West Fraser -- Destroying Forests, Exporting Jobs

Photo/Diary Archive

31 July 1999 1
31 July 1999. Bundles of logs have been dumped into waterside booms ever since we arrived at West Frasers logging operation in Chambers Creek . A tug arrived this morning to drag the wood to Prince Rupert for processing or for export to Japan or Korea.
31 July 1999 2
31 July 1999. Approximately 12,000 cubic metres of dead rainforest on the move. Towed by a 500 foot line it will take the tug around 36 hours to deliver it's load.
Daily Diary
31 July, 1999

Chambers Creek , North Coast, B.C.

The Starlet has been anchored in Nasoga Gulf for just under 2 weeks. In that time we have seen (and heard, they make a big splash) countless bundles of logs hit the water... [more]
30 July 1999 1
30 July 1999. The latest cutblock at Chambers Creek. Only a few weeks ago this area stood untouched.
30 July 1999 2
30 July 1999. Stream protection under the Forest Practices code. Small creeks such as the one that used to exist here have little to no protection under current legislation. In this instance, trees had been felled extensively around the flag, to the point that no creek remains.
Daily Diary
30 July, 1999

Chambers Creek , North Coast, B.C.

It was a beautiful day up here on the coast. For only the second time since we've been here the sun shone all day, giving us a chance to dry out our sleeping bags and leave our raingear on the boat... [more]
29 July 1999 1
29 July 1999. From the living to the dead, nothing escapes the chain-saws. Clear-cut logging involves the felling of all standing material within each cutblock. Snags such as this one are vitally important to the future health of the forest. Unfortunately, they are cut down alongside small saplings and living giants.
29 July 1999 2
29 July 1999. Louise counts the rings on this now dead forest giant. Over a thousand rings were counted on this tree, meaning this tree started life 9 centuries before Canada became a country. One thousand years to grow, thirty minutes to fall.
Daily Diary
29 July, 1999

Chambers Creek , North Coast, B.C.

If there was ever a team of people who needed a day off it was us. We headed out of Nasoga Gulf... [more]
27 July 1999 1
27 July 1999. A black bear leaves its mark on a logging road in Chambers Creek. If this area had been untouched by industrial logging, these footprints would only be found along shorelines and streamsides.
27 July 1999 2
27 July 1999. This beast leaves a very different footprint in it's wake. Machines such as this one are seen far more frequently than bears at this site. Leaves you wondering, whose home is this anyways?
Daily Diary
27 July, 1999

Chambers Creek , North Coast, B.C.

Today was a bit of a strange day, as friends in different parts of Canada organized some press conferences so that people in the media could come and see what was happening on our website... [more]
26 July 1999 1
26 July 1999. The future is mapped for remaining forest on this valley side. A 37 hectare clearcut and logging road will scar the slopes by the year 2000.
26 July 1999 2
26 July 1999. In the forest flagging marks the route of a new road. Once completed, this road will allow West Fraser to begin clearcutting the reminder of Chambers Creek. It is hard to believe the incredable forest we walked through today won't be there next year.
Daily Diary
26 July, 1999

Chambers Creek , North Coast, B.C.

It's been 8 days since we arrived at Chambers Creek, 8 days of walking or riding logging roads, watching giant machines tear up the earth ... [more]
25 July 1999 1
25 July 1999. Mega-machines of destruction. A grapple yarder hauls logs that have just been cut down to the roadside to be taken away. Loud and ugly, these machines are the driving force that make industrial clear-cutting possible.
25 July 1999 2
25 July 1999. A thirty ton bulldozer makes its way across a bridge in this once pristine valley. Both the bridge and the machinery look out of place here, once they get out of the clearcuts.
Daily Diary
25 July, 1999

Chambers Creek , North Coast, B.C.

It was misty today, clouds coming down low to envelope the mountainsides, the tree tops, the horizon. After a day of wandering around outside, I've really come to appreciate ... [more]
24 July 1999 1
24 July 1999. Bear habitat destroyed by industrial clearcut logging at Chambers Creek. Not only are bears losing their habitat, they are also losing their lives.
24 July 1999 2
24 July 1999. Today, FAN activists discovered a dead immature black bear at the end of a logging road.
Daily Diary
24 July, 1999

Chambers Creek , North Coast, B.C.

Today has been bittersweet. We were fully kitted out with ropes and harnesses ready to climb high into the canopy to get a new perspective on the forest. Unfortunately ... [more]
23 July 1999 1
23 July 1999. Sawdust flies at Chambers Creek.
23 July 1999 2
23 July 1999. The sound was deafening as this 50 meter giant fell on B.C.'s North Coast. Four hundred years to grow, under two minutes to go.
Daily Diary
23 July, 1999

Chambers Creek , North Coast, B.C.

Today I was confronted with so many conflicting emotions and realities, it's hard to put them into words. We met a lot of people on the road who are doing a job they are obviously very good at... [more]
22 July 1999 1
22 July 1999. Every half hour, a truck loaded with ancient forest makes its way down to the West Fraser log dump.
22 July 1999 2
22 July 1999. Logs hit the water on their way to export markets in the U.S., Japan or Europe. Wherever they're going, it's a long way from their home in B.C.s rainforest.
Daily Diary
22 July, 1999

Chambers Creek , North Coast, B.C.

A sleepless night of uncomfortable rolling in Nasoga Gulf was signaled to an end this morning by the first squawking radio transmissions from the Chambers Creek logging operation... [more]
21 July 1999 1
21 July 1999. As well as clearcutting, West Fraser is actively road-building in the area. Trees were felled across this stream during the first phase of construction.
21 July 1999 2
21 July 1999. End of the road for the forest when construction continues. Flags going far back into this untouched forest indicate the path of destruction, one of four new roads West Fraser has planned in this area.
Daily Diary
21 July, 1999

Chambers Creek , North Coast, B.C.

Our second trip into the site was made easier with mountain bikes. The 8 km that we covered yesterday flew by, a blur of destroyed slopes and streambeds interrupted by small remaining stands of forest... [more]
20 July 1999 1
20 July 1999. The most recent clearcuts at Chambers Creek. Both sides of this valley have been stripped by clearcut logging courtesy of the West Fraser Timber Company.
20 July 1999 2
20 July 1999. Ancient Rainforest Graveyard- Canada or Brazil? These trees were felled within the past few months and are awaiting export either abroad or to a West Fraser mill.
Daily Diary
20 July, 1999

Today we walked into the nightmare. It was a beautiful trip up here. Sitting on the deck of our beautiful boat Starlet, watching unknown hills and forest-draped islands drift by our port and starboard sides, feeling the salt blow with the wind through our hair. It was a long day to get here, but the beauty the North Coast made me wish it was a longer one ... [more]
20 July 1999 3
20 July 1999. Nasaga Gulf on the North Coast of British Columbia. In 1996 West Fraser moved into this area to clearcut ancient temperate rainforest in the Chambers and Johnson Creek watersheds.
20 July 1999 5
20 July 1999. A Sitka Spruce shoots 50 meters into the sky, the product of 1000 years of life in the forest. The tree was so big three people joining hands couldn't reach around it.
Aerial Photo 1
Aerial Photo 1
Aerial Photo 2
Aerial Photo 2
To view more aerial images of the destruction, please visit the Raincoast Conservation Society website.


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