You can't study something that is diseased before you've studied what is normal. Two years ago, Larson surprised even himself. Further research showed these forests extend in a thin ribbon along the entire length of the escarpment. And where they remain undisturbed, they are actively regenerating. There is a sense that the natural systems are in balance in this place where the cold, gin-clear water of Carmanah Creek still carves its course through the lush green undergrowth.
Nature is in control here.
When environmentalists stumbled onto the Carmanah Valley its destruction seemed imminent. With no protective political status, it appeared destined for sacrifice by the logger's chainsaw like so many others before it. It hasn't happened yet, largely because of the efforts of environmentalists, who have so far managed to hold industry at bay in one half of the valley. But how long the spectacular giant sitkas of Carmanah and the wizened cedars of the Niagara Escarpment, survive though, is still in serious doubt. In B.C., only the high-elevation forests of the province have been substantially spared, passed over in favor of more accessible regions containing commercially valuable species, such as Douglas fir.