Region Archives: Canada East

Reclaiming an area that was once forested is not always as simple a process as just planting new trees. A new research tool developed in northern Ontario is helping to guide municipalities, landowners and forest managers in determining which mix of species will best serve the goals of the reclamation. PlantR is an online platform developed by Isabelle Aubin and a team of collaborators, including scientists from the Canadian Forest Service.  “The question we heat a lot from urban planners and forest managers is what should I plant when I do a restoration project? What we say is it depends on your restoration goals,” said Aubin. …Users can input data like the soil conditions of the area and restoration goals and even budget for the PlantR platform’s algorithm to consider. …it creates a plan to best meet those goals within the budget set by the user.

A group of First Nations in northern Ontario, that are part of the James Bay Treaty (Treaty 9), are taking the province to court over changes to environmental and forest management legislation and regulations. Three of the 49 Treaty 9 First Nations… launched legal action in court on Friday over concern for the degradation of the boreal forest in their traditional territories. “The action aims to force Ontario to make meaningful changes now before harms are irreversible to the detriment of the boreal forest, all Treaty 9 First Nations, and all Ontarians,” the group said in a news release Tuesday. ”The plaintiff First Nations want Ontario to finally understand that its approach to managing the forests and the environment, including the widespread spraying of glyphosate herbicide, Ontario is failing to uphold the promises it made under Treaty 9 to protect the First Nations’ way of life and livelihoods in their traditional territories.”

A pair of foresters from Thunder Bay are receiving national recognition for their contributions to the industry.  Tom Ratz and Christa Campbell, who both work for Resolute Forest Products in Thunder Bay, have received Awards of Excellence from the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC).  The acknowledgement came during National Forest Week.  Tom Ratz, RPF, is currently Resolute’s forestry manager for Ontario, received FPAC’s Member of the Year Award, which goes to a member who has “gone above and beyond in advancing the values of environmental stewardship, strengthening forestry communities, and supporting forest sector colleagues and partners.”…Christa Campbell received the Rising Star Award for bringing passion and pride to her workplace and for making unique contributions, according to FPAC.  

The Alberni Valley Community Forest takes a community-based approach to management.  While the forest belongs to the City of Port Alberni and is managed by Chris Law and his company, the public has a say in how the forest is managed, says Law. Public input is considered in two different ways: through an annual open house and survey, and through meetings with user groups.  “We have a survey that we put out to the public (to discover) what their values are for the forest and we put that into our management plan.”  They meet with user groups at least once a year: hikers, all-terrain vehicle riders.  …User groups give forest managers suggestions on which features they would like to see opened up. For example, Law plans to harvest close to the forest fire lookout tower above Sproat Lake. It’s an area where hiking groups have indicated they would like closer access.

BARRIE, ON – Forests Ontario is expanding its Reconciliation Community Tree Plant program thanks to a generous contribution of $450,000 over three years from TD Bank Group. In collaboration with Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities and organizations across the province, the Reconciliation Community Tree Plant program is rooted in the belief that meaningful engagement and shared experiences are crucial steps forward in the journey towards Truth and Reconciliation. The Reconciliation Community Tree Plant program builds upon the success of the first Healing Place that was opened in 2020 on the traditional territories of the Algonquin and Mohawk Nations in eastern Ontario. A permanent community space inspired by reflection and recovery among nature, The Healing Place was designed to reflect and represent practices recognized by both Western science and Indigenous knowledge systems.

CJ Cleal

C.J. Cleal has gone for some interesting walks in the woods this summer in search of black ash trees — part of an P.E.I.-wide project to preserve the species, which is culturally significant for the Mi’kmaq. As part of the project, individual black ash trees are being surveyed and mapped using GPS, and will be regularly inspected for seed production. The second phase of the project involves growing the seeds in nurseries and planting 2,000 black ash seedlings across the province. “The idea is to replenish the population of black ash because it has been depleted over the last hundred years or so,” said Cleal, who is forestry manager for the Abegweit Conservation Society. Cleal said the black ash produces seed only every seven to nine years. It also needs a mate, as there are male and female trees.

BURLINGTON, N.S. — Another Nova Scotia municipality is adding its voice to those calling for a provincial moratorium on the aerial spraying of glyphosate-based herbicide on forestry land. At a special council meeting on Sept. 20, Kings County council approved a recommendation from the committee of the whole (COTW) made earlier in the day. The recommendation was made following a presentation to council by Nina Newington of Mount Hanley, representing the Don’t Spray Us! Nova Scotia group. Council agreed to write a letter to Premier Tim Houston and Environment and Climate Change Minister Timothy Halman. They are requesting a moratorium be placed on aerial spraying of glyphosate-based herbicides on forested land until a formal report requisitioned by the provincial government on the net benefit or net losses of such activity to Nova Scotians can be obtained.

OTTAWA – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is asking Canadians to keep an eye out for an invasive bug that could spell disaster for the country’s wineries and fruit growers. The spotted lanternfly is a pest native to China that has been making inroads in the United States since 2014. Thus far, the small grey-and-red insect with spotted wings has not been found alive in Canada. But in early September, hundreds of adults were found in a residential area in Buffalo, N.Y., just 45 km away from the Canadian border. …”We’re becoming more and more concerned about the proximity to Canada, and particularly our grape-growing industries, because this is a pest that has had significant impacts on the grape and fruit industry in the United States,” said Diana Mooij, a specialist in the invasive alien species program within the CFIA.

Sudbury’s celebrated re-greening efforts are continuing to inspire Canadian researchers. Scientists are using new technology to help plan forests, including a pilot project going on in Sudbury. PlantR is an interactive tool created by Isabelle Aubin and her team at Great Lakes Forestry Centre in Sault Ste. Marie. Aubin said it’s a way to ensure new forests thrive by including the right plant species for that specific area. …The interactive platform uses a data-rich algorithm to generate solutions for forest managers. Although still in the early stages, the initial response to its potential as a modelling tool has been promising. …PlantR is already being put to good use through a joint project between Laurentian and College Boreal that has researchers looking at how abandoned gravel pits may be restored. The hope is that eventually PlantR will be able to be used not only across northern Ontario, but Canada and beyond. 

Rita Leistner

BARRIE, Ontario — On Monday, Sept. 26, local residents have a chance to experience a visually stunning and authentic look at the little-known and rarely appreciated life of tree planters in Forest for the Trees. Created by world-travelling photojournalist, photographer and documentarian Rita Leistner, Forest for the Trees offers an honest and moving look at the extreme conditions that are a tree-planter’s reality. “I wanted to make this film so that other people could get a feel for why so many tree-planters return year after year despite how hard the work is. I wanted folks to get a feel for why someone like me, who has had a long career as a documentarian since I planted my last tree in 1993, would be willing to go back and dedicate half a decade more of my life to tree-planting, a world I’d left behind so many years ago.”

The roots of the Simcoe County Forest were celebrated Saturday with a special event at the Simcoe County Museum. In commemoration of National Forest Week in Canada, the event included a formal opening of the forestry education area and the unveiling of new interactive displays. Donna Lacey, a representative with the Canadian Institute of Forestry (CIF), the oldest forestry society in Canada, attended the event, which also served as a culmination of a year of celebrations of the county being named the Forest Capital of Canada for 2022. …This designation was especially significant as it marks the second time the county has received it — the first time being in 1982. …Craig Drury attended the event with his family, and told BarrieToday they felt “privileged” to be there to witness something his great-grandfather, Ernest Charles Drury — who was premier of Ontario from 1919 to 1923 — had helped set in motion a century ago.

GATINEAU, QC – Indigenous Peoples in Canada have long been environmental stewards on land, ice, and water and are the original leaders in sustainable development and natural resource management. That is why the Government of Canada is committed to working in partnership with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis to support Indigenous leadership in conservation as we tackle the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change. Today, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, announced that the department is now accepting expressions of interest for up to $40 million in Indigenous-led area-based conservation funding. The Indigenous-led area-based conservation program provides funding to Indigenous Peoples to lead or co-lead projects to establish and recognize protected areas. This includes other effective area-based conservation measures across Canada, such as Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas that can contribute to Canada’s conservation targets.

René Legacy

The New Brunswick government reset timber royalties as promised last month but not all charges to forest companies went up as the province has been suggesting, including to MLAs last week. …Liberal finance critic René Legacy said that is a surprise to him, especially since MLAs on the legislature’s public accounts committee put questions about timber royalties to the Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development just last week. In a written statement, the department said softwood pulp is a small percentage of wood cut in New Brunswick and that prices paid to private sellers of softwood pulp are already depressed with the lower royalty rate following that trend, not leading it. “The Department has seen significant volume of material either left in the woods during harvest operations. …The Department expects this new rate to better reflect fair market value and result in better utilization of this resource.”

Christina Millar & James Leggate

The winner of the provincial 2022 Woodland Owner of the Year Award is James Leggate Forestry of Five Mile River, Hants County. Owners James Leggate and Christina Millar are silviculture contractors and have a 243-hectare (600-acre) woodlot. They have done several silvicultural treatments on the property, including tree planting, appropriate selection-harvest methods, commercial thinning and pre-commercial thinning. “Private woodlot owners play an important role in Nova Scotia’s future. This year’s winners show how sustainable woodland ownership and biodiversity go hand in hand,” said Natural Resources and Renewables Minister Tory Rushton. “It’s wonderful to have private woodlot owners working with us to foster biodiversity as we advance ecological forestry on Crown land in Nova Scotia.”

Ottawa, ON – Canada’s Forest Trust (CFT) announces the first four members of its Science, Innovation and Policy Board, chaired by Peter van Dijk, Chief Sustainable Finance and Policy Officer at CFT. The board members will advise CFT on scientific research, innovation, technology, governance, carbon markets, partnerships, international regulations and policy as it relates to mitigating and adapting to climate change through the tools of sustainable forestation and other nature-based solutions. Areas of focus will include soil fertility, tree and forest health, planting technologies, carbon sequestration measuring and verification technologies, biodiversity, improving wellness through urban forestation and the creation of high-quality carbon credits for compliance and voluntary carbon markets. Meet the Board Members:

• Joanna Eyquem – Managing Director of Climate-Resilient Infrastructure at the University of Waterloo
• Dr. Blair Feltmate – Head of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo
• Steve Hounsell – Chair of the Ontario Biodiversity Council
• Dr. Warren Mabee – Associate Dean and Director of the School of Policy Studies at Queen’s University

Yearly glyphosate spraying has begun in Nova Scotia, and with it, groups of residents are setting up opposition camps against herbicide spraying in the province’s forests. As of Wednesday, protesters are camped out around or on 10 aerial herbicide spray sites in the province, adding to a smaller number of occupations that have existed since Sept. 1. Glyphosate sprays in Nova Scotia have been cancelled in the past after efforts from the group leading the camps, Don’t Spray! Nova Scotia. Glyphosate-based herbicide spraying is common in the forestry industry, with companies using it to kill vegetation that competes with the softwood trees they harvest. …Glyphosate use is being phased out in Europe, which will ban the product come December. However, Canada’s federal government continues to approve its use, most recently in January 2019.

BARRIE, ON – To celebrate National Forest Week and a generous $100,000 grant from the Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Outdoor Fund, Forests Ontario visited the Cabela’s store in Barrie on Friday. The grant supports … Forests Ontario’s 50 Million Tree Program. “By uniting our passionate customers with conservation leaders and industry partners, we’re taking bold actions to ensure a bright future for outdoorsmen and women and the wildlife we love. We are proud to support Forests Ontario and help create healthy, new forests right here in Ontario,” Bob Ziehmer, Bass Pro Shops & Cabela’s Sr. Director of Conservation, says. The Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Outdoor Fund is supported by their customers when they decide to round up their purchase at the register… Forests Ontario and its partners planted 2.5 million native tree seedlings across the province in the 2022 planting season as part of the 50 Million Tree Program, bringing the program total to 36.7 million trees planted…

The Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture will be supporting and participating in several events taking place throughout the province to mark National Forest Week 2022, being celebrated from September 18 – 24 and National Tree Day on Wednesday, September 21. The theme for National Forest Week this year is “Canada’s Forests: Solutions for a Changing Climate”. On September 21, the department will host ‘Explore Forestry Day’ taking place at Margaret Bowater Park in Corner Brook. This all-day event will feature a variety of forestry related exhibits and demonstrations designed to educate and inform youth about our forests outside in a natural, fun-filled setting. Throughout the week, Forestry and Wildlife district staff will also be visiting elementary schools in Gander, Pasadena and L’Anse au Loup to deliver various forestry themed activities, demonstrations and discussions about issues such as tree planting, forest fire prevention, wildlife control and forest management.

Premiering at Cinéfest this Sunday, Michael Zelniker set out to make a movie about the impact of toilet paper manufacturing on Canada’s boreal forest. …Zelniker has spent his life dedicated to film, television and theatre. But his newest project, which will premiere at Cinéfest Sudbury on Sept. 18 at 12:30 p.m., is more about his dedication to the environment. The Issue with Tissue: A boreal love story began as a look into a situation Zelniker was deeply troubled by, the act of cutting a vast number of trees in the boreal forests to be used predominantly for toilet paper. But as he began documenting the situation, travelling across the country, learning and filming as he went, the theme changed. “The movie is no longer about toilet paper, it is what I call the most obscene illustration for what’s gone wrong,” Zelniker told Sudbury.com. 

My name is Susan Bell Chiblow. I am Crane Clan from Garden River First Nation in the Robinson-Huron Treaty territory, which is part of the Anishinaabek territory. In 2015, Elder Willie Pine, a Mississauga First Nation told me that glyphosate was being sprayed in our territory and that he was working with Elders from the North Shore of Lake Huron in northern Ontario to stop it. Glyphosate is a herbicide. It’s the active ingredient in products like Roundup — it’s used to kill plants and weeds. While glyphosate is banned for cosmetic use and sale in certain parts of Canada, it is one of the most widely used herbicides on lawns, in gardens and in forestry operations. A number of scientific studies have shown that glyphosate can increase the risk of cancer. …In forestry operations in and around the Robinson-Huron Treaty territory, glyphosate is used to kill trees that compete with commercially valuable species. 

Peter deMarsh

OTTAWA, ON – Canadian Forest Owners (CFO) is proud to announce Master of Fine Arts student Lara Felsing at Emily Carr University of Art & Design and Maxime Saulnier, who is completing a Master’s degree in forestry at Laval University in Québec City, are the first recipients of the Peter deMarsh Memorial Bursary for research. Each have been awarded $10,000 to support the final stage of their studies. “Both these young people are using their talents to help solve social, economic or environmental problems,” explains Susannah Banks, CFO Co-Chair, and Executive Director of New Brunswick Federation of Woodlot Owners. “This bursary is a natural extension of Peter deMarsh’s achievements, a man who worked to convince millions of forest owners around the world to act collectively within local, regional, national and international organizations to create better policy to support sustainable forests.”

A concerned resident of Quirion Road in Barbers Bay was looking forward to attending a town hall meeting in Connaught last Wednesday to contest plans to harvest the forest behind her home. However, after The Daily Press requested comment from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Abitibi Forest Management Inc. in advance of the meeting, it was cancelled. “It has been decided that the licensing for harvest block German 161 has been put on hold until further notice from the MNRF Timmins District Manager,” said Abitibi forester Aaron Palmer in an email to the Barbers Bay Residents Association (BBRA). “In addition, it has been brought to our attention that the media has been contacted, and the intent of this meeting was to have a constructive conversation solely between ARFMI, MRNF and BBRA rather than to provide responses to the media or press.” 

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Yardi® is making a significant donation to help the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) protect and care for the largest private conservation project in the country’s history – the Boreal Wildlands project in northern Ontario. The Yardi donation will help NCC permanently protect an area twice the size of the city of Toronto. NCC, which is dedicated to accelerating conservation, restoring ecosystems and caring for biodiversity, will execute the project in collaboration with communities, government, Indigenous Peoples and others. …”Yardi commends NCC’s dedication to slowing climate change and is pleased to support the transformational Boreal Wildlands project, whose impact will extend far beyond Canada,” said Peter Altobelli, vice president and general manager of Yardi Canada Ltd. …Yardi® develops and supports industry-leading investment and property management software for all types and sizes of real estate companies. 

Protect native species, eliminate invasive trees and plant more that belong here. Those are three tips that conservationists would like to see followed to halt the decline or even extinction of tree species across the globe. Malin Rivers is head of conservation prioritization at the Botanic Gardens Conservation International, which runs the Global Tree Assessment project and produced a paper warning about the risk of massive tree extinction. In Quebec, Rivers and her team assessed 78 species of trees and found that four of them are at risk: White ash; Eastern hemlock; Butternut; and American elm. …Invasive trees are common in Quebec as well. The Norway Maple, for example, was introduced to North America in the 1700s. Tree Canada says the Norway Maple can prevent native tree seedlings (sugar maple and red oak) from establishing, and its leaves release toxins that affect soil fungi and microbes.