You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.
Joni Mitchell sang it in her ‘70s hit Big Yellow Taxi and her fear of the effects of a paved forest paradise are shared by supporters of Conservation North.
The Prince George-based group is staging a rally Saturday at noon in front of the Prince George Courthouse at 250 George St., to show solidarity with people on Vancouver Island protesting the logging of an old-growth forest at Fairy Creek near Port Renfrew.
Conservation North says John Horgan’s NDP government is failing to live up to its obligation to support old-growth stands and wants legal protection for globally unique northern rainforests, which stretch from Wells Gray Provincial Park to the Peace River.
“Although the province of BC has the ability to put planned cutblocks on hold while it works with rightsholders and stakeholders, (Premier) John Horgan and (B.C. forestry ministry) Katrine Conroy have chosen to wait - for what, we’re not sure,” said Conservation North director Michelle Connolly, in a prepared statement.
The group, which formed in 2017, says there have been no meaningful deferrals implemented to prevent logging of at-risk old growth over the past year since a B.C. government-appointed panel recommended logging be stopped in several key areas of the province. The panel’s final report concluded that B.C. most endangered forests, those with less than 10 per cent of their area covered with old growth, must be protected from logging to avoid irreversible damage to ecosystems and animal/plant species which require for their survival the protection of big trees provide.
A group of independent scientists the Prince George region has published a map that uses the independent panel’s own criteria to highlight the high-risk areas in the central Interior and northern B.C. which should be spared from logging. One of the lead analysts who helped prepare the map suggests an obvious first step for B.C. is to simply overlay the map onto planned cutblocks.
“The B.C. government is turning a blind eye to industrial forestry companies as they nuke 300 and 400 year old spruce forests,” said Conservation North, spokesperson Sean O’Rourke. “It’s classic talk and log.”
