Eye witness account of logging - Kaskish Valley and East Creek - Northern Vancouver Island : WC Mediawire

EAST CREEK ON NORTHERN VANCOUVER ISLAND BEING RAPIDLY ROADED BY WEYERHAUSER CONTRACTOR.

Interfor has extinsivly logged Kalskish in only five years.

A Western Canada Wilderness Committee JUly 19-20 expedition photographed the Kalskish Valley and the new road being built into the East Creek Valley.

Said Wilderness Committee campaign corrdiantor Joe Foy, "Though the forestry workers that we met were very courteous, the logging we saw in the Kaskish shocked us".

The Kaskish up until 1997 was one of a handful of unlogged valleys on Vancouver Island. Five years ago International Forest Products got the go-a head to log the Klaskish.

"When we saw how the Kaskish had been butchered it made us even more determined to see the logging road construction halted in the East Creek Valley," said Foy.

The Wilderness Committee expedition reports that the LeMare road building crew is working to extend the East Creek Road seven days a week from 7am untill 5pm. The road is now avout 1,000 feet above the East Creek Valley floor.

See photos below....

I am agreeing that the butchering of these old growth forests, and the wildlife habitat that is being destroyed in the process needs to be stopped! And though you say the loggers are being courteous they would be doing our future a greater courtesy if they would stop altogether. There is a lot of unnecessary logging going on and so you have my full support and encouragement in helping to protect the wildlife and the forests.
Thank-you for helping in fighting for these important rights and for putting a stop to it.

Thanks for continuing the fight and informing on the continued squandering of our biodiverse lifeforce. I would suggest you include a map in this photo documentation. Include the watershed boundary in question and relate that to surrounding areas, highlighting the industrial logging activity. Maybe a 1-20,000 or smaller scale. People need to see the larger picture and appreciate the degree of devastation on a regional as well as local level.
peace.

Thank you Joe and Ken for being such decent human beings and so devotedly working to save our island, province, infact planet. It breaks my heart to see these grandparents of the planet being murdered. It is beyond me that anyone could take a saw to a giant tree for any amount of money. I just recently returned from up island where I was kayaking and I saw a logger wearing a t-shirt that read" if you don't like logging try using plastic for toilet paper." Well anyone who is well travelled knows that most of the world does not consume toilet paper like we north Americans do; they use a bidet or cotton wash clothes. Far more sanitary, far more civilized .Supply & demand? Lets remodel our washrooms and save our forests.

The photo of that person standing next to that old growth tree
that wascut down touched my heart. The width of the tree compared to the person's size made it quite an old ancestor. I am a Native person from Ontario and I have met Native medicine people who talk with the spirits of trees. The Anishnawbe and other Native people believe that all things on earth have a spirit, including trees. The tree in your photo must have seen many passings and probably had much to share with the right person.
Meegwetch,
Ken Williams

It never ceases to amaze me how any society can protect a 200 year old building and use the term "historical significance" to describe it and then give permission in the same society for chainsaws to take down ancient forests that have living specimens of over 400-500 years old. What a backwards ethic. We worship in majestic cathedrals, rebuild them after wars, and without much opposition turn cathedral forests into 6 x 6 posts. I just keep shaking my head in bewilderment.

nature lover
by charles leduc • Friday March 12, 2004 at 05:24 PM
vancouver BC

Our provincial government is literally giving away our forests and jobs to American interests. At least if these logs were being used in local mills; but more and more are being shipped to the States at cheap rates (by American standards) to keep saw mills operating down there. If our logs were kept here, we could be creating more work in mills, and there would be less demand for raw logs, such as this old growth devastation. So such as it stands it is a lose-lose situation: we lose jobs to the US, and we lose our natural heritage for future generations. Only new government policy can change this state of affairs. A "working forest" is only working if it produces sustainable work, which old growth does not do (especially if it is processed abroad).

what,s the acerage and profit margins on this land,

Nice wood. Have any of you folks visted some of the Old Growth Management areas laid out by Govt and Industry to save Old Growth Area. How about Wildlife Habitat areas, laid out by Govt and Industry to save wildlife habitat. Or did you see the 12% area of that cutblock set aside as a Wildlife tree patch, to retain old growth characteristics. Do you know why Tuition fees have been able to be frozen in the past, do you know why you have a provincial health care system.

Sure the pictures look bad, I will agree, but really, do some research. Forest Companies do not have free reign over the landscape, they have a Environmental, Social and Economic system to live upto.

Will you ever be happy, look at what good has been done. Doomsdayers piss me off.

Doest the WCWC make it policy to remove comments that encourage education over ignorance. I posted coments last week and they seem to have disapeared. Is that the way WCWC works things. Keep their members in the dark and feed them Sh#*. Isnt that what Chairman Mao did to the Chinese people, in the early 1900's. My comments were not in any way disrespectful (I believe) or inflamatory (in my opinion) they just pointed out simple things that people may not know when they decide to comment on things. Post my comment so people can read and resaerch what I have to say. THey may not change their judgement, however they may when they become slightly more enlightened. Everyone is is allowed their opinion, right or wrong.

Mr. Steele has his comments posted and he works for a logging company. His comments were not inflamamtory but tthey were (in my mind) flippant.

well, we need the trees for many things..perhaps if they selectivly log? i do not know much about this issue, but i understand all of the negative impacts, but theres no way we can stop logging alltogether as someone suggested. this is how BC makes their money, and face the facts, it is beacuse of our consumerism that such things are occuring. if we werent so much into fast food for example, we'd save a sh*tload of paper, and therefore trees. i dont think that there really is an ideal solution to this, besides practicing less harmful logging techniques.

Your house is made of wood.
Do you wipe your ass?
Trees grow back!

That machine isnt a grapple yarder, its a super snorkle. East creek is nice, i work out there.

looks great .....nothing better than the smell of a good clearcut in the morning

Do you think we could put in a campsite on the roads for the hugging ones to enjoy the view.....maybe some grandstands above the setting for them to sit an watch the activity

Gee looks like a wonderful spot for a baseball field

My husband is a faller for LeMare and has worked East Creek. Who knows, maybe some of those areas in the pictures are his handiwork.

I've spent some time there myself, around the inlets and Brooks Peninsula, Mahatta River and up into Quatsino. It's too bad you focus on the cut blocks instead of the still-abundant forest that remains standing. In every picture, the tree line is visible, but the way it's described, one would think that there's not a tree left in the valleys.

In the pictures of the road building, it's clear that the right-of-way is cut as narrow as possible -- just enough to let the trucks through without taking any more trees than necessary. Yet you describe it as entire hillsides laid to waste for the benefit of the roads.

I look at these pictures with pride, admiration and loyalty to the men who are out there day after day breaking their backs so that the rest of you can have homes, furniture, hot tubs, sundecks, landscaping and countless paper products.

This is my back yard in these photos, my heart and soul. I love Vancouver Island, I love its logging community and I love what it affords us for a lifestyle. And yes, I do love those trees, because there are plenty more where they came from. Those of you who are concerned should make the effort to come and see them for yourselves before passing judgement through a handful of photos.

Mr.
by Charles Scaparo • Thursday December 15, 2005 at 02:35 PM
mrbuttins,1@juno.cim 209 Pullman st Herkimer, NY-13350

That was a very nice showing of the trees on your
site.
They are truly are huge.
Are they as large as the Red Woods ?

All I half to say is that should be no cutting for lumber
for any reason.
We can use any kind of materials, so let the God given
trees be left alone....
Sincerely,
Charles Scaparo........................12/15/05

That was a very nice showing of the trees on your
site.
They are truly are huge.
Are they as large as the Red Woods ?

I commend all the people out there that want to save the planet, but for heavens sake do your research before you spout off about "killing","destroying", or "gutting like a fish". Forest are about the only renewable RESOURCE other than water that we can count on growing back no matter how much we tamper with it.

Some of you speak of stopping logging altogether which makes you sound like un-educated morons because every one of you depend on the forest products in some way or another-most commonly the shelter that protects you while you find time to bitch and moan about logging. Most people live in wooden framed houses, write letters on paper to the gov't about stopping logging, use cardboard stapled to wooden slabs an organized protests, wipe your ass with BLEACHED toilet paper, and most ironicaly, use LOGGING ROADS to access these pristine valley you are so determined to save.

Get real and stop coming out with hair-brained ideas like using hemp instead. Any idiot knows that in order to grow hemp, one must strip the land of any NATIVE plant species and then introduce a monoculture of a foreign one over great expanses of land. How so is that saving the forests?? As for other countries being 'more civilized' and 'advanced' because they use cotton or rags or water to clean themselves after a visit to the lavatory (or pit,bushes-and other civilized toilet facilities), you are mistaken. I have travelled to these 'other' countries, namely Thailand and the reason they unsanitarily splash themselves with water after going to the bathroom is because toilet paper is expensive-not because they are more civilized.
I work in the forest industry and have attended over 6 years of University to learn about the functions of a forest right down to the molecular level. I value the wilderness that we as Canadians are blessed with and spend most of my free time relishing in its benefits. I too hate seeing wasted forest and take the appropriate measures to combat such waste such as holding the Professional Forester of the forest Tenure accountable for his/her decisions on land use.
I dont agree with one harvesting method for all ecosystems because in BC alone, there are 14 different ones that all respond differently to different treatments. While clearcutting a Coastal Douglas Fir site is appropriate, I dont beleive it is for a Ponderosa Pine/Bunchgrass site - AND NEITHER DO THE PROFESSIONAL FORESTERS IN CHARGE OF THOSE LANDS!
You may not have looked at a satellite photo as of late but do so and compare BC/Canada for clearcuts with that of the US (oregon and washington to base an accurate comparison). Luckily the forests of BC are publicly owned and as such, forest harvesting is heavily regulated, scrutinized and managed for the best interest of the people of BC's Future. Over 13% of 95 million hectares is already protected as Parkland - thats over 12 million hectares!
I thank the environmentalists for keeping the balance against money hungry industrialist, but if the environmentalist wants to be respected by the educated public, they should educate themselves about the topic they wish to defend.
Stop preaching about things that you have little understanding of but high dependency on.

I just finished writing a blurb in here targeting all the tree-hugger types encouraging them to educate themselves. I had only read the first three or four comments before I felt the urge to do this.

After scrolling down I was glad to see other balanced individuals were writing in.....Especially the loggers wife.

As for the complete and utter fools who make statements such as Mr. Scapero from NY:

"All I half to say is that should be no cutting for lumber
for any reason.
We can use any kind of materials, so let the God given
trees be left alone..."

GET REAL!!!!! Steel, plastic, foam and most other synthetic materials are produced from NON-RENEWABLE resources and use heaps of energy to do so all the while pumping pollution into our air. Has the bad air already gotten to you lad? I get peeved at these comments at first and then I remember Darwin's Theory and laugh because god knows Mr. Scapero is going to end up as a hood ornement or something if his brain is firing in that order.

Keep on logging cause i need a roof, stairs, toilet paper, picture frames, tv stands, dressers, foot stools, chairs, pencils, and books to keep educating myself about the world around me.

I just finished writing a blurb in here targeting all the tree-hugger types encouraging them to educate themselves. I had only read the first three or four comments before I felt the urge to do this.

After scrolling down I was glad to see other balanced individuals were writing in.....Especially the loggers wife.

As for the complete and utter fools who make statements such as Mr. Scapero from NY:

"All I half to say is that should be no cutting for lumber
for any reason.
We can use any kind of materials, so let the God given
trees be left alone..."

Keep on logging cause i need a roof, stairs, toilet paper, picture frames, tv stands, dressers, foot stools, chairs, pencils, and books to keep educating myself about the world around me.

there is nothing sweeter than waking up early in the morning to strap on your boots to go fall a tree or blast a few hundred meters of road into a mountain side. loggers make good money mabye you should give it a try then maybe you could afford toilet paper to wipe your ass with instead of using pine cones!!!

Logging is an essential part of our resource-based economy in British Columbia, however this does not mean that we need to rape the few remaining old growth valleys on Vancouver Island.

An effective solution would be a phased in ban on old growth logging, and a strong focus on high yield second-third-fourth growth forestlands. By concentrating activity on already harvested areas we can achieve a truly renewable and sustainable forest industry in British Columbia's coastal forestlands.

It seems to me that everyone who opposes the logging of the North Island is content to live in Victoria, a large city that is basicly devoid of trees, and resource based economy. I would suggest living here before passing judgement. It is easy to look at a tree cut down and feel the outrage, but what about the space where your apartment in Victoria is, I'm sure there was once a tree there too. No one is to judge a man before walking a day in his shoes.

I felt like I just needed to chime in on this topic. I am an outdoor educator from California and I live in the redwoods (in second growth). I am constantly trying to educate myself on logging practices and real alternatives to what is currently going on. The fact is that every last dime is being squeezed out of our forests for immediate profit rather than for long term yield. We need to switch back to the forestry practices of 70 years ago where forests were really managed, trees were only cut when they were mature, the basic mix of trees in a location were kept in balance, the canopy was carefully kept intact and most importantly the topsoil was maintained. Interspersed with carefully maintained, managed forest is untouched forest which allows for species that have very little tolerance for disturbance. Clear cutting and tree farming is not sustainable!!! I know that in the USA 95% of all of the original old growth forest has been cut. If the current forestry practices are truly sustainable then why do we need to go after the last 5%? The answer is that forests cannot be replanted with comparable results to old growth. Just look at the books of publicly traded lumber companies. Lumber companies have gone from using saw logs to using new technologies to make usable products from wood chips and pulp, the quality and quantity of wood from 3rd and 4th generation forests is poor and getting worse. Cutting down more of our last remaining forests is not a good way to stimulate the economy. People used to buy gorilla hands for ash trays, women wore baby seal furs, lamp oil was made from the blubber of whales and before the automobile there was a thriving buggy whip industry, but times change and economic and social alternatives have been created. We need to stop clear cutting and unsustainable logging now or our land will look like other well known deforested regions of our world like Lebanon, Iran, Greece, Spain........

I was reading through the comments posted here and had to add one of my own. There seems to be two sides to the comments. One being the people who live no where near any of the logging which is going on and want it stopped. The other being from loggers who support there families while doing a hard dangerous job. My dad has been driving logging truck for many years and some of my best memories are of going to work with him as a child and I can assure you I never seen anything wrong with it than nor do I now. So the next time all of you who are opposed to logging have the great idea to slam these hard working people take a look around and think how your life would be if no on cut down trees. No lumber for your houses, and defiantely no 2-ply for your prissy little asses