McLaughlin Ridge Old Growth

McLaughlin Ridge, which contains a small part of the 1% of the CDF old growth remaining, is being logged
photo: AFA, TJ Watt

Not far from Port Alberni and the much visited and loved-to-death Cathedral Grove, lies a 500 hectare remnant of the once mighty Vancouver Island Coastal Douglas-fir ancient forest. While visitors to MacMillan Provincial Park, (of which Cathedral Grove is a part) enjoy one of the tallest, fattest, and oldest groves of trees on earth, Island Timberlands is logging a forest just like it on nearby McLaughlin Ridge.

Location of McLaughlin Ridge (Cathedral Grove is along hiway 4 at the west end of Cameron Lake), from AFA website

When there is only 1% of the original Coastal Douglas-fir forest left untouched by industrial activity, continued destruction of this ecologically diverse ecosystem may be legal, but it definitely is not moral, or an intelligent use of the land.

This is what remains of 100 hectares of the McLaughlin Ridge old growth forest, photo: AFA, TJ Watt

Biologists classified this forest, which is on private lands, as critical habitat to several species such as wintering deer and nesting goshawks. It is also critical habitat for big trees, which are endangered here. 400 foot plus Douglas-fir, which once were common in the ancient forest, are probably already extinct.

Big Douglas-fir in the ridge old growth forest, 23.5ft in circumference, 7.5ft in diameter, photo: AFA, TJ Watt

The government tells us that Cathedral Grove park "protects and preserves an internationally significant representative example of Douglas fir old-growth forest within the East Vancouver Island and the Coastal Douglas fir Biogeoclimatic Zone."

The park is established as Class "A", Category 2, Schedule A, and "is dedicated to the preservation of its particular natural environment for the inspiration, use and enjoyment of the public".

Here, the propaganda tells us, one "can stroll through a network of trails under the shadow of towering ancient Douglas-fir trees, majestic pillars untouched by the modern world – some more than 800 years old".

Or you could drive a bit further to McLaughlin Ridge, and see a similar forest being converted into a scarred and torn wasteland.

Conservationists are calling on the provincial government to purchase the land that this old growth forest covers. After clear cut logging 100 hectares of old growth, 400 hectares remains on McLaughlin Ridge. To liquidate it, and everything else that depends on it, is delusional folly at best.

These trees do not belong to Island Timberlands, or to the pro-business government. These trees, and all old growth forests belong to the earth, and all its citizens.

We can stop the destruction by saying NO to continued old growth exploitation on McLaughlin Ridge, and everywhere else it still exists.



See the Ancient Forest Alliance website for more information, and to see beautiful (and disturbing) TJ Watt photos of the McLaughlin Ridge ancient forest.

Community Concern Saves Oakland's St. Albans Sequoia

View St. Albans Sequoia To Be Saved in a larger map

Whether we are in the back country, or in urban areas, there is rarely good news when it comes to saving significant trees in British Columbia. Here, in Canada's most treed province, the value of our woody wonders has perhaps been diluted by the sheer volume of them.

Occasionally though, dentritic defenders win a battle, if not the war. Such is the case of the St. Albans Giant sequoia in the Victoria neighbourhood of Oaklands. It has been under threat since the property on which it grows was sold to developers.

Giant sequoia have a very long association with Victoria, even though the huge trees are native to California. That the trees exist here shows early Victoria's connection to the American state.

Some of the trees were brought as saplings by Californians moving north, and sequoia seeds were advertised in Victoria as early as 1860. Local nurseries also raised sequoias for sale locally. Many must have been planted by displaced Californians that missed their unique state tree.

Today, Victoria's Giant sequoias have become landmarks, and their conical tops tower above everything around them. The tallest sequoia, which may be the tallest tree in Victoria, is 52 meters (170 ft) tall. But let's get back to the sequoia on the St. Albans property.

Earlier this summer, Cindy, an Oaklands resident, contacted me to see if I might be able to offer some suggestions for saving several Garry oaks, and one sequoia. I responded with some ideas, and waited to hear of the fate of this landmark tree.

Recently I received a follow up email from Cindy. In it she says:

"Many people came out to the Community Association Land Use forum to speak out in favour of protecting the Sequoia tree. This resulted in these wishes being considered in the report drafted for recommendations associated with the approval of variance application being put forth by the developer. 

Over a month has passed and this morning, the application went before the Planning and Land Use Standing Committee.  I have good news!!  The committee approved staff recommendations that a restrictive covenant be registered on the Sequoia prior to a public hearing that will also take place! 

 In case you are interested, here is the report that the Committee considered, and upon which made its decision:

Planning and Land Use Standing Committee Report

Thank-you again for taking the time to help provide us with guidance.  This helped contribute to what looks like a happy ending!"

Loggers long ago removed the largest Western red-cedar and Douglas-fir from the Victoria area. With the native big tree competition gone, the biggest trees in town are Giant sequoias. All the old, huge sequoias have heritage value and deserve to be protected.

Congratulations to Cindy and the Oaklands neighbourhood for taking action on behalf of their neighbourhood giant, and saving it from becoming yet another victim of the relentless development that has been taking place here since the 1850s.

I am happy to have been a small part of the effort to successfully save what is probably the neighbourhood's oldest planted tree.

Are you trying to save a significant Vancouver Island big tree? Let us know in a comment, or contact us (see info on side bar). We are happy to help in any way we can.

50% of World's Forests Logged

With 50% of the world's forests already affected by logging, it is important that we take responsibility for caring for what is left. There are things that each of us can do to help save our forests.

Saving for all the other living things that depend on it, for future generations of humans to use and enjoy, and for the simple fact that forests as 'super-organisms' have the right to exist unimpeded by greed and mismanagement.

Each of us can do things to help save the world's forests:

• be conscious of how we are using paper and other wood products - don't waste, recycle
• buy wood products to last - a good wood cutting board could last generations if cared for properly
• only buy certified wood products
• refuse to use single use paper products
• go paperless - printers cost a lot to maintain. We got rid of ours, and if we really need to print something out we go to the public library.
• if you own a forest, practice good stewardship - you are only borrowing it from future generations
• lobby politicians for an end to old growth logging - some countries have already put a moratorium on old growth logging, such as Japan and New Zealand.
• consider alternatives to wood as a building material - steel, concrete, straw bale...
• get out and visit big trees and old growth areas - let people know you value these special places

Refugee Trees

Sooke Harbour Douglas-fir in middle of photo, with Sitka spruce lining the beach to the right 

Wherever I go my gaze is automatically drawn to the landscape, especially the trees. Big trees poke out like beacons from the past. They whisper to me of an ancient forest of which they were once a part. Today, many of these trees stand alone.

This old Douglas-fir may be the largest tree on Sooke's Whiffin Spit, and is one of the largest in town

One such tree lives at the west end of Sooke Harbour on Whiffin Spit in Sooke, BC. It is another one of those refugees that dot the land, standing alone surrounded by younger trees and in this case, residential development.

Standing at 30 meters (98 ft) plus, this ancient entity has been here longer than the Europeans who have exploited the original forest to near-extinction.

Sooke is an excellent place to fill your tree spotting life list as it sits in a transitional zone between Vancouver Island's two major ecosystems. To the east and up the inside coast is the dry Coastal Douglas-fir ecozone, and to the west and north is the wetter Western Hemlock ecozone. It is a big tree spotting paradise.

Logging In Walbran Valley May Threaten Champion Red Cedar

The Castle Giant (5 meter diameter, and registered Champion), is a Western red-cedar in the unprotected
Upper Walbran Valley, that may be threatened by logging. photo: T.J. Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance

The wilderness of Vancouver Island is an unusual landscape where industrial clear cuts boarder shrinking areas of pristine old growth.

On one side, the sounds of chain saws, helicopters, and monster trucks carrying now-inert ancient trees; and on the other, mist floating through a 10,000 years old ecosystem, wetting the rain coast undergrowth. Pileated woodpeckers call from the fluted trunks of massive thousand year old cedars.

I have not visited the big trees of Vancouver Island's back country as much as I would like this past summer. Considering that, I appreciate the work of the people who are out 'in the bush', navigating dusty washboard gravel roads shared with loaded logging trucks, to visit the old growth and report back to the rest of us.

The adventurous forests defenders of Victoria-based Ancient Forest Alliance are examples of individuals that are acting as our eyes in endangered old growth rain forest areas. They drive to rough and rugged foggy places where few dare to tread (although more all the time), and often the information they bring back is vital and disturbing.

One of their most recent field trips was no different.

"Members of the Ancient Forest Alliance found the tape in the Upper Walbran Valley, near Castle Grove, which contains the Castle Giant, a western red cedar with a five-metre diameter. The tree is listed in the provincial big tree registry as one of the widest in Canada.

“Castle Grove is ground zero for the ancient forest movement on southern Vancouver Island, both historically and today,” said Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director. “To try and log it is insanity — it will only escalate the war in the woods to a whole new level,” he said.

The logging tape, marked “falling boundary,” is less than 50 metres from the Castle Giant, said Alliance campaigner TJ Watt who discovered the tape." - read more here

It seems that no one in government, or the company that operates in the area (Teal Jones Group of Surrey), knows anything about logging activity in the area in question. Or at least they aren't willing to speak to why the area has been flagged for falling.

The Teal Jones Group is a private logging company whose website states that the organization "recognizes that only through respect for all aspects of our environment can we consistently achieve our objectives and commitments in the long term productivity and conservation of natural resources."

However, cutting trees up to 1000 years plus does not show respect. And then planting a few seedlings doesn't cut it, unless they are planning on letting the seedlings grow for the next several hundred to 1000 years before they harvest again.

How about even 250 years? This is about the time required for the coastal forest to mellow into the next old growth phase, and attain a level of biomass not seen in any other ecosystem.

No, the next harvest here, in order for logging companies like Teal Jones to 'achieve their objectives' of increasing profits, will be in 60 to 80 years.

Once it is logged, the old growth forest and all the diversity that goes with it is gone forever. That is why it is so important to save what is left, including the Upper Walbran Valley's Castle Grove and champion trees like the Castle Giant.

Say NO to old growth logging.

Gulf View Picnic Ground

If you happen to be in North Saanich visiting the big trees of John Dean Park, you might consider adding a stop at the nearby Gulf View Picnic Ground. This accessible 2.5 acre park has been hosting the public since 1936 after a successful public campaign to preserve land and viewscapes for public use and recreation.

This space is also known as National Gravity Net Station #9041-1979, which is marked by a small benchmark disk on site (N 48° 37.042 W 123° 24.980). Gravity Net Stations "contain information pertaining to gravity standardization networks in Canada and abroad, gravity mapping in Canada, instrumental parameters, digital terrain and crustal motion." Wow - watch for gravity anomalies!

Little bench, big tree

The view is the best thing here as there are not any monster trees left in this location. However, by most people's standards, the Douglas-fir trees that are here are nothing to shake a stick at.

Spectacular Gulf view

As the name implies, this small picnic ground has great views to Bazan Bay, the southern Gulf Islands, the San Juan Islands and Mount Baker. Here you are looking at a unique ecozone that produced some of the biggest trees on the planet.

Along the east coast of Vancouver Island is prime coastal Douglas-fir territory. John Dean Park, a short drive up Mt. Newton from the picnic ground, is a good example of a mature Douglas-fir forest.

The climate in this small, narrow ecozone is the driest on the island, and creates perfect conditions for Douglas-fir, Grand fir, Arbutus, and Garry oak to thrive.

Nice trees and a nice view

Gulf View Picnic Ground is a great place for a stop before or after a John Dean Park hike through the giant trees. Take a load off, have bite to eat, or just sit or lay around and enjoy this beautiful public space.

Getting There

The picnic ground is east off of East Saanich Road in North Saanich. It is near the intersection of E. Saanich Road and Dean Park Road (the access to John Dean Prov. Park). Park is open during daylight hours.

John Dean Park: Saanich's Largest Old Growth Forest

The parking lot is in the heart of John Dean Park, and trees hundreds of years old tower overhead

John Dean Provincial Park, north of Victoria, is a special place. The area has been known as a sanctuary for the original peoples since time immemorial. Visiting this out of the way, quiet ancient forest will reveal why. Here you can stroll through the lands of the Pauquachin 1st Nation, and be surrounded by wrinkled, grey-barked trees in a forest that drips with ghostly antiquity.

Big trees everywhere!

In more recent times, a European settler also found sanctuary in the groves on Mount Newton. The park is named after the man whose land gift started the park, it was the first donation of its kind in British Columbia. John Dean was against the rapid development of the Victoria area during his day, and actively opposed what he saw as the destruction of the area's natural beauty. He saw his donation as a way to preserve a bit of what was left.

A Western hemlock growing on a previously logged Western red-cedar stump is a common association
- downed logs and stumps provide nutrients for the forest's next generation of trees

Recognizing a good idea when they saw it, four other neighbours (and the province), chipped in with land donations of their own, increasing the size of the park from Dean's original 32 hectares in 1921, to 173 hectares by 1960. It is the largest tract of mature Douglas-fir forest left on the Saanich Peninsula.

Culturally modified trees remind visitors that 1st Nations continue to use the forest as they have
for thousands of years

Along with Douglas-fir that are so huge that they are free of branches for the first 30 meters up their fat trunks, there are also large Western red-cedar, Grand fir, Hemlock, and Garry oak in exposed rocky outcrops. The largest trees are 70 meters (210 ft) tall and 3 meters (9 ft) wide, and in some places are densely packed throughout the shady forest.

Some of the big trees are very accessible, others have restricted access to protect them and their fragile surroundings

There are a variety of trails throughout the park's 400 plus acres. The largest trees can be found via the Valley Mist Trail, or Illahie Loop. A steeper trail descends to the right of the park map sign leading to a T-junction. Turn left for the Illahie Loop, and right to hike to a beautiful lily pond and beyond. Some of the park's biggest trees are scattered about the forest in this area.

This lily pond, a short hike from the parking lot, is a great place to sit and contemplate the dragonflies hunting over the water

John Dean Park provides a sanctuary from the hustle of modern life, as well as from the heat on a scorching August day. The park with its many well-marked trails, mature forest, and abundant wildlife, make it a worthy destination for a day of exploration and revitalization. Here you can visit some of the largest Douglas-fir trees on southern Vancouver Island.

Directions To John Dean Park

John Dean Provincial Park is located near Sidney on southern Vancouver Island. The park can be accessed off Hwy #17. Turn west onto McTavish Road, south onto East Saanich Road, then west onto Dean Park Road. Follow Dean Park Road until you reach the park.

Note: The access road into the park is closed between November and March.

A park Western red-cedar - tree of life

Why We Can't Save Our Last Old Growth

Logging? What logging?

It may be cynical, but I often wonder if anyone is actually paying attention to what is happening globally to our original forests, the likes of which we may never see again.

It is a fact that life is complicated, with many distractions. But let us look at the facts of what we are losing while being consumed by all our trivial things.

• Vancouver Island has lost over 75% of its productive old growth forests, including 90% of the valley bottoms where the biggest trees and richest biodiversity are found.
• continued old growth logging below 30% of intact forests creates a high probability of massive species loss 
• 99% of the old growth coastal Douglas-fir forest on Vancouver Island has been logged already 
• some of the biggest, tallest, and oldest trees on earth are still being logged in British Columbia

Governments and multinational logging companies are planning on taking 100% of our original forests. If we don't wake up and stop them, who will?

We Need To Harvest Trees

When a tree is milled every part of it is used except the smell

There is a saying that when a tree is milled that every part of it is used except the smell. That is good to know, because our trees are a necessary resource, and we should be making the most of every single one. But what good is the efficiency in the mills if our forests are being completely wasted at the same time?

Tree cutting is something that every tree-loving human must come to grips with. We need to harvest trees. Some scientists believe that civilization would have been impossible without the thousands of things produced with trees' wood, leaves, bark and roots. Trees are also a major source of energy around the world. Many homes on Vancouver Island are heated with wood stoves.

We need to harvest trees.

However, we do NOT need to harvest old growth trees, except in some circumstances where the unique properties of old wood are required, such as in instrument making. Careful selective old growth logging, that takes individual trees from forests in a sustainable way, would ensure this resource is around for future luthiers.

The wholesale clear cutting of original forests, wherever they are, is a very unwise practice. This is what is occurring in British Columbia, as has been the case for the past 150 years. It is not sustainable. When forests are cut on a 60 -80 year cycle, they never again reach the rich old age of old growth, which is at least 250 years old.

It is probable that industrial-scale logging of old growth, even that deemed sustainable, actually is not. Even the so-called 'sustainable forest management' practices can not sustain natural ecosystems. When you take the high value timber, you take the rest of the forest with it, and the ecosystem is damaged beyond repair.

BC's last remaining old growth should be made off-limits to logging immediately. Only 1% of the Coastal Douglas-fir forest on Vancouver Island remains in its original unlogged state. Even that small bit of forest is being hacked away at in a rush for the last of the big ones.

We need to harvest trees, but we do not need to harvest our last little bits of old growth. Unfortunately, our elected officials do not agree, and are in the process of selling off the last of the big trees until they are gone, and the ecological integrity of the primeval forest has been lost forever.

Then what?

Metchosin's Largest Tree

Is this Metchosin's largest tree? Photo: Utopia Photo-Blog

Some say that this magnificent specimen is "Metchosin's largest tree". The old-growth Douglas-fir measures 8.69 metres (28.5ft) in circumference, and 2.74 meters (9ft) in diameter. It grows on a hillside near Matheson Lake, east of Sooke.


Matheson Lake Park has several large, scattered, old growth trees that escaped the ecocide that took their contemporaries.