Judith Lavoie, Times Colonist
Western Canada Wilderness Committee is hoping to beat records set by 1993 protests against logging in Clayoquot Sound by holding the largest environmental rally ever seen in B.C.
WCWC is using Facebook and e-mail as organizing tools and is hoping 3,000 protesters show up at the legislature at noon Saturday for the Rally for Ancient Forests and B.C. Jobs.
“We have done the groundwork, lined up key allies and, with a provincial election coming up in May, we’ve got great momentum,” said Ken Wu, WCWC campaign director.
Environmental groups are asking for a legislated timeline to end old-growth logging on Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland, sustainable logging of second growth, a ban on raw log exports and provincial help to retool second growth mills and value added wood processing facilities.
However, Forests Minister Pat Bell said he would be surprised if WCWC gets the numbers because the province has “done a tremendous job protecting ecosystems.”
The best example is the 6.4 million hectares of the Great Bear Rainforest, he said.
“There’s 2.2 million hectares under full protection and the remainder is under ecosystem based management, which is nearly completed. I am quite proud,” Bell said.
“This is the usual suspects saying the usual stuff. They are not paying attention to all the things that have gone on already in the province.”
Bell said he is not happy that raw logs are being exported, but, in this economic climate, jobs would be lost if raw log exports were banned.
However, Bell is going to China next month in hopes of taking advantage of Russia’s decision to slap an 80 per cent export tax on logs.
“That will create a huge window of opportunity for B.C. to start selling lumber into the Chinese market,” he said.
