Western Canada Wilderness Committee, Mid-Island
Box 442, Qualicum Beach, BC, V9K lS9, ph. 250 752-6585, email:
wcwcqb@nanaimo.ark.com
Tuesday, December 18, 200l Qualicum Beach
Press Release
12 Giant Oldgrowth Trees Blown Down in Cathedral
Grove Already This Fall - While Damage From this Week’s
Winter Storm Awaits Assessment When Weather Conditions Permit
Time to preserve the tiny 157-hectare World Famous MacMillan
Provincial Park in Cathedral Grove is running out, as logging
activities, adjacent to the park, remove the surrounding forest
buffer that protects this small oldgrowth remnant from gusting
prevailing winds and wet hydrological floodplain conditions.
After discovering the fallen giants in November, along the
South border of the Park where variable retention logging had
occurred, Annette Tanner, Chairperson of the Western Canada
Wilderness Committee, Mid-Island Chapter, began gathering support
from local Municipal Councils and Regional Districts to encourage
the Provincial Government to acquire the land adjacent to the
Park boundary before more proposed logging in the Grove takes
place by Weyerhaeuser.
“Two years ago, Weyerhaeuser clearcut a two-mile road
paralleling the highway, towards the boundary of the park. It
was more than twice the width of the existing highway in size,”
begins Tanner. “This year, Weyerhaeuser had planned to
extend roadbuilding, but has voluntarily halted for the time
being. I am very pleased that the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional
District, the City of Port Alberni, the Town of Qualicum Beach
passed motions to contact the Honourable Joyce Murray to support
enlarging MacMillan Park.” Tanner plans to meet with other
Municipal Councils, Regional Districts and Community groups
in the New Year. “The Honourable Joyce, Minister of Water,
Air and Land Protection, has also been informed that over 2,000
signatures from around the world have been gathered on petitions
in support of enlarging the Park to include the whole of the
Grove,” she added.
“ The City of Vancouver’s Stanley Park is 400 hectares
in size,” Tanner continues. “MacMillan Park is one
of the most frequently-visited Provincial Parks in the Province.
The economic benefits of this World Famous Tourist Treasure
to the central Island, are enormous in that this Park is unique
because it is an oldgrowth forest accessible to everyone in
the world.”
The Provincial Government is currently negotiating to acquire
a 100-hectare addition to the Park. “The areas in question
for acquisition have already been logged and have suffered extensive
blowdown,” comments Tanner. “The Western Canada Wilderness
Committee is seeking to have an additional 400 hectares acquired
to accommodate the projected 1,000,000 visitors and to prevent
further damage to the Park through blowdown caused by variable
retension and clearcut logging.”
-for more information or tours of the blowdown site, contact
Annette Tanner at 250 752-6585-
-photo credits: Richard Boyce-(if interested in printing a
photo, please contact Annette Tanner 250 752-6585 in order to
be emailed a further photo with more pixels.)
