A forestry company has won an injunction to halt a blockade against old-growth logging in the Walbran Valley on Vancouver Island.
Tsawak-qin Forestry Inc., which is co-owned by Western Forest Products and the Huu-ay-aht First Nations, had sought an end to the blockade outside Port Renfrew, B.C., that began on Aug. 25.
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Tsawak-qin Forestry filed a lawsuit against the blockaders last week, claiming the “unknown individuals” have prevented the company and its contractors from accessing the site by erecting structures and “a large wooden sculpture” to block a forest service road.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Amy Francis says the protesters appear “highly organized” and have illegally obstructed the company’s lawful access to the area and cannot “impose their will” by force.
Francis says the court cannot weigh in on the wisdom of government forestry policy, or stray from established law because the merits of government policy aren’t for the courts to consider in deciding whether to grant an injunction or not.
The Wilderness Committee says the valley in southern Vancouver Island is one of the most spectacular rainforests threatened by clearcut logging and “remains largely unprotected.”
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