Residents of Wakefield have been fighting the extension of Highway 5 between Chelsea and Wakefield for almost 2 years. The extension threatens old-growth pines in Gatineau Park as well as Valley Drive (Wakefield) Spring. More than 3,000 local residents depend on the spring for their drinking water needs year round, while an additional 2,000 people use the spring seasonally.

All certificates have been approved, and the cutting of trees at Brown Lake will start any day now.

A5X, a growing group of citizens concerned with the impact of a 4-lane highway on the village of Wakefield and its environment, are urging people to contact Jean Charest and other politicians.

The Coastal Douglas fir (CDF) is one of the most threatened plant ecosystems in Canada. Only one per cent of old growth trees remain.

Today, sadly, there are even fewer old growth Coastal Douglas fir trees left on Vancouver Island then a week ago.

That's because logging has started on the 160-acre Nanoose Bay Forest, or DL33 as government officials like to call it. This forest is full of big Douglas firs, sensitive marshlands and swamps, and it is home to over 30 threatened plant and animal species.

Mention old growth trees and logging and most people think British Columbia and Clayoquot Sound. Mention Whistler and most people envision skiing and pristine wilderness.

But a new plan to log Whistler's existing old growth trees could soon see Whistler moving away from eco-tourism and into the old growth logging business.

The B.C. government has downloaded the responsibility of managing B.C.'s forests from the Ministry of Forests to the local municipalities and First Nations, in what has been termed a ‘Community Forest.'

A Community Forest is defined as 'a forestry operation managed by local government, community group, or First Nation for the benefit of the community.'