Tria Donaldson: Occupy Cortes Island’s old-growth forests?

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      The ancient cedars and giant coastal Douglas-fir trees of Cortes Island are under threat by the same multinational corporation that kicked Occupy Wall Street protesters out of New York’s Zuccotti Park.

      In what is shaping up to be a David versus Goliath battle of epic proportions, concerned islanders are facing off against Island Timberlands and its parent company, Brookfield Asset Management.

      Nestled between Vancouver Island and British Columbia’s mainland, Cortes Island is a West Coast paradise. The northern part of the island is unsettled and wild, with lush old-growth forests that are a sanctuary for cougars, wolves, and Columbian black-tailed deer. This complex predator-prey relationship is unique on the islands.

      You can also find stellar examples of the most threatened ecosystem in Canada: coastal Douglas-fir (CDF). I have been hiking in and researching coastal Douglas-fir forests in B.C. for a long time, and the forests on Cortes are the biggest trees and an unparalleled example of a healthy CDF ecosystem. Less than one percent of Douglas-fir old-growth remains, and the groves of Cortes may be the next to disappear.

      Island Timberlands has cutting rights to 2,600 acres of forest, including the key areas of old-growth close to several sensitive wetlands ecosystems. The area is described as a rich tapestry of sensitive wetland ecosystems buffered by mature forests. These lands just happen to have the best soil quality, the biggest trees, and the island’s central water recharge area.

      Island Timberlands’ original timeline called for logging as early as the end of January, but overwhelming public pressure has caused a delay.

      Island Timberlands is a subsidiary one of the largest global timberland managers, Brookfield, which has cutting rights to over 2.5 million acres of forests in Canada, the U.S., and Brazil, and timberland assets worth over $3.5 billion. And that is just their forestry component. The company has a real estate arm, a renewable energy arm (which is responsible for controversial run of river projects like the Kokish power project) and other holdings which bring in over $110 billion a year.

      Brookfield acquired forests on Cortes Island from Weyerhaeuser, in a deal that gave Brookfield control over 635,000 acres of B.C. forest lands (roughly the same size as Metro Vancouver proper). Under Brookfield’s management, raw log exports have been skyrocketing: in 2010 alone, raw log exports doubled. At the same time they have shut down mills and processing plants.

      Brookfield is everything you would expect in a multinational investment firm. The islanders fighting against them, however, might not be what you would expect.

      When I headed up to Cortes Island last weekend for a mid-winter hike, I was expecting to meet the typical environmentalists. Instead, I met people with a deeply engrained understanding of B.C.’s forestry sector and how it is hurting because of the logging practices of Island Timberlands/Brookfield.

      I met a young man whose family has logged trees sustainably on the same forest wood lot for 60 years, over many generations. He spoke of the techniques and equipment you need to log selectively and sustainably, while pointing out the destructive logging practices that Island Timberlands is proposing, like building a road through a sensitive stream that is home to cutthroat trout.

      And then there is the retired BCIT teacher, who taught math to forestry students. He worked in the forestry industry as a youth, and recognizes the importance of forestry jobs. He also recognizes that companies like Island Timberlands are cutting down the few old-growth forests we have left, and in so doing robbing future generations of their chance to see these trees and of a chance to log sustainably.

      These islanders spoke of the irreversible damage that unsustainable logging has on the thin layer of top soil that most forests thrive in. They spoke of the decreasing quality of the wood cut, and about the many ways logging can be done differently, and more sustainability than clearcuts.

      Not one person I spoke to on Cortes Island is against logging per se. Heck, most of the people I spoke to had a history of working in that sector. But all of them recognized that we are facing a huge problem in B.C.—a forestry sector that is bleeding jobs while liquidating the last remnants of old-growth forests.

      They felt strongly that Island Timberlands is mismanaging the forest. Instead of sustaining the forest so it can provide jobs over the long term, they are coming in and clearcutting. They will destroy the island’s forests for a few months of logging.

      It doesn’t have to be this way.

      Forestry has always been an important part of the B.C. economy, but current government policies are putting profit for multinationals ahead of community jobs.

      As raw log exports have increased, jobs have decreased. Value-added production at mills is no longer happening. We just send the profit away in unprocessed logs—only to buy it back as finished products.

      All this despite the fact that B.C.’s beautiful forests are a tourist magnet. The huge trees of Cathedral Grove, and the wild forests of Clayoquot Sound, put B.C. on the global map. But our old-growth is rapidly disappearing, and our ecosystems fragmenting to a point that may mean collapse for many iconic species.

      We do still have a choice here.

      We can fight for our old-growth forests, and for sustainable forestry jobs. Or we can let a multinational corporation make millions off of liquidating our forests, while downsizing forestry jobs.

      That’s the choice before us. Do we let the corporate giant Brookfield multiply their profits by subtracting some of the precious forest on Cortes Island? That math just doesn’t add up for British Columbians.

      Tria Donaldson is the Pacific coast campaigner for the Wilderness Committee. As a youth climate activist, she has been involved with the goBeyond project, the Sierra Youth Coalition, and the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition.

      Comments

      13 Comments

      hAYOKA

      Jan 30, 2012 at 9:45pm

      And I can only say , If not now when do we stop the greed of the psychopathic capitalists , these type of business people who will take everything in the belief they think they have the right are a sickness . If laws allow the destruction of healthy environments , sustainable practices and communities to suffer then the laws are wrong and unjust plain and simple ! Like the Enbridge Inc's Northern Gateway pipeline in B.C. IT JUST CAN"T HAPPEN , it could not be more obvious , unless your sick in the head .

      RBreyer

      Jan 31, 2012 at 11:41am

      Its Private Forest land... The trees are privately owned.... Logging 60ha out of 2600ha is not forest destruction. Do the Math?
      There's nothing Threatened, Rare or Endangered on Cortes Island. The Cortes Eco-System is resilient and has regrown from the past 120 years of logging. The Island is covered with second and third growth forests. 25% has already been turned into Parkland with many parcels now protected by ecological covenents. Whats stuffed here is the deliberate wide spread missinformation by the Anti-Logging Groups . Its a deliberate attempt to cause Hatred against the islands forest workers and Island Timberland.

      Linda

      Jan 31, 2012 at 1:59pm

      We don't want any American company's coming to BC, to log our forests.

      I resent each and every raw log that goes to China. Campbell shut down our mills and put our mill people out of work. for cheap labor and even more cheap, child labor in China. Campbell exploited the Chinese people, right out of his own greed. I do not resent our own forestry workers. However, I do resent giving our province away to China and the U.S. Forestry isn't the only thing that was thieved from the BC citizens, by the Campbell/Clark liberals and Harper. The gruesome twosome, Harper and Campbell, worked as fast as the could, to dismantle BC, before Campbell got the boot.

      All we have left of BC, are our beautiful forests, marine life, woodland wildlife. Everything else has been thieved and now gone. Campbell's theft and sale of our rivers? The fools put dams in them. This has destroyed, very important salmon runs, and has damaged both flora and fauna, all for Campbell's greed. Of course, his other greed was, filthy diseased fish farms killing our wild salmon, nor has Herr Harper said a peep. Harper and Campbell's plan was, to turn BC into a polluted waste land.

      LaurenS

      Jan 31, 2012 at 2:57pm

      While I sympathize with the cause, the writer has made a major factual error by incorrectly misidentifying the basic forest type. Cortes Island is NOT in the Coastal Douglas Fir (CDF) zone but in fact is in the Coastal Western Hemlock zone. Just because there are Douglas firs does not mean it is part of the CDF. Eight of B.C.'s fourteen biogeoclimatic zones have Douglas fir but it does not mean they are all CDF! But it is true that oldgrowth Douglas firs are rare everywhere in the province today and deserve protective covenants.

      Tim Schultz

      Jan 31, 2012 at 3:26pm

      That is a shame, that is a glaring mistake. I'd say the writer hasn't been researching the coastal douglas firs long enough!

      Fact check

      Jan 31, 2012 at 8:14pm

      First off - I am totally opposed to industrial-scale logging and live on a neighbouring island to Cortes and many residents are among my friends.But I must clarify something the author has, through poor wordcraft and a shallow analysis of the issue, skipped over. Donaldson has used words like 'acquired', 'management' and 'cutting rights' but Island Timberlands owns this Cortes Island land. They don't just have 'cutting rights' they own it. And one of the major issues in BC forestry is the lack of meaningful and effective laws governing forestry practices on private lands.

      Joan Mitchell

      Jan 31, 2012 at 8:52pm

      Actually, both Lauren and Tim are incorrect. On Cortes (my home) we do have more than one stand (greater than 50 trees) of Dry Maritime Coastal Douglas Fir. We may not be "in the zone" but we have them and that is one of the reasons that it is so ecologically significant and it is rare. Please see www.ancientforestalliance.org whose director, Ken Wu, came to Cortes to see what all the fuss is about. Phenomenal slideshow and a couple of video clips that are a wonderful view into our Island Forest. A good majority of us are passionate about this and we will stand up for our trees. This is a very well written article and the author did a great job of summarizing our concerns. Thank you, Tria! I hope you enjoyed your visit to our little corner of paradise.

      Tomas

      Feb 1, 2012 at 12:39am

      Hi Joan the Dry Maritime refers to a subzone of the Coastal Western Hemlock zone, not of the Coastal Douglas-Fir zone. That there are old growth Douglas-fir trees there does not make it part of the Coastal Douglas-Fir zone. But while environmentalists worry about Coastal Douglas-firs almost nobody is doing anything about the demise of the Interior Douglas Fir zone which is just as endangered due to pine beetle "salvage" operations which consist of razing vast areas of forest lands, whether diseased or healthy, whether pine or spruce or Douglas-firs. That is an ecological catastrophe of a far larger magnitude than worries over Cortes Island. Come up to Williams Lake and take a look for yourself.

      Davis

      Feb 1, 2012 at 8:34am

      Please make the bad people stop.

      R U Kiddingme

      Feb 1, 2012 at 2:49pm

      I have nothing but praise for sustainable forestry activists but I do wonder about the wisdom of the preservationist sentiment. Nature "clear cuts" forests all the time, via lightning-induced forest fires. People who live in such forested areas are quite familiar with this fearsome reality, which gets worse because, in part, humans don't let the forest burn (to save our lives and our houses), resulting in accumulations of highly flammable detritus. So there might be an argument for clearcutting some parts of this province.

      As for the depredations of the corporate greedheads: well, yeah. When your business gets big enough, you'll incorporate too.