Region Archives: Canada East

Ottawa/Gatineau, ON – The Canadian Woodlands Forum is excited to announce that registration is now open for its flagship event, DEMO International®, to be held outside the Ottawa/Gatineau area in the beautiful region of Venosta, Quebec, from September 19-21, 2024. This world-class event, occurring only every four years, will mark the 14th edition of DEMO International®. Over the course of its 55-year history, DEMO International® has evolved into one of North America’s largest and most unique ‘live, in-woods’ forestry equipment shows. This year’s host is SBC Cedar, which operates sawmills in Quebec and New Brunswick. Kick off the week with the leading two-day DEMO International Technical Conference on September 17 & 18 at the Delta Hotels Ottawa City Centre, Ottawa, ON. This conference is a must-attend event for industry professionals, researchers, and stakeholders passionate about forestry innovation and sustainable practices.

A Cochrane, Ont. company has added a Black Hawk helicopter to its fleet, which it hopes to use to fight forest fires. Todd Caliaezzi, the president of Expedition Helicopters, says he purchased the military helicopter because of its speed and carrying capacity. “Typical aircraft now, on route to a fire, will fly to that fire at 100 to 120 knots,” he told Radio-Canada. “The further the fire, the longer it takes us to get to it, and the bigger the fire gets. This aircraft can cruise to that fire at 160 knots, which is almost 1.5 times faster than current capabilities.” The aircraft can also carry a 3,600-kilogram exterior payload, and a special tank can increase that to 4,500 kilograms. Pilot Jean-Michel Dumont estimates the helicopter could carry about 2,600 litres of water – to drop over a wildfire – each trip.

THUNDER BAY — Fire ranger crews in Ontario are getting a little more time this year to hone their skills with training exercises and to maintain equipment. So far this season, the number of forest fires is pacing well below last year, and well below average. According to the province’s Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services, there have been 97 fires to date in Ontario. By last year at this time, there were exactly double that number of fires – 194. Over the past decade, the average number of fires at this point has been 159. There are currently no active fires in the Northwest region, and just two in the entire province, near the James Bay coast.

Natural Resources Canada announced two investments through the 2 Billion Trees program. The first is an amount of $200,000 to the City of Greater Sudbury to plant 200,000 trees by 2027 and the second is an amount of $300,000 to the Canadian Tree Nursery Association (CTNA) to increase skilled labour in the tree nursery sector. Funding to the City of Greater Sudbury to plant trees will help restore lands that were historically affected by industrial activity and support the recovery of self-sustaining, indigenous terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Proper preparation is key to the success of planting new trees. These trees will serve as a new, healthy and vibrant green space and provide habitats and food sources for birds and animals. They will also capture carbon, fostering cleaner air and a healthier environment for the communities of Greater Sudbury.

In Toronto, neighbourhood equity is typically viewed through a socio-economic lens, dividing us into haves and have-nots. But there’s another factor that contributes to our wealth — trees. And a new online tool that maps tree equity throughout the city, weighing canopy cover against a number of indicators such as poverty, climate and health, shows that many of the factors that divide us socio-economically are the same when it comes to the canopy. “In neighbourhoods with higher poverty rates or more residents of colour, there is almost 40 per cent less tree coverage than more affluent or more white areas of Toronto, according to data analyzed by American Forests, the non-profit that created the online tool, called TESA — Tree Equity Score Analyzer — in conjunction with the city.” The tool, the first of its kind in Canada, is not just for municipal use. It is free and publicly accessible.

ONTARIO — Two years after a destructive derecho tore across eastern Ontario, one of the hardest-hit areas is taking the next step toward revitalizing its forests: planting new trees to replace the ones destroyed in the storm. The derecho struck the region, bringing winds of up to 190 km/h. Hydro Ottawa said the storm knocked out more than 500 hydro poles. The violent storm also downed innumerable trees, particularly softwood species such as red and white pine. Last year, various levels of government joined the South Nation Conservation Authority east of Ottawa to develop a forest recovery program to address the severe damage.  …A derecho is a fast-moving thunderstorm known for causing widespread wind damage. Unlike the rotating winds in a hurricane or tornado, a derecho’s winds blow straight. Caroline Goulet, a forester with the conservation authority, said the derecho was not “consistent in regards to the way and the type of force that it hit.”

Last February, Calvin Township passed a resolution calling on the province and the country to better prepare for forest fires. Council put together a list of suggestions and recommendations and send it out to municipalities throughout the province and to many provincial and federal government officials. The provincial government recently responded, but the federal government has yet to acknowledge Calvin’s request to create a national strategy to prepare for and fight forest fires. “I’m disappointed that we haven’t heard from the federal government,” Calvin’s Mayor Richard Gould said. “I think we have to look at being a little more proactive” in creating a national strategy. Mayor Gould mentioned that for a federal government so focused on reducing carbon emissions, he’s surprised he has yet to hear from leaders about the township’s proposals.

The Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture’s Spruce Budworm Early Intervention Control Program will be active along parts of Western Newfoundland and the Northern Peninsula this summer, subject to insect development and weather. Spruce budworm is a destructive forest insect capable of causing widespread defoliation leading to tree mortality and growth losses. Aerial treatments will take place on forest land located south of the Bay of Islands, east of Gros Morne National Park extending to the Baie Verte area, north of Gros Morne National Park up to the Plum Point area, and the Roddickton-Bide Arm area. Up to 90,000 hectares of forest is scheduled to be protected using one or more applications of the biological control agent Btk, which has been approved for use by the Health Canada – Pest Management Regulatory Agency.

Quebec is on high alert for forest fires this week as the province endures a period of hot and dry conditions. An atmospheric trough stationed in the Maritime provinces, which blocked moisture from reaching Quebec. The lack of moisture for the vegetation and abnormally dry soil has increased the danger of forest fires. In addition, ample sun and southerly warmth has recorded temperatures 5°C to 15°C above normal across the province to start June. …Temperatures soared into the 30s with Montreal airport recording 31.4°C on June 4. On Tuesday, Société de protection des forêts contre le feu (SOPFEU) said there is a maximum risk of forest fires nearly everywhere in the province. Vigilance will be needed in the coming days. People have been reminded to be careful of how cigarette butts are discarded, as well as proper incineration of waste, which could easily start fires.

MONTREAL — Demand for commercial drones is growing dramatically — from an estimated $19.9 billion in 2022 to a projected $57 billion in 2030. And the Autonomous Vehicle (AV) market is projected to grow to more than $13 trillion by 2030. But one of the key challenges for drone and AV manufacturers continues to be finding more-accurate and lower-cost navigational sensors that are essential to enabling this growth. …Now a Quebec-based company has developed an inertial optical system that matches the accuracy of navigational sensors used in the aerospace industry at a fraction of the cost. …The company behind this new technology, Montreal-based One Silicon Chip Photonics (OSCP), has partnered with French multinational company Thales, which is developing autonomous rail systems and has been testing OSCP’s prototype in the field. …drones and AVs are also increasingly being used in agriculture, mining, mapping and survey work, as well as in trucking, delivery and other transport industries.

A bid from Corner Brook Pulp and Paper to harvest wood in a local watershed has hit a brick wall at city council. The Kruger-owned company had asked for permission to cut wood near the city’s water supply. The proposal involved harvesting 330 hectares of forest inside an 11,000-hectare protected lake area, as well as the construction of a 2.75-kilometre access road. City council rejected the proposal at its meeting on Monday. “When it comes to drinking water, we’re the ones. The buck stops here,” said Coun. Pamela Gill, who spoke at length about her concerns at the meeting. In a subsequent interview with CBC News, she said that while she isn’t fully opposed to cutting in the watershed, she didn’t feel enough information was given to make a properly informed decision.

Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says $8.2 million spent since 2022 has successfully restored several Quebec wetlands inhabited by the threatened western chorus frog. Guilbeault said in a news release the money from the Canada Nature Fund has brought new life to wetlands in the Montérégie region, south of Montreal, and in western Quebec’s Outaouais region. The money given to Nature-Action Québec, Ducks Unlimited Canada and the Nature Conservancy of Canada has allowed the organizations to protect dozens of hectares of green space since 2022. Although not considered endangered across the globe, the tiny western chorus frog is listed as a threatened species in Canada

With World Environment Day just around the corner, a local Nova Scotian organization is working to purchase and conserve forests which are in danger of being clear-cut. The CEO of Growing Forests, Dale Prest, says saving forests from being clear-cut is important to maintain our environment. …Prest says Maritime forests are especially in danger due to the ownership laws around them, as a total of 70 per cent of Nova Scotian forests are privately owned, compared to only five per cent in British Columbia and 10 per cent in Ontario. Many of the over 30,000 small private woodlot owners have owned the land for generations, and as they get older and are in need of money, they sell their properties to forestry companies which hope to clear the trees for profit.

BARRIE, ON – This spring, more than 70 teams from high schools across Ontario competed in environmentally themed regional events that led 17 teams to meet at the University of Waterloo from May 26 to 29. From that series of training workshops, testing, and judged presentations, Grand River Region’s Waterloo Collegiate Institute came out on top as the 2024 Ontario Envirothon champions. All teams showcased their knowledge of Ontario Envirothon’s four core topics – forestry, soils, wildlife, and aquatic ecosystems and soils – along with this year’s current topic of “Biodiversity in a Changing Climate”.  The Waterloo Collegiate Institute team is now headed on to the National Conservation Foundation (NCF)-Envirothon in Geneva, New York, to represent Ontario against hundreds of students from across North America and Asia. “As lead agency of the Ontario Envirothon, we are proud to help the next generation of environmental leaders learn about the environment and hone their STEM skills,” Jess Kaknevicius, CEO, Forests Ontario, says.

Two trees were planted at a park in a suburb outside Halifax Wednesday as a symbol of the community’s resilience after last year’s wildfires. About 80 residents and firefighters gathered at Timberlane Terrace Park in Highland Park subdivision for the ceremony, one year after the fire ripped through 151 homes in Upper Tantallon and Hammonds Plains. “We are all in this together,” Tricia Murray-d’Eon, who organized the event and lost her own home, bellowed to the crowd from a large rock. “We have been through hell this year. “I’m hoping that this occasion can mark a solid return to normal within our subdivision as we try to regroup and rebuild.”

Requests for trees from Prince Edward Island landowners, schools, and community groups have “increased a great deal” since post-tropical storm Fiona in 2022, and the J. Frank Gaudet provincial tree nursery is trying to fill that demand. Mary Myers, the nursery’s manager says most of the trees grown there go to P.E.I.’s forest enhancement program, which supplies trees to Island landowners. She said trees for the forest enhancement program and watershed groups across the Island are the nursery’s priorities. If those two groups need more trees, the greening spaces program may get fewer. …The J. Frank Gaudet nursery recently added three new greenhouses to help with the P.E.I.’s contribution to the federal government’s 2 Billion Trees Program, which aims to plant two billion trees in Canada by 2031.

HALIFAX — Many property owners in the woodsy suburbs of Upper Tantallon and Hammonds Plains are working with a group of organizations to have blackened trees removed from their land. They are being given a new life at a lumber yard in Greenfield, Nova Scotia. Every part of the tree has a use — from wood pellets to lumber — lumber that those in the industry say could easily wind up helping rebuild homes destroyed in the very community they were plucked from. And while clearing the trees has been cathartic for some residents who felt their appearance forced them to relive that day, those in forest ecology say they should have been left alone. …Willett and Freeman Lumber worked with every resident to decide which trees would stay and which would go. Some people wanted mostly everything removed. Some wanted all their hardwoods kept in the hopes it would sprout new life.

Donnie McPhee

The National Tree Seed Centre in Fredericton is trying to add to its already substantial stockpile of seeds, with varieties that are in short supply, for restoration projects and to prepare for the possibility of poor growing seasons in the years ahead. The centre collects seeds for 724 tree and shrub species in 1,000 different eco-districts across the country, said co-ordinator Donnie McPhee. Initially, its focus was to help with research and recovery from things such as insect infestations and wildfires. But that mission has been evolving, said McPhee, since the federal government created a funding program to plant two billion trees. Calls have been coming in from people all over the country who are looking for certain species for their planting projects, many of which are in riparian zones or flood plains, he said. Red maple, elm, and silver maple have been in high demand but “that seed wasn’t available.”

THUNDER BAY, Ontario — A forester and arborist is sounding the alarm on increasing spruce budworm infestations across the Thunder Bay area and expects a further surge this season. Vince Rutter, of Rutter Urban Forestry, said “This year’s spruce budworm infestation leaves me with big concerns about tree health that start with losses to individual landscape trees and can lead to widespread tree mortality, which results in economic losses to the forestry sector, but worse, can lead to fuel for forest fires”. In the region, Rutter said he noticed significant feeding damage last year. This year he expects more damage and defoliation, a trend continuing for the next few years at least. …He pointed out the Kamview Nordic Centre as an example of a forest area which he expects 90% mortality over the next few years.

Hailey Blacquiere

The province is ramping up tree production over the next six years, following in the footsteps of a federal program called 2 Billion Trees. The national program aims to plant that many trees by 2031. Provincially, there are four programs that will plant 300,000 additional trees per year. That’s on top of the 1 million trees that were already being planted annually. The P.E.I. 2 Billion Trees program is run by the provincial Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action. “These trees will help us reach our net zero goals as well as hold carbon, create buffer zones, help with wildlife corridors, and generally increase our green spaces on the Island,” said Hailey Blacquiere, the 2BT co-ordinator for Prince Edward Island. …The trees are being grown at the J. Frank Gaudet Tree Nursery in Charlottetown, which has three new greenhouses to help support the increased production for the 2BT program.