Region Archives: Canada West

VICTORIA, BC – The West Coast is on track for a cold, wet June. Officials say the silver lining is a low fire hazard for the early summer. However, the province noted there are several areas experiencing drier-than-normal patterns, including southern Cariboo, Thompson-Okanagan and Rocky Mountain Trench. Officials plan to monitor these areas as the longer-range forecast indicates a shift to above seasonal temperatures for late July and August, which may bring an increased wildfire hazard. To support wildfire prevention, preparedness and resilient communities, Budget 2022 provided $359 million in new funding to protect British Columbians from wildfires. [Related coverage includes]:

BC Local News: Gloomy conditions may help quell early-season forest fire intensity

East Kootenay News: A Trust/province partnership helps communities reduce wildfire risk

North Cowichan’s municipal forest reserve and the battle to save it are being featured in The Last Stand, a documentary by filmmaker Peter von Puttkamer which “examines the urgent race to save the world’s last remaining ancient forests and stop global warming.” Cowichan’s Icel Dobell was interviewed for the film and her part was filmed in the contentious Stoney Hill area. …“There is no old growth in North Cowichan but we have the next best thing: approximately 80-year-old, second-growth, naturally regenerated forests functioning as old growth. They are rare and endangered — their uniqueness is that they were logged before the advent of the tree plantations,” Dobell explained. …The film also highlighted Fairy Creek’s “Battle for the Trees” as a means to investigate the importance of keeping intact forest ecosystems around the world.

The village of Zeballos on the northwest coast of Vancouver Island is one of several B.C. communities struggling to maintain its volunteer fire department as wildfire season approaches. Last week, fire service in Zeballos was temporarily suspended with no date for it to resume. Mayor Julie Colborne told residents that while they can still call 911 to report a fire to a dispatch service, there will be “no response to a fire callout.” She advised residents to contact their insurance provider as [this] may affect their coverage. …the village hasn’t been able to find a fire chief for some time …towns with shrinking populations face issues with recruitment, and have a hard time paying for fire equipment. A limited tax base makes it difficult to buy fire trucks and maintain a firehall. …Emergency Management B.C. said the government is “aware of the challenges facing rural fire departments.”

KAMLOOPS — After an extreme fire season in BC in 2021, the province is predicting a less severe fire season this year.  Last summer, many parts of the province saw towns and forests go up in flames.  Friday (June 3), the province outlined its predictions for this year’s summer season. Lead Forecaster from the B.C. Wildfire Service Matt MacDonald says the province felt a heat dome last year which contributed to the extreme temperatures.  He says the odds of that occurring again this summer isn’t likely.  “As our climate continues to change we can definitely expect a higher frequency some studies have shown that we can expect these heat dome-like signatures to present themselves perhaps once in a decade. ” …He says B.C. residents can possibly be optimistic as lightning strikes that start fires are down significantly compared to the 10-year average.

British Columbians can expect cooler and wetter conditions in June, which means the fire hazard is anticipated to remain low through the early summer, as shown in the BC Wildfire Service’s latest seasonal outlook.  Despite this, there are several key regions demonstrating drier-than-normal patterns, including southern Cariboo, Thompson-Okanagan and Rocky Mountain Trench. These regions will be monitored closely. The longer-range forecast indicates a shift to above seasonal temperatures for late July and August, which may bring an increased wildfire hazard.  To support wildfire prevention, preparedness and resilient communities, Budget 2022 provided $359 million in new funding to protect British Columbians from wildfires.  This is the largest investment in the history of the wildfire service and is helping transform the organization into a year-round service and shift from its current reactive model to a more proactive approach. 

LAVINGTON, BC — Helicopter logging above a Lavington neighbourhood is coming to a close.  The logging has been ongoing for the past few weeks to reduce wildfire risk in an area affected by fir beetle kill, says Trish Balcaen of Balcaen Consolidated, the logging arm of Coldstream Ranch, where the work is happening.  Residents of Brewer Road have been complaining about noise from the operation, but Balcaen says a terrain stability assessment dictated the use of helicopters as the 10-hectare stand is on steep ground.  … “The terrain stability report was part of the guidance on the type of harvesting we used.”  Some residents complain they weren’t informed of the work before it began, and Balcaen acknowledges some may not have been reached, but both she and her site manager canvassed the area to inform those they could contact.

For the first time since the pandemic hit, City of Powell River council chambers were full of recipients for the nearly $2.3 million for 16 grants handed out from the Powell River Community Forest reserve fund. At the June 2 city council meeting, mayor Dave Formosa’s reaction was: “Wow, wow, what would we do without this community forest?” He added that the community forest members know what they do to helps the community. …“The recreation complex would probably not be standing today if it wasn’t for this group,” said Formosa. “My heart is just full of love and thanks for this group.” …Powell River Community Forest president Greg Hemphill said he wanted to extend thanks to city council, on behalf of the board, for its ongoing support. …The dividend from the 2021 operations was $2,668,952. Hemphill said this will allow both a spring and fall grant take-up. 

Fergus McSween

Fergus McSween loves the outdoors. Growing up in Calgary, he spent much of his youth roaming Alberta’s forests as a scout or camping with friends and family.  …“Nature is so peaceful and tranquil. I feel I belong out there.” He graduates June 15 with a bachelor of science in forestry, as well as a job and a zeal to contribute to his chosen field. …“I want to help preserve nature for the enjoyment of future generations — one of the main tenets of a forester — and that’s become the focal point … my career: ensuring our forest practices do the utmost to minimize all environmental impacts.” McSween now works as a full-time planning forester [for West Fraser] in the logging industry …he discovered there was a demand for forestry professionals. “Forestry is an industry that is inherently stable, so no one ever really struggles to find a job when they graduate.”

Jeremy van Loon

Canada’s forests have an outsized role to play — for better or for worse — in Canada’s efforts to counter climate change. Canada’s vast northern forests stretch from Labrador to the Yukon. …In spite of this vast potential, however, Canada’s forests have actually been a net source of carbon emissions for the better part of two decades, releasing into the air more carbon than they absorb, according to Natural Resources Canada data. With the threat of warmer, drier summers in the years to come, there is a real risk of more and bigger fires. …Currently, most fire management strategies do not include a focus on limiting carbon emissions from burning forests, which is by far the largest source of carbon emissions from Canadian forests in recent years. …Canada will need every tool in its toolbox to avoid setting off a carbon emissions bomb in our forests as we push towards net-zero by 2050.

An open house about proposed logging in the Horsefly Lake area attracted around 90 people Saturday, May 28, who shared their concerns, many of them expressing the desire to see logging done in a better way. Three Tolko Industries Ltd. foresters with maps, google images and computers were stationed around the Horsefly community hall to answer questions from the public in advance of the company making any final plans for harvesting in the area. …Tolko forester Rob Van Buskirk said Horsefly Lake is classified as a B class lake, which means it has more rules on how companies operate around it. …Helen Englund with the Horsefly River Roundtable has been researching the watershed, logging activities and gathering input from people who have concerns that she will forward to Tolko and the ministry of forests.

After a year-long pilot project that allowed homeowners to cut down trees up to 30 cm in diameter without a permit, Vancouver is being urged to scrap the change because the 640 trees lost during that period were more than the city expected.  The change last June to Vancouver’s protection of trees bylaw, which also allowed homeowners and builders in certain situations to forgo an arborist report before a tree was removed, was intended to eliminate a bottleneck in the application process for residential building permits.  …Staff said there were 240 trees between 20 cm and 30 cm staff knew of that had been removed in the past year. Staff estimated an additional 400 trees of that size were removed from private lands.

The Emerald Awards showcase those who are raising the bar in addressing local, regional, and global environmental & climate issues. In doing so, a standard of excellence is set that inspires others in their own practices. Since 1992, the AEF has recognized nearly 400 recipients and 900 finalists through the Emerald Awards program. Steve McIsaac, executive director of Inside Education is this year’s recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award. Steve’s career began in 1992 as the first full-time educator at Inside Education (then FEESA). With his background as a social studies teacher, Steve ensures a balanced approach to exploring environmental issues and sustainability. The legacy, consistency, and opportunities that Inside Education provides as an organization are directly attributed to Steve’s leadership. …With Inside Education’s annual reach averaging over 20,000 students Steve’s passion for environmental education has influenced the lives and learning of more than 600,000 young people!

The largest sector of industry in northern Saskatchewan is getting a shot in the arm. The provincial government has announced an additional $400,000 from the 2022-23 provincial budget to be put towards an updated forest resource inventory.  New technology makes mapping the forest a simpler job than in years past. They’ve inventoried five million hectares so far, with the hope of inventorying the full province within five years.  “We anticipate that this funding will make it easier for us to do our job,” said Lane Gelhorn, forest inventory specialist with Forest Services, “to provide adequate information for sustainable management of our forest resources.”  According to Gelhorn, the information gained from this investment will help determine not only what levels are appropriate for harvesting right now, but also whether levels can be maintained.  The forestry industry involves a lot of scouting and accurate forecasting in order to be sustainable. 

The Government of Saskatchewan is renewing its commitment to a strong, resilient and growing forestry sector with the development of a forest resource inventory project by the Ministry of Environment. “This project will facilitate the expansion of our forestry industry and support appropriate stewardship of our forests by providing critical information to industry and other users,” Environment Minister Dana Skoropad said. “The information from the forest resource inventory will help us, along with industry, continue to sustainably manage Saskatchewan’s publicly owned forests to a high standard that is recognized nationally and around the world.” …The Ministry of Environment has completed the forest resource inventory for more than five million hectares and anticipates completing the entire commercial forest within five years.

The Kitasoo Xai’xais and Nuxalk First Nations, along with BC Parks, have signed an agreement that could lead to shared compliance and enforcement responsibilities within provincial protected areas in both Nations’ territories. Once established, the Guardian Shared Compliance and Enforcement Pilot Project will designate select Indigenous guardians with the same legal authorities as BC Parks rangers, making it the first project of its kind in B.C. “Our Nation has stewarded our traditional territory for millennia. Our traditional laws, knowledge systems and practices, combined with the legal authorities envisioned under this pilot project, create a unique opportunity to ensure the land and all of its natural and cultural values are protected for the long term,” said Chief Doug Neasloss of the Kitasoo Xai’xais Nation.

Re: When protests turn into stunts… The desperate state of our old-growth forests… have led some people, like Save Old Growth, to take desperate measures. And it’s true; those desperate measures may have cost the support of some old-growth allies. Added to this mess is our provincial government, which appears beholden to the forest industry with policies like wildlife protection, which sound good, but are only enforced on the condition that they do not unduly reduce the timber supply, and by shifting logging oversight to industry. Provincial lawmakers attend annual meetings of the forest industry … to address their concerns while disavowing any part in the mess. …Unlike Save Old Growth, the local Save Our Forests Team, through our booth at community events, chooses to offer people a means to tell government that we are aware of and opposed to the policies and practices leading to the eradication of old-growth forests.

Quazi Hassan

On the anniversary of two of Alberta’s largest-ever fire-related disasters, a University of Calgary researcher is determined to develop a forest fire-forecasting system for the province. In May 2011, more than a third of the town of Slave Lake was destroyed by a wildfire, with insured losses estimated at $700 million. Five years later, wildfires in the Rural Municipality of Wood Buffalo, including Fort McMurray, caused more than $2.7 billion… Dr. Quazi Hassan, PhD, has been analyzing NASA satellite data from the past 20 years, hoping to better understand forest fires and the conditions that create them. The geomatics engineering professor has broken the province up into 21 natural subregions, quantifying the extent and magnitude of monthly and annual warming trends, and is starting to see some trends develop. …Looking at the intersection of climate change and wildfire risk Hassan released recommendations for urban planners on how best to prevent catastrophic infernos from entering communities.

Forest for the Trees opens with a birds-eye view of a logging truck, winding its way through the thick forests that surround Prince George. The film then moves to a remote tree planting work camp, where young people from all across Canada spend their days jabbing shovels into clear cut land, with the hope that their hard work regenerates a massacred forest.  Rita Leistner’s evocative and layered documentary provides a detailed look at tree planting life by sharing the stories of people who sign up for this grueling work. But the film is also a fascinating study on perseverance, and the deep connections between body and mind. In the documentary, we meet a dozen or so tree planters, who share how they ended up on the job, and what it’s actually like to go out alone on the cut block and plant 1000 or so trees a day in sweltering heat. 

Alison Long and Kirby

…This season, roughly 5,000 tree planters will fan out across British Columbia to repopulate cut blocks and replant forests charred by wildfire. By the end of the season, those planters will have dropped an estimated 280 million seedlings into the ground, says John Betts, executive director of the Western Forestry Contractors’ Association (WFCA). It’s an industry that has traditionally relied on word of mouth to replenish its workforce — the promise to walk into an adventure and walk away with a lot of money by summer’s end. But getting enough workers to plant those trees has become increasingly challenging. Several tree planting companies Glacier Media spoke to said they had a hard time filling positions this year. Some attributed that to a wide-open job market, most to rising inflation. “We were doing really well. We had lots of applications in February and March,” said Timo Scheiber, CEO of the New Westminster-based Brinkman Reforestation Ltd.

YELLOWKNIFE — A vast northern wilderness that has for centuries been a cultural sanctuary for northern Indigenous people has become Canada’s latest National Wildlife Area. Edehzhzie, more than twice the size of Banff National Park, comprises more than 14,000 square kilometres of forest, lakes, rivers and uplands. Many bird species that migrate south have their breeding grounds there and it is home to animals including bears, lynx, caribou, moose and bison. Edehzhie has been a Protected Area since 2018 and is partly managed by local First Nations through guardian programs. …The federal government is kicking in $10 million to support management and research in the area. 

Registration is now open for the virtual 2022 BC First Nations Forestry Council Conference,June 22-23, 2022. The BC First Nations Forestry Council invites First Nations, industry and government to attend the 3rd annual BC First Nations Forestry Conference – Connecting First Nations to Forest Sector Opportunities. During the two-day virtual event, attendees can take part in panel discussions on relevant policy and legislation changes in BC, celebrate the growing BC Indigenous forestry workforce, and learn more about how we can connect that workforce to forest sector opportunities.

SQUAMISH, BC — Ever look over at the dry log sort on the east side of the Mamquam Blind Channel in Squamish and wonder what its story is? Unless you work in the forest industry or grew up in Squamish, the stacked logs and activity may be a mystery. …Previously, until 1940, the property was used by the Merrill and Ring Lumber Company, which utilized it as a log dump and sorting grounds. …The log sort regularly handles wood from throughout the Sea to Sky Natural Resource District, elsewhere on the coast, and occasionally from the Lillooet Timber Supply Area and beyond. Seven First Nations owning a large majority of timber rights within the Sea to Sky District are dependent on the facilities.

The B.C. government should do a better job of forecasting potential flooding and recognize that activities such as logging, road-building in forests, and the growing threat of wildfires contribute to flood risks, concludes a report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The report — based on interviews with nearly a dozen experts, including a former head of the B.C. River Forecast Centre — calls on the province to enact reforms such as incorporating information on wildfires, logging and roadbuilding into flood forecast models to increase their effectiveness. …“The provincial government needs to listen to what these experts are saying. There are things clearly in the province’s control that could reduce the prospect for devastating floods and provide vulnerable communities with ample warning of troubles that lie ahead,” said the report’s author, Ben Parfitt, a resource policy analyst with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

After a couple of quiet years, the 2021 wildfire season in the Cariboo was another challenging one. The BC Wildfire Service has released a summary that shows that there were 305 wildfires between April 1st, 2021 and March 28th, 2022. That was up from just 48 in 2020 and 51 in 2019. 129,537 hectares were burned, which was also up significantly from just 57 and 189 hectares the previous two years. Of course, last year’s numbers pale in comparison to 2017, which was the worst wildfire season in BC’s history. …Most the wildfires of note were located in the South Cariboo region. …Province-wide, 60 percent of the wildfires were natural caused, 35 percent were human caused and 5 percent were undetermined.