Elizabeth May, Sierra Club of Canada

Elizabeth May is the executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada and a lifelong environmental activist. She is also a lawyer, educator, writer, and mother. Her most recent book, coauthored with fellow Canadian activist Maude Barlow, is Frederick Street: Life and Death on Canada's Love Canal.

Another day in the office that feels like an episode of M*A*S*H -- not enough supplies, not enough people, and operating without anaesthetic. The latest cry of "incoming wounded" came from the Main River in Newfoundland.

The Main River is in the northwest part of the island province, not far from the borders of the spectacular Gros Morne National Park. The river actually originates at the eastern edge of the park, which is itself a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Canoeists have long been enthusiasts of the Main. Its twists through the untouched wilderness have made it a favorite, and it has been nominated for Canadian Heritage River status. The Main River watershed drains an area of 264 square kilometers, and provides habitat for the endangered Newfoundland pine martin, as well as black bear, moose, woodland caribou, and many other species.

Lately, ecologists have been in a state of excitement over some amazing discoveries along the Main. A Jesuit priest and scientific researcher, Father John McCarthy, has discovered a previously unknown ecosystem of ancient old-growth boreal forest. For those of you who don't know your forest from the trees, the boreal covers a huge area of the planet's northern reaches up to the tree line. It is also known as the taiga, stretching in great grey-green masses across Canada, Alaska, Scandinavia, and Russia. The boreal forest contributes substantially to global carbon balances, holding millions of tons of carbon out of the atmosphere. It provides habitat for a multitude of species. What the forest isn't known for is long-lived trees. Typically its black spruce and balsam fir live 100 years or so. Foresters start calling the old dears "decadent" at 80 years. It is a fire-driven ecosystem, meaning that trees often burn and patches of very old trees are rarely found. What Father McCarthy discovered is unique in the world -- old-growth boreal with trees verified at 285 years of age. The spruce and fir in wet valleys and pockets have been spared insect or fire damage.

But no sooner could we celebrate the remarkable news of the discovery than Kruger, operating Corner Brook Pulp and Paper, has moved in with access logging roads and diabolical feller bunchers to clear-cut the old growth. Feller bunchers are mechanical harvesters, each machine replacing a dozen loggers. With halogen lighting, they clear-cut 24 hours a day. As public concern rises about the Main, the feller bunchers are moving full blast. We've been working to save the Main for months now. Today's call was from our new forest campaigner (hired yesterday -- remember I mentioned job interviews!), soon to move to Ottawa from Newfoundland. Martin is heading out with Father McCarthy tomorrow to see what's left and what can be saved. I'm trying to get a meeting with the Minister for Canadian Heritage, the Hon. Sheila Copps, who is in charge of our parks system, to ask her to start negotiations with Newfoundland to save the forest and the Main River watershed, and add them, existing clear-cuts and all, to Gros Morne.

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The rest of my day was a mixture of climate change strategy for the upcoming international negotiations this fall, COP-6; planning a press conference for Monday to condemn the useless draft federal legislation to protect endangered species; plus trying to figure out which bills we could pay now and which creditors we could put off until next month.

So, as you read this, know that the merciless feller bunchers' teeth and claws are moving through a unique place on this planet. Bristol Foster, an ecologist friend in British Columbia says, "With wilderness conservation, every victory is temporary; every defeat permanent." We can't afford to lose. If the Main goes, there will be no other chance to study this amazing old-growth forest. Initial insect surveys have already identified species previously unknown to science. Destroying living systems we don't understand is like the barbarians burning down the libraries.

So, the least we can do is stop offering them a light for their torches.