Category Archives: Forests

Forests

An Old Growth Forest Grove In Cutblock 4424

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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.

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Forests

The Ministry’s Answers

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By Roy L Hales

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One June 8, Sierra Club BC released their report  BC forest wake-up call.  I responded by requesting an interview with Jens Wieting, of the Sierra Club, and shooting off a list of questions to the Ministry of Forests. As I published my interview with Wieting yesterday, it seems appropriate to publish the Ministry’s answers as a Q&A today.

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Forests

BC’s Forests Produced 256 Million Tonnes of CO2

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British Columbia could be emissions free. The province’s forest cover is vast enough to absorb more carbon than we actually need to use. Unfortunately, the Ministry of Forests has not been doing a good job since the Liberal Government took power. Instead of storing carbon, BC’s forests now emit carbon. So many trees have been clear cut, infested by Mountain Pine Beetles or burned in forest fires, that BC’s forests produced 256 million tonnes of CO2 in the decade following 2003.

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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

The Ancient Forest Movement of BC

Originally published on Heartwood, Field Notes

BC’S Ancient Forest movement is a diverse coa;ion of First Nations and settler communities, youth and elders, unions and businesses, which is united against industrial scale logging of old growth forests on Vancouver Island and the Coast of BC.

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