1996 photo of 11.5' diameter 300' tall "Temple Giant" Douglas fir.
Artist searches for giant trees
For the last seven years, Ralf Kelman, an artist fascinated by the rich, ancient rainforest ecosystem, has devoted his spare time to searching the lower Seymour Valley for big trees, and then flagging hiking routes to the groves of giant firs and cedars he has found. It's a big job, for the area is 13 times the size of Vancouver's world-famous Stanley Park. Many of the hiking routes featured on WCWC's map (see centrefold) were pioneered by Ralf who believes that this legacy must be preserved.
This is what Ralf Kelman has to say:
"As a child I played on the banks of the
Seymour River. Our family picnicked there often. My father, Earl Kelman, loved
the mountains and the Seymour Valley and recognized their great natural
attractions and recreational potential. An IWA shop steward, he originally was
a supporter of Jack Munro, but ultimately became disenchanted with the raw log
exports, the undervaluation of increasingly rare oldgrowth timber and the
destruction of our magnificent forest legacy."
1924 Logging (Douglas fir) - North Vancouver Museum Archives photo.
Our choice -
AN INCREDIBLE RAINFOREST WITH GROVES OF IMMENSE TREES ON VANCOUVER'S DOORSTEP --
TO PLUNDER OR PRESERVE?
It is hard to believe that right on Vancouver's doorstep are some of the finest groves of ancient temperate rainforest imaginable. Less than a one-half hour bus ride from downtown Vancouver grow behemoth trees 3 to 4 metres in diameter towering 80 to 95 meters high--taller than 25-storey-high buildings and bigger than any others left in B.C. These huge ancient trees are found in an area known by locals as the Seymour Valley. Sandwiched between the Upper Lynn Valley Regional Park and Mt. Seymour Provincial Park, the Seymour Valley forests are not currently protected. They are part of the lands managed by the Greater Vancouver Water District (GVWD). But they are "off-catchment" lands--their water flow isn't being collected for Greater Vancouver's drinking water. And the GVWD says they'll never be needed because a lower Seymour dam is not cost effective.
Since early this century, citizens have clashed over whether the area should be protected or logged. Extensive clearcut logging began in the 1960's after the GVWD hired forestry consultants to give it advice and the upper Seymour dam was built, leaving the Lower Seymour lands as "off-catchment" and ripe for logging exploitation.
Ten years ago the GVWD bowed to forest industry pressure to have these publicly- owned lands managed as a "Demonstration Forest" rather than a park. There was no public consultation. The goal of the Demonstration Forest is to log the oldgrowth forest and show the public that industrial forestry's management for "multiple use" works.
The big trees that thrive in the Seymour Forest are a well kept secret. Most citizens don't even know that these trees exist, let alone that they are accessible by city bus and a day's hike. Imagine the Seymour Valley as a park: a protected place where city dwellers find solitude and inspiration. A place where ordinary people experience healthy, thousand-year-old trees. A place where these trees, amongst the oldest, largest living beings on Earth, are safe from harm, for future generations to enjoy. You can make it happen.
Very tall firs grow along Meyers Creek in centre of photo. Note huge burn from escaped logging fire just showing on top right side of photo.
Paton Creek ancient cedar grove in a proposed cut block near the Seymour Dam water intake.
A THIRD OF OLDGROWTH SURVIVES
About one-third of the 5,200 hectare Seymour Ancient Groves area still has its original ancient forest intact. And not all of the Seymour's second growth forests are even-aged plantations like those found after clearcutting today. Some of the forests have "veterans" that were left as seed trees. In other areas, only one tree species was selectively cut 70 years ago, leaving the rest of the forest to thrive.
Some of the logging, especially in the lower end of the Seymour Valley, took place at the beginning of this century. Here, the more productive valley bottom soils have exceptional fertility. Now these 80+ year-old naturally-regenerated second growth rainforests are beautiful. Many of the trees, if left to flourish, are potential record-sized giants-to-be a few hundred years in the future.
