Sooke's Ancient Douglas-firs Almost Gone

This 1925 view shows Ed and Jack Phillips with double bitted axes
undercutting a small Douglas-fir.

There used to be big Douglas-fir trees in the Sooke area. Really, really big. Trees 10 feet wide, and 300 feet tall were common. But the big trees have been almost completely removed from the region.

Some ancients still exist in these parts, but they are usually individual lonely trees rather than groves or forests of them. Phillips Road, which runs up the west side of the Sooke River, is one such place that some of the last holdouts remain, so it is an area in which I am interested.

Sooke historian, Elida Peers, recently published an article in the local newspaper about one particularly large Phillips Rd. Douglas-fir that lived just up the bank of the river for hundreds of years. Until about 10 years ago. Peers writes:

"Almost a decade ago, I was one of a group standing watching the falling of the seven-foot diameter Douglas-fir that stood as a sentinel at the entrance into the beginnings of the Sun River development on the old Phillips farm.   

Years ago, a team of fallers would have used a two-man crosscut saw to fell a tree of such a size, but with the use of power saws in recent times, this stately Douglas-fir presented a different sort of challenge. 

Troy Lovbakke was one of the fallers given the task, and he worked in tandem with Lance Lajeunesse and Bud Beam. The men started with 33” bars on their Husqvarna saws, moving on finally to saws with 52” bars. 

The belts of the high riggers could not encircle the bulk of the tree but they managed to get a steadying anchor cable in place to secure it from falling across Phillips Road.   

A pneumatic jack was used as well but could not withstand the weight. Finally two 40-ton screw jacks were required for the tree to be laid down safely in an area so near to a public road and houses. 

It was near nightfall by the time the gigantic tree came down with a resounding crash."

Oh, how many times that "resounding crash" has been heard on the south island. And despite having lived through the European occupation thus far, ancient trees like these continue to fall in Sooke, a town without a big tree policy (unlike some neighbouring communities).

A large Douglas-fir that still stands
up the Sooke River... for now.

Although I arrived in Sooke after the tree in Peers' article was brought down, two other huge, old Douglas-fir trees remained just past the 'new' intersection of Phillips Rd. and Sunriver Way. They stood on either side of the road directly across from each other.

So narrow was the passageway created by these wrinkly-barked woody columns that both trees had large scrapes and gouges in the thick bark, evidence of tussles with passing vehicles. I realized at the time that such beautiful specimens were not compatible with plans for a more modern (but less interesting) roadway through the trees and beyond.

Sure enough, within a few years these two Phillips Rd. holdouts were also removed in the ongoing development of the controversial Sunriver neighbourhood, and newer projects farther up the road.

Areas along the Sooke River on both sides still contain some of the biggest, tallest Douglas-fir trees in town. Most of them grow on private property and are inaccessible to the public. If you currently own some of these big Sooke River trees, I would love to hear about them.

Even the Sooke town centre twin Douglas fir trees, which were over a hundred years old, couldn't escape the fallers chainsaw. The trees were unceremoniously removed and replaced with two Norway spruce, a non-native species.

Considering the considerable contribution that the ancient Douglas-firs have made to the development of Sooke, you would think that we would show them some respect and save a few. Perhaps the time has come for a perspective shift, and the introduction of a tree protection bylaw for this growing community.

Tall Tree Music Festival

If you like music, big trees, and the great outdoors on Vancouver Island, consider checking out the Tall Tree Music Festival taking place June 28 - 30 on Browns Mountain near Port Renfrew.

Mike Hann, the festival's director, says that this year is fourth year of the event. He also points out that they support the important work of the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) as much as they can. The AFA has done awesome work in the region to preserve and promote local big trees.

You can see video of the stunning festival location, which is perched overlooking the Pacific Ocean and the setting sun.

Browns Mountain, site of the Tall Tree Music Festival

Music, trees, views, good people, supporting the AFA, and the great outdoors in summer. What's not to like?

If you go, take some time to see the Red Creek Fir (largest Douglas-fir in the world), or Avatar Grove (including Canada's gnarliest tree, a unique Western red cedar), or the San Juan Bridge Spruce (Canada's largest Sitka spruce) which are all within a few minutes of Port Renfrew.

Tree Art on Summer Solstice

"Summer Solstice" by Amy Giacomelli.

In this post I wanted to pay homage to beautiful tree art and the Summer Solstice, and Amy Giacomelli's far out tree painting does the trick. I am a sucker for the sacred spiral - it reminds me of tree rings.

What a glorious time of year this is in the northern hemisphere. The sun is at its zenith in the north and the days are long and warm. Deciduous trees are all leafed out, and the conifers are also growing rapidly.

Now is a great time to see the coastal forest in all its splendour, and perhaps do some en plein air painting while you are there. 

Like Amy's art, our original forests are magical. Whether you are painting or not, getting out in the open air and seeing the big trees is guaranteed to please the soul.

Happy summer. Hoping you have many great forest adventures this season.

Salvaging The Last Of The Cedar

This fallen cedar makes a good bench along the Sooke River

You can tell how valuable cedar wood is by the lengths that people will go to harvest these quintessential rain forest trees. Such is the story up the Sooke River where a nice Western red cedar gave in to gravity and fell into the water.


It did not lay there for long before someone brought in a chainsaw to take the log, which could be used for a wide variety of purposes from beams to boxes.

There are still a few old growth cedars left along the Sooke River, one of
Vancouver Island's largest rivers.

The cut log would have had to be floated down the river to the harbour, a distance of a couple of kilometres, where it could be plucked from the water.

The cedar's roots were undercut by the river till it could no longer stand.

A spear of cedar remains upright, a monument to
the cedar's original destination.

Heartwood of cedar shows its beautiful grain and texture. 

The wood of cedar is sturdy, rot resistant, and smells nice. These qualities, coupled with greed, have doomed the big trees to extinction. The Americans have already lost theirs as the big cedars along the coast of California, Oregon and Washington were consumed long ago.

Now logging companies are targeting the last big cedars remaining, which can be found in British Columbia. More specifically, on Vancouver Island where the largest of these large trees grow. Many of the trees cut down are exported as whole logs to overseas markets. There goes the neighbourhood.

The cut log is a nice place to sit under the feathery cedars,
and watch small salmon in the river below.

Although the tree in the river was probably not more than a few hundred years old, and relatively small as cedars go, it was still worth the substantial effort that it must have taken to cut and remove this tree from the forest along the river.

It will take similar efforts to halt the logging of our remaining old growth Western red cedars and Yellow cedars on Vancouver Island and the rest of British Columbia. 

Consider boycotting products made from first growth trees that could be upwards of a thousand years old. These ancient trees are an important part of not only the forest ecosystem, but also First Nations culture and way of life.

Vancouver Island and Lower Mainland Primal Forests Almost Gone

Pre-1800s

The Ancient Forest Alliance released a recent survey of old growth forests on Vancouver Island and the southwest mainland.  The before and after maps show the pre-European primal forest, and what is left 165 years later.

The most productive temperate coastal rainforest in the world reduced to clear cuts and tree farms in less than two centuries.

What is left of some of the biggest trees the planet has ever seen continue to be cut, both 'legally' and illegally. While what the government and logging companies have been doing may be technically legal, it is certainly not moral.

I don't think we have the right to destroy an entire ecosystem. I believe the word for it is ecocide, and as far as I'm concerned, all the "cides" are pretty horrible and should be avoided at all costs.

What was left in 2012 

The statistics are sobering and indicate the necessity of ending old growth logging in British Columbia immediately. The following numbers tell the sad tale of resource depletion in our forests.


Old-Growth (OG) Forest Statistics - SOUTHERN COAST (ie. Vancouver Island and SW Mainland)
From: Ancient Forest Alliance

Original Total OG: 5.5 million hectares
Low Productivity OG: 2.2 million hectares
Original Productive OG: 3.3 million hectares
Remaining Productive OG: 860,000 hectares (26% of original)
In Parks - Productive OG: 200,000 hectares (6% of original)
In Parks and OGMA's - Productive OG: 260,000 hectares (8% of original)


Valley Bottom*, Highest Productivity Old-Growth - SOUTHERN COAST (ie. Vancouver Island and SW Mainland)

Original: 360,000 hectares
Remaining: 31,000 hectares (9% of original)
In Parks: 9,400 hectares (2.6% of original)
In Parks and OGMA's: 11,700 hectares (3.2% or original)

* Low, Flat Terrain Under 300 meters elevation, under 17% slope

The primal forests on Vancouver Island and the lower mainland are just about gone. Along with them went an entire ecosystem that is unlikely to return as long as profit is the only guide in forestry decision making.

The magnificent old growth forests have been industrialized. Although theses areas remain rugged, they are not really wilderness any more. The second and third and fourth growth trees in the plantations will be laid down on a 60 year cycle in perpetuity by companies with headquarters in New York, where all the profits and benefits will fall.

In these parts it takes about 250 years for a productive valley bottom forest to acquire the characteristics of an old growth regime. Barring fire (rare in the coastal forest) or human greed, such forests can continue for thousands of years.

The primal forest here began after the last glaciers retreated about 10,000 years ago. It survived in all its majesty until the 1800s when Europeans arrived.

Can we save the little bits that remain?


Visit the Ancient Forest Alliance website to donate, write a letter, and/or sign their petition.

Old Growth Trees Provide Valuable Habitat

 Pileated woodpeckers have excavated the thick bark of this old growth Douglas fir

Intact large tracts of old growth trees and forests provide irreplaceable habitat for a wide variety of living things. Many can not thrive in any other habitat, so when the trees go, so does a large part of the forest community.

The Pileated woodpecker is one of the largest
woodpeckers, and can be found in
the coastal temperate rainforest

Old Douglas fir like the one shown above can have bark up to 30 or 40 cm thick. This bark is deeply furrowed and provides habitat for feeding, nesting, and roosting animals.


Woodpeckers, like the largest species in the world, the Pileated, access insects in this cork-like bark.

Some bats roost under slabs of bark

Large slabs of bark can also harbour sleeping bats.


Bats have few predators, and human activity causes them the most harm. Some “tree bats”, such as Keen’s Long-eared Myotis, are dependant on old growth forest for roosting.


These bats, like so many other old growth residents, are endangered due to habitat loss.

Baby Spotted Owl at the nest in an old growth tree

Spotted owls also depend on large old trees for their habitat. It is estimated that there only 12 Spotted owls left in the wild in all of British Columbia.


The province has started the world's first captive breeding program for the owls, but with no habitat to return the birds to, the Spotted owl's continued survival outside of zoos is unlikely.





We don't know what is at risk when we destroy the primal forest for these forests have never been extensively studied. 

If we did a serious survey of old growth logging we would see that we are losing much more than we are gaining when we cut primal forests. When the big old trees go, so does the entire forest community, in what can only be called ecocide. 

A ransacked community means reduced biodiversity which means a less robust, less productive environment. 

We need an immediate end to industrial clear cut logging in our primal forests not just in BC, but globally. The slugs, and birds, and bats, and insects are depending on us, as are the trees.

Our own survival may depend on the outcome of the fight for maintaining ecological integrity.

No Respect For BC's Big Trees

2 homeowners hired an arborist to illegally cut or damage 35 trees
in Capilano River Park to 'improve' the view from the homes

"The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing which stands in their way."

BC's big trees, despite attracting thousands of tourists every year, have a hard time getting respect from some of the people who live under them. Tragically, our government still allows the logging of the last of the big original trees out in what is remaining of our wilderness, while in our cities homeowners are illegally removing park trees to "improve the view".

A tree-cutting incident in a North Vancouver park made the news recently and highlights the attitude that many have in this province. Poet William Blake summed it up long ago when he said, "The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing which stands in their way."

Standing in the way of two homeowners living on properties bordering Capilano River Regional Park were 35 trees (in the park) up to 145 years old. The homeowners, in an attempt to improve the view and increase the value of their properties, allegedly found an unscrupulous arborist in the neighbourhood that was willing to take money to remove or damage the park trees.

All three are facing charges of mischief over $5000 dollars, and will have to pay for remediation.

Capilano River Regional Park on Vancouver's North Shore contains old growth forest
that has been surrounded by residential properties

As far as I am concerned, the homeowners reduced the value of their properties. I would be willing to pay extra for the privilege of living in a place with such incredible forest in the back yard. How could you possibly enhance that view?

Whatever they gained in view they lost in slope stability in the area below homes where the trees in question were  hacked down or severely trimmed. Maybe the houses will be at risk in the future when the slope fails, or when the hole in the forest canopy causes a blowdown event and trees begin to topple. Experts also say the illegal work increased the risk of fire.

Why would you spend $2 million dollars to live in forested North Vancouver if you don't like trees?

As audacious as this sounds, it is unfortunately not an isolated event in the old growth forest of Capilano River Park, which is surrounded by urban development. Last year another tree cutting incident in the park was dubbed the "North Vancouver Tree Massacre" by one news outlet. Again, 'improving' the view was the motive.



View Homeowners Illegally Cut Trees To Improve The View in a larger map


A little respect would go a long way when it comes to BC's old growth trees and public spaces.

Resting Under Trees

Fire-scarred Douglas fir trees along Sooke Basin on the Galloping Goose Trail.
A good place to rest on a hot summer day.

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time."  - J. Lubbock

Drift Logs Important For Beaches

Beaches on the Pacific coast are littered with bleached drift wood

Drift logs are important parts of beaches all along the Pacific coast.

The banner at the top of this blog is a photo that was taken on a beach in nearby Washington state. When the photo was taken the mammoth drift log was newly arrived on the beach and was still dark and hydrated.

After a while on beaches on the coast, drift logs age to a beautiful sun-bleached white-ish grey colour. The picture at the top of this post is of the very same drift log used for my banner, except the log has been desiccated by summertime sunny days.

But drift logs are good for more than having fun looking at them and climbing upon their prone trunks.

Drift logs closer to home on French Beach near Sooke

Often drift logs have sawn ends, an indication they are escapees from log booms or other logging operations. Regardless of their origin, drift wood acts as an important stabilizer of beaches.

In the winter these logs are tossed like tiny toothpicks by high tides and pounding waves. In the summer they settle into place and trap sand and organic material. This maintains the beach structure and provides habitat for all manner of living things.

In this way, the trees continue to do work even as they slowly decompose back into the environment.

Drift log near my home shows evidence of logging

BC Liberal Government Triples Raw Log Exports

Old-growth logs leaving the Gordon River area near Port Renfrew. The logs may also leave
British Columbia and Canada on their way to be processed in foreign mills.   

Photo by TJ Watt

BC Liberal Government More Than Tripled Raw Log Exports to Foreign Mills

Media Release, May 7, 2013 

The BC Liberal government more than tripled the amount of unprocessed, raw logs leaving the province to foreign mills during their reign of power, according to recent figures provided by BC’s Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations (Min. of FLNRO) to the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA). 

From 2002 to 2012, over 47 million cubic meters of raw logs were exported from BC to foreign mills in China, the USA, Japan, Korea, and other nations. This contrasts to about 14.8 million cubic meters from 1991 to 2001 under the NDP government. Over the past two years alone, in 2011 and 2012, record levels of raw logs were exported from BC, 13.2 million cubic meters in total. 

“The BC Liberals have decimated the province’s forestry workforce through massive raw log exports, industry deregulation, and unsustainable practices. 30,000 BC forest workers lost their jobs and over 70 mills were shut down under the BC Liberals, yet they've allowed companies to cut at near record levels,” stated Arnold Bercov, national forestry officer of the Pulp, Paper, and Woodworkers of Canada. “Under the BC Liberals, we lost both our forests and our jobs, it’s nuts.”

Read the rest of the release at the Ancient Forest Alliance website.