On Sept. 18 the B.C. government approved Teal Jones’s proposed logging permit for the Walbran Valley and no one is talking about it. Vancouver Island has less than 10 per cent of its original low elevation old-growth rainforest left, and the province has just allowed a company to log it.
Just north of Port Renfrew is the Walbran Valley. Part of this valley is in the protected area of Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park, only thanks to a blockade of Teal Jones logging trucks in 1993’s “war in the woods”, which also included the Clayquot Sound protests.
Aside from the fact that we’re allowing a company that specializes in global export to log and export a resource that could be used in British Columbia, if not on Vancouver Island, we are also allowing them to log an invaluable resource. The Walbran Valley is irreplaceable, as a cultural resource, a recreational resource, and as habitat for multiple endangered species.
The Walbran Valley’s value more than surpasses the value of any red cedar contained within it.
Why is this province and the Island unable to preserve the remaining beautiful old-growth forests we have left? Residents of this province have the responsibility to be good stewards of the resources we have, and I truly believe we will have failed to be good stewards of our resources if we allow the province, Ministry of Forests, Ministry of Environment, and Teal Jones to go ahead with this logging operation.
We should not forget that preserving old-growth forests is not for our own benefit but for the benefit of future generations, including our children and grandchildren. We should be writing letters to our premier, our MLA representative, the South Island Natural Resource District manager, and all other parties involved, to help preserve the Walbran Valley. I hope residents of the Cowichan Valley want to know what is going on in their own backyard, and be willing to do something about it.
Monica Dockerty
Duncan