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| An ancient Western red-cedar in Avatar Grove near Port Renfrew, Vancouver Island |
A deadline is looming on the call for public input to the BC government's proposed Avatar Grove protection plan within the framework for Old Growth Management Areas (OGMA). Responses are accepted until Wednesday, November 9, 2011.
About OGMA In BC
Most areas of BC have had Old Growth Management Areas (OGMAs) established. These are mostly old growth stands on crown forest land (although some are in parks). You can ask any forest company or BC Timber Sales to view a map of the OGMAs in their area.
Generally around 10% of the forested land has been set aside (the exact amount varies). That is often only a portion of the old growth in any area. In some areas where there is hardly any old growth left, younger stands have to be selected; over time and with protection, they will grow into Old Growth. For now they're called "recruitment" OGMAs.
OGMAs have some legal protection, through a government land use objective, but in reality it's only the forest industry that has to honour the protection. The forest industry can harvest in OGMAs, under specific conditions, but the harvested area must be replaced by another stand that has "equal or better" old growth characteristics. - source
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| The forest floor, Lower Avatar Grove |
Ancient Forest Alliance is reporting the following information concerning the inclusion of Port Renfrew's Avatar Grove into a OGMA in The Renfrew Ammendments 2011.
From the AFA website:
Please WRITE a QUICK EMAIL to PROTECT the AVATAR GROVE and ALL of BC’s Endangered Old-Growth Forests.
After almost two years of intense public pressure led by the Ancient Forest Alliance and the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce, the BC government is looking to officially declare Avatar Grove off-limits to logging. They are proposing to include the Avatar Grove within 59 hectares of new Old-Growth Management Areas (OGMA’s), pending the completion of public input that closes this Wednesdsay, November 9.
This is a great step forward for the most spectacular, easily accessible stand of unprotected old-growth cedars and Douglas-firs on southern Vancouver Island. The Avatar Grove is extremely rare, valley-bottom ancient forest, about 95% of which has been logged on the South Island.
However, the logging company will be compensated with 57 hectares of forest (27 hectares of old-growth, 30 hectares of second-growth), while thousands of hectares of old-growth forests are logged each year across Vancouver Island, tens of thousands of hectares across BC, and millions of hectares of BC's old-growth forests remain in jeopardy. Already 75% of the original, productive old-growth forests have been logged on Vancouver Island.
PLEASE TAKE 3 minutes to WRITE a quick EMAIL by this Wednesday, November 9 to the BC government at:
Ministry of Forests: RenfrewOGMA@gov.bc.ca
BC Forest Minister Steve Thomson: steve.thomson.mla@leg.bc.ca
Premier Christy Clark: premier@gov.bc.ca
BE SURE to include your FULL NAME and ADDRESS so they know you are a real person!
Please reference: Renfrew Amendments 2011
TELL THEM that you:
- Support the protection of Avatar Grove as an Old-Growth Management Area (OGMA) in the Renfrew 2011 Amendment and ultimately as a conservancy or park.
- Want ALL of BC’s endangered old-growth forests protected through a Provincial Old-Growth Strategy.
- Want the BC government to ensure the sustainable logging of second-growth forests and to ban the export of raw logs to foreign mills.
They have already logged 99% of all unprotected old growth groves on Vancouver Island. Are we really going to allow them to log the ramaining 1%?
ReplyDeleteDO we really let offshore companies do this? Where is our government, our forestry conservationalists, and hell even the environmentalists. They are now targeting the Great Bear rainforest, which is larger than Vancouver Island. Please don't let them destroy the worlds last gem.