1 / 1 Climate street theatre group Red Rebel Victoria perform in Centennial Square as Elders for Ancient Trees hosted a rally to call on the B.C. government to protect the endangered Upper Walbran Valley from logging. DARREN STONE, TIMES COLONIST Advertisement
Old-growth logging protesters blocking a remote road in the Upper Walbran Valley area are gearing up for potential arrests one week after a judge granted an injunction allowing police to arrest people blocking forestry work.
Will O'Connell, who has spent time at the camp and is named in the injunction application, said protesters are prepared to be arrested.
Some tree sits have been set up in trees that are set to be logged and people are prepared to occupy them, he said.
A police helicopter was seen circling over the camp, but no officers have visited the area by vehicle or on foot, he said. A private security company has had a fairly continuous presence since the injunction was granted, with employees at times driving toward the camp in the night.
The numbers at a camp about 1 1/2 hours from Lake Cowichan via logging road have been growing since the injunction was granted, O'Connell said, although he didn't want to say how many people are in the camp for fear of giving information away to police.
Protesters have built a 2.5-metre fence and gate with a tower across the logging road and a small cabin using logging waste that's left behind in burn piles, he said.
Blockaders have been in the area since about Aug. 25, when they erected a large cougar sculpture that blocked logging trucks, prompting Tsawak-qin Forestry Limited Partnership, which has rights to harvest timber in the area, to apply for an injunction.
Western Forest Products Inc. holds a 65 per cent equity interest in the forestry company. Huumiis Ventures Limited Partnership, which is owned by the Huu-ay-aht First Nations, holds the other 35 per cent.
The injunction prevents people from impeding access for anyone -- including any member of the public -- to roads or construction sites, as well as obstructing access to vehicles or equipment operated by the company.
It also prevents people from coming within 50 metres of equipment within the injunction area, from obstructing construction or maintenance activities by the company or its contractors, from interfering with timber harvesting, and from threatening, harassing, intimidating or assaulting the company's employees, contractors or their families. In granting the injunction, the judge issued an enforcement order that allows police to arrest and remove anyone violating it, although she included a provision preserving access to the area for members of the media reporting on the issue.
The protest group is demanding permanent protection of old-growth forests in areas where the province has put temporary deferrals on logging and permanent protection of the whole Walbran Valley. If the province commits to either of those actions, the blockaders will leave, O'Connell said.
RCMP said Saturday that police were not currently enforcing the injunction. On Thursday, Cpl. Alex Bérubé told the Times Colonist that police vehicles that were reported in the area recently were there on an unrelated matter. Bérubé did not answer questions about whether the RCMP has plans to begin enforcement.
Geoff Payne, general manager of Tsawak-qin Forestry, said in a statement the company hopes blockaders decide to respect the injunction and leave on their own, so work can proceed safely.
If the blockaders continue to defy the injunction order, the RCMP retains discretion as to the timing and manner of the enforcement of the injunction, Payne said. Tsawak-qin Forestry respects the court's decision and the process, Payne said. The Pacheedaht First Nation, on whose territory the blockade has been built, has asked protesters to leave the area.
The nation is facing a legal challenge in Federal Court from one of its elders, Bill Jones, claiming the nation unlawfully consented to forestry activities within its territory without consulting him as an elder.
On Saturday, a group called Elders for Ancient Trees gathered at Victoria's Centennial Square to support the protesters in the valley. Red Rebels Victoria, a climate street theatre group, did a performance around the sequoia tree in the centre of the square. The group says their red attire represents blood, passion, love and a "stop" to fossil fuel dependence.
More than 100 people made their way to the legislature afterward to join the Draw the Line climate justice protest. [email protected]
-- With a file from Hannah Link