A longstanding partnership on Vancouver Island could serve as an example province wide. A First Nations collaboration with a logging company is being seen as a possible roadmap for a new forestry plan in BC.

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Mark Ruffalo might be green on the outside as the Incredible Hulk, but he seems to have some green inside of him as well. BC’s old growth forests have become a controversial topic in recent weeks, and a petition that was launched three months ago and has not yet reached its target, just got a superhero-sized push on Twitter that may help it meet its goal. The petition is looking for 75,000 signatures in hopes of putting a stop to BC’s logging of old growth forests. Ruffalo, a star in Marvel’s blockbuster Avengers franchise as the Hulk, took to social media to express his support for the cause.

A strong majority of British Columbians are concerned about the future of the province’s old-growth forests, a new survey has found. According to the survey by Sierra Club BC and Insights West, 78 per cent of respondents are concerned about logging of old-growth forests in B.C. and 74 per cent support doubling protection of provincial lands, while 66 per cent oppose using whole trees to make wood pellets. During last year’s provincial election, the BC NDP committed to act on an independent panel’s recommendations for managing the province’s old-growth forests. According to the survey, 85 per cent feel it is important that the BC NDP keeps its promises. Just 16 per cent of respondents said the BC NDP government has done a good job in keeping this election promise, while 40 per cent think it has done a bad job.

Protesters embedded in and around the the Fairy Creek watershed held their position at the Waterfall blockade on Wednesday, despite heavy police presence. Seven people were arrested after a confrontation in the morning between two Teal-Jones excavator operators, who police say have been helping remove physical obstacles. Approximately 25 protesters were at the blockade when the two workers arrived, and they surrounded the huge machinery. Police arrested seven people … then faced six people who had locked themselves into hard-blocks along the logging road. Protesters say one person was extracted by police because the concrete hadn’t set, but the remaining six remained for approximately four hours until police left. …in the mid-afternoon orders came from the command centre up the mountain to pack up and leave. …When an officer rolled up the police tape … the protesters swarmed the road celebrating and helping their friends out of the hard-blocks.

Port Renfrew, BC — After over a decade of documenting B.C.’s last remaining old-growth ecosystems, TJ Watt said he hadn’t come across anything quite like the grove of red cedars hidden in the upper reaches of the Caycuse watershed, near Port Renfrew. …When he returned later that year in 2020, only their stumps remained. The now clear-cut grove is located in Tree Farm License 46, which is held by forestry company Teal-Jones. …The anti-logging protests on southern Vancouver Island have been likened to the War in the Woods, when around 12,000 people participated in anti-logging blockades to prevent forestry company Macmillan Bloedel from clear-cutting in the Clayoquot Sound. …Despite continued RCMP enforcement, the Fairy Creek protests have shown no sign of slowing down. Last weekend, the Rainforest Flying Squad reported that over 2,000 people gathered within the watershed to support the anti-logging blockades.

For the past month, members of Wilp Git’luuhl’um’hetxwit, a house group of the Gitxsan Nation, have spent day and night watching over a gate that they installed [on a remove forestry road in northern BC] in early May. Its purpose is to control access to their Lax’yip, or territory, and ensure any logging that happens there is done with consent from the house group. The provincial government has told them to remove the heavy metal structure. “They call it an unauthorized gate,” Denzel Sutherland-Wilson says. On May 17, staff with the Ministry of Forests arrived with machinery to tear out the gate. Kolin Sutherland-Wilson, Denzel’s brother, turned them away. “It’s not just about logging, or any environmental issue. It’s a sovereignty issue,” Denzel says. “We’re not protesting. We’re just a house group, living on our territory. It’s the most natural thing.”

This massive spruce tree was cut down between March and August 2020 on Vancouver Island, according to B.C.’s Ministry of Forests. A spokesperson said it was moved, put in storage and was later sold. Last week, it was being transported to Port Alberni for processing. That’s when a woman named Lorna Beecroft saw the tree on the highway, took a picture and shared it on social media. Forestry is a huge industry in B.C. According to the province, exports in forestry contribute more than $11 billion to the economy. About 50,000 British Columbians, including 5,300 Indigenous people, work in the industry. The wood is used for high-end and specialty products such as fine furniture and musical instruments. This tree is going to be turned into guitar parts, specifically 3,000 soundboards at a company called Acoustic Woods Ltd.

Following extensive consultation with its citizens, Huu-ay-aht First Nations is pleased to announce the upcoming development of its Hišuk ma c̕awak Integrated Resource Management Plan (HIRMP). The HIRMP is a coordinated plan for forest and environmental management in the Nation’s entire ḥahuułi (traditional territory of the hereditary chiefs). It represents the present and future needs of the ecosystem and the Nation. Its namesake sacred principle, Hišuk ma c̕awak, acknowledges the many interconnected aspects considered and incorporated into the plan. “This has been a long time coming and is shaped by the input we heard from our citizens and Ḥaw̓iiḥ Council (hereditary leadership) that showed us there is a deep need for this work,” explains Tayii Ḥaw̓ił ƛiišin (Head Hereditary Chief Derek Peters).