Region Archives: Canada East

EASTMAN, QC – Government of Canada invests in one of the largest relatively undisturbed temperate forests in the world. Canada’s wildlife and its habitat are in crisis. Addressing the triple planetary crisis of rapid biodiversity loss, climate change, and pollution starts with protecting nature. To protect and restore Canada’s natural environments, collaboration between the provinces, territories, Indigenous peoples, and other partners is essential. The ministry of Environment and Climate Change Canada announced an investment of $2.19 million to Appalachian Corridor over the next three years. The funding will help protect and recover species at risk by reducing threats that they face and enhancing their habitats in the Northern Green Mountains region of southern Quebec. This investment is under the Community-Nominated Priority Places program and almost doubles the initial $2.4 million granted between 2019 and 2023 for the first phase of this project.

Considering how much we love our trees in Guelph, we’re excited to celebrate National Forest Week this year, which runs from September 17 to 23, 2023. National Forest Week is an annual campaign put on by the Canadian Institute of Forestry to celebrate Canada’s forest heritage and to raise awareness about this valuable and renewable resource. This year’s theme is “supporting biological diversity.” In 2023, we’re on target to plant 20,000 native trees and shrubs in parks, public spaces and natural areas with the help of community partners! In collaborating with community partners, we’ll also engage over 10,000 volunteers in 60 community planting events in parks and natural areas in 2023!

Mike Holland

A New Brunswick cabinet minister says the punishing duties the United States has imposed on Canadian softwood lumber over the last six years did not figure into the province’s new forest strategy, despite their importance to the tree-cutting industry. Mike Holland, minister of natural resources, said that the American complaints about unfair practices had already been addressed. “We didn’t build this strategy to fix that,” Holland said. “That wasn’t the factor. We knew that balance had to be put in place for a variety of other reasons.” The minister has sold the strategy as a new chapter in the way the province’s public forests are managed. His department, he said, will no longer give the most say to the powerful wood-cutting industry, but will also try to satisfy the demands of First Nations, conservationists, recreational enthusiasts, and maple syrup and blueberry producers. …New Brunswick’s forest industry has been silent about the strategy.

Climate change poses a serious risk to sustainable forest management, particularly in boreal forests where natural disturbances have been projected to become more severe. In three Quebec boreal forest management units, biomass carbon storage under various climate change and management scenarios was projected over 300 years (2010–2310) with a process-based dynamic landscape model. Several strategies varying in their use of partial cuts and clear cuts, including business as usual, were tested and compared to conservation scenarios. Based on simulation results at the landscape scale, the clearcut-based scenarios such as BAU could result in a decrease of biomass carbon stock compared to the natural scenario. However, this reduction in carbon stock could be offset in the long term through changes in composition, as clearcut systems promote the expansion of trembling aspen and white birch. In contrast, the use of strategies based on partial cuts was closer to or better than the natural scenario.

New Brunswick’s Progressive Conservative government has released a new forest strategy that it says tries to please everyone, including conservationists, wood-cutting firms, recreational enthusiasts and First Nations. But the plan announced Wednesday quickly splintered between environmentalists, who said it didn’t go far enough, and Indigenous spokespeople who argued the government’s consultations had been meaningless. The powerful forest industry was notably silent, saying it needed more time to digest the strategy’s contents. At its centrepiece is an increase in planting and cutting on existing softwood tree plantations, while reducing the number of clearcuts in natural, Acadian mixed forests. It will also steer the industry away from planting so many balsam firs in the south, New Brunswick’s official provincial tree, in favour of introducing more spruce, a species that produces a higher quality wood for lumber and pulp and the department said was less at risk from the ravages of climate change.

New Brunswick is taking steps to protect more Crown forest, consult First Nations on forestry management, and allow for uses other than timber harvesting, Natural Resources Minister Mike Holland said Wednesday. Holland announced a long-term strategy for Crown forests that he said will see the percentage of protected Crown forest increase to 30 per cent from 23 per cent. At the same time, Holland said, practices such as herbicide spraying and clear cutting, which the forest industry has used over the past 40 years, will allow cutting to continue at the current rate —  or a potentially higher rate  — without expanding the area where timber can be harvested intensively. “We’re going to create more opportunity for the industry to benefit and grow from the same footprint,” Holland said, referring to about 20 per cent of Crown forest. …But Green Party Leader David Coon said the new forest strategy is mostly a win for the timber industry.

Additional coverage from Canadian Press: New Brunswick forest strategy lauded for conservation, criticized for lack of tree diversity

Concerned residents in the Annapolis Valley and across mainland Nova Scotia are mobilizing to prevent the aerial spraying of herbicide on forestry land. Four new approvals for aerial and ground spraying of glyphosate-based products on land for forestry purposes were announced by the Nova Scotia Department of Environment and Climate Change on Aug. 15. The approvals cover 1,415 hectares in four counties. The approval holders are ARF Enterprises and J.D. Irving. The proposed timeframe for spraying is Aug. 14 to Sept. 30. The approvals expire Dec. 31. …Concerned Burlington-area resident Kate MacInnes Adams said they are disappointed to see the subject property approved for spraying once again. Residents have begun to organize to stop the recovering clearcut from being sprayed, as have other representatives of the Don’t Spray Us! Nova Scotia group. “With so many unknowns about the long-term effects of glyphosate, it seems reasonable to accept this request”.

The Nova Scotia government has announced a new provincial wilderness area in Guysborough County, protecting a lake that has been eyed as a water source for a proposed gold mine. Agriculture Minister Greg Morrow said Monday that the Archibald Lake Wilderness Area will cover nearly 700 hectares of old-growth forest, lakes and wetland near Nova Scotia’s eastern shore. The area includes Archibald Lake, McDonald and Rocky Lake, which feed into Archibald Brook, a tributary of the St. Mary’s River. Atlantic Mining Nova Scotia Inc., a subsidiary of Australia-based St Barbara Ltd., had proposed a temporary gold-mining site on Cochrane Hill, using Archibald Lake as its primary water source and discharging treated wastewater back into the river system. Morrow, who is also provincial representative for the region, said the importance of protecting the area was impressed on him when he was door-knocking during the 2021 provincial election campaign.

Government of Nova Scotia press release: Province Announces Archibald Lake Wilderness Area

David Coon

New Brunswick Green leader David Coon is calling a report on the state of the province’s forests “self-serving and incomplete.” The province released the long-awaited State of the Forest report on Thursday after seven years of delays. The document outlines the inventory and development of the province’s forests, as well as their the composition, ownership and usage. But Coon says he finds the report severely lacking. …Natural resources minister Mike Holland says the report is a high level overview of the forest makeup and more details on health and management strategies will be coming in subsequent reports this fall. …Coon decried the lack of data on various forest types and ecosystems. He said that data from the Atlantic Canada Conservation Data Centre shows that over two thirds of the 100 different forest types found in the province are at risk.

Forests Ontario and its partners planted approximately 2.5 million trees across the province this season as part of its 50 Million Tree Program. This brings the program’s total to almost 40 million trees planted since 2007. “As we continue to see the effects of climate change – including unprecedented wildfires across Canada and around the world – it is imperative that we do everything we can to combat it. This includes the creation of healthy, new forests as well as managing and improving the diversity and health of existing forests,” said Jess Kaknevicius, chief executive officer of Forests Ontario. The program has created more than 18,400 hectares of new forest on nearly 8,000 project sites, according to Forests Ontario. The organization added that creating new forests is one of the most effective, nature-based solutions in combating and mitigating climate change.

FREDERICTON – The provincial government has released the 2023 State of the Forest report entitled Excellence in Forest Management – Understanding our System. …”I am honoured to be the first minister in almost a decade to release a report on the state of our forests,” said Natural Resources and Energy Development Minister Mike Holland. “This will now be an annual report. …This year’s theme focuses on the province’s forest-management system which is centred on seven pillars: inventory; forest development; zoning; planning; operations; monitoring; and protection. …“We are recognized leaders in our country in terms of forest management, from being the very first to use geographic information system (GIS) technology, to our positive track record on forest fire prevention, and most recently, our historic doubling of protected lands and water,” said Holland. …The sector remains the province’s largest industry and contributes more than $1.5 billion to the economy annually.

BARRIE, Ontario – Forests Ontario and its partners planted approximately 2.5 million trees across the province this season, including 58,000 in York Region, as part of its 50 Million Tree Program. This brings the program’s province-wide total to almost 40 million trees planted to date. “As we continue to see the effects of climate change it is imperative that we do everything we can to combat it. This includes the creation of healthy, new forests,” says Jess Kaknevicius, CEO of Forests Ontario. “We are proud of our accomplishments this year and know full well they wouldn’t have been possible without our incredible planting partners.” …Landowners who would like to take part… need enough space to plant a minimum of 500 trees, which is typically at least half an acre of open land.

TORONTO — The Ontario government is investing up to $20 million in a new Caribou Conservation Stewardship Program to support projects that maintain and recover caribou populations in the province. The funding will be available to non-profit organizations, Indigenous communities and other groups for conservation activities such as on-the-ground habitat restoration and protection, monitoring, science and research. “Caribou are integral to our province, and it is critical that we invest in activities that improve conditions for this iconic species,” said David Piccini, Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks. …This program is one way the Ontario government is implementing the Agreement for the Conservation of Caribou, Boreal Population in Ontario, a five-year conservation agreement with the Government of Canada which provides an overall framework for establishing collaborative commitments, including habitat management, protection and restoration activities from both the federal and provincial governments to protect and recover caribou.

CHARLOTTETOWN, Prince Edward Island – Planting two billion trees in the next decade is a crucial part of Canada’s climate plan, and the Government of Canada is continuing to work with provinces, territories, local communities and Indigenous Peoples. That is why the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, and the Honourable Steven Myers, Prince Edward Island’s Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Action, announced nearly $3 million to plant trees that will permanently expand forest cover in P.E.I. and help recover areas damaged by Hurricane Fiona. The Government of Canada is providing $1.7 million dollars under the 2 Billion Trees program (2BT) with the remainder being provided by the Government of Prince Edward Island.

Ian Dunn

Ian Dunn has been president and CEO of the Ontario Forest Industries Association (OFIA) for nearly three years. He’s seen more boardrooms than cutblocks lately, but the registered professional forester still takes every opportunity to connect with members on forestry sites across the province. With the Ontario forest industry poised for growth to meet global demand, Dunn wants to see concrete strides to improve mill and contractor competitiveness in the province. “The overarching goal for us right now in the association is to see Ontario’s Forest Sector Strategy fully implemented, and to improve the competitiveness of our industry. That strategy was developed beginning in 2018, finalized in 2020, and it was really the result of us looking at other jurisdictions, seeing what they were doing with their resource,” said Dunn. “The biggest challenge facing the Ontario industry is the cost of doing business in this country.” 

Newfoundland and Labrador — Company, Sexton Lumber has been convicted of four Forestry Act violations following an investigation by the Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture. On August 1, the company appeared in Provincial Court in Grand Falls-Windsor where they pled guilty to the violations. The company was found guilty of one charge of neglect to perform an obligation imposed by an order of a forestry official and three charges of failing to comply with the terms and conditions stated on their cutting permits. The fine total was 3,100 dollars, plus a 30 per cent victim surcharge fee.

Environmental law charity group Ecojustice highlighted the federal government’s refusal to step in with protections for caribou critical habitat in Ontario despite recently released documents showing that the province is failing to protect this species effectively. Environmental groups engaged in caribou recovery warned that continued lack of action from both governments will further imperil this critical species. In June, the federal government announced its decision to reject the minister of environment and climate change Steven Guilbeault’s recommendation to issue a protection order for caribou habitat in Ontario. Instead, the federal government said it will grant the province until April 2024 to strengthen its measures to provide protections equivalent to the federal framework. The Protection Assessment, which Minister Guilbeault used to support his decision to recommend a protection order, revealed that Ontario’s forest management policies fail to protect habitat on a scale that science shows are needed for caribou survival.

In January, the Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development said it would release an updated report on the state of New Brunswick’s forests on April 1. That deadline came and went — with no report in sight. Green Party Leader David Coon said the department has continuously missed its own deadlines. The report details forestry activity updates, ground sampling, aerial photography and photo interpretations of New Brunswick’s forests. …”The state of the forests in New Brunswick has deteriorated considerably since 2015 when the last state of the forests report was released,” said Coon. …The department responded via email: “We are committed to providing an update on the state of New Brunswick’s forest[s]. We look forward to sharing more information with New Brunswickers in the near future.” “I don’t expect to see it anytime soon,” said Coon.

Tim Halman

NOVA SCOTIA — The Department of Environment and Climate Change has issued four new approvals for pesticide spraying, covering 1,415 hectares. The approvals are for aerial and ground spraying of glyphosate-based products on land for forestry purposes. The approval holders are ARF Enterprises Inc. and J. D. Irving Ltd. The proposed timeframe for spraying is Monday, August 14, to Friday, September 30. The approvals expire December 31, 2023. Two multi-year corridor spraying approvals were reissued to Davey Tree Expert Co. of Canada and Asplundh Canada, which allow for spraying in Nova Scotia Power’s utility corridor and CN’s rail line. …Health Canada’s Pesticide Management Regulatory Agency determines whether a product is safe for use. Nova Scotia only approves pesticide spraying using chemicals that have been approved by the federal agency.

August is declared annual Tree Check month by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), the branch of the government tasked with managing invasive species. Tree Check month is a call for all Canadians to check on their favourite trees: in their backyards, cityscape, local parks and the like. When performing a tree check, people should start from the roots, and work their way up, says Nicole Mielewczyk, a biologist with the CFIA. She recommends looking at the base of the tree and up the trunk. Check for unusual or sudden changes, cracks, insect holes, tunnels, parts of the bark coming off. Then begin to look at the branches and leaves. Look to see if leaves are changing colour, particularly if it’s too early for fall leaf change, and also look for insect holes in the leaves. Check if the crown is full. Look for clusters of insects throughout.