Royal Roads, Colwood, B.C. - An Urban Ancient Forest

I have passed by the fat, ancient, and soaring hulks of the Douglas fir trees on the Royal Roads lands at the top of Lagoon Road many times. I overlooked the area, even though I have been aware of it's ecological significance for some time. Perhaps this is because the Royal Roads old growth forest is located in Colwood, an urban area west of Victoria. On one side of the street are large houses, big screen TVs, and hot and cold running water. On the other side, a wild remnant of a forest landscape that has been 99% consumed in only 200 years time.


One rainy day I stopped by to explore this island of ancient wonders. I passed through the gate, swung it closed on creaking hinges, and left suburbia behind. It was a time machine. A few steps down a wide path and I was surrounded, immersed in a land little changed over thousands of years. The car exhaust lingering in my nostrils faded away as I walked under the massive canopies of Douglas fir, Spruce and Hemlock. Thick trunks shot up all around and the sun beamed shafts of light through the mist. It smelled richly of growth and decay. A slug slowly slid across the trail and left its own glistening path.

The 650 acre Royal Roads property (and adjoining DND lands) has one of the last remaining undisturbed old growth Garry Oak/Coastal Douglas-fir habitats on south Vancouver Island. The site has a history of human settlement dating back thousands of years. The Straits Salish people, the Songhees, had a settlement at Esquimalt Lagoon, and evidence such as shell midens by the lagoon, and culturally modified trees in the forest, are a testament to early occupation. They have outstanding land claims to the area to this day.



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Royal Roads University is the current occupant of the site. There are two manicured gardens and a historical building on site as well. But the old growth forest of Royal Roads is by far the most significant aspect of the entire area. Such forests are rare in this undisturbed state, and in this size, anywhere. Never mind driving out to Cathedral Grove. Here you will find trees that are among the top 10 largest in the province. Trees that are many hundreds of years old. The Sitka spruce growing here represent the farthest eastern limit of their habitat on Vancouver Island.


There is pressure to develop this land. Some though, recognizing this ecological jewel, propose protection. Royal Roads and the DND lands are already public meaning that we would not need to buy the land in order to protect it for future generations. What a legacy a park would make. Some are calling it a potential 'Stanley Park' for Victoria and region.

Often old growth forest is synomonous with wilderness, but not in the case of Royal Roads/DND lands. This is one ancient forest you can get to on a city bus. There is access off Sooke Road and at Lagoon Rd. and Heatherbell. There is a small spot to park on the side of Heatherbell. Across the street you will see a gate in the chain link fence. Pass through and leave the city behind.

Don't let the Royal Roads urban location fool you. It's wild in there. Can we make sure it stays that way?

Rally For Our Ancient Forests, Jobs, and Climate: Saturday, October 17, 2009

The Western Canada Wilderness Committee was formed in the 1980s, and has been working ever since toward preserving what little is left of Vancouver Island's big trees and ancient forests. They will be hosting a rally in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada on Saturday, October 17, 2009. The Ancient Forest Rally is just their latest effort to educate and motivate government to adopt more enlightened forest policies.

WCWC cut their teeth on the Carmanah Valley campaign which ended in the protection of the tallest Sitka spruce forest in the world. One spruce, the Carmanah Giant, is 95 m/311 ft in height, Canada's tallest known tree. The B.C. government had already given the go-ahead for clear cutting of this precious resource when the Wilderness Committee launched into action.

WCWC was also instrumental in the protection of the Walbran valley, Clayoquot, Sooke Hills, and more recently the Sea-to-Sea Green Blue Belt that connects Sooke Basin to Saanich Inlet, and then extends north to Saltspring Island.

The following is from WCWC's website:

Ancient Forests Make BC Special

How many jurisdictions on Earth still have 1800 year old trees that grow to be as wide as living rooms and as tall as skyscrapers? Our endangered coastal old-growth forests are world wonders that deserve to be protected. Politicians must listen when enough people make them listen. With YOUR voice we can ensure that the BC Liberal government enacts a solution that works for the climate, biodiversity, First Nations, forestry workers, tourism industry, and the people of BC!
http://www.wcwcvictoria.org/news-item.php?ID=49

We need vast areas of untouched forest, as do the plants and animals that live there. Remaining old growth forests on Vancouver Island are global treasures that deserve to be protected in perpetuity. The wholesale cutting of trees a thousand years old is unbelievably short-sighted. The end of ancient forests is a certainty if things don't change. What will we do then?

If you are able, attend the march and rally. It begins at 11:30am at Centennial Square. Participants will then march to the Legislative Buildings. Show the government that you care about what they are doing in our disappearing forests. Jobs are gone, mills have closed at an alarming rate, and our government, in conjunction with multi-nationals, is exporting whole ancient logs to be processed elsewhere. Is this what we want? Who will speak for this treasured landscape if we do not?

Forest Creatures: Snakes and Slugs (Warning: graphic photos)

I was touring one of my favourite big tree haunts recently when I spotted thissssss beautifully patterned forest resident. It reminded me that I was visiting the homes of many creatures that reside in the rain forest, and make up the web of life here. The occasional pile of purple poo from passing black bears was also a reminder that I must be aware of the larger forest residents. Cougars are regular visitors, too. Out here I am prey.

Today the garter snake was the one to make its presence known. Found under the Sooke River Super Cedar of Gargantuan Proportions (I really must streamline this naming thing), this snake was surprisingly fast. When I slowed down, so did the snake. It stretched out before me and sunned a bit in a shaft of light piercing the forest canopy. We stared at each other for a while, his beady black eye to my blue one.




Here is how I envision a garter snake deciding on potential prey:

• Is it alive?
• Will it fit in my mouth and down my throat?
• Can I catch it?

If the prey satisfies these criteria, it is on the menu. I found out on a hike last year, that the garter menu includes the second biggest slug in the world, the Banana Slug (more than 20cm). I didn't think anything ate slugs. Compared to dung beatle fare, slug could be considered a delicacy. After all, slugs are basically snails without shells - large escargot.


The snake did not move while I photographed it attempting to consume this large lunch. How could it? I was simultaneously mesmerized and mortified. I continued on my hike. Both snake and slug were gone when I returned. Note: you can click on any of the photos to get a blown up view of this amazing natural phenomena. Just thought you would like to know...

The garter snake will also eat small birds, leeches, amphibians, small rodents, and other snakes. This snake is very aquatic and in coastal areas fish makes up a large part of their diet. The snake I saw recently was next to the Sooke River, so the tiny salmon I was watching that day were no doubt in trouble when the snake hit the river.

Garters are fast on land and in water. As I watched the snake it slithered off quickly. I had to move fast to follow, hunched over and moving through the understory. About 10 meters away the snake bee-lined (snake-lined?) for a hole at the base of a fallen tree, right under the root ball. Had I discovered a snake den, or "communal hibernacula"?
Garter snakes spend the winter in communal dens, sharing space and warmth through the cold temperatures. This looked like one. I had a sudden urge to stick my hand in. Why? I resisted. One should not harass wildlife. Especially snakes. Do not touch garter snakes unless you want to see their defense mechanism - they will poop on you (it is very smelly). If they feel threatened they could also bite. Best to enjoy them from a distance, like all wildlife.

Here is a group that is trying to improve life for another coastal snake, the sharp-tailed snake, on Salt Spring Island. They remind us that snakes are an important part of our ecosystem and should be treated with respect. The Salt Spring group educates the public on habitat conservation and builds hibernacula for sharp-tailed snakes. You can build a hibernacula in your own yard or garden. How fascinating would that be?

I will be watching the Sooke River Cedar Hibernacula location in the spring when the snakes will be out on warm days to stretch their bodies (adults are 46cm to 1.3m) and warm in the sun. After being bundled in a coil with a hundred friends all winter, they will be ready for mating. Mating involves bundling up in a ball again, this time with many males surrounding a single female. Garter snakes are live-bearing and give birth in July or August. Baby snakes are born fully developed, and litters range from as few as 5 to as many as 80.

Every creature in the forest ecosystem is important, and that includes snakes and slugs. Slugs are the recyclers of the forest and clean up dead and decaying matter and return nutrients to the soil. Snakes keep insect and rodent populations in check. Many forest animals feed on snakes, including raccoons, blue herons, eagles, and owls. If you can respect slugs and snakes, and recognize their important place in the cycle of the forest, surely you can respect everything in the forest. Such respect is sssssorely needed today.

Sooke Basin - Big Salmon, Big Trees

It was not trees that initially motivated me to slide my canoe into Sooke Basin, west of Victoria, B.C. It was salmon. A variety of salmon have been spawning in Pacific coast waters for millions years. Salmon and human cultures have intertwined for many thousands. Every year the people of Salmon Nation celebrate the strength and gifts of this flash of lightning as it leaps toward home.

Recent news of 10.6 million Fraser River sockeye going missing was nothing to celebrate, and I wanted to see if I could find a bit of good news in local waters. The Billing Spit area has three public accesses, and I launched from one of them. The Sooke River empties into the harbour here, so this is a good place to view salmon and the things that feed on them, like fishermen and eagles... and the odd bear.


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Two or three paddle strokes into my voyage a chunky silver-sided salmon exploded from the water, glinting in the early morning light. Then another, and another, often two or three at the same time, breaking free of the water, then slapping back down. In the still quiet of the morning, salmon belly flops were all I could hear. A spectacle of the natural world and not something you see everyday. Humans need the salmon and now, the salmon need us. They need us to give them a fin up, so to speak.





Having found at least some evidence of returning salmon, I paddled into the morning sun. An easterly breeze was meeting with an incoming tide and raising waves. The bow of my canoe slapped out a rhythm to accompany that of the salmon slapping around me.

I like the fact that south Vancouver Island lacks obvious evidence of tree harvesting. Even from local mountain tops one sees an almost endless stretch of forested hunchbacked hills. From my canoe on Sooke Basin all I could see was an endless stretch of water, rocks and trees. Water, rocks and trees. And what beauty and variation in each.

The water ranged from silky flat and dark, to rolling with white caps. Rock formations plunged into the water, harbouring flowering succulents above and florescent starfish below. The forest also showed its variations. Above the evenness of the trees tower the emergents - genetic superiors, or lucky recipients of a choice location.

I paddle past the three small islands making up the Goodrich Islands group. They all have caps of bent trees that have been pruned into aerodynamic shapes by relentless winds. In many places along the shoreline of the basin the trees come right down to the water. The water-loving cedar branches add lime green to the dark blues of the watery depths below me.

I spot a Douglas fir in such an exposed area that it has been blown horizontal over the years. The trees I am seeing from the water are not in the huge category, but some are old none-the-less. These woody warriors are on the edge and are vulnerable to harsh winter winds and lashing rain. Since this exposure is not the best growing conditions, the trees I see are older than similar sized trees in more ideal locations.

The larger trees bordering the basin also show evidence of being battered and de-limbed by storms. You can see their hulking masses dominating the surrounding forest. Deeply furrowed bark, missing branches and shaggy lichens give these centuries old trees character they deserve after weathering everything the coast has thrown at them, year in and year out.

The tree in the header at the top of this blog is the largest shoreline tree I surveyed on my paddle, and one of the chunkiest trees I have seen in the area. It is in Roche Cove Park, and is a fine specimen of a Douglas fir. Note the bench below it and a bit to the right to give this giant tree some perspective. It is notable for the small amount of taper that the trunk has. It stays fat and massive for a long way up. I have sat at this tree's massive trunk, but what a sight from the water.

I pulled up on the beach back at Billing Spit, exhausted and elated. I had hoped to relax for a while on one of the many rocky beaches that I passed, and had even brought a book along. But alas, the wind was against me for the 4km to the east end of the basin, then it shifted and blew against me out of the west for most of the way home. Thinking of salmon migrating up to a thousand kilometers against the currents of major rivers gave me the inspiration I needed to battle the currents testing me all day. Pondering the stick-too-it-ness of old trees helped, too.

B.C.'s Biggest Trees Not Protected

British Columbia holds record breaking trees, both in the books, and out in the forest waiting to be discovered. In order to increase awareness and protection of these tree Titans and old growth areas, Randy Stoltmann single-handedly started B.C.'s Big Tree Registry in the 1980's.

Modeled after registries in eastern Canada and the U.S., it has grown from just 18 trees of 13 species, to 190 trees of 37 species in 2006. With Stoltmann's death in 1994 the Big Tree Registry passed through a variety of homes, and now is hosted by the provincial government in the Ministry of Forests and Range.

The B.C. Big Tree Registry records the 10 biggest trees for each species, but affords the outstanding listed trees no protection. The Victoria chapter of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee is recommending that the registry list the 100 biggest trees of each species, as well as legislating protection for them.

It seems unlikely that someone would cut down a record-breaking tree, and that is probably what Forests Minister Pat Bell meant when he said that big trees on the registry are not usually harvested. He added that he is not contemplating any changes to the registry or to old growth logging practices in the province.

Robert Van Pelt, author of Forest Giants of the Pacific Coast, insists that ancient giants still exist in little explored areas of our province. Particularily, he fingers Vancouver Island as a potential source of record-breaking sized trees yet to be found. Record-breakers usually gain some notoriety (the registries intended purpose) that gives them unofficial protection-like status. These valuable resources deserve full protection.

And what of Van Pelt's potential record-breaking trees yet to be discovered? Will we ever know about them, let alone protect them, before they become big stumps? WCWC has ample evidence that trees exactly like the ones we worship in our parks are being logged. Is there a record-breaking stump out there?


Let's protect these magnificent trees and remaining ancient groves. Let's do it for all those forward-thinking timber workers that have identified significant trees and groves in the forest and saved them. Or for the Red-backed vole that lives its life in single giant Douglas firs, like the Red Creek Fir (itself a Big Tree Registry champion). Let's do it for Randy Stoltmann.

Big Leaf Maple

A magnificent hardwood species is mixed among the monumental softwoods of the Pacific forest. The Big leaf maple (Acer macrophyllum) is a coastal broad-leafed tree which grows predominately in the southern coastal western hemlock biogeoclimatic zone. They grow in a narrow strip along the ocean from Alaska to California. Big leaf maple live an average of 200 years with 300+ not unheard of, and reach heights of 34m with a crown of equal width. While conifers are king (or queen) in the Pacific forest, the overlooked Big leaf maple is an important member of the court.

"It is so ubiquitous that many people, Douglas-fir tree farmers in particular, consider Big leaf maple to be a common and bothersome weed," says Mike Dubrasich, tree farmer, "but Big leaf maple is easy to grow, and on most sites it will out-grow any other native tree for the first twenty years."

Big leaf maple's preferred habitat is close to rivers or streams on gravely, moist soil, but it will also grow in dry areas. These trees can withstand temporary flooding and do well in nutrient-rich floodplains. The tree pictured is on the floodplain of the Sooke River, and grows in a field unchallenged by competitors. A bicycle is shown to provide scale.

When Big leaf maple grows in a forest, shaded by other trees, it develops a tall bole with no branching until 1/2 - 2/3 of the way up. Then a small crown grows above the single large trunk. These trees are increasingly valued in the forest industry since the single bole can provide larger pieces of wood.

Growing out in the open the maple's crown reaches its maximum  spread, and the bole splits into a multiplicity of branches just a couple of meters up.


The Big leaf maple featured here is in Sun River Nature Trail Park, a narrow park that stretches along the west bank of the Sooke River. It is accessed by a trail head off Philips Road, itself a gateway to big trees and beautiful vistas of the Sooke River valley and surrounding forest-cloaked hillsides.

The rough trail passes through a riparian forest of large Sitka spruce, Douglas fir, Western red cedar, and Hemlock. This flood-prone forest also has broad-leaf trees such as Red alder and Big leaf maple, and harbours bear, cougar, owl, and slug. Spawned out salmon fertilize this forest every fall. Valley bottom forests of Vancouver Island are the richest environments on the coast and the largest trees grow there. These valley bottoms are now mostly logged out.



Typical of a non-shaded maple, this tree has an expansive crown. Branching starts low on the trunk and spreads in all directions forming a massive green umbrella that almost touches the ground all the way around the perimeter. Big leaf maples can grow such a dense canopy of frizbee-sized leaves (up to 61 cm including the stalk) that only 1 to 2% of the light falling on the tree reaches the ground below. On a hot sunny day it was several degrees cooler in the shade of this glorious moss-covered giant. After some hard biking I was appreciative of the air conditioning. The soporific sun was held at bay and I felt revived.



Under the canopy of this tree were small tufts of grass and not much else. The huge leaves, when shed in the fall, will smother anything that tries to grow below the circumference of the crown. Also falling to the ground is a variety of epiphytic growth consisting of plants that live on other plants, but derive their nutrients from rain and the air, not the host.



Luxurious rain-soaked mosses adorn the branches of Big leaf maple. Lichen, as well as licorice ferns are also growing on the trees. Often this growth is so abundant that it weighs more than the leaves of the tree. When epiphytic growth falls to the ground it fertilizes the tree in exchange for providing a place to grow. Big leaf maple is a soil building species, and like Red alder, it improves the soil where it grows.

Although I do love standing, living trees, Big leaf maple is increasingly seen as a commercial product. It has a fine grain and is desired for furniture and instrument making. The market for figured wood (wavy, quilted, curly, flamed...) is growing as wood workers and instrument makers come to value this unique wood.

The Glimer Wood Company in Portland, Oregon sells specialty woods including Big leaf maple for instrument building. Their website shows chunk after chunk of amazing one of a kind blanks ready to be made into guitars, violins, mandolins and ukeleles. Unfortunately, instrument woods most in demand are those from trees older than 150 - 200 years. The wood from such trees is clear of knots with an even fine grain, and provides the resonance instrument makers and players alike enjoy.

As a guitar player, and tree lover, I experience some guilt about owning the remains of old growth trees such as Sitka spruce and Big leaf maple. The classical guitar shown here has a spruce soundboard and uses figured maple for the back and sides. The back is a book matched piece. This means that the maple blank was cut in half and "opened up" to show matching patterns. Looks beautiful, sounds great. Probably came from very old trees.

Trees are such a giving, and useful species. It is hard to imagine life without them. Is it even possible for large modern, developed societies to exist without trees? Forests are massive contributors to ecosystems around the world, providing us with benefits that can not be fully calculated, or replaced. Trees are also large contributors to economies around the world. I love the trees, but I love my guitars, too. Here is one group that is trying to resolve issues around dwindling supplies of instrument woods. Perhaps a donation will help soothe my conscience.

Not all uses of the Big leaf maple require killing them. Like its more famous eastern cousin, the Sugar maple (Acer saccarum), the Big leaf maple can also be used for making syrup. The sugar concentration in Acer macrophyllum is less than in Acer saccarum, so more sap must be collected to produce the same amount of syrup. At the BC Forest Discovery Centre in Duncan, one can learn all about Vancouver Island Big leaf maple syrup making during the Bigleaf Maple Syrup Festival in February.

Today I will honour the generous Big leaf maple by spending some time beneath the shady branches of the tree featured above meditating on the gifts it bestows, living or otherwise. When I get home, I will compose a song about this harmonious hardwood, then perform it on the guitar that owes its life to the ultimate sacrifice made by individual, old trees. Thank you, trees.

Multi-Century Cedars: Canada's Largest, Oldest Trees

Bark of an ancient Avatar Grove Cedar

Less than 100 km, as the eagle flies, from Sooke lives Canada's largest known tree, the Cheewhat Lake Cedar.

This Western red cedar (Thuja plicata - thoo-yuh ply-kay-tuh) is 18.34 m/60.2 ft in circumference and 55.5 m/182 ft in height.

It is the second largest known tree of its type on the planet.

The largest cedar is the Quinault Lake Cedar on the Olympic Peninsula, over the Juan de Fuca Strait from Sooke.

After a hike to the Cheewhat Lake Cedar, tree pilgrims are often left feeling speechless. It is difficult to achieve a sense of proportion around such a massive living thing. The Cheewhat Cedar is often described as "a wall of wood." This wall is old, with estimates ranging upwards of 2500 years, and still growing.

Vancouver Island is in the middle of Western red cedar range. The island is prime territory for these slow growing, long lived, droopy, fragrant trees. Fittingly, the Western red cedar is British Columbia's official tree.

Cheewhat Cedar, Pacific Rim Park

In practice, however, the liquidation of this sacred tree continues. British Columbia's business-friendly government is aiding in the demise of its own provincial trees.

In 2007 the B.C. Liberals adopted a new Coastal Forest Action Plan.

The plan reported that "since 1995, the proportion of old-growth harvested on the Coast has declined from 95 per cent of the harvest to 71 per cent."

The plan attributed the decline to the increase in the amount of old growth protection, but is more likely due to the dwindling supply of old growth trees. With only about 25% of original old growth forests left on Vancouver Island, it will not be long before the cathedral-like ancient groves are gone.


Sooke River Ancient Cedars

The Sooke River watershed contains several cedars that are prime specimens. The river valley also contains huge Douglas fir, Sitka spruce, Hemlock, and Fir, but the largest diameter trees in the area are Western red cedars.

They are the oldest, too. In ideal conditions a cedar can live for thousands of years, making it the oldest living tree in the British Columbia rain forest. The oldest trees in the Sooke River valley are easily many hundreds of years old, perhaps close to one thousand.

Sooke River valley Western red cedar

One of the indicators of old growth forests (over 250 years) is an abundance of large diameter woody debris. It includes large fallen logs as well as standing dead trees (snags), and provides habitat and nutrients for the forest ecosystem. Fallen logs also act as "nurse logs", providing nutrients for new trees. Small patches of this type, such as in small ravines, remain along the Sooke River.



A cedar snag can continue to stand for a century after it dies. Once it falls it can lay on the forest floor for centuries more before it fully decays. Because of this rot resistance, cedar is the most valuable, sought after wood of the Pacific forest.

Big tree hunters like Robert Van Pelt think that record breaking cedars still exist on Vancouver Island, although opportunities to identify them are "dwindling." Some may be in unexplored protected areas, and some certainly exist in privately held lands.

All along the river one can also see evidence of logging. Early hand loggers used springboards to raise themselves up the trunk of trees so that they were above the thickest part of the bole (the main stem of the tree). This left tall stumps.







"Cedar Rats", or shake bolt cutters, work in old cut blocks harvesting the large cedar stumps left behind from previous logging. On a good show the cedar stumps can be more valuable than the second growth forest around them.





The massive fluted trunks of ancient cedars are so spectacular that it is easy to forget to look up to admire the equally impressive crowns of these trees. Over hundreds of years they take on a droopy, gnarled, weathered look. The reddish-grey bark is stressed wood at its best, and the crown is a dense confusion of droopy light-seeking branches and scaly leaves.



A 250 year old cedar can be anywhere from .61-2.44 m/2-8 ft in diameter. Much larger trees exist here. The biggest trees, though, aren't until you get to the valley bottom. There you will find very large, very old Western red cedars, accompanied by luxurious mounds of moss and towering ferns.



The atmosphere and towering columns give one the sense of being in a natural cathedral. It is hard, even for professional foresters, to age a tree, but these are Brobdingnagian boles.



Currently, Sooke does not have a tree protection bylaw, even though many tourists come to the area specifically to see big trees.

Who would travel here to see someones siding, roofing, or deck?

Outside of Sooke and up the coast there are very few protected areas and/or parks. Muir Creek represents one choice old growth location for protection and park status. There are nice Western red cedars in the Muir Creek watershed.

That Vancouver Island has any old growth left is something to celebrate. We have protected only 6% of Vancouver Island's productive forest lands in our parks system.

If we are not careful British Columbia will soon have to change its provincial tree from the Western red cedar to the Red alder. Red alder is the "healer tree" of the forest as it fixes nitrogen in the soil and speeds forest regeneration. It is the first tree to grow in clear cuts, and B.C. has plenty of those.

What Happened To The Really Big Trees?

Not so long ago, the Pacific coast was the Land of Humongous Ancient Trees, from the Queen Charlotte Islands to California. They were among the largest trees to ever grace the planet, and they covered all of Vancouver Island. The elders of this forest community were thousands of years old. As a whole, the forest had existed since the retreat of the most recent glaciers, about 10 000 years ago. For many thousands of these years indigenous peoples utilized the trees and other plants of the forest. Even now culturally modified trees can be seen standing in forested areas. Such trees are protected in British Columbia.

When Manuel Quimper sailed into Sooke Bay in 1790 and claimed the area for Spain, he found the Coast Salish T'Sou-ke people living between the ancient forest and the sea. Spain was not in the practice of establishing settlements in North America, but simply viewing the new land entitled them to it. The dripping, impenetrable forest must have been an awe-inspiring, yet threatening, sight to sailors viewing the wall of towering green from the safety of their ships. At the time the forest appeared endless and therefore inexhaustable.

Juan Perez navigated the Spanish Navy ship Santiago into Nootka Sound on the west coast of Vancouver Island in 1774. The indigenous Nuu-chah-nulth people came out to greet the Santiago in large dugout canoes made from giant Western red cedar trees. This early contact started the marine fur trade for otter pelts. 235 years later the otters are only now starting to return.

Captain James Cook sailed into Nootka Sound in 1778 representing Britain. He and his crew landed to cut replacement masts from the primeval forest, and thus became the first known Europeans to set foot in what is now British Columbia. Then came Quimper in his little boat to claim the area for Spain. However, before long the entire north Pacific coast would fall into British hands, which would open the door to the Hudson Bay Company, now one of the oldest corporate enterprises in the world (1670-present).

The Hudson Bay Company was granted the colony of Vancouver Island in 1849 and was charged with populating it with settlers from the U.K. At the time a trip around Cape Horn could take up to 6 grueling months. It was the end of First Nations' isolation, and the beginning of the end for the area's ancient forests of giant trees.




In 1848 the HBC built its first saw mill at Mill Falls in what is now Langford. The area was logged to feed the mill. The hill and creek at this location are named after this early mill. This mill was closed in 1855 when a more powerful stream powered mill at Craigflower Farm replaced it. Mill Hill Park now covers the area of the original logging operation and mill.

In the Sooke region, Scottish settler John Muir built the first steam-powered sawmill on Vancouver Island. By 1860 Muir's Victoria lumberyard was shipping more wood world-wide than any other in the Pacific Northwest. Muir and Co. shipped Vancouver Island wood to help rebuild San Francisco after its devastating fires.

Muir and Co. owned the largest private fleet of ships in the north pacific. John Muir is considered by many to be the father of the B.C. forest industry. Today at the Sooke Region Museum a visitor can see Moss Cottage which was built out of trees milled at Muir's sawmill. Moss cottage is one of the oldest standing buildings on Vancouver Island, built in 1869 (by now it must be 80% moss and 20% wood).

Victoria is western Canada's oldest city, and in the 1850's became the centre of the logging industry on Vancouver Island. At this time logging was mostly restricted to exploiting the huge trees close to the tidewater, for ease of transportation. Preferred trees were tall Douglas fir, Western red cedar, and Sitka spruce.

Although the milling and delivery of these giant trees was big business, the actual logging operations were small. One did not need a large amount of capital to get at trees that could be felled directly into waterways using springboards, double-headed axes, and cross-cut saws. The oldest trees were huge and the tools were hand powered so the forest yielded slowly to the hand logger. On some of the larger trees that were taken, dynamite was required to topple the Karnakian giants to the forest floor. Some trees were simply too large to cut, transport, or mill so were left behind.

Up until 1905 British-controlled areas around the Pacific, and as far away as South Africa, were the largest markets. After 1905 the United States became the largest customer for Canadian forest products. Since the White pine forests of eastern Canada were largely decimated by this time, the west coast became the focus of logging operations.

In the 1900's mechanization started to revolutionize the industry. The trees easiest to get at along waterways were largely depleted. These were some of the largest trees growing in rich valley bottom soils. Going deeper into the forest in such rugged terrain required more power and therefore more capital. Teams of oxen were replaced with horses which were then put out to pasture for more efficient steam rail logging operations, several of which penetrated into south Vancouver Island valleys, including the Sooke region. Larger corporations began to take over, and the high balling era began.




Buck saws, spring boards, and double headed axes began to be replaced by chainsaws, harvesting machines, and huge trucks. Selective logging gave way to clearcuts. Now the forests were threatened by a no-holds-barred attitude that continues to this very day. No trees are safe anymore with the advent of helicopter logging which can access areas previously too remote or harsh to log safely.

The south island has been largely logged off, although remnant small ancient groves remain in isolated pockets. Often it is only the occasional large ancient that survives to this day, but very few have any protection. The undisturbed 10 000 year old forest is gone, and the biological secrets have gone with it. We have little idea what we have lost, or what long term impacts this may have.

The logging industry in British Columbia, aided by sympathetic pro-business governments, continues to pillage what little is remaining of the ancient forest. They will carry on with business as usual until the last big tree falls, or until we make them stop.

The B&B Tree

In December 2004 Linda and I came to Sooke to experience life in the rainforest. We had been to Sooke several times over the years, always on our way to hike the West Coast Trail. We knew that there were big trees to be seen on Vancouver Island.

On previous visits to the coast we found it to be a special thing to stand next to an enormous tree a thousand or more years old. An entire forest of such unbelievable huge-ness forces an uncomfortable perspective on the mind. The eyes have problems taking in such immense verticality. Most of us experience such vertical splendor only in the business district of large cities, craning our necks looking up at towers. Imagine a tree, or an entire forest, towering above you at the height of a 30 story building. Trees with trunks larger than

The first month in Sooke we stayed at a bed and breakfast on Hutchison Cove with a fine view over Sooke Basin, East Sooke, and the snow peaked mountains of Washington. The tops of big trees could be seen growing down by the water where The Galloping Goose Trail runs.

One warm winter day I walked down to the Goose. At the bottom of the slope I came to the trail, and a fine example of an old Douglas fir. It is on the land side of the trail, and in its low location is protected from westerly gales by a hill. It has little competition from other big trees. Therefore, it has a beautiful crown and a classic overall shape.

It has not been as beaten by storms like many of the waters-edge trees. Many in this area have had their tops, or leaders, broken off, but not this beauty. It is intact and the whole tree is growing vigorously.

A new access road was built about a year ago that runs right past the base of this tree. While out for a bike ride, I talked to the present owner (the land, and tree, are for sale). She spoke of how her family has loved this tree over the years, and how they took special care to protect it during the construction of the road. Ah, fellow tree lovers.

If you ride or walk the Galloping Goose between the Coopers Cove access on Highway 14 and Roche Cove Park you will see many gnarly old trees, including this one. Some of them are in the range of 100 to 300 years old. Along this stretch of trail you will also see trees in that age range that have been sheared off or blown down, root disk upended and all. These fallen giants are a testament to the strength of the winds that lash this coastline every winter.

Could the B&B Tree live through another 800 years of winter storms? Who will be around to be awed by it if it does?

Goldstream Park: Salmon-fed Big Trees

Few major urban centres anywhere enjoy the easy access Victoria, BC has to an old growth forest area, let alone a protected one. The city is only 16 km away from Goldstream Park, a place where you will find an active spawning river as well as ancient trees. Many of the trees in the park are older than 10 human lifespans. This area represents a tiny, tiny fraction of what was once one of the mightiest forests on the planet, and even this protected bit is under attack.

Human "progress" threatens forested areas everywhere, including land within the Goldstream watershed. Crown land adjacent to Goldstream was sold by the BC Liberal government to Western Forest Products in 2001. WFP then sold the land for Bear Mountain resort, and it is being rapidly developed with high rise condo towers (ranging from 27 to 45 stories), five thousand square foot houses, and a golf course. An interchange being built solely to service this "mountain top removal" neighbourhood required an endangered Garry Oak grove to be destroyed. The Garry Oak ecosystem is one of the most threatened on the south island. Now "Bare Mountain II" is rearing its ugly head. The fish, trees, animals and insects of Goldstream Park are threatened by this encroaching cancerous mass.

You might think that salmon have nothing to do with trees, but for thousands of years the mighty salmon has fed the giants of the Pacific coastal forest. Spawned out salmon carcasses feed trees beside waterways. Floods and feeding bears transport carcasses deeper into the forest. Blue ocean is converted into green forest in an endlessly repeating cycle. Our poor choices threaten this system.

Scientists estimate that up to 75% of the nitrogen in trees beside salmon bearing waterways is from the ocean, delivered by the salmon returning to their home forest. This is a significant contribution to trees such as the ones you will find at Goldstream. The trees help the salmon as well in a mutually beneficial relationship. The big trees purify water, moderate drought and flood, and create an environment in which streams can build deep pools and clean gravels where salmon can successfully spawn and rear.

The state of the salmon on the coast is pretty grim, much like the state of the remaining old growth forests. The ultimately sustainable, healthy food of the ocean has been mismanaged and is now in danger of immanent collapse. Open pen salmon farming with Atlantic salmon is not the answer either, and it seems to be taking an active role in the loss of native species. Urban development and the continued liquidation of easily accessed valley-bottom old growth forests add to the salmon's demise.

A short 20 minute drive will take you from downtown Victoria office towers to the towering trees and quiet of Goldstream Park. In the valley bottom of the day-use area grow enormous 600 year old Western red-cedars. Huge Black cottonwoods stake out moist territory closer to the estuary. The estuary supports up to 60 000 returning chum salmon in a season. This concentration of available protein attracts huge numbers of eagles, some years numbering in the hundreds. Eagles congregate in the park area from December to February.

Among the biggest trees in Goldstream are Grand fir, Black cottonwood, Douglas fir (one of which has a 2.07m diameter trunk at breast height), and Western red-cedar (one with a 5.63m diameter trunk at ground level). The trails around the campground areas hold even larger Douglas fir specimens. The Upper Goldstream Trail takes a hiker through some of the largest and oldest trees in the park.

Salmon and forest depend on each other. And we depend on them. Can they depend on us?