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Kwatleo Creek

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Kwatleo Creek on Northern Vancouver Island contains some of the most spectacular cedar forests remaining in British Columbia. The groves here are truly the best of the best of BC’s endangered old growth forest. This area is part of TFL 6 and is unprotected. This area has seen over 80 years of industrial logging, and it is truly remarkable that any of these grandest cedar groves remain intact. You can easily explore this area by following the road past Winter Harbor; these trees are immediately visible from the road a few kilometers before it dead ends at Grant Bay. This old growth forest stretches for over 100 ha. 

Weather conditions did not allow for a thorough exploration of this grove however in the short time we were there, and within minutes of entering the forest we found two cedar trees measuring 3.6 and 3.5 m in diameter. 

There are no logging approvals in this forest, however that could change any day. I will certainly be monitoring this area.

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Hightower Timber Sale (WA DNR)

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The Hightower Timber Sale in Grays Harbor County is a Legacy Forest up for logging in Capitol State Forest near Olympia Washington. The forest re-generated from logging in the early 1900s and is now around 100 years old. It, and all other legacy forests like it deserve protection, to get involved visit c4rf.org

As of November 2022, this timber sale hasn't been sold.

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McCannon Timber Sale (WA DNR)

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The McCannon Timber Sale in Lewis County is one of the oldest Legacy Forests up for logging on Washington State Department of Natural Resource Trust Lands. The forest re-generated from logging in the 1900s and is now over 100 years old. It contains old-growth trees marked for cutting. It and all other legacy forests like it deserve protection, to get involved visit c4rf.org

As of November 2022 this timber sale has not beed auctioned off.

 
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Baltimore Plot Timber Sale (WA DNR)

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The Baltimore Plot Timber Sale in Lewis County is a spectacular Legacy Forests up for logging on Washington State Department of Natural Resource Trust Lands. The forest re-generated from logging in the early 1900s and is now around 100 years old. It was probably one of the most spiritually vibrant second growth forests I've ever been in, with massive Douglas Fir stumps covered in gardens of ferns throughout the timber sale. This legacy forest deserves to be left alone to become an old-growth forest. 

In December 2022 this timber sale was sold to Hampton Tree Farms for $4,179,089.66

 

McGinnis Creek (CA) - FOR SALE

McGinnis Creek in the Mattole watershed of northern California contains over 150 acres of old growth Douglas Fir forest that are currently for sale by the owner. The properties, consisting of a total of 492 acres contain a substantial amount of old growth forest and have been/are listed for a total of $935,000, with one of the properties, containing 80 acres of old growth listed for only $280,000. 

If you have the money to buy these properties or know someone who does please contact me immediately.

 
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Cranberry Mountain (WA) - Weyerhaeuser

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These are images of the Cranberry Mountain legacy forest complex on private land. There are around 2000 acres of legacy forests on Cranberry Mountain in Lewis county Washington. These forests survived the initial wave of clear-cut logging of this area in the 80s and 90s due to a fire that destroyed much of the ecosystem in the 1890s. These forests which grow at the summit of cranberry mountain are now 130 years old and have never seen industrial logging. Weyerhaeuser, which owns millions of acres in Washington State has been steadily logging this complex of old growth legacy forests despite their commitment not to log old growth. By 2030 all of these forests will be gone.

BTG Pactual a Brazilian investment group also owns a substantial amount of these 130-year-old legacy forests just east of Cranberry Mountain in the Deschutes River watershed which flows into Capital Lake. It is unclear whether or not BTG Pactual will actually log these areas. However, they have already sold some of them to another smaller logging company which has clear-cut around 200 acres of these legacy forests. Cougar Mountain Grove was part of this Legacy Forest complex sold by BTG Pactual. 

 
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Quiver Timber Sale (WA DNR)

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The Quiver Timber Sale in Grays Harbor County is one of the oldest Legacy Forests up for logging on Washington State Department of Natural Resource Trust Lands. The forest re-generated from logging in the 1800s and is now around 140 years old. It, and all other legacy forests like it deserve protection, to get involved visit c4rf.org

As of October 2022 this timber sale has not been approved for auction.

 
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Brown's Corner Timber Sale (WA DNR)

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The Brown's Corner Timber Sale in Pacific County is a Legacy Forests up for logging on Washington State Department of Natural Resource Trust Lands. The forest re-generated from logging in the early 1900s and is now around 100 years old. It, and all other legacy forests like it deserve protection, to get involved visit c4rf.org

In November 2022 this timber sale was sold to Murphy Company for $461,025.93.

 
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Sprinter Timber Sale (WA DNR)

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The Sprinter Timber Sale in Thurston County is a Legacy Forests up for logging on Washington State Department of Natural Resource Trust Lands in Capital State Forest. The forest re-generated from logging in the early 1900s and is now around 100 years old. It, and all other legacy forests like it deserve protection, to get involved visit c4rf.org

In November 2022 this timber sale was sold to the Stella Jones Corporation for $2,333,582.67.

 
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Sure Wood Timber Sale (WA DNR)

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The Sure Wood Timber Sale in Mason County is a Legacy Forests up for logging on Washington State Department of Natural Resource Trust Lands in the Sherwood State Forest. The forest re-generated from logging in the early 1900s and is now around 100 years old. It, and all other legacy forests like it deserve protection, to get involved visit c4rf.org

This timber sale has not been approved for auction as of March 2023.

 
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Baby Brown Timber Sale (AK)

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The Baby Brown Timber Sale north of Haines Alaska in the Chilkat valley is made up of over 1000 acres of pristine old growth hemlock forest. The state of Alaska has been trying to auction off this section of forest for years, in 2020 they succeeded in selling the rights to log this area for a measly $400,000 to a timber company in Oregon. The timber company eventually backed out of the deal due to the areas remoteness however there is good reason to think that the state of Alaska will keep pushing to clear-cut this forest. The initial minimum bid on the Baby Brown timber sale was only about $150,000, the whole point of this timber sale is to just cut for the sake of cutting, The state of Alaska would literally be receiving $150 per acre of old growth cut. Not $150,000, $150.

As of October 2022 there has been no new news about this timber sale being put up for auction.

 
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Jupiter Access Timber Sale (WA DNR)

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The Jupiter Access Timber Sale is a Legacy Forest on State Trust Lands on the south eastern Olympic Peninsula on the border of the Olympic National Forest (Jefferson County). The timber sale is comprised of several cut blocks on the extremely steep slopes of Jupiter Mountain. This legacy forest is almost certainly spotted owl habitat yet the DNR sold this timber sale in late 2021 and the Murphy’s logging company is actively Road building there now.

As of October 2022 this area hasn’t been clear-cut.

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Tip Top Timber Sale (WA DNR)

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The Tip Top Timber Sale in the Tahuya state forest west block (Mason county) consisted of several massive clear cuts above Rendsland Creek and the community of Tahuya. Despite substantial public opposition by community members around Rendsland Creek and Mason County, including a petition that received over 2000 signatures, the area was sold to Murphy’s logging company and clear-cut in 2021.

 
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Chameleon Timber Sale (WA DNR)

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The Chameleon Timber Sale in capital state forest (Thurston county) was a legacy forest sold to the Murphy’s logging company in 2020, there was massive opposition to this timber sale which destroyed one of capital state forests few remaining legacy forests. Activist set up a tree sit in the unit before logging began, however the protest came to an abrupt halt when police set up a 24 seven perimeter around the tree where the tree sitter was sitting.

 The tree sitter came down after about a week and the forest was logged.

 
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Looper Creek #783307

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Cut block #783307 is a small patch of forest in one of the most intensively log sections of Looper Creek, a tributary to the Caycuse Valley. The cut block is at the headwaters of the creek and contains hundreds of monumental cedar trees. I explored this forest in the summer of 2022 and while I was there Wester Forest Product surveyors were in the cut block in preparation for logging.

In early November 2022, this cut block was logged.

 
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Bugaboo Creek #4733

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Bugaboo Creek cut block #4733 in TFL 46 contains some of the richest red and yellow cedar forest on the south island. In August 2022 I discovered a rare population of Oldgrowth Specklebelly Lichen in the cut block. Teal Jones and the Canadian government have come under great pressure to leave a 200m buffer around the lichen. Elder Bill Jones of the Pacheedaht First Nations has personally asked Canada‘s minister of environment and climate change to protect this population of Oldgrowth Specklebelly Lichen. He awaits a response. Bugaboo Creek is also home to at least 21 endangered Marbled Murrelet Sea birds who have been documented in the area by citizen scientists.

As of October 2022 the cut block has not been approved. 

Aerials of #4733 & Logging in #4732

 
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Klanawa Valley #871327

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Cut block #871327 is a mountaintop removal logging operation. Western Forest Products in partnership with the Huu-ay-aht Band Council received approval to destroy much of the last remaining old growth forests on this unnamed mountain in early 2022, by September much of the Logging had already taken place. We visited this forest in time to see a few of its gentle giants. Only a few weeks after we witnessed their majesty they were cut down.

 
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Klanawa Valley #764325

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As of November 2022 cut block #764325 in the Klanawa Valley has been approved. Western Forest Products has obtained approval to build a 5 km road along the Klanawa River to access this spectacular stand of rare and endangered valley bottom old growth red cedar forest, but work hasn’t started. This forest is listed as a deferral candidate under the old growth strategic review however, despite news coverage to the contrary the Huu-ay-aht Band Council did NOT accept deferrals on their territory. The band council excepted 96% of deferral areas, which sounds good until you realize that the 4% that they left out were the exact areas like this one that they intended to clear-cut in the near term. They received the PR victory while still being able to partner with Western Forest Products in clearcutting this area.

Valley bottom old growth logging is almost over, nearly all of the high-productivity valley bottoms have been destroyed and the fact that a forest such as this remains along a major river on southern Vancouver Island is something of a miracle. It deserves protection. While we explored this old growth forest we were surrounded by the sounds of helicopters dragging logs off of a nearby mountain and of trees crashing down in the distance, the same fate awaits this forest if no one intervenes.

 
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Loss Creek #449H

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These are images of the aptly named Loss Creek Cut block number #449H. I first visited this forest in the summer of 2021 and found it dense with old growth red cedar, my return trip in June 2022 found a perfect example of what the BC NDP calls “sustainable forestry.” This area was a deferral candidate under the old growth strategic review however it never received protection. There’s a reason for that. TFL 61, in which loss Creek is located is managed by The Questo Company, which is run by Jeff Jones and the Pacheedaht band council, the same people responsible for rejecting the (very limited and inadequate) deferrals offered by the BCNDP. 

Before Logging

 
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Caycuse (Hidden Valley)

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In 2019 the Teal Jones Group began a massive wave of clear-cut logging in the Caycuse valley which took down almost all of its iconic stands. The photographer TJ Watt documented the loss of some of the biggest trees in his famous before and after series. 

This forest is just across the mountain from where those before and after photographs were captured, it's a hidden side Valley in the upper Caycuse Valley and has the highest site index of any old growth forest south of Port Alberni. (Site index is a forestry term referring to the productivity of a section of old growth forest.) The site index of this forest is 26. This Hidden side valley, along with Looper Creek in the lower Caycuse, are the only sections of this valley that remain somewhat intact. Looper Creek is being actively logged and parts of this side valley are flagged for logging.