World's Largest Douglas-fir - The Renfrew Red Creek Fir

Height: 73.8m (242'), Circumference: 13.3m (43.7'), Diameter: 4.2m (14')

The Ancient Forest Alliance recently released this video of Port Renfrew's amazing Red Creek Fir. It is truly a colossus, the biggest of the big.

The AFA website states that "the tree and a small surrounding stand of trees currently receive 'soft' protection through an Old-Growth Management Area, but legislated 'hard' protection is needed in the form of a conservancy, park, or ecological reserve that also encompasses a much larger buffer area."

To see a giant old growth tree that was common here in pre-European times, visit the big tree capital of southern Vancouver Island, Port Renfrew. The Red Creek Fir, which can be found along logging roads 45 minutes from town, is one of the last of its kind. In the area, there are several old, large Western red-cedar worth seeing, too.

The access route to the Red Creek Fir is not recommended for low-clearance vehicles. It is rough and slow even for four wheel drives. Drive cautiously on active logging roads, always giving the right of way to logging vehicles.


When you get home, visit the AFA's website and sign their petition.

Getting There

You can find more information on getting to the Red Creek Fir here.

Sign The Ancient Forest Alliance Petition

Click on the AFA Photo above to link to their online petition page.

Chances are if you have landed on VIBT you like big trees... alive. There are many organizations that work to ensure the big trees stay standing. One of these groups, the recently formed Ancient Forest Alliance, is asking for your signature on a petition to the B.C. government. The AFA is asking our elected representatives to do what I dreamed about on my April Fools Day post - protect what is left of our ancient trees and forests.

Petition to Protect British Columbia's
Endangered Old-Growth Forests and Forestry Jobs

The Ancient Forest Alliance petition is calling on the government to:

Undertake a Provincial Old-Growth Strategy that will inventory and protect the remaining old-growth forests in regions where they are scarce (eg’s. Vancouver Island, Southern Mainland Coast, Southern Interior, etc.)

Ensure the sustainable logging of second-growth forests, which now constitute the majority of forest lands in southern BC.

End the export of BC raw logs to foreign mills in order to ensure a guaranteed log supply for BC wood processing facilities.

Assist in the retooling of coastal BC sawmills and the development of value-added facilities to handle second-growth logs.

Undertake new land-use planning processes to protect endangered forests based on new First Nations land-use plans, ecosystem-based scientific assessments, and climate mitigation strategies through forest protection.

Find out how you can support AFA, their petition, and ancient forests across BC by visiting the AFA petition website.