If you haven’t been following this amazing story coming out of British Columbia, you might want to tune in now. Local residents of the Queen Charlotte Islands off the coast of British Columbia are in the midst of a stunning stand against logging giant Weyerhaeuser, one of the world’s largest logging companies grossing over $19 billion a year. Recently, Weyerhaeuser sold over 600,000 acres of private forestland without consulting the tribe about the sale. Community residents, environmentalists, lawyers and local residents of all walks of life, have since “seized” millions of dollars of logs by barricading both land and sea lanes, holding at bay Weyerhaeuser barges full of felled trees. The islands themselves have been heavily logged for the past 25 years as you can see.

The question in all of this is who has control of the forests? Weyerhaeuser? The local tribes of Haida Gwaii? The BC government? In 2002 the government ruled in favor of the Haida Gwaii by stating that “Weyerhaeuser and the provincial government have to accommodate Haida interests in the forest.” The Haida have lived through a droopy economy, substandard education and have a glorified first-aid station for a hospital, all the while billions of dollars of lumber leave their island every year. Throw in the fact that the Haida have never signed a treaty with the provincial government and things get a little murkier. Checkout the latest at www.wakeupweyco.com.