On August 20th, approximately 60 people came together at MLA – Ronna-Ray Leonard‘s, MLA office in Courtenay B.C., placards and speeches at the ready. Local vehicle traffic, regularly tooted their horns in support of the rally participants. The RCMP were also in attendance, however discreetly.
Continue reading Courtenay Old Growth Logging ProtestTag Archives: Logging
Old Growth Forest Logging During COVID
Campbell River Mirror, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Who is keeping an eye on the forests? That’s a question that environmental groups have been asking ever since COVID-19 put limitations on all major watchdog activities. As logging continues amidst COVID-19 lockdown, conservationists are worried that there’s no one around to monitor old growth forest logging on North Vancouver Island.
Continue reading Old Growth Forest Logging During COVIDHow People’s Attitudes Towards Nature Changed
By Roy L Hales
What was life like in the era before cell phones, computers and televisions. Did British Columbians feel closer to nature when they worked outside in the elements rather than within the artificial confines of a building? In this mornings program I ask Mike Manson, a descendant of one of Cortes Island’s oldest European families, and Mike Moore, one of our better known eco-tour guides, how public attitudes towards nature changed since the first settlers arrived.
Visiting Avatar Grove
By Roy L Hales
Though it is no longer a secret, relatively few North Americans have visited one of the continent’s oldest extant stands of giant old-growth red cedar and Douglas fir. The site was slated to be clearcut, when T J Watt spotted a large cedar close to Route 14 just outside of Port Renfrew, British Columbia, in 2009. Figuring there was likely to be more, he hiked into the forest. The Victoria based Ancient Forest Alliance was born out of the campaign to protect the ten acre site now known as Avatar Grove.
Cortes Community Forest’s First Five Years
By Roy L Hales
British Columbia’s old growth forests fertilize themselves as efficiently as a farmer looking after his fields. The tree plantations that are fast replacing them lack this ability. If this trend continues, the province’s vast forests may be a memory in the next two or three centuries. The inhabitants of one tiny island are trying to change this. In this morning’s program one of the directors, Bruce Ellingsen, tells me about Cortes Community Forest’s first five years of operations.
Continue reading Cortes Community Forest’s First Five Years