Region Archives: Canada West

More employment opportunities are underway for contractors and forestry workers throughout rural B.C. under the Province’s Forest Employment Program (FEP). “We know that changes and downturns can be hard on communities that rely on the forestry sector, and our government is there for them,” said Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation. “That’s why we’re funding important local projects in collaboration with rural communities and First Nations to help forestry workers seeking new opportunities in their local community.” From January until March 2022, the Government of B.C. provided $2 million for 41 FEP projects that are now complete or nearing completion. Projects included grading, brushing and improving forest service roads, including improving accessibility; environmental damage repairs; improving and building recreation sites and trails; and capacity-building projects.  

As many as 120 eligible people will receive training to prepare them for employment in wildfire and integrated natural resources fields in five regions around the province. This new provincial Community and Employer Partnerships project focuses on training for youth, youth at risk, immigrants, Indigenous people, and people who face barriers to employment. “We’re investing in natural-resource-sector training programs to help people access rewarding employment opportunities that can lead them toward a bright future,” said Nicholas Simons, Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction. “Participants who complete this training program will be able to build long-term careers from wildland firefighting to environmental monitoring.” The Province is providing more than $4 million to Stillwater Consulting Ltd. to deliver two intakes of its Wildfire and Integrated Natural Resources program in Nanaimo, Langley, Cranbrook, Kamloops and Prince George.

The British Columbia government says old-growth logging has fallen to historic lows in the province …But the Wilderness Committee conservation group says the government is failing to disclose data about where old-growth logging was deferred and where it continues. …The group says its own independent mapping and on-the-ground analysis over the past year has confirmed that logging continues in thousands of hectares of at-risk old-growth forests in the province. …The Wilderness Committee is calling on B.C.’s incoming premier to direct his government to provide maps or specific details about which old-growth forests have been protected. …The B.C. Forests Ministry responded Thursday, saying it would not disclose which old-growth areas are deferred or not deferred because doing so would breach confidential agreements with First Nations without their consent.

As the Province continues implementation of the Old Growth Strategic Review, the latest numbers released show old-growth logging in B.C. has decreased to the lowest level on record. Logging of old growth has declined by 42%, from an estimated 65,500 hectares in 2015 to 38,300 hectares in 2021. The area logged in 2021 represents 0.3% of the estimated 11.1 million hectares of old growth in the province. “Our vision for forestry is one where we better care for our most ancient and rarest forests, First Nations are full partners in sustainable forest management, and communities and workers benefit from secure, innovative jobs for generations to come,” said Katrine Conroy, Minister of Forests. “The latest numbers show that B.C. is on the right track as we work to develop and implement new long-term solutions for better managing, preserving and sharing the benefits of our forests.” …the Province is working toward a new Old Growth Strategic Action Plan to be developed in partnership with First Nations and completed by the end of 2023.

British Columbia – Since the inception of the Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC), the Society has partnered with the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation (HCTF) to achieve its goal to improve forest wildlife habitat. To date, a total of 105 projects have been co-funded throughout the province. Today, FESBC, in collaboration with HCTF has released an Accomplishments Update, highlighting nine of the 105 co-funded projects focused on maintaining and enhancing important wildlife and their habitats. …The nine projects highlighted in the Accomplishments Update include increasing Fisher habitat stewardship in the forest sector, invasive plant management on the winter ranges for Bighorn Sheep to increase the quality of grasslands, restoring whitebark pine ecosystems damaged by wildfire to improve habitat for bears, and more. …The funding for these co-funded projects comes from the Province of British Columbia and from conservation surcharges on hunting, fishing, and other licenses, court fines from wildlife violations, and public donations.

The B.C. government says old-growth logging has reached record lows, but one conservationist is decrying a lack of transparency from the province. …Torrance Coste, a spokesperson for B.C.’s Wilderness Committee, is calling on the government for greater transparency. “It’s encouraging to hear that the overall rate of old-growth logging is falling; what’s needed is more information,” he said. “There’s really nothing in today’s announcement that underscores or highlights where old-growth logging is continuing, whether it’s still happening in the most at-risk old-growth forest, which is our concern.” …”While the overall rate, it looks like, is falling, which is good, there’s no indication that the best forests are being protected, or that planned logging in those at-risk, irreplaceable old growth is slowing down at all.” Spuzzum First Nation Chief James Hobart says he was glad to hear the numbers released by the province, but wants more details. 

A B.C. Supreme Court judge has denied an application from 121 old-growth logging protesters who were seeking to join their criminal contempt charges together for a single trial. All the protesters stand charged with criminal contempt of court for violating an injunction against interfering with logging operations in and around the Fairy Creek watershed on Vancouver Island. The protesters, including members of the Rainforest Flying Squad group, filed an application in July to have their cases heard in a single trial. Their aim was to establish for the court a complete picture of the ways in which they say the RCMP officers who enforced the injunction at Fairy Creek “exceeded the limits of reasonable and acceptable law enforcement,” thereby making the case that the charges against the protesters should be stayed due to a systemic abuse of process …instead, the court will proceed with 73 separate trials for the 121 accused, grouped by arrest date.

Additional coverage in the Victoria Times Colonist, by Keith Fraser: Judge rejects bid by Fairy Creek protesters for hearing on alleged RCMP misconduct

As rain cakes the ashes of West Vancouver’s largest wildfire of late, efforts to stump the risk of future fires for residents are getting underway. Work is scheduled to begin this month on a six-hectare section of second-growth forest, adjacent to the Brother’s Creek and Baden Powell trails. …the community wildfire protection plan designated this area as high risk of wildfire. …The district has consulted with local Indigenous communities on responsibly conducting forest management in this area. …Goals of the project include bolstering the BC Hydro right-of-way area as a so-called fuel break … and creating an anchor point for firefighting efforts on a potential blaze moving toward or away from homes in the Capilano watershed. A virtual information session on wildfire fuel management for residents is being held on Thursday from noon to 1 p.m., led by Bruce Blackwell of B.A. Blackwell and Associates Ltd. and West Vancouver Fire and Rescue.

This time last year, the province was readying itself for a major policy announcement that consisted of a slate of deferrals Premier John Horgan promised would “fundamentally transform the way we manage our old-growth forests, lands and resources.” These deferrals were made, Horgan said, following recommendations from a 2021 report by the Old Growth Technical Advisory Panel. Behind the scenes, however, the province’s top forestry executives had actually been trying to block some of the panel’s findings. Internal communications released to The Tyee through access to information laws, as well as interviews with panel members, show the province attempted to limit the information about B.C.’s remaining old growth that would be shared with the public. …the advisory panel … unveiled how much old growth existed in the province before industrial forestry… But an email exchange The Tyee uncovered …shows B.C.’s then-chief forester, Diane Nicholls, didn’t want the historic number published.

Collaboration between the Sunshine Coast Community Forest (SCCF) and Elphinstone Logging Focus (ELF) has been agreed to, sparked by a brief ELF road blockades at cutblock EW 24 in ts’uḵw’um, on Oct. 27 and 28. “ELF and SCCF have agreed to put aside their differences and work collaboratively together on a monthly basis to discuss SCCF forest management. ELF represents a very important part of our community and our Community Forest is committed to work collaboratively with ELF to plan and deeply discuss what our future forests could look like and address our community needs now and into the future,” sand SCCF operations manager Warren Hansen. …Hansen noted that a key understanding in their agreement is that parties will conduct themselves “professionally.” “We thank ELF for their courage and trust that we can make the community forest something we can all be proud of,“ he wrote.

“Driving a logging truck is probably one of hardest things you can do.” Roberts told Glacier Media there “are not as many women as I’d like to see in the industry;” only 3% of Canada’s trucking industry is female. She credits social media for allowing her to connect with other female truck drivers. That’s according to Kaylee Roberts, who hauls wood from Mackenzie to Prince George.

Forests once sent their seeds fluttering through the air … but not like this. When the six rotors of these heavy-lift drones hum to life, they each propel over 1,500 seeds into an automated swarm that some hope marks the start of a revolution in tree planting. “Reforestation is arguably the best solution we have for pulling carbon out of the air,” said Bryce Jones, co-founder and CEO of Flash Forest, a Canadian drone tree-planting company with a growing footprint in British Columbia. “But there’s no technology. It’s literally people with bags and shovels. It’s been the same method for 100 years.” …Many drone-planting companies are only just emerging from a period of research and experimentation. …UBC researcher, Dr. John Innes says companies like Flash Forest and DroneSeed still need to demonstrate that seeds can achieve high enough success rates to make them a viable supplement to tree planting by hand. 

B.C.’s annual allowable cut sets out how many trees can be cut each year with the intent of sustaining the industry for years to come. But a legal loophole can allow companies to log beyond the limit for years with no repercussions. In an email chain uncovered through a freedom of information request, Diane Nicholls, the province’s former chief forester, acknowledged the problem. The province’s allowable cut is “sustainable at set levels,” she wrote. But the government’s “tenure allowances” which set forest company logging levels are “completely out of whack” with the annual allowable cut assessments, Nicholls wrote. …B.C.’s emerging harvest crash is linked to a phenomena called the “falldown effect,” says Ben Parfitt of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. …With substantial reduction of allowable cut limits on the horizon in order to adjust to the realities seen in B.C.’s forests, Parfitt added, government needs to act quickly to drop the allowable cut…

Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) is raising an alarm about the Alberta government’s splitting of Environment and Parks into two new ministries, including one that contains forestry. Parks are meant to be areas that protect the environment while allowing people to enjoy nature through responsible recreation, said Chris Smith, conservation analyst for CPAWS Northern Alberta. However, Premier Danielle Smith has stated forestry is a major economic driver and a way to open up parks through things such as forestry backroads. “At this point, we’re just kind of waiting for some clarification as to the direction and mandate of these new ministries,” said Chris Smith. …The change affects all provincial parks, provincial recreation areas and wildland provincial parks, along with the Willmore Wilderness Park southwest of Grande Cache, Alta., said a statement by CPAWS Northern and Southern Alberta.

The Cheakamus Community Forest (CCF) added three new harvesting projects to its list for the remainder of the year into 2023. The moratorium on old-growth logging (>250 years old), however, will remain in place for the time being. “The community forest has deferred old-growth harvesting for 2021 and 2022,” said Simon Murray, the manager of the CCF. “The community forest timber supply analysis has been done to provide insight into the impact of this deferral. And excluding old-growth stands from harvest reduces the timber harvesting land base by a further 38 per cent, so quite considerable … So we’re still waiting from the government and First Nations to finalize their deferrals.”  To that end, harvesting will focus on trees that are between 80 and 249 years old until younger stands grow in. During the Q&A portion of the open house, however, Whistler ecologist Bob Brett raised questions about the ages of trees identified.

Central Okanagan Public School is offering a program segway to a career in resource management in the forestry sector. The Rutland Senior Secondary (RSS) forestry class embraces a hands-on learning experience open to all Grade 11 and 12 students in the school district. It begins in the second semester of the school year for Grade 11 and extends into the Grade 12 fall semester. Participating students will spend more of their time learning a variety of forestry related career job skills throughout the Central Okanagan. Corbett explained the forestry program differs a bit from other school district career oriented programs because it exposes students to a variety of forestry-related career opportunities rather than focusing on one specific career option….He said those interested in the program can speak to their school councillors and be set up to job shadow a forest industry professional to gauge their interest in pursuing a career in the forestry profession.

The Forest Practices Board can appeal certain decisions made by government officials under the Forest and Range Practices Act or the Wildfire Act, such as determinations of noncompliance, penalties or approvals of plans for forestry or range operations. When deciding whether or not to appeal a determination, the Board takes any public requests to appeal into consideration. In 2021, the Board appealed a determination by a Ministry of Forests’ district manager who found a person had harvested and removed Crown timber without authorization. The person had a licence to salvage wood for shakes and shingles, but the wood they harvested was outside their licence boundary. Although the government’s compliance and enforcement staff provided the district manager with evidence that the unlawful harvesting occurred in 2017, 2018, and 2020, the district manager only focused on the 2020 contraventions and levied a penalty of $12,000.

Nearly 200 people made their way to Nakusp to participate in and celebrate the BCCFA’s 2022 Conference and AGM and 20^th Anniversary. We extend our utmost gratitude to attendees who participated in the event. Thank you again to the Nakusp and Area Community Forest (NACFOR) for hosting and making it a celebration to remember. The  conference was a testament to what we have seen in our work over the past 20 years. There is no doubt that community forestry provides a vision for the future of forestry in our province that is innovative, forward-thinking, and inclusive of multiple values on the landscape and in communities. Community forestry takes heart, courage and hard work, and we are proud and humbled to be walking this path alongside all of our members and partners as we continue to move forward and to support the practice and expansion of sustainable community forest management in BC.

Mountain View Breeding Centre

Ecojustice and the Wilderness Committee are are calling on the federal government to protect endangered spotted owls and their habitat in B.C. Ecojustice said that the government has a legal responsibility to protect the species, which is in critical danger of becoming extinct because of commercial logging. In a petition to the federal government, the groups are asking for an emergency order that would protect endangered spotted owls and their habitat. “Spotted owls are in critical danger of becoming extinct in Canada, in large part, because the B.C. government has continued to approve commercial logging in areas that should have been set aside for the species’ recovery,” said Ecojustice. …The B.C. Ministry of Land Water, and Resource Stewardship says it is aware of the petition and are doing everything they can to to help spotted owls recover in B.C., including running the world’s only captive breeding and release program.