Region Archives: Canada West

Twenty-one years after the spotted owl was listed as endangered under Canada’s Species at Risk Act, the federal government released a proposed recovery strategy identifying critical habitat for the old-growth forest dependent owl. The strategy reinstates about 200,000 hectares of the owl’s critical habitat in southwest B.C. that was quietly erased from maps in a draft recovery strategy last year. …The updated recovery strategy includes an additional 200,000 hectares of spotted owl critical habitat that was not erased from maps — for a total of 416,258 hectares of critical habitat on federal and non-federal lands. The environmental law charity Ecojustice, non-profit conservation group the Wilderness Committee and Spô’zêm First Nation hailed the updated recovery strategy as a “game-changer for conservation efforts” for the spotted owl and a “historic win.” …The release of the proposed recovery strategy launches a 60-day consultation period. A final recovery strategy will be published once consultations are complete.

Additional coverage by Stefan Labbé, the Wilderness Committee, Ecojustice, and the Government of Canada Strategy document.

VANCOUVER – British Columbia’s emergency management minister says the province is proactively working to secure extra firefighters to deal with what she called the “potential for a drastically accelerated wildfire situation.” Bowinn Ma told a briefing on Thursday that B.C. was seeking out-of-province help from six unit crews representing about 180 specialized wildfire fighters. Ma said about 500 of the province’s full complement of 2,000 firefighters were currently deployed, but the province was seeking outside help early as the situation worsened due to a heat wave and ongoing dry conditions. …Wildfire activity has been erupting in recent days, with about 150 active wildfires in B.C., up from fewer than 100 at the start of the week. Ma said most were in the Cariboo and northeast regions, and while some of the the province had benefited from cooler and wetter weather in May and June, the fire season was “well underway” in the north.

Following a stretch of high temperatures and several heat warnings throughout the province, and with potentially challenging wildfire weather forecast, the BC Wildfire Service is implementing a campfire ban in all parts of B.C., except Haida Gwaii. The ban will take effect at noon (Pacific time) on Friday, July 12, 2024, and will remain until further notice. The ban is being implemented to help prevent human-caused wildfires and help protect public safety. The category 1 (campfires) ban is in addition to current provincewide bans for category 2 and 3 fires. This means open fires of any size, except those licensed for prescribed burns, will be prohibited everywhere in B.C., outside of Haida Gwaii. Anyone found in contravention of an open-burning prohibition may be issued a violation ticket for $1,150, may be required to pay an administrative penalty of up to $10,000 or, if convicted in court, may be fined up to $100,000 and/or sentenced to one year in jail. 

SWAN RIVER, AB — Swan River First Nation (SRFN) and Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) are pleased to announce the signing of a Relationship and Collaboration Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) aimed at advancing boreal forest conservation initiatives within Treaty 8 Territory. This MOU represents a significant step towards fostering a mutually respectful and collaborative partnership dedicated to preserving the ecological and cultural integrity of the boreal forest while integrating the deep knowledge and experience Swan River residents hold in the local landscape. Under this MOU, key projects will blend SRFN’s Indigenous Knowledge with DUC’s scientific expertise, building a more sustainable environment. Projects include the development of a wetland field guide and climate change modeling initiatives, which will integrate Indigenous content and perspectives.

TAYLOR, B.C. – The District of Taylor has joined the District of Chetwynd in supporting a letter to be sent to the BC Government regarding the province’s forestry sector. During the July 8th regular council meeting, Mayor Brent Taillefer and councillors reviewed the letter sent from Chetwynd, written in support of a May 28th letter from the District of Campbell River. “Our small community of Chetwynd has already directly experienced the permanent loss of many local jobs with the closure of our Canfor mill,” Chetwynd Mayor Allen Courtoreille wrote in the letter. The letter urges Ministry of Forests Bruce Ralston and the province to increase support for the ongoing crisis facing B.C.’s forestry sector and speaks of Chetwynd’s historic and ongoing struggles to support the industry amidst mill closures.

A group of four Vancouverites is suing the city over its controversial move to cut down thousands of trees in Stanley Park. The Vancouver Park Board began removing the trees in late 2023, saying they were dead or dying because of a hemlock looper moth infestation. So far, about 7,200 trees have been cut down. The civil suit, filed Thursday, alleges negligence on the part of the park board, the City of Vancouver, the city’s urban forestry manager and consulting group Blackwell and Associates. …“We believe very strongly that the defendants … have been negligent in conducting a logging operation in Stanley Park,” said Michael Caditz, one of the four self-represented plaintiffs. …It claims staff failed to cite “credible science” for why the removal is necessary, and made “no attempt to employ … less-extreme methods” or “obtain corroborating opinions” from experts other than Blackwell.

VICTORIA – The BC Forest Practices Board has published its 2023-2024 annual report, marking 28 years of commitment to improving forest and range practices across British Columbia. The report provides an in-depth overview of the Board’s accomplishments over the past fiscal year, addressing key issues and setting strategic priorities for the future. …Statement from Board Chair Keith Atkinson: “As the independent watchdog for sound forest and range practices in British Columbia, we are proud to present this overview of our work during the 2023-2024 fiscal year. This year has been transformative, with significant advancements in forest management practices and increased engagement with Indigenous communities. Our goal is to achieve resilient forest conditions that remain healthy amid changing climate conditions and meet the needs and interests of our communities. We remain committed to advancing practices that benefit all of society and ensuring that our forests thrive for generations to come.”

A province-wide campfire ban is set to take effect at noon Friday, July 12, 2024, as wildfire risk rises along with temperatures. The B.C. Wildfire Service announced the ban Tuesday. The campfire ban will apply to every area of the province except the Haida Gwaii Forest District, “which has a somewhat different climate than many other areas,” said Jade Richardson, an information officer for the Coastal Fire Centre, which includes Vancouver Island. The ban applies to all public and private land, except when otherwise specified by a local government bylaw or other statute. It will remain in effect until noon on Oct. 31, or until it is rescinded.

A Conservation North webinar planned for Monday will look at the effects of salvage logging on wildlife, communities and the climate. The session, Gaming The Ecosystem: The Truth About Salvage Logging, will feature a panel of five experts to talk about the issues. They include Dakelh strategic advisor Seraphine Munroe of the Maiyoo Keyoh Society, and Drs. Karen Price, Diana Six, Phil Burton and Dominick DellaSala. The B.C. government streamlined the process of salvage logging this spring, which has alarmed members of the public and groups concerned about watershed health and nature, states a press release. …The webinar will be hosted by the Interior Watershed Task Force, the Fraser Headwaters Alliance, Conservation North (all volunteer-based community groups) and Wildsight (an environmental non-governmental organization).

A fire ban is now in place for all of Alberta’s Forest Protection Areas (FRA). The fire ban came into effect at 4 p.m. on July 10 as a result of hot and dry conditions. Since July 1, 137 new wildfires have ignited and there’s heightened wildfire danger throughout the province. Cities, towns, villages and summer villages, as well as federal lands, such as national parks, are exempt from this ban. These jurisdictions have the authority to issue their own bans and may have complementary bans in place. Albertans should visit the website or social media for their local municipality to confirm if a fire ban is in effect in their area.

Additional coverage by the CBC: Alberta issues fire ban for entire forest protection area as extreme temperatures continue

New rules for dispute resolution will help support settle conflicts between the Province and First Nations about environmental assessments, a significant milestone in the ongoing commitment to reconciliation and environmental stewardship. The Environmental Assessment Office’s (EAO) dispute resolution regulation offers predictable and clear avenues for First Nations to dispute decisions related to large projects that require an environmental assessment certificate. It provides an alternative to the courts to resolve conflict and support durable decisions, relationship and trust building, and can help avoid lengthy court battles. Access to dispute resolution is affirmed in Article 40 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN Declaration) and is a procedural right for First Nations in the Environmental Assessment Act, which provides an opportunity for a qualified third-party facilitator to support the parties in consensus seeking and building good relations between governments.

Recent warm, sunny weather could be the start of a much-longer hot stretch “without a very obvious end to it,” raising concerns about wildfires, says an Environment Canada meteorologist. Victoria-based Armel Castellan told reporters Monday that even with typical July temperatures, residual moisture on the forest floor can be depleted in seven to 10 days. “That is the very strong concern as we go deeper into this week,” said Castellan, who said Environment Canada collaborates closely with the B.C. Wildfire Service at this time of year. …The outlook has changed, however, with recent rising temperatures, along with lack of rain in the immediate forecast. That means a campfire ban is now under consideration, said Coastal Fire Centre information officer Jade Richardson.

Forsite is excited to announce we are now part of the Barr GeoSpatial Solutions “BGS” group of companies. BGS is a leading provider of analytics and remote sensing to help manage and protect natural resources and critical infrastructure across North America. Other companies in the BGS group include Northwest Management Inc. (NMI) (Moscow, Idaho), Airborne Imaging (Calgary) and Barr Air Patrol (Houston). Forsite, a leading provider of forestry solutions in Canada including digital tree inventories, forest land management, fire modeling, and vegetation management for utilities, is excited to join the Barr group of companies. BGS’s advanced fleet of over 25 sensors and 50 aircraft, coupled with state-of-the-art aerial LiDAR, imaging, surveillance, and Al technologies, delivers invaluable data through sophisticated processing and analytics. Being part of BGS will provide Forsite the resources and market access to allow the expansion of our technology product offerings across North America and around the world.

…Cache Creek was a hot spot on Sunday, with a daily high of 40.3 C, breaking the record of 36.9 set in 2015. It was one of almost two dozen records reset for July 7 in the province, and the hot spell continued with 46 heat alerts issued across B.C. by noon on Monday. The heat has also raised concerns about wildfire risks and the forecast calls for dry lightning in the southern Interior on Tuesday and Wednesday. Armel Castellan, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, said they’re working with the BC Wildfire Service on the locations where they have the most concern for wildfires. The BC Wildfire Service said Monday the hot, dry conditions increase the potential for wildfire and the new weather pattern expected mid-week will bring high winds and thunderstorms, with dry lightning strikes. …Environment Canada says the heat wave is expected to persist until about mid-week.

Sweltering conditions from a heat wave gripping Western Canada will present challenging conditions for firefighters in northern Alberta on Tuesday. Wildfire danger warnings spread across Alberta over the weekend with extreme temperatures and out-of-control fires in the northern areas of the province. The wildfire danger level is very high in the Fort McMurray forest area, where at least one out-of-control fire continues to spread. …No evacuation orders have been declared as of 10 p.m. MT Monday. Wildfire officials forecast a southwest wind of 15 km/h Tuesday, with winds expected to shift south in the afternoon at 20 km/h. Temperatures in northern Alberta are expected to climb to between 30 and 35 C and will persist until at least midweek, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada.  Several wildfires in the area were caused by lightning, all but are under control as of Monday evening. 

The company tasked with reviewing the City of Yellowknife’s response to last summer’s wildfires has released its report. KPMG’s Leon Gaber said a main finding was a lack of clarity over how roles and responsibilities were divided between the city and other agencies. “That’s a really important finding that I think is really critical to address,” he said. “It will really help, I think, the city and the territory writ large with respect to being more prepared, being more effective in a future evacuation or significant response.” Overall, KPMG identified 19 key strengths in the city’s emergency response and made 26 recommendations to address 35 areas for improvement. Strengths highlighted in the report include the use of a local state of emergency to re-allocate resources to wildfire protection efforts, and the way public communication about the re-entry plan was better coordinated compared to communication about the evacuation process.

Salmon have long adapted to wildfires by spawning in parts of rivers untouched by the fires. But the extreme wildfires are leaving fewer islands of habitat intact, making it impossible for the fish to lay their eggs. Now, wild salmon are facing a growing threat from the proliferation of hotter, larger fires, and fisheries experts warn more needs to be done to ensure they aren’t wiped out. …With climate change poised to exacerbate the number of large, intense wildfires in decades to come, Jason Hwang, chief program officer and vice president of the Pacific Salmon Foundation said compiling existing information about how to help salmon thrive could be useful to people trying to restore burned land. The goal is not to tell people what they should do; the intent is to help them decide how best to include salmon in their restoration work.

This story is part of a series exploring the wide-ranging impacts of persistent drought conditions and climate change seen across the province in recent years. During severe storms, trees and branches often crash onto power lines, knocking out electricity for hours and sometimes days. That’s nothing new. But chronic drought is stressing some trees — such as water-loving cedars — to the point that they’re much more vulnerable during extreme weather. “Certainly with the changing climate, the drought conditions are severe,” said B.C. Hydro spokesman Ted Olynyk. “On Vancouver Island, we are seeing this prolonged dry weather that’s not typical and the vegetation [that has] evolved isn’t designed for it.” …Adverse weather, particularly wind, and falling trees and branches, causes more than half of B.C.’s power outages, according to a 2023 report from B.C. Hydro on the worst storms in the province in recent years.

Last week I was provided with a link to The Fox Mountain and South Lakeside Wildfire Risk Reduction Tactical Plan (WRRTP) and asked for my input as an adjacent resident to one of the areas. The plan will look at fuel management to reduce wildfire risk to properties in those areas. Since the plan is of interest to many other private land owners, I decided to summarize the information in this article and note the public education section below. The WRRTP is intended to streamline fuel management treatment planning across large, complex areas and enable development of connected fuel management networks in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI), which is where forested areas and communities meet and put communities more at risk from wildfire. …The development of the plan was completed by Forsite Consultants Ltd. (Forsite) and Ember Research Services Ltd (Ember) with the support of Williams Lake First Nation’s Natural Resource Department. 

Mathieu Bourbonnais

Mathieu Bourbonnais, a former wildland firefighter, helped create some technology that can predict wildfires. “I was checking all my sensors, and the McDougall Creek fire burned about 15 of them,” says Bourbonnais, now a researcher and assistant professor of earth, environmental and geographic sciences at UBC Okanagan. “Seeing that, it was pretty obvious that once the fire got going, it was going to jump the lake.” Those sensors, which Bourbonnais and his UBCO team are developing in partnership with Rogers, could be a game-changer in BC. Acting as an early warning system, they are essentially small, low-cost weather stations that can be deployed across remote locations where they can monitor conditions—like air temperature, precipitation, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, soil moisture and soil temperature. Using cellular or satellite networks, the real-time data can be transmitted to anyone from local fire services to forestry companies, and from utilities to First Nations.

James Steidle

B.C. needs to end the use of herbicides that are killing broadleaf trees in Okanagan forests, according to members of several environmental groups at a meeting in Peachland last week. Yearly, the province sprays thousands of hectares of B.C. clear-cut land with the herbicide glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide known as Roundup, and it’s causing more harm than good, James Steidle of Stop the Spray BC said. …Under B.C.’s Forest Planning and Practices Regulation, non-conifer trees must be kept to less than five per cent of re-planted cut block. Steidle said it’s a move, aimed at bolstering the supply of trees most desirable for logging and it’s putting adjacent communities at risk. …Steidle said he’d like to see communities to take control of public forests back from private interests. …“The use of herbicides, like glyphosate has declined by over 90 per cent since the 1900s,” the Ministry said.

VERNON, BC — Following a successful pilot project, Predator Ridge in Vernon, B.C., has announced the commercial installation of an AI-based wildfire detection system. Predator Ridge has commercially installed a Vancouver-based company’s SenseNet technology. The SenseNet is equipped with advanced sensors, AI algorithms and real-time data analysis to provide highly accurate and early alerts to wildfire. The installation follows the successful conclusion of a two-year pilot project with the City of Vernon, in partnership with Vernon Fire Rescue Services. Throughout the pilot, the SenseNet technology underwent extensive testing consistently demonstrating accuracy and speed in providing real-time data essential for deploying emergency response and protecting public safety. …One hundred sensors, five gateways and five cameras are installed around the entire perimeter of the resort providing early wildfire detection using gas sensing and thermal imaging. Vernon Fire Rescue will have 24/7 monitoring and management of the technology.

On behalf of UBC Forestry, congratulations to the this year’s UBC Sustainability Fellows! From the Sustainability across first-year core curriculum: The Land One experience we congratulate Dr. Lindsay Cuff, Dr. Athena McKown, Dr. Fernanda Tomaselli, and Dr. Karen Taylor. From Accounting for Climate Change: Expanding civil engineering, wood science and accounting courses for climate relevancy by adding case-based carbon/sustainability accounting course modules congratulations go to Caren Lombard, Tamara Etmannski, and Qingshi Tu. Sustainability Fellowships are granted to full-time UBC Vancouver faculty members who are spearheading the development of innovative sustainability courses and programs, supported by a Sustainability Education Grant. 

The forests of Clayoquot Sound became world famous as the battlegrounds of the decades-long “war in the woods” — and now, a vast swath of the rich old-growth trees are permanently protected. In June, Ahousaht and Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations and the B.C. government announced 760 square kilometres of old-growth forests in the ecologically rich region on Vancouver Island are now safeguarded in ten new conservancies. …The new conservancies, to be managed by Ahousaht and Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations, will nearly double how much old growth is protected in Clayoquot Sound …about 62 per cent of the area. New protections include parts of Meares Island near Tofino, where Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation declared a tribal park on part of the island in 1984. …Conservation charity Nature United provided $40 million to help Tla-o-qui-aht and Ahousaht pay compensation to the forestry-tenure holder, Mamook Natural Resources, which they share ownership of, along with the other three central Nuu-chah-nulth nations. 

British Columbia recognized the Haida’s aboriginal title to their islands decades after the Indigenous group launched a battle on the ground and in the courts. …The Haida people have lived for thousands of years on Haida Gwaii, a remote archipelago in the Pacific Ocean off Canada’s western coast, just south of Alaska. Nearly wiped out by smallpox after the arrival of Europeans, the Haida clung to their land — so rich in wildlife it is sometimes called Canada’s Galápagos, coveted by loggers for its old-growth forests of giant cedars and spruce. For decades, despite their geographic isolation, the Haida’s unwavering fight to regain control over their land drew outsize attention in Canada. …The Haida opposed clear-cut logging, building ties with environmentalists. They forged alliances with non-Haida communities at home and found common cause with other Indigenous groups across the world. [to access the full story, a NY Times subscription is required]

Following successful events in Oregon and the Okanagan, the “Deciduous Heroes” tour wrapped up in Prince George on Wednesday. Jen Côté of Moose, Mushrooms and Mud and local MLA and longtime trapper Mike Morris joined Stop the Spray B.C. founder James Steidle to talk about the value of deciduous trees sprayed with herbicides or suppressed with brush saws to grow conifer plantations. “The tour has been a real opportunity to connect with different communities throughout the Pacific Northwest who are facing similar issues,” says Steidle. “The common denominator is that the industrialization of our forests and discrimination against our broad-leaved deciduous species is having real impacts on communities and wildlife values.” Oregon and Washington State communities have seen heavy clearcutting and herbicide spraying of watersheds that provide communities with drinking water.

Drought, human-caused changes to land and groundwater, disease, insects and fast-moving wildfires are some of the factors putting B.C.’s forests at risk this summer. Wildfires are getting bigger, hotter and more frequent as a result of climate change, says ClimateReady B.C. …UBC professor Younes Alila, said snow plays an important role in replenishing groundwater. …Climate change isn’t the sole driver of drought, however; it can also be exacerbated by land use, forest-management decisions and urbanization, Alila said. For example, when areas that have been clearcut are replanted, new young trees consume far more groundwater than the old forest. Thomas Pypker, chair of the department of natural resource sciences at Thompson Rivers University, said it’s also important to look at the tree species being planted… Bill Beese, a retired VIU professor and forest ecologist, said, on the Island, moisture-loving cedars, hemlock and grand fir are suffering under drought.