Walbran Wednesday Sept 7th Target Announcement
Another month, another round of #WalbranWednesday!
On the first Wednesday of each month, we’re targeting different decision-makers’ offices to call on them to protect the endangered ancient forest of the Central Walbran Valley on Vancouver Island.
This #WalbranWednesday, we’re targeting the head office of Teal Jones, the logging company planning to destroy the Central Walbran Valley.
We’re going to let them know that opposition to their plans in the Walbran Valley grows every day, and that it’s time for them to shift away from old-growth liquidation.
Phone Number: 1-604-587-8700
Email address: info@tealjones.com
Our goal is to have as many people as possible phone Teal Jones’ office during business hours on Wednesday with a unified demand: DON’T LOG THE CENTRAL WALBRAN!
Just under a year ago, we learned that Teal Jones had received a permit for a cutblock north of the Walbran River. Cutblock 4424, or the Black Diamond Grove, is a stand of monumental red cedars towering above the steep slope of the Walbran’s crystal-clear waters.
We’d been calling on the provincial government to reject this cutblock for months, and the approval was what we had feared most.
Then something amazing thing happened.
You spoke out. You wrote letters. You attended rallies, made phone calls, and participated in demonstrations. You helped build trails, you shared articles about the Walbran Valley and the short-sighted mindset that is threatening it.
But, cutblock 4424 is still standing.
After facing a wave of opposition from municipal governments, local businesses groups and the public, negative media coverage and blockades, Teal Jones announced late last year that they have no immediate plans to cut north of the Walbran River.
The company has so far honoured this commitment, but it has destroyed vast swathes of old-growth rainforest to the south of the river. Teal Jones has not committed to staying out of the intact Central Walbran Valley, despite the fact that there is no social license to log there.
So it’s time to remind them again.
Teal Jones has asked us to stop the WalbranWednesday phone blitzes – they know there is no way they can morally defend destroying some the last old-growth rainforest on southern Vancouver Island.
As always on WalbranWednesday, we’re asking you to keep the tone civil and respectful. We want to send a strong message that people care passionately about protecting this ancient forest, and ask Teal Jones NOT to log the eight cutblocks they have proposed in the Central Walbran valley.
We’ve provided a sample script that has questions you could ask the Teal Jones staff member you talk to. The same text could also be used in an email to the company.
The script however, is just a suggestion – we know many of you have been passionate advocates for the protection of old-growth forests for years, and that your argument, in your own words, carries so much power!
We encourage you to give us a call, send us an email or post on the WalbranWednesday Facebook page to let us know how your conversation went! You can contact our Victoria office at (250) 388-9292 or email torrance@wildernesscommittee.org with feedback.
