Big Lonely Doug would be a Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). This particular Doug is still standing, alone, in Canada’s Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island. Conventional wisdom dictates that a very tall tree (over 200 ft) with no near neighbors has a high probability of being knocked over by any serious wind storm. Not so with this Doug. Tree ring data suggest the thousand year-old tree survived a storm with hurricane-force winds that brought its neighbors down five hundred years ago. This true account begins with the moment when a logging engineer, Dennis Cronin, chose this one tree to spare out of a cutblock to be logged.

Like the US, Canada continues to cut down quantities of old-growth trees. While on the one hand, that boggles the mind, on the other hand, the economic value of old growth trees can be immense, so there is definitely a financial incentive to cut them down.

This results in a sort of you can’t see the trees for the forest. Despite logging cutblocks-worth of trees (new and old growth), there are lots of trees still standing. As a result, there’s not much compelling to see: the continued loss of old growth trees is relatively invisible. This CBCNews report shows the intermingling of cutblocks and old-growth trees. As Cronin himself mused, he created the setting that led to the importance of this particular tree. All the surrounding trees were logged. 

Because of Doug’s isolation, its size is obvious. And its immensity and age make people want to protect it and, by extension, to protect other similar trees. This 4:50 video clip by the Ancient Forest Alliance (featured in the book) about climbing Big Lonely Doug gives a sense of the enormity of the tree.

In February 2024, we read The Wild Trees (2007). That book focuses on climbing. One point that has come out with more time is a concern about the ways in which the ecosystems that are part of these old trees’ canopy can be damaged by climbers. While the videos are amazing to watch and really give a sense of the majesty of the trees, the take-away message is – don’t try this at home!

The author of Big Lonely Doug (2018) is Harley Rustad. A Canadian, he is a senior editor at The Walrus magazine (a really great read if you want to keep up with all things Canadian and how the Canadians are feeling about their southern neighbor these days). His website includes samples of his reporting and essays.

The book traces the tree’s history and how it has become a focus for discussions of logging and preservation in British Columbia today. This 19-minute video, Giant Tree Hunters, features two of the people who figure prominently in the book, as they talk about looking for the old growth trees on Victoria Island. Even if you haven’t read the book, this is a good introduction to the passion some people feel for finding and documenting giant trees.

As for generally documenting giant trees, I put in a plug for Monumental Trees whenever I can. A short description from the website home page:

“What is this site about?
Trees around us can be remarkable because of a number of reasons: some can be very large or tall, others are old or simply very beautiful.
On this site thousands of photos, measurements, and location details of often unknown monumental trees can be found of many species, like giant sequoia, oak trees, sweet chestnut trees, and many others.
Also you can upload your own photos or add new trees. Have fun!”

There are currently (April 2026) close to 70,000 trees listed in the register.
Big Lonely Doug delves into three competing values of the old growth forest on Victoria Island.

First, there is the historical attitude that the highest value of a tree is its value as lumber. The book goes through some of the Canadian legislation and changes over time. The cut trees are economically valuable, particularly as finished/value-added products. There is a sense that the resource is unending, although that clearly is no longer the case. This historical footage is reflective of the culture and the hopes of loggers in the late 1930s and early 1940s. There was a sense that everyone would “make out” in the logging business.

It is definitely true that you can replant, and logging companies do replant. And, monitor the progress of their saplings. Suzanne Simard, whose Finding the Mother Tree we read in September 2021, recounted her early job checking on the survival of saplings on replanted cutblocks. We read Eating Dirt in April 2024. The focus of that book was on the job of tree planters. And therein lies an entire other world of competition! I’ve attached a 16:41 TEDxPowellRiver talk by Charlotte Gill, author of that book. But a replanted tree will take a thousand years to become a thousand-year-old tree. Logging companies can’t afford to wait that long. And current thinking suggests that there are serious drawbacks to that monoculture approach to reforesting.

Second, there is the value of the trees as culturally modified trees. These are trees that have been used in some way by indigenous peoples, often pre-contact. The importance of these trees has been recognized through legislation and logging companies are required to leave such trees. This short video describes the trees and their uses.

Third, there is the value of the trees as a tourist destination. The book goes into details on the projected value of tourism, the main value being that the standing trees generate income repeatedly rather than the single economic bolus of a cut tree.
This video is really just a clip on Port Renfrew accomodations, illustrating the marketing potential of the trees.
This video is one of the many youtube adventures that travellers post regularly. This one is of a couple going to see Big Lonely Doug.
This video is from the website of the Ancient Forest Alliance. Frequently mentioned in the book, this group works to bring awareness to old growth forests and has been active in promoting preservation of the land around Big Lonely Doug, as well as other old growth trees. They also work to make access to the sites safe.

Finally, the voice that speaks to protect old-growth forests isn’t always driven by economic arguments. Numerous artists have created art based on this landscape. One of the more famous is Emily Carr.