Old-growth trees in B.C. are bound to be spared from logging now that the months-long dispute in the Fairy Creek region has been taken up by the federal Liberal party, predicts Glen Reid, an organizer with the Rainforest Flying Squad.
“It’s going to be saved,” he said Saturday. “It’s an election issue now.”
The federal Liberals announced this past week that if elected they will set up a $50-million old-growth nature fund to protect old trees.
Meanwhile, the number of arrests at Fairy Creek reached 824 on Friday, bringing a reminder of what was called the War in the Woods when more than 800 people were arrested in the 1990s for protesting logging in Clayoquot Sound.
RCMP have been clashing with protesters in the Fairy Creek watershed where they are stationed to enforce a B.C. Supreme Court injunction against blockades. On Friday, six people were arrested, processed and released.
Two people were in locking devices in a trench — a frequent tactic to slow down logging efforts — at the entrance to a bridge, police said. RCMP said the trench is unsafe and not stable.
Reid said there are people in trenches daily. Others will lock themselves up with a type of device that attaches to rebar in the ground.
“It is just to slow industry down,” Reid said.
As well, the Land Back camp, led by a Pacheedaht youth, was taken down from its location on a bridge last week but was back in place on Friday, he said.
