Towering Sitka spruce line the banks of the Ursus River
Government and company trying to fast track logging road construction into the Ursus
One of Clayoquot Sound's last big unlogged, salmon-rich watersheds
Clayoquot Sound is one of Canada's best know environmental hotspots. First Nations and environmentalists have been working together for over a decade to halt the clearcutting of Clayoquot's ancient forests by two large, multi-national logging companies-McMillan Bloeded (MB) and Interfor- and to save the region's wild salmon streams and special places.
Located right in the geographic heart of Clayoquot Sound is the 6,567 hectare Ursus Valley, a never-clearcut watershed, blanketed in towering moss-hung trees and rich in wildlife and salmon. This still-wild valley is part of Ahousaht First Nation's Territory. A recent plan by MB to build a road along the Ursus' narrow valley bottom has accelerated efforts to protect this special valley.
Square "test hole"in recedar-evidence of aboriginal canoe builders
Ursus Valley-rich in salmon spawning gravels
In April of 1993m when the B.C. government announced its ecologically unsound and unpopular Clayoquot decision, Premier Harcourt proclaimed that the Ursus Valley would be logged. However, recognizing the outstanding fish and wildlife populations that depend on the Ursus for survival, the government made the area a "Special Wildlife Management Zone". This meant that full environmental studies would be undertaken before any industrial activity would be allowed to make sure that such activities would not harm the valley's wildlife, especially the Roosevelt elk.
Despite this special designation for the Ursus, MB seeks a permit to quickly build a logging road up the Ursus Valley and across a mountain pass in order to access timber in the neighboring Bulson Valley. Many believe such a road would hurt the elk and the salmon-spawning habitat. The BC government has apparently accommodated MB by speeding up the wildlife studies in order to clear away any red tape in the way of logging road construction.
In the face of this government and industry initiative, the Ahousaht First Nations have recently begun conducting their own studies in the Ursus Valley. The Ahousaht/WCWC research team discovered that, besides being a major habitat for fish and wildlife, the Ursus is also surprisingly rich in evidence of past aboriginal use-a storehouse of Ahousaht history that spans centuries.
