Region Archives: Canada West

Special Feature

New BC Timber Harvest Rate Model announced by BC Truck Loggers

BC Truck Loggers Association
April 28, 2025
Category: Special Feature
Region: Canada, Canada West

The BC Truck Loggers Association is pleased to share and invite you to access the newly developed B.C. Timber Harvest Rate Model. The tool was built using data provided by contractors as a joint project of the TLA, ILA and NWLA. The tool calculates the hourly rates for equipment used in BC’s forest industry. It’s designed to give contractors a baseline rate for a selected piece of equipment, serving as a starting point. The rates in the model reflect the required revenues of a contractor who runs a reasonably efficient operation; however, they may vary based on specific operations. The parameters (such as labour and fuel) can be adjusted in the model to calculate rates tailored to specific needs.

Please note that this model is ever-changing and not meant to be static. Based on user feedback, it will be updated and refined over time to ensure that it meets contractors’ needs. To ensure this model works for contractors, we need their continuing input. Please share your thoughts on the model – what works, what might need some tweaks, and your overall impressions.

To access the model and create an account, go to bctimberharvest.ca.

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Business & Politics

BC business groups seek ‘drastic’ action on trade, tariffs following election

By Graeme Wood
Business in Vancouver
April 30, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Kim Haakstad

BC business groups are calling on the new federal government to cut red tape, boost innovation and diversify trade as tariff pressures mount. Their wish list for the new federal government includes mandates for Canadian-made materials in capital projects, expanded tax credits and harmonized rules across provinces. “We need something drastic,” said Andrew Wynn-Williams, of the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters. He said Canadian manufacturing is in a “crisis” after U.S. tariffs — both implemented and threatened — compounded already low rates of productivity in the sector. …Meanwhile, BC Council of Forest Industries CEO Kim Haakstad said the province’s competitiveness is in decline and new tariffs will only add fuel to the longstanding softwood lumber dispute with the US. …“[Prime Minister Carney] has a big capital spending plan, but we don’t have details on how wood is built into that,” said Haakstad, who suggested the feds tie funding for housing to such “wood-first” policies.

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Plenty of fun planned for Interior Logging Association’s 67th annual AGM and convention

Interior Logging Association
Castanet
April 30, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

KAMLOOPS, BC — There will be a forest of possibilities in Kamloops this weekend when Interior Logging Association hosts its 67th annual general meeting and convention. The family friendly event is free and open to the public, and it promises a plethora of fun on Friday (May 2) and Saturday (May 3) at the Powwow Grounds. It serves as a celebration of the forest industry and a showcase of its future. …The event will feature the second annual Big Truck Show and Shine, as well as a new tree falling competition that will be held virtually. Operators will compete against one another in a virtual logging simulator provided by Inland Truck & Equipment. …On the business side of things inside Coast Kamloops Hotel and Conference Centre, is BC Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar’s keynote address.

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Dispute over $6.7 million leads to closure of Kingsley Trucking

By Noi Mahoney
Freight Waves
April 28, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Kingsley Trucking , a 46-year-old Canadian company has been put into receivership at the request of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). …The Vancouver Island-based trucking company had more than 100 employees, including a fleet of 23 trucks and 41 drivers. Kingsley Trucking is related to the San Group, which is in a dispute with its lenders for over $150 million. The San Group sought creditor protection on Nov. 29, 2024. The San Group of Companies, which included Kingsley Trucking, was founded in 1979 by CEO Kamal Sanghera and President Suki Sanghera, along with partner Iqbal Deol. …RBC persuaded the court to add Kingsley Trucking to the proceedings in February, as well as another firm owned by the San Group called Cojax Heavy-Duty Repair. …In its petition to add Kingsley Trucking and Cojax Heavy-Duty Repair to the proceedings, RBC cited payments to the related companies leading up to the San Group’s CCAA filings in Canada.

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New logger at work—in the B.C. Legislature

By Jim Stirling
The Logging & Sawmilling Journal
April 30, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Ward Stamer

There’s a new logger at work in Victoria. New, that is, to the seat of British Columbia’s Legislative Assembly, but no rookie to either the political arena or getting the job done in the forest. Ward Stamer was a logging contractor in B.C.’s Southern Interior region for more than 40 years. He launched a second career in politics, first on the local level and now on the provincial stage. His goal in Victoria is to make a positive contribution to restoring B.C.’s forest industry to a sustainable status, and a major contributor to the health of the provincial economy. The constituents of Kamloops-North Thompson elected Stamer who had Forestry Critic responsibilities added to his portfolio. …“My job isn’t to criticize what’s happened in the past,” he said. “Rather it is to move forward with actionable solutions, derived from discussions with all stakeholders and deliver those solutions through to the forests minister.”

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Premier’s, minister’s statements on National Day of Mourning

By the Office of the Premier
Government of British Columbia
April 28, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada West

Premier David Eby has issued the following statement in recognition of National Day of Mourning: Going to work should be a safe, routine activity. Yet every year, hundreds of British Columbians are hurt or killed on the job. On National Day of Mourning, we remember the workers who have died, were injured or became ill as a result of their job. We also renew our commitment to protecting workers and preventing workplace tragedies. In 2024, 146 B.C. workers died due to workplace illnesses or injuries. My heart goes out to their loved ones and their communities. …Today, we honour those we have lost, alongside their loved ones and colleagues. And, in their memory, we recommit to ensuring that no one ever has to pay the ultimate price, just for a paycheque.

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National Day of Mourning brings tragic memories to WorkSafeBC safety officer

By Ted Clarke
Prince George Citizen
April 28, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

It is, without doubt, the worst part of the job for WorkSafeBC occupational safety officer Dave Tasker. In his 26-year career… he has had to visit the families of 34 workers who died as a result of workplace injuries. Tasker shared that sobering statistic Monday morning with a crowd of 80 gathered at the Workers’ Memorial Statue at the base of Connaught Hill during the National Day of Mourning. …Tasker was among the responders to the two deadly mill explosions in 2012 — at Babine Forest Products in Burns Lake that January, and at Lakeland Mills in downtown Prince George in April. Each of those incidents killed two workers, injured 20 or more others, and left emotional scars on hundreds. …Greg Stewart, president of Sinclar Group Forest Products — owner of Lakeland Mills — attended Monday’s ceremony. He said the company considers it critically important to make job sites safer for all employees.

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‘None of us expected this’: Coombs’ Kingsley Trucking seized in bankruptcy

By Skye Ryan
Chek News
April 25, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Glen Clarke carried a heavy load on his shoulders Friday, as he hitched up his semi for one of the last times. The truck driver is one of 40 employees of Kingsley Trucking suddenly laid off on Thursday, when their employer was placed into receivership and all of its assets seized. …The Coombs-based trucking business lost its months-long fight in BC Supreme Court on Thursday. The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) successfully argued its case to recall its loan to Kingsley Trucking and put it in receivership because it shares some of the same owners as the San Group, which owes close to $200 million to creditors. …Laid-off employees include truckers, mechanics, and office workers. In addition, the truck loads of goods distributed between the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island were suddenly left stranded, when the decision came down.

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Devastating fire at Zavisha Sawmills

Zavisha Sawmills Ltd.
April 20, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada West

On Saturday, April 19th, 2025, Zavisha Sawmills experienced a devastating fire which consumed the sawmill on our property. Hines Creek Fire Department responded immediately to our site and began battling the blaze within minutes of being reported.  Additional departments were dispatched from Worsley and Fairview to assist in the battle but despite everyone’s efforts they were not able to extinguish the blaze. Crews were able to contain the fire to the sawmill structure, preventing spread to log and lumber inventories and spreading off the property. SRD provided air support to help with containment as the winds were strong and blowing from the west towards town. Our deepest thanks and appreciation to the community for their support in this tragedy. …As with any situation of this magnitude, the question of the path forward needs to be asked. 

Everything Grande Prairie: Fire at Hines Creek sawmill

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Hospital foundation receives $250,000 for equipment at new Cowichan hospital

Cowichan Valley Citizen
April 28, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada West

The Cowichan District Hospital Foundation has been presented with $250,000 towards its fundraising campaign for the new hospital that is under construction on Bell McKinnon Road. At an event at the BC Forestry Centre in April, the Cowichan Lake Community Forest Co-operative presented a $200,000 cheque to CDHF Board Chair David Robertson, which is the largest contribution ever made by the group. As well, Pacheedaht First Nation Chief Arliss Daniels presented a $50,000 cheque to the foundation on behalf of Qala:yit Forestry, which is jointly owned by the Cowichan Lake Community Forest Co-operative and the Pacheedaht First Nation. The combined $250,000 donated will be doubled thanks to a pledge from Jimmy Pattison to match donations up to $5 million in support of purchasing medical equipment for Cowichan’s new hospital, which makes the total contribution $500,000.

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B.C. supports advanced manufacturing of forestry products

By Ministry of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation
Government of British Columbia
April 23, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada West

New support for forestry-sector manufacturers in the province is creating sustainable jobs, strengthening local supply chains, establishing new made-in-B.C. products and reinforcing B.C.’s position as a leader in mass-timber innovation. …Through the BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund (BCMJF), the Government of B.C. is contributing as much as $11 million toward four forestry-sector capital projects in the province. The projects are helping B.C.-based forestry-product manufacturers grow their businesses by constructing new production facilities, purchasing new equipment and adding new high-value product lines, while creating and protecting hundreds of jobs.

  • Spearhead Timberworks Inc., will received $7.5 million to drive its expansion. 
  • Westlam Industries Ltd. will receive $1.5 million to construct a new production facility and install new equipment.
  • Mercer Celgar Limited Partnership will receive $1.75 million to modernize its small-log line to process smaller-diameter logs and a wider range of low-grade fibre.
  • Greyback Construction Ltd., will receive $235,000 to begin production of prefabricated exterior walls and floors.

Canadian Press in the CBC News: B.C. invests $11 million on value-added lumber manufacturing amid U.S. uncertainty

Castanet, by Timothy Schafer: Province contributes cash through Jobs Fund to help value-added wood manufacturers

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A look inside West Kelowna’s iconic Gorman Bros. Lumber mill

By Shannon Ainslie
InfoTel News
April 24, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada West

Anyone travelling between West Kelowna and Peachland has passed the decades-old Gorman Bros. sawmill with its teal sided warehouses and tidy stacks of lumber. This video takes viewers on an educational tour through the facility as logs travel through the noisy sawmill, are dried in a kiln and sent to the planer to have the final finishing done. The logs come out of the process as smooth, beautiful boards ready to be packaged and shipped, while the wood waste is repurposed.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Hemp a viable insulation material says BC developer

By Grant Cameron
Journal of Commerce
April 30, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

KELOWNA — Developer Wilden Group used hemp to insulate a five-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom, net-zero-ready home in a master-planned community near Kelowna. …CEO Karin Eger-Blenk wanted to test the use of hemp as an insulation material because it lowers the carbon footprint of a structure. …A high-performance, carbon-negative material, hemp boosts thermal efficiency, enhances soundproofing, and improves indoor air quality. Unlike traditional insulation, it is non-allergenic, low in VOCs, and free from synthetic toxins. …However, the use of hemp for insulation posed some practical challenges, and there was a learning curve due to the unfamiliar properties of the hemp batts, notes Eger-Blenk. …“For the Kelowna home, the hemp was about $3 more per square foot of wall compared to fibreglass. Using fibreglass would have been $10,000 cheaper.

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Québec builder creates ‘a world first’ aluminium volumetric apartment project

By John Bleasby
Journal of Commerce
April 23, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada West

Construction Éco-bâtiment, a family-owned company in Brossard, Qué., explored possibilities for volumetric modular for their multi-unit affordable housing project northwest of Montréal. …Éco-Bâtiment had been looking for a different construction method … not based on concrete with its high carbon footprint or on wood with its longevity and health problems for occupants such as mold and warping. Furthermore, it would be a construction process that would create less waste materials sent to landfills. Éco-bâtiment turned to ACAL System, a volumetric modular builder based in Québec that specializes in aluminium-framed units. …The collaboration between Construction Éco-bâtiment and ACAL resulted in what Miguel Vaillancourt, president of Construction Éco-bâtiment, called “a world-first” — a six-unit, three-storey residential complex named Lofts de l’Aluminium. The modules were built with such exact precision that the units were assembled onsite in just one day. 

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Province provides $7.5 million for proposed Spearhead development near Nelson

By Samantha Holomay
Castanet
April 23, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada West

The province announced $7.5 million in support funding today for Spearhead Timberworks Inc. for a proposed new facility and to advance its glulam technology, a move expected to create 60 jobs. …“These investments couldn’t come at a more critical time,” said Parmar. … Spearhead applied to the Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK) to rezone three lots adjacent to its existing facility, which they have operated since 1998. The project would bring 60 new jobs to Nelson and will now be supported in part by the provincial government. …Community members have pushed back on the expansion efforts, expressing concerns about the potential impact on nearby aquifers, noise pollution and the potentially increased trucking traffic on Highway 3A. Many residents have urged the company to build the additional facilities in another location to preserve the rural landscape in which the current facilities reside.

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Legal and practical strategies for contractors to manage tariff impacts

By Don Procter
The Daily Commercial News
April 23, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

CALGARY — The one constant of Trump’s tariff plan seems to be that it is in a constant state of flux. “The time is now to start planning for what those impacts could possibly be and develop the mitigation strategies and tracking mechanisms…so that as they (tariffs) evolve in real time you are prepared to deal with them,” said Rick Moffat. Moffat moderated a webinar panel recently on legal and practical strategies for managing the impacts of the tariffs on construction projects in Canada. …Stressing the importance of detailed contingency plans that account for potential cost hikes caused by tariffs, Bulut Cinar said contractors would benefit by including “multiple scenarios” illustrating how their contingencies help manage their costs. …If contractors consider delay-causing tariffs a force majeure event, but the contract deals with tariffs differently they might be “precluding themselves” from compensation, he added.

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Listen to UBC researchers play a guitar made of sustainable mahogany

CBC News
April 23, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada West

University of B.C. forestry professor Phil Evans and PhD student Joseph Kim say that mahogany trees were logged heavily, to the point that the species is now considered endangered. The scientists argue that making musical instruments out of mahogany wood produces superior results.

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Forestry

Forestry Council April Newsletter

BC First Nations Forestry Council
April 30, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

In this month’s newsletter features these headlines and more:

  • Letter from the CEO – The 2025 BC First Nations Forestry Conference took place last week. The theme, “Everything is Connected,” came to life in powerful and meaningful ways throughout our time together.
  • First Nations Forestry Awards of Excellence – Collaboration Award – Simpcw First Nation; Change Maker Award – ISKUM Investments; Revitalization Award – Kwiakah First Nation; and Innovation Award – Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation Ltd.
  • First Nations Tenure Toolkit & Coalition Development – The priorities and key themes identified during caucus day discussions—including the potential formation of a First Nations Tenure Coalition—are being carefully reviewed and compiled to help guide our policy work for the upcoming year. 
  • The Value-Added breakout session – highlighted the transformative potential of Indigenous-led innovation in British Columbia’s forest sector.
  • 2025 Youth Conference – Over 50 Exhibitors provided hands-on demonstrations of forestry sector activities for the 107 youth to try out. 
  • Program Partner of the Year – Mosaic Forest Management

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More timber harvesting environmental folly

Letter by Peter Rutland
The Cowichan Valley Citizen
April 30, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

NORTH COWICHAN, BC — We read with horror the Cowichan Citizen’s April 26, 2025 article about the mayors of North Cowichan and Nanaimo urging timber-harvesting hikes to boost jobs, and reap revenues to help fund our failing municipal infrastructures. This is environmental folly at its best. …Cutting more trees — including rare species and vanishing old growth — just to feed our struggling sawmills and paper mills is simply reckless short-term thinking. It also pumps pressure to resume logging our precious municipal forest reserve, against community wishes, for meagre returns compared to preservation-based carbon-credit cash yet to be chased. Please disregard our mayors’ desperate request.

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B.C. failing to protect 81% of critical habitat for at-risk species: government docs

By Ainslie Cruickshank
The Narwhal
April 30, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

More than 80 per cent of the critical habitat for at-risk species in B.C. fails to meet federal protection standards, according to a government briefing document. The document was included in a transition binder compiled for B.C. Water, Land and Resource Stewardship Minister Randene Neill. Close to 300 species in B.C. are listed under the federal Species At Risk Act… Critical habitat … has been identified in federal recovery plans for 107 of those species, according to the briefing document. Combined, it amounts to 31.3 million hectares — an area about 10 times the size of Vancouver Island. According to the document, the B.C. government provides “special management” of more than 34.5 million hectares of habitat for at-risk species. But not all of this area is considered “critical habitat” and not all meets legal federal protection standards, the document says. The provincial government, for instance, allows commercial logging in some special management areas.

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Earth Day time to recall value of forests, including in Saskatchewan

By Lisa McLaughlin, Nature Conservancy of Canada
Saskatoon StarPhoenix
April 29, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

After we marked Earth Day last week, the significance of forests for conservation, community benefits and human health has never been more urgent to acknowledge. Forests play many critical roles for nature and people: they provide habitat for hundreds of species, act as water filters, reduce air pollution, and are places of community connection, recreation and refuge. However, many pressures, including severe storms and wildfires, invasive alien species and habitat loss threaten these ecosystems, the benefits they provide and the relationships they support. …The economic value of our forests is just as vital as their ecological importance. According to the Forest Products Association of Canada, more than 200,000 Canadians earn their livelihood directly from forestry, sustainable agriculture and eco-tourism, contributing an impressive $87 billion in annual revenue. …The call is clear: safeguarding Canada’s forests means safeguarding ourselves. Our natural resiliency, our economic prosperity and our health require us to do our part. 

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Wildland firefighting drones are being tested in B.C.

By Santana Dreaver
CBC News
April 28, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Alex Deslauriers and Melanie Bitner’s home was one of 56 properties destroyed by the Downton Lake wildfire two years ago.  A fire tornado … swept through the community of Gun Lake, about 61 kilometres north of Pemberton, B.C., in August 2023, during Canada’s most destructive fire season on record. A working aerospace engineer, Deslauriers started brainstorming innovative ways to fight wildfires, to prevent others from a similar fate. …Along with David Thanh, a former B.C. Wildfire warden and Bitner, a communications expert, the trio co-founded Fireswarm Solutions — a Canadian company that, once testing is done, aims to supply heavy-duty drones to first responders. Known as Thunder Wasp drones, these quad-rotor drones UAVs, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, are built by Swedish aerospace company ACC Innovations. …FireSwam is working with the Strategic Natural Resource Group to test the drones’ ability to fight wildfire in B.C. over the course of the wildfire season. 

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We must support a vibrant forestry industry in B.C.

By Evan Saugstad
Energetic City
April 28, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

…As northern B.C. sawmills have closed over the past few years, a common refrain has been in each company press release. Punishing tariffs, high log costs, lack of access to B.C.’s plentiful timber and uncertainty in permitting processes… Is this the opening we need to dispense with the notion we need to begin turning B.C. into one big park for the world to enjoy? …Although B.C. has lost many of our lumber manufacturing facilities, our main ingredients are still here – our forests, its trees and a workforce, which when combined, provides for some of the best quality forest products in the world. Despite the economic hit our rural communities and residents have sustained with the loss of our forest industry, it is only a temporary setback, if we treat it as such, and do not let our governments succumb to the “end the forest industry” ideology that is so prevalent today.

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Fort Nelson Community Forest to receive part of $1 million investment

By Ed Hitchins
Energetic City
April 28, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

FORT NELSON, B.C. — Northeast BC forests will receive $1 million in funds for enhancement projects from the provincial government. Fort Nelson Community Forest, which will receive a portion of those funds, is a joint venture between the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality and Fort Nelson First Nation. Ravi Parmar, minister of forests, made the announcement on Thursday, April 24th at the BC First Nations Forestry Council’s conference in Penticton, according to a press release. The money announced will go toward waste wood utilization, including “funding to support additional wildfire reduction work west of the community of Fort Nelson,” and money to “assist in the movement of fire-damaged pulp logs from the Fort Nelson Community Forest near Fort Nelson to a central distribution site.” The salvaged wood will later be moved to a Canfor mill in Prince George, according to the release.

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North Cowichan, Nanaimo mayors encourage province to harvest more wood

By Robert Barron
Cowichan Valley Citizen
April 26, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The mayors of North Cowichan and Nanaimo are urging the province to increase the amount of timber that can be harvested annually in the province. In a letter to Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar, North Cowichan Mayor Rob Douglas and Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog said that despite its recent struggles, the forest industry continues to be a major part of the local economies of both municipalities, providing high-paying jobs while contributing millions of dollars in taxes every year that help pay for municipal services and build critical infrastructure. …They said the province’s budget for 2025 projects that only 30 million cubic metres of timber will be allowed to be harvested on Crown land this year, further declining to 29 million cubic metres by 2027, while more than 60 million cubic metres were allowed to be harvested in 2024. …The mayors also said they want to see the province’s permit and regulatory processes for timber harvesting streamlined.

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Cariboo Wildfire Risk Reduction & Wood Recovery Utilization Projects Receive Funding

My Cariboo Now
April 25, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Forest Enhancement Society of BC has given over $5 million for 18 projects in the Cariboo Region. Executive Director Jason Fisher said the Society distributes the money on behalf of the Province to invest in Forest Management activities related primarily to two major functions. “There’s the wildfire risk reduction, which involves going in and removing potentially some of the crown closure, removing some of the stems, some woody debris off the ground and making forest stands more resilient in the event of wildfire or less likely a wildfire that occurs in those stands would lead to more catastrophic wildfires.” Fisher said the other major function is wood recovery and utilization. In damaged stands, or post harvesting “we will help support applicants in going in, collecting that wood [debris] and bringing it to facilities like pulp mills or pellet plants to generate economic opportunities.”

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BC Forest Discovery Centre sparks conversation on wildfires April 30

By Chadd Cawson
Cowichan Valley Citizen
April 27, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

The BC Forest Discovery Centre announced the first of their planned continued educational series with the presentation of their book project Fire Season by authors Liz Toohey-Wiese and Amory Abbott. It will explore … how Toohey-Wiese’s and Abbott’s views on wildfires have changed over the course of publishing the three books as they share how both artists and writers can contribute to the narratives around wildfires. “Throughout the three editions of Fire Season historical materials from the BC Forest Discovery Centre have been woven into the contents of the book, showing a visual history of how we have thought about wildfires for the past 100 years, from ‘Smokey Bear’ and beyond,” said BC Forest Discovery Centre general manager Carol Miller. Fire Season: Making Sense of Wildfires Through Art and Writing: Zoom Webinar, April 30, 7 – 8 p.m. followed by a half hour reserved for audience questions afterwards.

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Logging irony: Unsustainable logging practices, unfair trade arguments threaten Alberta caribou

By Kirby Smith, retired Alberta wildlife biologist
Alberta Daily Herald Tribune
April 28, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Irony is one of Alberta’s most sustainable products. A current example is Weyerhaeuser, an American timber giant, with significant questions about environmental conservation and trade fairness. This company, alongside other American timber enterprises, have fervently lobbied the US Government to impose tariffs on softwood lumber imported from Canada. …Wearing its faux-Canadian hat, Weyerhaeuser, a Forest Management Agreement Holder, is now proposing to clear-cut log the remaining core forested winter range of the Redrock-Prairie Creek and Narraway southern mountain caribou populations. This proposal endangers the future of these already threatened caribou, which rely on these forests for their survival during winter. …Why should Albertans allow the future of these caribou populations to be jeopardized for the sake of supporting a US company? This same company has argued that Canadian softwood lumber is unfairly subsidized, yet it sees no issue with exploiting provincial lands in Alberta at fire-sale prices.

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Manitoba puts down payment of $80M on 3 new water bombers to fight forest fires

Tessa Adamski
CBC News
April 25, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The provincial government is putting an $80-million down payment on three new water bombers it plans to have by the 2031 and 2032 fire seasons. The new Calgary-made De Havilland Canadair 515 Firefighter water bombers will have upgraded navigation systems, increased tank capacity and more fuel-efficient engines, Premier Wab Kinew said on Friday. The first water bomber is expected to join the fleet for the 2031 fire season, with the other two expected to be added in 2032, he said. The $80 million is a down payment and the full cost is still being negotiated, Kinew said. …The new bombers were promised within a decade in the provincial budget released last month. The new water bombers will help fight fires not only in Manitoba, but in neighbouring provinces and territories and even south of Canada’s border, Kinew said.

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B.C. supports land stewardship at Pipi7íyekw/Joffre Lakes Park

By Ministry of Environment and Parks
Government of British Columbia
April 24, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

A temporary closure will take place at Pipi7íyekw/Joffre Lakes Park to provide time and space for members of the Líl̓wat Nation and N͛Quatqua to reconnect with the land and carry out cultural and spiritual practices. Pipi7íyekw/Joffre Lakes Park has become one of the busiest parks in the province. As more people go to the park, there is a need for enhanced visitor-use management, ensuring the park is not degraded by heavy use. Temporary closures to the park for recreational visitors will occur from April 25 until May 16, 2025. Beginning Saturday, May 17, adults and youth older than 12 will require a free day-use pass to visit the park. …The park is collaboratively managed with Líl̓wat Nation and N’Quatqua with the primary goal of maintaining the natural environment, and so the Nations can continue their cultural practices on their territory. 

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More than 60 projects will reduce wildfire risk, support forestry in B.C.

By Ministry of Forests
Government of British Columbia
April 24, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Communities and workers throughout British Columbia are benefiting from 64 new Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC) supported projects that reduce wildfire risk, enhance forest health and get more fibre into the hands of mills and energy producers. “The projects will remove almost 11,000 truckloads of flammable waste fibre from our forests,” said Ravi Parmar, Minister of Forests. “…This fibre that once would have been burned in slash piles will instead support workers and help keep communities safe.” With $19 million in provincial funding, projects will take place in all eight of the Province’s natural resource regions. This includes 31 led by First Nations and another 14 with First Nations involvement, demonstrating the critical leadership role First Nation communities are playing in restoring and protecting B.C.’s forests. This funding is part of the $90 million allocated in 2025 for wildfire-prevention initiatives through BC Wildfire Service, FireSmart initiatives and FESBC.

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Forest Enhancement Society of BC project updates from around the province

By Jason Fisher, Executive Director
Forest Enhancement Society of BC
April 24, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Jason Fisher

Indigenous Peoples in British Columbia have long stewarded our forests with a deep connection to the land, imparting their valuable cultural knowledge. Since its establishment in 2016, the Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC) has been honoured to work alongside Indigenous partners and communities by investing in projects that are making a transformational difference in our forests. We are honoured to continue funding projects led by Indigenous proponents that reflect their vision for forest management, create opportunities for Indigenous People, and make their communities safer. Today…we released our Spring 2025 Accomplishments Update, showcasing newly funded projects – many of which are led by First Nations and rooted in local values, innovation, and sustainability. A more comprehensive report will be coming out this Fall… these initiatives are helping shape a more inclusive forest economy in B.C., one in which First Nations have an even greater leadership role to the benefit of all British Columbians.

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With Jasper’s devastation in mind, Alberta communities gear up for wildfire season

By Adrienne Lamb
CBC News
April 24, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Memories of the destruction wrought by a wildfire that roared through Jasper National Park last summer are fuelling wildfire prevention efforts across the region. The July 2024 wildfire destroyed one-third of the structures in Jasper’s historic townsite, 365 kilometres west of Edmonton. “The situation we watched last summer was absolutely devastating,” says Nicholas Nissen, mayor of Hinton, Alta., a town 80 kilometres east of Jasper. Since then, many displaced Jasperites have been calling the town of 10,000 home. “I’m certain those people feel nervous when they look out at a big forest and see a summer coming.” That’s part of the reason Nissen says they’re digging in this spring to prepare for the worst by reinforcing the firebreak south of town. “You can see around us — the grass grows, the shrubs grow, the trees grow up so those firebreaks need to be re-done,” Nissen said this week, pointing to a machine mulching the 58-hectare fireguard.

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Firefighting drones could change the way B.C. fights wildfires, especially during the night

By Denise Ryan
Vancouver Sun
April 23, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

[Alex Deslauriers watched the Downton Lake wildfire in 2023 where his home was destroyed by the fire.] Since then, Deslauriers, an aerospace engineer, has been focused on just one thing: how to make sure it never happens again. …He shifted his entire career, almost overnight, to solving the problem. …Now there is: firefighting drones. …Now his company, FireSwarm Solutions, is adapting a Swedish-made jet engine-powered heavy-lift UAV (Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle) to fight wildfires. FireSwarm has partnered with Strategic Natural Resource Group, an Indigenous-owned company based in Prince George that specializes in forestry, emergency response and remote site development, to bring the drones to the frontlines of firefighting. …Rapid wildfire growth at night is an emerging phenomenon that has become increasingly problematic… That nighttime gap in firefighting response is exactly what Deslauriers wanted to address

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A Tsilhqot’in First Nation builds capacity as fire season begins

By Ruth Lloyd
Clearwater Times
April 23, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Xeni Gwet’in First Nation is building capacity in a remote part of the Chilcotin Plateau as the wildfire season gets underway. The Tin Towh crew is an experienced forestry crew with Xeni Gwet’in, a community a three hour drive south-west of Williams Lake. Along with a lot of work doing fuel management, the crew is also continuing to build their skills as firefighters. Alexis Stowards is the crew coordinator, working both in the field and in the office, and Steve Quilt is the crew supervisor, overseeing field work. Based in the remote Nemaiah Valley, Tin Towh, which loosely translates to “in the woods” in Tsilhqot’in, the crew was well-positioned to respond to a fire reported on April 21. The fire was approximately three hectares and was located in an area about 20 km west of the Xeni Gwet’in community.

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Environmental groups want BC to refocus measures to protect old-growth forests

My Coast Now
April 23, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) and Endangered Ecosystems Alliance (EEA) are calling for better protection of old-growth forests from the BC Government. [They want the] province to refocus their measures, implement their draft biodiversity, and Ecosystem Health Framework to ensure a transition to a sustainable forest industry. Executive Director of EEA Ken Wu said there is two directions the government can go in response to tariff threats from the U.S. “Either take the easy but foolish route by falling back on the destructive status quo of old-growth logging and raw low exports, or instead take the opportunity to invest in a modernized, sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry that is the future of forestry in BC, while protecting the last old-growth forests.” …The groups are also issuing a warning which commercial logging must not be permitted in protected areas under the guise of wildfire risk reduction.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

B.C. streamlines permitting for renewable-energy projects

By Ministry of Energy and Climate Solutions
Government of British Columbia
April 30, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Province is taking action to speed up permitting for renewable-energy projects to meet growing demand for clean power, address climate change and secure energy independence for British Columbians in the face of unprecedented trade threats. Government introduced the renewable energy projects (streamlined permitting) act to the legislative assembly on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. If passed, the act will expand the authority of the BC Energy Regulator (BCER) to oversee renewable-energy projects, building on the Province’s investments to generate the clean power needed to create a healthier environment and sustainable future for British Columbians. …Under the renewable energy projects (streamlined permitting) act, a renewable or clean resource means biomass, biogas, geothermal heat, hydro, solar, ocean, wind or any other clean-energy resource.

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BC says it will miss key climate target by half

By Stefan Labbe
Business in Vancouver
April 29, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada West

The BC government says it will only meet half of its 2030 target to lower greenhouse gas emissions. In an annual report released Tuesday, the province said it expects to drop BC’s carbon pollution to 20% below 2007 levels by 2030. That’s just half the 40% reduction in emissions the BC government committed to achieving in its Climate Change Accountability Act.  …Kathryn Harrison, a University of British Columbia political scientist researching climate policy, said the government report was surprisingly candid in its inability to meet its climate targets. …The largest polluting sector of the economy was transportation, which accounted for 42% of the province’s total emissions in 2022, the report found. The sector saw an 18% increase in emissions between 2007 and 2022, largely driven by commercial trucking. The next most polluting sector was the industrial sector — including oil and gas — which released 39% of BC’s total. The remaining 19% of emissions came from the buildings and communities sector.

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Svante and Mercer International Advance Carbon Capture Project at Alberta Pulp Mill

Business Wire in the Canadian Press
April 28, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER, BC — Svante Technologies, a leader in carbon capture and removal technology, announced that its joint carbon capture and storage project with Mercer International has advanced to the Front-end Engineering and Design Phase 2 (FEL-2). Also known as Pre-FEED, this phase involves engineering, cost estimation, and risk analysis to evaluate the project’s commercial viability. …The carbon capture project targets biogenic CO2 emissions from Mercer’s Peace River pulp mill, where the biomass is sourced from sustainably managed forests. Advancing to the Pre-FEED stage will support further development of the integrated design, cost estimates, and risk assessments—key steps toward a final investment decision and potential implementation. …Utilizing a Novel Carbon Capture Technology for Commercial Deployment, Svante’s second-generation capture technology maximizes low-grade waste heat from pulp mills, reducing energy consumption and increasing cost-effectiveness.

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Turning forestry waste into industrial fuel

Emissions Reduction Alberta
April 23, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada West

EDMONTON, AB – Alberta leads the market in developing new ways to produce low-carbon fuels and energy. By creating world-scale CCS capacity for detecting and capturing methane, Alberta continues to advance global technologies to decarbonize hard-to-abate industrial sectors. Hydrogen is the next stage in this effort, and Alberta has an opportunity to be a global leader in low-carbon and carbon-negative hydrogen. This $3 million investment from Emissions Reduction Alberta will help Hydrogen Naturally develop a project that converts forestry harvest residuals and fire-kill fibre – wood damaged by wildfire – into hydrogen. It will then capture and sequester the carbon typically released into the air during this process underground, transporting it to saline aquifers or depleted gas reservoirs. Carbon-negative hydrogen will then be blended with natural gas to produce carbon-neutral energy.

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