Visit The Big Trees

I just posted a new page for VIBT which is accessed by a button under the banner. It is called "Visit The Big Trees", and in it I list some of the big tree places that I have visited, or would like to visit.

It is my hope that this list will encourage others to visit these ancient trees and endangered places. Some locations are in parks, others are on private land. A few are currently threatened by ongoing logging. By visiting these places we can recognize their importance and work toward preserving them.

Most of all, I want to introduce people to a beauty that is unparalleled globally. Vancouver Island has some of the most beautiful trees and forests on the planet. Plan to go see them, and prepare to be blown away. Be wary of wild and natural locations. And big puddles.

Link to the 'Visit The Big Trees" page 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.

Look, A Tree!

I am not a tree expert. I am a tree lover. This could be a result of being born on the prairies. I grew up in a knee-high ecosystem of endless shortgrass. In a landscape such as this every tree is precious.

The only natural trees on the S. Albertan prairies are near water sources. Cotton wood trees (Populus trichocarpa) can get quite large (height of 30-50 m and a trunk diameter of over 2 m), and rare ones grow to be up to 400 years old. In the spring their sticky buds emit a fragrance that a winter-weary nose can detect from 100 m away.

Most of the prairie, though, is grass. Further east, beyond the Great Plains was the tall grass ecosystem, but even that topped out at just over a meter.

Therefore, when I see a 73.8 m (242') tall Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) that is 12.55m (41' 2") in circumference, and is almost 1000 years old I tend to be blown away.

Stay tuned for more trees and forests to blow you away.