On Tuesday November 28th, 2017, from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm there will be a Rally and Info Night for Ancient Forests and BC Forestry Jobs held in Victoria, BC, at Alix Goolden Hall at 907 Pandora Avenue.
YOUR participation makes all the difference!
With the election of a new provincial government, RIGHT NOW is the most decisive time to let the BC government know you want them to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests, support First Nations land use plans, end raw log exports, and ensure a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry.
Key Speakers:
Arnold Bercov – Past President of the Public and Private Workers of Canada
Gisele Martin – Tla-o-qui-aht Cultural and Environmental Educator
Dr. Andy MacKinnon – Metchosin City Councillor and forest ecologist
Jens Wieting – Forest and Climate Campaigner, Sierra Club BC
Josh Schmidt – Director of Development, West Shore Chamber of Commerce
TJ Watt – Photographer & Campaigner, Ancient Forest Alliance
Andrea Inness – Campaigner, Ancient Forest Alliance
Ken Wu – Executive Director, Ancient Forest Alliance
And others TBA…
Please come out and join hundreds of others to make your voice heard!
The election of a new provincial NDP government has created the greatest opportunity in BC’s history to finally protect the remaining endangered old-growth forests and ensure a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry in the province! This is the government that is most likely to take decisive action to finally put an end to BC’s decades-long “War in the Woods” – IF they have the political will because YOU speak up now! The new government is currently deciding on which direction it will take with its forest policies – to continue with the unsustainable status quo, or to overhaul BC’s system of forestry to ensure sustainability for ecosystems, First Nations, thousands of BC’s forestry workers, tourism businesses, and British Columbians in general.
More Background Info:
Old-growth forests are vital to sustain endangered species, First Nations cultures, tourism, the climate, clean water, and wild salmon. Old-growth forests are a non-renewable resource under BC’s system of industrial forestry, where the forests are to be re-logged every 50 to 100 years, never to become old-growth again. 75% of the original, productive old-growth forests have been logged on BC’s southern coast, including over 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow. A century of unsustainable logging has eliminated the vast majority of the biggest, best old-growth trees in the valley bottoms and lower elevations that historically built BC’s forest industry. This has resulted in diminishing returns as the trees get smaller, more expensive to reach higher up, and lower in value. As second-growth forests mature and now dominate the forested land base, the previous BC Liberal government did little to stimulate investment in second-growth sawmills and value-added facilities to process the logs. Instead, they facilitated the export of vast quantities of raw logs to foreign mills in China, the USA, and elsewhere.
In recent years, the movement to protect old-growth forests and for a sustainable, second-growth forest industry has rapidly expanded to include major support from businesses, unions, forestry workers, local governments, and diverse segments of society, along with environmentalists and First Nations. You can send a message to the BC government to protect ancient forests and end raw log exports at: www.BCForestMovement.com YOUR attendance at this rally and info night sends an equivocal message that the fate of BC’s ancient forests and jobs must be a first rate priority for this new provincial government! For more info contact info@ancientforestalliance.org
We hope to see you all there!
