July 24, 2014

The Wilderness Committee's Vancouver Island Campaigner, Torrance Coste, recently visited the site of fresh clearcut logging at McLaughlin Ridge, near Port Alberni. 

McLaughlin Ridge sits just to the south of Mt. Arrowsmith, between the Cameron River and China Creek watersheds, the latter of which is the drinking water source for the City of Port Alberni. The part of the ridge being clearcut contains Douglas-fir trees over 500 years old (extremely rare on Vancouver Island). 

It’s also prime winter range for ungulate species like deer, and provides habitat for the Queen Charlotte goshawk.

In 2004, the province removed over 70,000 hectares of private land from TFL 44, essentially handing all oversight over to industry. This was done without consulting local First Nations, and since then, Island Timberlands has been clearcutting at will and has now moved onto McLaughlin Ridge, despite that fact that old-growth forests of this kind are almost completely gone.

To view some photos of the destruction, click here.

You can help protect what remains of this threatened old-growth forest! Send a message to logging company Island Timberlands and BC government officials, demanding an end to old-growth logging on McLaughlin Ridge. Take action now >>