Region Archives: Canada East

TORONTO — We are proud to announce the launch of a major reforestation project to plant 3 million trees in the Ogoki Forest, a region 400 km northeast of Thunder Bay, Ontario devastated by catastrophic wildfires of 2023. This initiative marks a pivotal step in restoring a landscape critical to both ecological health and the cultural heritage of local First Nations communities. In 2023, two massive wildfires ravaged 40,188 hectares of the Ogoki Forest, leaving behind widespread ecological damage. The Ogoki Wildfire Reforestation Project aims to heal these scars by focusing reforestation efforts on the most severely affected areas. …A cornerstone of this initiative is the restoration of critical caribou habitat. The Ogoki Forest is home to two vital caribou ranges, the Nipigon and the Ozhiski, that were heavily impacted by the wildfires. …This project is driven by the support of Forests Canada, Tree Canada, and the Arbor Day Foundation, Chilly Moose Ltd., and Orca Intelligence Inc. 

OTTAWA, ON – Today, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, announced an investment of more than $900,000 to Integrity Reforestation for a major reforestation project that will help to restore wildfire-impacted land and caribou habitat in Ontario’s Ogoki Forest. With this funding, Integrity Reforestation will: plant 800,000 trees, covering 450 hectares of the Ogoki Forest; rehabilitate ecosystems destroyed by wildfires using native species to restore the habitats of woodland caribou, moose and black bears; and create over 40 tree-planting jobs in the region. With this agreement, Canada and Integrity Reforestation are leveraging their shared commitment to habitat restoration and climate action. Canada will continue to work with provinces, territories, local communities, organizations and Indigenous Peoples to create a greener, healthier and more resilient Canada while reinforcing our country’s ability to respond to wildfires, especially in the face of changing climate.

New Brunswick — Dr. John Kershaw didn’t plan a career in forestry when, as a young man, he left the family farm in southern Indiana to study at Purdue University. He wanted to be a veterinarian. However, a summer experience in Colorado during his first year at Purdue sparked his forestry interest, leading him to switch majors and embark on a journey that would take him around the world. …After over three decades of research, teaching and pursuing international partnerships, Kershaw has been recognized with a prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from his alma mater, which will be presented in April. Kershaw, a professor at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) since 1991, was caught off guard when he received the news of the award. …Kershaw is deeply engaged as the assistant vice president for partnerships at UNB … he has worked to diversify the university’s international pathways and build strong partnerships with other universities worldwide.

A new $30 million province-wide fire grant is going to help Timmins firefighters stay protected from hazardous carcinogens when fighting wildland fires, their deputy chief says. Timmins will be receiving $49,382 from the province through the office of Solicitor General Michael Kerzner, who oversees the office of the fire marshal. Local Deputy Fire Chief Scott Atkinson told the Daily Press those funds will be used to purchase 156 wildland fire jumpsuits. “The cancer-preventative measure we’ve put forward for that would be coveralls for almost every firefighter in the city,” Atkinson said. The grant applies to municipal firefighters, but the Timmins Fire Department is often called upon to fight grass fires and other wildland fires within the Municipal Protection Area of the city. “We’re in partnership with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. They’re the experts on forest fires, but we often work together,” said Atkinson.

Kevin Holland, MPP for Thunder Bay-Atikokan, and associate minister of forestry in Doug Ford’s Conservative government, says healthy communities make a stronger economy and one can’t exist without the other. …“Forestry has been the cornerstone of our economy for generations,” he said. “While we see mining ramping up — and we’re going to see investments coming into Thunder Bay, particularly around processing — we have to continue to make sure that we’re not losing track of forestry.” In the role of associate forestry minister, Holland says it’s a “real priority for him. “We’re developing new strategies to help the forestry industry when the pulp market starts dropping off so it’s not volatile for the forestry sector,” he said. “We can do that by bringing on new value-added businesses associated with forestry to use up our biomass and our forest and mill residuals so that we don’t experience these dips in the system.”

Prince Edward Island is becoming greener once more. Recently, the provincial government launched the P.E.I. 2 Billion Trees program to help restore nature, create healthy forest ecosystems and increase carbon capture across the Island. Across the country, the federal government has set the goal of planting two billion trees in the next 10 years. Heather Laiskonis, executive director of the P.E.I. Watershed Alliance, which administers small landowner applicants of the provincial tree planting initiative, explained how it works in an interview with The Guardian. She said the watershed alliance group administers 2.5 acres or smaller sites. “The province recognizes the benefit of having the watershed groups and having those relationships with landowners,” Laiskonis said. For the next seven years, P.E.I. Watershed Alliance will plant approximately more than 100,000 trees each year. …red maple, white pine, yellow birch, white spruce, white birch, and eastern hemlock the tree-planting program, Laiskonis said.

Quebec’s boreal forest — twice the size of France — is a vast expanse of wilderness rich in biodiversity that can lock up huge amounts of climate-warming carbon dioxide. It is also an economic driver for dozens of small communities. …But Indigenous leaders and environmental groups worry Quebec’s planned reforms would give logging companies too much power over what areas are allowed to be cut. …”Quebec has to be transparent about what their real intentions are,” Ghislain Picard, the chief of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador, told Quebec AM. …Last week, the environmental group SNAP Quebec called for an independent investigation into the ties between the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests and the industry….Earlier this year, a study examining nearly a half-century of logging in Quebec and Ontario warned that logging practices have left forests in the two provinces severely depleted, putting caribou at risk.

Up until a month ago, Cat Lake First Nation’s brush with the forestry industry in northwestern Ontario had been nothing more than some seasonal tree planting jobs, said Chief Russell Wesley. When Domtar ran the Dryden pulp mill, Wesley said locals did find employment through independent planting contractors, but nothing that created long-lasting sustainable jobs for its members. Cat Lake’s location, 180 kilometres northwest of Sioux Lookout, has had something to do with it. With only a seasonal access road, the fly-in community is too far north to be involved in the extraction of fibre. The community leadership now pins its hopes that a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed last month with PRT Growing Services is their entry point into the region’s forestry industry. …Down the road, Cat Lake would like to duplicate the nursery operation that the B.C. company runs in Dryden by having one established in their own community at some point. 

Lanying Wang

…To determine a forest’s capacity for carbon sequestration, it is important to inventory and monitor forested areas regularly. Tree species classification is a vital component of forest management and can assist with calculating carbon sequestration potential.  In-person monitoring of forests can be difficult, especially in remote locations or large areas. Remote sensing techniques have been proven effective at assisting with forest management, notably LiDAR. …When LiDAR data is collected over a large area with an aircraft operating at a high elevation, the density of the point cloud can be sparse. These datasets can be difficult to conduct accurate individual tree-level species classification. Lanying Wang, a PhD candidate in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management, is combining remotely sensed data and deep learning (DL) models to improve data accuracy and applicability.   

Two years after post-tropical storm Fiona demolished thousands of trees on Prince Edward Island, residents on the North Shore worry that the tattered debris still sitting in the forests could be a massive fire hazard. On Thursday afternoon, about 35 people gathered to discuss wildfire prevention, preparedness and mitigation. Mike Montigny, the manager of field services for the provincial Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action and officials with other groups including Parks Canada, the Emergency Measures Organization and local fire departments were at the meeting to give residents a chance to voice their concerns and ask about the Island’s wildfire plan. People wanted to know how long it would take a crew to respond to a fire. They wondered if fire departments on the Island have the proper training to fight a wildfire. What will crews use as a water source? Will more forest debris be cleaned up?

WENDAKE, Quebec  – The Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador (AFNQL) must once again denounce the irreverent attitude of the ministère des Ressources naturelles et des Forêts (MRNF) towards First Nations in its approach to “modernizing” Quebec’s forestry regime. The meeting between the MRNF and First Nations on November 29 was completely disconcerting and it is an affront to First Nations and their rights. The haste with which the MRNF presented its priorities and orientations—despite their importance and direct impact on First Nations rights and ways of life—is unacceptable.  …The MRNF’s general approach to this reform seems based on satisfying the needs of the forest industry. …Faced with this situation, if the Minister does not make a major shift in the changes to be made to the forestry regime, First Nations will mobilize and put in place the necessary means to defend them and impose the respect they deserve.

Westwind Forest Stewardship Inc. won a prestigious North America-wide Leadership Award from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) for its commitment to responsible forest management, advocacy and conservation leadership in the French-Severn Forest, near Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada. “In 2002, we were the first forest company in Ontario with publicly managed Crown lands to earn FSC certification. Since then, our dedication to environmental stewardship, responsible management, and building strong relationships with our entire community including Indigenous groups is unwavering,” shared Westwind Board Chair Rob Keen (RFP). At almost 1.3 million acres, the French-Severn forest rests on the Canadian Shield stretching from Algonquin Park to Georgian Bay, and from the Severn River north to the French River. Sugar maple and white wine dominate the landscape which is also home to the greatest number of turtle and snake species in the Ontario, each with habitat protection requirements found in the FSC standard.

University of New Brunswick forestry professor Anthony Taylor began a research project to examine what was killing balsam fir trees favoured by many Canadians to decorate their homes at Christmas. …in a paper recently published in the journal “Frontiers in Forests and Global Change,” Taylor and his co-authors identify the cause of the die-off in western New Brunswick and eastern Maine as drought and high temperatures brought on by climate change. “Identifying the broad scale climate anomalies, such as a drought, associated with the reported sudden balsam fir mortality in 2018 could prove useful to determine the likelihood of future mortality in response to climate change,” the study says. Taylor said he was shocked by “that much” death of balsam firs. …Taylor said heat and drought have weakened balsam firs, making them more vulnerable to pests and diseases that they would otherwise be able to defend against. 

This weekend is one of the busiest of the year for Christmas tree farms all over the region as the holidays approach and people start looking for a fresh trees. At Johnston Brothers Tree Farm, located about 71 kilometres south of Ottawa, it’s no sweat for founder Pud Johnston. Johnston is 99-years-old and it’s his 72nd season selling Christmas trees. Johnston started the business in 1952 with his brother Eric and they worked alongside each other until he passed away in 2009. Johnston’s son Kerry is now the main operator of the farm but he is still engaged every day… “I think it’s a healthy activity,” Johnston said. “I think it’s provided lots of exercise and kept me fit and kept me young, and I wouldn’t be 99-years-old now if I hadn’t been Christmas tree farming.” …for Kerry, it’s all he’s known his whole life, cutting his first tree when he was about 8-years-old.

From carbon capture technology to forest fire mitigation, a new bill introduced by Muskoka-Parry Sound MPP and Minister of Natural Resources Graydon Smith covers a lot of ground. Smith recently introduced the Resource Management and Safety Act 2024, the fist new bill introduced by the Ministry of Natural Resources in nearly a decade. It also marks the first time a Muskoka Parry Sound MPP  has tabled a bill in the House of Commons as a sitting government in more than two decades. “It took a long time to put this all together but I feel like it’s had a very good reception so far, ” said Smith. “There are a lot of different components of this bill that are important to many different sectors in Ontario. I feel like it’s going to open up a lot of opportunities.” .

The scientific evidence behind glyphosate’s dangers is overwhelming—and infuriating. Glyphosate doesn’t stop at the plants it’s meant to kill. It contaminates everything in its path, infiltrating the food chain and leaving behind a legacy of harm… Even if Ontario banned glyphosate tomorrow, the chemical’s impact would linger for years. It persists in the soil, where it continues to harm microorganisms and plants. The forests we love may take decades to recover, and some ecosystems may never fully return to their original state. This isn’t just a fight for today; it’s a fight for the future. Quebec has already banned glyphosate in forestry. European countries like Austria and Germany are phasing it out. These regions recognize that short-term convenience isn’t worth long-term destruction. So why is Ontario still clinging to outdated, harmful practices?

They’re tall, they’re rich in colour, and they’re ready for you to put your presents under. Christmas tree farms around southern Ontario are reporting great harvests this year, according to Shirley Brennan, executive director of the Canadian Christmas Tree Association and Christmas Tree Farmers of Ontario. That’s largely due to a year without heat domes, extreme flooding, or early frosts, which have been known to ruin harvests in the past.  “This year for us has been a good growing season,” said Alison McCrindle, who runs Chickadee Christmas Trees in Puslinch with her husband Joe Wareham. “We had really good precipitation in the spring and the summer. ”It’s a nice change from recent years, which she said were “just terrible” with extreme heat and dry weather.

QUEBEC — The caribou are now the subject of an acrimonious dispute between the Canadian and Quebec governments over how to protect one of the country’s iconic animals. The woodland caribou — whose populations are native to Canada and are considered a barometer of the health of its boreal forests — are at risk of becoming extinct or endangered as logging, mining and other human activities have shrunk their natural habitats. The Canadian government threatened this summer to use emergency measures to protect the three herds in Quebec. It said that the Quebec government had been too slow to come up with a plan to save the herds. Quebec said that the federal government’s plans would devastate logging towns and leave thousands of people jobless by limiting logging. …The Innu of Pessamit are seeking to create a protected area where the remaining 200 caribou can continue to live freely — and eventually make a comeback.

NEW BRUNSWICK — While artificial Christmas trees might be the popular choice during the holiday season, nothing beats the smell of a fresh balsam fir. But new research out of the University of New Brunswick shows the popular tree is at risk of being harmed by climate change. Anthony Taylor, a forest ecologist and professor of forest management at the University of New Brunswick, said the balsam fir makes up about 20% of all the trees in the province. Taylor and two other researchers have spent the past six years correlating historic climate data with previous balsam fir mortalities — or die-offs — and found these trees in particular are sensitive to high temperatures and periods of drought. …Taylor’s research found this wasn’t the first time mass mortality has happened here — the same condition was reported in 1986 and was referred to then as Stillwell’s syndrome. Coincidentally, 1986 was also a dry, hot year.

Ontario Nature is collaborating with the forestry industry, Indigenous communities, local communities and environmental organizations to permanently protect at least one million hectares of important lands in Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified forests. To get certified by FSC, forestry companies must set aside at least 10 percent of the lands that they manage for industrial logging to conserve ecosystems and biodiversity. These lands present a significant opportunity for Ontario to contribute to the Government of Canada’s commitment to protect of at least 30 percent of lands and inland waters by 2030… These protected areas in waiting have already been selected as prime candidates for protection from forestry activity, but they’re stuck in limbo… …the Government of Ontario has not formally recognized the areas identified, leaving them open to mining, hydro development and potential changes in forest management.

Thunder Bay, Ontario — Cat Lake First Nation (CLFN) and PRT Growing Services Ltd., North America’s largest producer of forest seedlings, have signed a memorandum of understanding today, establishing a significant new partnership to drive sustainable, resilient socioeconomic development in Northwestern Ontario through the regrowth and renewal of Canadian forests. This announcement represents the first phase of a broader initiative aiming to foster local growth within the Cat Lake community through workforce support and training, ongoing employment opportunities at the PRT Dryden nursery, and collaboration on future Cat Lake nursery and seedling initiatives. …The memorandum of understanding was signed by PRT’s Chief Executive Officer Randy Fournier and CLFN Chief Russell Wesley during the Cat Lake First Nation Bio-economy Stakeholder Meeting in Thunder Bay, Ontario, on November 26, 2024.

The Ontario government is introducing new legislation aimed at enhancing community safety and protecting the environment by addressing the risks associated with wildland fires and hazardous oil and gas wells. The proposed Resource Management and Safety Act would also streamline the land surveying process to support housing development and pave the way for carbon storage technology… “Our forestry sector is vitally important to Ontario, producing critical building materials, and managing and renewing Ontario’s forests, which can play an important role in reducing the risk of wildland fire,” said Kevin Holland, Minister of Forestry and Forest Products. “These new protections allow the province to help job creators build Ontario and provide better service for communities.”

Scientists consider the caribou an “umbrella species,” meaning that protecting it also shields others in its habitat. …In Quebec, home to “the three most at-risk Boreal Caribou populations in Canada,” political inaction gets in the way of the species’ recovery. If Quebec continues to stall, Ottawa can and should step in. …Boreal caribou have been listed as threatened under the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA) since 2003. Minister Steven Guilbeault found in January, 2023, that “almost all boreal caribou critical habitat located on non-federal lands in Quebec is not effectively protected”. …The government did not act on his recommendation, preferring a “collaborative” approach. …In September, Mr. Guilbeaultoffered hundreds of millions of dollars to help Quebec achieve protection. Yet, the stalemate persists. If Quebec is unhappy with Ottawa’s intrusion, it has a solution: take the action that has been promised for years. [to access the full story a Globe and Mail subscription is required]

THUNDER BAY — The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation is helping a local forestry services company grow with $360,000 in funding for equipment purchases. Superior Resources “has achieved remarkable success” as “a core harvesting partner” since being formed in 2021, Thunder Bay-Atikokan MPP Kevin Holland said Friday in announcing the support. Co-owned by Mikko Koivisto and Ryan Murphy, Superior works with First Nations in harvesting the Lake Nipigon Forest and offers operational support on things like bridge installation and road maintenance.

Planning is underway for the third annual Indigenous Lands Symposium, hosted by Wahkohtowin Development. Scheduled to take place Feb. 3-7, 2025, in Bawating (Sault Ste. Marie), the five-day event will bring together Indigenous peoples from across Canada for keynote presentations, workshops, networking, and more focused on land conservation and cultural activities. …Wahkohtown is a social enterprise formed by Chapleau Cree First Nation, Missanabie Cree First Nation, and Brunswick House First Nation. One area of focus for the symposium is economic reconciliation and how Indigenous members can get involved in conservation-based forestry activities.

Across the far reaches of northwestern Ontario and over the provincial border into southeastern Manitoba lies the enormous swath of forested, lake-speckled land that is Treaty 3 territory. At more than 142,000 square kilometres, it is larger than the entire country of Greece and home to 28 First Nations communities with a total population of about 25,000 – an indication of just how rich in natural resources this area is. These natural resources have long been a source of contention between the settlers looking to profit from them and the Indigenous Peoples caring for and protecting the land, but much has changed in the last 15 years. …Across Canada, the forestry industry is working to build more meaningful, equitable partnerships with Indigenous Peoples. Miitigoog Limited Partnership (LP), a joint venture between Weyerhaeuser, eight Treaty 3 First Nations and other industry stakeholders, offers a compelling blueprint.