More than 30 arrested at B.C. old-growth logging blockades

Mounties say more than two dozen people have been arrested on southern Vancouver Island as officers enforce a court injunction ordering the removal of blockades set up to protest old-growth logging.

Police say six people were arrested Saturday near Port Renfrew, B.C. at an encampment.

RCMP say two people were then removed from a structure hanging between two trees along the remote McClure forest service road west of Lake Cowichan later in the day.

Mounties say after the initial arrests a group formed around midday, blocking traffic along the road and resulting in the arrest of roughly 25 people.

2:01 Protestors return to Fairy Creek despite court injunction

Activists say Tzeporah Berman, one of the organizers of the 1990s “War in the Woods” protest against old-growth logging, was arrested during the police sweep.

Mounties say those arrested were offered the opportunity to leave or be arrested.

Activists say very little of the best old-growth forest remains in B.C. and Fairy Creek is the last unprotected, intact old-growth valley on southern Vancouver Island.

Police say they have now arrested 59 people over the course of the protest.

2:09 Protesters willing to risk arrest in attempt to stop old-growth logging near Port Renfrew