Interfor Logging of Catface Mountain, 2000-2001
Successful
fall 1998 blockade of Interfor's road building on Catface Mountain, when
2 roads were stopped. In October, 2000, Interfor officially dropped continuation
of these 2 roads from its plan. But logging, reduced in scale, went ahead
with helicopter instead of road access.
In
summer 2000, the nest of a threatened bird species (marbled murrelet)
was found in this old growth forest on Catface Mountain. The nest was
surrounded by several approved, but still uncut, Interfor cutblocks. Despite
this, Interfor went ahead with logging 53,000 cubic meters (1,800 logging
trucks full) of potential murrelet habitat on Catface, in the newly established
Clayoquot Sound Biosphere Reserve. Cutting began November 2000 and finished
May 2001.
Cutblock
"P10" on Catface Mountain, one of nine Catface blocks logged
by Interfor Winter-Spring 2001. It's an example of the "not-clearcut,
variable retention" system of logging. On the upper side, this block
is 160 meters from the nest of a threatened bird species (marbled murrelet).
On the lower side, it is bordered by young second growth ("greening
up" clearcuts logged by MacMillan Bloedel in 1980).
Large
ancient cedar trees, logged by Interfor in 2001 on Catface Mountain. Cedars
in the temperate rainforest can grow to be 1,500 to 2,000 years old -
these cedars were hundreds of years old when Interfor cut them. (Photo:
Wayne Barnes)