Region Archives: Canada West

Cold winters, a lack of food and control measures have caused steep declines in Alberta’s destructive pine insect pest, according to figures released by the provincial government. In a news release last month, the province said populations of Dendroctonus ponderosae, commonly known as mountain pine beetle, have declined 98 per cent since the peak in 2019. …There are a few natural predators, most notably woodpeckers. …We also know the province has spent significant time, energy and money on controlling mountain pine beetle populations. Also, one of the only silver linings of the forest fires that we’ve experienced has been some populations have been consumed by those fires. …There’s a lot of active research going on to figure out what it is that mountain pine beetle does to prepare for overwintering because it’s not a classic diapause. But we do know they were active well into the fall because it was warm.

In late 2023, the federal government, BC and the First Nations Leadership Council signed a $1 billion Nature Agreement to protect 30 per cent of B.C.’s lands by 2030. …The Nature Agreement follows a series of historic federal investments in nature conservation. Like the previous announcements, the 2023 Nature Agreement includes funding for Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas, or IPCAs. However, despite advances in Canadian conservation policy and practice, our research has shown that First Nations advancing IPCAs can still face significant challenges. …One of the biggest challenges for IPCAs is the pressure of resource extraction. Even once an IPCA is declared, it may not be safe from resource extraction. Canadian governments continue to grant tenures and licences to companies for logging, mining, fish farms and other impactful activities inside IPCAs against the wishes of Indigenous nations. …IPCAs offer tremendous potential for addressing the biodiversity and climate crises and repairing relationships with Indigenous Peoples.

On July 17 the St. Mary’s River wildfire raced through the First Nations community of Aq’am. Driven by strong winds, the fire destroyed seven homes in Aq’am and burned hot enough to sterilize soil. It put more than 500 homes under evacuation alert and sent plumes of choking smoke into the summer sky. But the St. Mary’s fire is also notable for what it didn’t burn. Months before the blaze, in April, Aq’am – with support from the wildfire service and the Cranbrook and Kimberley fire departments – had carried out a prescribed burn on its biggest reserve, Kootenay 1, a swath of forest and pasture that covers about 75 square kilometres just east of the Canadian Rockies International Airport. …For everyone involved, it became a case study in fighting fire with fire, in a year when B.C. and Canada grappled with the costs and widespread impact of the country’s most destructive wildfire season on record.

Lori Daniels

The new centre for wildfire coexistence being established at the University of B.C. looks to have its work cut out for it right out of the gate. As of Dec. 28, the B.C. Wildfire Service counted 106 wildfires as still burning. …“Zombie fires, we call them, when they go underground and smoulder through the winter,” said Lori Daniels, UBC professor of forest and conservation sciences, who will lead the new centre. “But it’s shocking how many (there are).” The El Niño phenomena that has brought warmer ocean temperatures is to blame, delivering warmer and drier weather across the west that has starved regions of their usual snow and cold. …UBC’s faculty of forestry launched the centre Dec. 19 with $5 million from UBC patrons, the Koerner family. Its task is to take research findings about what makes communities vulnerable to fire and translate those findings into making forests more resilient.

Dozens of fires from Alberta’s record-breaking 2023 wildfire season are still burning, and with dry conditions so far this fall and winter, experts say the province could experience another one just like it. Conditions last spring contributed to Alberta’s worst wildfire season since 1981. …This year’s wildfire season in Alberta is shaping up as a repeat. Phillips said “the vast majority” of the province has seen less than 80 per cent of the precipitation it would normally expected over the last 90 days. “That’s the recharge season. That’s when you want to get the soil moisture full, you want to get the forest litter wet,” he said. …Story said Alberta will be entering the 2024 wildfire season, which begins March 1, with an elevated wildfire risk, “especially in the northern parts of the province,” adding that 63 fires are continuing to burn from last year. “There’s a tendency for El Niño springs to be drier than normal,” Phillips said.

Additional coverage in the Chronicle Journal, by Colette Derworiz, Canadian Press: Wildfires in Alberta burned 10 times more area in 2023 than the five-year average

A conservation group says its latest purchase of exclusive hunting rights in a BC rainforest is a major step toward protecting the area’s wildlife, but hunters say the move is an “abuse” of the licensing system. The Raincoast Conservation Foundation, said that it raised $1.92 million over two years to buy the rights from hunters that cover roughly a quarter, or 18,000 square kilometres, of the Great Bear Rainforest on the province’s north and central coast. …The province confirmed in a statement that it has received the application to transfer the certificate, and the transaction was being reviewed. The purchase makes Raincoast the largest hunting tenure holder in B.C., covering more than 56,000 square kilometres. Raincoast has been buying hunting rights in the province since 2005, after a 2001 moratorium on grizzly bear hunting approved by an NDP government was overturned when the Liberals were elected to government.

They’re leafy, shady, and in some cases come with a whopping price tag — the City of Calgary has assigned a value to most trees on public land. There are about seven million public trees in Calgary with a collective value of $1.3 billion. The practice of assigning value to a tree is somewhat common in Canada, where an assessment formula is used to determine the cost of a tree in case it is damaged or killed. Mike Mahon, urban forestry lead for the City of Calgary, said a tree’s cost in Calgary is calculated by urban forestry technicians who look at a tree’s structure, health, species — and most importantly, its age and size. Those figures are then put into an algorithm that generates a monetary value. A tree’s price is seen by the city as a way to retain trees and protect them from construction and development. 

Mike Morris

Prince George-Mackenzie BC United MLA, Mike Morris says it’s time BC stopped its clearcutting ways. Morris says the province has to change its management practices to restore the health of forests and decrease the likelihood of disastrous floods that threaten communities. “We’re going to have a forest sector, we’ve got 20 million hectares of managed coniferous forest planted since we started clearcutting in 1966 and they all need thinning, so pull the plug on clearcut forestry right now,” said Morris. “…we’ll get 2X4s and maybe 2X6s and pulpwood, but industry completely needs to change their business model.” …“We are in so much trouble from a forestry perspective in the province, it needs to be completely revamped,” said Morris. “…we’re out of harvestable wood under the current business model. We’ve exhausted our timber supply in the province.” …Morris follows research by UBC forestry professor Younes Alila, which attributes extreme flooding …to clearcutting and loss of forest ground cover. 

Mike Flannigan

Continuing drought conditions in Western Canada, a relatively mild start to winter across much of the country, and the lingering effects of El Nino threaten to create ideal conditions for wildfires to ignite this coming spring, as the country contends with lessons learned from the most destructive fire season in its history. “El Nino is generally milder and drier for many parts of Canada, and if that persists, we’re going to start off with drought conditions in spring. If that’s the case, it doesn’t absolutely mean we’re going to have an active spring fire season, but it loads the dice,” said Dr. Mike Flannigan, B.C. Innovation Research Chair in Predictive Services, Emergency Management and Fire Science. …“The bottom line is there will always be fire in the landscape. How we manage it to minimize the impacts, but allow fire to take its role when and where possible, is the way forward,” said Flannigan. 

John Horgan

VICTORIA — During the long standoff over old-growth logging at Fairy Creek, Premier John Horgan often reminded protesters that the local First Nation had asked them to leave. He quoted a statement from the Pacheedaht First Nation discouraging “third party activism” on its traditional territory and asking to be “left in peace.” …Horgan’s office had advance knowledge of the Pacheedaht statement on the Fairy Creek protests. The premier’s staff may even have had a hand in strengthening the wording of the statement, judging from the recent release of a document obtained under freedom of information laws. One reason for suspecting the premier’s office is because the New Democrats fought long and hard against the release of the document. The full story of the long-delayed release is set out in an article in this month’s issue of the Walrus magazine by B.C.-based freelance reporter Jimmy Thomson.

The province’s worst wildfire season on record in terms of area burned was recorded in 2023, a destructive season that stretched from early spring all the way into fall, and now winter. Now, the B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS) says it’s stepping up preparations ahead of the spring to deal with holdover fires — colloquially called “zombie fires” that lay dormant under the ground before re-igniting in hotter conditions. …Pedro Roldan-Delgado, a fire information officer for the Prince George Fire Centre, says holdover fires tend to penetrate deep into the root systems of trees… and active suppression is often not the first choice given many contracted firefighters have returned to university. …Pete Laing, superintendent of fuel management for the BCWS, said giant fires in the north will require careful fuel management and monitoring to ensure resources are on hand if and when they spark again.

Peter Rusland

Dear North Cowichan mayor and councillors: We respectfully request council follow Qualicum Beach council’s wise lead and take steps toward a UNESCO biosphere designation for our eco-rare Six Mountains and publicly owned municipal forest reserve. …We submit our Six Mountains and precious forest reserve are great candidates for UNESCO designation due to their provably rare ecology, plus priceless cultural, educational and recreational qualities. …Coupled with looming completion of our biodiversity study, sturdy environmental bylaws, plus pending membership in the Coastal Douglas Fir Conservation Partnership, we anticipate council’s due diligence toward Cowichan’s first, exemplary UNESCO designation.

PRINCE GEORGE – The provincial government has bestowed protected area status on a stand of old growth forest west of Ancient Forest-Chun T’oh Whudujut Provincial Park. The 83-hectare site was previously part of a reserve for the Ministry of Transportation’s Driscoll Creek gravel quarry but with the designation, quietly approved in July via an order in council, it should remain untouched by industrial activity in perpetuity. The step was taken largely in answer to the work of Darwyn Coxson, a biology professor at the University of Northern B.C., and Nowell Senior, a noted member of the Prince George hiking community who was instrumental in the creation of the neighbouring provincial park. …Coxson is also seeking protected area status for a 986-hectare corridor connecting Ancient Forest-Chun T’oh Whudujut and Sugarbowl-Grizzly Den provincial parks. As a result of a previous complaint to the Forest Practices Board, the corridor has been designated as a “candidate” old-growth management area.

Register for a new Forest Professionals British Columbia (FPBC) webinar, Range Practices Act (FRPA) Improvement Initiative: 2023 Updates on Regulatory Changes to Bill 21. The free webinar will provide an overview of regulatory changes brought in last year and how they affect activities governed by FRPA. As part of an improvement initiative, the provincial government introduced changes in 2019 to FRPA with Bill 21: Forest and Range Practices Amendment Act. The changes were a response to a broad engagement campaign with the public, industry, and other interested parties. They are designed to align FRPA with new environmental and socio-economic challenges. Presenters Julius Huhs, RPF, RFT; Sean Muise, RPF; and Aaren Ritchie-Bonar, RPF; are with the Sustainable Forest Management team in the Forest Science, Planning and Practices Branch at the Office of the Chief Forester. January 11, 2024 from 9:00 to 10:30am.

LYTTON, BC — More than two years after a behemoth fire devastated Lytton and the neighbouring Lytton First Nation, cement has finally been poured on the village’s first home rebuild. Mayor Denise O’Connor said the first residential rebuild permit was issued in the fall. …The length of time it has taken for shovels to get into the ground has enraged many Lytton residents, with various archeological, debris removal and remediation delays prompting protest and dominating B.C. headlines. …The Village of Lytton is suing Canada’s two national railways and Transport Canada, alleging they were negligent in letting trains pass through the town during the deadly 2021 heat dome. …A 2022 report from the Transportation Safety Board, however, stated investigators could find no evidence that the wildfire was started from a spark from a train.

ALBERTA — The longer, hotter, drier fire seasons recently experienced in Alberta means that wildfire risk management is top of mind. Sustainable forest management is beneficial in the context of the conditions Alberta is facing. While not a stand-alone solution, forest management strategies complement traditional fire-suppression methods. By focusing on reducing the amount of combustible material and creating strategic fuel breaks and access routes, these practices contribute to mitigating the spread of wildfires. That’s just one component of the 200-year sustainable forest management plans developed and followed by the forest industry and members of Alberta Forest Products Association (AFPA). “These plans take forest companies about six years to prepare and consider a number of forest values, including biodiversity, wildlife habitat, carbon sequestration, traditional values and more,” says Aspen Dudzic, director of communications at AFPA. …Bob Mason, chief forester at Canfor Alberta emphasizes fire impact mitigation in his harvesting plans.

ALBERTA — The mountain pine beetle is the most destructive pine insect pest in Alberta. However, cold winters paired with Alberta’s aggressive control program have led to striking progress in preserving the health and resilience of the province’s forests. Mountain pine beetle populations in Alberta have declined 98% since their peak in 2019. To mitigate wildfire risk and negative impacts to the forest industry, watersheds and endangered species, the province has been actively managing mountain pine beetle for more than 15 years. Alberta will continue to invest in the mountain pine beetle control program to ensure its continued success. …“I am proud of the progress we have made in controlling the spread of mountain pine beetles throughout Alberta,” said Todd Loewen, Minister of Forestry and Parks. … Alberta uses management measures like population monitoring, risk assessments, cutting and burning infested trees, and harvesting highly vulnerable pine.

Well before a record-setting deluge of smoke had come and gone from Alberta’s capital city this summer, a new provincial precedent had already been set. By June, officials noted that wildfires had burned through more than one million hectares. …By the end of the official wildfire season, the 2.2 million hectares burned surpassed the benchmark set in 1981, when 1.3 million hectares were left charred. …The forestry and parks ministry said the scope and severity of this year’s wildfire season cannot be attributed solely to an increase in arson, even though it said the proportion of fires determined to be set on purpose has nudged upwards. …This year, 8.4 per cent of all wildfires were categorized as arson, which is slightly above the previous five-year average of 7.8 per cent, according to the forestry ministry.

QUESNEL, BC — Local forestry professionals had their knowledge base grow in forests half a world away. Thirty-one people travelled from B.C. to Finland, this fall, to get ground truth from their Scandinavian counterparts. B.C. and Finland are both world leaders in forest use and forest husbandry, but have widely different localized practices. This visit included Quesnel’s forestry initiatives manager, Erin Robinson, who reported back to mayor and council on the experience. …This junket was led by the University of B.C. and dovetailed with Finnish delegations that have been to Quesnel during the past year for knowledge exchanges here in our forestry settings. …Opportunities were presented like district heating systems, which, in a limited way, are already in use around here in settings like the downtown Prince George buildings connected to the Lakeland Mills biomass burner.

2023 has been a great year for FESBC. In January Premier Eby announced another $50 million for FESBC to help workers and communities use more waste wood from the forest and reduce wildfire risk. FESBC started approving new projects right away and now most of the funding is allocated. Some projects are already completed on the ground, many more are currently underway, and all will have been completed by March 31 2025. In this newsletter: Minister of Forests, Bruce Ralston’s statement. Learn more about how Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation Ltd. is focusing on forest rehabilitation through wildfire risk reduction and fibre utilization. Read how the Fort Nelson Community Forest is working to enhance wildfire resilience. Learn about how funding will help the Chinook Community Forest to undertake vital wildfire risk reduction work. Meet our Faces of Forestry featured person, Klay Tindall.

I watched as Guujaaw, former president of the Council of the Haida Nation, testified at the B.C. Supreme Court. The legendary Haida chief was the Crown’s star witness in a $75 million lawsuit brought by Teal Cedar Products Ltd. against the province of B.C. and the Haida Gwaii Management Council. The suit has been going on for months, but not until Guujaaw arrived did the judge hear an Indigenous perspective on what the forest industry has done to the landscape, and people, of Haida Gwaii. …The matter of sovereignty over Haida Gwaii remains a point of conflict between the Haida Nation and the province of B.C., and that conflict goes much deeper than Teal’s current fight with the province.  …Whether the judge concludes that reconciliation did indeed cost Teal $75 million, and that taxpayers should reimburse them, is something we won’t know until the second half of 2024, when the decision is expected.