Region Archives: Canada West

COLD LAKE – The Government of Alberta, with industry stakeholders, is supporting caribou recovery while promoting sustainable development in the Cold Lake region – and seeking public feedback. Alberta has invested more than $30.2 million in the caribou habitat restoration program since 2018, which includes $30.2 million in provincial funding and $700,000 from industry. Budget 2022 included a commitment of $10 million per year for caribou habitat recovery, starting in 2023-24. The Government of Alberta says it is still waiting for a meaningful federal contribution to support the province’s caribou habitat restoration program. Julia Pickering, Assistant Director of Communications and Public Engagement for the Government of Alberta, emphasized the importance of implementing the approved Cold Lake and Bistcho Lake Sub-regional Plans to achieve the goals of caribou recovery. She clarified that the recently proposed regulations align with the existing sub-regional plans, emphasizing continuity in objectives and strategies. 

It’s no secret that British Columbia’s forestry industry is a massive economic driver for the province. According to the BC Council of Forest Industries (COFI), forestry contributes $17.4 billion to BC’s gross domestic product and creates around 100,000 good-paying jobs, both direct and indirect. However, that is obviously a living number from year to year, and in 2023 that figure dropped to 90,000, according to COFI’s economic impact study published in April. That’s 10,000 jobs lost in 2023 alone, with half of them being direct and the other half being indirect or induced. Those job losses are coming as BC’s harvest levels are declining, from 50 million cubic metres of forest in 2021 down to 43 million in 2022 and 35 million in 2023.

Rick Campbell

LYTTON, BC — After fuelling up their drip torches, BC Wildfire Service workers wearing red jackets begin to lay fire to an area of dry forest ground in Nlaka’pamux territory. …The project was designed to help build on the Nlaka’pamux community’s knowledge of fire and the ecosystem, as well as to improve their confidence in mitigating wildfires. Fifteen BCWS members trained six young contract firefighters from Boothroyd on how to conduct a prescribed burn. The community itself has an extensive and long history of conducting their own cultural burns. Their wildfire mitigation treatment consists of trimming trees, removing debris, piling it all together and burning. Elder and former band Chief Rick Campbell estimated that the practice of cultural and prescribed burns hasn’t been done in some areas throughout the nation for at least 500 years. “I think it’s long overdue,” he said.

The provincial government is set to enact a ban on open fires across coastal B.C. on Friday. BC Wildfire Service says, effective at 12 p.m. on May 17, most open burning activities will be prohibited everywhere from the Sunshine Coast, Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii until the end of October. The BC Wildfire Service says the ban will limit “Category 2” and “Category 3” open fires to help reduce wildfire risk and protect public safety. That means no larger fires, fireworks, or things like sky lanterns will be allowed. But it doesn’t apply to small campfires that are a half metre high by a half metre wide or smaller. The ban applies to all public and private land.

Mount Currie, B.C. – Líl̓wat Forestry Ventures Ltd., the forestry division of Líl̓wat Nation, has begun a proactive wildfire risk reduction initiative or ‘Forest Fuels Management Project’. The project is being conducted in collaboration with Líl̓wat Nation FireSmart in a residential subdivision above X-Stream Road. The work will involve the careful thinning of trees in a heavily forested 50-hectare area, plus working together with residents on what they want to see done within 30 to 50 metres of their homes. Klay Tindall, general manager of Líl̓wat Forestry Ventures Ltd., emphasized the importance of this selective thinning work to create a more resilient and healthier forest environment, and FireSmart to better protect homes.

Doug Donaldson

Former B.C. forests minister Doug Donaldson says the province is on the right track as it responds to worsening wildfires, but the scale of the challenge is so great, it’s falling behind and needs to prioritize a “whole-of-society” approach. Donaldson says the place to start should be a dedicated provincial wildfire strategy that lays out responsibilities for each government ministry, while supporting the participation of local communities, civil society and the forest industry. Donaldson says the B.C. Wildfire Service has a strategy but it’s about a decade old. He says it needs to be updated and elevated into a cross-ministry strategy. …Donaldson is the co-author of a new report released Tuesday from a wildfire-focused research group based at the University of Victoria. …Donaldson says B.C. needs to look at “innovative economic models” to reduce forest fuels. That means involving the forest industry, he said. One example could be the reintroduction of broadcast burning.

Additional coverage from Black Press: U of Victoria report sets actions, priorities for wildfire management

Port McNeill, Alert Bay and Surrounding Communities, B.C. – Atli Resources LP, a ‘Namgis First Nation-owned company, in collaboration with the Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC), is celebrating an important milestone in sustainable forestry practices with the successful recovery of 35,000 cubic meters of fibre—equivalent to approximately 700 truck loads. This achievement has been made possible through the crucial support and funding provided by FESBC, highlighting the impactful role FESBC plays in supporting projects that lead to substantial environmental benefits and community development. …As a part of the projects funded by FESBC, waste fibre is being collected and chipped at the Atli Chip facility at Beaver Cove. The fibre comes from areas outside the economic radius of the plant, including areas near Holberg, Port Alice, Woss, and Port McNeill. The chipped fibre is then transported to support the operations of Paper Excellence’s pulp mills in Howe Sound and Crofton.

With wildfire season already underway in B.C., there were no promises of funding or assistance from the Prime Minister when he visited the Central Okanagan on Friday (May 10). During a stop at a West Kelowna fire hall, the PM did mention the federal government’s doubling of the volunteer firefighter tax credit and $800,000 for wildfire training and to increase the capacity of structural firefighters across the country. …“It is likely to be a bad forest fire season,” Trudeau said. “We’re drawing on the lessons that everyone learned with such heroism last year to make sure we can do everything to minimize the impacts of wildfires that will be coming this summer.” …Trudeau also met with Central Okanagan mayors, first responders, and families who lost their homes in the McDougal Creek wildfire.

Press Release from the Prime Minister Trudeau: Keeping Canadians safe from wildfires

The Province is updating limited-entry hunting regulations to sustainably manage B.C. wildlife, respect First Nations’ hunting rights and provide hunters with a diversity of recreational and economic opportunities. The recent changes affect the hunting of moose, caribou, elk, bighorn sheep, thinhorn sheep, mountain goats, white-tailed deer and mule deer. Some regulation changes present new hunting opportunities in various parts of the province, including one regulation that was converted to a general open-season hunt for antlerless white-tailed deer in the Cariboo Region. In both the Skeena and Omineca regions, general open-season hunting for caribou is now all limited-entry hunting. In north Skeena, moose hunting for any bull moose or antler restricted moose in many accessible areas is now limited-entry hunting. The general open season for areas that are remote and without motorized access will continue.

Kim Green

How forestry affects the snowpack and moisture has been the subject of study for years, but new techniques are giving foresters and researchers a more accurate picture. Two research projects were the subject of a public meeting at Selkirk College’s Grand Forks campus on May 2, hosted by the Kettle River Watershed Advisory Council. Two guest speakers led talks on their research projects: Kim Green on hydrological modeling in forest management and Cydney Potter’s research looking at LiDAR to study peak snow water storage in the environment to monitor forest recovery and regenerating stands. Last February, the council discussed some forestry-related subjects it wanted to feature in public meetings and these were voted on, explained RDKB watershed planner Kristina Anderson.

Alana Lettner

As I write this, I’m getting ready to leave for my seventh season of tree planting. I’ve had an eye on the weather all winter, watching as the snowpack levels in British Columbia reach lows not recorded since at least 1970. …Over the years I’ve had many doubts about the ecological benefits of the province’s reforestation practices. But last season marked the first time I started to wonder if tree planting might someday become ecologically unviable in some regions of the province. …I spoke to Sally Enns, who works as a forestry manager contracted by the Cheslatta Carrier Nation. …While she hasn’t finished crunching the numbers yet, she says that across all different blocks, mortality rates were much lower than she’d expected: many of the trees had survived. …While I was heartened to hear about this resilience, I still felt troubled about the future of reforestation efforts. 

Pacific Wild, a Victoria-based wildlife conservation group, is calling on the provincial government to halt what it calls the inhumane and scientifically controversial wolf cull in B.C. “Over the last season between December 2023 and March 2024, 248 wolves have been killed as part of the predator reduction program,” said Mollie Cameron, wildlife specialist at Pacific Wild. “It’s under the guise of protecting caribou in the province.” Cameron says wolves are being used as a scapegoat for the declining caribou population in B.C. and says the real problem is how the government prioritized industrialization and continues to allow logging of critical caribou habitat, including old growth forests. …Cameron says there are two regions in B.C. where caribou are allowed to be hunted, while at the same time, the wolf cull is also taking place in those same regions to protect caribou. …She fears wolves… could potentially become endangered.

Steven Peters is concerned about the impact of wildfires on his family’s business — and the local forestry industry as a whole. He is the third generation to work for Evergreen Lumber, a lumber mill based in La Crete, Alberta, that has operated for more than 30 years. But it felt a singe from last summer’s wildfires — even through the winter months, which brought little snow. …A record 2.2 million hectares of forest burned in Alberta last year — much more than the five-year average of 226,000 hectares. Dry conditions and drought persisted throughout Alberta, leaving the provincial government and lumber industry concerned about what this summer might bring. …During a wildfire update last week, Alberta Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen encouraged industry to harvest as much [burnt timber] as possible. …This year’s allowable cuts are still being assessed, said Aspen Dudzic, for the Alberta Forest Products Association.