Region Archives: Canada West

A provincial court judge in Vancouver heard that a foreign University of B.C. student was bullied into climate change protest roadblocks. Olivia Mary Howe, 19, pleaded guilty to mischief for being among 60 Extinction Rebellion supporters. …Judge Patricia Stark sentenced Howe to a conditional discharge, meaning she won’t have a criminal record if she respects the law during her 18-month probation term …Howe came from South Carolina without family to study forestry at UBC. She began to associate with members of Extinction Rebellion. …Howe became increasingly pressured to participate in roadblocks. When she declined, she was ostracized and feared losing friends and connections. “She indicates that it was internal pressure from senior members who have criminal records and previous arrests that younger, newer members earn their stripes by participating,” Leno told the court. Defence lawyer James Wu said Howe was “emotionally manipulated” into participating.

David Haywood-Farmer’s ranch got smoky around this time last year. A wildfire tore through his ranch in Savona, B.C. — just outside of Kamloops — destroying critical infrastructure he depends on to keep his herd of over 1,000 cows safe. But amidst the many parts of his ranch singed by flame, one part stands out as untouched by the blaze. Those paddocks are where Haywood-Farmer, who’s been working the land since 1977, employs the practice of silvopasture. Silvopasture is the practice of having trees or shrubs live in tandem with livestock in pastures and on grazing lands, according to Farmers for Climate Solutions. …silvopasture is the focus of a Five-Year Knowledge Transfer Plan currently being developed by B.C.’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food to better educate farmers, ranchers and agrologists on the practice. …silvopasture can lead to better forage, healthier soils, reduced climatic stress on livestock and expanded grazing.

Community forests were featured in a story with CBC Radio recently as part of their series on climate change. Our Executive Director, Jennifer Gunter, Erik Leslie of Harrop-Procter and Francis Johnson of Esk’etemc Community Forests along with Dr. Lori Daniels were all interviewed by Rohit Joseph, Victoria CBC Associate Producer/Technician with All Points West on the role of community forests in managing for climate resiliency. Also in this newsletter:

• The Briggs Creek Wildfire  – Kaslo and District Community Forest
• UBCM Resolution Update – Pricing Policy for Community Forests
• Proposed changes to tab rate methodology and timing of redeterminations 
• Old Growth Deferrals – Field Verification Guidance
• Coast Fibre Recovery Zones Reinstated

Prince George-based environmental advocacy group Conservation North says the provincial government is failing to act on recommendations from the BC Forest Practices Board for protecting old growth forest in the Prince George timber supply area.  …In December 2020, the FPB issued findings from an investigation into a complaint that biodiversity values are not being appropriately addressed due to the high levels of mountain pine beetle salvage harvesting in the TSA.  …The FPB found loggers were complying with existing regulations but that those regulations needed to be updated to better protect biodiversity. …B.C. Forests Minister Katrine Conroy said work is underway on a spatial approach to implementing the landscape biodiversity order that includes “identifying biodiversity areas and protecting them.”  “We are working together with our partners to ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy the benefits that BC’s forests provide,” Conroy added.

Western Forest Products (WFP) is intending to apply for a refuse permit to allow for a wood waste landfill to accommodate wood waste from the Stillwater dryland sort. At the August 16 qathet Regional District planning committee meeting, directors received a delegation from WFP representatives to outline the proposal, which has plans to dispose of an estimated 6,000 cubic metres per year of wood waste on a parcel of crown land approximately four hectares in size. Brad McRae, government relations director for WFP, said dryland sort waste consists of materials such as bark, trimmed ends, branches and dredging. He said there is no domestic waste planned for the landfill. The material is not suitable for other uses except boiler hog fuel and landscape material, he added. …He said there is no local consumption of the material with the closure of the Catalyst Paper Tis’kwat mill.

The Village of Cumberland and partners are setting up a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for trails in the area. At a meeting in August, council directed staff to enter into the MOU, Collaborative Management and Use of a Cumberland Trail Network with United Riders of Cumberland (UROC), TimberWest Forest Company (Mosaic) and Comox Timber (Manulife). The parties entered into a licensing agreement in 2015 that formalized public, non-motorized access to the trail network in Cumberland. About 80 per cent of the trails in the area are on private managed forest land. …The memorandum will also take into account trail plans across property boundaries, and UROC would still hold licence agreements and is working with the two timber companies on matters of access.

YELLOWKNIFE – The 2022 wildfire season in the Northwest Territories (NWT) is shaping up to be one of the most severe in the past five years. “We’re well on our way to doubling our five-year average for area burned,” said Mike Westwick, a wildfire information officer for the territory. “It’s been a significant year for fires after a few years where we had a slight downturn.” So far, 238 fires have burned nearly 4,300 square kilometres of land across the territory, compared to a five-year average of around 2,300 square kilometres. …Westwick said long spells of hot, dry weather have contributed to the wildfires this summer. He said this wildfire season is lasting slightly longer than usual as hot temperatures persist in the southern part of the territory. More than 100 active wildfires are still burning across the N.W.T. …”The boreal forest is a landscape that’s primarily shaped by fire. It’s the most important force that’s shaped our landscape over millennia,” Westwick said.

PRINCE GEORGE- Conservation North has called on the provincial government to limit further destruction of wildlife habitats in Prince George. “The rules around protecting the biodiversity in the Prince George TSA, an area spanning 8 million hectares, resulted from a negotiated agreement around 20 years ago between logging companies and the B.C. government,” said Michelle Connolly, with Conservation North. “Essentially protecting logging company access to the number of old forests when they want and where they want.” …CKPG News reached out to the Ministry of Forests: “Since November, our government has prevented logging in nearly 1.7 million hectares of old growth working in partnership with First Nations,” said Katrine Conroy, the minister of forests. “Approximately 80% of the priority at-risk old growth identified by the Old Growth Technical Advisory Panel is not threatened by logging because it is already permanently protected, covered by deferrals, or uneconomic to harvest,” said Conroy

The Syilx Okanagan Nation is calling on the provincial government to stop the logging of old-growth forests in the Revelstoke area. The Okanagan Nation Alliance, consisting of seven First Nations in the Okanagan and Similkameen, has been butting heads with the province over old-growth logging protections for months. Earlier this year, they formally opposed a set of old-growth logging deferrals in its territory over a lack of consultation, declaring the proposed maps were simply inaccurate and did not properly protect some old-growth stands while protecting other previously-harvested forests. …The First Nation says the provincial government provided them “with a set of options” in July 2022 that allowed for the logging of old-growth stands in the Revelstoke area. “These options do not include adequate protections for old forests, caribou, and the many other values on our territory,” the ONA said.

With a rise in the number of wildfires in Saskatchewan, burnt landscapes stripped of plant life are becoming more common. Most creatures find a burnt environment uninhabitable, but a University of Saskatchewan (USask) research team has discovered how certain species of insects use these scorched lands as a safe location to lay eggs. “Most animals can’t handle the heat of an active fire, but once the fire is out it becomes a beacon that attracts all kinds of things,” said Aaron Bell, a biology PhD candidate at USask. “Many animals … are attracted to recent burns and make use of these habitats in the immediate aftermath of fire.” According to the USask-led study… pyrophilic—or ‘fire loving’—beetles that lay their eggs in burnt habitats tend to have an 80 per cent increase in reproductive output compared to individuals that lay eggs in unburnt forest soil, demonstrating an important environmental use of wildfire-affected habitats.

NANAIMO — It’s largely a wait and see approach from the BC Wildfire Service in its approach to tackling a pair of wildfires on the sparsely populated north Island. While the 40 hectare Golden Hinde fire in Strathcona Provincial Park and the 25 hectare Nimpkish River fire east of Tahsis are burning out of control, they are under what the BC Wildfire Services calls a ‘modified response’. It means a combination of techniques are being used to either monitor or actively douse the flames, with Coastal Fire Centre information officer Christi Howes saying they’ve closely watched the fires since recent lightning strikes. …The burns are being made easier by tinder-dry conditions throughout most of Vancouver Island with a high to extreme fire danger rating across most of the region. A handful of other, smaller fires dot through the spine of Vancouver Island, including one sparked Aug. 24 midway between Port Alberni and Tofino.

PRINCE GEORGE, BC — Conservation North is demanding action from Victoria on recommendations made by the Forest Practices Board back in 2020. The group says the province has done nothing to limit further destruction of wildlife habitat in the Prince George Timber Supply Area. The board found that nature was at high risk because of industrial logging. “It has been two years since the Forest Practices Board concluded that nature was at high-risk in the Prince George TSA because of industrial logging. Why is it taking so long for the BC government to act on the Board’s recommendations when these ecosystems are on the brink of collapse?” asks Conservation North’s Director Michelle Connolly.

In This episode we talk with Bob Brash, Executive Director of B.C.’s Truck Loggers Association, how he got into the industry and his thoughts on the future.

It is with a heavy heart that I learn of the new logging road Teal Jones is pushing through up near what was known as Helicamp near Fairy Creek. This was the forest of my youth, my Mother Earth, where I would go for my spiritual needs and for meditation. This is a forest of ancient trees, the forest that nurtured me, fed me and gave me a place to be. Now the NDP government has granted Teal Jones a permit to build a road into the old-growth forest. …My heart cries out in protest. This is a violation of our rights as Indigenous people on unceded land. And now I’ve been informed that I must ask Teal Jones for permission to access my lands, adding insult to injury. …I implore the NDP government and Teal Jones to stop destroying our great Mother Earth, the forest of my culture and tradition.

A section of land has been added to a protected area along southern Alberta’s Porcupine Hills, a region filled with grasslands and forests that are home to at-risk birds and trees. Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) says the 643-hectare property located west of Claresholm in the M.D. of Willow Creek will create a single protected block of approximately 1,900 hectares. It will also add to the almost 7,700 hectares of protected land along the eastern edge of the Porcupine Hills. The land itself is very important to many species, NCC says, because grasslands “are one of the most at-risk ecosystems on the planet.” …NCC says the site also includes 96 hectares of riverbank habitat as well as forests at its highest elevations, which is home to limber pine, an endangered species of tree.

Diana French

The lack of access to available trees is one reason given for the recent layoffs at West Fraser Mills. That should be no surprise. We’ve been running out of “available” trees for years. Since 2020, some 35 Interior B.C. sawmills have closed permanently. We’ve always felled trees faster than they can replace themselves… but it took the Mountain Pine Beetle attack to make us realize forestry isn’t all that sustainable. In 2005 … the Cariboo Chilcotin Beetle Action Committee (CCBAC) [was formed] to mitigate the expected ecological, social and economic effects of the beetle invasion and to ensure a stable future for the area. …CCBAC appointed committees to determine what enterprises would flourish in this area. …When logging the beetle kill saved the lumber companies and jobs, CCBAC’s focus changed. …In 2018 a newer CCBAC board dissolved itself. I wonder how different the Cariboo Chilcotin would be if CCBAC’s original plan to diversify had happened?

Re: “When is breaking the law justified?” Editor’s column, Aug. 11. Anyone can break the law, however there may be real consequences. The example of Rosa Parks’ actions and the actions of the Extinction Rebellion are vastly different. Rosa Parks did not create any additional public risk but she was subject to the law of the times. However, the actions of the Extinction Rebellion, by blocking a YVR major intersection, access to the Horseshoe Bay Ferry terminal, and the northbound lane of the Massey Tunnel did create a significant public risk. …I believe that the public’s tolerance for these types of protests has diminished. Who is Eco-Mobilization Canada (Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act)? Do they get grants from the Canadian government for these protests? How is the group financed? A bigger story may lie in the details.

Re: “Crown seeks jail time for protester” and “When is breaking the law justified?” News, Aug. 11. Last week’s editorial suggested the protestors at the Richmond courthouse were on trial because they had done “the wrong thing for the right reason.”  I would argue that both the actions and the stated reasons deserve scrutiny. Where did the money come from to purchase the commercially-produced signs held up to the cameras?  Who was paying for the defence lawyers, who in all likelihood had coached their clients in how to elicit the maximum amount of sympathy from the judge? Behind the scenes, there are well-funded organizations encouraging and supporting the protest actions. “Save Old Growth” (SOG) is federally incorporated as non-profit under the name “Eco-Mobilization Canada.” …While the three protesters in court no doubt strongly believe in their cause, their conviction alone does not automatically entitle them to claim their demands are “right.”

… One speaker asked Eby about the professional reliance model, which was introduced by the B.C. Liberals in 2000s and allows timber companies and their consultants to make independent land-use decisions that had previously been under the authority of ministry scientists.  Eby said professional reliance has its place in certain areas and suggested it was a benefit to the provincial housing file. But he did add the government’s decisions shouldn’t only be informed by data gathered from the forestry industry.  Two scientists told the Nelson Star in early August that some old-growth management areas in the Kootenays have little to no ancient stands, while others nearby are logged despite having old-growth trees.  “I think that our government doesn’t have sufficient information, we don’t have sufficient maps and detailed information about the ecosystems and about our old growth that we have remaining left in the province,” said Eby.