Artists, scientists and Conservationists cooperate to save the Stoltmann
Hiker looks down on the Upper Sims Creek Valley. InterFor plans to clearcut the groves of tall trees all up the valley. Photo: John Clarke
Alpine lake and snow-covered meadow along the mountaineering route that traverses the ridge between Sims Creek and Princess Louisa Inlet--a potential Stoltmann day-hike destination. Photo: John Clarke
When, in 1993, the B.C. NDP Government decided to protect only one-third of Clayoquot Sound on the wild west coast of Vancouver Island it spurred massive global protest including the largest act of civil disobedience (logging road blockades leading to the arrests of over 900 citizens) in Canadian history. Unless Glen Clark's 1996 decision to protect only 20 percent of the Stoltmann Wilderness is countered by a similar public outcry, this precious B.C. rainforest will be lost.
Already thousands of people have signed a WCWC petition demanding the protection of the entire 260,000 ha. Stoltmann Wilderness. Several hundred WCWC volunteers have carved a 30 km. hiking route deep into the rainforest of the Elaho, the largest of the Stoltmann valleys. Suspension foot-bridges now span rushing canyon creeks, giving the forest path the feel of an exotic Amazon-rainforest.
During the summer of 1996, WCWC hosted over 80 artists on hiking and camping trips into the Stoltmann. Inspired by the magnificence of the Stoltmann's rainforests and shocked by the encroaching clearcuts, they painted, sculpted and created incredible works of art which they donated to the Wilderness Committee for a Save the Stoltmann Wilderness Art Show and Silent Auction (see back page for details). Participating artists include Robert Bateman, Jack Campbell, Mark Hobson, Sherry Grauer and Brenda Guild-Gillespie, just to name a few. WCWC will use the money raised through the silent art auction to fund a scientific research station in the heart of the Stoltmann Wilderness.
WCWC plans to helicopter a large cabin-tent into a remote part of the heart of the threatened Stoltmann rainforest. It will be used by the scientists who will gather information on grizzly bears and conduct biodiversity surveys. Neither the B.C. government nor InterFor has conducted such studies.
With the help of donations from Stoltmann Wilderness supporters WCWC will build canopy research platforms in a grove of towering Douglas fir trees, similar to those it built in 1991 in the Sitka spruce trees in the Carmanah Valley. They will allow scientists to explore the tree-top world and find new `oldgrowth dependant' species. In Carmanah, the upper canopy research lead to the discovery of hundreds of insect species never before known to science.
WCWC aims to show the world that the Stoltmann Wilderness is a global natural treasure and convince the B.C. government that it must be preserved.
The Elaho Valley's ancient rainforest supports a host of rich flora and fauna, like this 'Chicken of the Woods' tree fungus. Photo: Kerry Dawson
These ancient redcedars are in the 'Magic Grove' Creek Valley in the Stoltmann. They are spray-painted with numbers for logging by InterFor. Photo: John Clarke
InterFor plans to build a logging road bridge over picturesque Granite Canyon in Sims Creek Valley this year. Photo: John Clarke
InterFor plans to bulldoze a road across this beautiful waterfall to make way for a logging road in the Sims Creek Valley in 1997. Photo: John Clarke
