Big Lonely Doug: The Story of One of Canada’s Last Great Trees

Finalist, Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing Finalist, Banff Mountain Book Competition Finalist, BC Book Prize  Globe and Mail best books of 2018 CBC best Canadian non-fiction of 2018 In the tradition of John Vaillant’s modern classic The Golden Spruce comes a story of the unlikely survival of one of the largest and oldest trees in Canada. On a cool morning in the winter of 2011, a logger named Dennis Cronin was walking through a stand of old-growth forest near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island. He came across a massive Douglas fir the height of a twenty-storey building. Instead of allowing the tree to be felled, he tied a ribbon around the trunk, bearing the words “Leave Tree.” The forest was cut but the tree was saved. The solitary Douglas fir, soon known as Big Lonely Doug, controversially became the symbol of environmental activists and their fight to protect the region’s dwindling old-growth forests. Originally featured as a long-form article in The Walrus that garnered a National Magazine Award (Silver), Big Lonely Doug weaves the ecology of old-growth forests, the legend of the West Coast’s big trees, the turbulence of the logging industry, the fight for preservation, the contention surrounding ecotourism, First Nations land and resource rights, and the fraught future of these ancient forests around the story of a logger who saved one of Canada's last great trees.

About the Author :
HARLEY RUSTAD is an editor at The Walrus magazine. His articles and photography have been published in magazines, newspapers, and online outlets including The Walrus, Outside, the Globe and Mail, Geographical, Reader's Digest, the Guardian, and CNN. He has reported from India, Nepal, Cuba, and across Canada. Born on Salt Spring Island, BC, he now lives in Toronto.

Review :
[Rustad’s] microscale descriptions of the landscape and how commercial forestry has changed it bring you into the depths of Vancouver Island. Rustad, a Salt Spring Island native, digs into the B.C. psyche with his discussions of old growth forests, big trees, the logging industry, ecotourism, and First Nations rights and issues. [Harley Rustad] is a gifted researcher and writer and a valuable enabler whose book is a must-read for anyone interested in ecology. [A] very timely narrative. [Harley Rustad] weaves the ecology of the rainforests of Vancouver Island, the legends around them, the business of logging pitted against the environmentalist movements, the contentious issue of ecotourism, and the rights of First Nations into a compelling, fascinating read. The story of Big Lonely Doug unfolds in marvellous detail, with liberal doses of humour, pathos, and conflict.