Protesters against old-growth logging dig in as company appeals denial of court injunction

All sides in the old-growth logging dispute dug in deeper Wednesday after a British Columbia Supreme Court judge refused to extend an injunction against protest blockades on southern Vancouver Island.

On Wednesday, forest company Teal Cedar Products Ltd. filed to appeal the decision handed down Justice Douglas Thompson on Tuesday.

 "To do otherwise would be to allow anarchy to reign over civil society, and for misinformation campaigns to win over fact," a company statement read. 

The logging company said if it cannot continue its work, it may be forced to lay off employees and shut down mills.

Luke Wallace, a spokesman for the protest group Rainforest Flying Squad, said supporters will stay put at blockade camps near Fairy Creek, a remote area north of Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island.

"Teal Jones still has every intent of logging all the remaining old growth in that valley and the surrounding valleys, and so we will be present on that land until the reality is changed," Wallace said.

Thompson's ruling immediately lifted the injunction that had been in place since April. He said the RCMP's enforcement of the court order led to serious and substantial infringement of civil liberties.