Region Archives: Canada East

KEMPTVILLE, Ontario – The Eastern Ontario Model Forest (EOMF) announced that it is expanding sustainable forestry on private lands by encouraging its members to certify to the SFI Indigenous Peoples and Families Module. The EOMF Certification Program, administered by the Ontario Woodlot Association (OWA), celebrated 20 years of certification in 2023 and is now offering the SFI module to its members. SFI Certification will complement the EOMF’s existing Forest Stewardship Council (FSC®) Certificate (FSC C018800), which it is committed to maintaining. …Glen Prevost, Program Manager, EOMF, “Retaining both SFI and FSC certifications will help us grow the EOMF certification program beyond our current 74,000 hectares of certified forest.” …Executive Director of the EOMF and OWA, John Pineau, said, “The SFI community is strong and welcoming and will support our certified forests.”

The risk for forest fires in the northeast region of Ontario remains low. The Ministry of Natural Resources Forest Fire management centre reports the fire hazard is low in areas located south of Timmins and Wawa. To date, since the forest fire season opened on April 1, there has been one fire in the Northeast region. Sault Ste. Marie 2 was reported on April 16 and called out the following day. The 0.6 hectare fire was located off Mission Road in Goulais Bay, about 26 km northwest of Sault Ste. Marie. A small forest fire in Hearst – 0.4 hectares — marked the start of the season on April 11. There are no active fires in Northwestern Ontario. While some experts have said that it is expected to be a severe wildfire season, others say the season is hard to predict.  

As a bush plane pilot in northern Ontario, Joel Theriault has seen firsthand the effect herbicides have on forests in the region. “There’s something very wrong when you can see a mile in each direction and you can fly for weeks over these areas and not see a bear, and not see a wolf, and not see a moose,” he said. In the late summer and early fall, forestry companies and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry spray herbicides over wooded areas that are cultivated for their timber. “They’re spraying them to eliminate all of the competition for sunlight for the replanted conifer trees,” said Theriault. …In an email to CBC News, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry spokesperson Marcela Mayo said herbicides are only applied to 0.2 per cent of the managed forested areas in Ontario every year.

Ontario confirms it has hired about 600 forest firefighters this year, although it has the budget to hire up to 800 people. The recruitment number is “well within the range” the province aims for, according to Natural Resources and Forestry Minister Graydon Smith. “We spent a significant amount of money, time and effort this year to recruit and retain more people and I think those efforts are paying off,” he said. Earlier in March the province rolled out an incentive program promising lump-sum payments to wildland firefighters. …Smith says “crews are deployed across Ontario as provincial resources during the fire season to where they are needed.” In other words, if a fire breaks out in the Greenstone area and there aren’t enough available crews to tackle it, resources will be sent in from other bases. 

A year and a half after post-tropical storm Fiona ripped through Prince Edward Island, some are raising questions about how to deal with the debris that remains. Provincial officials have estimated that 13 per cent of the woodland on the Island lost at least 70 per cent of its trees in the September 2022 storm. The clean-up job was massive. Crews worked for weeks to untangle a web of downed trees and power lines, while the P.E.I. government opened 41 disposal sites to its contractors and another 16 for people to drop off their Fiona debris free of charge. …It’s also wildfire season across Canada. With the weather warming up, Simpson worries the pile of drying out trees and branches could be dangerous. “Everybody else’s fire hazard has now become our fire hazard,” she said. “It’s a large pile of wood that we would really like to see gone.”

Roger Collet

Fire officials are preparing as wildfire season begins in New Brunswick, with teams and equipment situated around the province. …Tuesday was the official first day of wildfire season. Collet said the fire season begins in the southern parts of the provinces and progresses north as summer begins. Data released by the province shows that New Brunswick’s 209 wildfires last year amounted to fewer than the 10-year average of 246. However, the Stein Lake Fire near Saint Andrews in May nearly doubled the amount of land that was burned in wildfires. …Holland also spoke highly of the province’s wildfire co-ordination centre in Fredericton, which reminds him of the aircraft in the Star Trek TV series. The centre first, which first operated last year, has large screens where fire officials can monitor weather and environmental data in real time.

Ottawa-Senator Rob Black is seeking approval from the Senate for a study on the growing challenge forest fires pose to the agriculture and forestry sector as well rural and Indigenous communities. He also wants the study to examine what wildfires do to water systems, air quality, food security and biosecurity as well as the federal government is doing to adequately monitor and organize a response to wildfires. The committee should also consider possible improvements to how the federal response to wildfires compares to international best practices. …Meanwhile federal cabinet ministers released a forecast of weather trends for 2024 and talk about how Ottawa is preparing to deal with wildfires this year after last year’s wakeup call events. …The federal Government Operations Centre is the lead for federal response coordination for emergency events affecting the national interest and works in close collaboration with federal organizations, non-governmental organizations and provincial emergency management partners.

In related news: Canada shares outlook, wildfire projections & emergency preparedness

The images of millions of hectares of burned forest, thousands of people being evacuated and the smoke from Quebec fires reaching as far south as New York City brings back bad memories for Quebec’s forest fire prevention agency and communities across Quebec. “We’re going to be worried all summer,” says Guy Lafrenière, mayor of Lebel-sur-Quévillon, Que., a town located 800 kilometres north of Montreal. Lafrenière says he’s hoping for a rainy summer but fears a repeat of last year’s hot, dry weather, which forced his residents to evacuate twice. The Société de protection des forêts contre le feu (SOPFEU) is hoping to expand its ranks this year to be better prepared across Quebec by hiring 160 people including 80 firefighters in the next two years — increasing its staff by 32 per cent. A permanent SOPFEU base of operations with 14 firefighters will also be set up over the next few weeks in Lebel-sur-Quévillon.

Addressing current climate “challenges,” embracing innovation,and fostering “excellence” in landscape management, will be prime themes when Ontario foresters meet in Sault Ste. Marie later this month. ‘Forestry…Fired Up!’ is the theme of the Ontario Professional Foresters Association (OPFA) conference and annual general meeting April 16-18 at the Water Tower Inn. Prof. Alexis Achim, of Laval University, will deliver the keynote address, Don’t Give Up on (Canadian) Forests, and the conference agenda will be a mix of presentations, panel discussion, field tours and networking opportunities. Both in-person and virtual attendance options are available. The conference agenda reflects a “broad spectrum” of interests, from the transformative role of AI and drone technology in forest management to exploring new economic opportunities in wood use and addressing the “vital” task of engaging and welcoming the next generation into a profession in forestry, a release says.

©Annette Francis/APTN

TEMAGAMI – Temagami-area First Nations communities say they will continue their court action to have the Ontario Métis Harvesting Agreement declared illegal with respect to their homeland, N’dakimenan. The Teme-Augama Anishnabai (TAA) and Temagami First Nation (TFN) chiefs and councils have been advised that the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry has sent a letter to Marc Descoteaux requesting the removal of a cabin at Pond Lake, which is within the area claimed by the TAA and TFN. Descoteaux is a member of the Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO) and made an application to the ministry for approval under MNO rights to construct the cabin. However, in recent months the MNO concluded that the MNO as a whole did not approve the construction of the structure as an incidental cabin for the use of all community members. After receiving that notice, the ministry has requested Descoteaux to remove the cabin and restore the site by June 1, 2024.

Standing on top of a massive boulder, a young forest firefighter surveys the damage wrought by Quebec’s worst wildfire season in recent history. …The black-and-white photograph, captured last summer by Charles-Frédérick Ouellet and titled A Day in the Life of a Quebec Fire Crew has just won the North and Central American Single Photograph award at the 2023 World Press Photo contest. Ouellet spent more than a day in the life of a fire crew. In fact, he was part of one as an auxiliary firefighter with the province’s wildfire prevention agency, the Société de protection des forêts contre le feu (SOPFEU), last year. The photographer and filmmaker from the borough of Chicoutimi in Quebec’s Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region received auxiliary firefighter training for a documentary he was working on with fellow photographer, Nicolas Lévesque, in order to be able to document crews’ work on the ground. 

NORMANDIN, Q.C. — The Ministry of Employment announced an investment of $428,823 for the training of mechanics in the wood processing and paper manufacturing sector, to meet the needs of businesses in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region. Work-study program – The mechanics and equipment maintenance training offered, tailor-made to meet specific needs, includes a total of 800 hours of training. This will take place in the form of a work-study program, consisting of 480 hours in class and 320 hours of paid internship in a company. Mainly focused on learning industrial mechanics, the training also includes a block devoted to understanding wood transformation processes. Tailor-made training now – As part of this cohort training, the Pays-des-Bleuets School Services Center, through its Business Services , will offer training to 16 workers from seven companies in the region, namely Sciages GP , PFR, Opiticiwan Sawmill, JAMEC, Tackipotcikan Sawmill Limited Partnership, Wemotaci and NJR Sharpening.

The Québec Minister of Natural Resources and Forests and Minister Responsible for the Bas-Saint-Laurent Region and the Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine Region, Maïté Blanchette Vézina, today announced a maximum financial assistance of $2M, over three years, to FPInnovations to support the next phases of a truck platooning project aimed at modernizing forestry operations and mitigating the shortage of qualified drivers, during a visit to FPInnovations’ Québec laboratories along with president and CEO Stéphane Renou. The project aims to operate highly automated platooning trucks on low-traffic forest roads. Platooning involves connecting two or more trucks in convoy, using connectivity technology and automated driver assistance systems. The truck at the head of the platoon, with driver, acts as leader, with the vehicles behind it automatically adapting to changes in movement.

Quinte Conservation Authority (QCA) has announced a contribution of 10,357 hectares of conservation areas and reserves towards Canada’s international commitment to protect 30 per cent of lands and waters by 2030. Commonly known as the 30 by 30 target, it was adopted by nations around the world as part of the Global Biodiversity Framework at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP 15), said QCA. The target aims to protect biodiversity, mitigate impacts of climate change, and ensure the sustainability of ecosystems. “We’re proud to have 66 of our properties, totaling 10,357 hectares, officially included in the Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database, ” said Brad McNevin, chief administrative officer with Quinte Conservation.