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Clearcut logging in BC’s inland rainforest
Many people in Cascadia are familiar with clear-cut logging on Vancouver Island, but not many know about the destruction taking place in north-central British Columbia. The inland rainforest is a rare ecosystem– a damp forest 600 miles (1000 km) from the Pacific Ocean. It’s home to thousand-year-old western red cedars as well as hemlocks, spruce, and 2,400 other known species. This lush habitat is home to bears, wolverine, and the endangered mountain caribou.
But only 9 percent of those forests are protected, and the BC timber industry is ramping up clearcutting of these majestic forests near Prince George.
Now online at Cascadia Magazine, read Daniel Mesec’s detailed investigation into an environmental catastrophe. The article is accompanied by Daniel’s fantastic photos and a four-minute video detailing the devastation.
In this feature, you’ll meet Michelle Connelly, executive director of Conservation North, a women-founded organization working to secure protections for the inland rainforest. You’ll also hear from Andrew Adams, a former agrologist for a foresty company who quit when his recommendations to set aside old-growth were ignored. Take time to read the full article here.
Cascadia Magazine would like to thank Geos Institute for generously providing funding for this article.
If you appreciate journalism like this, now would be a great time to become a recurring donor to Cascadia Magazine. Your monthly donation allows us to achieve financial stability and continue to publish great writing about issues that matter in the Pacific Northwest.
And to our supporting readers, we say thanks–you helped fund this project.
Homeless camps to be swept in Vancouver’s Oppenheimer Park
Following eviction rumors, CBC reports that the residents of Vancouver’s Oppenheimer Park officially received notice this morning that they must clear out by Wednesday at 6 p.m. The Straight’s Travis Lupick describes this as falling in line with what is becoming a familiar pattern at Oppenheimer Park. Though the city announced 100 new units of affordable housing, it’s not enough for the 240 people camping in the park.
Portland’s antifa-alt right conflict fizzles out
The much-hyped protest Saturday in Portland centering on the Proud Boys, a national right-wing extremist group, ended with 13 arrests, according to OPB’s Rebecca Ellis. The majority of the arrests were for disorderly conduct. Portland Mercury’s Alex Zielinkski reports the right-wing and left-wing groups were largely kept apart by the Portland Police Bureau. To some criticism, the Proud Boys were permitted to cross the Hawthorne Bridge that had been closed off to both vehicles and pedestrians that day.
Citizen revolt in small central WA town
Crosscut’s Emily McCarty reports on the turmoil in Wapato, a community of 5,000 people in central Washington that’s angrily demanding answers from Wapato mayor, Dora Alvarez-Roa, and the city council about the former mayor, Juan Orozco. WA Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit in June against Orozo regarding misappropriation of funds and accounts of intimidating tactics. This resulted in Orozco’s resignation in July. Residents are now calling for a “clean sweep” of the city council and mayor’s office in upcoming elections.
Scarcity of child care in Sea-to-Sky region
CBC’s Liam Britten covers the distress of parents in the Sea-to-Sky region north of Vancouver over the lack of child care. Parents in Squamish and Whistler, among the fast-growing BC communities, are resorting to camping outside child care centers to secure a spot for their child. Although new spaces are being planned, many parents feel that the NDP provincial government has failed to keep up with the needs of their community.
Kwakwaka’wakw First Nations’ protest through pictographs
The Tyee’s Dorothy Woodend interviews Marianne Nicolson, artist and member of Kwakwaka’wakw First Nations, about a series of pictographs that she created with 55 community members. The pictographs are a statement and visible protest of the Musgamakw Dzawada’enuxw, a part of the Kwakwaka’wakw First Nations, against the fishing farms in the territory. “The power of their participation was palpable. We imagine that our children’s children will visit this site and remember what their parents did,” says Nicolson about the community effort behind the pictographs.
“i go through phases” by Kristen Steenbeeke
Poetry Northwest begins our week with Kristen Steenbeeke’s poem, “i go through phases.” Steenbeeke is a poet and fiction writer with roots in Seattle. In this poem, Steenbeeke’s sing-song turns of “sometimes” pulls us through phases of loneliness and artistry, and the ways in which we constantly oppose ourselves:“sometimes i am sexual / and sometimes i am not sexual…”
Click here for the full poem.
That’s today’s assortment of news, arts, and culture from across the Pacific Northwest, curated by Eun Hye Kim. Have a great evening, and we’ll see you tomorrow!
Photo credit: Michelle Connelly in BC’s inland rainforest by Daniel Mesec