Region Archives: Canada East

Property owners in eastern Ontario are calling on their local and provincial governments for help handling an invasion of gypsy moth caterpillars. The red-and-blue-speckled caterpillars are an invasive species that can completely defoliate a tree, causing long-term damage.  In the Otty Lake area of Tay Valley Township, about 90 kilometres southwest of Ottawa, the fuzzy caterpillars arrived in June and began munching the oaks and basswoods on Dan Woods’s two-hectare property. “We came here because of the trees. The trees drew us,” said the retired military engineer, who moved to the area with Tineke Doornbosch in 2004. The caterpillars quickly stripped those deciduous trees, then moved into several century-old white pines that dot the mature forest around the couple’s home. …In the Niagara region, Trees Unlimited forester Paul Robertson said a coordinated effort is needed on both public and private property if the destructive march of the gypsy moth caterpillar is to be halted.

If you’ve recently noticed a reddish tinge to local evergreen trees, you’re not alone, as Northeastern Ontario is experiencing a surge in the spruce budworm, a native defoliating insect. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) says it’s a continuation of a natural outbreak. Two species of evergreen trees are particularly vulnerable. “This forest pest is a free feeding defoliator that consumes the new growth on species of spruce and balsam fir and in extreme circumstances may feed on tamarack when growing in close proximity to other host trees,” said Jolanta Kowalski, MNRF senior communications officer. It is the most destructive pest of spruce and fir forests in North America. …The province of Quebec has been battling the spruce budworm for several years, and in 2019 the provincial government committed $33 million for additional aerial insecticide spraying in hopes of limiting the damage to its forests and subsequently, the forest products industry.

Northeastern Ontario is experiencing a surge in the spruce budworm, a native defoliating insect. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry says it’s a continuation of a natural outbreak. …“This forest pest is a free feeding defoliator that consumes the new growth on species of spruce and balsam fir and in extreme circumstances may feed on tamarack when growing in close proximity to other host trees,” said Jolanta Kowalski, MNRF senior communications officer. …Reports of damaged trees are emerging from across Northern Ontario, from Thunder Bay, to the Sault Ste. Marie area, to Manitoulin Island, Sudbury, Parry Sound, and now Gogama and the Timmins area. …Regarding Northern Ontario’s forest and the potential for negative impacts on the forest industry, the situation is being monitored closely, and aerial spraying isn’t out of the question.

Two University of Toronto professors are among the scientists leading the Wildland Fire Research Network – a new, Canada-wide coalition of seven forest-fire researchers at six different academic institutions. Professor Emeritus David Martell and Associate Professor Patrick James, both of the John H. Daniels Faculty of Landscape, Architecture, and Design’s forestry department, have been tapped to play key roles in the new network, which aims to increase Canada’s expertise in wildland fire science. As part of the initiative, James and Martell will have access to new funding earmarked specifically for the purpose of training new master’s, PhD, and post-doctoral students in forest-fire research techniques. The federal government said it would be partnering with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada to provide $5 million for the creation the Wildland Fire Research Network.

The Government of Canada’s Canadian Food and Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced that the invasive species, the Asian longhorned beetle, has been eliminated in Mississauga. After five years of CFIA surveys with no detection of this tree pest, the Asian longhorned beetle quarantine area has been removed in Mississauga. “Today marks a major victory in a long fought battle,” said Mayor Crombie. “This invasive beetle devastated our tree canopy in Mississauga, but we took action to stop its spread. I’m pleased that this insect is no longer a threat to our trees or our budget. It’s a good reminder that we must remain vigilant against invasive species by protecting existing trees and planting new ones.” The Asian longhorned beetle was brought to Canada unintentionally in infested wood crates, pallets and packing material. 

Beetle-mania seems to be gripping North Bay lately as numerous black bugs with hard wings and long antennae… These beetles — casually referred to as pine or longhorned beetles, but properly known as white-spotted sawyers — are capable of delivering a nip, although it’s not really their nature to go looking for a fight, according to a forest entomologist. …Taylor Scarr, research director with the Great Lakes Forestry Centre in Sault Ste. Marie says the beetles, distinguished by a white spot at the back of their necks, are native to Ontario and appear every year, but may be more conspicuous right now because of events that occurred a couple of years ago. …People will sometimes confuse a female sawyer with an invasive Asian beetle, says Scarr, as both have long antennae and speckled backs, but the invader is “a bigger, more robust insect, with white markings that are much sharper.”

Taylor Scarr, the director of Integrated Pest Management Research at the Great Lakes Forestry Centre in Sault Ste. Marie, said that on a recent drive home from Manitoulin Island, he noticed that some of the pine and spruce trees didn’t look right. The culprit, he said, are the jackpine budworm and the spruce budworms. As they eat away, the fallen needles collect in the worm’s webbing. The needles then oxidize, giving the whole tree a reddish hue. …The defoliation Scarr saw was so severe, he said, that he has concerns of the infestation crossing into the outbreak stage. …After treetops disappear, it’s almost certain the infestation would spread, Scarr said. Researchers are already noticing signs of it in Espanola, Sudbury, Parry Sound and up to Gogama.

Quebec’s hot summer so far, with long stretches of little rain, has contributed to a large increase in the number of forest fires around the province. It is only early July but 2020 is already the worst year in a decade in terms of hectares lost to forest fire in Quebec. Since January, nearly 61,300 hectares of forest have been destroyed by fire in what’s known as Quebec’s “intensive zone,”… The average for this time of year is 33,600 hectares of forest lost to fire …Yan Boulanger, a research scientist in forest ecology at Natural Resources Canada, said his agency had predicted that weather conditions would leave the province with a particularly harsh forest-fire season. …Morneau said the COVID-19 pandemic has also contributed to this year’s destructive forest-fire season.  Many people self-isolated in their cabins and secondary homes, following public-health guidelines. Some took the opportunity to clean up and opted to burn their waste. 

LONDON, Ont. — A research group that collaborates with Environment Canada to find and document tornadoes has confirmed that a remote area of Northwestern Ontario experienced the province’s first tornado of 2020. It happened on June 8 near Brooks Lake, approximately 35 kilometres northeast of Nestor Falls. David Sills, executive director of the Northern Tornadoes Project at Western University in London, says aerial images have allowed his team to confirm the damage to the forest in that area was caused by a tornado. … “Once the satellite data became available after the fact, we started seeing evidence of a large damage track,” he said. Sills said the site is isolated, and there is no known structural damage, but the devastation to the forest is significant.

Gypsy moth caterpillars are munching their way through Eastern Ontario forests this summer in numbers not seen in 30 years, stripping leaves from sugar maples, oaks and evergreens so quickly you can almost watch the forest canopy disappear. “Our forests are under attack here in Eastern Ontario,” said Jim McCready, a forester and arborist with nearly 50 years experience. “We had the forest tent caterpillar. Now we’ve got the gypsy moth. And you’ve got the drought. We’re getting hammered. McCready… said this year’s gypsy moth hatch is as bad as the past peak of the destructive pest in the late 1980s. Gypsy moths are an invasive species that escaped from a failed silkworm breeding experiment in Massachusetts in 1869.  A single caterpillar can devour a square metre of foliage in its very hungry path before it pupates and hatches into a small, non-descript greyish-brown moth later in the summer.

FREDERICTON — Fires have burned through five times more acreage of New Brunswick forest than the 10-year average and it’s only halfway through the season. With waterfront views of the St. John River, Heritage Country Camping in Lower Queensbury is an oasis for New Brunswickers looking to get away, but COVID-19 isn’t the only concern this camping season. “Very, very, very dry,” said co-owner Diann Estey. “We haven’t mowed for two weeks. We finally did it yesterday, so we’re hoping it doesn’t burn out.” …There have been 1,166 hectares of New Brunswick forest that have burned so far this season. The 10-year average is about 200. “We do have some drought conditions when you get down into the lower parts of the ground, and the top layers, we need some rain to get down to that area,” said Roger Collet, a wildfire prevention officer with the province of New Brunswick.

The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Marie-Claude Bibeau, with the Minister of Natural Resources, Seamus O’Regan, announced today that the Asian longhorned beetle (ALHB) has been eradicated from the cities of Mississauga and Toronto in the province of Ontario. This was the only known population of ALHB in Canada. ALHB is a highly destructive wood-boring pest of maples and other hardwood trees including poplar, birch and willow. It has the potential to devastate Canada’s hardwood and maple syrup industries. The ALHB was discovered in the cities of Mississauga and Toronto in August 2013, after previously having been eradicated… To prevent the spread, CFIA established a regulated area within the cities of Mississauga and Toronto that restricted the movement of nursery stock, trees, lumber, wood, and wood products, including all firewood unless given prior authorization.

Some Nova Scotians are calling for a ban on logging during hot, dry weather after it was revealed that machinery in the woods caused two forest fires that spanned more than a hundred hectares in Kings County last month. Nova Scotia’s Department of Environment determined a 13-hectare fire in McGee Lake and a 120-hectare fire near Springfield were started in late May by “metal machine tracks creating sparks on rocky terrain.” The department didn’t respond to questions about what machine made those tracks and what kind of work was being done, however logging machines such as feller bunchers and forwarders could create those kind of tracks. …Bev Wigney, who runs the Facebook group Annapolis Royal and Area Environment and Ecology wants Nova Scotia to follow the lead of New Brunswick, which last week closed all Crown land, except provincial parks, to recreational and industrial activity, including forestry. 

The risk of forest fires in New Brunswick has fallen “significantly” since last Friday, but there are still several burning and restrictions on activity in the woods will continue through the weekend, says the minister of natural resources and energy development. There are nine fires burning in the province, according to the provincial government’s latest fire activity report — one in the Edmundston area, two in the Bathurst area and six in the Miramichi area. All of them are under control. …The Crown land activity ban was relaxed Thursday to allow forestry and recreational travel outside of the highest risk hours. …Compliance with the order has been very good, said the minister, and there’s been “very little” pushback from anyone, including the forestry industry.

In early May, archeologist Dr. Jonathan Fowler, who also teaches in the anthropology department at Saint Mary’s University, shared this Facebook post about ancient drowned forests in the Minas Basin. …Fowler says over the last thousand years or more, the sea levels have risen and there’s been a tidal amplitude increase in the Bay of Fundy. That means a lot of dry land was flooded and swallowed up by the ocean. …Scientists have identified some of the trees, including pine, hemlock, and oak. These drowned forests also have a level of peat over the trees. The salt in the water killed the trees, but still left them standing for a long time and salt marshes grew up around them. [you will need to scroll down to access the full story]

About a seven-hour drive north of Montreal sits Chibougamau, Quebec… Here… a family-run forest management company has been a community cornerstone, employing more than 1,000 workers in the province and blossoming into one of North America’s top manufacturers of I-joists, glued-laminated and cross-laminated timber. That company is Chantiers Chibougamau, also known as Nordic Structures, and it continues to grow and thrive in Quebec. In fact, this fall it will open a newly revitalized mill that will add 300 jobs to the community and yield 300,000 tons of kraft pulp each year. …Chantiers Chibougamau was Canada’s first forest management company to embrace the new Forest Stewardship Council standard – developed one year ago to meet the urgent needs of Canadian forests. The new FSC standard sets the most comprehensive mark for responsible Canadian forest management. …Chantiers Chibougamau finds that many of its clients request its specialty materials be FSC-certified.

…The white pine was the iconic symbol and the crux of the ‘old growth’ controversy in the late 1980s. The photo of not-yet-premier Bob Rae and the recently deceased Chief Gary Potts on the Red Squirrel Road, just north of Temagami, remain as images of empowerment. In 1989, more than 300 people were arrested blockading the logging road construction. The road was opposed by First Nations, environmentalists, local residents and the tourism industry. …The Group of Seven artists epitomized the majestic and stately appearance of the tree. …Fred Pinto knows a great deal about white pine and weevils. He is a Registered Professional Forester and is the executive director and registrar of the Ontario Professional Foresters Association. …The tops of large pine trees may be also affected by white pine blister rust which you can see oozing out of the trunks. It is a fungal disease that was introduced to North America.

The provincial government says up to 40,000 hectares of forested area on the Great Northern Peninsula will be subject to aerial spraying this summer in an attempt at early intervention control of the spruce budworm. The area will be treated with Btk (bacillus thuringiensis), a biological control agent commonly used in forest pest management, which has been approved for operational use by the Health Canada. A news release from Department of Fisheries and Land Resources says the program is designed to help prevent future outbreaks of the destructive insect and reduce the need for full treatment programs in the coming years.