Meares Island has a amazing groves of very big, very old trees. Make sure the next time you are in Tofino, BC you inquire about taking a short water taxi ride over to the hiking trail, or going on a guided tour. In 1984 the Tla-o-qui-aht and their neighbours, the Ahousat, declared Meares Island a tribal park and off-limits to commercial logging.
Huge Sitka spruce tree along the Clayoquot Valley Witness Trail. This ancient forest is truly a world wonder!
This is the biggest redcedar tree seen along the hiking trail route. However, there may be even larger redcedar trees in this rainforest, just out of sight of the trail, waiting to be discovered by you...
In August of 1994 the Wildenress Committee and the Ahousat First Nation undertook an expedition to the Ursus Valley in Clayoquot Sound to document the forests, fish and wildlife there. The Ursus is in Ahousat First Nation territory and was being targetted by MacMillan Bloedel for logging. The valley is one of the pristine valleys of Clayoquot Sound, and remains unlogged to this day.
Wilderness Committee/Ahousat photo expedition team in the upper Ursus Valley.
In the spring of 1995 the a team from the Wilderness Committee and the Ahousat First Nations conducted a photo expedition to Cecilia Lake, Easter Lake and Young Bay in Ahousat First Nations territory, Clayoquot Sound. This massive redcedar was found near Cecilia Lake.
July, 2008. This oldgrowth redcedar towers up near the bank of the Kennedy River, in Clayoquot Sound. It is a short hike from Highway 4 to see it. The redcedar is inside the recently designated Ha'uukmin Tibal Park - a 500 square km tribal park in Tla-o-qui-aht Territory, that encompasses the entire Kennedy Lake watershed, including the pristine upper Kennedy and Clayoquot Valleys.
On southwest Vancouver Island grows the Red Creek Fir - the world's largest Douglas fir tree! The Wilderness Committee will son be clearing out the brushed in trail to this tree and provide directions so you can go see it one day. We are calling on the provincial government to pass legistaltion designating trees like this as heritage trees, with strong protection against cutting them down. We are also calling for an end to all oldgrowth logging on Vancouver Island and the southwest BC mainland coastal area.
The most spectacular and diverse stands of ancient trees in Canada grow in the 13,000 hectare Walbran Valley, just a three hour drive from Victoria. The Walbran is located south of the Carmanah Valley, adjacent to the West Coast Trail. The 7500 hectare Upper Walbran Valley is unprotected, while the Lower Walbran Valley and part of the West Walbran Valley lies within the Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park. The Walbran contains perhaps the most geographically extensive stand of cathedral-like ancient redcedars, the Castle Grove – currently unprotected. Incredible stands of giant Sitka spruce fortunately lie within the protected part of the West Walbran Valley. Sprinkled throughout the valley like a rare spice are the occasional giant ancient Douglas firs. Logging by Teal Jones and Western Forest Products are heavily fragmenting the valley right now.
Cathedral Grove is the location of one of Canada’s most internationally famous and beloved oldgrowth parks. The protective ancient forest canopy on the steep slope above the park, is falling to Island Timberlands’ saws, as the off-shore company’s logging of the world-famous ancient giants continues without community consultation.
Coming from Germany on a Biology Internship, I spent three months in the Wilderness Committee office mapping critical habitat for the endangered seabird, the Marbled Murrelet. My work involved data and statistical analysis, quantifying habitat variables, assessing habitat quality and conducting road density calculations. I also spent some great time in the wilderness doing research.
