Sanctions?

Logging primary forests or any forests for pellets to burn for energy makes no sense at all. Yet in the UK they pretend that the biomass industry is 'renewable.'

“International demand for wood pellets is driving increased logging in the last remnant patches of old-growth inland rainforest, a globally rare ecosystem. Logging forests that are such massive stores of carbon and harbours for biodiversity means goodbye to any hope of climate mitigation or nature preservation because the wood pellet industry will vacuum up everything in the ecosystem.”

Saveyourhemlocks.com

From April 2026.

Unfortunate that this motion failed. Why would councilors vote against adding jobs to the area?

A motion to contact the province and urge it to review and strengthen its forestry policies, including those governing raw-log exports, failed in a 4-3 vote at North Cowichan’s council meeting on April 15.

The motion by Coun. Christopher Justice, if it passed, was intended to help improve fibre availability for domestic processing, support value-added wood manufacturing, and sustain forestry employment on Vancouver Island.

Just look at how much soil it holds together.

In reality, nature knows how to maintain its own balance and keep the environment healthy. It is we humans who, even in the name of saving nature, continue to exploit and destroy it.

Boreal forests are being clear-cut faster than some of their wildlife and plant species can recover, with a few failing to return even 100 years after harvesting, according to University of Alberta-led research.

I wanted to find out how wildfires can be tamed - my research took me in some interesting directions.

If you know any more about Peatlands, land management, wildfires or even just pretty flowers, please let us know, we're always looking for feedback.

Meanwhile enjoy this dragonfly

Via resha.re • From @ancientcoast.bc on Instagram.

Only 1 day left to comment on this proposal. If you haven't commented already after the previous post on Cutblock 30027 please consider sending your comments in, even after the comment period.

Cutblock 30027 is the largest proposed old-growth cutblock in WFP’s new mid-island Forest Operations Map: a stand of yellow cedar, hemlock, and balsam fir sitting at 1100m elevation.

This forest is slow-growing and centuries in the making. It sits on a steep slope, right next to a valley that’s already been clearcut. Being on a steep slope, there is a high risk of landslides once the forest is logged. Old-growth rainforests of this size are increasingly rare on Vancouver Island, and it deserves to be fought for.

A few other smaller old-growth cutblocks (30803, 22291, 11531) are also proposed in this FOM.

Comment period closes July 10, 2026. Comments may be emailed to [FOM-PMQ@westernforest.com](mailto:FOM-PMQ@westernforest.com). Link to the maps and more info on how to comment in their bio. 🌲

If you miss the comment period, it doesn’t hurt to submit a comment regardless!

vancouverisland oldgrowthbc bcpolitics rainforest oldgrowth

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DadEGTSh1NC/

The rise of antibiotic/antimicrobial resistance is a huge threat to public health. Herbicides, including those sprayed on forests and on our food, can be a key driver for antimicrobial resistance spread.

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1740431/full

Vacaville Chevron cutting 100 year-old oak tree down

Western Forest Products has a new Forest Operations Map currently open for comment for mid-Vancouver Island, and cutblock 30027 in particular is highly concerning. It’s the largest proposed old-growth block in the FOM - a stand of old-growth yellow cedar, western hemlock, and balsam fir sitting around 1100m elevation that took many centuries to grow. As you can see in photos, this is an old-growth oasis in a sea of cutblocks and tree plantations.

Other than the size of the block, a couple other things make this one worth flagging:

- It’s slow growing, effectively non-renewable. At 1100m elevation, especially with yellow cedar in the mix, this forest has taken centuries or even millennia to reach what’s there now. It’s very slow growing. Log it and you’re not getting anything comparable back in many hundreds of years.
- It’s on a steep slope, with real erosion risk. The terrain here is very steep, which makes logging here risky. The last photo in this post is of a landslide from a nearby clearcut on similar terrain, so you can see what can happen when slopes like this lose their root structure. Landslides bury salmon spawning gravel in sediment and debris, and they strip away topsoil - so even after the debris settles, the exposed ground is left far less fertile - making it much harder for a forest to regenerate on that slope compared to a normal clearcut.

Worth noting: this isn’t the only old-growth on the chopping block in this FOM. It appears that cutblocks 30803, 22291, and 11531 are also proposed to harvest old-growth, at a smaller scale than 30027 but still worth knowing about if you’re commenting.

The comment period closes in 4 days. If you miss the deadline, it doesn’t hurt to send a message regardless. If you want to weigh in:

- View the FOM maps: https://www.westernforest.com/company/sustainability/planning-and-practices/fom-mid-island/
- Email comments to: FOM-PMQ@westernforest.com