Zoning issues to be discussed by CRD board

By Judith Lavoie, Times Colonist
A closed-door meeting of the Capital Regional District board will be held tomorrow to mull over options following a B.C. Supreme Court ruling that struck down zoning bylaws on the southwest corner of Vancouver Island.
A road to a subdivision just past Jordan River.
A closed-door meeting of the Capital Regional District [...]

Politicians persuaded to save Canada boreal forest

By Deborah Zabarenko, Environment Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Politicians actually listened when experts told them to protect Canada’s boreal forest, a potent weapon against global warming, and the plan for this vast green area could work on some of the world’s other vital places, scientists told Reuters.
Bigger than the Amazon and better than almost anywhere else [...]

Logging at Cathedral Grove stops – for now

Julia Caranci, Canwest News Service
PORT ALBERNI – Island Timberlands has put plans on hold to log 7,500 cubic metres of old-growth forest near the border of Cathedral Grove park.
The forestry firm says, however, there are no guarantees the area won’t be harvested in the future.
Protesters concerned about the logging of the old-growth forest threatened to [...]

Natives gain more influence over logging

ROBERT MATAS, Globe and Mail
VANCOUVER — Natives will have significantly more clout over forestry in British Columbia after a court ruling that found the provincial government renewed licences granting the right to log in public forests in northern B.C. without meaningful consultation or adequate accommodation of aboriginal interests.

Private forest land release defended

PORT RENFREW – As Rod Bealing drives his pickup along the narrow road that winds through forest lands released from southern Vancouver Island tree farm licences, he sees a beginning rather than an end.
The mist-shrouded fishing and logging hamlet of Port Renfrew has about 300 year-round residents now, with tourism slowly picking up as forestry [...]

Locals oppose mine on Catface Mountain

By Matthew Burrows, Vancouver Straight
An environmental advocate has promised to take “action” in Tofino, arguing that a Vancouver-based mining company’s exploratory drilling on Catface Mountain does not respect the need for community input.
However, Friends of Clayoquot Sound office coordinator Kevin Bruce told the Georgia Straight not to expect a rewind to the mass protests of [...]

The arrogance of the environmentalists

Iain Cuthbert, Special to the Sun
Randy Shore’s excellent article on Clayoquot Sound describes yet another example of the inability of environmentalists to learn and adapt to change, which is why it is widely held that this tired movement is doomed to extinction.
During the 1990s “war in the woods,” environmentalists along with first nations blocked forestry [...]

Marchers protest Shell drill plan

By Kat Lee – Terrace Standard
Organizers of July 15’s rally protesting Shell’s plans to drill for coalbed methane natural gas northeast of here say they’ll keep their efforts up until the company pulls out.
“I think [the rally] was an absolute success,” said co-organizer Julia Hill, adding that people have told her this is one of [...]

Save Clayoquot rally on long-weekend

Gillian Riddell, Westerly News
The Friends of Clayoquot Sound are organizing a rally to help educate residents about their concerns about the rising industrial threats to the sound.
“There are an increasing number of industrial threats to Clayoquot Sound,” said Maryjka Mychajlowycz with the Friends of Clayoquot Sound, citing the exploratory mineral drilling currently underway on Catface [...]

NDP asks Doyle to turn focus on Alberni Valley

More than 70,000 hectares released from tree farm licence in 2004
Judith Lavoie, Times Colonist
The NDP wants auditor general John Doyle to produce a sequel to his scathing report on the removal of private forestlands from three Vancouver Island tree farm licences.
And, the sequel could be even scarier than the original, says Alberni-Qualicum MLA Scott Fraser [...]