Region Archives: Canada West

More than 30 years after B.C.’s New Democratic Premier Mike Harcourt had opened up large parts of Vancouver Island’s Clayoquot Sound to commercial logging, parts of the area could soon be off-limits again. Two conservancies covering 77,000 hectares would place much of the area opened for logging in 1993 under protection. Conservancies set aside Crown land for environmental, social, recreational, ceremonial and cultural uses, but also allow a “wider range of low-impact, compatible economic opportunities” than permissible in Class A parks. Commercial logging, mining and hydroelectric power generation, other than local run-of-the-river projects, are prohibited in conservancies. MaMook Natural Resources, a partnership of five First Nations on the western coast of Vancouver Island, currently holds the only tree forest license in Clayoquot Sound and the conservancies would cover almost 60 per cent of the TFL. The province has received 208 submissions on the conservancies since March 12 with an April 10 deadline. 

Fire Information Officer Madison Dahl said effective noon on Thursday March 28, Category 2 and 3 Fire Prohibition will go into effect in the Cariboo Chilcotin Forest District, the 100 Mile House Forest District, and the Quesnel Forest District. Dahl said, “A Category 2 fire is an open fire that burns material in one or two piles, each no larger than two metres in height and three metres in width, or burning grass over an area less than 0.2 hectares. A Category 3 fire is an open fire larger than two metres by three metres, burning three or more piles smaller than two by three metres, or burning an area of grass or stubble over an area greater than 0.2 metres.” BC Wildfire Service said anyone conducting a Category 2 or 3 open fire anywhere in the Cariboo region must extinguish them by noon March 28 and this prohibition will remain in place until noon November 1 2024 or until the Order is rescinded.

Alberta Parks is tentatively planning to burn 260 hectares of forest in the Ribbon Creek drainage in Kananaskis this year that was initially prescribed for fire in 2023 but not ignited due to hot, dry conditions fuelling wildfire danger. The burn is part of a larger 7,900-hectare prescribed fire plan being broken into several phases. Alberta Parks and Calgary Forest Area wildfire management unit officials have also, since proposing the plan last year, met with the Wild Sheep Foundation of Alberta to adjust the size of the burn to improve bighorn sheep habitat. …According to Alberta Parks, the Evan-Thomas area has not seen any major wildfires since 1936, leading to an accumulation of forest fuels and a “very high risk of severe wildfire.” The prescribed burn will create a fire break, shielding communities, resources and infrastructure nearby. It’s a proactive measure to curb potential wildfires and to keep them from spreading down the valley.

QUESNEL, BC — British-owned Drax is responding to assertions of pellet plants chipping old-growth wood in B.C. The operator of pellet plants in Houston and Burns Lake is calling “inaccurate and misleading” assertions it is chipping old-growth wood for pellets,. However, it does admit loads of old-growth trees were taken to its plants. …Drax admits that nine truckloads of wood from old-growth areas were delivered its pellet plants. “For context this was nine out of almost 8,000 truckloads delivered to Drax’s pellet plants over the three months in question – delivering equivalent to around 0.15% of the material received,” the company said in a March 13 release. …“The erroneous truck loads were identified internally at Drax shortly after delivery and we have continued to refine our processes with third parties within our supply chain to reduce the risk of this happening in future. That work is ongoing,” the company said.

Richard Hamelin

On Thursday, Vancouver Park Board commissioners saw firsthand the massive logging operation now underway in Stanley Park, as crews continue to cut down tens of thousands of hemlock trees killed by a looper moth infestation. …Richard Hamelin, the department head for UBC Forest Conservation Sciences said, “There are so many people people in the park, they decided to go the safety route which is to remove the trees, so that they don’t become a danger.” The dead trees are also being taken down to reduce forest fire risk. …An online petition to halt the logging has gathered over 16,500 signatures. Hamelin thinks the city is partly to blame for not explaining that the trees are dead and have to be cut down. …“the park will be green again,” said Hamelin. “Forests are resilient. It’s going to come back, and it’s going to come back stronger and better. That’s what nature does.”

VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board announces the completion of its audit of Tolko Industries Ltd.’s operations on timber licence T0816 in the Okanagan Shuswap Natural Resource District. Based on the field audit conducted from Oct. 23-27, 2023, the Forest Practices Board confirms Tolko’s adherence to the Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA) and the Wildfire Act (WA) across all significant aspects of these operations. The audit examined activities between Oct. 1, 2021, and Oct. 26, 2023, including operational planning, timber harvesting, road and bridge construction and maintenance, silviculture, and wildfire protection. “Our audit found that Tolko complied with all requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act,” said Keith Atkinson, chair of the Forest Practices Board. “We are pleased to see the efforts made by Tolko to carry out their operations consistent with provincial regulations and sound forest practices.” 

Additional coverage in the Salmon Arm Observer, by Jennifer Smith: Vernon-based Tolko cleared of Revelstoke forestry audit

Nathan Cullen, BC’s minister of water, land and resource stewardship, has confirmed what many suspected: the NDP isn’t interested in an endangered species law. A federal Species At Risk Act has been in place for decades, and has immense power when enforced. But it almost never is, and has done nothing to protect B.C.’s ever-growing list of endangered species. Provincial legislation has therefore long been a key demand of conservation groups. But last week… Cullen finally acknowledged species-specific legislation is officially off the table. Then he spoke about what we’re getting instead. …“It’s the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework.” That wonky phrase invokes a vast new architecture of land-use legislation that Cullen’s ministry is now drafting: since conservation and species at risk protection is inextricably linked to Indigenous Rights, it’s being done, in close collaboration with Rankin’s ministry and the more than 200 First Nations in B.C. 

A new hybrid electric heavy duty truck developed by Edison Motors in Merritt, B.C., is now officially road-worthy. Edison ‘s L500 semi prototype — dubbed the “Topsy” — has been granted a vehicle identification number and registration. The company now has four orders for the truck, which uses regenerative braking for much of its power, and will soon be opening a new manufacturing plant in Terrace to build the trucks. “We have officially built the first truck in British Columbia… in over 30 years,” Edison Motors founder and CEO Chace Barber said in a press release. “We’ve officially built a truck that passes all the government certifications, a truck that can be driven on the road.” Edison Motors was started by Chace Barber and Eric Little, who started a truck-logging company in 2016 in Merritt. After putting in an order for a Tesla electric semi truck in 2017, and waiting four years, they decided to just build their own.

Calls are mounting for the Vancouver Park Board to stop clearing trees in Stanley Park, with a petition gaining momentum online. Those behind the change.org petition claim the removal of trees is “causing irreversible damage to our environment.” …Officials have said the work to remove roughly 25 per cent of the trees in the park is necessary, noting they have been destroyed by a hemlock looper moth infestation. However, those behind the petition question this “narrative,” saying the city has “failed to provide scientific evidence to substantiate its claim; further, many living seemingly-healthy trees are being cut down.” …Despite the criticisms, Vancouver Park Board Chair Brennan Bastyovanszky is doubling down that the felling has to be completed. …Bastyovanszky says aside from safety concerns, the dead trees also pose an elevated fire risk. 

Eddie Petryshen, Wildsight conservation specialist and Kristi Chorney, Wildsight board president met with council to request an immediate cease of old growth logging in the Goldstream CP 310 Block L area, currently managed by Revelstoke Community Forest Corporation (RCFC) until council can tour the area with Wildsight. Wildsight also asked that council look into alternative economic streams for RCFC, following the direction of other municipalities throughout B.C. “Municipalities in B.C. are making more money managing carbon than logging,” Petryshen told council, breaking down economic alternatives Revelstoke could adapt to replace old growth logging in the region. In an interview, Petryshen said there are only two options for the forestry industry in Revelstoke and B.C. “We can continue to log them until there’s very little left … or we can decide to transition the industry. I think there’s a huge opportunity for jobs and a restoration based economy.”

A new World Meteorological Organization study finds that last year’s wildfires caused glaciers in western North America including British Columbia to lose a record amount of mass. The report titled State of the Global Climate found that “above-average summer temperatures and record wildfire activity in western Canada” contributed to the “extreme melt” as particulates from the wildfires further darkened the surfaces of glaciers. The darker any surface, the more heat it absorbs. Glaciers, sea ice floats along with polar caps, contribute to the ‘albedo effect’ by reflecting sunlight back into space. The more they melt, the less sun gets reflected back. Using pulsating radars to measure distances remotely, researchers including Brian Menounos of the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George and the Airborne Coastal Observatory of the BC-based Hakai Institute, found that, western North America experienced record glacier mass loss in 2023. 

Although it’s unseasonably warm across the B.C. Interior for a few days this week, BC Wildfire Service says conditions aren’t alarming, despite two wildfires sparked on Sunday. A wildfire was sparked burning outside of Lumby, near Creighton Valley Road just after 2 p.m. on Sunday. The wildfire grew to three hectares in size. The Lumby Fire Department confirmed the fire was a burn pile that got away from a resident. A small fire that sparked near Fish Lake Road in Summerland just before 4 p.m. was quickly ‘held’ by fire crews. That fire was also deemed human-caused. …”Wildfire risk is higher than normal this spring. BCWS is preparing for what could be a very challenging season. At this time most wildfires are started by human activity, said B.C.’s Minister of Forests Bruce Ralston at a press conference on Monday afternoon.

West Kelowna, B.C. – Ntityix Resources LP, fully owned by Westbank First Nation, has been busy working to proactively reduce wildfire risk in the West Kelowna area. With funding support from the Forest Enhancement Society of BC, Ntityix has successfully undertaken various initiatives around the community, specific to this wildfire mitigation work. The work itself contributes to a long-term mitigation strategy being undertaken to enhance the fuel modification zone, which will help slow down and, ideally, prevent the spread of wildfires in the area. “The continued revitalization of cultural and prescribed fire helps to create healthy, safe and resilient forests, and I applaud Ntityix and the Westbank First Nation for continuing to take on wildfire risk reduction projects year after year, including working with the Province last year on prescribed burns,” said Bruce Ralston, Minister of Forests. 

Williams Lake First Nation and Tsilhqot’in Nation communities, along with the BC Wildfire Service and other government agencies are beginning cultural and prescribed burns to help manage the upcoming wildfire season. Carly Desrosiers, a fire information officer with the wildfire service explains how the prescribed burn fire program works. “Prescribed fire program plans are made well in advance … there’s a lot that goes into them, working with our partners, and local governments and First Nations to understand their objectives,” said Derosiers. Despite the planning, the decision to go ahead with a burn is decided in the moment depending on factors like weather, site conditions and wind speed. …Sarah Budd, the communications and engagement lead for the cultural and prescribed fire program says that only the First Nations communities can determine whether a burn is cultural. “In terms of implementation…on the ground [a cultural and prescriptive] burn can look very similar,” said Budd.

Zain Haq

A lawyer for a Vancouver-based climate activist says government plans to deport his client could have a “chilling effect” on international students looking to exercise their right to political speech. Zain Haq co-founded the Vancouver-based group Save Old Growth. In 2022, he caught the attention of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) while protesting and speaking to the press about Canada’s climate policy. That’s when CBSA sought to declare Haq retroactively inadmissible to Canada for failing to make enough progress as a student while attending Simon Fraser University, said Haq’s lawyer, Randall Cohn. According to Cohn, the border agency failed to communicate with the university and carry out a full investigation, a procedural shortcut he worries could intimidate other international students looking to speak up for what they think is right. …“If they remove him, then what they’re doing is they’re saying they don’t want people like Zain in the conversation,” said Cohn. 

…About 80 representatives of the Public and Private Workers of Canada, United Steelworkers and Unifor attended the March 12 conference in Victoria to highlight worker concerns about the ailing forest sector and how it is being managed by the provincial government. … “We want a say in what’s happening in our industry. We’ve been left out of the table and as workers we want to have our voice heard. For the three unions to get together that really tells you the state of our industry right now and we’re going to make sure we’re part of that solution going forward,” said Chuck LeBlanc, president of PPWC Local 9. …The three unions want the province to form a permanent Forest Sector Council that would formulate forest strategies and policies drawing from the expertise of leadership from all stakeholders, including business leaders, service sectors, union members, postsecondary schools, public utility operators and representatives of all levels of government.

Fed by extreme winds and extreme drought, the Shuswap Firestorm tore through thousands of hectares of forests leaving behind blackened sticks and fried soil, with nary a green leaf or stem where the fire was intense. …There is now a rush to salvage log the burnt trees that are merchantable before the timber dries and splits, which renders the wood unusable for lumber and plywood. However, there is a growing amount of scientific literature and research that insists logging burnt forests is harmful to the ecosystem and it is far better to let natural processes bring the forests back as what happened after previous wildfires. One of the major concerns with salvage logging, is the site disturbance caused by the heavy equipment, which often results in erosion and damage to streams. …Some studies show that the slash left after logging increases fuel loads to encourage more severe fires in the future. 

West Fraser and the Woodland Cree First Nation recently signed a Good Relations Agreement to mark a new era of partnership, mutual respect, and exploration of economic opportunities. The agreement solidifies a commitment to build a positive, sustainable, and mutually beneficial relationship based on respect, trust, and recognition of each other’s roles, rights, and responsibilities. “The signing of this Good Relations Agreement is a testament to our shared commitment to building a future of collaboration. By working hand in hand, we aim to work on economic opportunities, foster environmental stewardship and contribute to the well-being of Woodland Cree First Nation” stated Jed Begin, General Manager, Slave Lake Veneer. “On behalf of myself and Council, we are proud of this precedent-setting agreement. It is rooted in the principles of meaningful collaboration, accommodation and co-management,” said Chief Isaac Laboucan-Avirom, Woodland Cree First Nation.

Government and wildfire officials in British Columbia are warning that the province could see an early and active spring wildfire season due to persistent drought conditions that have left soil parched and snowpack levels low. …Officials say early outlooks indicate a “high probability” of above normal temperatures across B.C. in the coming months, but added that drought and wildfire conditions this year will depend on the actual weather in the spring and summer. The chance that the province will see enough spring “rainfall to alleviate drought conditions is unlikely but possible,” according to the B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS). …On Monday, the province announced BCWS will be launching predictive software to model fire risks using existing maps and weather models with observations from staff in the field. The technology was already piloted in the Coastal and Kamloops fire centres last year, and will roll out provincewide by the end of 2024.

Additional coverage by Ashley Joannou (Canadian Press) in the Victoria Times Colonist: Active spring wildfire season may be in store for B.C. as drought persists

The BC Wildfire Service is expanding the use of wildfire predictive technologies. “By adding more technology to the BC Wildfire Service’s tool kit, our talented firefighters will be able to make critical decisions faster when it matters most,” said Bruce Ralston, Minister of Forests. In advance of the 2024 wildfire season, B.C. is introducing technology that can produce real-time wildfire behaviour predictions and incorporate information directly from the field. This is aligned with feedback from the Premier’s Expert Task Force on Emergencies and follows last year’s successful trial of the software. The wildfire predictive technology will first be introduced in the Coastal and Kamloops Fire Centres, where it has already been trialled to ensure compatibility with forest and fuel conditions. Collaborative efforts with jurisdictions using similar technologies, including California and Australia, have allowed the BC Wildfire Service to quickly operationalize and expand the use of these tools. 

The Province is taking several early steps to prepare for the wildfire and drought season, including working proactively with local governments and First Nations to help keep people and communities safe and informed. …Stemming from the ongoing work of the Premier’s Expert Task Force on Emergencies, the Province has enhanced wildfire preparedness and support for evacuees across B.C. This work includes incorporating advanced wildfire predictive technologies, expanding the number of firefighting tools available to BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) crews and streamlining training for Emergency Support Services (ESS) responders. …Current forecasts indicate that British Columbia may experience an active spring-wildfire season due to persistent drought conditions. …“Many communities experienced severe drought conditions last summer. The potential for drought conditions this year is very real and we are taking steps to help people prepare,” said Nathan Cullen, Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship.

Lantzville, British Columbia is preparing to establish havens for future old-growth forests, where West Coast trees can thrive for hundreds of years. The district plans to set up two areas within its Foothills parkland, donated by developer Lone Tree Properties, under a new “future old growth” (FOG) zone that would be permanently ­protected. Council members have voted unanimously in favour of the first two readings of the new bylaw, and a public hearing is set for April 10. …Planned new FOG zones are in environmentally ­sensitive habitat and were already ­earmarked by the district’s ­official community plan for preservation. The initial two FOG areas will total 10 to 12 acres, said Coun. Ian Savage, who believes the new zone is the first of its kind in the province. …Savage said he came up with the idea a few years ago while looking for solutions to combat the loss of old growth on B.C.’s coast. 

VANCOUVER — Habitat disturbance is a major driver of the decline of woodland caribou in Canada. Different disturbance agents and regimes negatively impact caribou populations to different degrees. …In this work we use recent advances in satellite-based disturbance detection to quantify polygonal forest disturbance regimes affecting caribou ecotypes and herds in British Columbia from 1985 to 2019. Additionally, we utilize this data to investigate harvesting rates since the implementation of the Species at Risk Act and publication of recovery strategies for caribou in BC. Southern Mountain caribou herds are the most threatened yet experienced the highest rates of disturbance, with 22.75% of forested habitat within their ranges disturbed during the study period. Over the study period, we found that in total, 16.4% of forested area was disturbed across all caribou herd ranges. Our findings indicate that caribou in BC face high, and in many cases increasing, levels of habitat disturbance. 

Jen Baron

Canada went through its most destructive wildfire season in 2023. Wildfire services rely on data, forestry photography and mapping as a way to proactively control forest fires. However, a recent study in B.C. has found that the data being used is inaccurate and insufficient. Jen Baron, lead author of the study and PhD candidate at UBC’s Department of Conservation and Forestry, explains the inaccuracies in the data, the problems it creates and the ways it could be improved.

City of Vancouver plans to cut down nearly one-third of the trees in Stanley Park in response to wildfire concerns and a looper moth infestation are facing intense pushback from local residents and experts. “There’s just no basis in logic or science for the premise upon which this entire operation is founded, which is that there’s some kind of imminent fire danger,” said Michael Caditz of the non-profit Stanley Park Preservation Society… Brennan Bastyovanszky, the park board chair, acknowledged the need for more transparency but felt the decision the board reached was the right one. “We felt that the decisions were the right ones and we wanted the people here to understand that we want to replant, that we want to make it a more robust forest, and that there is a serious risk of forest fire with all those dead trees,” Bastyovanszky said.

Additional coverage in CBC – Video interview with Vancouver Park Board’s manager of Urban Forestry

Ross Muirhead stood at the edge of a forestry cut blockfilled with stumps, rain pelting down as he watched water rushing over the barren ground. Theenvironmental advocatewas storm watching during the atmospheric river disaster that swamped southwestern British Columbia in November 2021. Muirhead says that without a healthy forest to help absorb the excess water, it was gushing toward a creek near the Sunshine Coast community of Halfmoon Bay. “It was just complete surface run-off,” he says. …Now, Muirhead says he’s worried about plans for additional logging on the slopes of Mount Elphinstone, about half an hour’s drive north of his home. …But Muirhead is still concerned about the effects of additional harvesting and the extension of logging roads on a landscape that he describes as “dying from a thousand cuts” sustained over more than a century of development.

B.C.’s forests ministry has denied reports, published by the BBC and others, that old-growth trees from the province are still being burned as pellets for fuel in the U.K. The province also pushed back on environmentalists’ claims that a leaked old-growth forests map suggests it is playing a “shell game” to allow the harvesting of old-growth trees meant to be protected. “Whole forests of any kind are not being turned into pellets by the forest sector,” said a Ministry of Forests spokesperson in a March 8 email. …Instead, the ministry said, all wood pellets in B.C. are made “almost entirely from waste fibre” such as sawdust, shavings, and leftover wood from logging, which would otherwise have to be burned. …It’s just the latest scrutiny of B.C.’s promise to protect old-growth forests. Controversy resurfaced last month when Conservation North co-authored a report alleging U.K. biofuel company Drax Group has continued burning logs and forestry waste from B.C.’s rarest old-growth forests.