Taryn Skalbania

March 25, 2022

This guy makes forestry facts and figures fun, while clearing up industry and government deception, another NERDY ABOUR NATURE brief video .

A few months back, the BC Government announced new data revealing that there are only 11.1 million hectares of oldgrowth forest remaining in BC, which is a tough figure to visualize and kind of sounds like a lot, right?! Yet when we break down the numbers of the type, size and quality of these varying forest ecosystems, we can easily see that it’s actually not that much compared to the rest of the forestland across the province…so I thought I’d clear it all up here! First off, the term ‘old growth’ here is defined by industry standards of 250yrs old on the coast and 140 yrs old in the interior, so it’s not exclusively primary forest that has never been logged. There are also varying types of old growth forest ranging from high-productivity to low-productivity forest types - LPOG tends to be short, scraggly old trees without a lot of market value or demand for being logged, whereas HPOG is the tall, rich, biodiverse forests made famous here in BC with quality wood that is still being logged right now. New docs from the government have tried to simplify these definitions into not at risk forest (LPOG) and at risk forest (HPOG). Of the remaining 11.1mh of oldgrowth left, only 3.5mh are currently protected, leaving 7.6mh unprotected. 3.6mh of that is considered to be not at risk forest, leaving 5mh of at risk forest, or just over 8% of all the forests in BC. Current deferrals only look at POTENTIALLY sparing 2.6mh of those 5mh for two years while the remaining 2.4mh continue to be logged. Of the highest productivity forest left in BC, much of which still remains unprotected, there is only 400,000 hectares left, or .8% of all the forestland in BC. For perspective, the Canadian government has committed to preserving 30% of biodiversity by 2030 as part of climate action agreements, yet even at this point in time we only have 8% of our healthiest forests remaining, which continue to be cut down as you read this. Many industry-backed organizations have jumped on this 11.1mh figure in an effort to mislead and confuse you in various posts and ad campaigns, but it’s important to remember that this figure is only one cherry picked piece of data, and when we look at the reality of the situation we’re in, we see a different picture than the one they’re trying to paint. So next time you see or hear of someone spouting this nonsense, feel free to drop the real numbers on them, because the sooner we can all acknowledge the reality of the state we’re in, then the more we’ll all be able to act to create a better future for us all, here in the real world. *sources can be found via my website

March 17, 2022

I find former Premier Harcourt's interview statements bewildering, does NDP alliance with industry take precedence over fact? He clearly has not been into the Peachland watershed recently? I used to hold him up as a ''good guy'' and told him as much in person at the UVIC Forest Summit he, Bob Peart and John Innes organized.

Has Harcourt become an apologist for industry too! Shame!

I think I will send him some photos of recent clear-cuts. Very strange comments. We only CLEARCUT , I think selection logging counts for less that 10% of trees harvested. Can someone confirm that %?

While Harcourt's claim that clear cutting died in the 90s is brutal, what is most disturbing is the silence of John Innes, he sat by as the former Dean of the Faculty of Forestry and stayed silent, the guy who taught clear cut loggers their art for 11 years (how to cut the most trees, in the shortest time using the least labour to get to the closest mill for the cheapest price and make the greatest profit) sat silent. Bewildering

Its all in the language:

Wildfire mitigation

Clear cuts with retention

Old Growth Management Areas

Wildlife Tree Retention Areas

Partial cuts,

Small block harvesting

A clear cut is a clear cut is a clear cut... even if government reps. and forestry publicists insist on using use industry jargon, fancy terms and other misleading lingo.

It is all clear-cut logging in disguise. View 7 minutes of video from Will Koop, BC Tap Water Alliance, documenting the clear cuts as they hammer our watershed year after year from 1984 until present day.

Content Type

Profiles

Forums

Gallery

Blogs

Events

Journalism: The over-exploitation of BC forests

Library: Destruction of wildlife habitat and loss of biodiversity

Journalism: Loss of forest-related employment

Journalism: The need to expedite final treaties with First Nations

Journalism: Loss of primary forest

Journalism: Loss of carbon sequestration capacity

Other notable forest-related writing and reports

Noteworthy writing and reports from the forest-industrial complex

Forest News

Library: The over-exploitation of BC forests

Library: Loss of primary forest

Library: Loss of the hydrological functions of forests

Make conservation of the hydrological function of forests a higher priority than timber extraction

Library: Loss of forest-related employment

Library: The need to expedite final treaties with First Nations

Transition from clearcut logging to selection logging

Library: Increase in forest fire hazard

Journalism: End public subsidization of BC's forest industry

Library: End public subsidization of BC's forest industry

Library: The need to reform BC forest legislation

Journalism: The need to reform BC forest legislation

Library: Creating a new vision for BC forests

Forest industry public subsidy calculator

Manufacturing and processing facilities

Forest Trends

Investigations

Community Forest Mapping Projects

Area-based calculations of carbon released from clearcut logging

Journalism: The increase in forest carbon emissions

Library: Increase in forest carbon emissions

To protect biodiversity, transition away from clearcut logging

Peachland Watershed Protection Alliance

Library: Loss of future employment resulting from exporting raw logs

Mapping old forest on Vancouver Island

Mapping old forest in Omineca Natural Resource Region

Mapping old forest in Skeena Natural Resource Region

Mapping old forest in Northeastern Natural Resource Region

Mapping old forest in Cariboo Natural Resource Region

Mapping old forest in South Coast Natural Resource Region

Mapping old forest in Thompson-Okanagan Natural Resource Region

Mapping old forest in Kootenay-Boundary Natural Resource Region

Forest Conservation Organizations

Mapping old forest on Haida Gwaii

Mapping old forest on the central coast

Library: Ecologically damaging practices

Journalism: Ecologically damaging practices

Critical Issues

Analysis

Comment

Listed species: Cascades Natural Resource District

Listed species: 100 Mile House Natural Resource District

Listed species: Campbell River Natural Resource District

Listed species: Cariboo-Chilcotin Natural Resource District

Listed species: Chilliwack River Natural Resource District

Listed species: Fort Nelson Natural Resource District

Listed species: Haida Gwaii Natural Resource District

Listed species: Mackenzie Natural Resource District

Listed species: Nadina Natural Resource District

Listed species: North Island Natural Resource District

Listed species: Peace Natural Resource District

Listed species: Prince George Natural Resource District

Listed species: Quesnel Natural Resource District

Listed species: Rocky Mountain Natural Resource District

Listed species: Sea-to-Sky Natural Resource District

Listed species: Selkirk Natural Resource District

Listed species: Skeena Natural Resource District

Listed species: South Island Natural Resource District

Listed species: Stuart-Nechako Natural Resource District

Listed species: Sunshine Coast Natural Resource District

Listed species: Thompson Rivers Natural Resource District

Listed species: Coast Mountains Natural Resource District

Action Group: Divestment from forest-removal companies

Fact-checking mindustry myths

First Nations Agreements