Letter signed by 200 leaders, activists, actors seeks protection for B.C.'s old-growth forests

A Vancouver-based environmental group says more than 200 prominent people including scientists, Indigenous leaders, politicians, actors and artists, have signed a letter calling on British Columbia Premier John Horgan to halt old-growth logging.

Canopy says those signing the open letter and sending messages toHorgan range from Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs Grand Chief StewartPhillip to former NASA scientist James Hansen and actors WilliamShatner and Dame Judi Dench.

Shatner's message says standing beside a giant cedar makes itclear how "small our place in the universe really is,'' and thepremier should let the forests "live long and prosper.''

A statement from Canopy says only fragments of old-growth forestsremain in B.C., and logging continues, despite recent deferralsannounced by the province covering "relatively small areas.''

The Squamish Nation reported in June that it had identified atleast 20 cut blocks within 150 kilometres of Vancouver whereold-growth logging is planned and it echoed three Vancouver IslandFirst Nations that say they will defer all old-growth harvestingwhile developing long-term sustainability plans intheirterritories.

Forests Minister Katrine Conroy told the legislature duringquestion period this week that B.C. has deferred harvesting of oldgrowth in 11 areas this year, totalling nearly 200,000 hectares, andbrought in big-tree regulation that protects over 1,500 groves.

The B.C. government commissioned an independent panel in 2019 tomake recommendations on its approach to transforming old-growthforestry management and Conroy said it is implementing all 14recommendations.

"We've protected forest habitats for caribou, spotted owl,vulnerable species like the marbled murrelet and northern goshawk,''she said.

Primatologist Jane Goodall is another of the signatories to theletter and her message demanding a halt to old-growth logging saysit's "increasingly urgent'' that voices be raised to protectforests.

"Every ancient tree felled, every species that becomes extinct, represents another threat to the future of our planet,'' Goodallsaid in the statement.

Nicole Rycroft, Canopy's executive director, says the many callsto protect B.C.'s oldest trees "underscore the breadth of supportfor conservation and how important it is for planetary health.''

This latest letter builds on a similar one Canopy sent in June containing the signatures of 100 old-growth logging opponents.