r/SaveForests

Via @reshare_app From @ancientcoast.bc on Instagram

Until recently, this ancient forest was protected. 69.9 hectares (15.4%) of this Old-Growth Management Area was deleted last year to allow logging, one of the largest such amendments in the region. 🌲🪓 The only public notice for this change was an ad in the local newspaper…

Replacement areas are proposed elsewhere, but that data isn’t public yet - only the deletion shows. In any case, splitting one of the region’s largest OGMAs into smaller, disconnected pieces isn’t equivalent. Large, intact old-growth supports interior habitat that fragments can’t replace.

The yellow cedar in this forest have largely hollowed out with age, which is completely normal; some BC yellow cedars are documented at over 1,800 years old! As the video shows, heart rot doesn’t kill the tree; fungi break down the dead core while the tree keeps living. 💚 It’s also what creates cavity habitat for species like the Vancouver Island pygmy owl we heard calling - a blue-listed species already declining from habitat loss.

Comments on FOM # 40310 are open until August 20, 2026:

- Email FOM-MID@westernforest.com
- IMPORTANT: Include “FOM # 40310” in your comment
- Comments are reviewed and forwarded to the Ministry of Forests, so they do matter
- A comment that speaks to something specific - the habitat, the connectivity, the OGMA alteration with minimal notice, anything else that stood out to you - carries much more weight than a generic line

This cutblock is one of several old-growth cutblocks in this new proposal. Links in bio to view the full proposal, or try Cutblock Watch - a new tool by @4theloveofbc that makes tracking harvest proposals in BC much easier.

Missed the deadline? Consider contacting Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar about OGMA notification standards, or contact your local MLA.

#oldgrowth #rainforest #bcpolitics

69.9 hectares (15.4%) of an Old-Growth Management Area near Sayward, BC was deleted last year to allow logging, as a cutblock known as “#40310”. Public comment is currently open on this cutblock. This cutblock was taken from one of the largest OGMAs in the region. The photos in this post are from the new proposed cutblock. The only public notice was an ad in the local newspaper.

Replacement areas are proposed, but that specific data isn’t public yet. Only the deletion shows on iMapBC. Either way, splitting one of the region’s largest OGMAs into smaller, disconnected pieces isn’t the same as leaving it intact. Large, contiguous old-growth supports interior habitat that fragments just can’t replicate.

On the “rotten” trees in this block: the yellow cedar here have mostly hollowed out with age, and that’s completely normal for the species. Heart rot doesn’t kill the tree, it just makes the wood less commercially valuable. Fungi break down the dead core while the tree keeps living off its sapwood. Some of the nutrients from the core get reabsorbed by the tree itself, while more get released into the forest floor over time as the tree ages, drops material, and eventually falls.

The oldest confirmed yellow cedar sample is 1,834 rings. Some researchers suspect certain giant yellow cedars in undisturbed old-growth stands in coastal temperate rainforests could be over 4,000 years old, though it may never be provable, since the same hollowing that lets these trees keep living also destroys the rings that would confirm their age.

That hollowing also creates cavity habitat, including for the Vancouver Island pygmy owl we heard in this proposed cutblock, a blue-listed species already declining from habitat loss.

Comments on FOM #40310 are open until August 20, 2026:

- Email FOM-MID@westernforest.com
- IMPORTANT: Include “FOM #40310” in your comment
- Comments are reviewed and forwarded to the Ministry of Forests, so they actually do matter
- A specific comment carries much more weight than a generic one. Consider mentioning the habitat, the connectivity, the minimal public notice for the OGMA deletion, whatever actually stood out to you, rather than something generic like “stop old-growth logging”
- Full FOM details: here

This block is one of several in Western Forest Product’s latest FOM (Forest Operation Map). Cutblock Watch by 4 the Love of BC is a useful tool if you want to track BC harvest proposals more broadly.

Missed the deadline? Consider contacting BC’s Minister of Forests, Ravi Parmar. OGMA notification standards are very much worth raising with his office or your local MLA. My personal take is that these proposed OGMA amendments should be modernized and posted online…

Haven't seen anything like this , they gave space to the tall tree and then construct wall accordingly says lot about sustainable practices leading to safe and caring nature