BC Says Preserving Biodiversity Now Guides Logging Policies

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The Tyee
September 11, 2020

The province matches its much-anticipated report with new protections. But some ancient forests are still at risk.

Walbran
Left unprotected. Among the old-growth areas not granted new protections by the BC forests ministry is the Central Walbran Valley, shown here in the foreground. Forests in the background are protected within the Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park. Photo by TJ Watt, Ancient Forests Alliance.

B.C. Forests Minister Doug Donaldson today announced the deferral of old-growth logging within more than 350,000 hectares as well as the protection of up to 1,500 giant trees. The move came in response to a highly anticipated report also released today on the management of old-growth forests in the province.

Environmentalists, workers and First Nations representatives applauded the steps but say they leave out some of the most at-risk ancient forests as well as funding for implementation.

The report, titled A New Future for Old Forests, calls for a paradigm shift that prioritizes ecosystem health over the timber supply and acknowledges the many intrinsic values of mature old forests, including biodiversity, clean water, cultural resources, recreation, climate regulation and carbon storage. With the passage of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act last fall, Indigenous involvement was listed as the first recommendation.

“Not a single stick of old growth should have left Kwakiutl territory in the last 10 years,” said Kwakiutl Chief Walas Numgwis (David Knox) in a Sierra Club press release responding to the report. “Yet we’ve seen heavy industrial exploitation of the ancient forests and [been] given only crumbs in return. My hope is that we come together to create a better relationship with the forest. The work starts now and we’re ready.”

Donaldson said that the province recognizes the need for a new approach to managing B.C.’s ancient forests. “We know that the status quo is not sustainable,” he said. “Obviously, it’s no good for industry to cut it all down with no plan for transition. And we know that unchecked logging in old growth threatens crucial biodiversity.”

“Over time our understanding of forests and societal values have evolved,” Donaldson added. “We need an approach that brings together western and Indigenous knowledge and science, and one that considers perspectives from across all sectors and stakeholders.”

Nearly three-quarters of the forested land where logging will be paused is in Clayoquot Sound, which has already been phasing out logging since the famous demonstrations of the 1980s and ’90s. The second-largest swath is in the Incomappleux Valley outside Revelstoke.

About 200,000 hectares of the deferral area is believed to be old growth, according to Torrance Coste, national campaign director with the Wilderness Committee. That means less than half of the province’s most valuable old growth — estimated at about 420,000 hectares — is protected.

Old-growth forests are generally defined as those containing trees more than 250 years old on the coast and in the inland temperate rainforest, and more than 140 years old in the Interior.

But not all old-growth forests hold the same biodiversity value, Coste said, and exact boundaries of deferral areas have not been released.

“We need to see that the old growth that they’re deferring actually matters and we need more details around the plan to shift the deferrals to permanent protection,” Coste said. “We need more immediate action. The reality is, even with these deferrals, hundreds of hectares of old growth were logged today. Hundreds of hectares of old growth are going to be logged on Monday.”

Not included in the moratorium are the Central Walbran Valley or the Fairy Creek area of southern Vancouver Island, where blockades have been preventing logging of the intact watersheds and big-tree cedar-hemlock forests.

“The Walbran is one of the most important areas ecologically on the South Island,” Coste said. “The only way they can really show they’re serious is if [the government] keeps expanding, if they keep building on this, and they defer more key areas, so they won’t be lost in the meantime.”

When asked about contentious areas like the Central Walbran and Fairy Creek at a briefing Friday afternoon, Donaldson said managing old-growth forests while maintaining jobs is a challenge that won’t be solved overnight. “An immediate moratorium would be devastating to workers and forest-dependent communities,” he said.

Other areas of concern include the boreal rainforest and inland rainforest near Prince George. The latter is being targeted by the wood pellet industry, said Michelle Connolly, director of the volunteer-run community group Conservation North. A scientific study released in June found that only one per cent of provincial forests still support the largest trees today. The interior wet belt is one area where very little productive forest remains.

“The deferral map inadvertently shows where industrial forest corporations hold the power,” Connolly said. “Every type of old-growth forest in the central interior is at risk. This place is in trouble.”

Leaving the most at-risk areas available for logging in the name of First Nations consultation is disingenuous and removes economic opportunities for all communities, including Indigenous communities, Connolly added.

“Deferring logging of the most at-risk places now keeps options open, while logging those areas removes the options permanently because those forests are never coming back,” she said. “Old-growth forests are not a renewable resource.”

A commitment to work with Indigenous communities was emphasized in Friday’s announcement, but there was no clear answer on how long that will take. Coste points out that First Nations consultation should happen prior to logging, not just when suspending it.

“If you can’t set aside old growth without First Nations’ consent, then you shouldn’t be able to log it without their consent,” he said. “Every forest plan and logging plan in B.C. was set up without Indigenous consent and that doesn’t get delayed.”

582px version of Gary Fiegge
Gary Fiege, president of the Public and Private Workers of Canada, says the new report lacks key steps towards transitioning BC’s timber industry to value-added processing and halting raw log exports.

One thing missing from today’s announcement was how the province intends to support workers who could be out of a job because of declining old-growth supply. This is especially important on the coast and Vancouver Island, where half of the annual harvest is from old-growth forest, said Gary Fiege, president of the Public and Private Workers of Canada.

The report also lacks clear steps to transition the industry to second growth and added-value processing through actions like retooling mills and halting raw-log exports.

But Fiege commends the government for its commitment to First Nations and its phased approach to implementing the report’s recommendations, which will roll out over 36 months.

“The government is standing on the edge of a knife with competing interests on both sides,” Fiege said. “We have 30 years of old growth left, maybe less with biodiversity needs and the needs of the planet. This is really only a step in a long journey.”

Donaldson said the province will provide a progress report next spring.  [Tyee]

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Clayoquot Sound

B.C. moves to end divisive old growth forest policies, protects nine areas

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The Canadian Press
September 11, 2020

Meares Island in the Clayoquot Sound region, one of the areas identified for development deferral. TJ WATT-ANCIENT FOREST ALLIANCE

The British Columbia government says it’s taking a new and more all-encompassing approach to protecting the province’s old-growth forests.

Forests Minister Doug Donaldson says the government wants to break from the past _ when forestry decisions led to confrontations _ and fully involve environmental groups, Indigenous leaders, forest companies, labour organizations and communities while working together to protect forests and support jobs.

He says B.C. must do a better job of finding ways to protect forests while saving jobs.Donaldson says the province will immediately defer timber harvesting in nine old-growth areas, totalling almost 3,530 square kilometres.

In July 2019, B.C. announced a panel to conduct an independent strategic review of old-growth forests, which resulted in a report containing 14 recommendations.B.C.’s Wilderness Committee says in a statement the government’s announcement represents a significant opportunity to protect the province’s remaining old-growth forests.

For a link to a map of old–growth areas for immediate development deferral, visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/Old_Growth_No1.pdf

List of old–growth areas for immediate development deferral:

1. Clayoquot Sound: 260,578 hectares. Renowned for its beauty and range of resource values, typical forests of the very wet Coastal Western Hemlock zone, with western hemlock, western red cedar, yellow cedar, balsam, berries, ferns and moss.

2. Crystalline Creek: 9,595 hectares. A tributary of the south fork of the Spillimacheen River, an intact watershed with wetland complexes and old and mature forests.

3. H’Kusam: 1,050 hectares. Prounounced kew-sum, this easily accessible area contains outstanding examples of culturally modified trees and intact stands of old–growth cedar.

4. Incomappleux Valley: 40,194 hectares. Inland rainforest with intact riparian habitats, more than 250 lichen species, lowland forests and old–growth forests estimated to be between 800 and 1,500 years old.

5. McKelvie Creek: 2,231 hectares. Intact valley of old–growth temperate rainforest and intact watershed providing rich wildlife and salmon habitat.

6. Seven Sisters: 4,510 hectares. A complete elevation sequence of forested ecosystems, with a blend of coastal, interior and northern features, habitat for many red- and blue-listed wildlife species.

7. Skagit-Silver Daisy: 5,745 hectares. Largely intact transition forest between coastal and interior types, with species representative of both, including sub-alpine fir, western and mountain hemlock, western red and yellow cedar and Douglas fir, home to wildlife including spotted owls.

8. Stockdale Creek: 11,515 hectares. Old and mature forests in an intact watershed, an important wildlife corridor with high-value grizzly bear habitat.

9. Upper Southgate River: 17,321 hectares. Coastal rainforest providing a rich habitat for wildlife and multiple species of salmon.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2020.

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Blockades halt logging road construction into untouched watershed

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Ha-Shilth-Sa
August 25, 2020

Eartha Muirhead stands with Steve Fischer at one of three blockades set up in August to block forestry access into the Fairy Creek valley. Teal-Jones has halted road building in the area. (Eric Plummer photos)

Port Renfrew, BC — Blockades are holding the line in three locations near Port Renfrew, preventing forestry activity from entering one of Vancouver Island’s few untouched watersheds.

Driven by a loosely affiliated collection of volunteers, the first blockade was established Aug. 10 to stop roads from being built into the Fairy Creek valley, a remote tributary of the San Juan River system east of Port Renfrew. A week later a second blockade was set up to prevent access by Granite Main, another route that could lead into the Fairy Creek valley.

Fairy Creek lies within Tree Farm Licence 46, a large section of Crown land that has been held by the Teal-Jones Group since 2004.

“Teal Jones started blasting a new road on the far side of Fairy Creek, it was going to come in right over the top of the ridge,” explained Jeff, a Victoria resident at the second blockade who asked that his last name not be disclosed. “The reason we have a blockade here is that this is the other logical route to get into Fairy Creek. There is very recent old-growth falling that was happening up this road.”

According to those at the site, this initial falling included large old-growth yellow cedar trees, a species that holds important spiritual value to Nuu-chah-nulth-aht. The Fairy Creek valley is within the traditional territory of the Pacheedaht, but the First Nation has yet to speak in support or opposition to harvesting in the watershed.

However, Pacheedaht elder Bill Jones isn’t reluctant to share his opposition to the forestry activity. He recalls hunting in the Fairy Creek valley as a young man, and his uncles used the area for prayer and other spiritual practices.

“I used to go up there hunting in my young manhood and they came out of the forest behind Fairy Lake mountain and surprised me,” recalled Jones. “They used to like to go into the woods for the private solitude and the peace there.”

The region is home to massive stands of yellow and red cedar, reason enough to keep harvesting away from the valley, said Jones.

“There’s a lot of yellow cedar in the Fairy Lake watershed, which is a revered and respected spiritual tree for our people, along with the red cedar,” he continued, adding that the road that Teal-Jones began to build was directed at a particularly old tree. “The road is going directly to a yellow cedar that a forester estimated to be about 1,500 to 2,500 years old. They are aiming the logging road right straight to the tree.”

Support for the blockades has been consistent over August, with a steady flow of food, provisions and volunteers to man the posts for a few days at a time. A third blockade went up Aug. 22 to ensure logging trucks don’t gain access to the valley.

Denman Island resident Eartha Muirhead accompanied Jeff at the Granite Main blockade. They are both veterans of past movements to stop the clearcutting of old-growth trees, including an arrest Muirhead sustained in Clayoquot Sound in 1993, possibly the largest movement of civil disobedience in Canadian history.

“I think that growing up in old growth forests influences how you see the world,” commented Muirhead.  “The natural world has so much wisdom. It is who we are in essence.”

She saw someone from the forestry company come to the site on Aug. 10 to check on a road building machine on the other side of the blockade. Muirhead said he looked surprised to see people there, and although they invited him to cross the line to check on the machine, he voluntarily left.

A drive up Granite Main overlooking the other side of the mountain that forms the Fairy Creek valley gives a quick indication of why so many are concerned for the untouched watershed. Large swaths of the mountainside are clearcut, with equipment still on site.

One the other side of the cutblock, two thirds of the Fairy Creek watershed is protected as a Marbled Murrelet Wildlife Habitat Area, according to the Ministry of Forests.

“Our government is committed to protecting old growth and biodiversity while supporting workers and communities,” said B.C. Forestry Minister Doug Donaldson in a statement sent to Ha-Shilth-Sa. “When it comes to this work, there have been some strides over the past 30 years, but our government wants a comprehensive science-based approach.”

Nearly three decades since the mass arrests in Clayoquot Sound, old growth logging remains an integral part of B.C.’s coastal forestry industry. Information sent to the Ha-Shilth-Sa in July 2019 from BC Timber Sales clarified that approximately half of the timber harvested from Crown land that is auctioned annually is old growth, and will be “for the foreseeable future.”

“This is what the timber supply, economic base and community employment across the coast is based on,” wrote a spokesperson for the provincial agency responsible for auctioning sections of Crown land.

The TFL 46 management plan calls to maintain an annual harvest of 367,363 cubic metres of timber, less than half – or 180,000 – of which is second growth.  

“This harvest level is sustainable for fifty years, at which point it must fall to the long-term sustainable level of 332,500 m3 /year,” states the management plan, which was drafted in 2010.

This model for a sustainable harvest has not reassured Jones.

“We have very little left, and likely within a short while it will be gone forever,” he said. “We have to save some for the future and we have to save some for the children’s future.”

The Ministry of Forests would not say if it will enforce forestry access to the Fairy Creek valley. For the time being, Teal-Jones has halted road construction as the blockades remain in place. 

Activists continue blockade of logging road on Vancouver Island to protect giant cedar

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CBC News British Columbia
August 14, 2020

T.J. Watt, an activist with the Ancient Forest Alliance, admires an old-growth yellow cedar in the Fairy Creek watershed near Port Renfrew on southern Vancouver Island. (TJ Watt)

Protesters want the B.C. government to release recent review of old-growth forests in the province

Protesters have spent nearly a week blockading a logging road near Port Renfrew in an effort to defend what they say is the last unlogged watershed on southern Vancouver Island, outside of protected parks. 

“Enough is enough,” said Saul Arbess, a spokesperson for the Friends of Carmanah Walbran, a group with a history of fighting logging in the region. “It’s time to protect these areas.”

Arbess and other protesters want the provincial government to stop Teal-Jones, a Surrey-based logging company, from building a road into the Fairy Creek watershed, home to numerous old-growth yellow cedars, including one nearly three meters in diameter, the ninth-widest known yellow cedar in the province.

Clear-cutting Fairy Creek, they say, could wreak havoc on the local environment, threatening species diversity and exacerbating flooding in the San Juan River Basin. 

The stump of what is said to have been a 800-year-old red cedar that was cut down near the entrance of Carmanah-Walbran Provincial Park on Vancouver Island in 2013. (Canadian Press)

Loggers remove equipment 

In response to the blockade, which began Sunday, Teal-Jones removed machinery from the site Tuesday, after cutting trees and blasting rock to make way for the road. 

When reached earlier this week, the company told CBC News it had no comment at this time. 

Teal-Jones holds the tree farm license (TFL) that includes the watershed. Though the company has not yet applied for a cut block in Fairy Creek, activists worry that move may be imminent, pointing to the recent road construction, which they say is common practice ahead of making a cut block application. 

Swell of action to defend old growths

This week’s demonstration follows recent protests outside NDP MLA offices and a two-week-long hunger strike to raise awareness over the loss of old-growth forests across B.C. 

A study by a group of forest researchers released in April showed that only three per cent of all B.C. forests are suitable for growing very large trees like those found in Fairy Creek. 

Besides safeguarding Fairy Creek, protestors have pushed for the release of a recent government review on old-growth forest habitats in the province. The Ministry of Forests received the report on April 30 with a stipulation that it be released to the public no more than six months later. 

“Yet, they’re sitting on this to allow another full season for the [logging] companies to continue to destroy the old growth,” Arbess added, calling this moment the “11th hour” to save the province’s heritage forests.

Old-growth specimens in the Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park on southern Vancouver Island. Protesters are trying to save old-growth trees in the area that are not currently protected. (TJ Watt)

Two-thirds of watershed already protected

B.C.’s Ministry of Forests told CBC News it plans to release the review either later this summer or in the fall. 

An emailed statement from Forest Minister Doug Donaldson’s office also noted that “about two thirds” of the Fairy Creek watershed is already protected by the Marbled Murrelet Wildlife Habitat Area.

Logging in the area remains an important livelihood for some members of the local Pacheedaht First Nation, added the ministry.

According to Arbess, the Pacheedaht nation has offered neither support nor opposition to the blockade. 

Despite a long history as a logging community, Port Renfrew has recently rebranded itself as an ecotourism destination, the self-proclaimed Tall Tree Capital of Canada. 

TJ Watt, a campaigner with the Victoria-based Ancient Forest Alliance, understands why. 

“These are some of the biggest, most remarkable yellow cedars we’ve ever seen,” said Watt in a press release on Thursday. 

They’re also, Watt said, among the longest-lived life forms in the country. He hopes it stays that way.

With files from Kieran Oudshoorn

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Protesters showcase massive old yellow cedar as Port Renfrew area forest blockade continues

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The Williams Lake Tribune
August 14th, 2020

9.5-foot-wide yellow cedar measured by Ancient Forest Alliance campaigners in Fairy Creek watershed

Government and company officials continue to avoid comment as an environmental blockade near Port Renfrew reached its fifth day Friday.

Attempts by Black Press media to speak to representatives of logging company Teal Jones and area MLA and Premier John Horgan went unreturned, as protesters continued with a blockade launched Monday to stop Teal Jones Group from punching road access into the Fairy Creek watershed.

READ MORE: Battle of Fairy Creek: blockade launched to save Vancouver Island old-growth

Conservationists said they have documented a old yellow cedar tree measuring 9.5 feet in diameter in the general area. They said the tree is wider than the ninth-widest yellow cedar in Canada, as recorded in BC Big Tree Registry.

TJ Watt, a conservationist with Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) measured record-sized ancient yellow cedars at the headwaters of Fairy Creek which the protesters say is the last unlogged old-growth valley near Port Renfrew on southern Vancouver Island.

“Yellow cedars are the oldest living organisms in the country,” said Watt and added, “these trees are the last of the ancient giants.”

Although AFA conservationists were able to measure only a dozen or more of these giant trees over the weekend, Watt said that there may be much larger undocumented big trees in the valley. The group also located a number of exceptionally large western hemlocks as well.

“Unfortunately there are no rules in place to preserve big trees. The government continues to delay and stall policy to protect these trees and in the meantime logging companies cut and raze them,” said Watt

Calling it a chance encounter, Watt said that no one would have known these record sized trees existed at this place if the logging company had gotten to it first.

Teal-Jones Group recently began building roads along the ridgeline above Fairy Creek, about four kilometres up from the popular Fairy Lake recreation spot. The company also has approved permits to build roads extending down into the headwaters and on the ridgeline on the opposite side of the upper valley.

While there are currently no pending or approved cutblock applications at this time, protesters worry boundary tape found within the valley headwaters indicates that it could be part of their future plans.

These giant yellow cedars add weight to the Fairy Creek blockade and gives protesters even more of a reason to stand firm. “This is an exceptional area of biodiversity,” said Watt.

Watt is worried that building these roads opens the door to future fragmentation of Fairy Creek.

Dr.Saul Arbess, a spokesperson for the Fairy Creek protesters told Black Press Thursday that they have not received any response from either the provincial authorities nor Teal Jones.

Arbess suspects Teal Jones Group might get a court injunction. But the protesters are still holding strong and maintaining the blockade, he said.

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Chek News- Fairy Creek

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Chek News
5pm Newscast – August 13, 2020

Watch this Chek News segment about the blockade to protect the at-risk headwaters of the Fairy Creek valley near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory.

Fairy Creek is the last, unlogged valley outside of a park on southern Vancouver Island, and it’s currently under threat from road construction and potential future logging by Teal Jones.

 

 

Protesters block logging road near Port Renfrew

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Times Colonist
August 12, 2020

 

About 20 protesters have blocked a logging road near Port Renfrew, vowing they will stay until old-growth forests in a critical watershed area of the San Juan River are protected.

The protesters say they want the provincial government to prevent Teal Jones from building a road into the Fairy Creek headwaters. They say the logging company has already cut trees and blasted and bulldozed rock for the road, and are cresting a ridge into an area that contains old-growth yellow cedar, hemlock, Douglas fir and cedar.  

The area is part of Tree Farm Licence 46, which is held by Surrey-based Teal Jones.

In a statement, protesters are calling on the province for the “immediate and permanent protection of the entire Fairy Creek Valley, [and to] nullify all cutbocks and road construction approvals in the watershed and contiguous old-growth forests.”

Bobby Arbess, a spokesman for the protesters, said Fairy Creek is the last unlogged tributary in the San Juan watershed and “is far too important to allow the status quo of industrial forestry to happen here.”

He said the “grass-roots” protest sprung up quickly as Teal Jones intensified its road-building operations. The group includes locals from Port Renfrew and Jordan River and others from as far away as Fanny Bay who are concerned about the rapid decline of old-growth forests, said Arbess, who said he’s a landscaper.

“Teal Jones is trying to get a foothold into the watershed, which is a way companies leverage for a cut-block application,” Arbess said. “They say, ‘We’ve already built the road, so let us log.’ ”

Tree Forest Lisences cover vast areas and companies who hold them must apply to log and build roads in areas within the licence area. So far, Teal Jones has not applied for a cutblock in the Fairy Creek watershed, but observers say cresting the ridge on tributary’s valley is too close.

A sub-contractor was taking photos of the protesters over the weekend, and Arbess expects Teal Jones to file a court injunction to have them removed.

A spokesman for Teal Jones said Tuesday the “company has no comment at this time.”

The protesters want Premier John Horgan — whose riding contains the tree-forest licence — to immediately release the recommendations outlined by an independent review on old-growth forests.

The review was completed April 30 and a response was expected by Forestry Minister Doug Donaldson within six months, although the minster has recently said it could be revealed by the end of summer or early fall.

The protesters expect that the report will recommend protecting old-growth forests and the critical habitats around them.

“We’re trying to send a strong message that the loss of critical old-growth affects habitats for so many [species] that it hurts diversity and it degrades salmon habitat,” Arbess said.

Arbess suggested the slow response from government might also have a political point, saying Teal Jones is headquartered in Surrey, which is a “critical swing riding for the NDP.”

Arbess suggested the Fairy Lake watershed would be a good park acquisition for the Capital Regional District, which has land from Salt Spring to Port Renfrew.

Port Renfrew has been reinventing itself after the decline of forestry and commercial fishing and now promotes itself as an outdoor recreation hub with trail heads to the West Coast and Juan de Fuca trails.

The local chamber of commerce uses “Tall Tree Capital of Canada’ to promote the region as tourists have been flocking to old-growth patches called Avatar Grove, Red Creek Fir and Lonely Doug.

dkloster@timescolonist.com

APTN NEWS- Fairy Creek

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Check out this APTN News piece about the current blockade to stop Teal Jones from logging Fairy Creek, the last unlogged watershed in the San Juan river system and probably the last unprotected intact watershed on southern Vancouver Island. (Skip ahead to 1:33 to watch the segment).

Endangered ancient forests like those surrounding Fairy Creek are being logged daily while the BC government drags its heels, makes plans for more talks, and refuses to immediately halt logging in BC’s most endangered old-growth ecosystems, despite science telling us they are on the brink of ecological collapse.

Hunger Strike Ends, but Old Growth Battle Just Beginning, Say Protesters

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Lack of response from government led Nanaimo duo to give up fast after two weeks.

The Tyee
August 11, 2020

NanaimoHungerStrikeEnd.jpg
Robert Fuller and James Darling ended their hunger strike at a Nanaimo rally. Photo supplied.

Two Nanaimo men have ended their hunger strike in protest of old growth logging but vow the fight to change government policy will continue.

James Darling and Robert Fuller ended their strike at a weekend rally after two weeks without food.

Darling, a 35-year-old musician, had said earlier that he wanted to continue the strike for at least three weeks and Fuller had said he was willing to go without food until his health was at risk.

But despite protests at the offices of Nanaimo MLA Sheila Malcolmson and Nanaimo-North Cowichan MLA Doug Routley with members of Extinction Rebellion Nanaimo and others, the hunger strike failed to bring a government response.

Since the MLAs weren’t responding in a meaningful way, the Nanaimo rally seemed the right time to end the hunger strike, said Fuller, a 61-year-old former forest worker.

Other than a brief Skype conversation with Malcolmson and Routley, Darling and Fuller said they received no response from the provincial government.

“Premier John Horgan and [Forests] Minister Doug Donaldson have completely ignored us, and our MLAs have given us some really lame answers,” Darling said in a media release. The strikers said Malcolmson pointed to trade agreements with China as a reason the province couldn’t take action on old growth logging.

Fuller said the protest achieved other goals, including raising awareness of the destruction of old growth ecosystems. Social media helped them reach people across the country, he said.

“I just feel humbled by all of the support we got,” said Fuller. “We met many new people who share the same goals.”

One of those supporters is Sabina Dennis, an Indigenous woman from Dakelh territory who was on the frontlines of the conflict between the Wet’suwet’en people and Coastal GasLink over an LNG pipeline that would cut through traditional territory.

Fuller said Dennis undertook her own four-day hunger strike in solidarity with their cause, telling the two men that they are “united as land defenders.” She provided continued support in the form of messages and videos, which Fuller says moved him to tears.

“She sent a couple of videos of Elders blessing us. It was one of those moments in your life when you get that tingly all-body feeling. Something that makes you feel like you’ve accomplished something… I had a really good cry.”

Darling, Fuller and the rest of Extinction Rebellion Nanaimo aren’t sure what their next steps will be. The group’s goal is still to push Premier Horgan to declare a moratorium on old growth logging.

Until that happens, Fuller said, “We are going to keep fighting.”

“Nothing’s off the books,” he said. “It will be non-violent civil disobedience of some sort…. We did the hunger strike… it’s time to take things to the next level.”

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Battle of Fairy Creek: blockade launched to save Vancouver Island old-growth

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Victoria News
August 10th, 2020

‘Forest Defenders’ occupy road to prevent logging company from reaching Port Renfrew-area watershed

With peaceful protests, sit-ins and a blockade, the battle to save old-growth forests has intensified near Port Renfrew.

Calling Fairy Creek the last intact unlogged watershed of southern Vancouver Island’s San Juan River system, “forest defenders” are adamant they will not allow logging in that area.

On Aug. 10, the group of 20-30 protesters from several communities across Vancouver Island annunced a blockade of the road leading to Fairy Creek. Members say they will continue to block forestry company Teal Jones’ road crews from any further constructions until the provincial government intervenes, or Team Jones Group abandons plans to log the area around the creek.

READ ALSO: What exactly is ‘old growth’ B.C. forest, and how much is protected?

Surrey-based Teal Jones is the license holder of Tree Farm Licence (TFL) 46 and protesters maintain the company has “felled and graded several hectares of old-growth forest” on a road network that will soon breach the ridegline and enter the watershed. Black Press Media has reached out to Teal Jones for a comment.

Protesters called on B.C. Premier John Horgan’s office to establish an “immediate and permanent protection of the entire Fairy Creek Valley, thereby nullifying all cut blocks and road construction approvals in the watershed and contiguous old growth forests.”

Arbess said that when he contacted the premier’s office Aug. 6, the deputy called back to assure him that it was an urgent matter and asked him to submit a written letter.

“I haven’t heard back since,” he said.

Protesters want the provincial government to release the recommendations of the Old Growth Forest Review Panel submitted to the Forest Minister, Doug Donaldson’s office.

The report prepared by an independent panel of Garry Merkel and Al Gorley was received by Donaldson’s office on April 30 and a public response was announced within six months of receiving the report.

“The report has been sitting on the minister’s desk for months now and we want to know what is the direction they are planning to move forward in,” said protester Saul Arbess. He said that while the ministry delays the report, logging companies continue to wipe out old-growth.

Protesters are also asking for an immediate end to old-growth logging on Vancouver Island.

“It is unconscionable for the government to approve continued industrial destruction of the last old-growth temperate rainforest and new road developments into unlogged watersheds within the premier’s own electoral riding while it sits on the recommendations made by the Old Growth Review Panel,” stated Bobby Arbess, another protester at Fairy Creek.

Donaldson said in an email that the ministry will release the report well in advance of the said six months.

“The panelists (Merkel and Gorley) asked government to release the report within six months of its receipt on April 30. We expect to release it well in advance of that, likely later this summer or in the early fall,” said Donaldson.

However, last week, in a reply to MLA John Rustad’s questions about his ministry’s $489 million budget at B.C. legislature, Donaldson said that the ministry isn’t considering a moratorium on old-growth logging for an industry that has seen steady increase in protected areas and restrictions on the Crown land base.

READ MORE: Big old trees almost gone forever in B.C., scientists warn

READ MORE: Nanaimo men holding hunger strike to protest logging of old-growth forests

Over the past few weeks protests have been erupting on Vancouver Island to save old-growths. On August 8, James Darling and Robert Fuller completed a 14-day hunger strike in Nanaimo to protest against old-growth logging.

Earlier in June, an independent study undertaken by Nelson based research firm showed that there’s only three per cent of old-growth trees left in B.C. The report calls on the government to update forest management strategy for the current mix of forests, and to place a moratorium on old-growth logging in any area with less than 10 per cent old-growth remaining.

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