Region Archives: Canada West

VANCOUVER — The second phase of a planned massive tree removal in Stanley Park is on the agenda at the park board Monday night. About 160,000 trees have been classified as dead or dying as a result of a hemlock looper moth outbreak and will be cut down. The number works out to about one-third of all trees in the beloved green space. Crews cut down about 7,000 trees earlier this year, drawing criticism from some residents. 25% of Stanely Park’s area was targeted in the first phase of the project and 11% will be targeted in the next phase – with plans to begin in mid-October. Michael Caditz believes the science does not support the plans to remove the trees. …Brennan Bastyovanszky, the park board chair, says the trees are being removed as a safety precaution. Since the removal started, there have been 25,000 new seedlings planted.

Since the 2017 wildfires, the Alex Fraser Research Forest (AFRF) has been moving away from logging and finding new ways to substitute its revenue. The research forest’s manager Stephanie Ewen says some ideas are coming to fruition. …These businesses aren’t just about money but are innovative projects seeking to develop peoples’ connection with nature and their ability to contribute to local industry. Wild & Immersive (W&I) is a business aiming to bring people, especially children, closer to nature. It was first started at UBC’s research forest in Maple Ridge, and in 2021 expanded to Williams Lake. …The latest business project, the Combined Heat and Power Academy (CHP) was created to enable people from remote locations to help their communities transition from diesel-based power to biomass power. …Finally, the AFRF is working on the Cariboo Wood Innovation Training Hub (CWITH) …initially proposed in 2018, with funding from the Fraser Basin Council. 

With forest harvest levels dropping across B.C. a move to stem the downward spiral has begun. Called Forestry Works for B.C., the new grassroots initiative is expected to raise awareness about the critical role forestry plays in the well-being of rural and urban communities. Harvest levels have dropped by 42 per cent since 2018 and half of B.C.’s mills have been lost in the last two decades. The Forestry Works for B.C. campaign includes representation of 1,000 forest-based organizations and companies, including many small and medium sized and intergenerational family-owned businesses across British Columbia. “We believe that a better and brighter future in this province needs a strong forest sector,” Ken Kalesnikoff, president and chief executive officer of Kalesnikoff mass timber products and lumber company, said in a letter to the Regional District of Central Kootenay board of directors. …He explained that when access to the AAC is unreliable, harvest levels drop and government revenues for critical services decline.

Colin James and Don Ellingham, frustrated landowners who live along the Chemainus River, spoke to North Cowichan’s council on how flooding issues are being handled at its meeting on Sept. 4. They have lost many acres of land to the river as repeated floods have caused erosion and swept the land away, and they expect to lose more unless something is done… Studies… concluded there is a need for better management of the watershed and work in the river to reduce the damage caused by flooding. …But the landowners, and stakeholders in the river, know that logging operations upstream on private forestry lands have contributed significantly to the problems with logs and sediments in the watershed that are jamming up waterways and eating away at the riverbanks, and until something is done about that, all the work that has been and is being done on the river is pretty fruitless.  

The Regional District of Central Kootenay directors have been asked by the CEO of Kalesnikoff lumber to send a letter to the Ministry of Forestry in support of Forestry Works for BC, a corporate lobbying website. A presentation from Ken Kalesnikoff seeks to encourage the RDCK to raise awareness about forestry’s role in the well-being of rural and urban communities and how B.C.’s industrial clear-cut logging mitigates wildfires. …There is absolutely no scientific evidence that planetary deforestation reduces wildfire. B.C.’s timber barons have destroyed and continue to dry up thousands of hectares of wetlands, riparian zones and old-growth forest. …I hope the RDCK directors understand what the timber industry lobby is asking them to endorse. 

It has been yet another tough year for B.C. salmon and the communities that rely on them. Four years of drought have lowered water levels and raised temperatures in the province’s rivers and streams. The ongoing impacts of repeatedly low snowfall and warmer-than-average temperatures have meant glaciers throughout B.C. have been unable to recharge and store historical amounts of ice that would melt, release and cool streams during the year’s hottest, driest months. Low, drought-driven water levels can block salmon from spawning areas and expose them to predators. Overly warm water can reduce the fishes’ ability to spawn and make them vulnerable to illness. The repeated years of extensive wildfires that the B.C. Interior has experienced compound the challenges. Burnt forests lead to increased erosion and more ash and debris flowing into creeks and decrease the flood-mitigating effects that healthy, growing, green forests provide.

KANANASKIS COUNTRY – Wildfire danger in the Bow Valley and Kananaskis Country has escalated to extreme, with higher than average temperatures, strong winds and a lack of precipitation driving up risk. Fire risk in the region was upgraded from high to extreme Oct. 4. “The wildfire danger across the Calgary Forest Area (CFA) is expected to be extreme over the coming days,” said Anastasia Drummond, a wildfire information officer for Alberta Wildfire’s CFA, in an information bulletin. “Very strong and gusty winds are anticipated to begin today. These winds, combined with above seasonal temperatures and a lack of precipitation are causing a sharp increase in the wildfire danger.” …There are currently no active wildfires in the CFA. There have been 82 wildfires recorded by Alberta Wildfire in the region since Jan. 1, burning a total 64.35 hectares.

The Salmon Forest Project has been nominated for Best Short Documentary at the prestigious Hawaiian International Film Festival (HIFF44), marking its first international appearance. This British Columbian cinematic narrative made its official film festival summer debut at the 34th International First Peoples Festival (Présence Autochtone) and had a special unveiling at a Patagonia event in Vancouver this past spring. Directed by acclaimed British Columbia filmmaker Bill Heath, the film delves into the intricate relationship between Pacific salmon, forests, and the Heiltsuk people in the coastal rainforests of British Columbia. It features insights from UBC Faculty of Forestry experts Dr. Teresa Ryan (Sm’hayetsk) and internationally celebrated author Dr. Suzanne Simard, alongside forestry consultant Dr. Allen Larocque.

Four people who say cutting down thousands of moth-infested trees in Stanley Park is causing them distress and sadness have failed in a bid to have a judge order the removal halted, at least until the courts can hear their arguments to stop the tree felling permanently. …Justice Maegen Giltrow said there is a dispute between the two sides about whether a report by B.A. Blackwell and Associates that the city relies on to remove an estimated 160,000 trees, or about a third of the park’s half a million trees, is “scientifically sound” and whether the tree removal to fight the hemlock looper moth infestation is necessary or safe. …Giltrow concluded that she wouldn’t grant the injunction against the tree removal because “even though the applicants have raised credible and legitimate questions about the process… it’s unlikely that the “novel” duty of care argument would be successful at trial.”

The Power of Forests Project, a BC-wide coalition of grassroots groups that want to see changes made to the province’s forestry industry, brought its plan for a new forestry act to Prince George on the weekend. It was introduced on Sept. 28, with veteran forester Herb Hammond, Jennifer Houghton of the Boundary Forest Watershed Stewardship Society and Michelle Connolly of Conservation North, speaking. Project organizers are calling for a new provincial forestry act, the primary objective of which would be to maintain the ecological integrity of forest ecosystems while developing community-based jobs as well as local economies that would strengthen the provincial economy. …Schools will have a role to play, he said. “The most important thing is get discussion and facts into the public education system,” Hammond said. “The timber companies are visibly doing this. You can take forestry classes. But it’s forestry like what we’ve been talking about. It’s forestry that destroys.”

British Columbia’s nagging drought could be eased by an incoming weather pattern that may bring a colder and wetter than normal winter, says Sean Fleming, an adjunct UBC professor of atmospheric sciences. The prolonged drought has caused wildfires to burn year-round, forced some communities to ration water supplies and dangerously lowered water levels in rivers, impacting salmon runs. Citing the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Fleming, who works in UBC’s Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, said early projections show a 71 per cent chance that an La Nina weather pattern will move in. …“Potentially, we could be looking at greater than average flooding this winter if the La Nina conditions pan out,” he said in an interview. “That also means, though, greater water supply, greater snowpack in general, greater water supply availability for the next spring and summer.”

A groundbreaking Haida film delves into the 1985 conflict in which the Haida people defended their old-growth forests on Tllga Kun Gwaayaay (Lyell Island) from clear-cut logging. Director Christopher Auchter’s documentary The Stand combines archival footage with animation, taking viewers through the confrontation as if they are experiencing the events in linear time to create a sense of tension and urgency. …The Stand is Auchter’s first feature-length film, and will make its world debut on Oct. 3 at the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF). …Auchter remembers his childhood in Haida Gwaii, when forestry workers would visit and inform the residents that, at the current rate of logging, they would lose all their old-growth forests within 10 years. He says the old-growth stands vital to the Haida as they need the big cedar and spruce for totem poles, building canoes, fruit and bark.

Dana Giesbrecht has had enough with Canfor in Houston. “They’ve done fine with Houston. When you see logging trucks leaving, you know there’s timber. They’re just hauling it down the highway,” she said of the company’s decision to ship wood elsewhere after first closing its existing sawmill last year and then shelving plans to build a replacement. It’s what prompted her to make signs and gather a small group Sept. 21 to express their frustration. “People should know what Canfor is doing to communities, small communities. It’s people leaving. We’re losing good people and Canfor doesn’t care,” she said. Giesbrecht and her husband have themselves been affected by Canfor’s actions in Houston. They have four log processors, devices which cuts trees to length and sorts the logs for transport, and they haven’t worked since March.

John Brink interviews Percy Guichon, Executive Director of Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation Ltd., and Councillor of Tŝideldel First Nation. Educated at the College of New Caledonia with a Forest Technician Diploma, and with years of lived experience, Guichon significantly contributes to his community’s growth and sits on several boards enhancing local economic and environmental initiatives. Percy’s role as a director of the Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation Ltd. has reiterated his beliefs that reconciliation is not just about acknowledging the past; it’s about reshaping the present and future to embrace the ideals of unity, opportunity, and collaboration.

Part three of the Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation’s (CCR) five-part video series has been released. CCR said The latest video will focus on the economic benefits of forestry, with the previous two covering the economic and environmental focus of forestry. Percy Guichon said ” forestry has opened up opportunities for employment and economic development in our community of Tsideldel  First Nation by way of jobs in many different areas.” Guichon added forestry jobs created through CCR help support small businesses, and provide good, family-supporting jobs, while supporting multiple First Nations.

B.C.’s capital hopes to obtain millions in grants that could help expand Victoria’s tree canopy, revitalize a downtown landmark and lower the cost of potentially replacing the city’s aging pool facility. Council on Thursday (Sept. 26) unanimously voted to have staff apply for capital project grants totalling more than $35 million… Boosting the number of trees in the city is a running theme among the grant opportunities as Victoria will try to get $2.5 million to increase its urban forest. That grant – which is funded by the Government of Canada and delivered by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities – would be used to increase the tree canopy in Victoria’s heat islands and see more trees planted in parks, on boulevards and along Government Street.

While it will always be necessary to probe the ways humans harm wild creatures, some biologists, ecologists and environmentalists believe it’s also worth noting when people have figured out ways to shore up the natural world. Sea otters. Peregrine falcons. Humpback whales. Elephant seals. These are just some of the species that have recovered in B.C… Many lessons can be learned when animal populations successfully return, which scientists say has become possible because humans have developed greater appreciation of the world’s interconnectedness… “There’s more understanding that there are modest things we can do that can bring about big changes in animal populations,” says University of B.C. forestry biologist Peter Arcese. “There’s good evidence that, to a large degree, we have agency in the environment.”

By this time, Jasper National Park’s caribou breeding centre was supposed to be nearly done, ready for pregnant cows to bed down behind its fence, safe from predators and working on replenishing the park’s diminishing herds. This summer’s wildfire had other ideas… The fire not only ravaged homes in the Jasper townsite and much-loved mountain landscapes, it also scorched plans for Canada’s first captive breeding centre for caribou. Parks Canada is building a $40-million centre that would permanently pen up to 40 females and five males in a highly managed and monitored area of about one square kilometre surrounded by an electrified fence. The agency suggests the captive breeding could produce enough calves every year to bring Jasper’s herds to sustainable levels in a decade.

Local logging tenures belong to the people who live here, says the District of Houston council in one of its strongest statements to date since Canfor shelved plans to replace its closed sawmill with a new one. Saying it is aware the company has put both its licences to cut wood and its closed sawmill up for sale, the District remains “firm in our belief that the harvesting of local logs should be directly tied to local jobs,” it stated in a Sept. 26, 2024 release. “Tenures, in our view, are not mere assets to be traded between large corporations. They belong to the people of this community and region, and ultimately, the people of British Columbia.”

A second attempt at a letter of support for a forestry industry lobby campaign against cutting regulations was quashed by Nanaimo city council in a split vote…On Sept. 9, lumber industry representatives presented to Nanaimo council, on behalf of the Forestry Works for B.C. campaign, requesting a letter of support against the current regulations. The campaign is a collective effort that represents several forest-based organizations and companies, including Coastland Wood Industries, Nanaimo Forest Products, Jones Marine Group and the Truck Loggers Association… “The reason why harvest rates are low is in response to all the controversy around old-growth and unsustainable practices,” said Coun. Ben Geselbracht, who voted against the lobbyists’ request… Other council members who voted against included Coun. Hilary Eastmure, Paul Manly, Janice Perrino and Erin Hemmens.

B.C.’s new land and water ministry is in disarray, according to several groups that hoped its creation would lead to better management of the province’s natural resources… The new ministry was created in 2022 with responsibility for land and water management removed from the forestry ministry. About 1,130 staff were transferred from existing ministries, along with $82 million in funding. Another 90 new staff members were hired to fill new roles, while an additional $17 million formed the ministry’s budget that year… As the ministry gained responsibility for sections of the Wildlife Act, Land Act and Water Sustainability Act in 2023, it also gained complex and challenging files as the province worked to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. 

Hélène Marcoux

We had the pleasure of speaking with Hélène Marcoux, Manager of the Malcolm Knapp Research Forest, to gain insight into the complexities of managing this invaluable UBC resource. Hélène’s expertise in forest management, combined with her passion for advancing research and education, has been pivotal in shaping the forest’s future. In this conversation, Hélène reflects on her experiences, the challenges of balancing ecological integrity with research needs, and the forest’s vital role in education and community engagement. …My name is Hélène Marcoux – I’m a registered professional forester and a forest ecologist, silviculturist and a nerd when it comes to plants and soils. My primary role includes overseeing the entire 5100-ha Malcolm Knapp Research Forest (MKRF) operations – including the relationships, the finances, the land and our academic mission.