Greenpeace Activists Blockading Clayoquot Sound, Canada
6/25/96
OVERVIEW, SOURCE & COMMENTARY by EE
Greenpeace has made a controversial stand to say enough is enough in the
destruction of one of the largest remaining temperate rainforests,
Clayoquot Sound, which is located in Canada. Activists, using inflatable
boats, chained themselves to the log loader. While not the only means to
end predatory logging, peaceful protest an important wing of the forest
movement that is certainly justified in light of the importance of forest
ecosystems to the planet. Greenpeace is calling for protection of all
remaining pristine areas in Clayoquot Sound. Following are four pieces
from gp.press conference in econet which provide details of their peaceful
direct action in protection of forests. The last piece details how the
protest was inappropriately carried out without consulting the local
indigenous peoples. Nonetheless, all parties are in agreement that the
current situation is unacceptable.
g.b.
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Report #1
/** gp.press: 113.0 **/
** Topic: 6/20 Activists Block Logging in Cla **
** Written 4:40 PM Jun 21, 1996 by nobody@xs2.greenpeace.org in
cdp:gp.press *
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Subject: 6/20 Activists Block Logging in Clayoquot Sound
Date: Thu, 20 JUN 96 21:14:10 GMT
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Original-TO: World Press (Green2:Green2:Gnl:INET)
Original-TO: The.Greenbase@green2.greenpeace.org
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ACTIVISTS BLOCKADE LOGGING OPERATION IN CLAYOQUOT SOUND
Protest Highlights Ongoing Destruction of Temperate Rainforest
Press Release- TOFINO, B.C., 20 June, 1996 (GP) Activists from Greenpeace
and the Friends of Clayoquot Sound are blockading a logging operation in
Clayoquot Sound today, using the Greenpeace vessel MV Moby Dick and
inflatable boats. Three activists are chained to the log loader, which is
used to load logs onto trucks to be taken out of Clayoquot.
The blockade occurred almost one year after the Science Panel's stringent
recommendations for Clayoquot which were adopted by the B.C. government. It
was designed to highlight ongoing destructive logging by both International
Forest Products and MacMillan Bloedel. Contrary to recommendations by the
Scientific Panel, MacMillan Bloedel has already begun clearcutting one of
Clayoquot's pristine valleys.
"Canadians have a right to know that Clayoquot Sound's rainforests are
still being destroyed. A year after the Science Panel the pristine areas
remain on the chopping block," said Karen Mahon of Greenpeace. "The band-
aid solutions that have been tried in Clayoquot have not worked. We need to
protect the rainforest valleys before we lose them forever."
Greenpeace is calling for full protection of all the remaining pristine
rainforest areas in Clayoquot Sound. MacMillan Bloedel is currently logging
in the Bulson watershed in Clayoquot Sound, an area that government reports
consider pristine. According to the Science Panel no logging should
occur in the pristine areas.
"Logging has slowed down in Clayoquot Sound, but the companies are still
doing extreme damage as they creep silently into the pristine watershed of
the Bulson," said Valerie Langer of the Friends of Clayoquot Sound. "It's
time to get our priorities straight and restore salmon habitat instead of
destroying it."
Interfor is logging in Rolling Stone Creek directly adjacent to an area
where they were recently found in violation of the Forest Practices Code
(Sec. 17.1) for negligent road building which resulted in stream damage. As
a result, Interfor was fined $10,000 but the Ministry of Forests has not
released this information to the public. According to the guidelines of
performance-based logging under the Forest Practices Code, Interfor should
not have received a permit to log in this area in the first place.
However, they are currently applying for further permits to log in Rolling
Stone.
"The ongoing destruction of Clayoquot Sound revealed today is an
international scandal," said Tzeporah Berman of Greenpeace International.
"The industry and government have led the world to believe that the
controversy is solved. We will ensure that customers in Europe and the U.S.
are informed of the continued threat to Clayoquot's remaining pristine
rainforests."
For more information:
Karen Mahon onboard the MV Moby Dick: 011 872 130 2403
Valerie Langer, Tzeporah Berman or Karen Mahon in Tofino:
604-725-4218
Tamara Stark in Vancouver:604-253-7701
* Note to Editors: A Ministry of Forests report by Alan Chapman lists the
Bulson watershed as only 1.1 per cent impacted. The Science Panel defines
a watershed as pristine if it is less than 2 per cent impacted.
Report #2
/** gp.press: 114.0 **/
** Topic: 6/21 MacBlo's New Log Plan for Clay **
** Written 12:47 PM Jun 22, 1996 by nobody@xs2.greenpeace.org in
cdp:gp.press *
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Subject: 6/21 MacBlo's New Log Plan for Clayoquot Fails Code
Date: Fri, 21 JUN 96 19:28:31 GMT
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Original-TO: World Press (Green2:Green2:Gnl:INET)
Original-TO: The.Greenbase@green2.greenpeace.org
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MAC BLO'S NEW LOGGING PLAN FOR CLAYOQUOT DOESN'T MEET EVEN
B.C.'S FOREST PRACTICES CODE
Blockade enters second days in Clayoquot Sound
Press Release-VANCOUVER, B.C. 21 June, 1996 (GP) Greenpeace, the Friends of
Clayoquot Sound and the Sierra Legal Defence Fund today revealed that
MacMillan Bloedel's proposed 5-year logging plan for an area in Clayoquot
Sound fails to meet even the rudimentary standards of the Forest Practices
Code, which are far less stringent than those of the Clayoquot Scientific
Panel which are supposed to apply in this area.
The report and other key findings in Clayoquot prompted the blockade that
began in Clayoquot yesterday and is continuing today. Currently, the
Greenpeace ship MV Moby Dick is blocking International Forest Products and
MacMillan Bloedel from logging or shipping out logs.
In addition to the problems in the proposal for Tranaquil Creek, there are
a number of major problems in the adjacent watersheds. In Rollingstone
Creek, a road badly built by Interfor has collapsed into a stream. In
another, the Bulson watershed, one of Clayoquot's remaining pristine
watersheds, MacMillan Bloedel has already begun clearcutting. Members of
Greenpeace and the Friends of Clayoquot Sound are on land, locked onto
logging equipment and blocking four roads.
"Based on the information we've released over the past two days, it's clear
that these companies are steamrolling over the Science Panel
recommendations - on into the pristine valleys, said Valerie Langer of the
Friends of Clayoquot Sound.
A critique of the five-year plan for Tranquil Creek by lawyers and
fisheries biologists from the Sierra Legal Defence Fund documents failures
in the plan in more than 10 key categories.
"MacMillan Bloedel has misclassified streams, failed to protect fish
habitat and plans to build roads on steep slopes exceeding a 80 per cent
grade without adequate planning - all of which are not in compliance with
the Forest Practices Code," said Will Horter, lawyer with the Sierra Legal
Defence Fund. "This is a far cry from the world-class logging we were
promised when the Science Panel's recommendations were adopted one year
ago."
Nearly one year ago the B.C. government and the companies logging in
Clayoquot pledged to fulfill all the recommendations made by the Scientific
Panel.
"The pristine valleys and islands must be permanently protected," said
Karen Mahon of Greenpeace. "Clayoquot's rainforests are of global
significance. We will continue to blockade them on the road and make sure
they do not get into these areas and we will ensure that international
customers of MacBlo know that it's business-as-usual in Clayoquot Sound."
Greenpeace is calling for a moratorium on all logging in Clayoquot Sound
and demanding full protection for the intact rainforests of Clayoquot
Sound.
For More Information Please Contact:
Karen Mahon and Valerie Langer: 604-253-7701, or by cell phone
313-0159
Will Horter, Sierra Legal Defence Fund 685-5618
THE SCIENTIFIC PANEL FOR SUSTAINABLE FOREST PRACTICES IN CLAYOQUOT SOUND:
ONE YEAR LATER
On July 6, 1995 the government of British Columbia adopted in its entirety
over 120 recommendations of the Scientific Panel for Sustainable Forest
Practices in Clayoquot Sound. The report represented a significant shift in
the way forestry is viewed in B.C. Some of the key recommendations in the
report were:
1) a moratorium on all logging in the pristine areas until full biological
and cultural inventories of these areas are completed, and until such time
as logging methods are proven to have no negative impact on biodiversity;
2) the creation and implementation of ecosystem-based planning for
Clayoquot Sound;
3) an end to conventional clearcutting in Clayoquot Sound;
4) no logging in areas that have already been seriously overcut;
and
5) base the level of cutting on watershed planning, rather than on a pre-
determined annual allowable cut. This was to ensure that the focus is on
what must remain in the forest to maintain biodiversity rather than a focus
on extracting a set volume of wood. Now almost a year later and it has
become clear that spirit and intent of the Scientific Panel's
recommendations have in many cases been violated by both MacMillan Bloedel
and International Forest Products.
MacMillan Bloedel's Five Year Development Plan for Tranquil Creek
MacMillan Bloedel recently submitted for approval of a five-year
development plan for Tranquil Creek, an area of Clayoquot Sound that has
already been heavily logged. A critique of the plan by the Sierra Legal
Defense Fund reveals that in 43 separate occasions the plan fails to meet
the standards imposed by the Forest Practices Code, demonstrating that the
logging giant is light years away from being able to meet the far more
stringent Science Panel guidelines. In particular the plan fails to protect
fish habitat and the riparian zones around the streams. The government's
Clayoquot Sound Watershed Assessment clearly states that:
"Because substantial portions of streams in Tranquil Creek watershed have
been impacted to some degree by forestry, including 90 per cent of all
streams known to be fish-bearing, all streams potentially affected by
proposed future harvest blocks must receive a high level of streamside
protection".
The Code's riparian zone standards are meant to protect fish habitat from
the impacts of logging by retaining a wider buffer zone of trees next to
streams, in particular fish-bearing streams. MacBlo's proposed riparian
zone protection fail to do so. In the plan MacBlo misclassified streams,
using the old Fish-Forestry guidelines rather than the new Code.
In addition, there is no terrain stability assessment, which is mandated by
both the Forest Practices Code and the Science Panel. In many cases, road-
building is planned to occur on slopes that are in excess of a 70 per cent
grade, with a significant number on slopes of 80-100 per cent. All of these
areas, if identified correctly, would classify as Class 5 terrain which,
according to the Science Panel, would exclude them from logging activities.
The plan also fails to fully identify cultural heritage sites.
MB has also neglected to include visual quality assessments, assessments of
factors which might damage forest health (such as windthrow or
infestations),road deactivation and maintenance plans, and has likewise
failed to identify how stand-level biodiversity will be protected.
The plan for this region of Clayoquot Sound is woefully inadequate and
suggests a serious lack of awareness by MacMillan Bloedel of logging
methods that would not irreparably harm the forest health of Clayoquot
Sound.
MacMillan Bloedel's Entry Into One of Clayoquot's Pristine Valleys
One of the Scientific Panel's key recommendations was that there should be
no entry into undeveloped watersheds in Clayoquot Sound, until such time as
full biological and cultural inventories of these areas are completed, and
until such time as logging methods are proven to have no negative impact on
biodiversity.
The Science Panel defines an undeveloped watershed as "less than 2 per cent
of the watershed has been modified by industrial or land use practices".
According to the government's Clayoquot Sound Watershed Assessment, the
Bulson watershed is only 1.1 per cent impacted and therefore is considered
to be pristine. If the Science Panel's recommendations were followed, a
moratorium would be imposed on all logging in the Bulson watershed.
Despite this knowledge, MacMillan Bloedel is now roading and clearcutting
in the Bulson watershed, with governmental approval. This cutting is
clearly in violation of the Scientific Panel.
International Forest Products Prosecution in Rolling Stone Creek
After over one year of complaints regarding Interfor's new Rolling Stone
Creek road building by the Friends of Clayoquot Sound the Ministry of
Forests, recently imposed a $10,000 fine on InterFor for negligence. The
road collapsed into some creeks in October 1995.
The Watershed Assessment report stipulated that limited logging of 50
hectares could be allowed in Rollingstone, on the condition that concurrent
restoration begin in the lower impacted section of the salmon-bearing
stream. 90% of the salmon bearing reaches of Rolling Stone Creek have
already been impacted by logging.
Interfor and MacMillan Bloedel have both failed to produce a restoration
plan for this area. Despite the violation in Rollingstone, Interfor was
given approval to log an adjacent cutblock R50. Cutblock R40 currently
awaits approval.
Report #3
/** gp.press: 117.0 **/
** Topic: 6/21 MacBlo Violates Code-Activists **
** Written 4:42 PM Jun 22, 1996 by nobody@xs2.greenpeace.org in
cdp:gp.press *
*
Subject: 6/21 MacBlo Violates Code-Activists Blockade Clayoquot Loggi
Date: Fri, 21 JUN 96 19:28:54 GMT
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Original-TO: World Press (Green2:Green2:Gnl:INET)
Original-TO: The.Greenbase@green2.greenpeace.org
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MACMILLAN BLOEDEL VIOLATES RAINFOREST PROTECTION AGREEMENT
Activists Blockade Logging in B.C's Clayoquot Sound, Target U.S.
Customers
Press Release-TOFINO, B.C., June 21, 1996 (GP) Activists from Greenpeace
and the Friends of Clayoquot Sound are in the second day of a blockade of a
logging operation in one of N. America's largest contiguous rainforest
areas. Thirty-six activists have shut down the active logging roads and
three activists are chained to the log loader, which is used to load the
logs from the pristine valleys of British Columbia's Clayoquot Sound. The
blockade in B.C. was mirrored by a mailing in the U.S. to the country's
largest newspaper, magazine and phone directory publishers, urging them to
sever their business ties to MacMillan Bloedel.
The blockade occurred after discovering that MacMillan Bloedel was logging
in a pristine area of Clayoquot Sound - a clear violation of the
recommendations made by top government-chosen scientists. Almost one year
ago, the Science Panel for Sustainable Forest Practices in Clayoquot
Sound made stringent recommendations which MacMillan Bloedel promised to
abide by, a commitment MB used to assure their international newsprint and
phone directory paper customers that they should keep buying from the
Canadian logging giant. The Science Panel was formed after 850 people were
arrested blockading MB's logging in Clayoquot in the Summer of 1993 - the
largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history.
"The world has a right to know that Clayoquot Sound's rainforests are still
being destroyed. A year after the Science Panel the pristine areas remain
on the chopping block," said Karen Mahon of Greenpeace. "The band-aid
solutions that have been tried in Clayoquot have not worked. We need to
protect the rainforest valleys before we lose them forever."
Greenpeace is calling for full protection of all the remaining pristine
rainforest areas in Clayoquot Sound. Based on this flagrant transgression,
Greenpeace and its partners in the Clayoquot Rainforest Coalition -
Rainforest Action Network, Natural Resources Defense Council and Pacific
Environment & Resources Center - have renewed their efforts to shift the
U.S. paper market away from clearcut ancient rainforest products and
towards ecologically sound alternatives.
"The ongoing destruction of Clayoquot Sound is an international scandal,"
said Marc Evans, Greenpeace Forest Campaigner. "B.C.'s industry and
government have led the world to believe that the controversy is solved. We
will ensure that major paper buyers in the U.S. and Europe are informed of
the continued threat to Clayoquot's remaining pristine rainforests by
MacMillan Bloedel."
Clayoquot Sound is 650,000 acres of coastal temperate rainforest, 20% of
which has been clearcut to date. It is the traditional home of the Nuu-
Chah-Nulth First Nations and contains redcedar trees up to 1700 years old,
as well as wolves, bald eagles, Rosevelt elk, river otters, martens and
salmon.
For more information:
Karen Mahon on board Greenpeace's MV Moby Dick: 011 872 130 2403
Tamara Stark at Greenpeace-Vancouver: 604/253-7701
Valerie Langer or Tzeporah Berman at F.O.C.S. in Tofino:
604/725-4218 Marc Evans at Greenpeace-San Francisco:
415/512-9025
Report #4
/** gp.press: 120.0 **/
** Topic: 6/22 Clayoquot Sound-Joint Statemen **
** Written 12:40 AM Jun 24, 1996 by nobody@xs2.greenpeace.org in
cdp:gp.press *
*
Subject: 6/22 Clayoquot Sound-Joint Statement by Natives & Enviros
Date: Mon, 24 JUN 96 01:37:06 GMT
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Original-TO: World Press (Green2:Green2:Gnl:INET)
Original-TO: The.Greenbase@green2.greenpeace.org
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JOINT STATEMENT OF THE NUU-CHAH-NULTH FIRST NATIONS, GREENPEACE,
AND THE FRIENDS OF CLAYOQUOT SOUND.
Press Release-CLAYOQUOT SOUND, BC, 22 June, 1996 (GP) Greenpeace and the
Friends of Clayoquot Sound agreed today to a temporary suspension of the
blockades in Clayoquot Sound.
Greenpeace and the Friends of Clayoquot Sound acknowledge our breach of
protocol for not discussing our activities with the chiefs of the Nuu-Chah-
Nulth Central Region prior to the protest.
The NCN First Nations commit to facilitate a meeting with all parties in
two weeks to address the concerns of the protestors and work towards
finding a solution to the issues that led to this conflict.
All three parties view the activities this week as a warning to government
and industry that change needs to happen faster in Clayoquot Sound.
The Greenpeace ship, the MV Moby Dick, has been invited to
remain in Clayoquot Sound to tour the area.
For more information: Tzeporah Berman on board the MV Moby Dick
011-872-130-2403
Mary MacNutt at Greenpeace Vancouver 253-7701
Valerie Langer at the Friends of Clayoquot Sound (604) 725-4218/
(604) 725-2600
Chief Councillor Francis Frank (604) 725-3233
Nelson Keitlah Co-chai of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council
(604) 724-5757