Cut block #783307 is a small patch of forest in one of the most intensively log sections of Looper Creek, a tributary to the Caycuse Valley. The cut block is at the headwaters of the creek and contains hundreds of monumental cedar trees. I explored this forest in the summer of 2022 and while I was there Wester Forest Product surveyors were in the cut block in preparation for logging.
In early November 2022, this cut block was logged.
Bugaboo Creek cut block #4733 in TFL 46 contains some of the richest red and yellow cedar forest on the south island. In August 2022 I discovered a rare population of Oldgrowth Specklebelly Lichen in the cut block. Teal Jones and the Canadian government have come under great pressure to leave a 200m buffer around the lichen. Elder Bill Jones of the Pacheedaht First Nations has personally asked Canada‘s minister of environment and climate change to protect this population of Oldgrowth Specklebelly Lichen. He awaits a response. Bugaboo Creek is also home to at least 21 endangered Marbled Murrelet Sea birds who have been documented in the area by citizen scientists.
As of October 2022 the cut block has not been approved.
Cut block #871327 is a mountaintop removal logging operation. Western Forest Products in partnership with the Huu-ay-aht Band Council received approval to destroy much of the last remaining old growth forests on this unnamed mountain in early 2022, by September much of the Logging had already taken place. We visited this forest in time to see a few of its gentle giants. Only a few weeks after we witnessed their majesty they were cut down.
As of November 2022 cut block #764325 in the Klanawa Valley has been approved. Western Forest Products has obtained approval to build a 5 km road along the Klanawa River to access this spectacular stand of rare and endangered valley bottom old growth red cedar forest, but work hasn’t started. This forest is listed as a deferral candidate under the old growth strategic review however, despite news coverage to the contrary the Huu-ay-aht Band Council did NOT accept deferrals on their territory. The band council excepted 96% of deferral areas, which sounds good until you realize that the 4% that they left out were the exact areas like this one that they intended to clear-cut in the near term. They received the PR victory while still being able to partner with Western Forest Products in clearcutting this area.
Valley bottom old growth logging is almost over, nearly all of the high-productivity valley bottoms have been destroyed and the fact that a forest such as this remains along a major river on southern Vancouver Island is something of a miracle. It deserves protection. While we explored this old growth forest we were surrounded by the sounds of helicopters dragging logs off of a nearby mountain and of trees crashing down in the distance, the same fate awaits this forest if no one intervenes.
These are images of the aptly named Loss Creek Cut block number #449H. I first visited this forest in the summer of 2021 and found it dense with old growth red cedar, my return trip in June 2022 found a perfect example of what the BC NDP calls “sustainable forestry.” This area was a deferral candidate under the old growth strategic review however it never received protection. There’s a reason for that. TFL 61, in which loss Creek is located is managed by The Questo Company, which is run by Jeff Jones and the Pacheedaht band council, the same people responsible for rejecting the (very limited and inadequate) deferrals offered by the BCNDP.
In 2019 the Teal Jones Group began a massive wave of clear-cut logging in the Caycuse valley which took down almost all of its iconic stands. The photographer TJ Watt documented the loss of some of the biggest trees in his famous before and after series.
This forest is just across the mountain from where those before and after photographs were captured, it's a hidden side Valley in the upper Caycuse Valley and has the highest site index of any old growth forest south of Port Alberni. (Site index is a forestry term referring to the productivity of a section of old growth forest.) The site index of this forest is 26. This Hidden side valley, along with Looper Creek in the lower Caycuse, are the only sections of this valley that remain somewhat intact. Looper Creek is being actively logged and parts of this side valley are flagged for logging.
Up until 2021 this was the only remaining section of old growth on Quatse Lake which is the water supply for the Quatsino First Nation. Western Forest Products clear-cut this area leaving a meager buffer to protect the lake. Up until recently this was the closest and most accessible old growth forest for cultural uses for the Quatsino Nation.
These are images of cut block #774221 that was defended by Sassin Camp through 2021. Western Forest Products began clearcutting this Forest in early 2021 which prompted the creation of Sassin camp, even though Sassin camp is now gone western Forest products hasn’t tried to clear-cut the rest of this cut block.
As of October 2022 the forest is on borrowed time.
The valley above Zeballos Lake on Northern Vancouver Island was an intact old growth forest up until 2018 when Western Forest Products began a series of devastating clear-cuts in the valley. These images show the aftermath of their logging. The lower half of this intact Valley has been destroyed however the upper half remains pristine, this Alpine wilderness is continuous with Wass lake provincial park and is one of the largest unprotected roadless areas on Vancouver Island, it deserves protection. Western Forest Products is currently seeking approval for a cut block #O65 which would extend this devastating road network farther up this alpine valley.
These are images of the lower section of Western Forest Products cut block #782106 in the upper Walbran Valley, this area was defended by the Walbran Watch Camp but is now vulnerable to logging.
As of October 2023 cut block #782106 is approved and logging could begin any day.
These are images of the spectacular old growth forests that once grew in cut block #LP11 this forest is gone. It was logged in early 2022 by the Qala:yit Community Forest partnership between the Pacheedaht Band Council and the Cowichan Community Forest.
The Loup Creek Watershed, a tributary to the Gordon River Valley was extensively logged in the 70s and the timber industry is coming back for what’s left, there are very few sections of old growth left in the watershed but those that remain are among the most spectacular in the region. You can view a photo album of a currently at-risk forest in Loup Creek on the Ancient Forest Alliance’s website.
These are images of cut block #7163 above Eden Creek on Edinburgh Mountain. I took these pictures in spring 2022 after hiking up the mountain and sleeping overnight in the snow. These images also show the extensive road network that Teal Jones has constructed, (out of sight of tourists) on Upper Edinburgh Mountain. This area is referred to as Truck Road 11 and is known to have a resident population of endangered Western Screech Owls.
As of October, 2022 Eden Creek cut block #7163 hasn’t been clear-cut.
These are images of the eastern edge of the Fairy Creek Rainforest in the Upper Granite Creek watershed including Cut Block #8022, Heli Camp Grove (where Teal Jones holds approval to build logging roads into the forest) and the site where Teal Jones is building a road into cut block #8013 and towards the ridgeline a Fairy Creek. I took these images in the winter of 2022 after hiking up Granite Main in the snow.
Granite Creek cut block #8013 is on the eastern edge of the Fairy Creek Rainforest wear teal Jones has blasted a road into the old growth forest. Teal Jones has approval to extend this road another kilometer towards the ferry creek Ridgeline. Cut block #8013 hasn't been approved yet but once it is it will be taking the first chunk out of this Ridgeline, situated just above the road to Heli Camp. It will also be logging a couple of remnant sections of old growth up the mountain west of River Camp in two additional units of the cut block.
As of October 2022 this cut block hasn't been logged or approved.
