The Wilderness Committee and Sierra Club B.C. are hoping to save from logging a grove of old-growth trees in the central Walbran Valley on Vancouver Island.

According to the environmental groups, the Black Diamond Grove is home to what they're calling the Leaning Tower Cedar, a three-metre-wide western redcedar that may be as old as 1,000 years.

However, the grove is located in Cutblock 4424, which the B.C. government gave Teal Jones approval to log earlier this month, despite public opposition.

Old-growth Sitka spruce, hemlock, amabalis fir, and Douglas-fir trees are also found in the grove, which lies on Nuu-chah-nulth territory.

“We knew there were impressive old-growth trees in this area, but we were really blown away once we got in and explored,” Torrance Coste, Vancouver Island campaigner with the Wilderness Committee, stated in a press release. “This type of old-growth is far too rare. There is absolutely no way the Black Diamond Grove should be logged.”

Old-growth trees in Black Diamond Grove.
TORRANCE COSTE

Apparently, activists unaffiliated with the Wilderness Committee and Sierra Club B.C. are considering setting up blockades to get in the way of logging.

Old-growth trees in Black Diamond Grove.
MARK WORTHING

The Walbran Valley was the site of logging blockades in the early 1990s.

Leaning Tower Cedar in Black Diamond Grove.
TORRANCE COSTE

The lower part of the vallety is protected by Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park.

Black Diamond Grove from across the Walbran Valley.
TORRANCE COSTE

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