Region Archives: Canada West

OTTAWA, ON – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has updated its regulated areas for emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) to include an area in British Columbia, in an effort to slow the insect’s spread. The regulated area in British Columbia includes the City of Vancouver, the University of British Columbia campus and the University Endowment Lands. This is the first expansion of the EAB regulated area in British Columbia. The emerald ash borer is most commonly spread through the movement of firewood and other infested ash wood products, although it can also spread by flying up to 10 kilometers. Effective immediately, ash material (such as logs, branches and woodchips) and all species of firewood cannot be moved outside of the regulated area without permission from the CFIA. If you need to move ash material, please contact your local CFIA office to request written authorization.

The federal government has announced new financing for 17 B.C. First Nations to expand protection for marine ecosystems off the central coast. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told a news conference that it will add about 14,000 square kilometres of newly protected areas. He said it will also support sustainable development for the waters off the Great Bear Rainforest on B.C.’s central and northern coast. …The federal government is providing $200 million, B.C. is providing $60 million, and $75 million is coming from philanthropic investors, for a total of $335 million to create an endowment fund. The new financing follows a model set out by the Great Bear Rainforest agreement, which has protected large swaths of old-growth forests while supporting job creation and economic diversification for communities along the coast.

Ulkatcho First Nation has embarked on a mission to plant more than one million trees over the next seven years. With funding from the Two Billion Trees, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Forest Employment Program and the Caribou Habitat Restoration Fund, 200,000 trees will be planted each year in the nation’s traditional territory until they reach their target. Alysha Knapp, the nation’s natural resources manager, said over the last 40 to 50 years the area has been heavily harvested by forestry. “In the last 10 years, we have been devastated by forest fires as well, and lost almost 40 per cent of our territory to forest fires.” This year they are also experiencing 60 to 70 per cent drought conditions. With the project, she said the nation will have the ability to plant what it wants where it wants and put biodiversity back into the landscape to help retain moisture in the ground. 

British Columbia’s chief forester has set the new allowable annual cut (AAC) level for the North Island Timber Supply Area (TSA). The new AAC for the North Island TSA is 1,096,000 cubic metres. This is a 12.2% reduction from the previous AAC, while remaining above the average harvest level in recent years. To promote the harvest of red alder trees, maintain sustainable forestry, manage old growth and protect against over harvesting within the Sayward Timber Supply Block, the new determination includes four partitions. …The AAC determination reflects additional wildlife habitat protections, land removals following First Nation agreements, and the removal of some helicopter-access areas with consistently low harvest levels. The North Island TSA comprises approximately 1.7 million hectares in the North of Vancouver Island. The TSA overlaps the territory of 26 First Nations, all of which were consulted during the timber supply review process, and feedback considered. 

VANCOUVER, BC – Coastal First Nations – Great Bear Initiative, Na̲nwak̲olas Council, and Coast Funds, along with the federal and provincial governments and philanthropic investors, are celebrating the closing of the Great Bear Sea Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) initiative. The Great Bear Sea PFP, led by 17 participating First Nations, launches a new era of collaborative governance in marine conservation and stewardship. A total of $335 million for the PFP —$200 million from the Government of Canada, $60 million from the Province of BC, and $75 million from philanthropic investors — ensures our communities will now have access to durable, long-term funding to care for our marine territories and support sustainable economic development on the coast.

Additional coverage in the Vancouver Sun, by Canadian Press Brieanna Charlebois: First Nations, Ottawa, B.C. announce $335 million for protection off Great Bear coast

The complexities of recruiting, retaining, and managing a diverse workforce were at the center stage during the 2024 Council of Forest Industries (COFI) annual convention – the largest gathering of the forest sector in Western Canada. An insightful presentation on building workforce resilience through inclusion was delivered by Louise Bender, vice-president of people and administration at Mosaic Forest Management, and Jason Krips, president and CEO of the Alberta Forest Products Association (AFPA). “Think about the workforce – have we provided a welcoming environment so they would want to work at our mills?” Bender asked the attendees. The pair emphasized the importance of fostering diversity and inclusion from the boardroom through the production chain, and all the way to the forest floor, while also unveiling an emerging alliance dedicated to advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) across Canada’s forest industry. This marked a significant step towards a more inclusive future for the sector.

For decades, scientists have known that allowing the timber industry to store logs in estuaries kills marine life. So why does British Columbia still permit it? …From a distance, the log boom presents a familiar, almost nostalgic image of British Columbia’s working coast. Up close, it is an intimidating, two-to-three-meter-high tangle of dead trees resting upon the dark ooze. …Timber companies store log booms all along the BC coast, says Jamieson Atkinson, a fish biologist and program manager for the Aquatic Research and Restoration Centre at the British Columbia Conservation Foundation (BCCF). And while estuaries make up less than three percent of British Columbia’s coast, they provide rich habitat for 80 percent of the province’s coastal wildlife. The Fraser River estuary, near Vancouver on the BC mainland, supports more than 300 species of birds and 80 species of fish and shellfish for at least part of their life cycles.

An agreement has been reached, for the cooperation of the Nakusp and Area Community Forest and the Sinixt Confederacy and the Coleville Confederate Tribes. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the parties June 19, on the Nakusp waterfront walkway. The goal is to strengthen ties between NACFOR and explore shared success. The overall goals of the MOA are to facilitate collaboration, strengthen community based and sustainable land management, share information on management techniques, and grow relationships, according to a press release. The chairman of the Colville Confederated Tribes, Jarred-Michael Erickson stated: “The Sinixt people were once declared extinct in Canada, but now we return home to assist with shaping the future of our traditional lands. “The Colville Tribes (have) a long history of successful forest and land management south of the Canadian border, and we are thrilled to bring our resources and expertise to care for the land occupied by our ancestors since time immemorial.”

Moses Martin and Lewis George

Tofino, BC — Sitting side-by-side, Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation elder Moses Martin and Ahousaht Ha’wilth Maquinna (Lewis George) gazed thoughtfully at the scene unfolding at Tofino’s Village Green on June 21, as young dancers welcomed family and guests to a celebration that’s been a long time coming. Forty-years after declaring Meares Island a tribal park under Nuu-chah-nulth law, the provincial government is finally recognizing Indigenous authority of the so-called Crown lands that were colloquially known as Tree Farm Licence (TFL) 54. On June 18, the province announced 76,000 hectares of conservancies in Clayoquot Sound. When these protected areas come into effect on June 26, they will comprise almost 60 per cent of what is currently under a forestry tenure tied to TFL 54. “It feels really, really good,” said Maquinna of the new conservancies, reflecting on the Meares Island standoff of 40 years ago.

First Nations are on the front lines of fire and make up over 40 per cent of all wildfire-related evacuations. The fire season in 2023 was the worst evacuation year for Indigenous nations, nearly doubling the previous record set in 2021. Ron Tomma said his First Nation did clear some debris from the forests, but it was not enough. …Fire stewardship is part of an approach to forest management that also involves removing information silos around forest management and informing the public about the good use of fire on the landscape, said new wildfire mitigation research titled What We Heard. The report gathered feedback from First Nations in B.C., and other government and industry representatives. Researcher James Whitehead, who co-wrote the report, said the participants agreed there is a need for more public education about the role of fire in forest management, otherwise known as “good fire,” Whitehead said.

POWELL RIVER, BC — Powell River Community Forest presented a record cheque of $6,264,534 for City of Powell River’s community forest reserve fund as its 2023 dividend. At the June 20 city council meeting, community forest president Greg Hemphill said the independent corporation’s previous high was around $3.5 million. He outlined why last year’s dividend was so much higher. “The genesis of this dividend starts in 2022,” said Hemphill. …“Moving into 2023, we had some catching up to do on our cut controls. We harvested a lot more timber than our regular annual cut, so that’s one of the reasons for the high amount.” Hemphill said another reason is the community forest was in a position to take advantage of what was still a very good timber market. …Councillors then heard from grant recipients, who outlined the types of projects they would be initiating with community forest grants.

Thompson Rivers University (TRU) Wildfire, in partnership with the BC Wildfire Service, is the university’s response to one of the most pressing issues of our time. It’s a solutions-focused initiative addressing current and future wildfire challenges—and now you can be part of it. TRU Wildfire is hiring for two positions: Director, TRU Wildfire (Training) and Director, TRU Wildfire (Research, Innovation, Education). These positions, both located on TRU’s Kamloops campus, will provide the leadership necessary to build the infrastructure of TRU Wildfire for the development and delivery of world-class research, education, training, and innovation. By contributing to the future of wildfire research and learning, you can help develop the next generation of wildfire researchers and leaders. The posting of these positions follows the April announcement by BC Premier David Eby and the more recent acknowledgement by Minister Bruce Ralston at the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers conference.

Though it’s been a relatively slow start to the wildfire season on Vancouver Island, local fire departments are keeping a close eye on wooded areas that border their communities. On Friday, the only wildfire on the Island was a .75-hectare blaze in the gully at Rogers Creek in Port Alberni that was listed as “being held,” while a small fire west of Duncan was brought under control on ­Thursday. …Coastal Fire Centre ­information officer Gordon Robinson said there’s no guarantee things will stay quiet — in 2022, a slow-starting fire season quickly became active for much of the summer. In Langford, Fire Chief Chris Aubrey said “interface” fires — wildfires that could potentially spread to urban land — are a serious worry for his ­department. …Aubrey said there can be some complacency about wildfires on the Island because the most serious ones tend to happen elsewhere in the province.

A proposed cutblock south of Castlegar has become a subject of contention and West Kootenay residents have a chance to weigh in. BC Timber Sales (BCTS) Kootenay Business Area is planning to sell off three cutblocks in the Cai Creak area under timber sales license TA2185. Block 3 is the one Castlegar resident and professional biologist Matt Casselman is most concerned about. Casselman moved to Castlegar in 2021, and wanted to know more about the forestry going on in the area, especially since the province’s Old Growth Technical Advisory Panel had been in the news. Casselman was especially interested in finding local intact watersheds and areas that he would be able to explore on his own. He soon came across Cai Creek and BCTS’s plans to sell a TSL in the area. Casselman has been trying to raise awareness about BCTS’s plans and intact watersheds for the past three years, launching the Save Cai Creek website in December 2023…

Percy Guichon

On May 29-30, 2024, Percy Guichon, executive director of Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation Ltd. (CCR) attended the 5th Annual BC First Nations Forestry Council (FNFC) Conference in Penticton, B.C. to discuss the many changes occurring in the forest sector. The conference focused on the theme ‘Meaningful Collaboration for Sustainable Change’, and Guichon was a panelist on the ‘Forest Economy – Fibre Supply and First Nations Opportunities’ panel. Guichon shared the story behind the creation of CCR, highlighting the company’s journey to successfully take on large scale forestry projects, the challenges they’ve faced and overcome, and key recommendations for other First Nations looking to perhaps do the same work. …Guichon hopes participants left with a renewed sense of purpose and a wealth of knowledge to support the forward movement and expansion of First Nations forestry participation and partnerships in British Columbia.

Let’s pause for a moment of gratitude. June 26 will be a kind of armistice day — the old growth battlegrounds of the “War in the Woods” in Clayoquot Sound will receive permanent protection. The Ahousaht and Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations have landed an agreement with the province of B.C. to protect about 760 square kilometres of the world’s most stupendous ancient forest and other unique biomes, creating 10 new conservancies to protect the old growth. In the process, the nations forced a local revamp of B.C.’s heinous “Tree Farm Licence” system — the “TFLs” that reign across the province’s “crown lands,” effectively privatizing the living world into corporate satrapies. The armistice has been a long time coming. The Tla-o-qui-aht Nation declared Meares Island a tribal park in the early 1980s — long before such inconveniences were taken seriously by provincial governments or Ottawa.

In a special episode of the YourForest Podcast released on June 19, 2024, Percy Guichon, executive director of Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation Ltd. (CCR) and Councillor of Tŝideldel First Nation, sat down with host Matthew Kristoff to delve into topics surrounding reconciliation in the forestry sector. Throughout the episode, Guichon shared details about his life, discussing his experiences attending residential school, ongoing challenges faced by Indigenous peoples due to inequitable opportunities, and the origins of CCR and its vision. YourForest Podcast, created in 2017, deals with diverse topics around environmental issues and forest management, discussing the challenges and triumphs of the pursuit of sustainability and providing insight to both the public and forest professionals alike. 

Dan Albas

Last year six forest firefighters lost their lives in the line of duty. The challenges of wildfire fighting are well-known, especially to those who live in or near forest interface areas. What isn’t well known is that forest firefighters are currently not included in the list of public safety occupations under the income tax regulations. What does this imply? Individuals listed in “public safety occupations” can retire early, at age 50, and contribute 2.33% annually to their pension. At present, forest firefighters are categorized as silviculture and forestry workers. For those workers, the minimum retirement age is set at 55 and the maximum pension accrual rate is capped at 2% per annum. Currently, firefighters in local and regional locations, at airports and in industrial and shipboard environments are included in the “priority occupation” list, as defined by the Government of Canada’s national occupational classification (NOC). However, forest firefighters are not included.

VICTORIA – The BC Forest Practices Board has published its comprehensive summary report detailing the audit findings from 2018 to 2022. This special report encapsulates the results of 43 audits conducted over the five-year period, highlighting trends, compliance levels, and areas needing improvement across British Columbia’s diverse forest and range management practices. Key Highlights from the 2018-2022 Audit Summary Report:

• Overall Compliance: Most licensees were found to comply with legislative requirements, with 86 percent of findings in full compliance with the Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA) and the Wildfire Act.
• Audit Scope: The Board reviewed 675 recently harvested cutblocks, inspected 1,005 stream crossings, and evaluated 1,028 kilometres of road construction or deactivation across 20 natural resource districts.
• Non-Compliance: The report identifies several instances of significant non-compliance, particularly in bridge and road construction, fire hazard assessments, and silviculture reporting. These findings underscore the need for ongoing improvements in specific areas to ensure the sustainable management of forest resources.

For more than a century, the forests of Vancouver Island have been the economic backbone of the region. …In 2022, Mosaic Forest Management flipped that model on its head, saying it would defer logging on 40,000 hectares of its land throughout coastal B.C. for at least 25 years. Instead of logging those sites, Mosaic said, it would package the carbon stored in those trees into nature-based carbon credits. …But this past February, Renoster Systems, a carbon-credit-ratings agency assessed the project on measures such as “additionality” and transparency. …The agency gave the project a failing grade, saying it lacks additionality because most of the sites included in BigCoast are not actually at risk of being logged because they are on steep slopes or in other areas that are unlikely to be harvested. …Mosaic forcefully disputes the Renoster review. Mosaic accused Renoster of making “false, misleading and defamatory” statements. [to access the full story a Globe and Mail subscription is required]

Marking a pivotal moment for sustainable forestry practices and Indigenous stewardship of the land. We aim to unite Indigenous leaders, forestry professionals, environmentalists, and policymakers to explore the integration of traditional Indigenous knowledge with modern forestry management practices. We underscore the crucial role of collaboration and respect for Indigenous rights and territories in achieving ecological sustainability and unlocking economic opportunities for Indigenous communities. A significant focus will be on closing the economic gap, emphasizing the need for First Nations’ access to capital to participate meaningfully in the forest sector and creating opportunities for Indigenous entrepreneurs.

ALBERTA — When wolves are killed by bullets fired from helicopters during Alberta government culls, surviving members of the pack quickly learn to evade the threat, a new study has found. For nearly two decades, Alberta has killed off hundreds of grey wolves each year in an attempt to bolster dwindling caribou populations, a practice critics have described as a misguided measure to help herds on the brink recover from habitat loss. New research sheds light on how the practice alters the surviving wolves and warns of unintended consequences on threatened caribou and the broader boreal habitat. Researchers at the University of Victoria and the University of British Columbia… found that culls alter the behaviour of survivors by pushing them deeper into the forest to new hunting grounds — changes that may help caribou in the short term but could ultimately help wolf populations quickly recover from a slaughter.

Urban foresters managing green spaces in our communities respond to public demand for this vital infrastructure in settings under increased pressure from the effects of climate change and population growth. Vancouver’s iconic Stanley Park recently captured headlines following plans to remove looper moth-killed trees from the forest. Water scarcity and extreme heat are adding layers of complexity to urban landscape management. What can urban foresters tell us about this valuable community resource, along with present and emerging best practices in the field? What role do residents play in decisions surrounding living infrastructure in their neighbourhoods? Join us for an engaging expert panel discussion to answer these questions and more, including audience-generated queries. Moderated by UBC’s Richard Hamelin, with speakers Bruce Blackwell and Joe McLeod. Tuesday, June 25, 2024 | 12:00pm – 1:00pm PT | ONLINE

The Government of Yukon provided an update on the wildfire weather outlook at a briefing on June 13. In summary: For the past month, the Yukon has had mixed weather. Conditions are dry through central Yukon (from Destruction Bay through Carmacks, Faro and Ross River). The rest of the territory, in the north and the south, is not very dry due to last fall’s rain and winter snowpack. This means the wildfires so far this year are not burning as deeply or intensely as last year’s wildfires. This past weekend and continuing through midweek, warmer dry conditions will escalate fire danger across the territory. Fire danger can be expected to rise gradually through the week, with more lightning-started wildfires. …This summer the Yukon has 24 wildfire crews in regional bases across the territory, comprising 10 Government of Yukon and 14 Yukon First Nations crews.