Most of us have seen historical photographs of the great forests that once stood in British Columbia. Though his family has worked in the forestry sector for a century, Damien Gillis’ first view of a forest like this came during a six-day-trek into the Incomappleux Valley. The award winning Campbell River documentary film maker (Fractured Land, Oil in Eden) says, “it was like nothing I’ve seen before, just the way the ecosystem is really a cycle of life, death and rebirth right before your eyes.” Some of the trees he saw had been saplings around the time of the Roman Empire. The resulting documentary, Primeval: Enter the Incomappleux offers viewers a rare glimpse inside one of BC’s disappearing old growth rainforests.
Continue reading Inside One Of British Columbia’s Disappearing Old Growth RainforestsTag Archives: Old Growth Forest
Clearcutting The Walbran’s Thousand-Year-Old Trees
By Roy L Hales
It has been a year since the Wilderness Committee drew our attention to the planned logging of old growth trees in the central Walbran Valley. So far, the controversial heli-block 4424 has remained untouched. Since last November, Teal Jones has been logging 6 or 7 cutblocks in the more easily accessible areas south of the river. They are already clearcutting the Walbran’s thousand-year-old trees.
Continue reading Clearcutting The Walbran’s Thousand-Year-Old TreesWhy The Walbran Is Important
By Roy L Hales
British Columbia’s Ministry of Forests said the first cutback the in the Walbran Valley is only 3.2 hectares large. It is to be heli-logged, not clearcut. The province is protecting over 30,300 hectares in old growth management areas in the South Island Natural Resource District. The map on the top of this page shows what they did not say, why the Walbran is important.
Continue reading Why The Walbran Is ImportantHow Does BC Defend Logging the Walbran?
On September 18th BC’s Ministry of Forests gave Teal Jones approval to start logging in what is believed to be one of Canada’s most important stands of unprotected old-growth rain-forest. The Walbran Valley, on Vancouver Island, contains some of the nation’s oldest and largest red cedar and sitka spruce trees. Teal Jones has applied to log eight cutbacks. So far, they have only been permission to log a 3.2 hectare section known as Cutblock 4424. Yet when you consider the role that trees have fighting Climate Change, how does BC defend logging the Walbran?
A spokesperson from the Ministry of Forests provided most of the answers that follow.
An Old Growth Forest Grove In Cutblock 4424
By Roy L Hales
British Columbia’s environmental community has been calling upon the provincial government to set aside plans to log in the Walbran Valley for months. The city of Victoria joined the chorus in July, passing a motion against this project. Everyone appears to have believed the Walbran was an old growth forest. Yet on September 18th, BC gave Teal Jones approval to start logging the first cutblock. Now, as the Surrey based logging company prepares to commence operations, the existence of an old growth forest grove in cutblock 4424 has been documented.
Continue reading An Old Growth Forest Grove In Cutblock 4424


