The last stand

After over a decade of documenting B.C.’s last remaining old-growth ecosystems, TJ Watt said he hadn’t come across anything quite like the grove of red cedars hidden in the upper reaches of the Caycuse watershed, near Port Renfrew.

“It was truthfully one of the most stunning old-growth forests I’ve been in,” said the co-founder of the Ancient Forest Alliance. “The sheer volume of giant cedars was mind-blowing – every direction you looked was another 10 to 12-foot-wide ancient cedar that could be 800 years old, or older.”

When he returned later that year in 2020, only their stumps remained.

The now clear-cut grove is located in Tree Farm License 46, which is held by forestry company Teal-Jones.

Watt said he never saw another soul out there until recently, as anti-logging protests have been underway since last August.

“It’s such an obscure spot at the end of the road,” he said. “These places are so special and you wish the world could see them, but how do you get everybody out there? Now, it’s packed.”

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Bitter Harvest