British Columbia is logging its last old growth. Protesters are sleeping in the road to stop it

PORT RENFREW, British Columbia (AP) — The five-car caravan crept down a gravel logging road as the day’s last beams of golden light cut through the trees. About 20 forest defenders were making a stand in southwest Vancouver Island, at a spot where a logging company was expected to cut old-growth trees the following morning.They made camp in tents and the backs of cars. One truck parked sideways across the road. They awoke at 3 a.m., their headlamps tracing the ground, as they took their positions.An hour later, headlights appeared in the distance. A logging truck slowed, idled, then turned around. Nobody got out. Nobody spoke. It was a small, inconclusive victory in a fight that has spanned generations. But for those gathered in the forest, it mattered.

Bill Jones, a First Nations Pacheedaht elder, speaks to land defenders during a logging blockade near Port Renfrew, British Columbia, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

Bill Jones, a First Nations Pacheedaht elder, prepares to join a blockade on a road used for logging before dawn near Port Renfrew, British Columbia, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

Land defenders gather on a logging road before dawn as a logging vehicle approaches the blockade near Port Renfrew, British Columbia, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)