06/02/2018
PHOTO GALLERY: Hundreds of hectares of the grandest old-growth forests in Canada are being logged at breakneck speeds right now in the Nahmint Valley near Port Alberni, including thousands of old-growth western redcedars - some 4.3 meters (12 feet) in diameter - and exceptionally large Douglas-firs. BC's 5th and 9th widest Douglas-fir trees, according to the BC Big Tree Registry, have been found on recent expeditions to the area.
The logging has been coordinated by the BC government's own logging agency, BC Timber Sales (BCTS), which has auctioned off over 300 hectares of these magnificent ancient forests.
The Nahmint Valley is considered a “hotspot" of high-conservation value old-growth forest by conservation groups and is home to Roosevelt elk, black-tailed deer, cougars, wolves, and black bears, as well as old-growth associated species like the marbled murrelet and northern goshawk. The area also supports significant salmon and steelhead spawning runs.
On Vancouver Island and the southwest mainland, 75% of the original, productive old-growth forests have already been logged, including over 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow.
The BC NDP government needs to wake up and direct BC Timber Sales to immediately stop issuing old-growth cutblocks and ensure sustainable second-growth forestry instead.
Photos by TJ Watt in May 2018.
TAKE ACTION and SEND a MESSAGE to the BC Government at www.BCForestMovement.com
And if you are a BC resident, write your MLA at: http://ancientforestalliance.org/news-item.php?ID=1184
See the media release at: http://ancientforestalliance.org/news-item.php?ID=1189
How to get to the Nahmint: https://goo.gl/maps/qpKs15WSNoJ2
