Joshua Wright says a yellow cedar tree he photographed last year was “incredible,” the largest he’d ever seen in a decade of hiking around Vancouver Island.

The monumental cedar stood in what was one of the few intact or nearly intact old-growth valleys left on the island, says Wright, an advocate who also recorded the sounds of marbled murrelet birds — a threatened species under federal law — within the same forest.

Wright measured the cedar’s diameter at 2.79 metres, a size that should have ensured protection for the tree, along with a one-hectare logging buffer under provincial law.

But when he returned to the area south of Gold River in June, Wright says the tree had been felled as part of a logging operation approved by the province.

  • bluebadoo@lemmy.world
    74·
    3 days ago

    You can’t paint all Indigenous Peoples with the same brush. That is a racist view. First Nations would not even have logging companies without colonization imposing poverty on their nations.

    • CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
      91·
      3 days ago

      I don’t “paint all indigenous peoples with the same brush”. However, assuming their standpoint takes priority regardless of context would fit that description.

      It has been many years since colonizers came and disrupted the way of life in Canada. It is importantly to think critically, whether the speaker is indigenous or colonial. More often than not, money beats out environmental concerns when humans are involved

      • bluebadoo@lemmy.world
        46·
        3 days ago

        Considering that their Nations stewarded this land for thousands of years and they learned firsthand how to do that through their own scientific lens, yes, they should have a say in how WE steward THEIR lands.

        You literally used the argument that the actions of one indigenous owned company means we should be weary of how all indigenous voices are heard and respected. I don’t think you can talk your way out of the racism of that.

        • CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
          52·
          3 days ago

          Obviously, no true First Nations person would disrespect their land, just as no true Scotsman puts sugar on their oatmeal.

          I said be critical of everyone. Even - especially - the environmental organizations.