Protecting the forest from our own government

Nearly everyone agrees that our magnificent old forests must be protected.  They contain some of the tallest trees on earth, they regulate the planet’s water supply, and they nurture its most diverse ecosystem.  Internationally, the protection of North America’s rainforests is seen as the world’s best hope for combatting climate change.  

In BC, each new Premier comes into office extolling the virtues of protecting our old-growth forests.  However, once they get in, invariably, their promises get lost in a lot of greenwashing and empty gestures.  Our newest Premier, David Eby, like his predecessors, is continuing to permit the same excessive logging practices.  “At this rate, there’ll be nothing left for our children,” said Steward Phillip, the Grand Chief of BC’s Union of Indian Chiefs.  In a recent article in The Narwhal, he called on Premier Eby to “stop putting profits over people.”  The article points out that the government claims it is deferring logging in some old-growth areas, but it has not disclosed which logging permits have been deferred or how much old-growth logging is still going on.  “It’s frustrating as hell,” said Torrence Coste of the Wilderness Committee.  “They’ve been hugely disappointing,”

The tragic reality is that to protect our forests it is necessary for private citizens and activists to stand up to our own government.  Here on the Southern Sunshine Coast, the most active group doing that is the Elphinstone Logging Focus.  Pitted against two monolithic forces (the logging industry and the government) ELF in recent years has lobbied vigorously to save numerous forest blocks from being logged. 

The value of ELF’s guardianship was made clear to me this summer, when my family and I travelled to a different part of the Coast.  While hiking to the summit of Tin Hat Mountain, near Powell River, we saw first-hand what happens to a forest in an area where there is no one standing on guard for it.  On the dirt road leading to the trailhead, we were met by several fully loaded logging trucks barrelling towards us.  And as we hiked along the trail, we passed through several active logging sites.  Then, at the summit, looking out over the hills and valleys below, we were shocked to see the full extent of the devastation.  The aerial map below shows how much of that forest has been logged.  It is hard to believe that Premier Eby’s government would allow more clearcutting in an area where so little of the forest remains.

Thankfully, here on the Southern Sunshine Coast, we have ELF’s lobbying efforts to make sure that our forests do not see the same degree of devastation.  ELF is currently embarking on a new campaign – to save the Roberts Creek headwaters forest. There are four blocks of that forest scheduled to be clearcut in 2024.  In an effort to prevent that logging, ELF will carry out a comprehensive campaign, including hiring a professional biologist/ecologist to conduct a study of its hydrological functions.  Also, ELF plans to develop a new system of trails through this remote forest, which is not far from the magnificent Dakota Bear Sanctuary. ELF’s practice of building hiking trails through these threatened sections of the forest has been a tremendous benefit to the Elphinstone Hiking Group.

To carry out this new campaign, ELF will need to raise $20,000. This is really a ‘barebones’ budget for providing such an invaluable public service. It is tragic that ELF receives no support from government or industry to do it.  Instead, it has to count on donations from individual citizens. To find out more about ELF, you can go to its website: www.loggingfocus.org

To find out more about this newest project (the Roberts Creek Headwaters Project) and possibly make a donation, please go ELF’s new GoFundMe page: https://gofund.me/3ee02a31