{"id":156546,"date":"2026-08-05T13:30:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T13:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/156546\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T13:30:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T13:30:13","slug":"activists-roadblocks-try-to-stop-logging-old-growth-forests-in-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/156546\/","title":{"rendered":"Activists’ roadblocks try to stop logging old-growth forests in Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"

PORT RENFREW, British Columbia (AP) \u2014 The five-car caravan crept down a gravel logging road as the day\u2019s last beams of golden light cut through the trees. About 20 forest defenders were making a stand in southwest Vancouver Island, at a spot where a logging company was expected to cut old-growth trees<\/a> the following morning.<\/p>\n

They made camp in tents and the backs of cars. One truck parked sideways across the road. They awoke at 3 a.m., their headlamps tracing the ground, as they took their positions.<\/p>\n

An hour later, headlights appeared in the distance. A logging truck slowed, idled, then turned around. Nobody got out. Nobody spoke. <\/p>\n

It was a small, inconclusive victory in a fight that has spanned generations. But for those gathered in the forest, it mattered.<\/p>\n

\"Bill<\/p>\n

\n Bill Jones, a First Nations Pacheedaht elder, speaks to land defenders during a logging blockade near Port Renfrew, British Columbia, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag)\n <\/p>\n

Bill Jones, a First Nations Pacheedaht elder, speaks to land defenders during a logging blockade near Port Renfrew, British Columbia, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag)<\/p>\n

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\"Bill<\/p>\n

\n Bill Jones, a First Nations Pacheedaht elder, prepares to join a blockade on a road used for logging before dawn near Port Renfrew, British Columbia, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag)\n <\/p>\n

Bill Jones, a First Nations Pacheedaht elder, prepares to join a blockade on a road used for logging before dawn near Port Renfrew, British Columbia, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag)<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

\"Land<\/p>\n

Land defenders gather on a logging road before dawn as a logging vehicle approaches the blockade near Port Renfrew, British Columbia, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag)<\/p>\n

Land defenders gather on a logging road before dawn as a logging vehicle approaches the blockade near Port Renfrew, British Columbia, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag)<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere is no dispute about what happened to our land,\u201d said Bill Jones, a First Nations<\/a> Pacheedaht elder who sat in the road as daylight crept in. At 86, he\u2019s watched the forests on his nation\u2019s territory disappear for most of his adult life. He started logging himself at age 18, he said, before he understood what he was helping to dismantle.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing left \u2014 it\u2019s practically naked, bare,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s few remnants here and there, and so we have to save what we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vancouver Island\u2019s old-growth rainforests are among the rarest ecosystems on Earth<\/p>\n

Activists on Vancouver Island are once again trying to stop the logging of old growth forests, some of the rarest and most carbon rich ecosystems on Earth. (AP Video by Annika Hammerschlag. Produced by Juli\u00e1n Trejo Bax)<\/p>\n

Coastal temperate rainforests cover barely half a percent of Earth\u2019s land surface. Vancouver Island\u2019s remaining stands \u2014 some are home to thousand-year-old trees \u2014 store more carbon per hectare than nearly any other forest system, according to the Sierra Club of British Columbia. <\/p>\n

Yet trees that took a millennium to grow can be felled in under an hour. Since industrial logging began more than a century ago, most of Vancouver Island\u2019s productive old-growth forests \u2014 those capable of growing the large trees characteristic of the island\u2019s rainforests \u2014 have been cut. About 20% of those forests remain, according to the Sierra Club, and most of what remains is still open to logging. <\/p>\n

Old-growth western red cedar, defined by the province as trees 250 years or older, produces wood so durable and rot-resistant that it fetches significantly higher prices than other local species. It\u2019s widely used in construction and, despite recent tariffs, the United States remains a major export market. Second-growth forests, by contrast, are younger stands that regenerated after previous logging and produce less-durable wood products. <\/p>\n

See how logging wiped away most of Vancouver Island\u2019s old growth forests from 1900 to 2024<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n Note: Definitions of old growth, sometimes called ancient, vary by ecosystems and species. Across most of Vancouver Island, British Columbia generally classifies forests that are more than 250 years old as old growth. Years 2014, 2015 and 2016 are missing.\n <\/p>\n

Although the province says more than 11 million hectares<\/a> of old growth remain, scientists say there is only about 415,000 hectares<\/a> of productive old growth capable of growing the largest trees.<\/p>\n

The fight is not unique to British Columbia. During what became known as the Timber Wars of the late 1980s and 1990s, activists occupied giant redwoods, chained themselves to logging equipment and blockaded roads across California, Oregon and Washington. The battles ultimately helped secure protections for many of the remaining ancient forests. <\/p>\n

The conflict has flared for decades<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Logs<\/p>\n

Logs float on the water in Jordan River, British Columbia, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag)<\/p>\n

Logs float on the water in Jordan River, British Columbia, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag)<\/p>\n

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More than 850 people were arrested during the 1993 \u201cWar in the Woods\u201d protests at Clayoquot Sound. Nearly 30 years later, more than 1,100 were arrested at Fairy Creek, where blockades won temporary protections now set to expire in September. <\/p>\n

As old-growth logging has continued elsewhere on the island, activists are again returning to the forests. <\/p>\n

In the Walbran Valley, also on Pacheedaht territory, logging by Tsawak-qin Forestry, a company co-owned by the Huu-ay-aht First Nation and forestry giant Western Forest Products, has exposed tensions over whether forests on traditional territories should be managed for economic development, conservation, or both, and who within Indigenous communities can decide.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A bald eagle\u2019s nest sits atop a remaining tree within a logged area near Campbell River, British Columbia, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag)<\/p>\n

A bald eagle\u2019s nest sits atop a remaining tree within a logged area near Campbell River, British Columbia, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag)<\/p>\n

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British Columbia\u2019s forests minister, Ravi Parmar, said that if a long-term agreement with the Pacheedaht Nation is not reached before the Fairy Creek deferral expires he would seek another extension. <\/p>\n

The province says it has deferred or protected 2.4 millions of hectares of old growth since 2021, but critics say most of those measures are temporary and some deferred areas continue to be logged. At the same time, British Columbia Premier David Eby\u2019s government has pledged to increase timber harvests in an effort to revitalize the forestry sector. Opponents argue those goals are incompatible. <\/p>\n

The ecological consequences of losing what remains would be extensive<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Andy<\/p>\n

Andy MacKinnon, a forest ecologist, stands beneath the forest canopy near Victoria, British Columbia, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag)<\/p>\n

Andy MacKinnon, a forest ecologist, stands beneath the forest canopy near Victoria, British Columbia, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag)<\/p>\n

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Some coastal old-growth stands on Vancouver Island have not experienced a major disturbance since the end of the last ice age some 12,000 years ago. Their layered canopies, nurse logs and ancient root systems create habitat for hundreds of species, including threatened marbled murrelet seabirds and salmon. <\/p>\n

\u201cOnce an old-growth forest is logged, it will require millennia before it has the structure, composition and function of the forest that was logged \u2014 if in fact it can ever recover in times of changing climate,\u201d said Andy MacKinnon, a forest ecologist in British Columbia. <\/p>\n

The forests also drive tourism, which some researchers argue outweighs their value as lumber<\/a>. Visitors from around the world flock to the island\u2019s ancient groves to experience towering, moss-draped cedars and Douglas firs. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Visitors<\/p>\n

Visitors walk through Cathedral Grove, an old growth forest in MacMillan Provincial Park near Port Alberni, British Columbia, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag)<\/p>\n

Visitors walk through Cathedral Grove, an old growth forest in MacMillan Provincial Park near Port Alberni, British Columbia, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag)<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

\"Moss<\/p>\n

Moss drips from tree branches in a forest near Port Renfrew, British Columbia, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag)<\/p>\n

Moss drips from tree branches in a forest near Port Renfrew, British Columbia, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag)<\/p>\n

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Still, the transition away from old-growth logging cannot happen overnight, said Parmar, the forests minister. <\/p>\n

He pointed to the province\u2019s old-growth deferrals and protections, alongside investments in second-growth hemlock milling, as evidence that British Columbia is moving away from dependence on old-growth timber. He said the industry is also under pressure from U.S. tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber, which now top 45%. <\/p>\n

\u201cForestry is the foundation of our economy. It provides good paying, family supporting jobs \u2014 about 100,000 direct and indirect,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we were to shut down harvesting of all old forests here in British Columbia, it would shut down our sector completely on day one.\u201d<\/p>\n

For some, the fight to protect old growth is personal<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Land<\/p>\n

Land defender Steven \u201cShambu\u201d Daniluk drives down a road used for logging near Port Renfrew, British Columbia, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag)<\/p>\n

Land defender Steven \u201cShambu\u201d Daniluk drives down a road used for logging near Port Renfrew, British Columbia, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag)<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis is our ivory trade,\u201d said Steven \u201cShambu\u201d Daniluk, a longtime blockader who spent nearly two years on the front lines at Fairy Creek. But unlike the illegal poaching of elephants, much of the world remains unaware of what is happening in British Columbia\u2019s forests, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople feel unheard,\u201d he said. \u201cBeing engaged in this way, risking that arrest, is the only way.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Land<\/p>\n

Land defender Steven \u201cShambu\u201d Daniluk peers up at an old growth tree near Port Renfrew, British Columbia, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag)<\/p>\n

Land defender Steven \u201cShambu\u201d Daniluk peers up at an old growth tree near Port Renfrew, British Columbia, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag)<\/p>\n

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Veronika Sitar, an outdoor enthusiast from Campbell River, has found her own way of reckoning with the losses. Most weekends she drives and hikes hours into the backcountry to document old-growth stands before the loggers reach them \u2014 spending time, she said, with trees she fears won\u2019t be there when she returns.<\/p>\n

On a recent trip into the north island\u2019s Prince of Wales range, she pushed through dense undergrowth and snaked around thorny plants to reach General Buxton, one of the largest yellow cedars in British Columbia. She was still catching her breath when she spotted flagging tape just 200 feet (60 meters) away, marking the route of a proposed logging road. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to get too attached knowing what will be logged,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\"Veronika<\/p>\n

\n Veronika Sitar, an outdoor enthusiast, sits on the stump of a yellow cedar in a recently logged area of the Prince of Wales Range, near Campbell River, British Columbia, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag)\n <\/p>\n

Veronika Sitar, an outdoor enthusiast, sits on the stump of a yellow cedar in a recently logged area of the Prince of Wales Range, near Campbell River, British Columbia, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag)<\/p>\n

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\"Veronika<\/p>\n

\n Veronika Sitar, an outdoor enthusiast, shows an image on her phone of herself sitting at a yellow cedar just weeks before it was logged in the Prince of Wales Range, near Campbell River, British Columbia, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag)\n <\/p>\n

Veronika Sitar, an outdoor enthusiast, shows an image on her phone of herself sitting at a yellow cedar just weeks before it was logged in the Prince of Wales Range, near Campbell River, British Columbia, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag)<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

\"Veronika<\/p>\n

Veronika Sitar, an outdoor enthusiast, lies on a yellow cedar stump within a logged area near Campbell River, British Columbia, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag)<\/p>\n

Veronika Sitar, an outdoor enthusiast, lies on a yellow cedar stump within a logged area near Campbell River, British Columbia, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag)<\/p>\n

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Back at the blockade, word spread of a new area where logging was being planned, this time on Ditidaht First Nation territory to the north. They began making calls, hoping to connect with local land defenders. <\/p>\n

Jones, the Pacheedaht elder, said he was troubled not just by the loss of the forests, but by people\u2019s connection to them and, in turn, to themselves. That, he said, is why they continue to protect the remaining old growth. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just fighting over the leftovers.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Logging<\/p>\n

Logging roads wind through mountains near Port Renfrew, British Columbia, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag)<\/p>\n

Logging roads wind through mountains near Port Renfrew, British Columbia, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag)<\/p>\n

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___<\/p>\n

Follow Annika Hammerschlag on Instagram: @ahammergram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP\u2019s environmental coverage, visit https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/climate-and-environment<\/a><\/p>\n