Squads Flying to the Defense of Fairy Creek Headwaters Forest

Fairy Creek Headwaters Protection Camp Update

via Reuben Garbanzo - Rain4estFlyingSquad

Week August 10-15, 2020

On Monday, 5:30 am, a Stone Pacific road crew subcontracting to Teal Jones, was turned away by a group of grassroots, direct-action forest activists from communities around the island who set up a citizens' blockade, peacefully occupying the steep side of a mountain high above the San Juan valley, to prevent a road development from breaching the height of land into the headwaters of the unlogged Fairy creek old-growth forest watershed, the last entirely unlogged tributary in the entire San Juan river system, Pacheedaht territory. 

This area is in the electoral riding of Premier John Horgan, who has remained silent all week about the stand-off unfolding in his own backyard and created by four years of NDP inaction on the crisis in the woods.

The detailed demands from the Fairy Creek frontline are that the Province:

• Work with Pacheedaht nation, title-holders of the land, to permanently protect the entire watershed in perpetuity, including the investment in conservation financing for alternative forms of economic development
•  Immediately release the recommendations of its Old-Growth Forest Review Panel (OGFR), which have not been made public since the panel submitted its report in April, 2020.
• Immediately halt all new road developments into intact watersheds including Fairy Creek, pending the release of the OGFR report.
• Work with sovereign First Nations to implement a comprehensive plan for an immediate just transition away from the logging of the last old-growth forests towards a sustainable/restorative second-growth forestry model, increased employment in the forest sector through value-added manufacturing of finished wood products, economic diversification in non-resource extractive industries for rural communities and more democratic control of land-use decisions in the hands of First Nations and forest-dependent communities.

Road-building into the Fairy is continuing on the east side of the watershed from Renfrew Creek, the site of another possible future road blockade.

Pacheedaht elder Bill Jones, an outspoken advocate for the protection of old-growth forests on his territory has officially opposed the road-building into Fairy Creek and is visiting the action camp today to show his support to settler-activists stepping up to defend his land. In 2017 Teal Jones built a mill for the Pacheedaht nation that only processes old-growth timber.

The blockade will remain up until its demands are met and organizers are grateful for the outpouring of support from communities across the island as resources ands supplies to build camp infrastructure are being mobilized to the frontlines.

In the words of one of the youth leaders on the frontlines:

"If you wanna see real change, you're gonna have to stand up for it."

Donations to cover direct action camp costs can be sent by etransfer to: rain4estflyingsquad@gmail.com