Buzz Cut

While British Columbia’s coastal forests gain protection, virgin old-growth in its vast interior is mowed down for the U.S. market.

By Paul Rauber

Working behind the scenes, conservationists in British Columbia are cobbling together a patchwork of parks, special management zones, and other de facto wilderness areas to form what they call the “Chilcotin Ark.” From Tweedsmuir Provincial Park in the north, past the Klinaklini River to near the town of Lillooet on the banks of the Fraser River in the east, the Ark includes 10 of British Columbia’s 14 ecosystem types in an area three times the size of Yellowstone National Park.

Essential partners in the project are native tribes (called “First Nations” in Canada) and local citizens groups like the Tatla Resource Association, who see the future in recreation and truly sustainable resource use. Steering the process is BC Spaces for Nature, a small but influential organization that has had a leading role in preserving more than 5.5 million acres over the past quarter century. You can contact BC Spaces at Box 673, Gibsons, BC Canada V0N 1V0; info@spaces fornature.org; www.spacesfornature.org.