Monthly Archives: March 2019

Harrison Hot Springs council members will be asking the province to take a “more proactive approach” in assessing the risks of wildfire smoke, after a summer of heavy smoke saw fewer visitors at the resort town. …Councillor Samantha Piper first brought forward the idea at the Feb. 19 meeting, after council received the village’s newest community wildfire protection plan. The report was designed to help define and mitigate threats to Harrison Hot Springs because of wildfires, which have been increasingly severe in the past few years. Although the report largely focused on risks associated with fire, it also discussed potential problems coming from wildfire smoke, which was the basis of council’s motion Monday.

Forestry on Vancouver Island is a complex industry, firmly planted in government policy. The B.C. government has announced changes are coming to some of those policies to help rebuild the coastal forest sector. These changes include everything from revised fees on raw log exports, to how much fibre can be left behind in the bush, and plans for more First Nations involvement. Tune in to On The Island at 7:10 a.m. PT, March 11 – 15 for Mill Towns — a weeklong series that explores the towns that have persevered through years of decline in the forest industry… and what it means for Vancouver Island’s forest industry. March 11: Port Alberni​ [optimism]… March 12: Port Alice [a town in limbo]… March 13: Port McNeill [worried]… March 14: Gold River [challenge]… March 15: Vancouver Island [the future of forestry].

Opponents of proposed logging within a recreation site just outside Penticton say BC Timber Sales is not listening to their concerns and did not suggest any substantive changes to their plans during a stakeholder meeting last week. This comes at the same time emails released to Castanet News via a Freedom of Information request reveals the provincial government’s local recreation officer voiced concerns about the cut blocks back in 2017. BC Timber Sales planning forester Julius Huhs reached out to Okanagan recreation officer Ian McLellan in October 2017, requesting feedback on a batch planned cut blocks in the region, including those proposed for the Carmi trails four kilometres east of Penticton. McLellan responded Oct. 19, 2017 that he didn’t “have many concerns” with the batch as a whole, but singled out the Carmi blocks as “the only ones that I have a few.” …Throughout the process, BC Timber Sales has said they are committed to working with the trails groups to allow recreational use of the area alongside logging.

Fort McMurray’s Tara Power was downstairs, working on her home-based clothing line, as unbeknownst to her, a wildfire moved dangerously close. When she had gone downstairs earlier that morning of May 3, 2016, the sky had been clear. When she came back up… her home was “a wall of flames.” …Squamish Fire Rescue Chief Bill Stoner calls the threat of wildfire in the “Top 5” of concerns for Squamish. And the report “Adapting to Climate Change in Squamish: backgrounder report” identifies increased forest fires as a priority. …About 70 per cent of Squamish is considered as having a moderate, high or extreme wildfire threat rating, according to the Provincial Wildfire Threat Analysis. The updated District of Squamish Community Wildfire Protection Plan… lays out 48 recommendations for the municipality.

Amendments to the Heritage Conservation Act, introduced on March 6, 2019, will mean greater protection for areas with heritage and archeological values in the province.  “The changes we are making today will enable us to take more decisive action to conserve heritage and archeology sites and objects,” said Doug Donaldson, Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development. “Strengthening protection for archeological sites also acts on our commitment to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.” …The purpose of the act has always been to encourage and facilitate the protection and conservation of heritage and archeological sites in B.C., but it has not been updated in 20 years. The changes announced make targeted improvements to the act in order to significantly increase its effectiveness. The amendments also bring B.C.’s heritage legislation into alignment with other jurisdictions. 

…The cutblock represented a small sliver – around the size of 12 football fields – of the kind of old-growth forest that once spanned the island nearly from tip to tip and coast to coast. But this small patch of trees was a prime example of an endangered ecosystem. Black bears and elk, wolves and cougars passed quietly under its canopy. Red-capped woodpeckers knocked on standing deadwood; squirrels and chipmunks nibbled on cones to extract seeds; and fungi the size of dinner plates protruded from the trunks of some of the largest trees in the world. As a forest engineer, Cronin’s job involved taking stock of the timber, and producing a map for the fallers to follow. …As Cronin waded through the thigh-high undergrowth, something caught his eye: a Douglas fir, larger than the rest… He scrambled up the mound of sloughed bark and dead needles that had accumulated around the base of the giant tree.

How badly do supporters of McLean Mill National Historic Site and the Alberni Pacific Railway want to see these two attractions continue in the Alberni Valley? For two years, we have been hearing about how much the train and mill are draining public coffers. Two years’ worth of a McLean Mill Society has only served to muddy the waters, as the arms-length society is still struggling to figure out how to run one of Port Alberni’s main tourist attractions. City council finally took a stand by separating the two attractions and shuttering the trains for the year so they can figure things out. …The JJ Logging Oldtime Logging Show is the only one of its kind in Canada, portraying a way of logging that began disappearing in the 1950s and 1960s.

Jennifer Sartorius is the interim maintenance superintendent at West Fraser Hinton Pulp. Pulp & Paper Canada talked to Sartorius … to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8. In her Q&A below, Sartorius tells us how she switched from criminology into the trades – and never looked back. …”My biggest challenges, as far as personally – I had never touched a wrench in my life. I took criminology in college and stepped into a mechanical trade where I had no idea what I was getting into. But what I found was that no matter what industry I was in – I started in pulp and paper at Whitecourt, a Millar Western pulp mill – everyone was wonderful. They accepted me whether I was female or not. Whether I had any experience or not, they just accepted me. …But it’s been a pretty positive career so far.”