Region Archives: Canada West

Toxic chemicals from toilet paper have been found in the bodies of BC’s endangered orcas, according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of BC. …Dr. Juan Jose Alava, co-author of the study, said… the toxic chemical substances could affect killer whales’ hormone systems, disrupting physiological function and making them susceptible to diseases. The findings were published last month in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. One of the most common pollutants found in the killer whales’ bodies was 4-nonylphenol, which is often found in toilet paper and can influence the nervous system. In addition to toilet paper pulp, it is also used in soap, detergents and textile processing, and is listed as a toxic substance in Canada. …Another group of toxic pollutants of great concern is known as “forever chemicals”… used in food-packaging materials, stains, cookware and fire extinguishers.

David Suzuki

Despite Canada’s important commitments at the December UN COP15 in Montreal, we’re not halting, let alone reversing, biodiversity loss. More than 5,000 wild species face some risk of extinction, according to the recently released report “The Wild Species 2020: The General Status of Species in Canada.” The main driver is habitat loss. Yet, the Ontario government plans to run a major highway through the valuable greenbelt around Canada’s largest city. In British Columbia, fracking and clearcut logging continue to decimate lands and waters. …Take forestry. You’d think research by scientists like Suzanne Simard at the University of British Columbia would have shifted the way we “manage” forests. …To show how little has changed, in recently resigning from the Association of BC Forest Professionals, eminent ecological forester Herb Hammond delivered a damning indictment of ongoing practices that maximize profits and destroy forests.

VANCOUVER, B.C. — Building on a commitment to cultivate a highly-trained workforce that will drive the innovative solutions of tomorrow, Trimble and the Faculty of Forestry at the University of British Columbia (UBC) are collaborating to establish a state-of-the-art Trimble Technology Lab at UBC’s Forest Sciences Centre. The forestry profession is undergoing digital transformation to improve productivity and drive sustainability. Research and teaching at UBC Forestry is offering students new opportunities to learn and gain skills using industry-focused software and hardware technologies. With an in-kind gift from Trimble, the lab at UBC will be the first forestry-focused lab for Trimble and the first lab of this type in Canada. …”The Trimble Technology Lab at UBC gives students and researchers access to some of the most innovative digital tools that are being integrated into forestry practices across the industry,” said Dr. Nicholas Coops, UBC Forestry professor and Canada research chair in Remote Sensing. 

WHITEHORSE, YT – Tree-planting efforts across Canada have played a large part in tackling the dual crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. As part of the Government of Canada’s broader approach to nature-based climate solutions, trees planted as part of the 2 Billion Trees program will help restore nature, create healthy forest ecosystems and clean our air. Today the Government of Canada and the Government of Yukon signed an Agreement in Principle (AiP) under the 2 Billion Trees program. While the Government of Canada engages directly with individual organizations across the country toward planting trees under the 2 Billion Trees program, working closely with provinces and territories on shared planting plans is another way to strengthen the program and tailor results for local communities. AiPs are a vital first step in moving toward concrete agreements further supporting tree-planting initiatives across the country.

The Comox Valley Regional District has received a donation of 40 acres (16 hectares) of oceanfront property in the Merville area for use as a park. …The property, identified as Maris Estates, was donated by Christopher Investments, Ltd. …There are no structures on the property, and at this time, no access to the oceanfront from area roads. “The property is all mature, second-growth forest, with some old growth in there,” explained Mark Harrison, manager of parks for the CVRD. “There are no trails, there is no driveway access. It’s basically just wilderness. “At this stage, we do not want to promote public use. We just got the land. We still want to do inventory in there, do an assessment and come up with some kind of management plan on what we are going to do with that park.”

David Eby

B.C. Premier David Eby, in his first scheduled visit to Prince George since taking over from John Horgan as head of the provincial government, will address the 20th annual BC Natural Resources Forum banquet at the Prince George Civic and Convention Centre next Tuesday evening.  It will be the first time in thee years the forum will be an in-person event, after two years as a virtual conference during the pandemic.  The forum begins Wednesday morning with an opening address from Sarah Weber, president and CEO of C3 Alliance Corp, followed by short speeches from Lheidli T’enneh chief Dolleen Logan, Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies MP Bob Zimmer, Cariboo-Prince George MP Todd Doherty, Prince George Valemount MLA Shirley Bond and Prince George Mayor Simon Yu.

More than 160 organizations have signed a declaration demanding B.C. take faster action to protect the province’s remaining old-growth forests. The document calls on Premier David Eby to fulfill commitments on old growth, pushing for “immediate action to stop logging” of these areas. The Union of BC Indian Chiefs, municipal leaders, and the BC General Employees Union are among those who’ve signed on “Today, and every day, we, the undersigned, stand together in an unprecedented show of unity amongst working people, Indigenous land stewards and knowledge-keepers, activists, scientists, youth, educators, communities, celebrities, environmental and social justice groups, faith organizations and more. Standing united against the destruction of old growth forests. Standing strong for future generations,” the declaration reads, in part. The groups have announced a rally set for Feb. 25 at the Legislature in Victoria, marking Eby’s 100th day as premier.

Two cutblocks identified as TA 0521 near Joe Smith Creek are on BC Timber Sale’s (BCTS) proposed “auction block” list for this year. Located on the slopes above the residential areas and the Highway 101 corridor between Roberts Creek and Gibsons, they are BCTS’s only lower Sunshine Coast cutblocks scheduled for sale in 2023. Elphinstone Logging Focus (ELF) called for cancellation of that sale stating that logging the area “threatens local water security, infrastructure such as culverts and roads, and undermines the resilience and livability of our communities.” ELF… asserts that it should be “kept intact to safeguard hydrological function.” …A virtual or in-person community meeting to discuss updated South Elphinstone area forest harvest plans is to be arranged by March. BCTS Nov. 22 press release also stated that an area hydrologic assessment is to be released this month.

John Rustad

Rustad says forestry uncertainty is scaring away investors, proposes tax system to reward value-added producers. …Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad says mills in the north central B.C. region are going to require nine-figure investments to modernize and reconfigure their operations to make them more profitable in a province that’s recognized as the highest-cost producer in North America. …Rustad says the answer to create more certainty in the market might be for B.C. to scrap its stumpage fee system while it looks for ways reduce the cost of harvesting to timber companies. …”We should actually go to a tax on the end products , where the more you can do with a log, the less tax you pay. So it becomes an incentive for creating more value-added and creating more higher-value products.”

An RCMP squad charged with policing resistance to resource extraction in British Columbia spent nearly $50 million enforcing injunctions obtained by the petroleum and forestry sectors in its first five years, an internal accounting shows.  The figures, released to CBC News under access-to-information law, offer the first publicly available, if rough, estimate of the costs incurred by Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG).  Formed in 2017, the C-IRG has no defined territorial jurisdiction, an unknown number of members, and no set budget. It goes where industry meets land occupations, blockades and civil disobedience.  The unit says it needs this flexible mandate to respond to unpredictable protests, but critics fear the C-IRG received a blank cheque and little oversight from governments. …Forestry firm Teal Cedar has estimated the value of timber products in the Fairy Creek area at about $20 million.  The Mounties spent $18.7 million at Fairy Creek in just 16 months, the numbers show.

Lake Country RCMP have arrested two men for cutting down at least 13 trees in Jack Seaton Park, apparently for use for firewood.  Kelowna RCMP media relations officer Const. Mike Della-Paolera said officers were patrolling the area on Jan. 2 after hearing of the illegal wood-cutting through social media.  During their rounds, the officers discovered marks in the snow left by trees that had been dragged out and bucked up, Della-Paolera said in a media release.  It was then the officers noticed 13 freshly cut tree stumps, as well as one full cut tree left behind.  Armed with photos taken by neighbours, the officers were able to identify a suspect vehicle and two male occupants, the release said.  Later that day, the officers saw the two men removing fresh cut trees from the park and arrested them.

Bruce Ralston

As Minister of Forests I understand the full value forests offer to people in our province. …Our government has taken a number of important actions to address challenges facing the today’s forest industry. We are working with forest companies and First Nations to strengthen how we manage our old-growth stands. …We are introducing Forest Landscape Plans to bring more people around the table to ensure local and regional knowledge is reflected in how we manage our old-growth forests, accounting for all perspectives and values. …The newly introduced Wildfire Salvage Opportunity Agreements are providing faster and easier access to timber salvage opportunities, improving fibre supply while also expediting the opportunity to restore lands impacted by fire… …Our …year-round BC Wildfire Service model is already showing benefits. …In 2019, we created the Forest Employment Program (FEP) which provides employment opportunities for forestry contractors and workers affected by mill curtailments, old-growth deferrals and other impacts to the sector. 

Beware of false information spread by a few pro-logging advocates. …It’s coming from a loud few who believe in continued logging of North Cowichan’s Municipal Forest Reserve… the most imperilled forest landscape in B.C. …Among the more exaggerated statements is the suggestion that outside environmental organizations and their money are flowing in to help stop clearcutting of the reserve. …Both conservation scenarios are estimated to bring in millions of dollars more than logging revenue over 30 years thanks to carbon credits for leaving the forest standing. …the social media claims by the pro-logging camp seem to get stranger by the day. …The effort to end logging in the forest reserve is also not part of a greater campaign against logging in general. It is simply based on the need to protect the at-risk forest in our backyard, and the potential to receive revenue from an alternative source.

A University of Victoria instructor has been sentenced to 70 hours of community service for his role in protesting old-growth logging in the Fairy Creek watershed on southwestern Vancouver Island. Keith Cherry, 34, admitted to violating a 2021 court injunction that was imposed to prevent protesters from blockading logging operations in the watershed, according to a B.C. Supreme Court decision issued last month but only published online Thursday. In his reasons for the sentencing, Justice Douglas Thompson gave consideration to evidence that Cherry lost more than $1,600 in camping gear that was destroyed during his arrest. According to the court, Cherry had chained his arm inside a large log that was laid across a logging road on Sept. 13, 2021. …The judge credited the destruction of Cherry’s personal property as a “collateral consequence” that warranted reducing his initial sentencing consideration from 100 hours of community service to 70 hours.

Nanaimo, BC — Mosaic Forest Management announced today that it has renewed its access agreement with Mount Washington Alpine Resort, extending the partnership that began in 2016 between the two organizations. The agreement offers Mount Washington access to roads, Nordic trails, and outback areas on Mosaic’s private forest lands. “Our relationship with Mount Washington is an exemplary collaboration on access to Mosaic’s forest lands,” said Molly Hudson, Director of Sustainability at Mosaic. “Mount Washington consistently demonstrates a track record of responsible use and shares Mosaic’s focus on public safety and protecting the environmental values associated with our working forest.”

Joe Gilchrist

When Skeetchestn fire keeper Joe Gilchrist was young… he spent hours in front of the flickering flames, learning how they grew and moved as the fire slowly turned logs to ash. …Decades later, Gilchrist is on a mission to make the regenerative burning practices his grandfather taught him commonplace. At stake is an important practice for culture, food security and the future of the province’s forests. Forest fires have slammed B.C. in recent years, burning on average 348,000 hectares each year. …The problem is set to get worse as the climate crisis deepens, with experts predicting Western Canada will see up to 50 per cent more days with the dry, windy conditions that drive wildfires. …”In the (B.C.) Interior, it’s a fire-inclusive landscape,” Gilchrist explained. “It needs fire … and if fire isn’t put there, you start seeing the catastrophic fires like you’re seeing now.” 

Jason Fisher

Kaizen is an approach to continuous improvement that is based on the seemingly simple processes of setting standards, committing to those standards, and then improving on them. …The default approach to forest management, even integrated resource management, has been to manage land for certain attributes within a defined area. …But what if there was a better way? …The traditional ecological knowledge held by Indigenous communities, more accurately known as Indigenous Science, can be very beneficial to forestry businesses… Indigenous Science comes from studying the land and making informed decisions based on a body of knowledge accumulated through experimentation and observation. It is a living process. …To meet current challenges and expectations those entrusted with forest management are uniquely positioned to improve the resilience of ecosystem services over time through active management. The tools, knowledge, and practices are out there. Let’s celebrate and learn from those who bring them together to continuously improve forest practices and ecosystems.

Cliff Manning

Burns Lake professional forester Cliff Manning has been applying his lifetime’s worth of accrued industry knowledge to his own personal woodlot, and that especially applies to his deep understanding of wildfire.  After decades of forestry management for others (he was instrumental in starting the Burns Lake Community Forest, now a model for the province), plus silviculture and wildfire endeavours, he now focuses on his own 572-hectare Guyishton Woodlot.  …He paid special attention to mitigating forest fires. His neighbours appreciate this and his peers applaud it, to the point Manning was just named the northern BC winner of this year’s Minister’s Award for Innovation and Excellence in Woodlot Management. …“Diversity in our forest licenses, and woodlots are just small-scale licenses, is a good thing,” Manning said. “The point of these awards is to encourage licensees to plant crops that will be sustainable.” 

North Cowichan will extend the deadline for people to fill out its forest engagement survey from Dec. 31 to Jan. 31, council decided at its meeting on Dec. 21.  The unanimous decision was made after council received a letter stating that a lot people were not focused on the future of North Cowichan’s 5,000-hectare municipal forest reserve during the Christmas season.  Coun. Tek Manhas made the motion to extend the deadline, saying that the letter writer is absolutely correct.  He said North Cowichan rushed through the development of its official community plan that was adopted earlier in 2022 during the summer months.  …The public is being asked to consider four options for the management of North Cowichan’s municipal forest reserve which were developed with input received last year in round one of the public engagement process to help determine the future management of the forest reserve, as part of the ongoing review of the MFR.  

Additional coverage in the Cowichan Valley Citizen, letter by Larry Pynn: North Cowichan won’t identify citizen who successfully sought forest consult extension