Forests

Press: Scientific American Features Sitka Spruce Forest Photo

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I'm thrilled to have one of my personal favourite photos spread across two pages of Scientific American, read in print by 3.5 million worldwide. The shot is from a beautiful Sitka spruce forest near Nitinat Lake on Vancouver Island and compliments an article with Dr. Sally Aitken from the UBC Faculty of Forestry and BC Big Tree Registry. Check it out on the shelves until the end of August to get the full scoop!

Press: MacLean's Magazine Features Big Lonely Doug Climb

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The 2015 Canada Day edition of MacLean's included a Guide to Being an Awesome Canadian and one of the things they featured was my photo and some words from our epic tree climb up Big Lonely Doug, Canada's second largest Douglas-fir tree. You can spot tree climbers Matthew Beatty (at the base) and Will Koomjian (near the top) for scale. See out a photo gallery with more pictures from the climb here: www.tjwatt.com/big-lonely-doug-climb/ Ascending Big Lonely Doug was an unforgettable experience - both inspiring and heartbreaking. I can now only hope that the awareness he's helped raise across so many media platforms about the threat to BC's ancient forests will help to keep the remaining adjacent forests alive.

Exploration: Central Walbran - Proposed Cutblock 4403

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Here is a gallery of new images featuring part of the endangered Central Walbran Ancient Forest. The area in focus is the proposed '4403' cutblock, flagged by logging company Teal-Jones for cutting just a few hundred metres from where people camp and swim along the Walbran River. This section of forest contains some absolutely incredible old-growth redcedar trees as well as sensitive limestone karst features. Volunteers from the Friends of Carmanah Walbran have snipped and flagged a Witness Route into the area with yellow flagging tape, making access easier now. It rained pretty good on us (one of the only rains this July!) but it added to the mystical feel. To me, the dense old-growth forests of BC's coast are one of the last frontiers of exploration on this planet. Very few venture into their deepest depths but the rewards are overwhelming. The fact that their fate is also uncertain makes it all the more important to be there on the ground, capturing what secrets lie within. The fight to protect the Walbran Valley continues, one of Earth's greatest remaining natural treasures.

Canon 5D MKII, Canon 24-70mm f4 IS, wet wet gear. Camera took a full day to de-fog.

Press: Environmentalists fight to save tract of old-growth Vancouver Island trees

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Thrilled to wake up and see one of my photos featuring the spectacular ancient forests of the Walbran Valley on the front page of the Times Colonist. If you can't bring everyone to the forest, bring the forest to everyone! Now we just need the headline to read: Walbran Giants Protected!!

I also had the fortunate opportunity to present a host of new images and information on the Walbran Valley to a full house forum in Victoria last night. A lot of great work is being done right now by citizens and organizations committed to protecting this global ecological treasure. I will be posting a link to a send-a-message site with a call to action soon!

 

 

Press: Central Walbran & Edinburgh Mt. Ancient Forest Threatened

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We've already picked up some big news coverage on the logging threat facing the endangered Central Walbran and Edinburgh Mountain Ancient Forests on southern Vancouver Island! Be sure to watch the Global TV interview with the Ancient Forest Alliance's Ken Wu below. Really happy to see that the included a lot of my photos and video footage of the areas alongside it as well! Video: http://globalnews.ca/video/2102896/vancouver-island-ancient-forests-at-risk

Exploration: Central Walbran Ancient Forest - Vancouver Island, BC

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This past weekend, my partner Jackie and I took time to explore and document the endangered old-growth forests of the Central Walbran Ancient Forest on southern Vancouver Island, BC. It was pretty extreme terrain in most sections along the hillside and the heat and relentless mosquitoes only added to the challenge. But the forests here are some of the most rare and beautiful on Earth. Trees of monstrous shapes and sizes, growing largely undisturbed for millennia. However, they're currently under threat as a Surrey-based forestry company, the Teal-Jones Group, is aggressively moving forward with plans for eight new cutblocks (clearcuts) and a new road in the heart of this magnificent rainforest. The photos in this gallery are from the 4412, 4410, and 4424 proposed cutblocks shown on the map. The Walbran Valley is home to perhaps Canada’s finest stands of old-growth redcedars. Stepping into the forest here is like getting into a real-life time machine. It allows one to travel backwards in time and experience the magnificence of our corner of the world as it once was. If you haven't visited the Walbran Valley before, do try to. It changed my life and many others too. More news to come as we ramp up our efforts to protect this incredible natural treasure.

Press: Macleans Features Big Lonely Doug Climb

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In celebration of Canada's 148th birthday, Macleans has featured 148 first-person videos from people and places across the country.  Up front is a 1 minute video of our climb up Big Lonely Doug, Canada's second largest Douglas-fir tree near Port Renfrew, shot by both Will Koomjian and myself. Keep an eye out for a photo in the print edition as well!