Cortes Island Residents Continue the Blockade of Island Timberlands First Growth Logging Operation

Some youngsters joined the protest against Island Timberlands logging operations on Cortes Island this week.

The Cortes Island blockade of Island Timberlands went into its 4th day today [Friday] as swelling ranks of environmentalists, residents and their children maintained a human shield against the logging company’s crews and equipment.

After a lengthy struggle with Brookfield Asset Management and Island Timberlands, Cortes Island community members have now taken direct action to protect the threatened lands that contain some of the last 1% of old-growth Coastal Douglas-fir forests, and, according to Ken Wu of the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA), are some of the most extensive stands remaining in the endangered “Dry Maritime” forests along BC’s southern coast.

Brookfield Asset Management, owners of Island Timberlands, is nominally Canadian but actually a multi-national robber baron. They operate on their own private properties because successive governments have sold chunks to them and used the one time income to balance their books instead of taxing the rich, deja-vu all over again eh. The corporations and their lackeys have always had the 'law' on their side as they extracted our living inheritance and built themselves mansions.

Now, so little is left that every tiny bit is worth fighting for. Every tiny bit we save contains some vestige of the of ancient forest from which to regenerate some of the organisms that mother nature has time tested for millions of years. It's uplifting to see so many young faces at the Cortes blockade, faces of all ages really. There are private boats taking folks over to Cortes from Powell River, but, looking out the window, seeing huge swells and whitecaps on the Malaspina means that in reality only the most skookum boat would even attempt the run.

Meanwhile, until the wind dies own a bit, the coastal rainforest once blanketed this area before we white devils arrived, one day it will again. Below are the email addresses of the brain trust at both Island Timberlands and Brookfeild. Why not drop 'em a line with your thoughts about the logging on Cortes Island, surely they'll be glad to hear from you.
Island timberlands contacts:
CEO Dashan Sihota: dsihota@islandtimberlands.com
Operations Planner Wayne French: wfrench@islandtimberlands.com
Director of Forest Operations Bill Waugh:  BillWaugh@islandtimberlands.com
Public Relations Morgan Kennah: MKennah@islandtimberlands.com

bcIMC contact:
CEO/CIO, bcIMC: doug.pearce@bcimc.com

Brookfield Asset Management contact:
CEO Bruce Flatt: bflatt@brookfield.com
and kvyse@brookfield.com