Region Archives: Canada West

Archie MacDonald

Murray Wilson

Retired foresters Archie MacDonald and Murray Wilson presented at the Columbia Shuswap Regional District board meeting in Salmon Arm. The two retired foresters, with more than 35 years experience in the forest sector, said British Columbia’s forests are in poor health and in dire need of a new management prescription to reduce future frequency and intensity. “We have become increasingly frustrated about the misinformation and doom and gloom being spread about wildfires and are equally concerned about the lack of any meaningful measures being put forward by the provincial government to combat wildfires,” said MacDonald. “This is concerning because 95 per cent of the province is Crown land and the vast majority falls within the jurisdiction of the provincial government.” While frustrated with the province’s management, MacDonald said he and Wilson are encouraged by the programs in place at the community level designed to reduce the impact and intensity of wildfires.

Out in the bush near Fort Babine, B.C. is a plot of recently planted tree seedlings. They are destined to be under unusual levels of scrutiny as they battle for survival and growth—if they grow at all. The odds are stacked against them. …The Fort Babine site includes species not normally planted in that part of west central British Columbia. … The list includes Douglas fir; ponderosa pine; western larch; cedar and birch. The Fort Babine plantation site initiative is being spearheaded by the B.C. Ministry of Forests with the support of a variety of forest industry partners. The hope is the Fort Babine plantation will become part of a chain across the province. The mixed species plantations are in direct response to B.C.’s warming climate. The idea is the various Fort Babine’s across the province will in time produce a useful insight into which tree seedlings respond best, and where.

In 2021, a deadly heat dome produced a devastating wildfire season across British Columbia. While immediate media coverage often focuses on evacuations and the numbers of homes destroyed, many First Nations say what these fires do to the land in their territories — and the cultural lives of their communities — is often overlooked. IDEAS visited St’át’imc territory around Lillooet, B.C. to learn how 21st-century wildfires are reshaping the landscape — and their consequences for plants, animals, and humans alike. This two part-series follows a post-wildfire research project led by northern St’át’imc Nations — Ts’kw’aylaxw, Xwísten, and T’it’q’et-P’egp’íg’lha — alongside the Indigenous Ecology Lab at UBC and the Lillooet Regional Invasive Species Society. More than two years after the McKay Creek wildfire, the nation and their co-researchers are working to document the effects of wildfires — and to chart a new future based on Indigenous approaches to healing and balancing an ecosystem.

Boundary Forest Watershed Stewardship Society (BFWSS), a grassroots citizens group in southern BC, is launching a campaign … to push for a new Forest Act so that forests are protected so that communities are safe. As a result of massive losses of intact primary forests due to industrial forestry, BC communities are faced with: decreases in agricultural and drinking water supply and quality; more drought; more fires; and more floods. Scientists, such as Dr. Younes Alila, have been sounding the alarm… Communities and Indigenous groups on the land are paying the price. Despite calls from BC residents to reduce logging of primary forests, the BC government is not changing industrial forestry practices. Volunteer-led groups do not have the resources or influence of the forestry lobby. …BFWSS has a plan to join forces with grassroots groups and Indigenous people across the province to push for a new Forest Act.

B.C. Finance Minister Katrine Conroy announced that $14 million has been earmarked to help pay for the long-sought replacement of the Cowichan Lake weir in the 2024 provincial budget. With climate change and more extreme droughts every summer, which has seen water levels in Cowichan Lake and Cowichan River reduced to dangerous levels, impacting the local supply of drinking water and fish habitat. …The current weir, located in the Town of Lake Cowichan, was built in the 1950s, mainly to provide industrial water storage for Catalyst Paper’s pulp and paper mill in Crofton. But the weir was not designed to hold the additional and necessary volume of water to sustain the river flows that is now needed, nor does it meet today’s engineering standards required for expansion of storage capacity. The weir is owned and operated by Catalyst Paper, under licence from the province. 

WEST KELOWNA, BC — Bowinn Ma is defending her ministry’s decision to issue a regional travel ban last August due to the McDougall Creek wildfire that erupted in West Kelowna, B.C. …“The conditions had rapidly escalated and the projections grew to more than 28,000 people on evacuation order and 36,000 more people on evacuation alert who could have needed to evacuate at any moment. “In addition, I was hearing from senior executives of key response partners that access to accommodations were hampering their ability to import critical response personnel, firefighters, health-care workers and more,” Ma said. …Ma made the comments after receiving a letter from the Penticton and Wine Country Chamber of Commerce that stated it was seeking assurances that “more effective protocols and accountabilities will be put into place before an emergency measure like a travel ban is ordered.” 

BRITISH COLUMBIA — The Early Edition’s political panel weighs in on the details of B.C.’s 2024 budget and how best to diversify and grow the province’s economy. Panelists interviews include Diane Watts (United), Aisha Estey (Conservatives), Adam Olsen (Green), and Moe Sihota (NDP). 

Sam Coggins

Smithers RCMP are looking for suspects responsible for damaging Community Forest logging equipment over the long weekend. Corporal Madonna Saunderson said police received a report of mischief to property on Feb. 17. A grader, parked on the McDonell Forest Service Road was damaged. The Wetzin’kwa Community Forest Corporation confirmed it was one of their logging contractor’s equipment. General Manager Sam Coggins said it is a shame the grader was damaged. “There is pretty thin margins in forestry already,” he said. “Just to shell out money for people having a bit of fun or maybe intentionally vandalizing, it is hurting the contractor and there is the safety aspect to it as well.” This is the second incident of vandalism the Community Forest has faced in the last six months. Late last year, an outhouse was blown up near the Silvern gathering shelter. Coggins is hoping this isn’t becoming a trend.

A Kootenay-based conservation group is calling on British Columbia to enact an interim logging moratorium in the critical habitat of endangered mountain caribou. …Over that time, B.C. has blown past deadlines to release recommendations that would protect the species. With one year left before the agreement expires, Wildsight says caribou habitat continues to be logged. …Responding to the call for a logging moratorium, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship said in an email it has made “significant progress” recovering southern mountain caribou in the four years since signing the bilateral agreement. That includes implementing logging moratoriums on over 724,000 hectares of land, read the statement unattributed to any individual at the ministry. …Timber companies reached by Glacier Media said interim measures to protect caribou habitat have already had a serious impact on the industry.

The We Wai Kai First Nation has reached a two-year agreement with Mosaic Forest Management to undertake collaborative planning and timber harvesting within We Wai Kai territory. The agreement builds on the partnership established in 2022 between Mosaic and Way Key LP, as well as a more recent agreement between We Wai Kai and Mosaic in 2023. The services will take place within We Wai Kai territory on Quadra Island and in Jackson Bay on the mainland. “We Wai Kai Council has made significant investments in our forestry businesses and in building relationships with licencees that operate in our territory,” said We Wai Kai Chief Ronnie Chickite. ..Timber harvesting will be provided by Way Key, a First Nation-owned company employing 14 We Wai Kai band members.

The District of Tumbler Ridge and the District of Hudson’s Hope have sent letters to Bruce Ralston, Minister of Forests, expressing their concerns with the removal of an initial BC Wildfire attack crew based in Chetwynd, which has been reassigned to Dawson Creek. In a Feb. 8 letter, Hudson’s Hope called the relocation arbitrary, and noted that no consultation was done with local stakeholders and First Nations, including West Moberly, Saulteau, and Halfway River, in addition to the communities of Chetwynd, Tumber Ridge, Moberly Lake, Hassler Flats, Jack Fish Lake, Farrell Creek, and Upper Halfway. Initial attack crews from Chetwynd have been vital to controlling wildfires in the community and the region through their quick response, explains the letter, signed by Hudson’s Hope Mayor Travous Quibell and Fred Burrows, their Director of Protective Services. 

Port Alberni residents are upset to see logging activities taking place right on the edge of a cemetery. …Mosaic Forest Management took down a number of trees near Alberni Valley Memorial Gardens. The logging took place right up to the edge of the Yates Memorial Services cemetery. …In a statement to the Alberni Valley News, Mosaic says they initially planned for a retention patch of trees adjacent to Alberni Valley Memorial Gardens. “However, further professional review indicated that retaining large trees in this area would create public safety risks with potential future blowdown,” said a Mosaic spokesperson. “Small leave trees that posed no risk of blowdown and no safety concerns were retained in this area.” …While Barry Tuck, the owner of Yates Memorial Services acknowledges that Mosaic has the right to log their own property, he feels that the harvesting wasn’t done with much sensitivity to his clientele.

©David Moskowitz

Kootenay-based environmental group Wildsight is calling for an interim moratorium on logging and road building in core southern mountain caribou habitat. The moratorium should stay in place until permanent protections are in place, says Eddie Petryshen, Wildsight Conservation Specialist. Petryshen says that in an agreement signed in February 2020, the province of B.C. committed to actions to stabilize caribou populations. These actions included increasing protection of habitat. “With one year left before the agreement expires, almost no progress has been made, and caribou habitat continues to be logged,” he said. …B.C.’s overall caribou populations has dropped from an estimated 45,000 to 15,000 over the last century. The deep-snow herds have declined from 2,500 in the 1990s to approximately 1,250 today.

In recognition of the critical role wildland firefighters play in keeping the province safe, the First Nations’ Emergency Services Society of BC (FNESS), BC Wildfire Service, and FireSmart BC are partnering to create the new BC Wildland Firefighter Awards. Four recipients will be recognized during a special ceremony led by the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation during the Wildfire Resiliency Training Summit in April 2024. If it applies to you please help support this important new award by nominating your fellow colleagues in wildfire response, including any agency, organization, or community. Nominations will be open until February 28.

KANANASKIS COUNTRY – A controversial plan to clearcut a forested area about the size of 2,000 football fields in the Upper Highwood of Kananaskis Country is temporarily halted. West Fraser Cochrane, formerly Spray Lake Sawmills, announced in a statement on the company’s website that it’s pausing its 1,100-hectare logging plan to allow time for consultation with stakeholders. “We want to take time to meet with local groups that have expressed an interest in our planned activities and to meet with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) to discuss the bridge over the Highwood River,” it stated. “We are now in the process of meeting with local groups that are interested in sharing information regarding forestry operations in the region.” …The logging plan was met with criticism from recreational and environmental groups like Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS), Alberta Wilderness Association and Bragg Creek and Kananaskis Outdoor Recreation.

Additional coverage in the Narwhal by Drew Anderson: After community pushback, forestry company pauses clearcut of beloved Rocky Mountain valley

CHETWYND — The mayors of Hudson’s Hope and Tumbler Ridge are expressing concern over the relocation of the Northern Initial Fire Attack Crew from Chetwynd to Dawson Creek, saying it could double response times in the community and surrounding districts. In letters addressed to B.C.’s Minister of Forests Bruce Ralston, both Hudson’s Hope and Tumbler Ridge condemned the move that they say was made without consultation with stakeholders and local First Nations communities. The mayor of Hudson’s Hope Travous Quibell said the move to not consulate the districts is a breach of the Emergency and Disaster Management Act. “This requirement doesn’t seem to apply to the Ministry,” said Quibell in his letter. Quibell says that the relocation will delay response times from approximately one to two and half hours, and will not only impact or displace residents, but could cost millions to local businesses.

Jim Cooperman

Lee Creek resident Jim Cooperman travelled to Victoria last week, carrying a signed petition from North Shuswap community members calling for an investigation into the wildfire which devastated the area last summer. The documents, which included a press release and a briefing note, were delivered to Premier David Eby, cabinet ministers and government agencies on Feb. 12. In a press release, Cooperman said North Shuswap residents want answers. “Our community demands a full investigation into this disaster and the failed back burn that caused it,” Cooperman said. “No rural community should have to experience the massive damage and trauma that our North Shuswap endured last summer after the BC Wildfire Service allowed two wildfires to expand and then did an aerial ignition prior to a windstorm.”

Part of the Log Train Trail in the Alberni Valley will soon be open to motorized vehicles, but the City of Port Alberni wants to make sure their portion of the trail is for bikers and hikers only. The Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District (ACRD) board voted last month to adopt a new management plan for the Log Train Trail, which will allow the use of motorized vehicles (including ATVs and dirt bikes) on the regional district-managed portion of the trail. The full trail stretches 25 kilometres along the foot of the Beaufort Range. It was originally part of railroad logging operations until logging trucks became the preferred method of transport and the railway was abandoned. Since then, it has been developed into a multipurpose trail and regional park. …Council is sending a letter to the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure and Mosaic Forest Management stating that the city does not support motorized vehicles on the Log Train Trail.

B.C.’s worst-ever wildfire season in 2023 appears to have carried over into 2024. The mild and dry fall and winter have created perfect conditions for a record number of so-called “zombie fires.” …John Davies, a senior wildfire management specialist with Forsite Consultants, said they are seeing a lot of these fires in northern B.C …“They have a very, very deep organic layer. That’s what makes it possible for these fires to burn underground is that they have lots of fuel, so this decomposing vegetative matter, and they have oxygen, and so they just burn subsurface.” …Dr. Lori Daniels, a professor and Koerner Chair in Wildlife Coexistence with the Faculty of Forestry at UBC said… “There’s a gap between when the snow melts and when the broadleaf trees produce their leaves and create shade and cooler temperatures in more humid conditions,” she said.

EDMONTON — The Alberta government has declared an early start to the 2024 wildfire season in the face of low snowpacks and forecasts of dry weather to come. Alberta Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen said Tuesday the season is now underway — 10 days earlier than the usual start of March 1. Loewen said his department is asking for enough extra funding in the budget to hire an extra 100 firefighters. If that request is approved, they will be in the field by May 15, he said. That’s in addition to the 900 firefighters the province fielded in 2023, who are expected to be ready by April 15, said Loewen. …Loewen also said a permit is now required for any burning in the forest protection area. Fire bans are likely to follow. “We’re going to be more proactive (on fire bans) than we were last year.

Alberta’s water reckoning has begun in earnest. Snowpack accumulations in the Oldman River basin, the Bow River basin and the North Saskatchewan River basin range from 33 to 62 per cent below normal. A reduced snowpack means less summer water for the fish and all water drinkers. …Fifty-one river basins from Milk River to Hay River report critical water shortages due to low rainfall and high temperatures. Groundwater levels in parts of Alberta have reached record lows. Wells in Rocky View County just outside of Calgary, for example, show steady declines and the lowest levels ever measured. Some 600,000 rural Albertans depend on groundwater. …With less water in the rivers and ground, the cottonwoods and willows that decorate the banks of prairie rivers are dying. …Yet the Alberta government has not declared an emergency. It says it is planning for extreme drought but hoping for snow and rain.

High populations of mountain pine beetles can overwhelm forests by killing trees and altering ecosystems. A University of Alberta study examined the role fungi may play in how trees defend themselves from these beetles. Rashaduz Zaman, a U of A PhD candidate in forest biology and management, led the study. According to the study, the fungus atropellis canker increases a tree’s production of compounds toxic to mountain pine beetles, thereby protecting the tree. The researchers collected inner-bark samples from lodgepole pines. Some of these trees were infected by western gall rust, atropellis canker, or other fungi pathogens. The researchers compared how different fungal species altered the chemistry of lodgepole pine trees and their ability to resist attacks from insects.