Clayoquot Sound Chronology of Some Key Historical Events
The ancient rainforest in pristine Sydney Watershed. Photo credit: Graham Osborne
10,000 BP to Present: First Nations sustainably occupy and use Clayoquot Sound
Anthropologists estimate that more than 70,000 aboriginal people once lived along the west coast of Vancouver Island. European explorers made first contact in Clayoquot Sound in 1774. The aboriginal owners of Clayoquot Sound are the Tla-o-qui-aht, Ahousaht and Hesquiaht First Nations, part of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council (NTC) Central Region. Treaty negotiations between the governments of Canada and British Columbia and the Nuu- chah-nulth began in 1995 and are still underway.
1950s to 1980s - Government grants logging rights tenures to big companies
In 1955 the B.C. Government granted MacMillan Bloedel Limited (MB) a perpetually- renewable Tree Farm License (TFL #44) with exclusive rights to log in more than half of Clayoquot Sound. In 1956 logging rights in almost all the rest of Clayoquot were granted to British Columbia Forest Products, a deal that was fraught with bribes. (The Minister of Forests at the time ultimately went to jail for his involvement.) This license was later sold to Fletcher Challenge and then, in 1992, sold to International Forest Products (InterFor). During the 1970s clearcutting in Clayoquot more than tripled over the initial rate of cut established when the licenses were granted.
1980s - Growing concern about the effects of clearcutting spark the first protests
In 1979-1980 Tofino environmentalists, concerned about the proposed logging of Meares Island--the scenic backdrop and source of drinking water for their town--formed the Friends of Clayoquot Sound (FOCS). In 1982, Ahousaht First Nations took MB to court to stop log booming in Steamer Cove on Flores Island. Although the judge said they were right in their claim that log boom debris was hurting their shellfish beds, he ruled in favour of MB. In 1984 Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations declared Meares Island a Tribal Park and, together with FOCS, mounted the first logging blockade in Clayoquot Sound to stop MB logging of Meares. The B.C. government had issued cutting permits to MB despite a three-year-long Meares Island Integrated Planning Team process that recommended substantial preservation of Meares. In 1985 the NTC was granted an injunction to halt MB's logging of the Island, MB was granted an injunction against the logging protesters and the NTC initiated a court case to establish their aboriginal claim to Meares' forests which remains unresolved. In 1988 some First Nations people and FOCS blockaded logging road construction along pristine Sulphur Passage, the entrance to the Megin Valley (the largest unlogged coastal watershed left on Vancouver Island). Thirty-five people were arrested, including Ahousaht Hereditary Chief Earl Maquinna George. Road building stopped. In 1989 more than 200 people from FOCS and Ahousaht First Nations gathered on a logging road in the Atleo River watershed in Ahousaht Territory in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the clearcut logging destruction of this salmon-rich river. During the 1980s WCWC published its first book, Meares Island - Protecting a Natural Paradise and its first two educational newspapers on Clayoquot: 50,000 copies of a paper about the Meares protests and 60,000 copies of a paper about the Sulphur Passage conflict.
1989 to 1993 - Government task forces fail to resolve Clayoquot conflict
In 1989 B.C. Premier Bill Vander Zahn established a "Sustainable Development Task Force" to decide which areas in Clayoquot Sound should be logged or protected. FOCS and WCWC called for preservation of the entire area. This Task Force was dissolved in 1990; local residents refused to participate because continued clearcut logging compromised the outcome of the process. In 1991, government established a new Task Force, the Clayoquot Sound Sustainable Development Task Force. Environmental and tourism representatives eventually walked off this Task Force, too, because of continued logging in Clayoquot. In 1991 FOCS blockaded logging of the Bulson River. Six people were arrested. Also in 1991, the U.S.-based environment group, Ecotrust, funded the establishment of a scientific research group in Clayoquot--the Clayoquot Biosphere Project. In 1992 FOCS maintained a three-month blockade at the Clayoquot Arm Bridge. 65 people were arrested. During this time period, WCWC published 150,000 copies of its third educational paper on Clayoquot, Save the Wild Side of Vancouver Island and a 144-page coffee-table book, Clayoquot - On the Wild Side.
1993 - Government's Clayoquot Decision Prompts Protests and International Outcry
On April 13, 1993 the B.C. Government announced its so-called "balanced" Clayoquot Decision: preservation of about one-third of Clayoquot Sound, including the Megin River, most of Clayoquot's bog forests and some karst landforms, and agreement to clearcut in two- thirds of the Sound, including the Clayoquot, Ursus, Sydney River valleys, Easter Lake and Flores Island. From July to November of 1993, FOCS maintained a blockade of MB logging operations at the Kennedy River Bridge. Over 12,000 people came to the Friend's "Black Hole Peace Camp", including two train-loads of activists from across Canada. Over 900 peaceful blockaders were arrested--the largest action of civil disobedience in Canadian history. Starting in July of 1993 Greenpeace International and the U.S.-based Natural Resources Defense Council mounted international protests and launched market campaigns pointing to consumer complicity in the purchase of wood products derived from the clearcutting of ancient temperate rainforest. On July 1, the same day FOCS opened its Peace Camp, WCWC, with permission of Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations, erected a Clayoquot Information Kiosk at Sutton Pass (the entrance to Clayoquot Sound) and began construction of the Clayoquot Witness Trail in Clayoquot Valley. In late summer WCWC published 100,000 copies of its fourth Clayoquot newspaper, Save Clayoquot Valley. WCWC also raised funds to enable Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations to boardwalk the Big Cedar Trail in Meares Island Tribal Park, completed in September of 1993. Also in September, WCWC extracted Stumpy (a large redcedar stump) from a Clayoquot clearcut, and sent it on a cross-North America public awareness tour. Greenpeace borrowed Stumpy for a similar tour of Europe. During 1993, the B.C. Government responded to criticisms of its logging practices by establishing a Scientific Panel to recommend "world class" logging standards for Clayoquot Sound and responded to criticisms that First Nations had not been consulted in the April Clayoquot land use decision by negotiating an Interim Measures Agreement with the NTC Central Region tribes.
1994 to 1996 - Int'l market pressure increases; some pieces of Clayoquot solution develop
In January of 1994 Der Spiegel, a Germany publishing house, announced that it would not use pulp from MacMillan Bloedel. In February of 1994 the American magazine Sierra asked its paper supplier to provide it with B.C. pulp-free paper. In March of 1994 the B.C. government and Nuu-chah-nulth Central Region Chiefs signed the Interim Measures Agreement that established a local resource management committee--the Central Region Board (CRB)--and gave First Nations the right to review and reject resource development plans in Clayoquot. Also in March Greenpeace International successfully pressured Scott Paper (U.K. Division) to cancel a pulp contract with MacMillan Bloedel worth $5.4 million. In June of 1994 a number of influential U.S. environment groups, including Natural Resources Defense Council, Rainforest Action Network and Greenpeace U.S. formed the Clayoquot Rainforest Coalition (CRC) with the goal of increasing the permanent protection of British Columbia's ancient rainforests by redirecting U.S. markets towards ecologically sound alternatives. The CRC targeted customers of MacMillan Bloedel such as the New York Times, GTE and Pacific Bell. In July of 1994 DeTeMedien, the German phone directory publishers association whose 120 member companies produce 85 million directories a year, stated they would no longer purchase pulp or paper from MacMillan Bloedel. In July of 1995 the Natural Resources Defense Council, in cooperation with other environment groups, mounted a two-day symposium in response to First Nations' request for information about alternatives to industrial logging in Clayoquot Sound, including non-timber and value-added forest products and eco-tourism. Also in July of 1995 the B.C. Government accepted all 128 recommendations of the Clayoquot Scientific Panel, including a moratorium on logging in pristine watersheds so inventories of all forest values could be conducted. B.C.'s Environment Minister claims it's the "end to clearcutting in Clayoquot."
During 1994 and 1995 WCWC completed the 30 km Clayoquot Valley Witness Trail, published 250,000 copies of another two Clayoquot papers (Clayoquot--a heritage worth protecting and Protect Ursus Valley - Ahousaht Territory), opened an office in the village of Ahousaht on Flores Island, conducted joint research projects with Ahousaht First Nations in the Ursus Valley and Easter Lake/Young Bay areas and co-published with Ahousaht First Nations reports on their two research expeditions. In October of 1995 Ahousaht Hereditary Chief Earl Maquinna George publicly stated he will not allow logging or roadbuilding in the pristine Ursus River Valley.
1996 to 1997 - more progress towards a solution but conflict still unresolved
In January of 1996 heavy rainfalls triggered over 100 new landslides in Clayoquot Sound, reminding people of the horrendous legacy of clearcut logging. WCWC's investigations of the slides, published in a report released in February, concluded that landslides occurred up to 20 times more frequently in Clayoquot's clearcut areas. In March of 1996 industry and government, in response to a request by First Nations, mounted a two-day symposium on alternatives to clearcutting in Clayoquot. In April of 1996 the Interim Measures Agreement ([MA) was extended for 3 more years. Beginning in the spring of 1996 with a grant from Youth Services Canada, WCWC and Ahousaht First Nations initiated their joint Ahousaht Wild Side Heritage Trail and Eco-Tourism Project to train 20 youth in eco-tourism and clear an ancient trail to the outside beaches on Flores Island. The project continued into 1997 and received additional support from many sources including thousands of WCWC supporters, MB, Long Beach Model Forest and Forest Renewal B.C. During the summer of 1996 WCWC published 100,000 copies of its seventh Clayoquot paper, Beautiful Clayoquot Sound--Fifteen-year fight to preserve this precious heritage continues. During the spring and summer of 1996, the U.S. Clayoquot Rainforest Coalition and Greenpeace International intensified their international market campaigns, continuing to target customers of MacMillan Bloedel and succeeded in moving California municipalities including Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco to apply pressure on Pacific Bell and change their paper purchasing practices. In June of 1996, frustrated by government's decision to not conduct full inventories of forest values in the pristine Bulson Valley prior to logging as called for by the Clayoquot Scientific Panel, Greenpeace and FOCS blockaded the Bulson Valley logging. First Nations persuaded them to suspend their blockade (on protocol issues) and agree to meet with logging companies to begin negotiating a solution to the conflict. In July, First Nations hosted an all-stakeholder meeting to discuss a resolution to the Clayoquot controversy. Prompted by First Nations' request for peace in the Sound, during the fall of 1996 environmentalists decided to temporarily quiet down while pursuing a solution--the development of a U.N. Biosphere Reserve proposal for Clayoquot. In October of 1996 the World Conservation Union, a global alliance of 880 agencies and governments from 133 countries including government representatives from B.C., unanimously endorsed a resolution supporting designation of Clayoquot Sound as an U.N. Biosphere Reserve. The resolution urges Clayoquot stakeholders to consider the importance of increased protection of pristine areas as well as creation of new opportunities for sustainable community development. Also in October the Clayoquot CRB holds its first community meeting in Clayoquot Sound about Biosphere Reserve designation. On January 1, 1997 high wind storms blew down substantial numbers of trees on Vancouver Island, including some of the experimental "leavestrips" designed under Scientific Panel rules in Clayoquot Sound. In January of 1997 MacMillan Bloedel layed off its Kennedy Lake Division workers and stopped logging in Clayoquot Sound for at least 18 months as it works out how to reconfigure its logging operations. MB lost $7 million logging Clayoquot Sound in 1996. Also in January, the Honourable Sheila Copps, Federal Minister of Canadian Heritage, while in Victoria, B.C., announced that her government would support a Biosphere Reserve solution if all stakeholders want it. In March of 1997 the Nuu-chah-nulth Central Region Chiefs and MacMillan Bloedel announce a new Joint Venture Corporation, 51 percent owned by First Nations, that will take over all logging operations in MB's Estevan Division--the northern part of its TFL in Clayoquot Sound. The Joint Venture, based on a maximum harvest of 40,000 m' a year, will not log for three years while it investigates value-added forest product opportunities. Logging in pristine areas remains undecided. On June 2, 1997, federal election day, the stakeholders of Clayoquot Sound sent a letter to Prime Minister Chretien urging his leadership and his government's involvement in a Clayoquot solution.
