Singin' in the Rainforest

Deal will protect vast Great Bear Rainforest in Canada

We love the smell of vast tracts of protected rainforest in the morning. Smells like ... victory. Today in British Columbia, Canada, a coalition including the provincial government, Native groups, forest advocates, and timber companies is expected to announce an unprecedented agreement to protect the 15 million-acre Great Bear Rainforest -- fully a quarter of the world's remaining coastal temperate rainforest. Almost 5 million acres will be closed to logging, while 10 million will remain open to selective cutting in consultation with Native nations. The pact, which ends a 10-year battle, will help preserve one of the highest concentrations of grizzly bears in North America, unique subspecies of goshawks, coastal wolves, and other critters, and habitat for 20 percent of the world's wild salmon. And over $100 million may be raised from governments and foundations to seed ecotourism and other sustainable development. Cool.