Editorial Assignment Canada’s Forgotten Rainforest2018 The Narwhal A grove of ancient cedar trees in B.C.’s rare inland temperate rainforest. Some cedars in this globally unique forest are estimated to be more than 1,500 years old. What little remains of the unprotected rainforest is now slated to be clear-cut. Forest ecologist Michelle Connolly sits in front of a slash pile in B.C.’s inland rainforest, one of the rarest ecosystems on the planet. Logging contractors attempted to burn this pile and others but were stymied by wet weather. Trees grow to be many hundreds of years old in this rainforest because fire can’t gain a foothold. The Goat River valley (left) is one of only a few inland temperate rainforest watersheds that haven’t been logged. Next to a clear cut near Hwy 16 West of Prince George BC The Inland Temperate Rainforest holds one of the highest diversity of Lichen on the planet. Including oceanic species so far from the coast their presence is “almost inconceivable.” Says Scientist Trevor Goward. Michelle Connolly’s forest survey notes and GPS Michelle Connelly surrounded by human sized devil's club and old growth cedars. A new road being carved into the old-growth inland temperate rainforest east of Prince George, B.C., in preparation for logging. Clear cut logging in the Anzac River Valley. The valley bottom, where caribou migrate to find lichen during deep-snow winters, is also slated to be logged. The inside of a tree burnt from the inside that eventually burnt itself out. Trees can grow quite old here because the landscape is so wet fire can't get a hold. Piled Logs, and slash piles of waste in the Anzac River Valley near Prince George British Columbia A bear print left on the edge of a fresh logging road. Rusted piping and metal debris left behind when Canfor’s Upper Fraser mill closed. Thousands of spruce and balsam fir logs are piled at Canfor’s Polar Mill near Prince George, B.C. A black bear rests beside a logging road cut through the inland temperate rainforest. Thousands of spruce and balsam fir logs are piled at Canfor’s Polar Mill near Prince George, B.C. Dominick DellaSala, president and chief scientist at the Geos Institute, in front of a slash pile waiting to be burned in the Anzac River Valley of British Columbia. The new boundaries of an old-growth management area are marked with orange spray paint along the Fraser Flats forest service road in B.C.’s inland temperate rainforest. In B.C., old-growth management area boundaries can be moved to accommodate logging, with no requirement that the amount of forest lost be replaced elsewhere. Canfor sawmill in Prince George. Impending storm arrives in Anzac Valley clear cuts. Slide 1 Slide 1 (current slide) Slide 2 Slide 2 (current slide) Slide 3 Slide 3 (current slide) Slide 4 Slide 4 (current slide) Slide 5 Slide 5 (current slide) Slide 6 Slide 6 (current slide) Slide 7 Slide 7 (current slide) Slide 8 Slide 8 (current slide) Slide 9 Slide 9 (current slide) Slide 10 Slide 10 (current slide) Slide 11 Slide 11 (current slide) Slide 12 Slide 12 (current slide) Slide 13 Slide 13 (current slide) Slide 14 Slide 14 (current slide) Slide 15 Slide 15 (current slide) Slide 16 Slide 16 (current slide) Slide 17 Slide 17 (current slide) Slide 18 Slide 18 (current slide) Slide 19 Slide 19 (current slide) Slide 20 Slide 20 (current slide) Slide 21 Slide 21 (current slide) Behind The Scenes of Shooting Canada’s Forgotten Rainforest