Traffic on First Street was at a standstill the morning of July 1 as protesters marched down the middle of the road from Grizzly Plaza to the Revelstoke Courthouse.
They held signs calling on the province to protect old-growth forests.
“Worth more standing,” read several of the signs.
It was the second protest against old-growth logging in Revelstoke this year, the first taking place in Grizzly Plaza on May 30 with a focus on supporting the protesters in Fairy Creek on Vancouver Island.
READ MORE: Rally in Revelstoke to protect dwindling old growth forests
This time around the focus was on protecting the old-growth forest in the Revelstoke area.
“Fairy Creek is important, Vancouver Island is important, but it is happening on our doorstep, 30 kilometres up the road, and we have to speak up,” said Jade Harvey, executive director for Wildsight Revelstoke.
Earlier this spring, BC Timber Sales auctioned off 120 hectares of old-growth forest in Bigmouth Creek, approximately 120 km north of Revelstoke, and timber harvesting has started in the area.
In a neighbouring area, Argonaut Creek, the province has deferred logging 11 of 14 cutblocks until new caribou management plans are released, which is not expected until 2023.
The Revelstoke Community Forest Corporation has a tree farm licence for an area south of Argonaut and Bigmouth that is also home to old-growth forests. They recently had their annual allowable cut of 90,000 cubic metres renewed.
READ MORE: City-owned forestry business has allowable cut renewed
The forest in the Revelstoke area is thought to be the only interior rainforest in the world, something worth protecting, agreed the leaders of the march.
READ MORE: Eco group urges the province to halt logging old growth north of Revelstoke
The protesters are asking for the immediate enactment of the 14 recommendations from the Old Growth Strategic Review Panel, which were published in April 2020. They include ensuring Indigenous involvement, immediately protecting very high-risk ecosystems and improving management by creating an inventory of old forest classification.
According to a map created by a Nelson-based company earlier this year, only around 2.6 per cent of forested land in B.C. hosts old-growth forests.
READ MORE: Scientists release maps of B.C. old growth forests, urge province to stop cutting
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