Region Archives: Canada West

In a forest west of Golden, B.C., Mirjam Barrueto follows a creek bed, heading uphill, her snowshoe-clad feet crunching on the hard crust of months worth of snow.  She’s in search of a booby trap of sorts, configured to snag furtive photos and videos of a mammal some might be afraid to encounter, but that Barrueto, a PhD candidate at the University of Calgary, is eager to discover: the wolverine. Once widespread across Canada, the range of wolverines has significantly decreased over the past two centuries. Considered regionally extinct in parts of Atlantic Canada, climate change is making things worse for many populations of the animal, both nationally and internationally. The species usually lives in places that have snow for many months of the year. Wolverines are now listed as “special concern” under Canada’s Species At Risk Act. But Barrueto’s work in southeastern B.C. could help safeguard a population of the species. 

The B.C. government will conduct aerial moth spray treatments in Lake Cowichan beginning in early May… to prevent lymantria moths, (formerly known as gypsy moths), from becoming established and to minimize the risk they pose to forests, farms, orchards and urban trees. About 402 hectares in Lake Cowichan will be sprayed along with 50 hectares in View Royal and 1,068 hectares in Nanoose/Lantzville/Nanaimo. The ministry said “trapping and monitoring results from 2021 show clear evidence that lymantria moth populations have increased dramatically in the areas slated for treatment this spring, likely as a result of outbreaks in Ontario and Quebec during the past three years. …As many as four applications of Foray 48B will be sprayed in early May and ending in early June. …The active ingredient, Bacillus thuringiensis var kurstaki (Btk)… only affects lymantria moth caterpillars after they have ingested it.”

Josie Osborne

Josie Osborne, Minister of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship, and Katrine Conroy, Minister of Forests, have released the following joint statement during Invasive Species Action Month: “As British Columbians, we all value the province’s rich, diverse wildlife and marine habitats, and recognize that invasive species are a major threat to our natural ecosystems and infrastructure. We rely on resilient land and water habitats, free from invasive species, for food, livelihoods, cultural purposes and much more. Our government works through the Inter-Ministry Invasive Species Working Group, which includes the ministries of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Agriculture and Food, to keep B.C.’s ecosystems and wildlife safe from the threats of invasive species. …during the eighth annual Invasive Species Action Month, we remind British Columbians to be vigilant in checking for and reporting invasive species when boating or exploring the outdoors.

Save Our Holmes president Karen Deck says she’s now received confirmation that Mosaic has deferred a very large area of Mounts Holmes and Mount Good from logging. “The area in green [on the photo] will not be logged for the next 25 years and possibly longer,” Deck said. “Needless to say, we are over the moon about the news and happy for the forest, the watersheds, the residents and the wildlife.” Members of the Save Our Holmes Society, which was formed to stand in opposition of logging on Mount Holmes and Mount Good above the communities of Youbou and Meade Creek, didn’t want to celebrate until they knew for sure the land they’d been fighting for was confirmed safe. They got that assurance last week.

The volunteer group Save Our Forests Team Comox Valley (SOFT-CV) appeared before Comox council on April 20 to ask Council for a new and strengthened tree bylaw and the retention and purchase of remaining forested areas in Comox. SOFT noted Comox’s tree bylaw was adopted in 1994 and hasn’t been updated since 2010, despite increased public concern with climate change and community livability. …SOFT asked council for strong protection of ecosystems and standing trees in the northeast Comox and Hector/Aspen area, retaining at least 30 per cent of the existing forest and purchasing other remaining forested areas. …The group also asked council why Comox didn’t acquire significant parcels of land when they were recently for sale at affordable prices. …SOFT would like Comox to purchase key remaining wooded parcels in the Hector area to protect these urban forests.

To a group of Cortes Islanders, coming together to oppose logging is a time-honoured tradition, one that they’ve dusted off again after hearing about Mosaic Forest Management’s plans to log a portion of the island in 2022, 2023 and 2024. On April 20, around 100 people gathered to respond to Mosaic’s plans to log on lands owned by the company. There are just over 1,000 hectares identified as harvestable in a draft map that was shared as part of the company’s three year plan. Islander Kai Harvey spoke about mother trees — saying that a number of these key trees are found in proposed logging sites. …meeting organizer Cecil Robinson suggested the community purchase the land from Mosaic, which was echoed by attendees of the meeting including Strathcona Regional District director Noba Anderson. “Take it back into community control, let Mosaic take the funds and shareholders can go off and reinvest in something not so contentious,” Robinson said. 

A Victoria-based forest and resource group has started an online petition calling on B.C. municipalities and law enforcement to act quickly to clear old-growth protesters who blockade roads. The group called Green Growth BC says it launched its “Clear the Road” campaign out of frustration with the recent blockades, saying the province is making headway in preserving old-growth forests. Two protesters with the group Save Old Growth were arrested last month after blocking the Trans-Canada Highway in Langford, B.C. …Stewart Muir with Green Growth BC says watching videos of the altercation that were posted online inspired the campaign and petition. “It is heart-wrenching to see some of these videos about people stuck,” Muir said Wednesday. “They have sick children in the car, they’re going to life-impacting events in their lives. I mean it’s people in tears, begging to be let through. You can’t watch that and not have some compassion if you feel for other people.”

Blocking a road isn’t environmentalism if it means hundreds of cars are forced to sit idling on the highway. Blocking a road in the name of “old growth” isn’t environmentalism if it means preventing responsible forestry workers from doing their green, renewable jobs. The marginal group disrupting our drive today doesn’t care about other people. Their ONLY objective, as they’ve made it clear, is not to “save old growth”, it’s to make people angry. That’s unacceptable. Sign the petition today. Let’s tell our local municipalities and police they must do more to keep our roads clear.

Garnet Mierau

Part 3 of the series Fire & Flood: Facing Two Extremes explores why critical measures to protect communities from wildfires have not been taken. Garnet Mierau stood in the forest at the north edge of the town of Logan Lake in the B.C. Interior. On one side, the ground and standing trees are badly burned, some like blackened match sticks. On the other, the forest is burned but more lightly. …The less-damaged area has been worked on before the fire to reduce the intensity and spread of wildfire: thinning timber, cutting underbrush and the lower limbs of trees, and removing woody debris from the forest floor. It is designed to keep fire on the ground, away from the upper reaches of the tree canopy where it can spread rapidly. …“The treatment absolutely worked — 100 per cent worked,” says Mierau, a professional forester who helps manage a community forest in a doughnut-shaped area around town.

The Woodland Almanac features a report by Brian McNaughton, General Manager, “Government Initiatives of Interest to Woodlot Licensees”. Brian gives a brief status report on Old Growth, Tab Rates, Bill 28 Changes to the Forest Act, Bill 23 Changes to the Forest & Range Practices Act and DRIPA, and FLNRORD reorganization. Ed Hughes has an article on TAB Rates, Waste Manuals and Avoidance of Waste Penalties. Debbie Zandbelt, RPF reviews Timber Pricing, Social Licence and Grass Roots Success. Diane Nicholls gets a warm send off to her new roll at Drax with memories shared by Brian McNaughton and finally, check out the entries in the “Big and Old Trees” photo contest. All this and more in the quarterly newsletter. 

The Ignite program funds B.C.-based innovation projects in the areas of natural resources, applied science and engineering. Up to $300,000is available to fund B.C.-based innovation projects that could help benefit people in the areas of natural resources, engineering and applied science. The funding is awarded to teams of academia and industry who come together to solve a significant challenge that British Columbians face. Previous winning projects have ranged from cleantech to energy to mining to forestry to agriculture and beyond. The Ignite program supports the Province’s Stronger BC Economic Plan by providing B.C. businesses with the funding needed to add value to industries, create new jobs and growth throughout B.C.’s economy. “Through our StrongerBC Economic Plan, we are supporting innovation across the economy to provide more opportunities for B.C. businesses to expand and create jobs for people,” said Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation.

Two projects from the Nazko First Nation and Fraser Headwaters Alliance were named recipients of the College of New Caledonia Research Forest Society’s (CNCRFS) legacy fund. Launched in 2019, the CNCRFS legacy fund supports projects with a focus on environmental improvement, renewable natural resource education and and/or outreach programs, outdoor recreation improvement, or social/environmental commitment to communities the college serves. The legacy fund provided $100,000 in total to support the efforts of these two projects. Since 2019, the CNCRFS legacy fund has provided $190,000 to projects from around north central British Columbia. “Once again, we had so many wonderfully creative proposals submitted, which made choosing just one a difficult task,” said CNC Research Forest Manager Carl Pollard. “There’s a lot of passion and respect for the natural environment of the region. We’re pleased to support these two projects that benefit us now and for generations to come.”

I read Chief Vern Janvier’s column in the April 29 Edmonton Journal “Province needs a better plan to protect caribou” and …I thank him for sharing his opinion. I particularly appreciate Chief Janvier’s critique of the Biodiversity Management Framework, which is still in draft form after 10 years, as being “like taking 10 years to make a plan to pay off your credit card.” …My goal as minister is to manage lands responsibly so that future generations can see woodland caribou. …There is no doubt caribou habitat in the Cold Lake area has been under pressure from oilsands and forestry development and that is why the primary focus of the plan is to recover 65 per cent of their range to undisturbed levels. Industry has accepted that more must be done and has come to the table. The Alberta government has invested $33 million in the caribou habitat restoration program since 2019.

The BC Wildfire Service says our province could be in for another severe wildfire season if we don’t get more rain. So far, fire season is setting up much like last year, which went down as the third-worst on record in terms of area burned. Brent Martin, deputy director of the BC Wildfire Service says the problem with the lack of precipitation in the Thompson-Okanagan region means the fuels for forest fires remain dry. Kelowna just recorded its third-driest April in 117 years. “The season could be just sort of a normal type season. So this isn’t at all about pushing the panic button. But we’re very much actively engaged. We’re watching for trends, we’re looking for where hazards are going to build. And that helps us in preparing and pre-planning, where resources may need to be deployed,” says Martin.

Julia Martinusen

If trail building is an art as much as a craft, the Cowichan Lake Trail Blazers Society are on their way to becoming masters. These active volunteers have worked with Mosaic Forest Management on a formal agreement to develop trails above the town of Youbou as part of their overall goal to ‘develop, maintain, and promote hiking and biking trails throughout the Cowichan Lake region for residents and tourists’.  The Cowichan Lake Trail Blazers Society’s work on the Christopher Rock Trail has focused on adding switchbacks to improve user safety on the steeper sections of the trail. “It has taken time, and a very productive working relationship with Mosaic, to define the agreement to access Mosaic’s private forest lands,” said Julia Martinusen, President of the Cowichan Lake Trail Blazers Society. “We believe that our community will love the improvements to this important trail in the Youbou area.”

Several B.C. based conservation groups are calling on the provincial government to issue immediate deferral orders for ongoing and planned logging in at-risk old growth forests, after new evidence obtained from satellite imaging shows ongoing logging and pending cut permits in proposed deferral areas across the province. Eddie Petryshen, conservation specialist with Wildsight … said that the NDP’s announcement that it would defer harvest of 2.6 million hectares of old growth forest hasn’t been “translated to on-the-ground action.” …The cutting permit for forest in the Wood River, north of Golden is a good opportunity to test the NDP’s credibility and set a precedent for old growth protection, Petryshen said. …Wildsight wants to see immediate deferrals of logging in all at-risk old-growth forest, more regular updates and transparency about deferrals from the NDP and an increase in funding to support deferrals that relate to lost revenues for First Nations…

Can the North Cowichan municipal forest be a significant benefit to the community? Yes, judging from a recent publication The Tree Farm describing the history and operation of Canada’s first community forest at Mission, B.C. This well-written book by Michelle Rhodes relates how Mission has become a role model of sustainable community forestry in Canada. The book describes how the forest operations, working in concert with the indigenous community and the provincial government, has reaped financial rewards and provided recreational camping, hiking and biking trails. …By learning from Mission’s lead we can reap the same benefits in North Cowichan.

Starting this month, B.C.’s Ministry of Forests will spray more than a thousand hectares surrounding View Royal, Lake Cowichan and Nanaimo for the lymantria moth. Fifty hectares in View Royal, 402 hectares in Lake Cowichan and more than 1,068 hectares in the Nanoose/Lantzville/Nanaimo area will receive four applications of the insecticide Foray 48B to combat the invasive moth species. This application will not change the certification of affected organic farms, said B.C.’s Ministry of Forests. The aerial spraying is expected to be completed by early June. The invasive moth species, formerly known as gypsy moths, are hazardous to food crops including apples and blueberries, and trees including Garry oak, arbutus, red alder, aspen, cottonwood, maple, orchard fruit trees and nut trees.

VANCOUVER – The activists behind road blockades and hunger strikes calling for an end to old-growth logging in BC say their non-violent actions are aimed at sparking public discussion and urging politicians to heed climate science. …The demonstrations on highways and bridges in Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Island have snarled traffic for hours, marking a different approach than blockades at Fairy Creek. …Repeatedly blocking roads and inconveniencing commuters isn’t likely to generate as much support, said UBC’s David Tindall, whose research is focused on environmental movements in Canada. Yet from the protesters’ perspective, there’s just a short window of opportunity left to preserve old forests, he said. …Speaking at a forest industry conference, Conroy said the province is following the recommendations of an independent review and working to develop a new, long-term strategy that “prioritizes ecosystem health and community prosperity.”

The Village of Fraser Lake in northern B.C. says its innovative approach to logging in the community forest is helping the municipality develop in a sustainable way. Community forests are area-based forestry tenures that start off with a 25-year lease. They’re managed by local governments who decide where the revenue goes. Fraser Lake Mayor Sarrah Storey said the village decided to do things its own way in the community forest and is making bank as a result. “We could have taken a different deal, and we chose to do it on our own and we reaped the benefits of that.” Village CAO Rodney Holland said revenue from a more sustainable approach to logging has helped bring the community back from the brink after the local mine closed in 2015.

The B.C. government will conduct aerial spray treatments and one ground treatment in six specific Lower Mainland locations this spring.  These treatments will prevent lymantria moths, formerly known as gypsy moths, from becoming established and to minimize the risk they pose to forests, farms, orchards and urban trees.   …Trapping and monitoring results from 2021 show clear evidence that lymantria moth populations have increased dramatically in the areas slated for treatment this spring, likely resulting from outbreaks in Ontario and Quebec during the past three years.  If left untreated, the invasive lymantria moths could spread to other areas of British Columbia. Trees such as Garry oak, arbutus, red alder, aspen, cottonwood, maple, orchard fruit trees, nut trees and many species of urban ornamental trees would be affected, as well as food crops such as apples, blueberries and other fruits.