Region Archives: Canada West

@FortisBC

A Kootenay-based conservation society is calling out B.C. Timber Sales (BCTS) for rhetoric they say is “misleading.” The Valhalla Wilderness Society said that they have had experience with “so-called” community planning processes for logging watersheds in B.C. “A community watershed planning process actually means a watershed logging process,” they said in an email to Castanet. …Environmentalists and forest managers have long had issue with the practice of clear cutting. A new report from the journal of hydrology said that clearcutting can make “catastrophic floods more frequent.” However, BCTS reiterated that their watershed forest plan would address public concerns about water quality, wildfire risks and impacts for future logging happening in the Bonnington area. …The Valhalla Wilderness Society has suggested Bonnington residents should have a professional fire risk assessment done independently from BCTS in order to remain impartial.

Warren Hansen

I am writing in response to Ross Muirhead’s letter regarding the Elphinstone Highlands cutblock TA0519 (“What does ‘administrative error’ mean?” Coast Reporter, July 11). While Mr. Muirhead suggests that BC Timber Sales (BCTS) is “backing away” from this cutblock due to an “administrative error,” this is a misinterpretation of the situation. The administrative error he refers to pertains to the timeline for developing and receiving approval for the stocking standards for this block from the Ministry of Forests. …I expect that BCTS is committed to ensuring all necessary approvals and standards are met. …Furthermore, Mr. Muirhead’s assertions about the capabilities of feller bunchers in commercial thinning do not fully account for modern forestry practices. …I commend the Elphinstone Community Association for having the public meeting with BCTS and being engaged in objective, meaningful conversations.

A recent report out of British Columbia suggests using beneficial fires to build wildfire resilience. In the Yukon, that idea is not new — but finding a way to reap the benefits of fire while preventing devastation is a delicate balancing act. …the report on beneficial fire in B.C. from the University of Victoria’s POLIS Wildfire Resilience Project says if communities can find a way to live with fire and, in some cases, use it to their advantage, they can help protect themselves and ecosystems from future devastation. …According to the report, beneficial fire is “planned or unplanned wildland fire that has positive effects on ecosystem processes and functions and has acceptable risk to human communities.” The report adds that beneficial fire can include “cultural fire, prescribed fire and managed fire.” …Sean Smith, chief of Kwanlin Dün First Nation, says fire is a part of his people’s “cultural history.”

An investigation begun in March 2023 into RCMP actions at three logging protests is still not complete. The Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) is looking into the actions of the RCMP “E” Division Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG), which was formed in 2017 to respond to protests against industrial projects in B.C. One of the incidents being investigated is the police enforcement of an injunction obtained by Cooper Creek Cedar against protesters at Salisbury Creek near Argenta in the summer of 2022, which led to 17 arrests. The other two conflicts arose from the Coastal GasLink Ltd. injunction on Wet’suwet’en traditional territory and the Teal Cedar Products Ltd. injunction in the Fairy Creek watershed on Vancouver Island, both in 2022. … The investigation comes after widespread complaints to the CRCC about aggressive and militaristic police tactics at all three locations.

Lori Daniels

Climate change is extending the season during which hot and dry weather encourages fire across North America. At the same time, a long post-settlement history of stamping out wildfires has changed much of the continent’s landscape: …Forest ecologist Lori Daniels, at the University of BC, has found evidence in tree rings for surprisingly high rates of fires before the early 1900s, thanks to the Indigenous use of fire to manage huge swaths of forest. In BC, after European settlers put an end to burning, much of the forest changed dramatically: In one study site, Daniels and her colleagues have documented 200 to 775 trees per hectare — more than four times the historical average of 50 to 190 trees. North America, researchers say, is running a “fire deficit.” Daniels is one of many ecologists now advocating for a return of more beneficial fire to the landscape in order to break up the forest and prevent catastrophic wildfires. 

Ward Stammer

BC Premier Eby’s Mandate Letter to Forests Minister Ravi Parmar ordered the ministry to help the forestry sector achieve a harvest target of 45 million cubic metres per year – a staggering 50% increase over last year’s total. That sounds good on paper. But it’s not going to happen. And when it doesn’t, you can already hear the excuses. …Now there’s talk of Ottawa imposing quotas on Canadian softwood exports to the US, a move that would add even more uncertainty. And you can bet this NDP government will use it as another excuse to stand back and let the annual allowable cut continue to slide further. Well, we don’t have the luxury of pretending. Even if the total harvest is only 30 million cubic metres, BC Timber Sales should still be producing at least six million. Instead, it’s on track to deliver less than three.

VANCOUVER, BC — West Fraser Timber and the Lake Babine Nation Forestry Limited Partnership (LBN Forestry) welcomed the announcement by the Government of BC approving the creation of a new First Nations Woodland Licence in the Smithers area. The licence, created from timber tenures contributed by West Fraser and LBN Forestry, will be held by LBN Forestry which is owned by the Lake Babine Nation. …To enable the creation of the new tenure, West Fraser contributed portions of its licence volume held in the Bulkley and Morice Timber Supply Areas, to help create a meaningful area-based licence. Additional volume was made available through the Government-held, BC Timber Sales, helping enhance the licence’s scope and potential impact. …Sean McLaren, President and CEO of West Fraser said “This milestone recognizes Lake Babine Nation’s role as the resource steward in its traditional territory and reflects our shared commitment to sustainable forestry.”

@FortisBC

A community watershed forest plan is being developed to address public concerns about water quality, wildfire risks and impacts, but some forest advocates have little hope for change. BC Timber Sales (BCTS) is planning logging and wildfire protection in the Falls Creek watershed near Bonnington, just above the Corra Linn dam. Residents will have a chance to shape the plan, but the end result will come down to BCTS… BCTS explained that consultant Cathy Scott May, a Bonnington resident and strategic natural resource management planner for rural communities, will gather residents’ questions and facilitate conversations. May will be working with BCTS to help develop a community watershed forest plan… But some forest advocates see BCTS engagement as more symbolic than impactful. …Joe Karthein of Save What’s Left Conservation Society said … he can’t recall when forest advocates have successfully stopped BCTS from logging a proposed cut block in the Kootenay area.

In an industry dominated by high-tech sawmills … a small mill in Valemount is the exception… At Cedar Valley Holdings mill virtually every unit of wood in every cedar log entering the mill, including their frequently rotted cores, gets turned into product…. It’s precisely the sort of value-added operation that Premier David Eby told Forests Minister Ravi Parmar should be the goal in BC’s forest industry. Yet the mill … is in trouble. …logs it could use are taken to Prince George where they are thrown into a chipper to make wood pulp. …the logs being chipped come from forests licensed to the Valemount Community Forest, whose mandate is to “promote small and value-added manufacturing”. …The high concentration of community forest logs in the hands of the major companies indicates that those companies do not have enough logs available to them from their own forest licences and are making up the shortfalls with community forests’ logs.

KAMLOOPS, BC — Thompson Rivers University (TRU) is playing a key role in strengthening wildfire resilience in Canada through the newly established Wildfire Resilience Consortium of Canada (WRCC). The WRCC is supported by an $11.7 million investment over four years from the Government of Canada through the Wildfire Resilient Futures Initiative. …The WRCC will act as a national virtual network, bringing together Indigenous knowledge holders, researchers, practitioners and industry leaders to enhance wildfire resilience by advancing knowledge sharing, technology, and Indigenous fire stewardship across jurisdictions. TRU joined the consortium in partnership with the BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) and shares a seat as one of five foundational partners. Others include the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction, FPInnovations, the National Indigenous Fire Safety Council and the Forest Products Association of Canada. …For more on the WRCC and its network, please see the announcement from Natural Resources Canada.

A report from the Nelson-based organization Save What’s Left calls on the provincial government to revamp BC Timber Sales and give it an environmental stewardship mandate. The 50-page report titled Public Forest, Public Trust alleges that BCTS logs old growth forests, disturbs watersheds and interferes with wildlife corridors.  BCTS is an independent organization within the Ministry of Forests that develops Crown timber for auction. BCTS plans and designs logging operations and builds logging roads, then sells the timber to the highest bidder. The document lays out 24 such allegations, stating they are based on field verification by Save What’s Left, on satellite time-lapse imagery, and on conversations with forest professionals and forest workers. “This paper both outlines the myriad of problems with how BC Timber Sales operates and presents a new path forward,” writes prominent environmentalist David Suzuki in his introduction to the report. “What we need now is courage by leaders to walk that path.”

Murray Wilson

A longtime logger turned documentary filmmaker is calling for change in the B.C. logging and forestry industry, and B.C.’s forests critic says he’s hit the nail on the head. The documentary, titled B.C. is Burning, was screened on the campus of Thompson Rivers University on Tuesday evening to a crowd well over 100 people, including some Kamloops city councillors and local MLAs. The film calls for greater management of B.C. forests to reduce fire risk, which it argues can be accomplished through the further use of practices like forest thinning, partial harvesting, prescribed and cultural burnings and “regenerative harvesting” — replacing swaths of mature or damaged trees to make way for younger and healthier forests, similar to clear cutting. …Speaking with reporters following the screening, retired logger and creator of the documentary Murray Wilson said he thinks new policy and regulation is needed to reduce fire risk, and that is part of the reason he made the film.

The B.C. government is transferring more than 700 hectares of land in the Mount Benson area back to Snuneymuxw First Nation. The move follows a 212ha transfer of ‘Mount Benson East’ land, in January 2024, according to a press release from provincial government, with the latest 700ha of land known as ‘Mount Benson North,’ or te’tuxwtun North. According to a land transfer agreement, more than 3,000 hectares of land in all will be returned to the First Nation. The land will be held by the Petroglyph Development Group, Snuneymuxw’s economic development group, the press release noted, for forestry use. …Ian Simpson, Petroglyph Development Group CEO, said the move allows Snuneymuxw to reclaim a vital role within its territory and continue “a legacy of sustainable growth.” “[Petroglyph], through a Mount Benson Forestry Limited Partnership, will continue working with the land to build an economic engine that drives prosperity and strengthens self-determination,” he stated in the press release.

A contractor’s appeal of a B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS) order to pay more than $1.8 million in compensation and penalties will be heard after a May 22 decision by the Forest Appeals Commission. Panel chair Ian Miller found “special circumstances” led to last summer’s two-day delay in filing a notice to appeal and granted the extension to Jaikle Contracting. “The delay was brief, the explanations and reasons are reasonable and credible, and there would be substantial prejudice to the appellant if the right to appeal is denied,” said Miller’s ruling. On July 12, 2024, designated decision maker Laurence Bowdige of BCWS issued a contravention order against Jaikle, under the Wildfire Regulation, for harvesting timber near Mackenzie in August 2021. “Specifically, that the appellant did not keep an adequate fire suppression system at the activity site while carrying out a high-risk activity within 300 metres of forest land,” said the Miller ruling.