'It's a bit shocking': Video of legal old-growth harvesting draws frustration on Vancouver Island

As the B.C. government promises deferrals of old-growth logging and protesters push for the end of the practice entirely, videos recently recorded near the Tsitika River north of Woss put the old-growth fight into perspective for the man who shot them.

As the B.C. government promises deferrals of old-growth logging and protesters push for the end of the practice entirely, videos recently recorded near the Tsitika River north of Woss put the old-growth fight into perspective for the man who shot them.

"It's a bit shocking to see trees the size of the ones you'd see in Cathedral Grove be dropped," said the camper who recorded the videos, who has asked to remain anonymous because of concerns about how speaking to media might affect his employment.

The sight was so surprising, such a contrast to the province's rhetoric, that the camper thought he may have stumbled upon something illegal.

CTV News inquiries to the Ministry of Forests and the company conducting the logging quickly dispelled this notion. The huge trees lying by the side of the road were harvested perfectly legally.

"Old-growth is an important input to many value-added manufacturing plants," a statement from the ministry reads, in part.

"There is no general moratorium on old-growth logging aside from the provincial old-growth deferral initiative."

The area where the videos were recorded is Crown land. BC Timber Sales began preparing it for sale in 2015, but re-examined it in 2021 to ensure that it conformed to the agency's "Coastal Legacy Tree Policy, the Special Tree Regulation, and BCTS’ Large Cultural Cedar protocol," according to the ministry.

"As a result of the re-examination, an area of the original cutblock was removed from the harvest area to retain Coastal Legacy Trees and Large Cultural Cedar," the ministry said.