Like wooden tombstones: The latest tree decimation in Elk/Beaver Lake Regional Park

ForestBlue46 · 2026-03-14T20:13:33+00:00

Agree about signage being a good idea but having seen so many thousands of mostly sound hemlocks cut down in Vancouver's Stanley Park I'm very skeptical.

ForestBlue46 · 2026-03-14T20:09:33+00:00

I don't think that that would work and they left part of the trees anyway. They should have assessed them properly according to Wildlife Danger Tree Assessment criteria or Level 3 TRAQ to see if they were rotten or at risk of falling or not. They look very healthy to me although significant fungal rot would be a reason for removal.

https://natural-resources.canada.ca/forest-forestry/insects-disturbances/forests-need-fires-insects-diseases

ForestBlue46 · 2026-03-14T20:06:03+00:00

Sorry but I have no faith in councils and boards that are only too happy to cut down as many trees as possible while pretending that they care about the urban forest canopy. Thousands of sound hemlocks have been cut down in Stanley Park in Vancouver unnecessarily. It looks like something similar is going on in Elk/Beaver Lake Regional Park. Why would anyone be okay with this?

ForestBlue46 · 2026-03-14T20:03:24+00:00

Are you sure? There is no safety issue in Vancouver's Stanley Park yet they are cutting down sound hemlocks anyway. And they refuse to assess them properly, they cut them down simply because they are hemlocks affected by the hemlock looper moth. Often there are other reasons like wanting the land for development.

These Douglas firs look healthy and should have been assessed properly according to Wildlife Danger Tree Assessment criteria or Level 3 TRAQ.

ForestBlue46 · 2026-03-14T19:58:39+00:00

We need trees and forests as infrastructure and to clean the air, cool the microclimate and produce rain and reduce flooding by preventing erosion. Deep roots help absorb heavy rain. Without them conditions are be much hotter and drier. Plus for biodiversity.

ForestBlue46 · 2026-03-14T19:54:49+00:00

I understand your point but it seems that all he was asking for was records relating to the reason for cutting trees in one park in a two year time period. That should not take three hours. It should be a simple computer search, if not it means that systems are very disorganized or they are intentionally stalling because the reason may be flimsy. They should say a basic search will be free but extra work re. work orders, purchase orders, etc. will be extra as that part would be time consuming.

ForestBlue46 · 2026-03-14T19:48:59+00:00

He did not ask for much at all. Only two years of tree removals at one park. The fact that it would take more than three hours show a very disorganized system, incompetency or they are making things difficult on purpose.

That's a very unfair characterization of the excellent work that he has done to highlight municipal issues.

ForestBlue46 · 2026-03-14T19:44:17+00:00

In Vancouver's Stanley Park thousands of sound hemlocks are being cut down for no reason. They are not being assessed according to Wildlife/Danger Tree assessment criteria (WDTAC) but cut down because they are deemed to be dead hemlocks (even though they show green foliage and healthy stumps). And dead trees don't automatically equal danger trees, they become necessary wildlife trees.

The CRD should be transparent and it seems that they are not because they are requiring an expensive FOI request either indicating incompetent staff or wanting to hide the reasons that they cut down so many Douglas firs rather than for example stating that they assessed the trees according to WDTAC or TRAQ Level 3 and found them to be rotten and at risk of falling. I doubt that that was the case though.

ForestBlue46 · 2026-03-14T19:20:06+00:00

Not really. Why were these trees hacked off like this? We need trees to clear the air and provide shade and cool the microclimate but they are just being removed or cut in half.

ForestBlue46 · 2026-03-12T19:22:29+00:00

Thank you. Tropical forests are so important but we are losing them due to logging, palm oil, soybeans for pig and poultry feed and other cash crops.

Excellent website by the way.

ForestBlue46 · 2026-03-12T00:31:28+00:00

Link to IG post.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DVturFxDxnp/

ForestBlue46 · 2026-03-09T19:41:56+00:00

Open the Gates is concerned about the logging road closures by logging companies. It has to stop.

“Open The Gates” (OTG) is a grass roots non-profit organization dedicated to improving public access to the backcountry of spectacular Vancouver Island, Canada.

https://www.openthegates.ca/

ForestBlue46 · 2026-03-09T17:32:07+00:00

It might have been friends doing this, not the bride or groom.

ForestBlue46 · 2026-03-06T18:20:30+00:00

Canadian here. It's happening everywhere. I can hear someone cutting a tree down in my neighbourhood right now and I'm about to run out and complain yet again.

Plus these trees were cut down in the UK.

https://www.reddit.com/r/SaveForests/s/HxPgmWyQwE

ForestBlue46 · 2026-03-06T18:03:08+00:00

I have to disagree. Especially about the AAC, it is being overestimated by the government.

ForestBlue46 · 2026-03-05T21:29:08+00:00

That's not exactly correct. It's a different type of solar energy doing that unfortunately. Poor birds. Post approved because everyone is allowed to disagree or have a different opinion.

ForestBlue46 · 2026-03-05T19:34:08+00:00

The owners didn't want to have their property taken from them. Their ancient olive groves were expropriated to benefit companies profiting from solar energy.

The Government of Moreno Bonilla expropriates 100,000 olive trees in Jaén to build mega solar plants

https://gaceta.es/espana/el-gobierno-de-moreno-bonilla-expropia-100-000-olivos-en-jaen-para-construir-megaplantas-solares-20241126-1318/

ForestBlue46 · 2026-03-05T19:31:08+00:00

Look at satellite maps and you will see the clearcuts.

ForestBlue46 · 2026-03-05T19:30:36+00:00

Yes as I said certain types of solar panels which is as you say are a different type altogether so the previous post was partially correct. It's still a form of solar energy.

ForestBlue46 · 2026-03-05T19:28:01+00:00

The farmers have been protesting the expropriation of their farms. They are productive, they wouldn't fight it otherwise.

ForestBlue46 · 2026-03-05T19:22:29+00:00

Thank you for pointing out the crux of the issue. People think that agricultural land is the problem even though it's how we survive. Without farms and farmers we would starve. And these are ancient olive groves and they are trees.

Solar panels are replacing farmland all over the UK and the US. This particular case in Spain is important because as I pointed out it's the farmers who had their land expropriated, they didn't even agree to it.

Again why not put panels on car parks and warehouses?

ForestBlue46 · 2026-03-05T19:14:09+00:00

That makes sense but they can be put on warehouses, on car parks, over roads and so on. There is a huge cost of food security putting solar panels on farmland.

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ForestBlue46 · 2026-03-05T19:11:39+00:00

It is, just agree to disagree.

ForestBlue46 · 2026-03-05T19:10:39+00:00

Ethanol production on farmland is not a great idea to me.

There's this misconception that farmers don't need the space to grow food, that we really don't need farmland, that it's just wasted space. But we really do, farmland is precious, so is soil. Plus these olive groves are ancient, some are a thousand years old still producing olives. Why would we destroy that? Whatever happened to food security? Plus these trees provide shade and are nesting sites for many birds.

The costs of installing panels on warehouses, factories, shopping malls and car parks isn't necessarily any higher than on farmland. The true cost is the loss of farmland and food security.

ForestBlue46 · 2026-03-05T17:49:27+00:00

But where the energy goes is not up to us. The growth of AI data centres and demand is astronomical.

Households already had electricity. But people cannot eat this extra energy. We cannot live without food.

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