Real-time reports on clearcuts and log exports from southern Vancouver Island. Updated with data from online sources and first-hand info. Spread the word: bookmark, share, follow, comment. Send photos and tips to clearcuts@hushmail.com .

Monday, January 16, 2012

Clearcut forecast: Cortes Island

Photo: Island Light
Long considered "socially inoperable" due to local opposition, now the mixed-age forests of Cortes Island may be on the block. A visit from Island Timberlands' operations manager is described in vivid detail here. (The manager seems to be suffering from a deficit of social operability himself.)

Cortes Island is known as a cradle of the early Greenpeace movement and home to Hollyhock, the influential eco-wellness institute.

Island Timberlands has offices in Nanaimo and Vancouver, but the company is now owned by Wall Street conglomerate Brookfield Asset Management

On January 12, local activists Tzeporah Berman and Carrie Saxifrage delivered 6200 petition signatures to Brookfield corporate offices in London, New York, Hong Kong, Sydney and Toronto, the Vancouver Observer reports.

Islanders were notified last year that logging would begin in mid-January. Saxifrage says she is "cautiously optimistic" the efforts of residents and supporters will thwart that plan. Two groups, WildStands and Island Stance, are promising spirited protests if the logging goes ahead.

On January 14, Ken Wu of Ancient Forest Alliance released a report on groves of rare old-growth trees on Cortes Island.

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