MAC BLO'S NEW LOGGING PLAN FOR CLAYOQUOT DOESN'T MEET EVEN B.C.'S FOREST PRACTICES CODE

Blockade enters second day in Clayoquot Sound

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUBIA, JUNE 21st 1996.

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 conitune 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 FURTHER 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

NOTES:

THE SCIENTIFIC PANEL FOR SUSTAINABLE FOREST PRACTICES IN CLAYOQUOT SOUND: ONE YEAR LATER

On 6-July-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 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.

MacMillan Bloedel 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.

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 modifed 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.