Region Archives: Canada West

Working the forests of the future will need machinery of the future. Quesnel is a city unequivocally centred in the B.C. forest and centred on the B.C. forest industry. One of the effects of the biennial Future of Forestry Think Tank held in Quesnel is a set of companies, agencies, and government departments conversing about how Quesnel might well be positioned as a training hub for the latest in sustainable forestry practices. That dialogue took a step forward this past week when a high-tech piece of forestry equipment was set up right inside City Hall. This industrial machine is not a diesel-spewing roaring dinosaur of the bush, though. It is more like a video game console that only plays titles like Forwarder and Single-Grip Harvester – two of the logging machines emerging as international favourites for careful and nimble 21st century lumberjacking.

Port McNeill: The World’s Largest Burl is on the move, with the Town of Port McNeill creating a new public space closer to the main business and tourist areas to showcase its iconic attraction. The town and local volunteers aim to complete the project prior to the 2024 summer tourism season through an investment with Island Coastal Trust. “We feel that salmon and the burl are what put Port McNeill on the map,” says Lorraine Landry, a 30-year local resident and volunteer “Moving it to a new location will bring life back into this piece of Port McNeill’s history.” The burl has always been a source of great community pride, connecting the community with its deep roots in the forestry industry. …When a recent fire caused damage to this site, the Town Council voted to move the burl to a new permanent space at the gateway of downtown.

Additional coverage in the Victoria Times Colonist: Port McNeill moving beloved burl to new, more visible location

An Alberta government document suggests the province has made little progress in protecting its 15 threatened caribou herds, despite having signed an agreement with Ottawa that promised it would. That document, released three years late on Jan. 19, is the first report into the so-called Section 11 agreement between the province and Environment Canada. The 2020 agreement was made under threat of the federal government stepping in to protect critical habitat for the herds, which are in many cases almost entirely disturbed by resource development. The report considers the deal’s first two years. But even that limited time frame suggests a long list of problems, from the slow cleanup of seismic lines to the ongoing growth of industrial footprint to the lack of range planning that would let the species survive in some of Canada’s busiest landscapes.

B.C.’s NDP government says new legislation aims to address the housing crisis. Critics say the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach removes local autonomy and threatens urban forests, including Greater Victoria’s endangered Garry oak ecosystem. …Bill 44 aims to address the province’s deepening housing crisis. In a nutshell, the new legislation takes aim at single family zoning. It overrides the ability of municipalities to decide what type of housing is built on the majority of residential land in the province, upending years of community planning informed by public consultations. …Haddon and others are deeply concerned about the bill’s potential environmental impacts. …At a time when many cities around the world are planting trees and creating green corridors for people and wildlife, they say the legislation will make it far more difficult for B.C. municipalities to protect the province’s urban forest canopy.

The Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB) and pulp and paper mill Mercer Celgar (Celgar) are collaborating to rethink conventional practices around what has traditionally been considered uneconomical wood fibre. This wood fibre typically wouldn’t make its way to sawmills and was not economically feasible for non-sawlog products. These logs have a lower value and generally are only used to create pulp for various products, including paper, tissue, and food packaging.  The project participants say the primary goal is to promote “diversification and innovation within the supply chain” to recover and utilize greater amounts of wood fibre that was typically wasted. …With funding from the Forest Enhancement Society of BC, the project is helping recover as much of this residual fibre as possible from the OIB’s traditional territory. Dan Macmaster, Forest Manager at the OIB, highlighted the fact that higher fibre utilization has both environmental and economic benefits. 

A Vancouver software developer has launched a campaign to halt tree-cutting in Stanley Park and force the park board to disclose the reports behind the $7-million operation to take down 160,000 trees. The board says a quarter of the trees were killed by the hemlock looper moth infestation and are a wildfire hazard. Michael Robert Caditz said he is seeking legal advice aimed at applying for a court injunction and will attend Monday’s park board meeting. He formed the Save Stanley Park group after he became alarmed about the number of trees removed. Last year, the city awarded two emergency contracts to North Vancouver forestry consultant B.A. Blackwell and Associates totalling $3.85 million. …Norm Oberson, owner of Arbutus Tree Service fears that the risk of wildfire is being overstated in order to expedite bulk tree removal.

VANCOUVER, BC – A Federal Court Justice has ruled in favour of conservation groups that challenged the federal Environment Minister for failing to take action to protect the critical habitats of at-risk migratory birds. This includes the Marbled Murrelet, which relies on coastal old-growth forests. Ecojustice lawyers were in court on behalf of Sierra Club BC and Wilderness Committee, to advocate for the protection of migratory birds.  …The groups’ main contention was that a “protection statement” issued by Minister Guilbeault in 2022 too narrowly interpreted the Species at Risk Act. …Last week, Chief Justice Crampton concluded that only ensuring the protection of migratory birds’ nests, but not the rest of their critical habitat, was not justified under the law or key facts before the Minister. The Chief Justice concluded that the Minister should have considered that habitat loss and degradation is a key driver in the decline of most at-risk bird populations. 

As we move closer to spring, it’s important to remember that wildfire resilience begins with proactive preparation. It’s the actions we take now—before wildfire season—that make a world of difference. To help residents with their preparation, we updated our Home Partners Hub and released a case study about the program to show what it looks like in action. These resources make it easier than ever to learn more about the program, schedule an assessment, and start your wildfire resilience journey. The FireSmart BC Home Partners Program (HPP) was designed to engage residents in voluntary wildfire mitigation activities by offering a professional home assessment with property-specific recommendations.

There are still dozens of active wildfires in northeast B.C., linked to last year’s brutal season that saw the Prince George region account for 80 per cent of the province’s burned land. According to the B.C. Wildfire Service’s wildfire map, there are 87 wildfires active in the Prince George region, an unusually high number. There is just one active wildfire in the province’s five other regions. Prince George Fire Centre spokesperson Sharon Nickel said that holdover fires were more likely to occur when a very large area had burned and when drought conditions were persistent and/or severe. …“As there are still areas that are under snow cover and areas where the fire has likely travelled underground, we cannot call additional fires “out” or confirm where (or if) there are active hot spots.” …Nickel said there was a continuing drought in the region and a low snowpack.

The Province hopes to be able to negotiate agreements with Indigenous governments and begin sharing decision-making on public land use in the late spring of 2024. The 2019 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) is the provincial framework for reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. DRIPA provides flexibility for the Province to enter into agreements with Indigenous governments to share decision-making on the use of public land together. However, amendments to pre-existing legislation (like the Land Act) are required to make this happen. …The Declaration Act aims to create a path forward that respects the human rights of Indigenous Peoples while providing better transparency and predictability related to the work we do together. The Province wants to know your thoughts on sharing public land use decision-making. This information will help ensure the path forward is informed by a range of perspectives and solutions. Engagement is open until March 31, 2024

John Rustad

PRINCE GEORGE – The Conservative Party of BC says it’s time to repeal the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). …He also opposes the provincial government’s sweeping changes to BC’s Land Act, which he calls an assault on private property rights and our shared rights to use crown land. …“It is an assault on your private property rights and our shared rights to use Crown Land,” says Rustad. “To achieve true reconciliation, BC must first be brave enough to come forward and address the issue of returning land to First Nations, who do not currently have sufficient property rights needed to secure prosperity. …“It is clear that this cannot mean returning all traditional lands; returning lands needs to be based on economic reconciliation, which is not about transferring potential from one group to another — but rather adding potential for all British Columbians.

James Steidle

To: BC Provincial Government: I suspect the majority of your letters will be about old-growth conifer, and yes, protecting old-growth conifer is important. But it is important we do not lose sight of the critical role the younger (and older) deciduous forests in this province … play in biodiversity. They play a massive role in this. If all we have is old-growth conifer and managed conifer plantations, a vast array of biodiversity will be absent from our forests. I run a group on facebook called Stop the Spray BC. We also have a website and have spearheaded a petition with over 137,000 signatures. …The point of this group is to educate the public about the biodiversity values of deciduous broadleaf forests, along with other critical values, which are so often forgotten about due to cultural, commercial, and educational biases.

Alberta fire chiefs are calling for the province to “urgently” release its wildfire strategy ahead of the official start of the season on March 1. In an open letter published Wednesday, the Alberta Fire Chiefs Association (AFCA) warned that a dry winter could spark events as devastating as last year’s. In 2023, an unprecedented 2.2 million hectares burned across the province after unusually hot, dry and windy conditions in the spring. “There is a growing concern among fire chiefs across the province of the lack of communication of what the plan is, allocation of funds compared to previous years and plan for the recruitment and deployment of firefighters and equipment,” the letter said. Association president Randy Schroeder, chief of Lac Ste. Anne County Fire Services, told Postmedia Wednesday last year’s response saw agencies work together, but overall, it was too reactionary.

The Province is responding to the first cases of chronic wasting disease in British Columbia, found in two deer samples from the Kootenay Region. Chronic wasting disease is an infectious and fatal disease affecting species in the cervid family, such as deer, elk, moose and caribou. There is no direct evidence that the disease can be transmitted to humans and there have been no cases of the disease in humans. However, to prevent any potential risk of transmission or illness, Health Canada and the World Health Organization recommend people not eat meat or other parts of an animal infected with chronic wasting disease. …The two cases were identified south of Cranbrook. …In response to the disease being detected in neighbouring jurisdictions, the Province established a surveillance and response plan for chronic wasting disease to lessen the risk of the disease spreading in B.C.

David Eby

What does Premier David Eby’s strong support for the natural resources sector this past month mean for this election year? …Eby set out a revised message to the natural resources sector at the BC Natural Resources Forum in Prince George this month, stating that “everyone in this room, every British Columbian, shares a stake in ensuring that this sector is successful and drives our prosperity in the future.” This is a significant departure from his tone up to now, which was publicly critical of the natural resources sector, calling it out for inadequate industry leadership and investment in climate-aligned solutions. The question now is: Will he take the same message to the rest of the province, including areas where support for the sector could be described as contentious at best? …Forestry and mining were also tapped by the premier as significant economic drivers for the province. 

In 2023, the Province of British Columbia had over 2.84 million hectares of forest and land burned, tens of thousands of evacuees, and hundreds of homes lost or damaged due to wildfires. … In a recent talk at TEDx Abbotsford, BCIT alumnus and Forest and Natural Areas Management faculty Justin Perry discussed the historical suppression of wildfires and its consequences in heightening fire risks. In his talk, Justin advocated for an alternative strategy to preventing wildfires. …Instead of solely suppressing fires, Justin argues for a more holistic approach, including conducting “controlled burning” which can help mitigate uncontrolled wildfires in the long-term. “Fires are a natural part of the ecosystem,” Justin says. “Without fire, the forest becomes dense. Combine this with climate change, we have forests that are too dense, dried out, and ready to burn.”

The idea that clear-cuts help stop forest fires is a myth. That is the conclusion of a number of recent studies in the western U.S. Clear-cuts provide an area hotter and drier than the surrounding forests in fire season. Without trees, clear-cuts have no wind breaks, which allow wind speeds to increase. Clear-cut logging tends to spread invasive grasses, which are flammable. In the first several years after logging, fires in a clear cut will burn hotter and travel faster than in the surrounding forest. In the western U.S., forested areas around a community are some times clear-cut to reduce fire risk. This is termed “thinning.” However, this actually increases risk. One example is the Camp Fire which destroyed the town of Paradise, CA., in 2018. The forested area around Paradise had previously been “thinned.” No forest treatment more than 30 metres from a dwelling has been shown to reduce fire risk.

The BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) needs to invest more into its initial (IA) crews and equipment to tackle wildfires before they grow into destructive interface fires. That’s what Allan Willcocks, a retired professional forester and resource manager with 40 years of experience, says. Willcocks sat down with Rick Maddison on KelownaNow Live to discuss BC’s current approach to forestry and fire management. Willcocks, who now lives in West Kelowna, worked with Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry for seven and a half years and has also fought fires and practiced forestry in BC. He says natural resource management in Ontario was an integrated approach involving land and resource managers, firefighters and a well-budgeted initial attack program.

A new report from the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society British Columbia found the province’s Old Growth Management Areas “do not meet conservation standards and contain little old growth.” The report found that the actual composition of these areas, called OGMAs, are mostly (58 per cent) young forest, with old forests (roughly 141 to 250 years), making up just under one third of the total area protected by Old Growth Management Areas. The remaining 13 per cent is either not forested or does not have sufficient data. …CPAWS recommends that the province amend the OGMA guidelines to ensure old growth is protected … and reform laws to ensure boundary changes and industrial activity cannot take place in the protected areas. …The Ministry of Forests responded to the report, saying that “it is correct that many Old Growth Management Areas contain more mature forests than old growth. However, mature forests were included to capture larger, more contiguous areas.”