Region Archives: Canada West

Whistler’s mayor and council has formally referred an independent local study into the effects of fuel thinning to its staff after its author submitted it to them with a request the practice be stopped—but told her one study was unlikely to change policy on the matter. Speaking at the Sept. 10 regular council meeting during the public comment period, Dr. Rhonda Millikin, a retired ecologist, submitted her self-funded, peer-reviewed study and stressed the weight of the work put in, and the implications of its findings. “Fuel-thinning compromises the natural resilience of Whistler’s forest to wildfire,” she said. “Fuel-thinning increases solar radiation, wind speed and ambient air temperature, and decreases relative humidity and dead fuel moisture … The combined effect that we observed was a 58-per-cent increase in wildfire potential in spring, and a 37-per-cent increase in wildfire potential in late summer.”

Alberta is forging ahead with efforts to protect bats… the little brown myotis and northern myotis are under threat due to white-nose syndrome, a disease that has killed millions of bats in North America. Three years after the fungus that causes the disease was first detected in Alberta, the government published a draft recovery plan that aims to minimize losses and help the species eventually rebound. …A small number of bats have shown a natural resistance to the fungus. The hope is that those survivors can eventually rebuild the population, Wilkinson said. …Kennedy Halvorson with the Alberta Wilderness Association, said the recovery plan should include more enforceable limits on industry. The association has called for stricter limits on pesticide use to bolster insect populations that bats rely on for food, and for binding restrictions on the forestry sector to better safeguard bat habitats.

Garry Merkel

Garry Merkel of Kimberley has been presented with a King Charles III Coronation Medal. The Coronation Medal is given to recognize Canadians who’ve made a difference in their community, provincially or nationally. …Merkel, a member of Tahltan First Nation from northwest B.C., is a Registered Professional Forester by trade. He was a lead voice driving the old-growth forest management strategy recently adopted by the B.C. provincial government. …Merkel was also instrumental in the creation of Columbia Basin Trust (CBT) in the early 1990s, first working on the committee that negotiated with the Province for the Trust’s establishment, and then served as a founding member of the Board. He was then Vice-Chair from 1995 to 2006 and Chair from 2006 to 2012. …He has received numerous accolades and awards, including the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal, honorary doctorates, including from the University of British Columbia.

Protecting B.C. bats from the deadly white-nose syndrome is one of 178 conservation projects getting a boost with $8.5 million in 2024 funding from the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation. More than $1 million of that funding pool will be going to projects focused on Lower Mainland conservation issues or habitat conservation. One of them is the bat project – a multi-year undertaking, co-funded with the Forest Enhancement Society of BC, to help prevent the devastating bat illness, white-nose syndrome, caused by a fungus. “Saving bats and their biodiversity is important,” said project leader Cori Lausen. “To protect several species of building-roosting bats is specifically important in urban and rural areas where high human densities benefit from the insect-eating services of these long-lived yet slow-reproducing mammals.”

After a resident raised concern about bears in the Okanagan Falls area due to others’ improper garbage storage, a conservation officer addressed the need for community-wide efforts to manage attractants rather than relying on enforcement alone… According to provincial data, about 700 bears were killed last year, largely because they were acclimatized to humans… Unfortunately, as much as everyone would like to see relocation for the bears, once they become garbage-habituated, it’s not possible. “It does not work. There’s very specific circumstances that go into the decision to relocate, and those conditions are not met by a habituated food conditioned bear. It’s a band aid solution to a much bigger problem, makes people feel good thinking that, but it does not work.” says Sgt. James Zucchelli with BC Conservation Officer Services.

The forests around Squamish, once heavily logged, will soon see a reduction in timber harvesting as the province’s deputy chief forester reduces the allowable annual cut (AAC) for Tree Farm Licence 38 (TFL 38) by 53%. The new limit of 117,500 cubic metres is still higher than the average annual harvest of 72,000 cubic metres but marks a significant shift towards sustainable forestry, according to Sxwixwtn, Wilson Williams, Squamish Nation spokesperson and council member… Ownership of Northwest Squamish Forestry (NWSF), which now manages TFL 38, has allowed the Nation to assert more control over land use. “The TFL is now owned by Northwest Squamish Forestry, and NWSF is owned by the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Nation.”

Andrew Mercier

“Forest workers remember that when John Rustad was in government, nearly 30,000 jobs were lost and dozens of mills were closed, as he shipped away raw logs and BC jobs. When John Rustad was in government he failed to support forestry communities: They ended measures to ensure that local trees supported local jobs. …Not only will Rustad’s old thinking and recycled ideas fail to deliver, his proposal to eliminate stumpage would inflame the softwood lumber dispute — punishing forestry workers and communities. Wildfires are becoming more frequent and destructive due to climate change. Effectively fighting wildfires also requires a modern and science-based approach. John Rustad’s rejection of climate science would leave communities more vulnerable and leave people at risk. John Rustad dismissed clear challenges facing the sector and did nothing to prepare for them. 

The Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA) is appealing to the media and the public to be thoughtful about the language used to talk about forest fires. Let’s be clear: Public safety is always first and foremost. …However, we are concerned about the growing narrative that references summer as “wildfire season,” the consistent description of weather and heat as extreme and severe, and the trend to catastrophize every new update. Such language, without context or nuance, paints the summer season with an alarmist brush. …It has a huge and irreparable impact on all sectors of the tourism industry. We know that all aspects of the economy can be negatively impacted as a result of forest fires, but we have learned the hard way that tourism businesses can be dramatically affected when B.C. forest fires are misrepresented in the media.

The Best Western Barclay Convention centre was packed with Indigenous leaders and foresters who were there to share ideas, resources, and successes as they move forward in a new era of sustainable, First Nations-led forestry practices in their territories. The First Annual Indigenous Forestry Conference brought together First Nations leaders, policy makers and industry experts to allow an opportunity to  network, strategize and gain insights into traditional Indigenous knowledge… As more First Nations break new ground as they enter the forestry industry, they discover there are challenges along the way. The Indigenous Forestry Conference gives them a space to share information, strategies and solutions that can empower them as they move toward sustainable forestry practices in their respective territories.

RCMP exclusions and checkpoints used during the Fairy Creek logging protests on Vancouver Island were unreasonable, the federal RCMP complaints commission said Wednesday. In its review, the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission, an agency independent of the RCMP, found that the RCMP’s demand to search a demonstrator at a checkpoint on a public road was unfounded. The agency also said arresting the demonstrator after he refused to agree to the search was groundless. …The RCMP commissioner agreed with most of the findings and recommendations in the commission’s review and has committed to developing a national policy on policing civil injunctions, according to a commission news release Wednesday. …The review also found the practice of searching people who seek to cross into what is an unreasonable exclusion zone violates their rights and freedoms, and that it was unreasonable for RCMP officers at the protest sites to remove their name tags.

Canadian Press in the Toronto sun: Man hiking near Fairy Creek, B.C., wrongfully arrested by Mounties, review finds

B.C. doesn’t specifically keep track of how many unlogged forests remain. But according to Dave Daust, a forester and a member of B.C.’s Old Growth Technical Advisory Panel, unlogged forests are growing exceedingly rare in some areas of the province…B.C.’s forest industry is relying on this dwindling supply of unlogged forests. Much of B.C.’s planted forests are too young to log. In an email to The Tyee, the Ministry of Forests noted that “the vast majority of reforested areas, over 80 per cent, are less than four decades old and not suitable for harvesting yet.” As replanted forests regrow, however, “more harvesting will take place in reforested areas”. For now, though, that leaves roughly 80 per cent of the coastal cut and almost 100 per cent of the interior cut focused exclusively on unlogged, natural forests.

How do we build and grow responsibly while maintaining and enhancing our trees and forests for current and future generations? How do we ensure that everyone in our community benefits from the urban forest? There are 41 actions outlined in the updated Strategy that will help manage Saanich’s urban forest over the next 50 years.  Overall, the goal is to increase tree canopy cover to 44 per cent District-wide by 2064… There are more detailed actions in the plan found here: Saanich.ca/UrbanForestStrategy.

Kamloops, B.C. – British Columbia’s forestry sector, in collaboration with the Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC), is making significant strides to take action on climate change. To showcase the impacts of the work undertaken by FESBC and its project partners, FESBC has released an accomplishments update titled “Climate Solutions Powered By British Columbia’s Forest Workers.” The update shares how B.C.’s forest workers are helping drive climate change solutions and how, as a result, British Columbia and the world are seeing environmental, social, and economic wins.  …This latest Accomplishments Update from FESBC highlights three impactful projects featuring partnerships with BioNorth Energy in Fort St. James, Williams Lake First Nation, and Atli Resources LP on Vancouver Island. It showcases how local forestry workers are working to transform logging waste and low-value fibre into valuable green energy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, all while supporting local economies and effectively reducing the province’s carbon footprint. 

British Columbia’s deputy chief forester has determined the allowable annual cut (AAC) level for Tree Farm Licence 41 (TFL) south of Terrace will remain at 128,000 cubic metres. Some key factors considered in making this determination included supporting sustainable forestry, economic viability of harvest areas, wildlife habitat, terrain stability, biodiversity, old forest health and cultural resources. To maintain sustainable forestry practices and deter overharvesting of cedar trees and in lower sloped areas, the new determination includes the following two partitions:  1) A maximum harvest of 76,800 cubic metres of the AAC may come from stands on slopes of less than 50%. 2) A maximum of 12,800 cubic metres of the AAC may be harvested from any cedar species. …The TFL overlaps the territory of the Haisla Nation, the Lax Kw’alaams Band, the Office of the Wet’suwet’en, the Skin Tyee Nation, and the Gitga’at, Metlakatla, Kitselas, Kitsumkalum and Wet’suwet’en First Nations.

The B.C. government is considering listing more than three dozen plants and animals as species at risk in a move that could allow officials to better protect critical habitat from clearcut logging, according to records The Narwhal obtained through a freedom of information request. Under the Forest and Range Practices Act, the B.C. government can set aside wildlife habitat areas where logging is limited or banned or establish wildlife conservation objectives forestry companies must consider in their operations. However, these tools can only be used to protect plants and animals listed as at-risk species under the act — a list that hasn’t been updated since 2006.

At the 2024 Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) conference in Vancouver Sept. 16-20, the forestry sector will be higher profile than usual, with multiple resolutions highlighting growing concerns from communities dependent on the industry. UBCM, which brings together local governments to influence provincial policy, is a vital forum where the voices of smaller, often rural municipalities are amplified. This year, forestry is back in focus—not necessarily on the minds of residents in Vancouver or Victoria, but certainly in the communities that depend on it for their economic survival… Kamloops’ resolution to link timber rights to local mills is, in many ways, a response to this very issue—trying to recapture control over local resources that, for too long, have benefited corporate interests far removed from the communities themselves.