Ancient western hemlock in Clayoquot Valley with inset Witness Trail building crew celebrating raising of trailhead sign: "Clayoquot Valley Witness Trail". Photo: Mark Wareing
CREATING HIKING TRAILS
A Path towards wilderness preservation
In 1982 the fate of Meares was being debated. Would this island be clearcut or spared? At that time few, other than its native owners, had seen or touched any of the thousands of giant cedars that grace Meares. Most knew Meares only as Tofino's scenic backdrop.
While the debate over Meares raged, a few hard working volunteers built the 4 km Meares Big Tree Trail. Suddenly the magic of lush ancient rainforest touched the hearts of many. Thousands upon thousands of footsteps over a decade of use have made a muddy rut out of this now internationally famous trail. This summer the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations, who declared Meares a Tribal Park in 1984, are constructing a cedar boardwalk to improve the trail and protect the tree roots and forest floor vegetation.
In the spring of 1985, Stein Valley's future as a wild watershed looked bleak. The B.C. government of the day had made its "final" decision-the Stein was to be logged! Did WCWC accept this wilderness death sentence? Nope!
Immediately WCWC trail building volunteers, working side by side with the Lillooet and Lytton First Nations, began clearing the 60 kilometre Stein Heritage Trail, an ancient trade route that traversed the whole watershed. As more and more people hiked the Stein and experienced its raw wild beauty, the public cry for preservation became so strong that the B.C. government declared the upper and lower valley as Wilderness Areas under the Forest Act. The government mid-Stein is still unlogged-its fate to be decided this year.
In 1988 B.C.'s provincial government had made the "final" decision on the Carmanah Valley. Canada's tallest Sitka spruces were to be logged by forest industry giant MacMillan Bloedel. Once again WCWC volunteer trail builders were there, this time beating an injunction bid by MB to halt our activities. Having legally established our right to build trails, WCWC eventually created a 20 kilometre trail the length of Carmanah. The public came, experienced its mystery and demanded preservation. In 1990, the lower half of Carmanah became a provincial park. Logging plans for the upper half are held at bay by WCWC's world-famous Carmanah Canopy Research Station and the beautiful boardwalk that leads to it.
On April 13,1993 the B.C. government made its "final" Clayoquot decision. Most of Clayoquot Sound's big tree forests are to be logged. Did WCWC accept the Clayoquot clearcut decision? No way! On June 1st, with the permission of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations, WCWC volunteer trail builders stated work on the Clayoquot Witness Trail, continuing in the footsteps of a proud history of successful wilderness protection.
