Monthly Archives: October 2017

Premier Horgan has tasked Environment Minister George Heyman to develop a new species at risk legislation for British Columbia. Coast Forest Products Association believes this creates an opportunity to generate made-in-BC policies and legislation which will account for the social, environmental and economic interests of British Columbians while managing species at risk. Coastal companies have a long history of science-based, responsible habitat management for species such as the Marbled Murrelet, Northern Goshawk, Grizzly Bear, Vancouver Island Marmot and others.  We operate in a world-class regulatory land use framework that emphasizes habitat management for wildlife, fish biodiversity and species at risk.  

Ottawa, ON — TimberWest is the first Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Program Participant to achieve the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB) Bronze certification under the Progressive Aboriginal Relations (PAR) program. This certification demonstrates to Indigenous communities that TimberWest is a good business partner, a great place to work and is committed to the prosperity of Indigenous communities. TimberWest is also the first BC forest company to earn PAR certification.  “As a forester by training I am very pleased that TimberWest has shown its commitment to Indigenous communities by undergoing PAR certification. This leadership demonstrates to other forest companies, and other companies outside BC’s forest sector, that strong Indigenous relations make good corporate policy,” said JP Gladu, President and CEO of the CCAB

New funding will help First Nations in central and northeast British Columbia build skills and explore careers in environmental stewardship and natural resource development. The $390,000 investment will go towards the Environmental Technology Access program which is open to members from McLeod Lake, Nadleh Whut’en, Nak’azdli Whut’en, Saik’uz, Stellat’en, Takla Lake, Tl’azt’en and Yekooche First Nations. …Fifteen First Nations members will be able to use the program to obtain skills for employment in the natural resource sectors or post-secondary education in the environmental resource technology program. Participants will receive training in forestry, fishery enhancement, environmental assessment, mining, oil and gas and grassland ecology.

Vancouver, B.C. – The BC Council of Forest Industries (COFI), with media partner Canadian Forest Industries (CFI) Magazine today announced the winners of the 2017 Forestry Photo Contest. “For this year’s contest, we really wanted to showcase the significance of the forest industry to the people and communities throughout B.C.,” said Susan Yurkovich, President and CEO of COFI. “We received some stunning photos that depict how people live, work and play in B.C.’s beautiful forests and forest dependent communities.” Of the 106 submissions received, ten photos have been selected to appear in the print edition of September-October edition of CFI Magazine.

Aaron Williams

British Columbia may have had a record number of wildfires this summer, but the ongoing situation in California is much worse. More homes at risk, more lives in danger, stronger winds, faster rates of spread. Those factors require an excellent forest firefighting program. Though we may have a different situation – most of British Columbia’s wildfires don’t put communities and people at risk – we can still learn from the American program. I fought fire in the United States twice during my nine years fighting fire for the Ministry of Forests in British Columbia and both times were in Idaho. In British Columbia, I was part of a 20-person firefighting crew known as a “unit crew” – a configuration modelled after the American “hotshot” crews. I’ll never forget the first time I saw a hotshot crew in action.

Maria Agucci

Toronto’s Rita Leistner has decades of experience as a war zone photographer, but she battled a different sort of rough terrain for her new portrait series, The Tree Planters. At first glance, her images look like the posed dioramas you might find in the ROM, but the shots are so full of detail that you can almost smell the sweat and bug spray. The large-scale photos will be on display at Stephen Bulger Gallery until November 18, alongside drone video footage that shows exactly how Leistner wields a $30,000 camera through thick brush and up steep mountains. Leistner worked as a planter herself between 1983 and 1992, and decided to return to the bush, camera in hand, to document the young people invested in Canada’s reforestation—a job that seems simple, but takes grit and grace.

Doug Donaldson

Nick Raeside is certainly correct in saying that wildfire management practices have changed in British Columbia since 1957 (“The changing face of B.C. forest fires”, Oct. 8). The challenges that the B.C. Wildfire Service faces have also changed dramatically over the past 60 years, due in part to increased development in rural areas, the impact of mountain pine beetle infestations on our forests and the growing effects of climate change. …B.C.’s wildfire management professionals use advanced fire-detection and firefighting technology to “hit hard and hit fast.” In recent decades, that approach has been coupled with a better understanding of wildfire behaviour and how fire can help renew forests where lives and property are not at risk. Our first priority is public safety.