Region Archives: Canada West

Starting July 9, the municipality of North Cowichan will be closing forestry gates and restricting vehicle access to Mount Prevost, Mount Sicker and Grace Road, to help reduce wildfire risks in the area. The municipality notes that access roads to Mount Prevost will remain open for firefighting efforts, as a 2.23 hectare wildfire continues to burn on the west side of the mountain.  Access to the areas that have been closed by forestry gates will remain open to visitors using non-motorized means, such as hiking, biking and horseback riding. “Everyone is reminded to be extremely careful with campfires, vehicle exhaust, and other potential fire-causing activities,” said the municipality Tuesday. “Overnight camping, campfires, and fireworks are not permitted in the Municipal Forest Reserve at any time.” It’s unclear when the forestry gates will reopen, but North Cowichan says they are “typically reopened in the fall, once rain has returned and the fire risk is reduced.”

…The 2021 floods in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley cost an estimated $14 billion in damages. Human activity that changes landscapes can make floods larger and more frequent. Our recently published study shows that clear-cut logging can dramatically increase flood risk, turning a 50-year event into a flood recurring every three years, with the largest and rarest floods showing the greatest sensitivity to forest disturbance. We studied a watershed on the west shore of Lake Okanagan near Summerland, British Columbia. Around 40 per cent of the site experienced logging. This watershed is no exception, as B.C.’s landscape has become dominated by clear-cut logging. …In our study, we found climate change is causing a reduction in flood risk due to reduced snowpack in the area. However, logging is not just compensating for that reduction, it’s also increasing the overall flood risk in the watershed. …The legal liability associated with logging and floods is significant. 

The Province is working with First Nations and other partners on conservation-planning projects in Qat’muk (west of Invermere), Skagit Headwaters (in the Manning Park area) and Raush Valley (in the Robson Valley south of McBride). This work will address watersheds, ecosystems and wildlife over a combined 127,000 hectares. Feedback collected from the public during fall 2026 engagement opportunities will shape conservation recommendations. The proposed conservation measures would support the B.C. government’s goal of protecting 30% of land and inland waters in B.C. by 2030 (the “30×30” goal).

REGINA, SK — Today, the Honourable Nathalie Provost, Secretary of State (Nature), highlighted eight tree-planting projects across Saskatchewan. These projects represent a $24.5 million investment to plant over five million trees, helping to protect nature and biodiversity in Canada by restoring critical habitats for species at risk and advancing Indigenous-led forest planting and restoration efforts. Announced in March 2026, the $3.8 billion A Force of Nature: Canada’s Strategy to Protect Nature is based on three pillars for action to harmonize nature protection and economic growth… Federal programs have made historic progress in restoring forests and building greener communities across the country as we work toward to our goals of protecting 30% of lands, waters, and oceans in Canada by 2030. Indigenous leadership is at the heart of protecting nature. Anchored in traditional knowledge and stewardship, it is critical to achieving our national and international commitments on nature.

Vancouver Island, BC — The Coastal Fire Centre reports a shift from warm, dry conditions to cooler, wetter weather over the first week and a half of July. However, previous weather conditions point towards a drier summer season for Vancouver Island. “Looking at the next seven days from a typical standpoint, we’re not elevating dryness specifically. But we’re also not bringing in much precipitation either. So, we’re essentially just keeping conditions generally steady,” said Ken Dosanjh, meteorologist with Environmental and Climate Change Canada, on July 2. In early July the Fire Danger Rating measure … shows much of Vancouver Island at the ‘low’ level, which entails easy fire start and quick spread but with minimal involvement of deeper fuel layers or larger fuels.  Port Alberni, Nanaimo and the Victoria area have a ‘moderate’ fire danger rating, with forest fuels drying and an increased risk of surface fire starting. 

There is strength in working together, and that’s why Woodlots BC has joined Canadian Forest Owners (CFO). As the national voice for approximately 480,000 private forest owners, CFO brings provincial organizations together to advocate for policies and programs that support sustainable forest management, healthy rural communities, and a strong forest economy. By joining CFO, Woodlots BC will help ensure the perspectives of British Columbia’s woodlot owners are reflected in federal discussions while benefiting from collaboration with like-minded organizations across Canada. …Woodlots BC members have access to Canadian Forest Owners’ exclusive group insurance program, designed specifically for private forest owners. Through our partnership with BrokerLink, the program offers coverage options that have traditionally been difficult to obtain, including forest damage insurance and vacant land liability coverage. …Private forest owners across Canada are invited to participate in the first national survey of private forest owners in more than 20 years.

©CoulsonAviation

…When it came to fighting two of the worst fires in Vancouver Island’s history, BC Wildfire Service took advantage of Coulson Aviation’s successful night vision aerial firefighting program. Almost 15 years to the day after testing how effective a helicopter could be dropping water on hot spots at night, the Wesley Ridge fire broke out between Port Alberni and Qualicum Beach. “The first trial was 22 targets and with 22 loads, we were able to extinguish it and put water in all 22 (targets) and that’s when we knew we had something,” said Wayne Coulson, CEO of the Alberni-based Coulson Aviation. …One of the other challenges for aerial night firefighting was filling the helicopters with water. …Coulson said government officials didn’t believe it was safe to hover fill at night so on a November night in 2017 a company aircrew spent three hours at the Alberni Valley’s Sproat Lake testing the process.

Scott Hinch

As climate change warms rivers across B.C., young salmon are facing increasing heat stress at vulnerable stages of their lives.  Researchers from UBC Forestry & Environmental Stewardship’s Pacific Salmon Ecology and Conservation Lab found that younger fish cope with heat differently than older fish, and that current methods may be underestimating the risks salmon face in warming waterways. We spoke with Dr. Scott Hinch, professor in the Department of Forest & Conservation Sciences, about what these findings mean for salmon conservation. Hinch told us: We examined how young salmon respond to warming water and whether current methods accurately measure heat tolerance. Most studies assess fish at rest, but juvenile salmon are constantly moving to find food and avoid predators, so we need to mimic real-world conditions. We also considered how age and prior temperature exposures influence responses. 

EDMONTON — Current clearcutting practices sometimes outpace the recovery times of vital boreal forest species, according to a groundbreaking global analysis led by University of Alberta researchers. The study was co-led by biologist Dr. Ellen Macdonald and ecologist Dr. Anne McIntosh. It is the first of its kind to examine an extended timeline for recovery and a wide range of life in boreal forests after clearcutting… Analyzing 190 datasets across North America, Europe, and Russia, researchers tracked how clearcutting affects birds, small mammals, insects, spiders, plants and lichens. While faster-growing broadleaf forests like aspen and birch often recovered within 30 years — soon enough to fall within typical 60- to 80-year logging cycles — recovery in mixed and coniferous forests took much longer. In these habitats, recovery took more than 55 years for small mammals like mice and voles, 85 years for flowering plants, 95 years for lichens, and more than 100 years for mosses.

The Town of Ladysmith said immediate action needs to be taken along the Banon Creek Forest Service Road to address water contamination and wildfire prevention. A letter has been sent to the province asking for emergency enforcement and protection of the watershed. “The province has already acknowledged the severity of the risk by closing the road; it must now ensure this measure is supported by the necessary physical infrastructure, enforcement capacity and operational resources required to make the closure effective,” Mayor Deena Beeston said. “The town can’t continue to accept conditions that place residents of all affected communities and others at daily risk.” The town said conditions have continued to go downhill …criminal activity is increasing and causing conditions to deteriorate. …the watersheds are located outside the town’s boundaries and supply drinking water to 12,000 residents across the town, Stz’uminus First Nation, the Diamond Improvement District and the Saltair area. 

Osoyoos Indian Band is working to revitalize forests in its territories that have been ravaged by wildfires — turning them into fire-resistent zones full of biodiversity, wildlife and medicinal plants for its members. The band-owned Nk’Mip Forestry is planning to revive two woodlands located above the First Nation’s reservation in the highlands between Oliver and Mount Baldy — making up just over 40 hectares combined. The forest tenure where the project is located is approximately 50,000 hectares in size, and is co-managed between the Osoyoos Indian Band and Gorman Bros. The two forests — a drier douglas fir ecosystem with ponderosa pine, and a montane spruce ecosystem dominated by dense lodgepole pile further up the hill — were both impacted by the 2021 Nk’Mip Creek Wildfire, which is estimated to have burned just over 20,000 hectares.

The Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC) is highlighting the growing impact of community forestry across the province, recognizing projects that reduce wildfire risk, improve wildlife habitat and strengthen local economies. At the BC Community Forest Association’s 2026 Conference, FESBC presented its inaugural Community Forest Project of the Year Award to the Kaslo & District Community Forest Society for its “Jimi Crack Corn” project. The latest FESBC newsletter also features updates on fuel reduction work with Nazko First Nation, new federal funding aimed at reducing wood waste and supporting forest resilience, and a safety message from the BC Forest Safety Council encouraging supervisors to recognize early warning signs before serious incidents occur. Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar notes that more than 60 new FESBC-supported projects will build on last year’s wildfire mitigation and fibre utilization efforts, helping create safer, healthier forests and supporting jobs in rural British Columbia.

The Northern Rockies Regional Municipality is calling on the province to release an investigation by the Natural Resource Officers Service into the 2024 Parker Lake wildfire. Mayor Rob Fraser says more than 3,000 people were forced to evacuate for 17 days because of the wildfire and alleges the province is holding back due to a clerical error. … Fraser claims the Natural Resource Officers Service is refusing to release an investigative report due to a clerical error that temporarily left his community out of the Wildfire Act. According to Fraser, his community was listed as the “Town of Fort Nelson” under the provincial Wildfire Act, when they should have been the “Northern Rockies Regional Municipality.” Looking at the governance, the Town of Fort Nelson was amalgamated with the Northern Rockies Regional District in 2009 to become the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality.

B.C.’s forestry collapse is devastating communities across the province, with provincial policy failures identified as the primary cause. But the dysfunction is causing more than economic losses. It is also destroying two things which are arguably priceless: old growth forests, and a free, fair, and open market.  Old growth logging continues under licences the government has legal authority to restrict. Yet reportedly, less than half of the 2.6 million hectares identified by its own technical advisory panel as most at risk have actually been deferred. Forest protection advocates point to Canfor and West Fraser as the top two private companies logging old growth. What they omit is that Canfor’s tenures were transferred to two bands in 2024, months after West Fraser’s tenures were combined with a different band’s months earlier—tenures the province subsequently increased by more than 2,000 per cent in 2025. In the same timeframe, the mills these companies used to operate have closed at a steady clip.

Woodlots BC has been invited to Victoria to work collaboratively with representatives from the BC Community Forest Association, the First Nations Forestry Council, and government officials in a solutions-focused dialogue to: explore a principled pricing framework that promotes greater equity across woodlots, community forest agreements, and First Nations woodland licences, to address inconsistencies among tenure types that have resulted in inequities within the current system; and understand, articulate, and assess the implications and implementation considerations of various policy options on Woodlot holders. The Province has committed to advancing this work through its Intentions Paper: Modernizing Forest Policy Initiative, with the goal of establishing a more consistent and equitable pricing framework for woodlots, community forest agreements, and First Nations woodland licences. Broader engagement with the woodlot community is tentatively planned for this fall. Woodlots BC are advocating for no changes to tabular rates and continue the 1 CP process on woodlots. 
 

A Kamloops Fire Centre spokesperson told Sicamous council that local forests are still quite dry despite a burst of fresh green growth brought on by recent wet weather. At the June 24 District of Sicamous committee of the whole meeting, Kamloops Fire Centre manager Jeff Dunne gave council an overview of BC Wildfire Service’s regional operations and a look at what to expect in the coming months. Dunne said a dry start to the spring compounded on drought conditions experienced over the winter. “As everyone is aware, our spring this year looked a little bit challenging,” Dunne said. “Over-winter snows in some parts of the region were way below average.” …Dunne said typically, the Kamloops Fire Centre will be the busiest in the middle of July, but this year BCWS has already seen significant fire behaviour and growth across the region. 

The Syilx Okanagan Nation is petitioning the federal government to act swiftly to protect a prized and threatened caribou species that continues to fall off the map near Revelstoke and Nakusp. On May 28, the Nation announced it had filed for an emergency order under Section 80 of Canada’s Species at Risk Act to press Environment and Climate Change Canada to conserve federally threatened southern mountain caribou. The Nation says continued logging of critical old-growth habitat falls out of line with its forestry principles and standards, and jeopardizes the future of the three caribou herds that remain on Syilx territory. The Frisby-Boulder herd west of Revelstoke is already functionally extinct with just eight caribou, while the Central Selkirk herd … sits at around 27 caribou. The Columbia North herd, roughly 185 caribou strong in the Monashee Mountains north of Revelstoke, has the greatest likelihood of survival, though the Nation says long-term forest habitat recovery remains a challenge.

The Wood Pellet Association of Canada (WPAC) recently highlighted the Indigenous-led efforts of the Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation Ltd. (CCR) at the Palmer Lake forest fire site. Through an article and video, WPAC described CCR’s work and how it treats fire-affected stands by removing dead and damaged material, reducing fuel loading, and spacing young lodgepole pine to support forest recovery. It is also demonstrated how the CCR uses recovered fibre to be put to productive use rather than leaving it at the site. “It’s such a good news story,” wrote Gord Murray, WPAC executive director. “CCR is turning what might otherwise be seen as waste into jobs, economic development, community pride, and contributions to the biomass industry.”