Cut blocks #764321, #764328 & #764431 were listed as deferral candidates under the old growth strategic review however, despite news coverage to the contrary the Huu-ay-aht Dand 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.
Everybody has heard about mountaintop removal coal mining, but cut blocks #764321, #764328 & #764431 are what I like to call mountaintop clear-cut logging. When I first visited this forest in 2021 the area had already seen dramatic amounts of logging, including to the edge of a small lake at the base of the mountain, upon returning to the area in the summer of 2022 the scale of devastation was shocking, loggers were camping there overnight and helicopters were hauling logs off of the mountain.
The transformation of a sacred place of beauty into a desecrated moonscape is hard to witness.
