This August, one month before the B.C. government shared an independent panel report calling for changes to old-growth forest management, I visited an awe-inspiring ancient forest in a cutblock proposed by BC Timber Sales in the Sunshine Coast’s Dakota Valley in Squamish Nation territory. Among the huge trees in this pocket of land stands a majestic yellow cedar about 1,500 years old. …Yet it will not be protected under the government’s new measures. Why? The new Special Tree regulation only protects trees of this species if they are wider (2.65 metres), and the Dakota Valley is not on the list of areas where logging has been deferred. This regulation was announced by the provincial government on Sept. 11 as part of its initial steps to protect old-growth forests. The independent panel’s report was released the same day.