Some past campaigners, staff and spokespeople for the Wilderness Committee

Paul George - 1980 to 2002. Paul George is a co-founder of the Wilderness Committee, supported by his friend Richard Krieger. In the early years the organization was run first out of a small office in Victoria BC, then out of Paul’s and wife Adriane Carr’s home in Vancouver. During much of the second half of the 1980s the organization went through rapid growth. Paul was the lead spokesperson and planner as the Wilderness Committee worked to protect such BC wilderness areas as South Moresby Island, Stein Valley, Valhalla Mountains, and Meares Island from proposed logging plans. From 1992 until 2001 Paul was a member of the Wilderness Committee's Executive Team. Paul left the organization to write the history of the Wilderness Committee, entitled Big Trees not Big Stumps.  

Adriane Carr - 1987 to 2000. Adriane Carr helped to found the Green Party of British Columbia and worked as its leader from 1983 to 1985. In the late 1990s, Adriane Carr brokered a landmark agreement amongst first nations groups, environmentalists and the MacMillan Bloedel corporation to resolve an extended conflict over logging in Clayoquot Sound. From 1992 until 2000, Adriane was a member of the Wilderness Committee's Executive Team. Adriane left the organization to head up the Green Party of BC and is currently Deputy Leader of the federal Green Party.

Ken Lay - 1984 to 1992. Smart, hard working and a passionate wilderness advocate, Ken’s first project was the building of a cable car crossing over the Stein River. He then headed up the Stein Valley trail project. Ken’s on the ground wilderness preservation work helped build an army of volunteers who carried out the work that enabled the Wilderness Committee to grow its reputation and membership base greatly. Ken went on to spearhead trail work on Meares Island and Carmanah Valley.

Derek Young - 1989 to 1991. Derek Young, a Victoria based consultant convinced the Wilderness Committee to open a branch office in Victoria in order to allow local volunteers to plug into the campaign to save the Carmanah Valley. Derek headed up the office and went on to organize Carmanah Valley preservation work and to head up work to save the lower Tsitika Valley from logging. Both campaigns, though difficult, were eventually successful. The Wilderness Committee office in Victoria continues to be a vital part of the organization to this day.

Dennis Kangasniemi - 1990 to 1992. Dennis joined the Victoria office and lead many of the field expeditions to the Carmanah Valley and lower Tsitika Valley. The Tsitika campaign was especially tough for those in the field, because feeling was running high between environmentalists (who were blockading) and loggers (who were trying to log the area). Even though the Wilderness Committee did not participate in the blockades, front-line campaigners like Dennis were often threatened by angry loggers. Both the Carmanah and lower Tsitika Valley are BC provincial parks today. 

Laurie Gourlay - 1990 to 1995. Laurie Gourlay, who had been active with the group Society for Pollution and Environmental Control (SPEC) joined the Wilderness Committee and opened a branch office in Nanaimo. The branch office was called the Mid-Island Branch, because it’s about half way up the east coast of Vancouver Island. Laurie and the Mid-Island Branch were a major help in the building of the Wilderness Committee’s Upper Carmanah Valley research station and in the campaign to preserve the lower Tsitika Valley. The Mid-Island Chapter, as it is called today, is volunteer-run and is located in the village of Qualicum Beach.

Randy Stoltmann - 1985 to 1992. Randy Stoltmann began with the Wilderness Committee, then eventualy became a director. Randy was a true wilderness visionary. Many of Randy’s wilderness preservation goals, became the goals of the Wilderness Committee. In 1987 the Wilderness Committee published Randy’s book Hiking Guide to the Big Trees of Southwestern British Columbia. In 1988 Randy alerted the Wilderness Committee to the impending logging of the Carmanah Valley, which Randy thought to be the location of the tallest trees in Canada – a hunch that turned out to be right! The Carmanah Valley became a focus of the Wilderness Committee’s campaigning. Randy left the organization in 1992. In 1994 Randy identified the Upper Elaho and Lillooet valleys as the largest remaining wilderness in the Lower Mainland, and the Wilderness Committee began campaigning for their protection. That year Randy was killed in a ski mountaineering accident. The Carmanah, Upper Elaho and Upper Lillooet valleys are all protected areas today.

Arne Hansen - 1987 to 1992. Arne Hansen's first project with the Wilderness Committee was to help produce an education report newspaper calling for a ban on uranium mining in BC. Eventually a ban was put in place. Arne went on to become a full time Wilderness Committee staff member. He was a key organizer of the Stein Valley Artists Project – and the larger Carmanah Valley Artists Project. Both these projects entailed artists travelling into the threatened wilderness areas, producing works of art, which were then auctioned off to raise funds and awareness in support of the Wilderness Committee’s education campaigns.
   
Clinton Webb – 1987 to 1992. Clinton's first project with the Wilderness Committee was to help produce a newspaper on the Pocket Wilderness areas of the Lower Mainland. Many of these are protected areas today (Flora-Greendrop Lakes, Pinecone Burke Park) Clinton functioned as the Wilderness Committee's forestry advisor and wilderness explorer. Clinton's research and explorations helpted to move the lower Tsitika Valley campaigne to success.

Joan Yardley – 1990 to 1993. Joan started a Wilderness Committee Branch office in BC’s Okanagan.

Mark Wareing – 1988 to 1994. Wilderness Committee staff forester. Worked to successfully end logging in Vancouver’s water supply valleys.

Allison Spriggs – 1992 to 1995. Allison ran the Wilderness Committee’s office in Victoria during this period. She was a key force behind getting Victoria’s Sea to Sea Greenbelt protected.

Kerry Dawson – 1995 to 1998. Kerry helped to build an army of volunteers during the toughest years the Wilderness Committee was involved in the campaign to save the Elaho Valley.

Anthony Marr  - 1995 to 1999. Anthony Marr ran Wilderness Committee campaigns to protect some of Earth’s most magnificent creatures. Under his guidance the Wilderness Committee sought to end the illegal hunting of bears in Canada and of tigers in India.

James Jamieson – 1995 to 2000. James worked with the Wilderness Committee to make the protection of the Elaho a reality. He manned the longest running legislative lawn protest in BC history. He camped for well over a month in Victoria in front of the legislative buildings calling for public meetings regarding protected areas in the Lower Mainland. 

Grey Jones – 1991 to 2001. Grey started the Wilderness Committee’s Edmonton office, which is still going today. Grey began the Wilderness Committee’s boreal forest campaign and spearheaded the Wilderness Committee’s successful campaign to end logging in Wood Buffalo National Park.

Ron Thieson – 1999 to 2007. Ron started up the Wilderness Committee’s  Winnipeg office. He headed up the Wilderness Committee’s campaign to end logging in Manitoba’s Provincial Parks and to protect the massive East Shore Wilderness Area.

Nik Cuff – 1987 to 2007. Nik Cuff came up the plan to print 20,000 Stein Valley posters, then distribute them free for the campaign to protect the Stein. He paid for the entire project. Nik then worked on various campaigns of the Wilderness Committee, including the Carmanah and Clayoquot campaigns. Nik invented and perfected the Wilderness Committee’s three-part mail in opinion cards. In the 2000’s Nik headed up the Wilderness Committee’s healthy community campaigns, including the campaign to save farmland in the Metro Vancouver area.  

Ken Wu – 1995 to 2009. Ken ran the Wilderness Committee office in Victoria. During this time he advocated for the protection of the Upper Walbran Valley and successfully ran the campaign to prevent the privatization of BC’s public forestlands. Ken spearheaded the Wilderness Committee’s campaign to end oldgrowth logging on Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland region of BC. 

Photo: 2004 Wilderness Committee planning retreat