Terry Nelson

Terry has germinated a concerned interest for the forests of BC as a result of varied exposures throughout his life. As a surveyor, having worked in many facets of the resource industry, whether laying out road alignments and cut-blocks, planning trail networks, cutting ski runs, or planting trees, the exposure to the impacts of the BC forest industry has left an indelible mark. An avid outdoors person, hiking, skiing, and mountain biking while always paying attention to his natural surroundings, nurtured his love for wild spaces.

Terry grew up in Port Alberni, which was then the forestry and logging capital of BC. His youthful explorations of walking a little too far through Cathedral Grove only to find a wasteland of stumps and slash piles, may have been the shock and awe that planted that first seed of interest which grew to a deeply rooted appreciation for these special ecosystems.

Being active in the Wildsight conservation organization for many years, and supporting and celebrating in the successes of many other groups working to protect wilderness, has inspired Terry to become an endangered forest documenter and big tree seeker.

Since his retirement in 2017, he has ventured into the remote, unaltered forests of the BC Interior, measuring and recording some of the last vestiges of these dwindling ecosystems. He has collected a large inventory of photos and plant community biome data, and general good forest feelings, some of which he included his 2018 publication “Fernie Area Hiking Trails and Natural Plant Compendium”.

Terry’s richly illustrated new book “Big Trees of the Inland Temperate Forests of British Columbia” helps readers gain a deeper appreciation of the importance of old growth forests and the acute need to preserve what little remains.