Region Archives: Canada West

The B.C. government announced Tuesday it is developing a new strategy to protect watersheds and drinking water, in response to threats posed by climate change combined with the effects of urban and industrial development. Severe drought, wildfires, flooding and landslides in British Columbia last year show that responding to climate change requires focusing on water and strengthening natural defences provided by healthy watersheds, an expert says. …A discussion paper released by the Environment Ministry on Tuesday says areas of focus for the watershed security strategy could include the availability of safe drinking water, healthy ecosystems, ensuring a sufficient supply of water to support food security, as well as reducing risks from hazards like flooding and drought. …The removal of vegetation from watersheds to allow for urban development, or by industries such as forestry and mining, can contribute to flooding and harm sources of drinking water and aquatic ecosystems, it says.

The B.C. government is moving ahead with a watershed security strategy to fund protection of wetlands that help protect against flooding, forest fires, drought and effects of climate shifts. Environment Minister George Heyman announced the project Tuesday, with a call for public input that is open until March 18 and a discussion paper that looks at ways to “reset the water supply and demand relationship” in B.C. Heyman wants to have a strategy to take to cabinet for approval by the end of 2022. It’s the next step in implementing B.C’s Water Sustainability Act, passed in 2016. The water security strategy was launched Jan. 25 as the deadline of March 1 approaches for farmers and other commercial groundwater users to apply for licences. …Ducks Unlimited Canada has been active in wetland protection since 1968, as a private charity supported by hunters and conservationists. 

Additional coverage in Prince George Citizen, by Stafan Labbé: B.C. watershed security strategy could put province on the ‘cutting edge’

Forestry workers and supporters in Port Alberni want the provincial government to put a pause on its old-growth logging deferrals. More than 100 forestry workers, family members and supporters gathered at Williamson Park in Port Alberni on Jan. 25, 2022, carrying signs and waving at passing cars along Highway 4. This is the third forestry rally that has taken place in the last three months in Port Alberni, and with each one the number of supporters has grown. …Tuesday’s rally also drew several members of Huu-ay-aht First Nations, including elected Chief Councillor Robert Dennis Sr. “I want to support forestry workers—that’s why I came out here today,” said Dennis as he waved a “Forestry feeds my family” sign. “Our hope is that the people in Victoria hear our message.”

Between Jan. 3 and 8 the temperature hit a low of -32 and stayed under -22 for those six days. Could that have affected the lives of the beetles that have infested trees in and around Prince George? It didn’t even faze the spruce beetle, whose numbers have increased since 2014 from a rating of endemic (just a part of the forest) to an outbreak rating with no end in sight. “At -32 those beetles were most likely perfectly fine, they don’t really start to freeze until the temperature is a bit closer to -35,” Philip Batista, Regional Forest Entomologist, Omineca and Northeast at BC provincial government, said. “And really what’s needed is -40, that’s where you get zero survival.” There are areas that would reach those temperatures but also what’s needed is very little snow pack as deep snow acts as an insulator, Batista added.

Torrance Coste

The possibility of protection for the most threatened old-growth forests is finally on the table in British Columbia, and a familiar chorus is singing … that any intended logging deferrals is an attack on jobs. …The new plan has been panned … forest sector unions and lobby groups because of the impacts they say it would have on employment in the province. …while the loss of forest industry jobs is real, conservation isn’t what’s driving it, and the scapegoating of environmentalism needs to stop. The forest industry is in a bad way … dozens of mills have closed, contractors have gone under… But simultaneously, logging in at-risk old-growth has continued unabated. …What’s behind the job loss then? …The pain felt by those worried about their future in the forest industry and those who want old-growth protected is caused by the same problem. We’ve cut down too many trees — a century of industrial logging has caught up with us.

In 2022, British Columbians will have more opportunity than ever to take the proactive steps to ‘FireSmart’ their properties thanks to the British Columbia Automobile Association’s (BCAA) employees. In late 2021, BCAA employees made the decision to donate $17,700 through an employee giving initiative to the Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC) to direct funds toward making FireSmart BC materials accessible to more British Columbians. “…We know the devastating impact wildfires have on communities, so when we invited our employees to vote for organizations to which we could donate, it’s no surprise that many of them chose FireSmart BC,” said Shawn Pettipas, Director Community Engagement for BCAA. “We are proud to support FireSmart BC’s work on wildfire prevention – their dedication to education and supporting communities to become more resilient is what makes their work unique and so important to our province.”

The Alberta government has put the call out for companies to submit proposals to harvest timber within two Forest Management Units — one of which encompasses most of the County of Barrhead and Westlock County — over a five-year period.  The original Request for Proposals (RFP) was put out by Alberta Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Economic Development in early December. The closing date for proposals to be submitted to the province is Jan. 31, 2022.  According to that RFP, the province is considering the sale of a commercial timber permit that would allow the successful bidder to harvest up to 500 hectares of public land or no more than 100,000 cubic metres of timber per “timber year,” whichever is reached first. …The entire timber permit area is approximately 110,000 hectares in size, though only 2,500 hectares would be harvested as per the RFP. The exact locations where harvesting would take place are undetermined. 

Jim Hilton

One of my first jobs in the early 1990s was the regional silviculture audit forester. I worked to monitor how well the licensees were meeting pre harvest silviculture prescriptions. …The time and cost to establish a replacement stand varied depending on the site conditions. …The least expensive stands to reestablish were usually selectively logged interior Douglas-fir stands that didn’t usually require site prep or planting if the logging was done carefully. …As the amount of harvesting shifted from the coast to the Interior forest, research focused on the best ways that forests could be reestablished on clear cuts. Tree seed collection, tree nurseries and replanting options were being implemented and monitored across the province. …We now have a better opportunity to analyze the results of decades of growth on our reestablished forests and it may be time to take another look at how we could do things differently.

Thirty years ago, surveyors for a logging company started mapping out the H’kusam forest in northern Vancouver Island. In a region where commercial forestry had already reduced many of the once-vast stands of forests to remnants, the local First Nations stepped in to protect the site, where they have traditionally harvested materials for clothing, medicine, canoes, totems and houses. Now, the Na̲nwaḵolas Council, representing four First Nations, has signed a deal with forestry company Western Forest Products that will temporarily protect 2,500 hectares of rare and significant ancient forest, including H’kusam. It’s the first such agreement under the British Columbia government’s recently announced plan to suspend logging in 2.6-million hectares of old-growth forest. …The Na̲nwaḵolas were the first out of the gate with an agreement only because they have spent years working with the forestry industry to reach the same kinds of stewardship deals that are now on the table. The deferrals happened to fit their plans.

A group of protesters are planning to continue their protests Monday, Jan. 24 by supergluing themselves to Highway 1. Members of the ‘Save Old Growth’ group plan to block exits off of the highway in Vancouver Monday morning, according to a press release. The exact location has not been released. “The frequency and scale of actions will escalate until all old growth logging is stopped,” states the group in a press release. “The government has an option to fulfill its election promises or send nonviolent people on the motorways to jail.” This will be the fourth time the group has blocked highways in Metro Vancouver as part of the continued civil action. In the press release a university student calls the action a “last resort” as the group calls for the immediate end to old growth logging in B.C.

Margareta Dovgal

Director of Research Margareta Dovgal weighs in on recent trends in forestry, mining, and oil and gas in BC – and where careful observers may spot the emerging desire to get things built. BC is set to see big, ambitious, and positive changes in everything from Indigenous partnerships to innovative and new emissions reduction technologies. …BC’s forest industry was turned upside down in 2021, a year marked by many protests and sweeping old growth deferrals from the provincial government. The announcement to defer harvesting of old growth forests at various locations across the province caused considerable consternation. Workers, including several labour unions which have historically supported the governing NDP, as well as owners of small and large forestry businesses, were not happy. It’s not an exaggeration to say that if the initial deferrals are maintained, huge swathes of BC’s economic base would be effectively sterilized. Historically, BC is a forestry province. It still is.

A special ceremony to mark the beginning of a brand new forestry training program … took place at Fraser River Heritage Park earlier this week. The Indigenous Guardians Training Program is a six-week course developed by the City in close partnership with Kwantlen First Nation, Leq’a:mel First Nation, Matsqui First Nation, and the Mission Public School District. Program participants will learn about forestry field training in tree and plant identification, forest ecology, forest health, stream classification, as well as Guardians-specific training in archaeology and Cultural Plant identification. The course is taking place at Riverside College, with training provided by Stillwater Consulting. 

PRINCE GEORGE – It was Day One of the Natural Resources Forum and the Chief of the Lheidli T’enneh used the venue to express concern over a new policy introduced by the government in November. … “We were informed that we had 30 days in which to respond. Since when did 30 days be significant enough to study a comprehensive new forest initiative and provide meaningful feedback?”  Chief logan notes that many people within the Lheidli T’enneh work in the forest sector. “I for one would like to see the forest management plan support moose and other ungulates as well as to provide trees and to make lumber and pulp and other forest products. Let’s reset and determine a reasonable process to achieve progress in this matter. Let’s restart by working together as First Nations, industry, and other stakeholders to develop local old-growth management plans that work for everyone.”

RCMP’s enforcement of the B.C. Supreme Court order in the Fairy Creek standoff cost Canadian taxpayers more than $10 million in 2021, Black Press Media has learned. Records obtained by Black Press Media from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police under the Access to Information Act show the RCMP spent a total of $10,060,583 on direct costs related to enforcing an injunction granted Teal-Jones Group. …According to the financial records, RCMP spent more than $7 million on “personnel” and more than $1.7 million on “transportation & telecommunications.” …Since enforcement began, the RCMP have arrested 1188 individuals; 110 of whom were previously arrested with a combined total of 261 times. Of the total arrested, 919 were for breaching the injunction, 222 were for obstruction, 22 were for mischief, 10 were for breaching their release conditions, 12 were for assaulting a police officer.

The Fairy Creek old-growth blockade is heading into winter hibernation mode but the search remains ongoing for two activists missing in the remote region on southeast Vancouver Island. The Rainforest Flying Squad, the grassroots coalition behind the old-growth blockades, recently broke down the last of its publicly accessible camps due to extreme winter conditions. The Roadside Camp near the intersection of Granite Main logging road and Pacific Marine Road is now closed to the public, the RFS said in a press release Monday. A smaller remote camp with Indigenous land defenders and some long-haul forest protectors will stay, but any other occupants will need an invitation by Pacheedaht elder Bill Jones or youth leader Whale-tail Jones, who oppose any old-growth logging in their nation’s territory.

Management and retention of older age class forests is recognized as an extremely important aspect of forest management on Quadra Island and specifically within the Woodlot Licence Program. Retention of existing older age forests and recruitment of a suitable percentage of old forest for future generations is practised at the Island wide landscape level, the woodlot level, and at the block/microsite level. Island wide, there is approximately 15,000 hectares of public land on Quadra Island. Of that, approximately 5000 hectares, or 33% of the island, is under some sort of protection; primarily provincial and regional parks, as well as some ‘forest service reserve’. This provides for long-term retention of old forests including existing old age classes and recruitment forest, which is generally comprised of 100-year-old second growth forest. …As the majority of Quadra forests are a result of forest fires in the 1920s and 1930s there is little old forest remaining on the island…

We are pleased to provide a special edition of the Woodland Almanac on Old Growth titled Old Growth Deferral & Recruitment: A New Future for Woodlot Licences. Stakeholders in the Woodlot Licence Program are working hard to interpret and assess the ramifications of the Ministry of Forests recent Old Growth Deferral and Recruitment strategy which was set out in their document, A New Future For Old Forests. This Almanac Special Old Growth Edition highlights the impacts and personal perspectives on woodlot management and old forests. …For many woodlot licensees, the consequences of this sudden policy shift will be terminal to their woodlot operations. As small-scale, area-based tenures, licensees can’t simply pull up stakes and move to a part of the Crown forest that isn’t under deferral or recruitment. …The ripples will be felt. Of the 11.1 million hectares of remaining old growth in BC, only 36,631 hectares of Crown land or 0.33% is within Woodlots.

Re: “Find legitimate jobs for protesters,”: I support of the actions of “tree-hugging heretics” as Paul Crossley of Penticton refers to the thousands of ancient tree, primary forest and old-growth defenders, province-wide. [From Crossley’s letter: Social courses of action give us accreditation to protest, but only responsibly. Not in the dysfunctional manner we see with bellyaching anti-vaxers, negligent pipeline dissenters and tree-hugging heretics.] We hold the lawful right to protest; history proves we must push the legal system to make necessary changes for a better society for all, especially the environment. I wonder if Crossley would label the Abolitionists “heretics,” the Suffragettes “negligent dissenters,” the anti-commercial whaling movement “nonconformists” or the no tobacco advertising lobbyists “bellyachers.” …I acknowledge and appreciate Fairy Creek defenders and all other old-growth protesters who gather to protect our remaining primary forest; as old-growth panel author, Dr. Gary Merkel, fears, before we log every last stick.

A planning and reconciliation agreement between four member Nations of the Na̲nwaḵolas Council and Western Forest Products includes an agreement to defer harvest of approximately 2,500 hectares of ancient, rare and other priority old growth for two years in support of Province’s Old Growth Strategy. …The Na̲nwaḵolas agreement covers 100% of the ancient and remnant trees in 1,068 hectares identified by the Old Growth Technical Advisory Panel within Tree Farm Licence 39-2 on central Vancouver Island. Another 1,506 hectares of priority large, remnant and ancient forests have been deferred through other bi-lateral initiatives between Na̲nwaḵolas and Western. …As recommended by the Old Growth Strategic Review, deferrals are a temporary measure to prevent irreversible biodiversity loss while First Nations, the Province, tenure holders and other partners work to employ sustainable forest management in a manner that prioritizes ecosystem health and community resiliency throughout B.C.

Logging will be temporarily deferred in approximately 2,500 hectares of old-growth forest following an agreement between four Vancouver Island First Nations and a forestry company. The Nanwakolas Council, which represents four First Nations, and Western Forest Products have agreed to defer old-growth logging in a section of forest north of Campbell River, for two years. …Nanwakolas Council president Dallas Smith used a pop-culture reference to summarize his reaction to the agreement. “If you’re a Star Wars person, I feel like Luke Skywalker in the newer movies.” …First Nations waited for years to ensure their cultural values were incorporated to discussions about forests and all that they hold, Smith said, adding that came together with the agreement. …Tegan Hansen, at Stand.earth, says all deferrals recommended by the old-growth advisory panel should happen now. “I’m really not hopeful if the province tries to piecemeal small deferrals over a very long period of time”

Additional coverage in the Vancouver Sun, by the Canadian Press: Four BC First Nations make deal to defer old-growth logging

Dallas Smith

Four more B.C. Indigenous communities have moved ahead on the province’s old-growth forest preservation plan. …Dallas Smith, president of the coastal Indigenous group Nanwakolas Council, said… “The Tlowitsis, K’ómoks, Wei Wai Kum and We Wai Kai First Nations are continuing to strengthen relationships with Western through a joint planning and reconciliation agreement that, along with our Large Cultural Cedar Protocol, will prioritize some of the rarest and oldest forests with this deferral.”  …Forests Minister Katrine Conroy said the latest agreement is the first of many more. About two thirds of B.C.’s 204 Indigenous communities have responded to maps and recommendations for deferral. Shannon Janzen, chief forester and vice-president of partnerships for Western, said the latest agreement is part of an ongoing project.

I don’t recall when I first learned about culturally modified trees (CMTs), though it was quite early in my university career. I remember my initial opinions of the subject were dismissive, the typical hubris of a wet-behind-the ears aspiring archaeologist. … Here, I would like to focus on how archaeologists approach the study of CMTs. Like any other profession, on-the-job training is an important factor in archaeology. … Working with CMTs is different. Though the discipline has become increasingly mainstream since the 1980s, there is still precious little useful background taught at university…. despite many fruitless hours embroiled in deep discussions about CMT identification with colleagues, they all have a dream; someone, somewhere, someday, will create a simple flowchart or checklist that will allow them to easily categorize the features of a CMT and definitively allow them to make a confident determination of its cultural or natural origin.

More than 70 days since the B.C. government confirmed its commitment to stop logging in newly mapped at-risk old growth forests, logging continues in areas at risk of irreversible biodiversity loss as provincial decision-makers delay concrete action. … Stand.earth applauds the work of the old growth technical advisory panel, which lays a vital roadmap for priority action to protect at-risk old growth forests and a paradigm-shift for forest management in B.C. But the risk remains, and more needs to be done. … Stand.earth is calling for the immediate implementation of logging deferrals across all priority areas identified by the old growth technical advisory panel, including areas where forest defenders continue to risk their safety at blockades, as well as concrete funding for the promised paradigm-shift for forestry that maintains and restores vital ecological values, fully upholds Indigenous sovereignty and rights, and supports forest communities.