Region Archives: Canada West

The president and chief operations officer of the world’s “largest aerial firefighting company” has said not a single one of its aircraft is being contracted out in its home province of BC. Britt Coulson sat down with NowMedia this week to discuss the recent announcement that Coulson Aviation will be converting its first Boeing 737-700 into the world’s highest capacity Large Air Tanker (LAT). Last week, Bruce Ralston, minister of forests, told NowMedia all the leases were signed for aircraft for this year’s wildfire season. On Monday, NowMedia asked Coulson if the Port Alberni-based company had any aircraft contracted to BC. …He said that based on historically political issues with past provincial governments led the company to “go where we’re wanted,” which includes contracts in the US and Australia. Coulson said in the past there was “a negative stigma” attached to the use of the Martin Mars bombers in the early 2000s because they were owned by a private company.

WEST VANCOUVER, BC — The District of West Vancouver and the B.C. Parks Foundation announced the creation of one of the biggest municipal parks of its kind. The 7.8 square kilometres of land donated by West Vancouver makes the park almost twice the size of Stanley Park. …Mayor Mark Sager called it a monumental day during a ceremony at Cypress Pop-Up Village. “This area will help preserve sensitive ecosystems and wildlife, and store carbon to fight climate change,” Sager said. “It will also ensure that old-growth trees will continue to stand in our stunning municipality, which we know is very important to our residents and people across the globe. …Together the new park, West Vancouver’s existing parks, the surrounding Capilano and Seymour watersheds, the Old Growth Conservancy and Cypress Provincial Park form a protected area for wildlife and mature trees covering more than 320 square kilometres.

The Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc forestry company has lost the majority of an appeal after it was fined $12,000 over a load of unmarked timber discovered during an investigation into an illegal firewood operation. According to a May 6 Forests Appeal Commission decision, the case dates back to 2019 when the province was investigating an illegal firewood operation in Knutsford, outside Kamloops. The investigation led officers to search a lumber yard at LeBeau Bros. Logging where they found eight decks of unmarked and unscaled timber being stored. The decision says at the time LeBeau Bros was the sole contractor for Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc owned Tk’emlupsemc Forest Development Corporation, and the law makes Tk’emlupsemc responsible if a contractor breaks the rules. …The Tk’emlupsemc Forest Development Corporation argued it had done its due diligence in making sure that all timber followed the correct procedure. 

New research from UBCO is sounding the alarm as people and the climate intensify pressure on popular provincial parks. Dr. Michael Noonan and his team at UBCO’s Quantitative Ecology Lab are looking at the future of B.C.’s provincial park system and they suggest that as the climate continues to warm, parks will feel the brunt of increased use. “The problem isn’t going to go away. Parks will suffer from overcrowding, and there will be more human-wildlife conflict in these parks. We’re calling for better education that needs to start now, not in a few years,” said Noonan. Researchers are urging the province to create a use-management strategy for provincial parks due to concerns about overuse as the parks’ popularity, and B.C.’s population, continue to increase. Noonan believes finding a balance between providing recreational opportunities and preserving a safe environment for wildlife will be a challenge.

The Province and Kwiakah First Nation have created a new Special Forest Management Area supporting regenerative forestry and conservation in the southern Great Bear Rainforest. …Bruce Ralston, Minister of Forests said, “This partnership with Kwiakah represents a continuation of our joint work to ensure the Great Bear Rainforest will continue to provide sustainable jobs and healthy forests for our children and grandchildren.”Chief Steven Dick of Kwiakah First Nation, said: “By creating the M̓ac̓inuxʷ Special Forest Management Area, we are asserting our inherent responsibilities and creating an Indigenous-led conservation economy that will steward, heal and mend our territory while allowing our people to thrive.” …The M̓ac̓inuxʷ Special Forest Management Area covers 7,865 hectares of forested land within the Great Bear Rainforest. …Any lost harvesting revenue is intended to be counteracted through the generation of carbon credits and regenerative forestry jobs.

Additional coverage in the Globe and Mail by Wendy Stueck (subscription only): New forest management area inside Great Bear Rainforest aims to offset lost revenues with carbon credits

Explore the evolution of sustainable forestry practices through the lives of Indigenous families deeply rooted in the industry, as showcased in the documentary ‘Stewards of the Forest.’ “My dad was a boom man, my brother was a boom man, my uncle George was a boom man,” says Squamimsh’s Tom Harry, in the new Indigenous Resource Network documentary,”Stewards of the Forest: Indigenous Leadership in Forestry.” A “boom man” is a skilled worker who walks on the logs in the water and uses a pole to move them into a bundle. The 16-minute documentary, which is now available on YouTube, features many other locals who work in the forest industry, including Paul and Roger Lewis, Kayla Buckley, and Daniel Morckinson. Each local talks about their deep connection to the forest industry and the land. They also speak to the changes in the industry over time that have made it more environmentally sustainable. 

KANANASKIS COUNTRY – A planned logging operation in the upper Highwood River watershed threatens critical habitat for at-risk trout species, raising concerns over increased erosion, sedimentation and altered stream flows that could harm sensitive fish populations. A new report from the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) and Freshwater Research Ltd. found lumber company West Fraser’s 1,100-hectare logging plan poses a high risk of significant changes to watercourses, riparian zones, and hillslopes in the Loomis Creek watershed – a tributary of the Highwood River – due to increased peak flows and surface erosion. …Based on what was presented at West Fraser’s annual open house earlier this month, no changes have been made to the logging plan. Joyce Wagenaar, director of communications for West Fraser, said the plan is still paused as the company continues to seek out actionable feedback. 

[This story is making a second appearance in the news. It was first published in Vancouver is Awesome on April 23, 2024] …Many of the speakers at the annual B.C. Council of Forest Industries (COFI) convention focused on how the sector could return to higher levels of harvest or slow the pace of government regulations. Then the conversation turned to wildfires. David Coletto, head of the market research firm Abacus Data, presented the results from a poll he designed with COFI. After Canada’s most destructive wildfire season on record, the results suggested the B.C. public was ready to accept a narrative that the forestry industry could act as a saviour. As Coletto put it, everybody in this province agrees who is the villain: it’s the fire. …The call to re-frame forestry as the solution to wildfire comes less than a year after the most destructive season in Canada’s recorded history burned an area roughly half the size of Italy.

AI and other technologies may help detect wildfires sooner, but the human element is still integral to preventing fires from spreading, says a local researcher. A wildfire solutions symposium is scheduled to run in Kelowna from June 3 to 5, and one of the co-hosts has been leading the charge to snuff out the flames before they explode into the kind of destructive infernos we saw last summer in parts of the Southern Interior. Dr. Mathieu Bourbonnais, with the Centre for Wildfire Coexistence at UBC Okanagan, has been working with Rogers Communications for the past three years. His team has been installing low-cost sensors in the forest that collect data on moisture levels and other elements used to predict fire risk. There are about 100 scattered around the Okanagan. The data is helping craft models to predict where fires might start and what that fire might do.

PORT ALBERNI, BC — Unifor Western Regional Director Gavin McGarrigle met with Minister of State for Sustainable Forestry Innovation Andrew Mercier and Local 592 and 686 leadership to tour the Paper Excellence Port Alberni facility. …Unifor representatives met with Mercier to discuss B.C.’s forestry industry, including the state of the Port Alberni pulp mill and long-term economical fibre supply. …Despite the province’s enormous supply of timber, most of B.C.’s pulp and paper mills are struggling to find the fibre they require to operate on a consistent basis. …Fibre supply and strengthening B.C.’s entire forestry industry to grow good jobs and support forestry communities is a core component of the joint campaign initiated by Unifor, the United Steelworkers, and the PPWC. …Unifor representatives were joined on the pulp mill tour by Tseshaht First Nations Chief Ken Watts to explore working together on forestry and employment initiatives to help secure an ongoing local fibre supply.

The B.C. government has released a report on its progress protecting old-growth forests, but some First Nations and environmental groups say the plan released Friday falls short. …Sarah Korpan, B.C. government campaign specialist with non-profit Ecojustice, said she was disappointed to see the province change its timeline for implementing enhanced old-growth protection. …Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, said in a press release the action plan is a “welcome step,” but the B.C. government must accelerate its timeline. …Tegan Hansen, senior forest campaigner for Stand.Earth, said the government’s plan lacks a commitment to bring a long-term end to logging in old-growth forests. …Jens Wieting, the senior policy and science adviser for Sierra Club B.C., says that the last time the province collected data, covering a full year of old-growth logging, was in 2021.

From massive kelp forests to monumental old-growth on land, British Columbia’s biodiversity — which is unrivalled in Canada — provides an array of cultural, economic, social and other benefits. …However, current conservation initiatives lack co-ordination and there is no independent organization or provincial governing body overseeing the many actions underway. …The fragmented nature of B.C. biodiversity work is a missed opportunity that can lead to gaps and blind spots that ultimately undermine action. Potential interconnected threats like diseases, invasive species, ecological impacts of new developments and a range of other issues may be missed. …Establishing a system of natural capital accounts would provide a clear picture of the value our ecosystems provide empowering decision-makers. …We may not have to look far for an effective model. Québec recently launched Biodiversité Québec — a partnership across government, scientific and Indigenous partners — to create an integrated monitoring system for nature.

The town of Logan Lake spent 18 years preparing for a wildfire they hoped would never come. And then, in the summer of 2021, it did. The Test is the story of the town of Logan Lake’s efforts to make their community more fire resilient, eventually becoming the first FireSmart community in Canada. But when the 2021 Tremont Creek Wildfire roared toward them, all eyes were on the little community as nobody knew if all of that work would pay off and if they would pass the test. Many thanks to FireSmartBC, The District of Logan Lake, The Co-operators, The Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction, and Teck Highland Valley Copper for helping to make this possible.

Pressy Lake, B.C. – Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation Ltd. (CCR), a joint venture company owned by the Tŝideldel First Nation and the Tl’etinqox Government, is proud to announce the release of two new videos highlighting the ongoing efforts and successes of a pilot project to rehabilitate areas severely affected by the 2017 Elephant Hill wildfire. In the wake of significant challenges facing the British Columbia forestry sector, including mill closures and timber supply shortages, CCR has taken a proactive approach to create new opportunities within the industry. The videos “Trying Something New” and “What We Learned” explore these innovative approaches to manage and utilize damaged and burnt trees to create a higher value product like biomass and wood chips at their Pressy Lake project, as well as rehabilitate large areas of land.

The Lil’wat Nation is undertaking a proactive wildfire risk reduction initiative to ensure the safety of the entire community this summer. The Forest Fuels Management Project is being led by Lil’wat Forestry Ventures Ltd (LFV). The project is being conducted in a residential area in Mount Currie. Trees will be thinned in 50-acres of forest, residents can suggest work they think should be done within 30 to 50 metres of their homes. General manager of LFV, Klay Tindall, emphasized the importance of selective thinning work to create more resilient forests. “The selective thinning of the forest will not only mitigate the risk of wildfires to the local homes and properties but will also enhance residents’ visibility to observe wildlife such as wolves, bears and cougars in the area to better ensure their family’s safety,” said Tindall. …One of the challenges the project faces is a lack of provincial or federal funding.

Todd Loewen

ALBERTA — Recent rain in many areas of the province has led to a significant decline in active wildfires, but experts are warning Albertans to remain diligent with more than three-quarters of this year’s wildfires determined as human-caused. Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen said preparation from Alberta Wildfire and municipal firefighters have allowed the province to take advantage of favourable weather conditions. …At this time last year, Alberta had over 520,000 hectares of forest burned. Whereas so far in 2024 we have just under 29,000 hectares burned,” Loewen said. There are currently 30 wildfires burning in the forest protection area. Two-thirds are carry over wildfires from the 2023 season, three are classified as being held and the rest are under control. So far this year the province has responded to 358 wildfires, of them 346 have been extinguished. This year 77% of wildfires have been determined to be human-caused.

Additional coverage on Alberta wildfires in CBC News: Weather helping damp down Alberta wildfires but careless behaviour still a worry

ZOOM: June 25, 2024 | 12-1 PM. 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? Dr. Richard Hamelin will moderate a panel discussion with guests Bruce Blackwell (Principal of Blackwell & Associates Ltd.) and Joe McLeod (Urban Forestry Manager for the City of Vancouver). Join us for an engaging expert panel discussion to answer these questions and more, including audience-generated queries.

The B.C. government continues to move at a glacial pace to meet an overdue promise to transform the logging industry and protect endangered old growth forests and ecosystems, say B.C. conservation groups. On Monday, the province issued its progress report on transforming forestry practices to preserve ancient forests. The plan is a hollow effort that fails to include any new steps, specific details, or deadlines urgently needed to preserve what little old growth remains, said Jens Wieting, Sierra Club BC’s advisor. …In the old growth update, the province highlighted a $1.1-billion three-way agreement with Indigenous leaders, and Ottawa to protect 30% of B.C.’s land and oceans by 2030. …Ralston’s office did not provide comment or respond to questions by Canada’s National Observer about what the plan is for the unprotected priority deferral areas moving forward and what level of protection, if any, they can expect.

This week, the BC government provided an update on their actions to better protect old-growth forests within the province, however some environmental activists say their actions have fallen short.  In 2020, an independent review of BC’s old forests was conducted by an independent panel titled, A New Future for Old Forests, who offered the Province 14 official recommendations. …Sierra Club BC said that this latest update did not contain the “critical actions needed to implement a paradigm shift in forest stewardship in the near future”, and they are critical of the Province delaying the finalization of their Ecosystem Health (BEH) Framework from 2024 to 2025. Sierra Club BC says that the province needs better outlined ecosystem-based targets to protect old-growth and easy-to-access funding for First Nations who have lost revenue to this endeavour. … Stand.earth, the Ancient Forest Alliance and the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance have all spoken out regarding this old-growth update.

B.C. Premier David Eby is preparing for war ahead of this year’s wildfire season, with more crews, tech and aircraft than ever before. “Functionally, at the provincial level, we’re standing up an army between equipment and the frontline wildfire staff fighting those fires,” Eby said. …He said the province is spending “nine times more than the previous governments” on fire preparation work across B.C. He also noted the BC Wildfire Service is now operational year-long, and more money is being spent on firefighting equipment. “This is not a cheap enterprise, but safety for our communities when it comes to wildfire is non negotiable,” Eby said. BCWS provincial wildfire information officer Erika Berg noted myriad initiatives the province has undertaken to be better prepared for wildfires this year, including using AI to predict wildfires, extending the hiring window for firefighters and spending millions of dollars in more equipment.

Wildsight, a local environmental activist group, said B.C.’s newly unveiled Old Growth Action Plan is a welcomed change, but urgent action is still needed. The Provincial Government outlined the next steps toward better forest care and job security for B.C.’s forest sector. This will include the following: establishing the $1-billion Tripartite Framework Agreement on Nature Conservation (the Nature Agreement); Ensuring forestry communities get more local jobs, including boosts to made-in-B.C. wood manufacturing; and Improvements to mapping, data and knowledge sharing. “Additionally, through Forest Landscape Plans (FLPs) the Province is ensuring local values drive decisions on the landbase, including those related to forest resilience, wildfire prevention, economic development and community well-being,” said B.C. officials. They note that nine FLPs are in development with more to come later. …Wildsight feels B.C.’s current logging regulations, particularly regarding old-growth, are unsustainable and will ultimately lead to further harm to the environment and humans.