AFA Condemns Cantelon’s Endorsement of Old-Growth Logging

AFA Condemns Cantelon’s Endorsement of Old-Growth Logging

I read with dismay that BC Liberal MLA Ron Cantelon’s office has been invoking the Ancient Forest Alliance’s name to insinuate that we somehow support logging of the Nanoose Bay old-growth forest (block DL-33) because we support their decision to keep 1600 hectares of Coastal Douglas Fir ecosystem off-limits to logging through a new Land Use Order. That’s like saying “because you like the new rain jacket I got you, you’ll like me dumping this bucket of cold water on your head, too.” Support for one initiative does not somehow mean support for everything else they do, particularly their backwards, destructive decisions. The Coastal Douglas fir zone is among the top four most endangered ecosystems in Canada. Almost half of it is already gone under asphalt and farmland, and only 1% of it remains in its old-growth state. We’ve always been clear that it should be a no-brainer that the BC Liberal government has the obligation to protect the last old-growth remnants in this ecosystem immediately, it is ridiculous to have to fight over the last 1%. And its a sleazy tactic for Cantelon to try to link the Ancient Forest Alliance, the loudest voice in BC against logging of endangered old-growth forests, with the government’s backwards decision to allow logging of endangered old-growth forests in Nanoose Bay.

Ken Wu
Ancient Forest Alliance
Victoria, BC