Region Archives: Canada East

Teachers from Nova Scotia have a unique opportunity to enjoy a fun and interesting vacation trip where they learn and acquire materials and ideas to bring back to their students while having a great time with other teachers. Well, it’s not exactly a vacation; more like an all-expenses-paid professional development extravaganza while spending lots of time enjoying nature. The Forests Worth Knowing, Atlantic Teachers Tour (ATT) is back after taking a COVID break. The annual event is a unique professional development, or continuing educational opportunity for educators, science leads, guidance/career councillors and community coordinators. This year’s event will be based out of Moncton from Aug. 15 to 18. All expenses – accommodations, food and travel – are covered by various sponsors who help make the program possible.

…It was not until I was in my late 20s that I started to understand the importance and rarity of the Acadian/Wabanaki Forest. As Community Forests International said in a recent press release for their Forgotten Forests Campaign, it “is one of Canada’s most diverse and endangered temperate forest types, yet is largely unknown.” …The World Wildlife Fund classified the Wabanaki Forest among the most endangered forest types in Canada. The Sackville-based non-profit, Community Forests International, has recently launched a campaign to protect 2,500 acres of endangered forest. …The initiative is called “The Forgotten Forest.” The organization has secured 80 per cent of the required funds to purchase these woodlands through private foundations and must raise the remaining $250,000 before the end of July. They are asking New Brunswickers for support.

On May 16, you published two excellent letters urging government action on two aspects of forest policy. …As Wendell Rogers and Frances Baldner recognize, government will undertake forest policy reform only if pressed to do so by a convinced and committed public. …In 2016, more than a dozen of these groups agreed to set up the Healthy Forest Coalition in order to actively advocate forest policy reform. …Most of this has been carried out by volunteers, with the help of modest financial contributions from dedicated supporters. …The forest industry can afford to mount video campaigns and advertising in the mainstream media. …Across the province, there are many other groups like the alliance. If they commit to joining those local groups, we can together ensure that Nova Scotia has an environment that we can be proud of.

Wind is a powerful force in the lives of trees. It helps them reproduce by spreading seeds and pollen, it governs their growth and height, and it brings down the old and the weak. Such was the case Saturday when thousands of trees in Ottawa were damaged or uprooted during the powerful spring storm with what have been described as “hurricane-force” winds gusting to 120 km/h. Hydro Ottawa said the storm did more damage than either the 1998 ice storm or the 2018 tornadoes. …Many factors were at play, but the essential element was wind, said Michael Petryk, director of operations at Tree Canada. “Trees are made to flex… but when you get sustained, gusty winds, trees don’t have a chance to absorb and dissipate that energy.”  …“Our trees are not necessarily adapted to it,” he said. Saturday’s storm hit when the trees were full of leaves and seeds, Petryk said, and the ground was wet from spring rains.

An arborist who specializes in urban forestry says the massive loss of trees in Ontario and Quebec over the weekend due to a severe storm will keep happening if land-use planning doesn’t change. Dr. Danijela Puric-Mladenovic, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto, said she wasn’t surprised when thousands of trees were uprooted and destroyed by the deadly storm that swept through the province on Saturday because trees in urban and suburban settings are from nurseries and planted in soil that is very shallow. “We talk about puppy mills, right? Because it’s a terrible practice. And that’s literally what we do with trees,” said Puric-Mladenovic. “There is no deep root system developed. Because we plant trees that are coming from tree nurseries, whose root ball has already been chopped a million times. Then you plant them in compressed soil, literally like a bedrock … there is no stability.”

Nova Scotia is “making great progress” in the implementation of the Lahey recommendations on forestry, the deputy minister of natural resources and renewables said. …Lahey recommended that Crown forestry land be divided into three management categories. The mixed forestry or matrix would provide for ecological forestry with a priority on conserving biodiversity through lower impact harvesting and reduced clearcutting. Another leg of the triad model would protect some forest from all harvesting and a third leg would be designated for high production with a cut, plant and spray approach. Gatien said the conservation leg has already begun, along with the ecological matrix leg and the province should be releasing information soon on the high-production piece. The silvicultural guide for the ecological matrix is being gradually phased in and by June 1, the majority of practices in the guide will be required. 

Ron Cumberland

Rod Cumberland, a former college professor who has long crusaded against the use of a herbicide called glyphosate, alleges his environmental views cost him his job at the Maritime College of Forest Technology (MCFT) in Fredericton, N.B. As the August date for his wrongful dismissal trial approaches, he says a suite of emails his lawyer obtained through a freedom-of-information request will prove it. The emails show his colleagues at the college, as well as Natural Resources Canada staff and forestry players such as J.D. Irving, calling Cumberland’s views on glyphosate biased and stressing he “should not be undermining federal scientists.” When Cumberland began to campaign against glyphosate… his view was considered fringe. It’s since become more mainstream: glyphosate has been designated a “likely carcinogen” by the World Health Organization, and places such as Laval, Que., have banned its use, citing concerns around public health and nature.

There are exciting possibilities in the world of forest biomass and the products that can be made from them. Ian Dunn, president and CEO of the Ontario Forest Industries Association gave a presentation during the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association conference on April 28 that focused on both the OFIA and provincial forests as well as some of the new opportunities available to the sector with the advances of new technology and businesses. “Forest products are gaining a lot of attention right now globally,” Dunn said. Dunn noted that provinces such as B.C. and Alberta, typically seen as the leaders of the forestry sector in Canada, have been struggling in the sector in recent years, from the devastation of the mountain pine beetle to major forest fires. Dunn notes major companies in those provinces have begun looking to Ontario and making acquisitions, which he calls a positive signal for the industry.

The Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture is pleased to announce recipients of Wildfire Community Preparedness Day Award grants for 2022. Seven municipalities, fire departments and community groups have been awarded funding through this program which is administered by FireSmart Canada in cooperation with provincial partners. The grants, valued at $500 each, help fund local projects aimed at reducing the risk of wildfire damage in and around communities. This year’s recipients are the Terra Nova Volunteer Fire Department, Town of Englee, Sheaves Cove Recreation Committee, St. Barbe-Pigeon Cove Volunteer Fire Department, Town of Hermitage-Sandyville, Victoria Fire Department and Marystown Fire Department.

Gary Schneider

A P.E.I. charity that does a wide range of work with native trees, plants and forest education says the pandemic seems to have spiked an interest an demand.  Gary Schneider, project manager with the MacPhail Woods Ecological Forestry Project based in Orwell, says the number of people attending workshops or buying native plants from their nursery has doubled in the past couple of years — and he’s seeing a genuine interest in nature.  “There’s way more people walking the trails, coming out to the nursery … wanting to learn about birds and plants and all kinds of stuff,” Schneider said.  “It’s really quite exciting.”  He said demand for everything from education sessions to workshops in chain saw use seems to keep growing. …The increased interest in the site will help hire more people for longer periods, start new projects and cover rising operational costs, including fuel costs. 

Quebec’s forestry ministry on Sunday lifted a ban imposed May 7 on outdoor fires in or near forested areas. The ban was imposed during last week’s dry spell, when weather forecasts saw little precipitation in the immediate future, a situation that increased the risk of forest fires. On Sunday, there were nine forest fires reported in the province, all of them under control. Since the start of the year, there have been 232 fires covering 234.2 hectares reported in the province. The average number of fires for the comparable period over the past 10 years is 128 covering 106.7 hectares.

Mississauga’s aerial spray program begins early next week in an effort to save the city’s tree canopy. The spray is meant to control caterpillars that feed off a variety of trees before eventually turning into moths that then begin the cycle again. Low flying helicopters are scheduled to be out in the early hours of May 15 with the program continuing at various intervals until the middle of June. Mississauga has deemed the program necessary as the insect (formerly called the gypsy moth caterpillar but now known as the spongy moth or the LDD moth) feeds off leaves which can lead to the killing of trees and at an alarming rate. The spraying is done in the spring with the hope that it will kill larvae and caterpillars before they turn into the moths. The aerial spray program is expected to protect hardwood trees like maple, oak, elm, ash, poplar, willow and birch.

Hunter Corbiere

Hunter Corbiere, an Indigenous forestry consultant, will present Two-Eyed Seeing, combining Western and Indigenous perspectives on forestry June 4. She will be the keynote speaker at the annual general meeting of the Quinte chapter of the Ontario Woodlot Association. The Ontario Woodlot Association (OWA) stands for healthy, productive woodlots and sustainable management of Ontario’s forests. We are a community of woodlot owners who are helping each other to become the best possible stewards of our woodlands. Come out and join us for the opportunity to learn and share ideas about practicing good forestry. …Corbiere is a recent forest technician graduate of Sir Sandford Fleming College. She sees value in both the scientific approach and the Indigenous tradition. At Fleming, Corbiere helped the forestry program obtain an Indigenous perspectives designation.