TFL 46 Map

Maps have a way of bringing facts to life.

This is a map of Tree Farm License 46 on southern Vancouver Island, which Teal Jones purchased the rights to in 2004 and is currently the scene of blockades. For reference, Port Renfrew is just south of the inlet at the bottom of the map. The TFL covers about 70,000 hectares, and most of the harvestable land is second growth. Teal Jones purchased rights to harvest in the TFL to feed our then-new small-log mill, specialized for maximizing value from second growth.

Teal Jones is a value-added milling and manufacturing company, so we don’t ship any raw logs but mill them here in BC. We employ more than 500 people at our main mill site in Surrey alone.

The area shaded gray on the map is the TFL. The light green shaded areas are parks, and the darker green areas are protected through some other mechanism, such as Old Growth Management Areas, or otherwise not harvestable.

The smaller area with a purple border is the Fairy Creek Watershed. As you see on the map, most of that watershed is protected (and has been for years). Of the approximately 1,200 hectares it covers, only about 200 hectares were harvestable – up on the north ridge. The entire lower valley, with the creek and big trees, has been protected for years. We had proposed and received approval on a cutblock of about 20 hectares, following the extensive steps required by provincial regulation and First Nations engagement. However, at the request of local First Nations all forestry work and road building in that watershed has been deferred for two years, so we have put our plans on hold.

20 hectares is a small cutblock, which is typical of our approach. We harvest small areas, replant them, and move along to cut another small area. Teal Jones plants more than 1 million new trees every year.

A point of interest this map clearly shows is that a lot of the parkland on this map used to be included in TFL 46, but was removed by the province in 1992 to create new parks – the largest the 16,500 hectare Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park (the big green area in the lower middle of the map). The areas removed from the TFL at that time are outlined in brown.

There are substantial areas of protected old growth forest in this region, with other area committed to careful, responsible harvesting. That forestry supports many hundreds of jobs, while providing the raw materials we mill into the products companies then make into finished products – everything from acoustic guitars and fine furniture to the homes we live in. All the waste from our mills (sawdust and chips) is used, going to the pulp and paper makers who turn it into things like medical masks and the paper in books.

That is a balanced approach that retains old growth in perpetuity while supporting our forest economy.

Real facts. Real land. Real people.