Following the belief that conservation, like charity,
begins at home, Ecotrust was founded three years ago in Oregon to
save temperate rain forests in North America. The organization
chose four rain forests to concentrate on. Now, thanks to a
Canadian timber company, it can devote its resources to the three
rain forests still at risk. Off the list is British Columbia’s
Kitlope Valley, a large, pristine rain forest ecosystem. In
response to requests from the Haisla people, assisted by Ecotrust,
the West Fraser Timber Co. agreed in August to surrender its rights
to log 800,000 acres of public land in the Kitlope Valley. The
company retains the right to log 200,000 acres. The British
Columbia provincial government and the Haisla nation have also
pledged not to log the Kitlope Valley. Still at risk are three
other rain forests Ecotrust hopes to protect: Willapa Bay in
southwest Washington state, the Prince William Sound and Copper
River delta ecosystem in the Gulf of Alaska, and Clayoquot Sound in
western Canada. Ecotrust’s guiding principle is to protect natural
areas by encouraging economic development that enhances human
communities. For information about Ecotrust or the Kitlope Valley,
contact Arthur Dye, Ecotrust, 1200 N.W. Front Ave., Suite 470,
Portland, OR 97209 (503/227-6225).
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline One down, three to go.
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