Huu-ay-aht First Nation charts own path on old-growth protection

Chief Robert DenniThe Huu-ay-aht First Nation is charting its own path toward the conservation of old-growth forests across a swath of western Vancouver Island as the province works through a process to defer logging in 26,000 square kilometres of critical old-growth habitat.  The Huu-ay-aht outlined their position this week in a commissioned assessment of old-growth forests in Tree Farm License 44, the long-term forest tenure around Port Alberni that the First Nation holds an interest in. And it isn’t out of sync with the province’s mapping of old-growth areas it hopes to temporarily take off the table.  Huu-ay-aht Chief Robert Dennis, however, said his people intend to use that assessment in future management decisions, including those that involve the harvest of old-growth trees, which he wants the province and other interest groups to recognize.