Ancient Forest Alliance photographer TJ Watt has documented many of the province’s biggest trees over two decades.
But even he was shocked by the size of a massive western red cedar found in a remote forest in Clayoquot Sound — it measures five metres wide at the base, with a widening trunk that splits into a series of spires reaching 46 metres into the sky.
“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.”
When he first saw it from a distance, Watt said, he thought it had to be two trees because of how wide the trunk and limbs are. “It defies words. As an avid big tree hunter, it’s a highlight of my life to find something as spectacular as this.”
The cedar on Flores Island near Tofino is estimated to be in excess of 1,000 years old. Its exact location isn’t being revealed.
It has been dubbed “The Wall,” or “ʔiiḥaq ḥumiis,” meaning “big red cedar” in the Nuu-chah-nulth language.
The Ancient Forest Alliance said it’s growing on unprotected Crown lands in the unceded territory of the Ahousaht First Nation, which has asked to keep the exact location of the tree private.
There are no plans to log the area, and the Ahousaht First Nation’s land-use plan, currently in the late stages of negotiations with the province, includes protection of the forest where the tree is found.
The Ancient Forest Alliance said the giant could have the largest or near-largest timber volume of any tree in Canada for the first 50 feet of its trunk.
“This means that, experientially, it’s perhaps the most impressive tree in Canada, despite other cedars being taller or ranking higher based on the American Forestry Association points system, which is based on a tree’s height, diameter at breast height at 1.37 meters, and crown spread,” the group said.
According to the B.C. Big Tree Registry, the tree ranks as the sixth-largest known red cedar in Canada. “However, since this tree gets wider as it goes up, it harbours an incredible volume of wood that’s difficult to calculate,” the Ancient Forest Alliance said. “If one was able to factor in the tree’s full scale, it would likely rank right near the top of the list.”
Tyson Atleo, a hereditary representative of the Ahousaht Nation, said old-growth forests with their monumental red cedar trees have been of great cultural importance for the Ahousaht Nation since time immemorial.
“A tree as large and ancient as this supports an incredible web of life both above and below ground while also storing huge amounts of carbon,” he said. “Large, intact old-growth ecosystems are critical in combating the global biodiversity and climate crisis, and the Ahousaht Nation’s Land Use Vision will ensure they remain standing for generations to come.”
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