Region Archives: Canada East

Quebec is expected to release a strategy for caribou conservation this spring, but some environmental groups are advocating for more ambitious measures before it’s too late. A report by the Quebec Forest, Wildlife and Parks Ministry shows a decline in caribou populations in several regions of Quebec. …To bolster their chances, the province is looking at building maternity enclosures in Charlevoix, the Gaspé and in Val D’Or. But the director of Nature Québec, a non-profit conservation organization, says that may be too little, too late. …She said that human activity is often responsible for the caribou decline and a possible solution could be “putting a moratorium on logging in the direct habitats of caribou.” …”Caribou are so essential to a healthy forest environment, that if they were to become extinct.. they could sweep away entire ecosystems and local communities.”

The Temagami Local Forest Management Corporation has received the green light to forge ahead.  City of Temiskaming Shores Mayor Carman Kidd told council at their regular meeting on December 15 that he had received a letter that morning from Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) Minister John Yakabuski that the corporation had been approved, which he said “had been a struggle” for the last seven years.  “We’ve had ups and downs over the last seven years. We didn’t even know, as of about October, if it was going to fall apart or not,” Kidd said at council.  “This (proposal) has gone through and everyone has signed letters of support, from all different groups, and the ministry has now signed off.”  …Local forest management corporations bring together municipal and Indigenous communities and industry to steward the sustainable harvesting and management of local forests. 

John Yakabuski

The Temagami Local Forest Management Corporation has received the green light to forge ahead. City of Temiskaming Shores Mayor Carman Kidd told council at their regular meeting on December 15 that he had received a letter from Forestry Minister John Yakabuski that the corporation had been approved, which he said “had been a struggle” for the last seven years. …The Temagami Advisory Team sent the proposal to the MNRF which was looking to establish Ontario’s second local forest management corporation to manage the Temagami Forest Unit and to market and sell Crown forest resources from the unit. …“This has got the four Indigenous communities onside as well, they’ve been quite involved in this whole process, as well as the three to four major industry partners, EACOM, Georgia-Pacific and Goulard Lumber and some of our local smaller mills – South Wabi Sawmill.

The first projects approved by the trustees of the Forestry Innovation Transition Trust are being announced today, Dec. 21. The projects accelerate new opportunities within the Nova Scotia forestry sector, advance environmental, social and economic objectives and support the adoption of new ecological forestry practices. Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) is receiving a one-year commitment of funding, for a potentially multi-year project of up to $2 million, to administer a new innovation voucher program. NSCC’s Forestry Innovation Voucher Program will enable established businesses, new startups, non-profit community groups and Mi’kmaq partners to leverage the college’s infrastructure, assets and expertise in the forestry sector to develop new products and technology as well as capitalize on business growth opportunities. Support available through the program includes access to NSCC’s demonstration woodlands for product testing and study, as well as access to services such as prototyping, design, test validation and business model planning.

Armand Séguin

Armand Séguin planted his first genetically modified tree — a poplar — more than 20 years ago at a research station north of Quebec City. A few years later, it would be joined by hundreds of spruces he designed to be immune to pests that kill them.  “To me, this wasn’t something we were planning to develop at a larger scale, but it was proof of a concept,” he said. “We proved that it was feasible.”   Séguin, a research scientist in forest genomics with the Canadian Forest Service, inserted bacterial DNA into spruces that effectively made them immune to spruce budworm, a pest that can chew needles off tens of millions of hectares of trees in a single outbreak.  “Now there are solutions where you can genetically modify organisms to reduce the use of chemicals and improve carbon sequestration,” said Séguin, “not only by [improving] photosynthesis but by making those plants more resilient to the environment.”

The Ontario government has made changes to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act to protect deer, elk and moose in the province from chronic wasting disease found in Quebec and neighbouring states. Members of the cervid family, which include deer, elk, moose and caribou, are affected by this progressive and fatal disease. While it has not yet been found in Ontario, the province felt it necessary to make these changes to protect wildlife and support hunting after CWD was found in a Quebec deer farm near the Ontario border in 2018. The disease has also been found in all five states that border the province. …The province said more than 13,000 wild deer and elk have been tested for CWD since 2002 and surveillance testing is done annually.

CFI’s 2016 and 2018 Contractor Survey results found that Quebec, on average, had smaller operations, lower costs, and a younger workforce, which spelled mostly good news for the province. But the results of CFI’s 2020 survey show that the picture is changing. While the region remains one of the most profitable in Canada, with a fair amount of success negotiating logging rates, the cost of operating is on the rise, along with the average age of contractors, and harvesting volumes remain low. Overall, the results suggest the industry could see significant changes in the next five years. Quebec contractors continue to have luck negotiating rates, with a total of 40 per cent seeing a rate increase compared to five years ago. …Continuing the trend seen in recent years, machine operators in Quebec are paid less than those in Western Canada.

The Legault government intends to almost double the amount of wood harvested each year in Quebec forests within 60 years. This is what provides for the National Wood Production Strategy presented by the Minister of Forests, Wildlife and Parks, Pierre Dufour, on Wednesday. The volume of wood harvested annually in Quebec would thus drop from 29 million cubic meters (on average over the last five) to 52.9 cubic meters at the dawn of 2080. To do this, the government wishes in particular to make larger areas available. to foresters. Quebec’s forests are under-exploited and the pressure on them has never been so low for nearly 30 years, argued Minister Dufour, pointing to the conclusions of the last report of the Quebec Chief Forester. “In the short term, Quebec must however deal with the deterioration in the quantity and quality of wood available in its forests, a trend that has been accentuated in recent decades …” 

TORONTO — Ontario is investing more than $40 million in a multi-year pest management program to protect the province’s Crown forests from damage caused by the jack pine and spruce budworm. … “Ontario is a world leader in sustainable forest management, and our forest sector is a major source of revenue and jobs in this province, so it is critical we ensure that our forests are healthy, diverse and productive,” says John Yakabuski, Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry. …After extensive public and Indigenous consultation, the government will be targeting jack pine and spruce budworm infestations which have caused damage to forests in the northeast and northwest regions of Ontario beginning in spring 2021. If left unaddressed, these infestations could result in significant losses to the future wood supply for the forest industry and increase fire hazard risk, affecting community safety and wildlife habitat.

If you are one of the thousands of people who cut wood in Newfoundland and Labrador, you will now be able to save on paper. The province’s Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture, along with Digital Government and Service NL, says residents can now obtain domestic wood-cutting permits and access domestic cutting information online via MyGovNL.  The previous process required completion odf a new domestic cutting permit application in person at a Forestry and Wildlife District Office.  The department says it issues nearly 30,000 domestic cutting permits annually, accounting for a harvest of approximately 500,000 cubic metres or 138,000 cords of wood.  Users of MyGovNL will also be able to access information and tools to help support their domestic wood-cutting efforts, including detailed maps outlining domestic cutting areas and boundaries. Online users can also pay for permits, review regulations and obtain safety information.

Marcus Zwicker

Over the past few weeks, The Chronicle Herald has printed stories and columns regarding forestry management practices, the Lahey report, and the current blockade of a WestFor forest operation in Digby County by an activist group called Extension Rebellion.  As an industry that has evolved and enhanced its practices over the past two centuries, it can be disheartening to many of the proud Nova Scotian forest workers to read these stories. These individuals have dedicated their lives to the education and implementation of healthy forestry practices and these stories do not speak to that.  While they are passionate, these stories are missing the facts, science and experience that comes with healthy management of our province’s forests. Our industry is proud of the environmentally responsible work we do every day in our forests. [We respect the copyrights of the source publication – full access to this story may require a subscription]    

The Ontario government is targeting a budworm outbreak in Northern Ontario Crown forests. The province is spending more than $40 million in a pest management program to combat spruce budworm infestations in the northeast and jack pine budworm infestations in the northwest. The situation has been monitored closely since 2014 and, according to the government, has grown exponentially from 2018 to 2019. In a news release, the province said if left unchecked, these infestations could cause “significant losses to the future wood supply for the forest industry and increase fire hazard risk.” The money is being released through the Forestry Futures Trust, used to fund forest renewal activities. The spending is part of the government’s forest sector strategy released last August.

Nine members of the Extinction Rebellion-led group that had been blockading access roads to WestFor logging operations in Digby County have been arrested by the RCMP. The arrests took place Tuesday afternoon, according to Extinction Rebellion (XR) spokeswoman Debbie Stultz-Giffin, who was not at the forestry site located in the New France area of the county. WestFor Management applied to the Nova Scotia Supreme Court for a temporary injunction to remove XR forestry protectors and friends from the two encampments near New France in Digby County. The injunction was granted by Justice Glen G. McDougall on Friday. “WestFor has asserted the right our provincial government has given it to destroy the habitat of an endangered species in what should be a buffer zone between two wilderness areas,” Nina Newington, one of the encampment organizers… The day of the arrests was Day 55 of the protest. [We respect the copyrights of the source publication – full access to this story may require a subscription]

HALIFAX – A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge has issued a temporary injunction to end a blockade of logging roads in southwestern Nova Scotia.  The injunction issued Thursday by Justice Glen McDougall orders the group blocking the roads in Digby County to allow cutting contractors for the WestFor consortium to enter the area with their equipment.  Activists with the Extinction Rebellion group are blocking roads at the Rockypoint Lake site and the Napier Lake sites.  The injunction for the sites southeast of Weymouth says it remains in force until a hearing for a permanent injunction is heard on Jan. 26 and 27 in Halifax.  Protesters first set up camp on logging roads near the Caribou River on Oct. 21, saying they are attempting to protect the habitat of endangered mainland moose.

SUDBURY — The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is on its way to securing what might be one of the largest protected areas of its kind in Ontario, a large parcel of land on Manitoulin Island. The group has been working with local leaders on Manitoulin Island and is currently working to secure the $16 million necessary to make it happen. “We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to protect the Vidal Bay forest and shoreline property,” said NCC Program Director mid-western Ontario Esme Batten. “It’s located on the western side of Manitoulin Island which is the largest freshwater island in the world and it’s kind of an opportunity in Ontario that’s really rare.” …critics worry about making such a large piece of land tax exempt. Ken Noland is the reeve of the township of nearby Burpee Mills and says he’s seen groups like this try and seek tax exempt status before.

A Nova Scotia forestry consortium has asked a judge to remove protesters who’ve been blocking logging roads in Digby County to protect what they say is habitat for endangered mainland moose. The protesters set up camp in late October … in an attempt to prevent logging trucks and equipment from accessing the Crown land where harvesting has been approved by the province.  … On Monday, WestFor Management Inc., applied to the Nova Scotia Supreme Court for an interim injunction to remove the blockades so that crews can access the roads and continue harvesting. WestFor is licensed by the province to log in the area. “We appreciate the concern and passion of the protestors in Digby; however, we continue to believe that a responsible forest industry can be balanced with the need to protect our natural environment, including endangered species such as the mainland moose,” [said] Marcus Zwicker, WestFor’s general manager.

There are still plenty of opportunities for our area forests, but the town, its partners and the remaining shareholders in the new forest license will have to seek them out. That’s the message that Mike Willick of the Boundary Waters Forest Management Corporation gave to Fort Frances town council at their most recent meeting. As part of the government changing over the way forests in the province are managed, in April of this year what were once the Crossroute and Sapawe forests were merged and brought under control of the new corporation under an enhanced Sustainable Forestry License, a model that increased the number of representatives that decide how the forest is used, with municipalities, businesses and First Nation communities having a voice on the board. … The purpose of the corporation is to ensure the forests are managed sustainably. 

Researchers from Memorial University, the University of Helsinki and other colleagues have found that climate warming is changing the way one key soil formation process is carried out in boreal forests. Dr. Lukas Kohl, a recent PhD graduate from Memorial and principal author of a paper recently published in the journal Global Change Biology. …Historically, researchers have assumed that chemical differences in plant litter between leaves from different species, are lost during decomposition, and lead to a similar organic matter composition regardless of the initial input. In contrast, recent work has shown these chemical differences are not only preserved during decomposition, but new ones that microorganisms produce are added. …”In this new study, we demonstrate that such differences occur due to natural variations in climate similar to the climate change that will affect boreal forests over the upcoming decades,” said Dr. Kohl.

Deep within our local valleys and wet areas may be found growing a variety of conifer trees. …The eastern hemlock is a favourite of mine, as it seems the more I learn about them, the more is revealed as to how we might live a good life. Their natural role is to suck in air, extract carbon dioxide for internal growth and exhale oxygen. …Hemlock also has the ability to show patience. Like humans, they grow vigorously in their youth, slow down when oppression surrounds them, kick-start their growth again when opportunity occurs, and then slow down in old age. …But as man is industrious and requires copious building materials, hemlock wood became in demand for structural framing of barns and early farmhouses. And it was also discovered that hemlock bark contains a lot of tannin, and tannin is infused to leather to make it strong and supple. 

Residents of a Lambton County township dealing with a massive outbreak of gypsy moth caterpillars will be left on their own to fight the tree-destroying critters. Lambton Shores, located along Lake Huron, won’t spray private properties to control the pests next summer but has agreed to take “control measures” on some municipal land. Council voted unanimously to support a contentious gypsy moth action plan Tuesday night, adding a new recommendation that funds be included in the 2021 budget to undertake spraying on municipal land adjacent to private properties. … Other approved recommendations include creating a webpage to advise residents of resources to tackle gypsy moths, a $10,000 mail-drop to create awareness and not objecting to any spraying on private property. The gypsy moth citizens’ action group, a coalition of some 4,000 residents… lambasted the plan, arguing it doesn’t go far enough to protect the region’s trees and environment and calling it a “do-nothing approach.”

Drones are being used for more and more cool things these days: real estate photography, package delivery, and the latest — the taking of tree inventory. A North Bay company is leading the way in this new practice, which makes land management easier for forestry companies. Remotely Piloted Aerial Systems (RPS), also known as drones, have been used in the forestry industry for a number of years. But what is different with what Digital Timber does, it uses software developed by a Finnish company to help collect forest inventory data.  Eric Rayner, general manager of Digital Timber says the information they collect is then used by forestry professionals to make better management decisions. His company formed a partnership with MosaicMill in Finland.

Two years have passed since the provincial government signed off on the Lahey forest report and committed to implementing its recommendations. Instead, the Liberal government has been accused of doing nothing, particularly regarding its promise to reduce clearcutting on Crown land. “The Lahey report had 45 very specific recommendations and said, now, go do these things,” said Raymond Plourde, wilderness co-ordinator with the Ecology Action Centre, a Halifax-based environmental charity. “It appears that the department and the government are just spinning things along selectively and in slow motion and just sending things out to endless rounds of stakeholder or public consultations instead of just implementing what Lahey and his expert team recommended,” Plourde said. “It just seems to be a way for the bureaucrats in the department and the politicians in this government to rag the puck and delay actually doing anything.” [We respect the copyrights of the source publication – full access may require a subscription]