Region Archives: Canada West

GRANDE PRAIRIE, Alberta — The Boreal Wetland Centre in Evergreen Park is playing a role in research on restoring vegetation to cut lines in the forest left by oil and gas exploration. The researchers are with the Canadian Forest Service, a branch of Natural Resources Canada. Scientist Jaime Pinzon says a lot of what he calls seismic lines do not show many signs of recovery even decades later, especially on peat lands. The study is looking at soil mounding, creating dirt piles where tree cans grow. Pinzon says this is a “common restoration technique.” …Pinzon says mounding provides a a raised surface which can provide a better growing surface for tree seedlings. He adds excavators are used to dig up peat along the seismic lines to create these mounds. …He is hoping data collection will continue at the site at the Boreal Wetland Centre will continue long-term.

A new collaborative approach to land-use planning on northern Vancouver Island will help protect ‘Na̲mg̲is First Nation cultural values and biodiversity, while providing operational clarity for the forest industry within ‘Na̲mg̲is territory. Developed through a government-to-government process between the Province and ‘Na̲mg̲is, the Gwa’ni Land Use Plan introduces modifications to the existing Vancouver Island Land Use Plan. …“The implementation of the Gwa’ni recommendations is an important step forward to addressing long-standing concerns of the Nation, setting the stage for achieving shared stewardship responsibilities and establishing new approaches to support a sustainable forestry industry in the north island,” said Victor Isaac, ‘Na̲mg̲is Chief Councillor. …“Western is pleased to see the progress being made in advancing the Gwa’ni Land Use Plan,” said Steven Hofer, president and CEO, Western Forest Products. “…The plan also proposes two new areas for conservation that would cover approximately 1,600 hectares of the 166,000-hectare watershed.

BC Government Press Release: B.C., ‘Na̲mg̲is endorse Gwa’ni land-use planning recommendations

The Coastal First Nations-Great Bear Initiative (CFN) and the Government of BC are renewing their commitment to work together through a reconciliation agreement that builds off the success of their 2009 reconciliation protocol and 2020 Pathway to Reconciliation MOU. …Christine Smith-Martin, CEO of the Coastal First Nations-Great Bear Initiative said, “We have improved land and marine use planning throughout the Great Bear and launching a marine protected area network that sets a new precedent for conservation and sustainable management. We look forward to working together on Reconciliation 2.0.” The Province is contributing $1.6 million annually for implementation funding for four years. …The agreement outlines how coastal First Nations and the Province will work together to increase the quality of life throughout the area. This includes… clean energy, and opportunities in coastal forestry, and reinforces CFN’s conservation efforts in the Great Bear Rainforest.

MERRITT – The Forest Practices Board will audit the range planning and practices of the Douglas Lake Cattle Company on range agreement RAN076915 in the Cascades and Okanagan Shuswap Natural Resource Districts. The five-day field audit will start on Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. The Douglas Lake Cattle Company’s operations are in the southern Interior of B.C., located in the highlands between Kelowna and Merritt to the north and south of Highway 97C (the Okanagan Connector). The range agreement covers an area of more than 200,000 hectares of Crown range, with more than 7,000 head of livestock authorized for grazing. Auditors will examine range activities for compliance with the Forest and Range Practices Act. Requirements include adhering to the approved range-use plan, ensuring that range activities protect riparian areas, fish habitat and upland areas, and maintaining range developments, such as fencing.

On average, BC has experienced 1,483 wildfires per year over the past decade. We are certainly on pace to exceed that number this year. …Fortunately, Prince George has not suffered a major fire yet. The city is doing what it can to prevent a major firestorm…but the sort of conflagration which has devastated Jasper is still a possibility. After all, we live in a forested landscape. We also keep building new developments into existing forests. It is likely only a matter of time before our region suffers a heat dome sufficient to dry out the woods and allow a fire to take hold. …42% of fires are human-caused. And as our population keeps growing, the likelihood of fires caused by human interactions will continue to increase. Add in hot, dry summers and it is not a question of will B.C. burn, but when will it happen? And what are we doing to prepare?

Alberta Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen speaks with Alberta Primetime host Michael Higgins about the provincial and federal governments’ response to the recent Jasper wildfires. Michael Higgins: What’s been most eye opening about the dynamics that have played out around the destructive Jasper wildfire and what’s been involved in taming that beast? Todd Loewen: It took a lot of lot of equipment, a lot of manpower, to get that fire to the state it’s at now, where the threat to the community is not imminent. It’s still considered out of control so there’s still work to be done on that fire. We do have a lot of men and equipment and personnel working on that. Just a lot going on. It’s a it’s a huge fire. There’s a lot of perimeter to that fire and there’s a lot of values at risk in the surrounding areas too that we want to make sure we protect.

Plans for new logging in endangered caribou habitat threaten to undermine hard-fought population gains for a struggling herd, warns a Kootenay-based conservation group as the province considers two logging proposals. Earlier this year, wood product companies Stella-Jones and Pacific Woodtech submitted plans to log in the Seymour River watershed, northwest of Revelstoke, B.C. …a spokesperson for Stella-Jones said the company “is currently in the preliminary stages of creating a final operational plan for harvesting activity in this area.” Stella-Jones is engaging with First Nations and other stakeholders on wildlife management, and “remains committed to responsible harvesting practices,” the statement said. Pacific Woodtech their Golden, BC mill from Louisiana-Pacific two years ago [and have] applied to the B.C. government to have the forestry licenses and associated road permits transferred over. …The B.C. government also has yet to decide whether to allow the two companies’ logging proposals to proceed.

Salvage logging is planned for Rose Valley Regional Park to help in recovery from the McDougall Creek wildfire one year ago. The Regional District of Central Okanagan says it has been working with the provincial government to address wildfire damage in the park in West Kelowna. When wildfire risk subsides, crews will start falling hazardous trees along trails above Rose Valley Elementary in the first phase of the recovery work. “Reopening closed parks is a priority, but safety comes first, and we are moving forward with a carefully phased plan…,” says Wayne Darlington, Interim Director Parks Services. …Phase two will see danger trees fallen along other maintained trails within the park while phase three will see salvage logging of “large accumulation of hazardous trees.” The regional district says wildfire-damaged wood may be used to produce dimensional lumber, hog fuel to produce energy for manufacturing or to make household items, such as paper, packaging and tissue paper.

British Columbia has already spent about $387 million battling fires so far this year, as crews brace for more lightning-caused starts in the coming days, the director of provincial operations for the province’s wildfire service said Tuesday. Cliff Chapman told a news conference that the price tag marks about a 17% decrease from the amount spent by this time last year. Forests Minister Bruce Ralston said the province spent about $1 billion fighting fires in 2023, the worst season on record for total area burned. The BC Wildfire Service said hot and dry weather paired with 29 consecutive days of lightning has led to the more than 400 active wildfires burning across the province. Chapman said there were roughly the same number of fires burning across the province last year, but they were much larger.

…The industry, known as “wildfire salvage,” is on the rise. In almost every year since 2018, logging cutblocks in five wildfire zones in B.C.’s Interior were each larger than the city of Vancouver… According to an email from B.C.’s Ministry of Forests, wildfire salvage logging in 2022 made up about 10 per cent of the province’s annual cut — a 100-fold increase over the past decade. In B.C., wildfire salvage typically means clear cutting a burned area. Salvage logging offers an opportunity for companies to access discounted wood at a time when the forest sector is in crisis following a century of industrial logging, wildfires and beetle infestations. As mills close and workers are laid off, the B.C. government has announced policies to expedite wildfire salvage logging, making it cheaper and faster for companies to harvest in burn areas. But “salvage” is not always the right word. 

Summer is usually the quietest time of the year at CNC with staff and faculty taking their vacation and planning for the fall semester. The opposite is true for our Applied Research team. During a recent tour of CNC’s Research Forest, they gave college employees a glimpse into their busiest season and the vital environmental stewardship studies they are undertaking. CNC’s Applied Research team spends about 90 percent of their summer in remote forest areas around Prince George setting up and assessing various research sites. Planting fungi, creating wildlife corridors, monitoring beaver ponds, mapping vegetation, restoring logging roads and streams… it’s a quick snapshot of the day-to-day work that goes into creating a local and resilient forest ecosystem. …The Research Forest is comprised of 12 units of provincial forest land totaling approximately 12,500 hectares, all of which are located within 100 km of Prince George.

About 30,000 cubic metres of debris from the Chilcotin River landslide was successfully caught by a debris trap in the Fraser River near Hope. It was a momentous moment for the partnership between the province and Shxw’ōwhámél First Nation. “Overnight success at the Fraser River Debris Trap!” said Minister Bowinn Ma. It trapped 30,000 cubic metres of woody debris from the Chilcotin landslide.” …The debris — which mainly consisted of logs — was successfully caught by the trap on Aug. 6 after water overflowed the dam, formed by the landslide, on Aug. 5. Shxw’ōwhámél signed the Fraser River Debris Trap Co-Management agreement with the B.C. government back on June 17, 2023. …In operation for over 40 years now, the Fraser River Debris Trap reduces the volume of woody material flowing into the lower reaches of the Fraser River and Salish Sea. …The wood collected by the trap will eventually be repurposed.

Ken Hodges, the veteran forester who years ago warned Parks Canada about the potential for a catastrophic wildfire in Jasper, is now worried about wildfire hitting hard in Banff and Canmore. Hodges, retired in Canmore, was pained by what he sees as government inaction in the lead up to the Jasper wildfire. “Was there anything that could have been done to stop it? Maybe.” …Hodges, for 35 years a forester for the BC government, worked in the Prince George region. …Government logging, prescribed burns and clearing of deadfall has been carried out on public land around Canmore, but nothing is being done on some large tracts of private land around town, Hodges said. “That creates a major issue.” …After the devastating Waterton National Park fire of 2017, Hodges and fellow forester Emile Begin prepared a report for Jasper town and park officials on the dangers of a major fire.

It has been another intensive wildfire season with thousands of fires in both B.C. and Alberta burning more than a million hectares of forest. …But the fact that 70 per cent of Jasper was saved is a testament not only to the commitment of the firefighters but also to the FireSmart program put in place to help protect the community. The losses would have been much greater without years of preventative wildfire mitigation. Similarly, mitigation work conducted by the Penticton Indian Band helped firefighters contain and prevent the spread of the recent wildfire above West Bench. Sixteen homes were evacuated but ultimately only two sheds were lost. As a community surrounded by wildland, the District of Summerland has also been undertaking fuel modifications in interface areas to help fortify the town in the event of a wildfire. 

JASPER, Alberta — A large wildfire ripped through Jasper, Alta., last month, destroying hundreds of buildings and turning much of the west side of town into a wasteland. It’s a jewel of Canada’s national parks, with a tiny picturesque townsite nestled in the forested folds of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains. Now, parts of Jasper are a scorched landscape with years – if not decades – of recovery ahead. On July 22, 2024, thousands of Jasper residents and tourists were ordered to evacuate as wildfires – started by lightning and fuelled by catastrophic drought conditions – threatened the town and the surrounding national park. Within 48 hours, firefighters faced a nighttime battle against a wall of flames propelled through surrounding valleys by howling winds. By morning, when the sun rose above Roche Bonhomme, about one-third of the townsite was rubble, with many more buildings damaged. Here’s a more detailed look at that timeline.

David Suzuki

Last summer, during a record-breaking wildfire season, a podcast host asked Alberta Premier Danielle Smith about the connection between fires and climate change and her government’s opposition to federal climate policies. “I think you’re watching, as I am, the number of stories about arson,” she said. “I’m very concerned that there are arsonists.” She’s not alone in blaming arson, lightning or forestry policies for increasingly intense wildfires and lengthening wildfire seasons. Those are factors, but not the point. Whether fires are ignited by arson, lightning or accident, human-caused global heating is making them more likely and more furious. …Because we’ve already released so many greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, we’ll be facing escalating wildfires for years to come. We can reduce future risk by shifting from polluting fossil fuels to cleaner energy and protecting green spaces, but good forest management is also necessary.

FORT ST. JOHN, BC – The District of Chetwynd has announced its support for ForestryWorksforBC. …The district received a letter from a group of forestry-based organizations asking for the council’s support in a grassroots initiative to raise awareness about forestry. The letter detailed the importance of forestry, the industry’s critical role in rural and urban communities, and the struggles within the industry due to decreasing harvest levels and reduced government revenue. ForestryWorksforBC is advocating for reliable access to allowable annual cut (AAC), the annual amount of timber that can be harvested on a sustainable basis. “Without reliable and timely access to the AAC, we have a lot more to lose than mills,” the organization wrote. Mayor Allen Courtoreille and councillors unanimously agreed to lend the district’s support to ForestryWorksforBC’s message and voted to write a letter of support addressed to the provincial government.

As the provincial election approaches, an organization concerned about wildlife and related issues is holding election town halls to make sure their concerns are heard. The B.C. Wildlife Federation has already held nine election town halls across B.C. and plans to hold 15 more, says Randy Shore, BCWF’s public relations and communications specialist. Three town halls are scheduled for the Okanagan in the coming weeks, followed by four more on Vancouver Island, with Metro Vancouver hosting four town halls in September.  “We want to ensure that voters and our elected officials have a chance to discuss wildlife management without the noise that comes with the general election period,” Shore said. “Also, it takes time for parties to build their election platforms. We want to make sure they are considering wildlife management during that process.”

The news out of Jasper is tragic. …Predictably, the disaster has now turned into a political blame game. …So I may as well jump in on the action and blame something no one else will – the elk. At least partially. Yes there should be more controlled burns happening. …And more of those dead pine should have been selectively logged. But we also need to eradicate the elk herds, which never existed in Jasper in large numbers until 1920, when park authorities shipped in 88 elk from Yellowstone. Like in Yellowstone, elk have had a massive impact on the most fire-resistant forest type we have – the aspen. …We need to recognize the elk aren’t precious, nor do they represent a natural park. …They need to be either hunted again or possibly excluded in key areas with fencing.