Wildlife in our Old-Growth Forests

Illustrations by Amanda Key

Marbled Murrelet

Status: Threatened

A small seabird that only nests in old-growth forests. Rather than building a nest, it lays its single egg in a patch of soft moss growing on a wide tree branch.

Marten

Status: Threatened

Marten are part of the weasel family, and they prefer to live in old-growth forests. They usually make their dens in hollow trees.

Northern Goshawk (laingi subspecies)

Status: Threatened

A large hawk that requires big areas of old-growth and mature forests to make nests and find food.

Pacific Salmon

All Pacific Salmon species need forests to protect the streams where they spawn. Old-growth forests have shade to keep the water cool and plenty of fallen wood in streams so their young can hide.

Girdled trees are usually red cedar or lodgepole pine. A large sheet of bark is removed in a circle around the trunk, killing the tree. Over time, it dries out and falls over. This was probably done to make firewood.

Cambium-stripped trees are hemlock trees. The bark is stripped off to harvest the inner cambium, which is used for medicine and food.

Taper bark-stripped trees are usually red cedar. They are harvested for the inner bark, which is used to make many items: rope, baskets, blankets, hats, and more.

Culturally Modified Trees in Kitselas Territory

Tested trees have rectangular holes chopped into the trunk. This was done to check if the quality of the heartwood was good enough for canoes or planks.

The Future of Old-Growth Forests

BC’s old-growth forests are a non-renewable resource. This means they can’t be replaced once they’re gone. The areas where trees are cut down will regrow, and young secondary forests are growing quickly. But it will be a very, very long time before these new forests become old-growth forests, and they might never be the same as the forests we have now.

Right now, only a small percentage of BC’s original old-growth forests are left — around 3% to 30%. Because of this, the provincial government is engaging with First Nations and people in the forest industry. This process will try to protect the old-growth ecosystems that still exist and come up with a new way to manage forests.

Kitselas Lands and Resources Department has received funding to conduct our own study of old-growth forests within the Kitselas Territory. We will combine this study with engagement of Kitselas leadership and community. Together, we will create policies and recommendations for taking care of Kitselas old-growth forests. This will also help with provincial forest management as we move forward.