WHAT'LL iT TAKE for GOVT. to PROTECT BC's BiODiVERSiTY-RiCH FORESTs -- & RESPECT the 1st Nations hereditary chiefs' lawful decision-making rights over their territories??

Here's yet another letter I've recently written to BC's powers-that-be - Premier Horgan, Forestry Minister Katrine Conroy et al.. via Sierra Club BC's aws letter-writing tool (extended & detailed to maximum capacity - without apology..)

Premier Horgan, Minister Conroy et al,

I watched this summer as the RCMP violently policed Indigenous forest protectors at the Fairy Creek/Ada’itsx Blockades & even more baffling, blocking the #Wetsuweten rightful hereditary chiefs & #1stNations members/residents from ACCESSING THEIR OWN LANDS & thereby reneging on all U.N.D.R.I.P. required PRIOR INFORMED CONSENT for forcing the #CGL (COASTAL GAS LINK) O&G PIPELINE THRU SACRED SITES & WATERS OF THE WET'SUWET'EN people-!!??

Such harmful, hateful, hypocritical --& yes, heartbreaking-- violations against promised Indigenous sovereignty (ESP. IN LIGHT OF THIS YEAR'S EXPOSÉ OF THE GOVT-SANCTIONED ABUSIVE/ OPPRESSIVR TREATMENT of Indigenous children kidnapped from their homes suffered at Residential Schools -- LIKE SOMETHING BELONGING IN A DICKENS NOVEL, NOT REAL-LIFE HISTORIC CANADA!!?? -- SHOCKED CANADIANS & BROUGHT A SWELL OF PUBLIC SYMPATHY & SUPPORT FOR BC's NEGLECTED INDIGENOUS SURIVORS.. which promised a newfound respect for their pre-Res-school cultural heritage --& stewardship of Nature at a level that could be THE key to our (humans') ongoing future existence on Earth.

The hopes & wishes for REAL, longed-for #RECONCILIATION (which is now enshrined per #U.N.D.R.I.P. --adopted by #PremierJohnHorgan himself, as well as by federal #PMTrudeau) would seem to become more doable & tangible  by the day, with govt. Leaders across the country forced to pause & recognize the full weight of past Govt-hidden atrocities committed in what at the very least  appears to prove suspected genocide as their gruesome, publicly-suppressed intent.

Orange shirts of solidarity became the official attire for showing  your respect & sincere shame at learning what 1stNations endured at the hands of BC's colonial leaders-- who, judging from the small but highly detailed handful of books written about this exact segment of BC's history, ruthlessly carried out the UNOFFICIAL & UNSIGNED APPROPRIATION OF NATIVE SACRED & TRADITIONAL TERRITORIES, while forcing the (majority of) native inhabitants onto the tiniest possible reserves -- like rounding up & imprisoning cattle to use & abuse --& of course repress -- at will, as needed.

But since BC's govt. leaders -- unlike the rest of Canada's provinces -- deemed treaties outlining Natives' rights unneeded, today that translates into presumed 'unceded lands' of acknowledged aboriginal historic development/use dating back 1,000s of years.  If you think you can continue to disrespect & violate their most eloquent, science-backed defenses of Mother Nature's complex workings (which noone knows better than 1st Nations hereditary knowledge holders) -- by building UN-ASSESSED & #BCNDP-BACKED TAR-SANDS SUPPORTIVE INFRASTRUCTURE PROVEN TO ENSURE EVENTUAL EXTINCTION OF BC'S RESIDENT ORCAS -- then you have FAILED to grant even the most minimal protection to the land defenders doing all they can to save the precious integrity of their once-priceless --now-threatened-- rainforest ecosystems..

(WHICH ARE, IN TRUTH, SOME OF THE LAST 1-3% OF UNTOUCHED WILDERNESS AREAS WITH THE HIGHEST BIODIVERSITY COUNTS & UNLOGGED INTEGRITY OF ANY IN BC..)

*  *  *  *

FROM Fairy Creek this year, videos circulated online showing officers choking, pepper spraying, punching & dragging activists face down over rocks by their hair. [1] [2] [3] 

Reports further revealed that the RCMP continued to use exclusion zones & block the freedom of the press, long after the B.C. Supreme Court stated this wasn’t permitted by the court-ordered injunction. [4]

And now, Justice Thompson has sided with the forest protectors by denying an extension to the injunction, stating that the RCMP actions at Fairy Creek trampled civil liberties & put the court’s own reputation at risk! [5]

Take notes, because the B.C. NDP government’s reputation is also at risk.

Premier John Horgan: you have clearly stated you want an end to this conflict, yet you've shirked your responsibility to keep citizens safe. [6] Meanwhile, some of B.C.’s best allies in the fight against climate change are on the line: old-growth forests. [7]

After a summer of intense wildfires & record-breaking heatwaves, & now disastrous erosion & flooding jeopardizing B.C.'s communities, you need to keep the promises you made to save our last old-growth forests & end destructive practices like clearcutting, which is exacerbating these crises & threatening our future..

I therefore feel duty-bound to call on your B.C. government to take immediate action as follows:

●Publicly denounce the use of force by the BC-RCMP, while initiating a full & independent investigation into RCMP actions at Fairy Creek;

●Deny further provincial funding or support for RCMP enforcement at Fairy Creek & Wet'suwet'en territory/ 'yintah' (& all waterways) until an independent investigation is completed;

●Enact all recommendations in the provincial report ‘A New Future for Old-Growth Forests’ for an urgently-needed paradigm shift in the management of these rare ecosystems; [8]

●Enact a just transition for forestry workers into a new sustainable economy that doesn’t rely on old-growth logging;

●Cease & desist ALL trespassing over 1st Nations territories!  In a code red climate emergency, it is unacceptable that you continue to put industry profits over our right to a climate-safe future. And in a country that talks a good talk about truth & reconciliation, it is despicable that RCMP trample civil liberties & violently police Indigenous forest protectors on their own land!

Old-growth forests in B.C. are teetering on the brink, in danger of becoming a permanent carbon source rather than a critically important carbon sink & habitat for numerous beloved species of biodiversity, known as the 'Lungs of the North'.  Please stop fast-tracking their demise:  these iconic ancient stands are B.C.'s only valuable natural legacy left - & as you've said before, they're worth their colossal weight in gold INTACT & NOT ON THE BACK OF A TRUCK!  Logging these living protectors to fulfill Asia's demand for cheap quality lumber is the OPPOSITE of the climate action you claim to support with CleanBC..

The research is IN, the studies are DONE -- by your own commissioned Old-Growth Strategic Review Panel no less -- which called for an "urgent" paradigm shift in Forestry mgmt, which you promised to enact in full OVER A YEAR AGO.

Since then, reckless & unethical clearcutting has continued at an alarming rate & with even scarier outcomes, with 99%+ of 2021's wildfires occurring in previously-clearcut stands -- including replanted monocultures - where resulting eco-degradation accelerates spreading wildfires & leads directly to calamitous erosion, landslides etc.  

A clear example of destructive logging's disastrous effects occurred just yesterday in Agassiz, where ravaged recent cut-blocks blighting the surrounding mountainsides clearly exacerbated -- if not caused -- the deadly flooding/ landslides brought on by heavy rainfall.. along with the washing-away of bridges & highway all along the Coquihalla Highway.  As our public servants, it's your job to properly assess such events in consultation with experts & scientists whose intensive, on-the-ground research cancels out the lies of corporate/ industry lobbyists -- & take proactive measures to prevent reoccurrences & ensure public safety.

One thing's certain:  continued clearcut logging is putting BC's biodiversity, communities, people & wildlife in dire jeopardy -- to the point of guaranteeing increased risks of worsened fires, flooding & other related catastrophes which we simply cannot afford.  Further degradation of our last intact forest ecosystems is a worst-case-scenario that must be avoided at all costs -- not least because the feared outcomes will be noted as YOUR GOVT's failure.

We've seen how Climate change coupled with unchecked ecocidal/ polluting industrial development has turned places like Australia, Brazil & California into disaster-zones that, in turn, have contributed to further increased global warming & loss of invaluable carbon sinks.  Yet your govt. is failing to take these warnings seriously & learn their critical lessons.

You can prevent these tragedies - but only if you do the right thing today!

Science has warned of the dire effects of deforestation for years, yet your office has failed to take the proper protective measures that are urgently required to prevent these outcomes!!?  80%+ Cdns. made Climate a top issue in this year's federal election, & thousands more have supported the Fairy Creek & indigenous land protectors who risk their own comfort/safety to ensure BC's sustainable future.  You need to follow suit -- LISTEN to those who pay your salaries (US!) rather than the corporations who don't give a damn about anything but their own selfish profits!

Continuing to allow destruction of our most eco-rich & valuable ancient forests by approving cutblocks in these old-growth stands is particularly bloody-minded in light of your adoption of UNDRIP as a reconciliation measure:  your inaction on Old-Growth forest protection is inexcusable, & claiming "lost jobs"/ "lost revenue" is simply unfair, given the subsidies you dole out ad infinitum to the most polluting industries, instead of transitioning to sustainable ops in all sectors, in line with CleanBC/ NetZero claimed goals.

Also shameful is continually refusing to provide the proper funding that will ease indigenous transition to preserving, NOT LOGGING, our precious 1,000-year-old forest ecosystems, given the countless benefits they bring to our environments, biodiversity, healthy tourism, clean water quality & vibrant natural surroundings for which we are (/were?) world-famous.  And which First Nations managed - spectacularly & sustainably - for millenia, before white Europeans came along & almost destroyed the lot in 150 years or less:  SHAMEFUL.

In fact, allowing BC's globally-rare forest ecosystems to be clearcut is like demolishing the great pyramids for the price of their stones:  the seriousness of that calamity is less than what your office continues to greenlight, as if our forests aren't  the KEYS to tackling the worst of climate change - which they certainly ARE.

The time to transition is NOW - as the decisions you make today will impact all of us – including your children & grandchildren.

How do you want to be remembered –  as the ones who violently protected big industry profits at the expense of our planet? Or as playing a significant role in building the sustainable economy that ensures a shared climate-safe future for all?

Your choices matter.  We the people are waiting & watching in fear.  Please rise to the occasion & do the right thing, as leaders in an apparent 'democracy' -- before it's too late to save ourselves & the world from the preventable effects of irresponsible status-quo stasis.

Thank you.

Sarah (Saz) Chesterman

SOURCES:

[1] https://gripped.com/gripped-outdoors/crazy-scenes-from-the-fairy-creek-blockades-in-b-c/

[2] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/08/canada-logging-protest-vancouver-island

[3] https://thetyee.ca/News/2021/09/27/Someone-Going-To-Be-Injured-Killed/

[4] https://thetyee.ca/News/2021/08/16/Judge-Rebuked-Illegal-RCMP-Tactics/

[5] https://globe2go.pressreader.com/article/281492164472706

[6] https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2021/10/04/Horgan-Fairy-Creek-Excuses-Betray-Citizens/

[7] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/logging-climate-change-bc-report-1.5895220

[8] https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/farming-natural-resources-and-industry/forestry/stewardship/old-growth-forests/strategic-review-20200430.pdf

[9] https://www.nationalobserver.com/2021/07/05/analysis/under-siege-bcs-forests-have-started-emitting-co2-lots-it

SaRaH C.

Letter #14 to BC-NDP - Minister of Forests Katrine Conroy

 

Written using Sierra Club's letter-writing TooL (ALways besT to personalize!)  You can write one too, @ this link:  

CLICK HERE 2 WRITE YOUR OWN Letter 2 BC's Forest Minister 

Here's mine:

Dear Minister Conroy, 

I am writing to denounce you & your appalling govt's inaction on Fairy Creek & FAILURE to follow through on promises to fully implement all recommendations from the Old Growth Strategic Review, as an urgent priority in your mandate.    

So few of our iconic, important old-growth forests remain due to clearcutting/ over-logging & egregious clearcutting which has had DISASTROUS results due to the devastation wrought by clearcut logging of whole ecosystems (including the hundreds of species of biodiversity that depend on these forests for survival, many of which are now critically endangered)..

Clear evidence of this needless destruction has been exposed this summer by dangerous -- & PREVENTABLE -- wildfires that continue to burn, despite all efforts to control them..

AS your Old-Growth Strategic Review Panel advised well over a year ago, BC desperately needs a new paradigm for forest mgmt. implemented NOW to avoid an even deadlier fire season next year!?

Without immediate action, not enough will be left to sustain the web of life as we know it & support a diverse economy.  

Last year's election made it VERY clear that the majority of BC citizens want to protect endangered Old-Growth forests before it is too late!  And the majority of us are strongly opposed to the shameful bullying & violence of the RCMP against peaceful defenders in the ancient Fairy Creek stand - despite the injunction granted to Teal Jones (in bad faith & against your govt's stated intentions for our precious forests) as well as overwhelming public support for our heroic Fairy Creek forest defenders..   

The deadlines from your expert O-G Panel have long passed, thanks to your wilful refusal to act on your party's promises, but WE cannot forget our dedicated friends who know the priceless value of these forests --ALIVE NOT LOGGED-- & remain determined to protect them from destructive, greedy & unethical logging corps.

Equally heinous is federal govt's ongoing refusal to intervene on behalf of the Species At Risk which Canada's constitution expressly delineates responsibility to prevent their extinction!!?  At this rate, under your mismanagement, we are set to lose the valuable benefits -- incl. essential habitat provision, C02 sequestration at unequaled capacities, water purification & other essential services -- that only these primary forests can effectively provide.

Allowing these few Old-Growth ecosystems to be exploited, knowing their wealth lies in their preservation (i.e. preventing them from being logged), is akin to violating Canada's constitution -- which YOU can rectify & upgrade by implementing legislated protection for all Old-Growth forests in BC. 

Please Minister, do your job & turn around the fate of our beloved forests & the lifeforms --flora & fauna-- they support.  Shrinking into the background hoping this urgent issue will disappear is what only a coward would do:  Surely you have the knowledge of the requirements of your privileged position to know that banning Old-Growth logging is the ONLY solution with any merit -- along with its assurance of a hopeful future for our kids, the next-gen recipients of results from your actions today.

Please do the right thing & resolve this matter for the best interests of BCers:   legislate protection for all remaining BC Old-Growth & commit at least $1 billion to implement the 14 recommendations, provide funding for Indigenous-led conservation solutions & support transition for forestry-dependent communities.

Time is of the essence.

Thank you very much for taking action -- your immediate intervention will be a proud moment in your career, one in which you can claim a groundbreaking part on the right side of history!!?

But you need to act now to make this happen -- for the health & wellbeing of our communities, for salmon habitat, for essential carbon storage, for tourism jobs & to help defend our communities from fires, flooding & other worsening impacts of climate change. Considering all that BCers have endured of late, it's the least you & your govt. can do to lift some of the worry from our present outlooks!!?

These big, rare old trees are vital to our resilience in the face of climate change - please don't let down our kids' hope for a thriving future!  We're counting on you, because you were appointed to protect these living elders:  a grave responsibility, & one which you should not take lightly.

(Our future health - & that of our sustaining ecosystems/ 'Lungs of the North', without which we are nothing - relies on your urgent action today..)

Sincerely, 

SARAH (SAZ) CHESTERMAN

Vancouver, BC

CC: Premier John Horgan and Minister of State for Lands and Natural Resource Operations, Nathan Cullen 

My letter to Premier Horgan..

(Via Conservation North's tool - here, so you can write too:  LETTER re. OLD-GROWTH FORESTS)

It's time to act for BC’s primary & old growth forests, some of the world's most important rainforest ecosystems & critical wildlife habitats.  Your govt. won a majority on promises to abide by your OldGrowth Panel's deadlines, & your delay is proving catastrophic..

BC's intact living primary forests have dwindled down to critical levels due to a century & a half of Govts' appropriation of sacred lands inhabited & used by 1st Nations for centuries.  Notably, at inception BC's forests were largely intact & teeming with biodiversity.

What's happened since is Forestry's continual wipeout by logging corps of entire swathes of BC's most precious 'Lungs of the Earth' -- i.e. our oldest living forests -- for the low-balled value of their marketable "timber":   A TRAGIC LOSS of priceless eco-benefits that virtually guarantees BC's failure to mitigate climate change-!?

Only in the last 3/4 decades have the BC govt's dire Natural Resource policies  come to light, & they hardly embody Canada's Constitutional stewardship needs.  But despite steadily-growing heartfelt opposition to BC's disastrous logging practices (ie. clearcutting), successive govts have charged forward in blind ignorance of its public & of science's best info.

Your govt has claimed to  better previous govts re. eco-improvements/ laws that protect BC's best assets & give communities false hope of Climate Action, with vows to "support" our vital forests & nice-sounding words like "decolonization" -- & even promises to implement the "paradigm shift" called for by your own Old Growth Panel -- yet our forests continue to be felled at such a sickeningly sped-up pace (backed by BC's Supreme Court as proof) that makes it clear your govt still supports logging corps' rapacious & unending greed/speed to KILL our ONLY natural climate protectors/C02 sinks.. i.e. FAILURE

Your govt could have begun to 'Build Back Better' by keeping your promises to implement the Old Growth Panel's forward-thinking recommendations - of which protecting Old Growth is KEY to Building Back Better & protecting all BCers' best interests!?

Failing those basic steps is disastrous enough.  But claiming otherwise in the name of reconciliation, WHILE forcing impoverished 1st Nations to participate in egregious clearcut wipeouts of their once-lush & proud great stands (whose pristine abundance had testified to deep native knowledge/ skills  capable of LEADING a renewable industry rooted in nature-based longevity) is grossly unacceptable!  

We will not win unless ALL remaining intact old growth ecosystems are left intact!

The best & newest science agrees:  industrial logging in BC is unsustainable -- & V. worrying, with resultant 'hotspots' causing critical biodiversity loss, droughts & other climate disasters.  Tho less than 10% of BC's old growth forests remain, most are slated to be logged -- which puts aLL of BC (if not the entire biosphere) in jeopardy..

Deforestation exacerbates human errors/weaknesses in this climate Emergency -- eg. Our emissions keep rising & adding to global warming.  In coming months/years, your actions TODAY will define our future -- & being 1 of few 'green' (forested) refuges left on Earth, we wait.. (but the safety-net a Just Transition to sustainability can give us NOW, cannoT!)

Old-growth forests, despite scientists' best efforts/R&D to invent effective C02 sequestration, are still the most -- no, the ONLY -- effective C02 sinks known to humankind. Allowing them to be cleared -- & our multi-billion$ eco-tourist industry to die out along with Old-Growth's threatened biodiversity -- is a sure suicide/ SPECIESCIDE we just cannot afford..

Please SEE how many educated BCers are choosing to be arrested rather than allow our last OldGrowth elders/ lifeboats to be logged like so much wood!? Then fire Katrine Conroy & save our best trees' lives (it's only fair!)

You yourself have said our ancient forests are "worth more standing" -- & you're right:   i.e. Keeping their entirety alive & intact is CRITICAL to mitigating biodiversity loss/ climate change, providing clean air/water, capturing/storing vast amounts of atmospheric C02, regulating ground/ surface water flow, preventing  fires/ floods: the list goes on & on of Old-Growth's uniquely timely qualities:  our living SAVIOURS, which you & (appare only ½) your govt want to deny us/ the world!? 

Right now, BC communities are seeing & feeling the deadly, direct effects of decades of destruction of these MOST IMPORTANT ECOSYSTEMS.  Yet status quo clearcuts & extraction continue apace!!? & Fairy Creek forest defenders are still being arrested -- proving your govt. is stalling on real Climate Action, with an old-school pro-logging puppet of a Forestry Minister dooming us all to a future of fire & Hell & orphaned investments:  WHY!!? 

At this point, clearing our last intact ancient forests equals the stupidity of demolishing the Great Pyramids for the value of their stones-!!?  (Actually worse, given our ancient forests' invaluable benefits that ensure successful outcomes for us all).  It's up to you & your govt. to intervene NOW with actual laws that protect BC's oldest wettest forests:  our globally-unique temperate rainforests, the giants of global Just Recovery, Beautiful BC heritage, Climate Action & so much more..

The world needs these key forests as much as we do, having cleared most of their own indigenous H²0-/ 0²-supplying forests long ago (which they doubtless regret, having become drought-ridden deserts like the others:  Iran, Iraq, Australia, California.. Brazil..?)

Isn't it time you & your govt SHOW US that you actually care, & have the integrity to do what's right -- for our kids' (& their kids') futures, if nothing else? 

Even industry pro's know climate change is real -- with insurance pull-outs from TMX just the start of the REAL recovery from Colonial oppression's ugly hold on our destinies.  YOU & YOUR GOVT. can put us on top (with our friends Old-Growth) oR doom us to the bottom of a bitumen spill -- but either way, change is coming.. & it won'T be kind to the culprits of Climate's/ Nature's downfall:  ie. polluters & their champions..

Thank you Premier Horgan, for hearing input from one whose family's dedication to the NDP ended with me, as I'm young/old enough to see only eco-INaction from your party, which i can't condone.. (I trust you understand)

Sincerely from my heart,

'Letter to the Editor' on BC's last intact rare Old-Growth Forests

A Western Screech Owl, one of many S.A.R.A.-listed species that rely on BC's old-growth forests for their survival.. (Screech owls mate for life, with both ma & pa involved in co-parenting their young)

You can read the CBC article at the link (below screen capture) re. Premier John Horgan's lame announcement on his latest 'Intentions Paper' vis-a-vis his/BC-NDP's 'new paradigm' on BC's precious Old-Growth Forests - which does little to assure forest defenders that these iconic 1,000-year-old forest ecosystems (/C02 sinks/ wildlife habitats) won'T be logged to extinction in 3 years.. 

CBC Article on Horgan's Old-Growth intentions

Dare I say the issue of whether or not to save BC's old-growth forests should not be the decision of any human(s) putting short-term personal gains ahead of larger considerations, ie. Climate Action/ Nature's revival?

To pretend these are not dilemmas facing govt. leaders today is to deny the overwhelming body of science that has been telling (& showing) us the catastrophic results of our century-long ever-increasing crudely-executed/  heavy-handed 'harvesting' of Nature's once-rich, now-reaped bounty -- of which intact rainforest ecosystems are the 'Lungs' thereof.

Literally, BC's untouched 1,000-year-old primary (unlogged) forests -- of which only approx. 3% remain intact -- are among the world's ONLY climate-balancing wilderness ecosystems left to cover the herculean C02-sinking/ O2-emitting job that once was shared by myriad forests all over the globe..

Having picked Earth almost-dry of its invaluable 'resources' without ensuring their ongoing regeneration ('SOWING WHAT WE REAP'), in the process humans have left behind gluts of toxins/waste that continue to accumulate as long as those inefficient processes are still being used to 'harvest' what we need/use to live!?

It's true:  the systems we've developed/installed -- & now rely on heavily to 'keep us going' -- are the same mechanisms fast-tracking Nature's demise, & thus our own..

But Nature -- yes, still! -- provides everything we need to live!  Doesn't it follow that protecting Nature should be everybody's -- incl. govt. leaders' -- top priority? 

 

Scientists recently issued yet another dire warning that the measurable outcomes of continued reliance on our clunky old wasteful ways include warming temperatures which will lock in further degradation of our life-support system, ie. Nature itself.

Govts cite 'jobs' as a key reason for continuing to permit & subsidize industries with the most devastating impacts on Nature's balance -- of which deforestation is among the worst, not due solely to emissions (which are high when huge old trees release the total C02 they've sequestered over centuries) but also to ensuing LOSS OF FORESTS' COUNTLESS PRICELESS BENEFITS, as our ultimate protectors/safeguards against the harmful human processes endangering whole populations now..

JOBS that work to restore Nature's balance -- in conservation, education, renewable energy, transitioning OUT OF polluting industries etc. -- are what's desperately needed now;  jobs that exacerbate the status quo (GHG emitters like logging, mining..) ALL have imminent expiry dates.

(Widely-known) FACT:  the oldest intact forests ARE what's staving off the worst effects of climate change:  the droughts, famine, fires, floods that threaten mass upheaval on a dime -- brought to the very brink by Big-Biz's last 'all-in' mad pillage for profits (by 'extraction'/ logging/ pollution/ whatever they can get away with) before public pressure forces govts. to shut 'em down..

Thus govt's DELAY on legislating old-school harmful practices OUT before Nature-restoring replacement systems are put IN, could be exactly what tips Nature into irreversible decline..

It only makes pragmatic sense to protect our sole defense against this decline AT ALL COSTS -- along with all the non-human species whose lives depend on keeping these [whole] old forests intact!!?  Without their essential habitats, biodiversity will go extinct -- & guess who will be next.

At this point, the prospect of letting these important ecosystems be cut down is as unthinkable as demolishing the Great pyramids for the price of their stones :  as someone said, it's psychopathic - no matter who is doing the cutting..

Thank you.

PS.  Please sign & share my petition on Change.org:  ProtectOurForests!

Amid forestry struggles, panel finds ‘surprising’ consensus on old-growth logging concerns in B.C.

[This is my - since-deleted - comment to the above-named article in The Narwhal 1 year ago]

But our C02/ GHG emissions continue to RISE --& logging our last remaining old-growth forests ADDS to those emissions daily, due to the massive amounts of C02 they SEQUESTER (& CONTINUE TO, IF LEFT INTACT!!)

It is simply sheer CLIMATE SABOTAGE for our Govts. to keep giving forestry co's the right to CLEARCUT -- at criminal rates, as this expert source elucidates: www.ancientforestalliance.org -- our onLy significant safeguards against accelerated eco-breakdown by climate change, I.E. HEALTHY ANCIENT RAINFORESTS, which must be protected & allowed to expand AT ALL COSTS..

When you factor in the added GHGs logging itself emits (which is considerable --see that same link) it's clear that cutting down these life-saving forests along with their rich biodiversity AND massive C02 sequestration powers --KNOWING the proven rapacious effects of deforestation exacerbating global warming-- amounts to DESTRUCTION of our best (if not onLy) defence against the dire effects of climate change..

There can be no other way to assess it (as Australia has proven): NO GOVT. can credibly argue FOR allowing continuation of clearcut logging of our last remaining 10% intact old-growth forests!?

Of course most Canadians are concerned Canada isn't dealing with global warming, as our elected GOVTS. ARE FAILING TO ACT ON ANY OF THEIR PLATFORMS/ PROMISES of 'REAL Climate Action', 'Reconciliation' ETC. In BC, Premier Horgan has betrayed constituents AND his minority GREEN PARTY opposition by reneging on aLL NDP climate plans/ promises & instead simply furthering same-old Colonial/ corporate status quo BS that's directly diminished our defences against looming climate disaster..

Informed BCers (rightfully) REJECT Govt's ongoing --infuriating-- inaction/ ineptitude in legislating the changes we desperately NEED to revise our fortunes/futures. First plan of defense = BOLSTER EXISTING DEFENSES -- I.E. enact immediate moratoriums on all old-growth logging -- & any activity that requires destruction of our drastically-diminished (life-saving) forest ecosystems -- including aLL new projects involving eco-ruin, eg. polluting dams, fracking (LNG), open-pit mining ETC. that current infrastructure does not need to function NOW IN THE INTERIM WHILE TRANSITIONING TO CLIMATE-SAFE/ RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES, regenerating/soil-replenishing agriculture/ non-GMO farming, locally-focused production cycles ETC.. ALL of which will create & require new employment growth/revitalization, & ALL of which should already be INCENTIVIZING leading suppliers in all sectors (eg. Big Oil's ongoing UNCHANGED, UNSUSTAINABLE resource extraction, cited as global warming's main culprit by the legit global scientific community!?) motivating ECONOMY-DRAINING, TOP-HEAVY POLLUTING CORPS TO TRANSITION TO ECO-SAFE & SUSTAINABLE OPS.. OR GET OUT OF THE WAY TO GIVE SUPERIOR SCIENCE-BASED SYSTEMS (EG. RENEWABLE ENERGY -- ELECTRIC VEHICLES..) OPPORTUNITIES TO PHASE IN C02-NEUTRAL LOW-FOOTPRINT DISTRIBUTION/ MANUFACTURE/ PRODUCTION METHODS THAT OPTIMIZE RESTORATION OF ESSENTIAL NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS.. NOW NOT LATER!

(Anything else insults us all -- & justifies the widespread panic & despair seen in areas already most affected by devastating global warming, eg. Australia) We are next if we don't get on it & ACT - NOT JUST DISCUSS..

[Since then, logging of BC's rare old-growth has continued.. Premier Horgan has broken his election promise to protect these ecosystems from logging (as predicted by many).. Wilderness Committee has estimated all but 1% of these precious forests have been ruthlessly clearcut.. & forestry giant Teal Jones has been allowed to bring an injunction against the brave forestry defenders blocking their destructive designs on the important Fairy Creek key ancient forest on Vancouver Island.. These are shocking times for BC on the brink of catastrophic climate change - & our govts. MUST step in & save these last intact habitats of 1,000s of species at risk of extinction (which the BCNDP also promised to work on legislating, crucial if our kids are going to thrive in a sustainable future)  If we don't work together to protect nature's health NOW, we're going to be in big trouble.. (i.e. Califerno's coming here next)]

Just for good measure, here's another comment i made on this same crucial issue..

In this perilous time of global-wide biodiversity loss & eco-degradation --on top of the cumulative GHGs emitted by logging & resultant loss of large valuable C02 sinks-- this recent rash of clear cuts (& subsequent threats to native wildlife habitats) is a dire sign that prov. Govts past & present have wilfully mismanaged BC's key natural resource, to the detriment iF NOT EXTINCTION of the many species dependant on these forests for their very survival. Including humans..

It is noT enough for politicians to pay lip service to critical policy changes needed now: the extreme severity of this unmitigated devastation wreaked by greedy industrial corps with no respect for nature's balance --ie. A huge & unconscionable dereliction of duty that's directly contributed to the climate 'emeRgency' that threatens our very EXISTENCE-- demands immediate & drastic corrective measures, eg. Curtailment of aLL clearcut logging & binding legislation restricting forestry in BC to sustainable 2nd-growth mgmt. & stringent protection of aLL old-growth forest ecosystems, as well as strict 'Protection of Trees' LAWS in every BC jurisdiction!!

But since the current BC govt. --like each one b4 it-- has clearly chosen NOT to act responsibly in the best interests of BC/ taxpayers, thereby exacerbating not preventing probable catastrophes arising from these criminal acts of rainforest deforestation, an emergency court/ panel needs to take over & enact these measures for them..

Drastic? Yes it is -- thanks to a century+ of governmental failure to protect BC's natural ecosystems, the health of which is key for survival & for future generations..

Govt. is obviously out of time required to save our life-supporting forests: despite increasing urgency of rising GHGs, diversity/habitat loss & degraded natural ecosystems threatening all dependent life forms, OUR GOVT. HAS FAILED TO TAKE ONE MITIGATING MEASURE TO OFFSET THESE LOOMING --SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN, INDUSTRY-CAUSED-- THREATS TO THE HEALTH & SAFETY OF ALL BC RESIDENTS!

In fact, our provincial govts past & present have done nothing but green-light dangerous/ polluting projects, encouraged massive environmental degradation by extractive industries & even subsidized high-profiting corps while taxing residents to destroy our forests/ ecosystems!?

If this is not a desperate CALL 4 IMMEDIATE LONG-OVERDUE INTERVENTION --from collective/ federal/ Supreme Court/ UN/ whatever forces more capable than prov. govt.-- to take action preventing further eco-ruin & to save BC's remaining ecosystems/ livelihoods, then WHAT IS?

GOVTs: HAVE SOME INTEGRiTY: bReak deaLs with polluters NOT your promises to us! (FOR ONCE)

First, we need to respect science, which just IS -- in a singular category of objectivity, if not its 'last bastion' thereof. Science's standardized/ streamlined methodologies exemplify the most efficient/ fruitful/ TRUTHFUL use of human endeavour.. (In an era of artistic license & 'anything goes', of random acts & uncertain foes & non-fiction taken for fake news posing as prose, SCIENCE PLODS ON, indifferent to traits/ trends & stuck on measured singularities of PLACE/ TIME, in obeyance to its unwavering parameters & consistent procedures that make military regimes seem unhinged..)

Yet for all its unexciting exactitude & unfettered focus on tangible PHYSICAL REALITY, SCIENCE SUCCEEDS at joining humans in tireless quests for undiluted knowledge & observable overriding truths about our world.. & in doing so, scientists have unearthed the most heartstopping realities & real-life histories that defy the vividest mind of any mortal.. HOW can these epic odysseys of overwhelming magnitude possibly be dismissed with any integrity by self-appointed 'leaders' of whole populations, in favour of paltry fictions & polluting limitations?

& it's taken 1,000s of scientists worldwide working round the clock, using hard-won samples of carefully-measured layers of air & earth & fossils & rock, extracted from physical artifacts/ digs/ dirt/ swamps/ sea-beds/ mountainside/ cliffs representing different parts of the millions of years embedded therein, then deconstructed & dissected & analyzed & reconstructed & applied to the strictest standards & tested for specific results. The collective consequence amounts to a jaw-dropping Real Natural History of Earth spanning 100s of millions of years -- with ever-accumulating measurements of new finds filling in the blanks, each new discovery illuminating more of the whole, until massive reconstructed worlds are accurately visualized & give us insights into HOW BEST TO PROCEED GOING FORWARD..

[See NOVA TV's 'Polar Extremes']

We could be experiencing these groundbreaking discoveries together --shared globally by real [RESPECTED!] scientists sharing their finds as they break them open one by one, & unearth the keys to mould our better future in which all biodiversity will thrive -- along with our kids -- in a world that, above all, RESPECTS not just USES Nature's forces (which sustain LIFE ON EARTH.. duh?)  Having this process blocked & downgraded by desperate politicians/ businessmen/ charlatans who profit from polluting systems proven to be the very culprits of 100% HUMAN-CAUSED GLOBAL WARMING CONFIRMED BY MODERN SCIENCE --- is such an obvious perversion to those of us with half a brain who value life beyond constraints of oppression imposed by global leaders profiting from mass consumption of the inefficient, poisonous products they keep hawking, indifferent to the suffering SCIENCE IS SHOWING US ALL IN 3-D!

What's gross is the quacks/ factory farmers/ frackers/ loggers/ O&G peddlers ETC. have --against aLL decency/ reason-- been WINNING, & silencing those of us who are almost hoarse after decades of clamouring for justice & eco-balance & sustainability~!!?  HOW, is a marvel of $$-minded manoeuvrability of the blind leading the blind, with nothing but personal wealth & obsolete old-school polluting [illegal?] eco-destruction mowing down (/chopping/ digging/ extracting/ poisoning/ wiping out..) aLL in their killing paths, furthered by sucked-in politicians wilfully ignoring conflicts-of-interest/ corruption at the core of lobbyists' ongoing monopoly of their target politicians' ears, convincing them all's COOL just cuz some of their constituents hold JOBS in those very fields sucking the life out of Earth..

WOULDN'T THESE GOOD PEOPS WITH JOBS BE EVEN HAPPIER GETTING PAID TO IMPROVE & NOT WRECK THEIR KIDS' FUTURES?  ISN'T DEMAND FOR THEIR SOON-TO-BE-OBSOLETE PRODUCTS WANING, IN FAVOUR OF UPGRADED (ECO-SAFE/ ORGANIC/ SUSTAINABLE/ VEGAN eTc.) ALTERNATIVES, GROWING IN SUPPLY AS I TYPE??  If corporations aren't shifting gears to keep up with The Times, then our Govts. need to ENCOURAGE transitions with kicks-in-the-butt like incentives/ withdrawals of sizeable subsidies sTiLL stalling progress.. Surely THAT'd be less jarring/ painful than the inevitable result of refusing to adjust to changing needs:  abandonment by consumers/ orphaned assets/ possible court-cases brought by public & private citizens who WILL be awarded damages THOSE CORPS wiLL have to pay.. (It's just a matter of time - & time is one luxury we no longer have, so events are bound to speed up & leave the stragglers/ stubborn behind!)

[The alternative to such predictable science-proofed stories will be:  an even more degraded environmental legacy -- with extinction a worst-case-scenario rearing its frightening head..]

It's exhausting trying to arm aLL with Science & Truth & the Will To Change, & attending/ organizing rallies to mobilize the masses so our (supposedly Democratic) Govts LISTEN & mobilize WITH US (as they obviously did during wars) -- instead of proving by their underhanded complicity with big-industry polluters that they OUTRIGHT LIED TO US ABOUT THEIR INTENTIONS (public reactions to which, however, reveal that MANY MORE FAVOUR CLIMATE ACTION / GREEN NEW DEALS THAN WE WERE LED TO BELIEVE~!) THAT'S WHY WE WANT GREENS & NOT CONS/ LIBS/ NDP:  we see the corporate pandering behind the complacent Predominant Political Parties.. & it AIN'T pretty!  WE FEEL SHAFTED!!

We COULD BE transitioning EN MASSE to science-based alternatives, old-growth protection (cuz it's WHOLE FORESTS that sequester more C02 than any other known carbon sinks -- saving one or two 500-1,000-yr-old "big trees" & felling the rest just WON'T WORK as more C02 is released in that process!!!?), regenerative farming, renewable energy sources like geothermal & wave harnessing, ETC. -- ALL OF WHICH HAVE PROVEN SUCCESSFUL, WITH WILDLY PRODUCTIVE RESULTS~!  But sadly, most govt. leaders are --STILL!!??-- wielding way too much unwarranted power & held in thrall (apparently?) by industry/ O&G lobbyists who've managed to monopolize their pea-brains to the exclusion of anyone else in their decision-making... WHICH I CAN'T EVEN FATHOM AS LEGAL!!?? SHOULDN'T GOVT. BE LISTENING TO THE S.C.I.E.N.T.I.S.T.S. (& US T.A.X.P.A.Y.E.R.S.?) & SUING THE POLLUTING CORPS FOR DAMAGES WITH WHICH TO FUND OUR CLEANER, COOLER FUTURE??  LIKE A.S.A.P.???

AT LEAST WE OUGHT TO BE MOBILIZING TOGETHER TO URGE GOVT. TO QUIT USING OUR MONEY TO FUND BIG POLLUTERS -- eg. NEW fossil-fuel infrastructure like TMX & massive eco-ruinous projects like SiteC -- THAT ARE OBVIOUSLY CAUSING/ EXACERBATING OUR PROBLEMS -- & OUR KIDS' FUTURES!!?

(HELLLLOOOO?  HORGAN??  CONROY???  WILKINSON????  TRUDEAU?????  WE SEEEE YOU.. YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM US -- YOU ARE PUBLIC SERVANTS NOW -- SO STEP UP & DO OUR FUTURE A FAVOUR.. ELSE BOW OUT WITH GRACE & LET THE GREEN PARTY DO ITS THING!  YOUR POLITICAL CAREERS SHOULD BE SECONDARY TO THE DUTIES YOU'VE SWORN TO UPHOLD.. & THOSE WHO FUNDED YOUR CAMPAIGNS WILL JUST HAVE TO ROLL WITH THE LAW:  YOU'RE in charge now!!!?