For months on end, he chips, whittles and chisels a long, piece of old growth cedar to produce what's arguably become B.C.'s most recognized cultural symbols: The totem pole.
But without cedar, world-renowned artists such as Jim Hart are left without a canvas.
According to B.C.'s First Nations and the David Suzuki Foundation, the Western Red Cedar's days are numbered, due to continuous unsustainable logging practices along the province's coast.
First Nations' peoples have used B.C.'s cedar forests to build houses, canoes, totem poles and even clothes.
"Cedar is like our lifeblood, like the salmon. We depend on the darn tree for life," says Hart, a world-renowned Haida Gwaii artist and carver.
And stripping and falling of old-growth trees is still practiced by B.C.'s First Nations, with totem carving and woodworking playing a key role in keeping up cultural traditions, says Hart.
But in his native Haida Gwaii region, "it's starting to get harder and harder to find these trees. We've been noticing it in the last few years," says Hart.
"Other tribes along the coast have a harder time getting a hold of [cedars] because it's already been logged out. They've been trying to come to our land to get it, and we have a tough time with that because ... it wipes out our forests even quicker."
As a result of the disappearing species, Haida Gwaii First Nations are setting aside cedar stands for future generations.
A 2004 report compiled by the David Suzuki Foundation shows high quality, old growth cedars are being "cherry-picked" by forestry companies, many of which are just trying to keep afloat financially by cutting the most expensive wood on the market.
Based on the most recent data provided by the provincial government, the Foundation looked at the rate at which cedar was being logged versus the rate at which cedar is found naturally in the forest.
"And if you look at what's coming out of our forests, you'll find they're cutting cedar at a much higher rate than it's found naturally and replenished," says Faisal Moola, director of science at the DSF.
In Heiltsuk territory, also called the Great Bear Rainforest, cedar could be wiped out within 20 years if logging continues as it is now, he adds. And since logging in that region is generally not as active as other areas along the coast, the death of the red cedar could happen even quicker in the Queen Charlottes, Vancouver Island and along the southern coast.
The Forest Practices Board recently gave forest companies logging in B.C. "high marks" for re-planting and maintenance of new forests in previously logged areas. The FPB, an independent public forestry watchdog, says the industry is meeting the public's expectations for replacing logged areas with healthy new forests, but could not comment specifically on the number of cedar being replanted. No one at the Ministry of Forests was available to comment by press deadline.24 Hour Vancouver
