One of the other old-growth defenders asked me “Why are you here?” It was a question I’d asked myself a number of times scrambling up steep mountain trails and shivering in the cold mountain air at night. After all it did seem a bit crazy for this old body showing every one of its 75 years and still recovering from open heart surgery to be blockading a logging road deep in the Westcoast rain forest.
The answer is simple, really: disgust, sadness, anger, frustration, coupled with deep-seated passion to be part of a movement trying to save the last of the Island’s old-growth trees.
After joining the Rainforest Flying Squad my partner and I headed up to the Caycuse camp south of Lake Cowichan to check out what was happening. After spending the day and being inspired by such a talented and dedicated group of young activists, we realized we had to do more, headed back home and put supplies together and headed back into camp to lend our support.
Some important things to know: Members of the Rainforest Flying Squad call themselves defenders not protesters for good reason. They take a Gandhian non-violent approach to all their actions. They are not opposed to logging or think of the logging company Teal Jones as an enemy (although some of the company’s tactics seem a bit disingenuous). The defenders point out there is lots of harvestable second growth in the area and encourage logging companies to target those areas. Their fight is with the NDP government’s failure to protect the last of the province’s old-growth forests. Many of the people in camp had been NDP supporters in the past and wonder what has become of the party that once had a strong environmental platform.
It’s also important to note the Flying Squad is doing everything in its power to respect the rights and wishes of both the Pacheedhat and Ditidaht First Nations. The Pacheedhat have a complex relationship with the government and the members are by no means in agreement when it comes to old-growth logging in their unceded territory. On my last night in camp before coming out for a few days to replenish supplies and write this story, several members of the Pacheedhat came into camp to thank us for our efforts.
The Flying Squad defenders are also respectful of the RCMP and the job they are required to do. But they are also adamantly clear the Supreme Court injunction ordering them not to block the logging road will be ignored. Like their forerunners 30 years ago at Meares Island, the Walbran and the Clayoquot where some 900 activists were arrested, charged and fined or jailed, this new breed of defenders are willing to suffer the same consequences.
But they won’t be the only ones suffering consequences. The damage to the NDP’s reputation will be significant as news spreads around the world as it did during the Clayoquot arrests.
During my 35 years as a political journalist and government relations consultant, I learned a lot about how government really works, especially the deep, dark side where politics trumps common sense. So let me share my views on what I believe is happening.
Premier John Horgan received a report from the old-growth forest panel last spring, and during the fall election he promised to implement every one of its 14 recommendations. To that end, the government has made a few minor changes, deferring some old-growth harvesting in nine small select areas, but ignored the Fairy Lake and Walbran/Caycuse areas. The government still hasn’t moved on implementing broader regulations to protect the old-growth forests.
It also promised to save what it calls the “big, iconic trees” from further cutting. The one in the photo was cut down over the Easter weekend.
Logging companies like Teal Jones know stricter regulations around logging old-growth stands are coming. And here is where politics kicks in. John Horgan is widely known as a “brown” New Democrat (as opposed to “green”) and tends to side with industry’s position over environmentalists’, especially when it brings in revenues to the government coffers. By stalling all winter, there was enough time for the snows to melt, allowing the logging industry time to rush in and harvest more and more of the old-growth including several “big, iconic trees.”
In the Caycuse, where our camp is located, the tree-fallers went in on Good Friday and planned on cutting all through the Easter weekend. However, the Rainforest Flying Squad got word of the logging and set up a blockade Saturday night. Teal Jones’ fallers showed up Easter Sunday and were turned away.
The Flying Squad got busy organizing a semi-permanent camp, digging and building a latrine with such skill and beauty it should be featured in Architectural Digest magazine. They set up a blockade at the head of the camp, erected a combined kitchen/meeting area teepee near the bridge high over the Caycuse River and established different teams with different roles. Within a few days it was so well organized it looked as if everything had been in place for months.
More supporters poured in and a string of tents and an occasional camper now line about a kilometre of the logging road, all carefully socially distanced from one another respecting Bonnie Henry’s COVID-19 guidelines.
In its media coverage, Teal Jones has promoted itself as a small cedar company with a moderate cedar mill in Surrey that specializes in value-added cedar products. If that is the case, perhaps the company can explain why it is cutting down ancient Douglas firs like the one in the photo.
As I stood stroking my hand across the cut of that now-dead fir tree, I couldn’t stop a tear from trickling down my cheek. That’s why I’m here.
Paul Nicholson
Victoria
