Shortly before the holidays we wrote you to let you know about plans that threaten the old-growth forests of Flores Island in the heart of Clayoquot Sound. 

Hundreds of you responded by writing letters calling for this sacred place to be protected. Thank you for taking action! 

Now a rare opportunity for official public input regarding Clayoquot Sound clear-cut logging plans has been announced by the BC government and we need you to take action once again. 

The public comment period lasts from January 10 until February 18, 2011. Specifically, the public input process is focused on an oceanic “helicopter drop zones”, where old-growth trees are dropped by helicopter into fragile near-shore waters for sorting and barging to sawmills. Regardless of the specificity of the public input, all your comments about logging in Clayoquot Sound will be recorded and form part of the permanent public record. So just do it; use this once in a blue moon opportunity to tell the BC government how strongly you feel about protecting the rare old-growth forests of Clayoquot Sound.

For over a decade the pristine and globally rare ancient forests of Clayoquot Sound have not faced the threat of the chainsaw, thanks to a written agreement between the principal logging company operating in Clayoquot Sound, Iisaak Forest Resources, and a number of environmental groups, including the Wilderness Committee. The agreement, known as the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), states that the unlogged watersheds of Clayoquot Sound are off limits to logging.

But we have recently learned that Iisaak is planning to break the MOU agreement by proposing 86 clear-cuts on Flores Island, 73 of which are in pristine old-growth areas right in the heart of Clayoquot Sound.

Submit your input here and we will copy your letter to the Minister of Natural Resource Operations, Steve Thomson. Let them know how strongly you feel that no helicopter oceanic drop zones should be issued for the waters adjacent to Flores Island, and that no road or cut permits should be issued on Flores Island nor in any other intact areas in Clayoquot Sound's rare, ancient temperate rainforest.

Together we can save this special place

Andy Miller | Staff Scientist
Wilderness Committee