9 million tons, equivalent to more than half of B.C.’s total official emissions for that year. However, only carbon emissions from deforestation and afforestation (new or replanted forests) are included in the province’s official total.”

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Forests

Heartwood productions: Logging in the Discovery Islands

Originally published in Heartwood, Field Notes

In July, I had the honour of taking a ride through the Discovery Islands with sailor and tour guide Mike Moore on his converted fishing boat Misty Isles.

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