National Forest Week - The Greenest Workforce

The American Martin lives in Canadian forests from coast to coast.
Destruction of forest habitat has reduced its numbers.

Everyone likes a party, and this week is a nation wide celebration. National Forest Week asks Canadians to join in a celebration of our trees and forests. How could that be bad?

Unfortunately, most of the information I have seen online is geared toward viewing our trees and forests as "resources" to be used for the sole benefit of humans.

“Canadians can actively engage in this year’s National Forest Week theme by inviting foresters into the classroom to teach students about Canada’s world leading progressive forest management practices. 

Students can also learn about the innovative green products that can be made from forest fibre such as cosmetics, car parts and clothing.” - Dave Lemkay, General Manager of CFA.

The slogan for this year highlights the importance of these forest resources, and focuses on extraction and jobs. The Canadian Forestry Association web site has a prominent headline stating "National Forest Week to Highlight 'The Greenest Workforce' Brand.

What kind of brand is this? Cutting the last of the old growth is not green by anyone's reckoning. In order for a renewable, sustainable cut in old growth forests you would need a harvest cycle of a few hundred years. Perhaps longer, and certainly much longer than a few decades.

Not mentioned anywhere is how many Canadian forests are being depleted, including those on Vancouver Island. The CFA was even created to address this very problem... back in the early 1900s. I am sure they have done, and continue to do good work, but this year's National Forest Week seems to have been hijacked by government and corporate interests.

American Martin range.

This "celebration" seems to have a focus on advertising and support for the forestry industry. Sure humans need forests (it has been theorized that civilization would be impossible without them), but we are far from the only users of these "valuable resources".

Little is said about the importance of intact old growth forests for their life-giving services like filtering water, preventing erosion, and providing critical habitat for species that can't live anywhere else.

To celebrate this week take the CFA up on their challenge to learn more about what is happening in our forests. Chances are you may not like what you find out. From short rotation periods that create perpetual tree farms void of diversity, to cutting visual barriers established by rules that have been thrown out by the BC government, there is a lot that needs to be done to set things right.

After your research you may be interested in joining the real "Greenest Workforce" - they are called environmentalists, and most work as volunteers out of their deep love and respect for trees, forests and the species that live there.

Don't have time to get involved? Consider donating to an organization near you and have them do the legwork. The Ancient Forest Alliance is a good place to start. They are "a British Columbian organization working to protect the endangered old-growth forests of BC and to ensure sustainable forestry jobs in the province. It was founded in January of 2010 and is run by BC environmental activists Ken Wu, TJ Watt, Joan Varley, and Hannah Carpendale."

Happy Forest Week. Wednesday is designated as National Tree Day, so get out there and hug your favourite tree or trees. We tend to protect what we love.

Sombrio Beach Old Growth Fringe

Old growth Sitka spruce hang on in a narrow fringe behind Sombrio Beach.

The easy 10 minute hike to Sombrio Beach is a lot like many of the trails that lead from Highway 14 to the cobble beaches below. After passing through second or third growth forests of mostly small, closely spaced Western hemlock, the trails lead into a narrow old growth fringe of fat Sitka spruce bordering the beach.

Old growth stump surrounded by smaller regenerating trees on the trail to Sombrio Beach.

While most of the west coast of Vancouver Island has been clear cut logged long ago, the Juan de Fuca trail, which runs for 47 km along the ocean between China Beach to Botany Bay (Port Renfrew), retained narrow strips of old trees in some places.

Toward the bottom of the Sombrio trail you enter the magnificent
old growth fringe.

Stunning Sombrio Beach is one of those places that escaped the saw, and its narrow old growth fringe harbours some big and unusual trees. The forest combined with the beach and ocean make this a magical place to be, as many have discovered.

Nice campsite on the sand under old spruce trees at East Sombrio.

While at Sombrio you may feel it beautiful enough to live permanently among the salt sprayed spruce, and indeed in simpler times a group of freedom-loving people did just that. The establishment of the Juan de Fuca Trail in 1994 meant the end of an era, and by 1997 the last Sombrians were served eviction notices.

Looking down Sombrio River from the suspension bridge toward the surf.
Photo: introvert3

You may not be able to stay for decades as some did in the past, but today you can camp under the canopy of the big spruce trees for up to 14 days. Most people take 3 to 5 days to complete the trail, although there are ambitious types that run its muddy, glorious 47 km in a single day.

Not me.

Western hemlock often start on logs and stumps. Eventually, the log or stump
 rots away leaving trees on root stilts like this one behind Sombrio Beach.

When I do the trail, I will max out and plan on 10 to 14 days to really let the magic sink deep into my bones.

Just enjoying the old growth in the Sombrio area could keep me busy for days.

New on VIBT - Tree Identification

I have added a new button at the top of this blog underneath the title banner. Clicking on the "Tree Identification" button will take the curious forest adventurer to a page with tree identification information. A link is provided that will lead the extra-curious to even more information about the British Columbia's amazing trees.

Learning more about the unique forests of Vancouver Island could consist of vacationing among the trees and identifying a few. Or, it could mean spending a lifetime getting to know the neon green forests of wrinkly, moss covered giants. Unlike the ancient trees around you, your fascination will never grow old.

The information on the id page was selectively harvested from the forest of information that has been
compiled by the government of British Columbia.

The Tree Book, one such government publication, is a basic introduction to the major tree species in the province. Of these, most grow on Vancouver Island, and of those I have selected a few of the more obvious and sought after tree species to share.

Enjoy learning more about Vancouver Island's big beautiful trees, and next time you are out in the forest you can put your tree knowledge to the test.

The more you learn about these trees, the more you will want to protect them and the special places that they grow.


Click on the Tree Identification page button above, or click here to connect directly.

Vancouver Island's Urban Forests At Risk

Urban trees enhance the environment and add to our quality of life.

"New mapping by Habitat Acquisition Trust has revealed that in the six years between 2005 and 2011 the thirteen CRD municipalities lost 1037 hectares (2564 acres) of tree cover."

"Trees are falling in every municipality from Sidney to Sooke." So states a new study by the Habitat Acquisition Trust that looks at the state of the Victoria region's forest cover.

Trees are important wherever they grow, and their services are wide-ranging and irreplaceable. Fewer trees means a degraded environment that is less suitable for human and wildlife habitation. Therefore the loss of urban forests represents a serious threat to the quality of life on south Vancouver Island.

Highlights of the Results

Of the 13 CRD municipalities, in the 6 years between 2005 and 2011:

• The District of Saanich lost the most tree cover: 378 hectares. Langford was next losing 118 hectares of tree cover.

• The City of Victoria lost the largest percentage of its remaining tree cover - 8.8%. In absolute terms, this was only 42 hectares, but the City of Victoria has a relatively small amount of tree cover.

• The Town of Sidney lost the least amount of tree cover at 7 hectares, but that accounts for 7.5% of the small municipality’s remaining tree cover.

• Metchosin lost just 1.3% of its tree cover (66 hectares), the lowest percentage of any municipality. Highlands was next best, losing only 1.4% (46 hectares) of its tree cover.

• Highlands also has the highest level of tree cover in the region: 84% of the municipality is treed. Sidney is the least treed - only 18.3% of the town has tree cover.

The biggest losses resulted from urban development and expansion of agricultural operations. Many trees are cut on private property and not just development properties. 

Recommendations

• Reduce the rate of tree loss, and plant new trees when appropriate.
• Encourage municipalities to formulate and implement an Urban Forest Strategy aimed at achieving a sustainable urban forest with no net loss of cover.
• Solicit the help of private landowners who can care for existing trees, and plant new ones, and agree to permanently protect their property with a conservation covenant, or as a park or nature sanctuary.
• Landscape with native trees and other plants.
• Leaving buffer zones of native trees and plants between developments and waterways helps control erosion, filter water, and enhance salmon habitat.

Read the full Habitat Acquisition Trust report here (pfd).

Tree House Art Car Brings Bit of BC Forest to Burning Man

The tree house art car, built on Vancouver Island, will bring a bit of the forest
 to the Burning Man Festival in Nevada, USA.

How do you celebrate BC trees and forests while in the treeless, water-challenged Nevada desert, site of the Burning Man Festival? Bring a bit of the forest along with you by building a tree house art car, then invite the crowds in among the trees.

That is what a group of Vancouver Islanders are doing with their creatively converted old school bus.

"It's a nod to the BC forest," stated one of the participants working on the project.

Work in progress - the forest is growing.

Some nice BC wood was used on this tree house project, which is currently spreading the sweet smell of tree sap over the dusty flat lands of Burning Man.

Read the article in the Times Colonist here, or go to the tree house art car website to learn more about this creative conversion.

"People all have great memories of tree houses when they were little, whether they fell out and broke their arm, ate a mud pie, made out for the first time or read Playboys. And it’s a nod to the B.C. forest.” 

- Melanie Golder, tree house art car team

Rainbows and Clear Cuts

A recent open letter to the Vancouver Island community from the World Rainbow Family had something to say about the ongoing desecration and destruction of ancient forests on the north island.

In part, the letter stated:

"A main reason sounded for why we shouldn’t be able to gather on Raft Cove was the environmental impact on this place of significant natural beauty. What our family saw on our journeys around the North Island deeply shocked us, and we would like to share with the local community and the world the horrific level of deforestation of ancient and sacred trees occurring now on the North Island.  

 The Hopi prophecy that forms the ideology of our family is that a tribe, from all corners of the world, with multiple colours, will rise up from the midst of destruction and heal the earth. Given that we are a deeply environmentally conscious group, these environmental concerns were hard to comprehend. Historically, we have been involved in local environmental matters, such as the 1993 protection of the Clayoquot Sound forests."

Clear cuts are harmful to the forest, soil, water quality,
and animal life, but are profitable for corporations.

Clayoquot Sound 20 Years Down The (Logging) Road

Concerned citizens at the 1993 Clayoquot protests were successful in their efforts
to halt the clear cutting of one of the last and largest intact ancient forests on Vancouver Island

What do you do when governments and big business conspire to do what is most profitable rather than what is right? What do you do when the members of the legislature do not respond to normal avenues of citizen feedback?

The protests of 1993 in Clayoquot Sound near Tofino, BC are what you do. You educate, organize, and gather together 12,000 citizens. Then you put your body between those that would kill and their prey - the big trees in one of the last intact ancient forests, a 350,000 hectare wilderness area.

In the case of Clayoquot, site of the largest act of civil disobedience in Canada's history, protesters were putting their bodies between the agents of big logging interests and one of the largest remaining tracts of  ancient temperate rain forest left on Vancouver Island.

Hundreds of ordinary people providing valuable feedback to the people they employee in government, and a valuable service to humanity for protecting this unique global gift, were arrested for their efforts.

However, their work got done what letters, phone calls, petitions, facts, meetings and the truth failed to do up until then.

Indeed, people gathering in great numbers in streets, squares, avenues, parks, and on the ocean and up logging roads is usually the only thing that will stop (or slow) the rampant greed of self-interested individuals in both government and business.

From Haida war canoes blockading enormous bulk whole log carriers full of sacred old growth cedars, to Clayoquot Sound, to concerned citizens gathering on the lawn of the legislature, organizing and gathering together to exercise our civic responsibilities is the most effective way to go.

And now, 20 years after Clayoquot, the pressure is building again all over Canada as hard fought for environmental protections are stripped from the books by resource mad federal and provincial governments.

Logging of ancient trees close to Cathedral Grove, proposed pipelines, dwindling salmon in our ocean, damaging run of the river private power providers, and renewed threats of logging in Clayoquot virtually ensure that mass acts of civil disobedience are sure to occur once again.

When they do, the victorious protests in Clayoquot Sound will be used as both a guideline and inspiration.

Mapping The Giant Sequoias Of Victoria, BC

This map is interactive - click on the tree icons and get more information about specific sequoias. View a larger version of the map here: "Giant Sequoias In Victoria".

The same mild climate that grows the fattest, tallest native trees in Canada, also nurtures some amazing exotic trees on south Vancouver Island. A case in point are the Giant sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum), many of which were transported here as seedlings over 100 years ago by settlers from California.

So loved were these California native trees that many made the journey north, and many were successfully planted. In just over a century some of these seedlings have reached, well, giant proportions.

The tallest and widest trees in Victoria are both sequoias which is not surprising considering this tree species is the largest in the world. Also not surprising is the fact that people are still loving these trees after 150 years of occupying their new home.

They are among the most photographed single trees in the area. My post on The Giant Sequoias Of Beacon Hill Park is the most viewed of all time on this blog. They are unique in this region and are far from their traditional range, making them of special interest.

The native range of the Giant sequoia is very restricted,
but they do grow successfully in Victoria, BC.

Giant sequoia occurs naturally only in California in a narrow band of mixed conifer forest, between 5,000-8,000 ft. elevation on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada. Climatically, the Giant sequoia prefers the "Cool Summer Mediterranean" (Csb) climate.

Giant sequoia in its natural California Sierra Nevada range.

Victoria has a Mediterranean climate, and although we are north of their northern limits, the sequoias have done well here.

This Giant sequoia at the residential intersection of Moss and Richardson is the
tallest sequoia in the Victoria area at about 50 meters tall.

I am in the process of mapping the sequoias in the Victoria area that I am familiar with from wandering about town. Many I have found simply by driving around and looking for the tallest trees on the horizon, then navigating to their base for photos. But there are always more trees to be found.

Lately I have been cruising around town using Google Maps instead of my truck to see if I can find more of these big trees. I figure that Google has the cash - let them pay for the gas. I can also get reasonable photos by taking screenshots while on Street View.

A large sequoia on Douglas Street across from Beacon Hill Park.

Using the above map one could set up a walking, cycling, rolling, or driving tour of interesting sequoias in the downtown area.

Not downtown? Chances are there is a Giant sequoia in a neighbourhood near you. Check the map.

This beauty is at the intersection of Jutland and Burnside Rds - I added it to the map
after a reader mentioned it in a comment below.

There is even a small sequoia down the street from where I live in Sooke. It is a mere baby only a few decades old and stands at a tiny 10m (30ft) in height. Eventually it could outlive civilization, and end up the tallest, fattest tree in the new coastal wilderness.

It is a treat to get a feel for the mighty California sequoia forests right here on the south island. If you can't make the 15 hour drive to the Sierra Nevada, this is the next best thing.

Do you know of a Victoria area sequoia that you don't see on the map? Please leave a comment below, like Bernard did, and describe the location of any notable sequoia that you know of. I would like to continue including new trees in this mapping project, and your participation can go a long way to filling in much needed information.

Thank you. Now go enjoy the trees, even if it is on Street View on the map above.

Old Growth Clear Cutting Continues

Example of spectacular temperate rain forest on Vancouver Island
contrasted with nearby logging of old-growth forest.

Photo by TJ Watt

Congratulations BC on voting for fewer old growth trees and forestry jobs in the province's forests during the recent election.

BC now has a new government, same as the old government. Get ready for business as usual in the province's old growth forests, especially since environmentalists in Canada are now seen as "radicals, adversaries, job-killers, foreign funded radicals and ideological extremists".

Definitely not a good time to be a defender of the trees, although during dark days such as these it is the most important time to be a voice in the wilderness.

Instead of bringing such individuals and organizations in from the wild fringes, environmentalists are instead put on the federal government's official "enemies" list. These so-called radical groups could be audited by the CRA in order to muzzle what is seen as a threat rather than evidence of a functioning democracy.

The BC Liberals are good pals with the current pro-business as usual regime in Ottawa, and use many of the same tactics.

Expect more old growth clear cuts, fewer jobs, and more ships laden with old growth whole log shipments to China and other overseas markets.

Clear Cuts

“In clear-cutting, he said, you clear away the natural forest, or what the industrial forester calls "weed trees," and plant all one species of tree in neat straight functional rows like corn, sorghum, sugar beets or any other practical farm crop. 

You then dump on chemical fertilizers to replace the washed-away humus, inject the seedlings with growth-forcing hormones, surround your plot with deer repellents and raise a uniform crop of trees, all identical. 

When the trees reach a certain prespecified height (not maturity; that takes too long) you send in a fleet of tree-harvesting machines and cut the fuckers down. All of them. 

Then burn the slash, and harrow, seed, fertilize all over again, round and round and round again, faster and faster, tighter and tighter until, like the fabled Malaysian Concentric Bird which flies in ever-smaller circles, you disappear up your own asshole.” 

― Edward Abbey

In 2010 Hannah Carpendale wrote "Losing Legacies In The Cut Block" in the Simon Fraser University student newspaper. The article chronicles the sad state of affairs in BC's forests at the time, and things have not improved since.

She states, "Logging of our ancient forests is a luxury that can’t be sustained. Companies are not committed to sustainable jobs or habitats — what they are committed to is short-term corporate profit, and our old-growth forests are the price we are involuntarily paying for that. 

The B.C. Liberal government is continuing to hand over logging rights to large-scale logging companies — basically, the right to convert our public land to tree farms, to devastate our ecosystems and deplete a crucial and unique resource. 

We have seen this happen so many times in history . . . the collapse of the Atlantic cod stocks to name just one instance. 

Will we stand around and watch it happen again?"

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.