“This is an old wooden sailboat,” Lou described his boat. “There is a lot of space for tons of food and tons of equipment.”

CBC News agreed to let militants like Lou use only names because they may face prosecution.

He and others used ropes and pulleys to tow the boat to a tree about 12 meters above the ground. Lou said it was a mountain hemlock.

Since the RCMP started enforcing the ban on May 17, the police have arrested 137 people who violated the ban or obstructed it. According to the police, nine people have been arrested more than once.

Human rights defenders may face imprisonment and high fines if they contempt the court for failing to comply with the injunction issued by the court. Several activists who spoke to CBC News stated that if they are arrested, they will return to the area and rejoin the blockade after release.

Since May 25, CBC has requested six interviews with the provincial government regarding the lockdown. Every time, the province refused.

In August 2020, activists began to block a forest road close to the uncut Xianxi watershed, which surrounds a high mountain ridge, the watershed is known for its dense forests, some of which are up to 800 years old. The value and quality of the timber industry .

Other camps then began to block access to the watershed from other directions. The protesters eventually established surveillance camps to monitor logging activities and prevent work in completely different valleys, including the Kaikus Valley further north.

Activists such as Lou said they are willing to ignore the ban on protecting old trees in the area, and they say these trees need to maintain their ecological value.

“I am worried about what is about to happen, but I am also very excited,” Lou said. “I want to do my part in the whole movement…so I will stand firm until I have to let go.”

Lou’s tree sits at the original blockade site, known as Ridge Camp, on the road constructed by the court of the Surrey-based Teal-Jones Group. From his vantage point, Lou can overlook the sea and Cape Flattery on his left, as well as the ancient yellow cedar forest in the Fairy Creek Valley on his right.

Due to the blockade of police and activists, the camp can only be accessed on foot, which means that all supplies must be transported to remote logging roads with difficult slopes.

After a few months of blockade, Lou said his motivation has changed from trying to save the endangered habitats to hoping to play a constructive role in truth and reconciliation.

“These are the undivided territories of Pacheedaht,” he said. “And for a long time, logging in to British Columbia without the participation or consent of Aboriginal people.”

Lou’s concerns echo those of Pacheedaht Elder Bill Jones, who is an ardent supporter and puppet of the anti-old logging protests. But not everyone in the 284-person country agreed with Jones’ request to stop old-fashioned planting activities on his territory. The community’s elected chief issued a statement asking the protesters to leave.

At the Falls Camp, about 8 kilometers from Port Renfrew, an activist who calls himself Plates said that after the RCMP demolished the camp last week, a lot of work has been done to rebuild and replenish the camp.

He said that the camp was the front line of the protests and aimed to protect activists like Lou in the vicinity of the cutting block.

“We are reoccupying,” Platz said. “We just let [RCMP] Knowing that they can destroy us, and we are content to rebuild. “

He described the process as “punching moles,” and the police came in, arrested and broke the camp, and then the protesters moved back.

“They crushed us, we recovered stronger, we got more support… I think morale was high and we were not defeated.”

The police did not arrest anyone during the weekend. Activists in the area said they are ready to violently violate the ban again this week.

Lowland Plain Support

Earlier on Sunday, dozens of activists gathered in Surrey’s Till Jones office to condemn the company’s logging activities on Vancouver Island.

They held up slogans that read “Save Old Growth” and “Teal-Jones on Watch” and gave speeches to support people in the lockdown area.

The protesters said that the province ignored the desire of the people of British Columbia to better protect the ancient trees. They said they needed to protect these ancient trees to protect the natural environment.

Teal-Jones spokesperson Jack Gardner said the company distributed seedlings to Surrey protesters as a symbol of how it practices environmental management and encouraged them to plant seedlings in their yards.

He said that Teal-Jones has planted more than 44 million trees in British Columbia in the past 25 years.

“We are not too different from the protesters,” he said. “We do believe in environmental management, but we have also cut down a working forest.”

Gardner said the company is committed to registering 595 square kilometers of land in the southwestern part of Vancouver Island where the blockade is implemented. He said that some old trees that have been marked as felled help support employment in the province.

Gardner said that Teal-Jones directly employs more than 1,000 employees in British Columbia.