A group of conservationists who advocate for the preservation and protection of old growth forests on Vancouver Island recently found what they are calling Canada’s most impressive tree.
It’ remote location is located in Ahousaht First Nation territory on Flores Island, which is near Tofino.
TJ Watt, a photographer and campaigner for the Ancient Forest Alliance estimates the tree he and his comrades found as being five metres (17 feet) across at its base and a height of 46 metres (151 feet) tall.
It is a western redcedar tree that rather than tapering as it grew, proceeded to extend toward the heavens in what Watt calls a “sprawling, fortress-like crown of wooden spires.”
Watt predicts it is well over 1,000-years-old given its gargantuan size.
While Watt admits that it is not the tallest tree in Canada — a Sitka Spruce called the ‘Carmanah Giant’ which is 96 metres (315 feet) tall — nor the widest — a six metre (20 foot) wide redcedar — it is one of the most magnificent he’s seen in his line of work.
Trees are ranked on their ‘impressiveness’ based on a points system established by the American Forestry Association. They rank and score trees in America, but no such nation-wide index exists in Canada.
However, there is the BC Big Tree Registry which was created by the University of British Columbia. Based on their rank and scoring system this tree ranks as the sixth biggest tree in Canada.
Watt believes that the scoring methodology is flawed and can’t account for the individuality of every tree and situation. He says this is the most important and impressive tree he’s found or seen.
“After nearly two decades of photographing, exploring, and searching for big trees in old-growth forests across BC, no tree has blown me away more than this one,” said Watt.
“It’s a literal wall of wood.”
“Your brain can’t compute the scale when you stand below it. The first time I arrived, from a distance I thought it had to be two trees because of how wide the trunk and limbs are. It defies words,” he added.
The tree has now garnered itself two nicknames among big tree-lovers — ‘The Wall’ as well as ‘ʔiiḥaq ḥumiis’, which means ‘big redcedar’ in the Nuu-chah-nulth language.
While the location of ‘The Wall’ is known to a few, the conservationists say they are trying to keep that information secret for the time being.
This is because it grows on unprotected Crown lands in the unceded territory of the Ahousaht First Nation who also prefer the tree’s location to remain a secret, for preservation’s sake.
