Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #OldGrowth

@SoniaFurstenau

The @bcndp says that no whole trees from BC's primary forests are being turned into pellets to burn.

But a confidential note from @KatrineConroy’s estimates briefings says 75% of wood pellets are made from saw mill residuals. Where is the rest coming from? 1/ #bcpoli #oldgrowth

There is video evidence from @BBCPanorama, @cbcfifth, and @Conserva_North showing whole trees being cut, transported, and processed at the Drax site.

I asked @KatrineContory again, are whole trees from primary forests being turned into wood pellets in BC? 2/ #bcpoli #oldgrowth

The Minster said a whole lot of nothing about the company that her former Chief Forester now helps run.

I asked if she believes the reports from renowned investigative journalists, backed up by video footage, from @BBCPanorama and @cbcfifth to be false? 3/ #bcpoli #oldgrowth

Read 5 tweets

Sonia Furstenau

@SoniaFurstenau

We cannot allow our primary forests to be cut, turn to wood pellets, and burnt. This is an egregious situation.

Today we called on the @bcndp to immediately suspend the operating licenses of all Drax-owned subsidiaries in BC. 1/ #bcpoli #oldgrowth
bbc.com/news/science-e…

Drax has been consolidating wood pellet operations in BC, controlling approximately two thirds of the industry.

Last year BC’s Chief Forester left her role and joined Drax immediately as VP for Corporate Sustainability. 2/ #bcpoli #forestry

❌A British company is cutting our primary forests for wood pellets and burning them
❌Burning wood pellets is more carbon intensive than burning coal.
❌Revolving door from the Ministry of Forests to forest industry
❌Over $10 million in provincial subsidies
3/ #bcpoli #forestry

Read 4 tweets

Torrance Coste

@TorranceCoste

Today marks exactly two years since the BC government released the results of its Old-Growth Strategic Review.

This review outlined a clear process to safeguard old-growth + implement a paradigm shift in forests in BC.

Unfortunately, the @bcndp is far behind.

A VERY long 🧵:

The OGSR, undertaken in 2019 and early 2020 by two veteran foresters, was the largest review of forest policy and practices in BC history.

The result was a groundbreaking report, completed in April 2020 and released to the public Sept11th:
www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/far… #bcpoli
2/47

The report explicitly acknowledged the problems in the BC forest industry. It classified the status quo as unsustainable, and highlighted the huge lack of public trust due to poor transparency from the provincial government.
#bcpoli #oldgrowth #bcforestry
3/47

Read 46 tweets

Torrance Coste

@TorranceCoste

The debate around old-growth forests in #bcpoli often heats up around quantity vs quality.

Megathread on #oldgrowth logging and the gutting of prime, valley-bottom forest in B.C.:

The vast majority of remaining old-growth in this province is what scientists call "lower productivity" forests -- stands in areas where conditions like elevation, slope and aspect make for forests with smaller trees smaller less biodiversity.

This old-growth still matters --I've been in some really cool mountain-side or shore-bog forests-- but in addition to holding less ecological value, it's also less valuable as timber and because of that it is hugely over-represented compared to other old-growth.

Read 34 tweets

Torrance Coste

@TorranceCoste

I had another meeting about old-growth with reps from a First Nation in BC this morning. Like a lot of these conversations, it was incredible heartbreaking and frustrating.

LONG thread on the BC government's broken approach on old-growth forests.
#bcpoli #oldgrowth #UNDRIP
1/18

The Nation I talked to, like all in BC, have had some of the threatened old-growth in their territory recommended for deferrals (two year holds on logging) by the provincial government.

The province has asked the Nation to inform them of their intention within 30 days.
2/18

Like most of the 200+ First Nations in the province, this community is concerned about remaining old-growth and the continued logging of it.

Also like many Nations here, they're involved in logging, after 100+ years of being excluded from economic development on their land.
3/18

Read 18 tweets

Lindsay Brown

@Lidsville

So, @BIVnews is platforming forest industry whining by a resource extraction shill, Stewart Muir (ResourceWorks). I hesitate to link to it, but here it is, and then I'll rebut it. biv.com/article/2021/1… #OldGrowth forests #FairyCreek #bcpoli

@BIVnews ..Forest expert says: "Since 2005, 35 sawmills in BC’s Interior & 9 on the coast were permanently shuttered, along with ~ half the coastal shake & shingle mills, & 1000s of jobs were lost with these closures all without a ripple or a blip to BC’s GDP or the total BC labour force"

@BIVnews .."The forest industry needs to downsize by many more mills and jobs than Muir is parading here. We can only hope COFI’s [Council of Forest Industries] prediction will come to pass. Communities will rebound if we conserve all old growth now." #oldgrowth #bcpoli

Read 11 tweets

Lindsay Brown

@Lidsville

Today Teal Cedar went back to court in Nanaimo to ask for their injunction against #FairyCreek forest defenders to be extended.

The logging company's lawyer Dean Dalke is really in a tizzy over the tactical abilities of the protesters... (thread)

thestar.com/news/canada/20…

In court, the logging company's lawyer said of the land defenders, 'their resistance to being arrested is just shocking!' (This generated some amusement)

Leaving aside what "resistance" means for now, let's just review what's been going on with the RCMP at #FairyCreek...

Recall: the RCMP not only used this injunction to remove forest defenders from the #FairyCreek area, they exceeded their powers, & barred media from witnessing their actions, & more. In August, Judge Thompson (same judge as today) found that: cbc.ca/news/canada/br… #bcpoli

Read 269 tweets

Lindsay Brown

@Lidsville

THREAD. This 17-year-old was removed from a tripod at Ada’itsx/#FairyCreek on Aug 24. An RCMP officer cut the youth’s shirt off, covered his face with a gloved hand & held his head back at an uncomfortable angle, before dropping him down with a rope around his lower ribs. #bcpoli

Images of RCMP violence at #FairyCreek

1. Videos showing mask-ripping before pepper-spraying, in this article: thenarwhal.ca/fairy-creek-bl…

2. An Indigenous woman land defender attacked and dragged down: instagram.com/p/CS01IvNrSQP/

cont'd...
#bcpoli #oldgrowth #PoliceBrutality

..3. Arrest at River Camp, a young man dragged with rope under his arms by RCMP: instagram.com/p/CSxXyUvhBcl/

4. River Camp Aug. 20 – woman flipped over, four RCMP attack a young black woman: drive.google.com/drive/u/0/fold…

There is more, Minister of Silence @mikefarnworthbc...
#bcpoli

Read 10 tweets

Lindsay Brown

@Lidsville

THREAD - Report from #FairyCreekBlockade that you won't hear in the BC mainstream media, on the imminent cutting of these ancient trees, incl 1000 year old giants.

The RCMP are acting as heavies for the logging company Teal Jones which has been posting... record profits. #bcpoli

https://twitter.com/MSwaggernaut/status/1435790814022565889

.."This tree is in the next block to be logged at #FairyCreek starting tmrw. It's just outside the watershed. Police cleared the route to it by smashing in the windows of a van so they could drag a woman who had been sleeping in the van out, then crushed her van with a bulldozer"

.."Did we get pictures? No, we are no longer allowed to take pictures, on pain of arrest, and the media were excluded by an illegal exclusion zone. The one BC Supreme Court Justice Justice Thompson said this about:
#bcpoli #FairyCreek #oldgrowth @BCRCMP @mikefarnworthbc @Dave_Eby

Read 13 tweets

Torrance Coste

@TorranceCoste

Reeeeaaaallly long 🧵 about #oldgrowth in B.C.:

So, tomorrow marks two weeks until the one year anniversary of the release of the Old-Growth Strategic Review (OGSR) report.

You can check out the report here:

www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/far… #bcpoli #cdnpoli

The report was written by the OGSR panel, comprised of two expert foresters who undertook the most extensive review of forest policy ever done in BC from the fall of 2019 to spring 2020.

The panel gave its report to the @bcndp government on April 30, 2020.
#bcpoli #oldgrowth

Government sat on the report for more than four months, before publishing it Sept.11, 2020.

The report is good. Its assessment of the status quo as unsustainable and call for a paradigm shift echoed what the environmental movement has been saying for decades.
#bcpoli

Read 33 tweets

Lindsay Brown

@Lidsville

VIDEO - NEW. Police violence at #FairyCreek & area. PLEASE watch, read and share. Will include full text in this thread. Includes list of actions - please do them! This is serious & the situation is escalating... #bcpoli #cdnpoli instagram.com/p/CS2naMTBxo4/ #oldgrowth #climatechange

..@SaveFairyCreek: "60 PEOPLE PEPPER SPRAYED AND ASSAULTED OUTSIDE #FAIRYCREEK HQ camp.
▫️The world needs to see this!
▫️Please share everywhere you possibly can."
#fairyCreekBlockade #oldgrowth #bcpoli #cdnpoli

...@SaveFairyCreek: "The line was being pushed, I was trying to protect an Indigenous femme. The cops started pepper spraying everyone. They grabbed me, held open my mouth and sprayed pepper spray into my mouth and eyes. Then they punched me hard..." #FairyCreek #bcpoli

Read 11 tweets

Lindsay Brown

@Lidsville

THREAD: Brutal account of police violence & more from a land defender at #FairyCreek. He has bruised ribs & torn muscles & tendons, & says police left people in nearly closed paddywagons in 37C direct sun for hours. This is on you, @jjhorgan & @mikefarnworthbc. #oldgrowth #bcpoli

@jjhorgan @mikefarnworthbc .."I am absolutely gutted this morning. My arrest and the arrests I witnessed on Tuesday were some of the most brutal I have seen or experienced in over 30 years of civil disobedience. I have been tuned up by the cops before but, never that bad simply for saying no.." #FairyCreek

@jjhorgan @mikefarnworthbc .."My body hurts in places I had forgotten that I had, and I can't stop crying every time I see another kid dragged through the dirt for standing up for something they believe in..." #FairyCreek #oldgrowth #bcpoli #policeviolence

Read 16 tweets

Lindsay Brown

@Lidsville

ICYMI, this is one of the best pieces of journalism I've read in a long time. David Broadland in Focus on Victoria, on the perilous BC forestry mess that the BC NDP steadfastly refuses to fix. Some key quotes to follow. focusonvictoria.ca/forests/90/ cc #oldgrowth #FairyCreek #bcpoli

.."Our investigation found the Ministry of Forests with its collective head in the sand and the logging industry feeding on the huge public expenditure of money used to fight the fires.." #bcwildfires #WhiteRockLakeFire #bcpoli

"..testimony provided to an Oregon court in 2019 revealed that clearcut logging, followed by replanting, creates fuel conditions that make fires easier to ignite and harder to control. These effects persist for decades..." #BCWildfires

Read 12 tweets

Lindsay Brown

@Lidsville

URGENT REQUEST from @SaveFairyCreek for self sufficient folks to regroup at #FariyCreek HQ. "THE LIVES OF OUR GRANDCHILDREN DEPEND ON IT!"

RCMP are acting unlawfully with @jjhorgan & @mikefarnworthbc authorization. Indep media is being kept out. Where is MSM? Crickets. #bcpoli

@SaveFairyCreek @jjhorgan @mikefarnworthbc .."Join us at #FairyCreek (Ada’itsx) HQ! Please arrive prepared to self-sufficiently camp overnight. Arrestees & non-arrestees are needed DAILY.
Read our pre-arrival info sheet: bit.ly/FCBarrivalinfo
Worried about getting arrested? Some educational info: bit.ly/FCBarrestee

@SaveFairyCreek @jjhorgan @mikefarnworthbc .."Indigenous Elder Bill Jones has called for help to get press out to #Fairy Creek immediately. The RCMP raided all the #FairyCreek camps on Monday, the one year anniversary, knowing many defenders would be in Victoria at the Legislature event.." cont'd #bcpoli

Read 10 tweets

PPSTMX

@PPSTMX1

The UN's 'Code Red for Humanity' report from the @IPCC_CH invites each of us to participate in this moment of truth, as individuals, communities, as human beings. Climate change has arrived in BC, and no one is spared.

Over 4 days in July, heat caused the death of hundreds of humans and billions of other organisms; wildfires rage out of control. Fossil fuels must be curbed drastically, starting now. The biosphere won’t negotiate anymore.

"Immediate, rapid, large-scale reductions" means NOW:

#StopTMX, cancel LNG, end fossil fuel subsidies, and protect all #oldgrowth forests and functioning ecosystems.

Read 6 tweets

Lindsay Brown / Wear a Mask, Vaccinated =/= immune

@Lidsville

Private comments by one of BC's most experienced foresters (who'd rather remain nameless:) "Vaughn Palmer and RBC capital markets are missing the main reason for the exodus of BC's oligopoly of forest corporations to the southern United Sates...." #OldGrowth #FairyCreek #bcpoli

...Thread cont'd: "The forest companies are leaving because over 40% of the forest cover within B.C'.s timber harvesting land base is under 20 years old and the availability of large grade 1 and 2 logs is rapidly declining...." #OldGrowth #bcpoli

... Forester: "These big logs from primary/#OldGrowth forests together with large subsidies to the forest sector provide the economic competitive advantage to the 80% of provincial forest products exported to the U.S., Japan and China..."

Read 5 tweets

Torrance Coste

@TorranceCoste

LONG THREAD about forest industry jobs, based on Stats Can data:

1/30
So I'm looking at numbers on logging levels and forest sector employment for some research I'm doing, and comparing how many jobs are created by logging in different provinces.

#bcpoli #cdnpoli #forestry

2/30 The data is from this Stats Can data set, which lets you toggle between the numbers for logging (by volume or by area), employment, inventory, investment and other values.

cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/statsprofile/e…
#bcpoli #abpoli #cdnpoli #forests #forestry

3/30 I'm particularly interested in efficiency --not in the standard sense under capitalism, but with regard to the actual value this industry provides to our communities, in exchange for it's huge impacts, which anyone who follows me on here will be aware of my thoughts about.

Read 31 tweets

Torrance Coste

@TorranceCoste

1/5 Most forest in BC isn’t old-growth.

Of the part that is, about half won’t ever be logged, as it’s either bog or high elevation forest with small, expensive-to-access trees that the industry doesn’t want.

#bcpoli #oldgrowth

2/5 Along with smaller trees, these forests contain less of the other values we associate with old-growth: biodensity and carbon storage, cultural resources, recreation and tourism potential.

They aren’t unimportant, but they are not what we collectively value as old-growth.

3/5 of the other half of remaining old-growth, about two thirds is protected, and again, this includes a lot of that bog/high elevation forest that has its own importance, but has less of the values that iconic old-growth contains.

Read 5 tweets

Torrance Coste

@TorranceCoste

A more detailed account of what I witnessed yesterday on the Caycuse Main, unceded Ditidaht territory, south of Lake Cowichan 🧵

Content Warning: police, arrests

#bcpoli #cdnpoli

Yesterday I attended a morning vigil on the Caycuse Main, a logging road on unceded Ditidaht territory that leads into one of the blockade locations on the south Island where old-growth logging is being resisted by grassroots activists and Indigenous land defenders.
#oldgrowth

I arrived just before 7am, shortly after the vigil began. I learned that the plan was to hold space on the road, turn away industry vehicles (one was turned away when I was there) but not to hold a firm blockade if told by the RCMP to move.

Read 17 tweets

Sonia Furstenau

@SoniaFurstenau

Today, the B.C. Supreme Court ruled in favor of forestry company Teal Jones Group and their injunction application to remove protestors and blockades from #FairyCreek. It sets the stage for #OldGrowth logging in the last intact old growth valley on Southern Van Island. 1/ #bcpoli

It is time for the @bcndp to step in, revoke permits for Teal Jones Group and come to the table with conservation financing to provide real options for a path forward to save #FairyCreek. 2/ #bcpoli #OldGrowth

.@jjhorgan promised to implement all of the recommendations of the #OldGrowth Review Panel, including immediate deferrals of logging in high-value at-risk forests. The #FairyCreek watershed is the definition of a high-risk ecosystem. 3/ #bcpoli

Read 4 tweets

Sonia Furstenau

@SoniaFurstenau

Today in QP I asked about #FairyCreek. There is an injunction request by Teal Jones to remove the blockades from #FairyCreek and start roadbuilding in this valley. It sets the stage for #OldGrowth logging in the last intact old growth valley on Southern Van Island. 1/ #bcpoli

My question was directed at Premier @jjhorgan, he didn’t stand to answer - instead Minister @KatrineConroy made banal, generic statements she’s been making for weeks, and in her answer she did not refer to #FairyCreek even once. 2/ #bcpoli #OldGrowth

The #FairyCreek watershed is the very definition of an ancient, high-risk ecosystem that the #OldGrowth Strategic Review Panel recommended be protected while a strategy is developed. No valleys like it remain on Southern Vancouver Island, they've all been logged. 3/ #bcpoli

Read 5 tweets

Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #OldGrowth

Most recents (24)

Related hashtags

Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #OldGrowth

Most recents (24)

Related hashtags

Did Thread Reader help you today?