pushing them to September 2026<\/a>, but the Upper Walbran remains outside the pause.<\/p>\nThat has created a rallying point for conservationists, who argue the area is vital habitat for more than 250 documented species, including salmon, elk, marbled murrelets, red-legged frogs and northern goshawks.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne tree isn\u2019t enough to shelter a herd of elk or to keep the soil from washing into salmon streams. It takes an entire forest,\u201d said another protester.<\/p>\n
William Jones, a member of the Pacheedaht First Nation whose territory includes the Walbran, lent his support to the action.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow is the time for all of us to activate our souls for our great Mother in ways that are assertive while doing no harm,\u201d said Jones.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told the industry people who were making presentations to quit logging the last of the old growth because there is very little left. We must save it for our children and all the children to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
Geoff Payne, the general manager for C\u0315awak \u0294qin Forestry, said in a statement that the company recognizes that the Walbran Valley region is a significant place in terms of ecological and cultural importance.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur approach reflects this understanding and follows the Pacheedaht First Nation and the Province of British Columbia\u2019s shared objective for the area which prioritizes ecological integrity while allowing for limited, carefully managed forest harvesting to support local economic resilience,\u201d Payne said.<\/p>\n
He said that the Pacheedaht First Nation chief and council have consented to the tree harvesting plan and operations are \u201cfully permitted,\u201d adding that the license provides \u201cimportant forestry economic activity\u201d for the Alberni Valley region.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll harvesting activities undertaken by C\u0315awak \u0294qin are conducted in full compliance with provincial regulations and best practices including our industry-leading measures to protect tall trees,\u201d he said. \u201cC\u0315awak \u0294qin is also actively engaged with Pacheedaht and other area First Nations in development of an Integrated Resource Management Plan for TFL 44.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Walbran Valley has long been a subject of focus in B.C\u2019s old-growth logging debate.<\/p>\n
In the early 1990s, protests over clearcutting in Clayoquot Sound, dubbed \u201cThe War in the Woods,\u201d led to more than 800 arrests.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: <\/p>\n
In 2021, Fairy Creek protests near Port Renfrew saw more than 1,100 arrests, making it the largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history<\/a>.<\/p>\nThe province has maintained that deferrals give time to work with First Nations on long-term forest management.<\/p>\n
The protesters behind the cougar sculpture say the time for pauses has passed and is calling on the province to rescind approvals for the Upper Walbran cut blocks and move toward permanent protection of all old-growth forests across B.C.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Logging trucks in the Upper Walbran Valley were met with an unusual blockade Monday morning \u2014 a 15-foot…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":96953,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[76,354,355,49,48,356,75],"class_list":["post-96952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96952\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/WalbranMap-08-2025-sm.jpg\")
An image provided by anonymous protesters shows unprotected cut blocks in the Upper Walbran Valley.<\/p>\n