Region Archives: Canada West

Ben Parfitt

On Monday, senior staff at B.C.’s Forests Ministry were told that one of their highest-ranking members — the province’s chief forester, Diane Nicholls — was entering a revolving door that would sweep her seamlessly out of government and into the industry her ministry regulates. “Diane is leaving us to further her work in sustainable forestry in the private sector in the role of VP sustainability for North America with Drax,” Rick Manwaring, forests deputy minister, said. Whether Manwaring himself chose those words or was assisted in drafting them by government communications staff is unknown. But what can be said is that his email downplayed what Drax is or what its “presence” means for B.C.’s forests. ..Something Manwaring didn’t say about Nicholls. Two years ago she chose to be in an industry-funded video extolling the virtues of wood pellets. The video was produced by the Wood Pellet Association of Canada.

When Peter Durocher was a younger man, he remembers thousands of frog eggs blackening the shores near his home in Île-à-la-Crosse each spring.  …He sees that slow change reflected in a projected northern Saskatchewan temperature increase.  A Prairie Adaptation Research Collaborative (PARC) study indicates climate change will bring significant changes to his home.  That’s why he wants to establish the Sakitawak Indigenous Protected and Conservation Area (IPCA) to ease the transition in a changing climate.  …The Métis-led project has completed its preliminary work — which included the study — to protect 22,000 square kilometres of boreal forest in northern Saskatchewan, a news release said.  …The value of the IPCA is avoiding new impacts to the equation when done unsustainably — like logging, mining and even tourism — that could jeopardize the ecosystem’s response to climate change, Sauchyn added.

In our season two finale, Forsite Consultants forester Cam Brown joins ForestWorks to discuss a recent landmark study that turned the tables on Sierra Club claims. In his work with Forsite Consultants forester Cam Brown has become adept at the science of mapping timber supply, along with tenure management, economic analysis, and silviculture planning. He recently put some Sierra Club claims under the microscope, and found them lacking. Join us to hear the details.

Port Alberni, B.C.  – A comprehensive technical analysis shows 32 per cent of the forests in Tree Farm Licence 44 on Vancouver Island are old growth (older than 250 years) with this number expected to increase over the next seven generations to reach 39 per cent. The analysis was completed at the request of C̕awak ʔqin Forestry (formerly TFL 44 Limited Partnership) to support decision making for the recently announced Integrated Resource Management Plan – a ground-breaking Indigenous-led approach to resource planning coordinated by C̕awak ʔqin Forestry that is expected to take two years to complete. The report also supports efforts by C̕awak ʔqin Forestry to be climate positive by 2030. The study found that three-quarters of the old growth in TFL 44 is protected or outside of the timber harvesting land base. The report further concludes that 29 per cent of the more productive sites contain old growth, versus claims of 1 to 3 per cent across B.C., as noted in other studies.

Three people have been arrested for mischief for blocking a main artery in Greater Victoria Monday morning to protest old-growth logging. Members of the group Save Old Growth blocked southbound traffic on Douglas Street at Finlayson Street, near the Denny’s restaurant and Mayfair Shopping Centre. …Traffic was flowing normally again at about 8:25, after the protesters were arrested by Victoria police. The protesters are demanding the B.C. government stop all old-growth logging, said Phillipa Jay. She said she “understands the frustration of drivers, but that it’s imperative to save old-growth forests now.”

Additional protests: Nanaimo News Bulletin: Old-growth logging protesters block Nanaimo street to bring attention to their cause

Vancouver Sun, by Joseph Ruttle: Protesters cleared from Ironworkers Memorial Bridge after blockade

Since the beginning of March, Save Old Growth has been interrupting classes at SFU and UBC once a week to raise awareness for their environmental activism campaign. The campaign aims to stop old-growth logging in BC by blocking the Trans-Canada Highway. Although there are some classes selected at random, they’ve been aiming to interrupt forestry classes at UBC and environmental science classes at SFU. …“In some classes, we get applauded, in others, we get booed,” saidSave Old Growth founding member Zain Haq, “If you hand out someone a leaflet in the hallway, it’s easy to ignore, but you can’t ignore people who are non-violently interrupting classes and telling the truth about the climate emergency … nature will kill us if we don’t act now.”

SMOKY LAKE, Alta. — The Métis Nation of Alberta says the arrival of 20 wood bison at a site northeast of Edmonton is a milestone for reconciliation. The bison, which were transported to Métis Crossing from Elk Island National Park on Feb. 22, are part of an education and experience program led by the Métis Nation in partnership with the park. “This is a historic moment for Métis citizens in Alberta,” president Audrey Poitras said Monday in a news release. “Although native to the Métis Crossing area, wild bison or ‘bufloo’ in Michif, were driven to near extinction by settlers in the nineteenth century, forcing Métis bison hunts to a halt. 

British Columbia has expanded whistleblower protection to additional agencies, boards and commissions. Effective April 1, 2022, more employees will be protected by the Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA) as part of a phased expansion that will bring more public-sector organizations under the act. PIDA allows employees to confidentially share information about a serious wrongdoing that affects the public interest with designated officers within their organizations or to the Office of the Ombudsperson. It also provides protection to employees who participate in PIDA investigations from reprisals, such as demotion, termination or other measures that adversely affect the employee’s work conditions. It also ensures employees under investigation are treated fairly. Agencies brought under the Act include: Forest Appeals Commission and Forest Practices Board…

Two UVic students were at the BC Legislature this weekend after having begun a hunger strike on Friday. Grace and Jordana, both aged 18, are with the activist group Save Old Growth. They hope their hunger strike will get the attention of Katrine Conroy, BC’s minister of forests. “So often I feel helpless toward helping our current climate crisis because I can see no clear solution or course of action. With Save Old Growth the step that needs to be taken is clear, and not only that, it is so simple. I have joined this strike because I am shocked and seriously disappointed in our government for not taking this simple, though very necessary, course of action.” said Grace in Victoria. Grace and Jordana are joined in their strike by at least four other people.

Jeffrey Nishima-Miller is a doctoral student at UBCO who spent his summers working for the BC Wildfire Service. …as a researcher exploring how Indigenous communities can create their own wildlife strategies, Nishima-Miller is using past experiences to inform his work. He’s seen first-hand that too many of BC’s forests are “begging to be burned. With his doctoral supervisor, Dr. Kevin Hanna, and assistant professor Mathieu Bourbannais they believe society needs to shift its idea of how to get ahead of the wildfire challenge. “Changing how we manage fuels, fires and landscapes are things we can address right now. When people talk about the fire situation being too big to tackle, we actually have many of the mechanisms. We have policies, we have people who can do the work—including prescribed burning and thinning—and we have the knowledge. But unfortunately, we’re not harnessing this to our advantage.”

Alberta has unveiled an interactive wildfire dashboard and a fire permit portal for online permit applications. The wildfire dashboard will provide up-to-date wildfire information including the number of active wildfires in the province, sizes, locations, and suspected causes. The province says Albertans living or planning recreational activities in the Forest Protection Area can request a free fire permit using the new online fire permit portal. Alberta requires permits for burning activities other than campfires during wildfire season. The province says this helps officials determine whether a smoke or fire report is a wildfire or a permitted burn. According to the news release, each permit – which can be suspended or cancelled in the event of a fire advisory, restriction or ban – is unique and outlines the restrictions and conditions for your burn, including location, wind speed, time and date of burn and any suppression tools required.

More than 50 West Kootenay businesses signed a letter urging the provincial government to uphold campaign promises and protect at-risk old-growth forests. A variety of businesses in Trail, Castlegar, Fruitvale, Kootenay Bay, Nelson, New Denver, Rossland, and Salmo are trying to protect the last remaining old-growth forests in BC. These forests are vital as they absorb carbon pollution, and safeguard people and businesses from climate impacts, like flooding, droughts, and wildfire and assist in meeting the CleanBC goals. …The West Kootenay is home to old-growth inland temperate rainforest, a globally unique forest. Old-growth forests are home to many endangered wildlife species including the Selkirk caribou, Northern goshawk, and spotted owl. …The letter requests accountability from the BC Government on old-growth campaign promises. …West Kootenay EcoSociety supported these businesses and sent the letter to the Premier of British Columbia, John Horgan, and 10 MLAs with related portfolios…

The B.C. government announced additional temporary measures on Friday to protect the province’s iconic old-growth trees that can live for hundreds of years and support rich ecological areas.  Approximately 1.05 million hectares of forests that are most at risk of irreversible loss will now be off limits to logging for at least two years, nearly half of what was determined to be at high risk by a scientific panel in November of 2021.  “We have made real progress,” said Katrine Conroy, minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development at a news conference on Friday.  …On Friday the province said deferrals have now been implemented for a total 1.7 million hectares of old growth, which includes 1.05 million hectares in the most at-risk areas. … “I’m really happy right now,” Garry Merkel said. “I think this is a monumental task and we are making incredible progress compared to what I was worried we would do.”

Carl Archie

The B.C. government’s plan to preserve ancient and at-risk forest ecosystems has reached two thirds of its goal, gaining approval of Indigenous communities for proposed protected areas and logging plans.  The 1.7 million hectares now negotiated for protection exceeds the protected areas within the coastal region now known as the Great Bear Rainforest, Forests Minister Katrine Conroy said at an event to update progress on Friday. Among those signing on is the Canim Lake Indian Band in the Central Interior, whose representative described his people’s perspective on a century of industrial logging and ranching.  Canim Lake Councillor Carl Archie said it’s “ironic that the region is named after caribou” that were his people’s traditional main food source. …Archie endorsed Conroy’s move toward Indigenous-led land use planning that considers cumulative impacts of roads and logging. “Our caribou rely on old-growth forests for their very existence, and it’s our responsibility to bring them back,” he said.

Additional coverage in the Globe and Mail by Canadian Press, Brenna Owen: B.C. defers logging across an additional 1.7 million hectares of at-risk old growth

Dave Rondeau fears a big eraser will be dragged across a vital part of Treaty 6 territory’s archaeological history.  The Métis researcher uncovers pieces of pre-contact Indigenous history, dusting off lithic tools and historical sites to find hints of the past hidden in the forests near Prince Albert.  He says logging plans are putting those sites in jeopardy, risking evidence of the history of Indigenous communities and early European settlement in the area.  “It either spreads the artifacts or destroys these sites,” he said.  Rondeau is also the consultation coordinator for Métis Local 66 while it engages with the provincial government on the Island Forests management plan.  …“(Consultation on the plan) was problematic and exceedingly onerous on the Métis communities who participated, and exclusionary to those who were not invited or were unable to attend,” according to a report by Aboriginal Law Group Inc.

The B.C. government is well on the way to reach a target of temporarily deferring logging plans and operations on 2.6 million hectares of old-growth, according to a Friday update.  …To date the deferrals have been implemented on 1.7 million hectares, including a million ­hectares of old-growth forest most at risk of irreversible loss.  Although there were complaints about the short consultation timeframe, the Forests Ministry got responses from nearly all the 204 First Nations in B.C. and 75 of them so far have agreed to the deferral areas specified in the old-growth plan laid out last November.  Just over 60 asked for more time. …The budget projects a $700 million drop in forest revenues this year, blamed partly on the reduced harvesting of old growth, which contributes to a 12 per cent drop in the annual timber harvest. That’s a 40 per cent drop — from $1.8 billion to $1.1 billion — with more reductions expected in subsequent years.

The Province and First Nations throughout B.C. are working in partnership to defer logging of old growth, while developing a new approach to sustainable forest management. Deferrals have been implemented on nearly 1.7 million hectares of old growth, including approximately 1.05 million hectares of B.C.’s forests most at risk of irreversible loss. “Our government’s new vision for forestry is one where we better care for our most ancient and rarest forests, First Nations are full partners in forest management, and communities and workers benefit from secure, innovative jobs for generations to come,” said Katrine Conroy, Minister of Forests. “By deferring harvest of nearly 1.7 million hectares of old growth – an area equal to more than 4,100 Stanley Parks – we are providing the time and space we need to work together to develop a new, more sustainable way to manage B.C.’s forests.”

LYTTON, BC — Nearly nine months after the devastating fire, Tricia Thorpe and her husband are rebuilding their house and other structures on their property — but this time she says they’re taking steps to fireproof the buildings. Fireproofing involves taking steps to make your home as fire-resistant as possible, according to Fire Smart B.C. …But fireproofing isn’t just needed in Lytton. Bruce Blackwell has been working on fire resiliency plans for governments for over two decades, but says most of them have sat on shelves. He adds that there have been plenty of warning signs in the past. “Fort McMurray was a wake up call. Slave Lake was a wake up call. Kelowna was a wake up call,” Blackwell said. …There are other steps that can be taken to make sure wildfires aren’t as destructive. Brendan Mercer says Indigenous people used to use cultural burning.

A handful of ranchers in BC’s Interior are getting ready to graze their cattle in concentrated areas near homes and community infrastructure, where they’ll eat the grasses that dry over the summer and heighten the wildfire risk. As part of a pilot program led by the B.C. Cattlemen’s Association, ranchers will corral their cattle in targeted areas for two to three weeks, explained general manager Kevin Boon. The cattle eat grasses that could serve as potential fuel for fires, which promotes new, green growth that doesn’t burn with the speed and intensity of grasses left to grow taller, he said. …Amanda Miller said “We’ve found time and time again, as a fire comes through, that often it will meet a fence line to a pasture that had just been grazed and the fire will stop.”

In January of this year, B.C announced the extension of its controversial wolf reduction program for another five years and is set to target the Kootenay, Cariboo, Omineca, Skeena and Peace regions of the province. The “aerial wolf reduction program” was created in 2015 to combat the decline of caribou herds in the province …In September 2021, the province was said to have sought input from B.C. residents on the program and found that, after more than 15,000 surveys, 59 per cent were against predator reduction… …One in six participants in the survey also believed B.C.’s resource development was the main cause of the caribou decline. The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs believes so too; in February they passed a resolution calling for an end to the wolf reduction program and to allow the First Nations in the province to handle the territory’s wildlife.

Of the 188 First Nations who responded so far to the B.C. government’s request for a response to its plans to protect at-risk old growth forests from logging, 75 have agreed with the deferral plan, according to the Ministry of Forests. Seven have said no to the plan, and more than 60 said they want more time before responding… Originally, in November 2021, when the B.C. government announced its plans for a moratorium on old growth logging, it announced 2.6 million hectares of old growth forest would be “deferred.” …The Ministry of Forests has since clarified that 780,000 hectares of that old growth is not within the timber harvest land base, as it is deemed uneconomic. …Forestry consultant Jim Girvan has estimated removing more than 1 million hectares from the timber land base will [cause] as many as 10 sawmills may permanently close — five on the coast and five in the interior.

An old-growth forest preservation activist launching a 25-day hunger strike and is hoping to find support for his cause in the Central Okanagan. Howard Breen, joined by fellow protester Brent Eichler, began a hunger strike April 1 as the start to the ‘Save Old Growth’ Spring Rebellion launches next week with highway shutdowns. …Taryn Skalbania, a member of the Peachland Watershed Protection Alliance, echoed Breen’s sentiments that “deforestation is at the root of the climate change emergency in British Columbia.” Skalbania said she hopes the Breen’s hunger strike will draw public attention to the NDP’s 2017 provincial election campaign promise to curb raw log exports. …In an email to Black Press Media, Breen said one desired outcome of his protest is to have a meeting with Forests Minister Katrine Conroy, as well as to seek her resignation and further Premier John Horgan’s if the raw log policy continues.

An anti-old growth logging group says it plans to mount multiple blockades of the Trans-Canada Highway in Revelstoke starting on April 4, saying that it expects the blockades will lead to arrest of protesters here. The Save Old Growth group is a relatively new protest-based organization in B.C. that emphasizes blockades of the Trans-Canada Highway as a means to pressure the provincial government to end logging of old-growth forests. …The group says its “demand” is legislation that ends all old-growth logging in B.C. and that it wants to engage in dialogue with the provincial government. In an April 1 media release, the group said the provincial government hadn’t been responsive enough to its demands: “So now we are left with no other option than to resume blockades at a significantly escalated intensity on the 4th of April,” they wrote.

Domenico Iannidinardo

West Coast environmental organizations are cautiously optimistic after a large forestry company announced deferrals of old-growth logging in some prized conservation areas in its private land holdings on Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii. Mosaic Forest Management, the largest private land-holder in B.C., is pausing logging on 400 square kilometres of forest for a minimum of 25 years, opting instead to rely on carbon credits to generate revenue. Areas that conservationists have for decades struggled to preserve, particularly on Vancouver Island, are included, said Ken Wu, executive director of the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance.“It’s a big deal,” said Wu. “It was a complete surprise, and I was skeptical at first but … I recognized its significance. “It includes almost all the key areas and more, because it includes older second-growth, too.” …Jens Wieting, Sierra Club BC senior forest and climate campaigner, said Mosaic’s announcement was bittersweet.

Are you interested in helping shape the content of the ABCFP quarterly magazine? As a member of the editorial advisory panel, you can help determine the topics we feature in BC Forest Professional (BCFP), spotlighting the latest research, case studies, and information relating to the practice of professional forestry or emerging issues that may affect the practice of forestry. Editorial Advisory Panel (EAP) members provide peer review on articles submitted for publication and working with the BCFP editor, suggest topics and authors for future articles. The panel meets four times a year via video conferencing and requires approximately a 12-16 hour annual time commitment. Joining an ABCFP committee, such as the editorial advisory panel, counts towards Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and can also help grow your personal network and gain other interpersonal skills as you meet and work with other forest professionals from across the province.

Did the provincial government bungle the rollout of its old-growth deferral strategy? Sure it did. …Do they deserve criticism for creating unnecessary stress within the industry, for giving First Nations an unrealistic timeline and not providing the resources for a response until after that timeline had elapsed and for putting stakeholders in a reactive position rather than a proactive one? Sure they do. …It is time to put all of that behind us and work together toward preserving the industry while still improving land-use management practices. The town of Smithers, the Bulkley Valley and most of the towns around us were largely built on the forestry industry. And while our economy has diversified significantly, forestry is still one of the biggest contributors to the vibrancy of this community. Nobody really wants to think about what Smithers would look like without it although that is precisely what we should be thinking about.

Bill Soprivich

District of West Vancouver council voted March 28 in favour of writing a letter to the B.C. provincial government, requesting an extension to the feedback period of the South Coast pest management plan and its use of herbicide sprays, set to come into effect April 1. The unanimous vote comes as outcry grows against the proposed five-year BC Timber Sales Pest Management Plan, which covers Squamish to Hope, and targets native hardwoods and Indigenous medicines and food in efforts to increase the provincial agency’s lumber output. … Coun. Bill Soprovich said the reason he brought it to council was to “emphasize the need again, by this municipality, yourself and this council, to give another reminder to the government that it’s coming from not just one citizen.” “Quite frankly, Madam Mayor, if [Angelina Hopkins Rose] did not pick the ad out of the paper in Hope, no one would have known about this,” he said.