Region Archives: Canada West

Special Feature

Friends came together to celebrate the life of John Worrall

By Sandy McKellar
Tree Frog Forestry News
October 16, 2023
Category: Special Feature
Region: Canada, Canada West

Dr. John Worrall was loved by many. This was clearly evidenced by the large gathering of family, friends, past students and colleagues who came out on Saturday, October 14 to celebrate his life. Held in the Forest Sciences Centre at UBC, guests were treated to a “Worrall Museum” of research papers (yes, he really did write papers!), pictures, huge cones, t-shirts and more. Many came wearing their “Species Please” buttons from Worrall’s retirement party in 2003. A slideshow played out the life and pranks of the great doctor Worrall, and a number of speakers shared their cherished memories. The first to present was John’s younger brother Richard whose voice, mannerisms and physical appearance gave us all a start – it was as if John was with us in the room! Richard talked about their family life growing up in England and “a little about John’s boyhood in rural Lincolnshire on the Humber Estuary”. Other speakers included colleagues and past students, but it was John Davies who made us laugh and cry with examples of Worrall’s past exams, teaching evaluations, and personal stories of their journey together.

We are pleased to present you with the Memorial Slideshow, a Video of the Speakers (and we apologize for the bloopers), a Gallery of Images from the day and Richard Worrall’s presentation script.

In his brother’s words, “Bless you John, you will always be loved, and very much missed”.

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Opinion / EdiTOADial

What Will The Future BC Forest Industry Look Like?

By David Elstone and Jim Girvan
View from the Stump
October 5, 2023
Category: Opinion / EdiTOADial
Region: Canada, Canada West

David Elstone

To say that the BC forest industry has seen change over the past 20 years would be an understatement. There have been several editorials and analyses done quantifying how many mills have or will close; how many trees have been killed; and how many jobs have been lost. Interestingly, few have looked where the BC forest industry might end up as timber supply continues to decline. …In 2005, the forest industry was running on all cylinders with a Crown AAC of just under 86 million m3. …In the BC Interior, there were 14 veneer plants and 82 sawmills with a combined lumber production capacity of over 16 bbf operating, …On the coast, there were 3 veneer plants and 29 sawmills with a combined lumber production capacity of over 3 bbf operated. On the residual fibre/biomass side, the province had 16 pulp mills, 8 paper plants and the beginnings of pellet and biomass power businesses. The industry was flourishing with direct employment of close to 70,000 people.

When we look out to 2035, a full 30 years after the industry peak, the picture is sobering. Using a forecast for a province-wide Crown AAC of 38 million m3, only 33 or 40% of sawmills operating in the BC Interior in 2005 will remain and lumber production capacity will fall to a mere 38% of that peak. On the coast, 14 sawmills are expected to continue operating, with 56% of the capacity of 2005. On the pulp and paper side, more closures are forecast… with pulp capacity forecast to settle at 54% of that in 2005 with paper capacity at a mere 11%. For other forest products manufacturers there may be 10 veneer production facilities, 14 shake and shingle mills and potentially just a few specialty operations remaining. …Despite the ever-present prognostications of doom and gloom there are those still willing to invest in this province. Most recently, Canfor’s new state-of-the-art 350 million board feet sawmill in Houston. …The BC government wants more investment to transition the industry, and specifically to add more mass timber manufacturing. Unless a plan can be developed to cut short the current trends, a much smaller industry is forecast by 2035. 

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Business & Politics

Police investigating after ‘suspicious’ fire at shuttered Port Alberni mill

By Michael John Lo
The Times Colonist
October 16, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

PORT ALBERNI, BC — A fire at the Somass sawmill in Port Alberni on Saturday is being treated as suspicious in nature. …At its peak, the fire was 40 feet by 40 feet and flames were three stories high, though it affected less than a quarter of the structure, Port Alberni Fire Chief Mike Owens said. Crews extinguished the blaze just before 9:15 p.m., and city contractors were on site overnight to provide security. Owens said that the department’s fire investigators are working with RCMP on the case. The Somass sawmill, established in 1935, has not operated since 2017 after it was shut down by Western Forest Products. The City of Port Alberni purchased the 50-acre Somass division mill site and nearby properties for $5.3 million in 2021 when it became clear that mill operations would not return.

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Guilbeault ‘happy to course correct’ but outcome for projects likely no different

By Spencer Dyk
CTV News
October 14, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Danielle Smith

Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault says that while his government is willing to make changes to its highly divisive Impact Assessment Act (IAA), after the Supreme Court ruled that it is largely unconstitutional, any amendments are unlikely to change the outcome of the IAA process itself. …The 2019 law, which was a marquee piece of environmental legislation for the Liberals, changes the environmental review process for designated energy projects to weigh environmental and social issues when approving or rejecting a project. …Guilbeault said despite the Supreme Court opinion, “the Act still stands,” but his government is open to taking steps to “redefine” the portions of the law that were ruled too broad.

Additional Coverage:

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Lack of supply has Kamloops Kruger pulp mill looking into alternative solutions

By Silvia Senna
CFJC Today Kamloops
October 12, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

KAMLOOPS — The pulp industry in B.C. has been facing a challenging time when it comes to the supply chain. The fibre manager at Kruger Pulp in Kamloops addressed the issue today at the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board meeting Thursday. Tom Hoffman explained much of the pulp sector is dealing with a 30 per cent drop in timber supply in 2022 and 2023. “The main issue is the reduction in annual level cut across the province and that’s driven mostly through provincial government policy. We need to, in order to sustain our operations, look for innovative, nontraditional supply sources,” he explained. One of the alternative solutions his company is taking is the use of dead burnt wood. …Hoffman explained that hog fuel also help in the production of electricity.

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B.C. bolsters value-added wood manufacturing, First Nations economies

By Ministry of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation
Government of British Columbia
October 11, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

ARMSTRONG, BC — To help strengthen wood-product manufacturers and further support local First Nations economies around B.C., the Province is supporting four manufacturers to upgrade their operations, sustain jobs in rural communities and plan for growth. …The Government of B.C. is contributing as much as $1.34 million toward Armstrong’s Woodtone Specialties’ capital expansion to increase efficiency, improve fibre recovery and add a new product line that will create 50 jobs at the company. The new product line will see Woodtone producing smooth-face engineered cedar siding and fascia from second-growth knotty wood, which has high demand in a market that traditionally relied on old-growth trees. …Woodtone has a memorandum of understanding with the Adams Lake Band, which previously received $1 million from the Province’s Rural Economic Diversification and Infrastructure Program (REDIP) to create an Indigenous forestry supply chain value-added joint venture alongside both Woodtone and Gilbert Smith Forest Products. 

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Dick’s Lumber Acquires Zytech Building Systems

By RONA Inc.
Cision Newswire
October 11, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

BOUCHERVILLE, Quebec – Dick’s Lumber, a banner of RONA inc., a home improvement retailers operating some 425 corporate and affiliated stores in Canada, has completed the acquisition of ZyTech Building Systems, a leader in the manufacturing and distribution of building components and engineered wood products. This is the first strategic acquisition for Dick’s Lumber under the ownership of private equity firm Sycamore Partners. This transaction will allow Dick’s Lumber to expand its design and manufacturing footprint to better serve developers and builders in Western Canada. …Andrew Iacobucci, CEO of RONA, “This acquisition will strengthen our position in the Alberta and Saskatchewan markets and improve how we serve our valued customers.” 

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International Paper mill in Grande Prairie awarded Alberta Forest Products Association President’s Award

By Tanner Smith
Everything Grande Prairie
October 10, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

International Paper’s Grande Prairie Pulp Mill has been given multiple awards at the Alberta Forest Products Association Conference, held earlier this month. Out of the three awards the mill received, two recognized the work done by the paper and pulp sector, with that sector receiving the Excellence in Safety and Outstanding Achievement Awards. The entire mill earned the President’s Award. A special award presentation was held to commemorate the achievements at the AFPA’s Annual General Meeting. Mill Manager, Lyman Rorem, was presented the awards, from AFPA CEO Jason Krips, and Minister of Forestry and Parks Todd Loewen. These awards are given out annually by AFPA, which is a non-profit representing the sustainable forest industry in Alberta.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

‘A paradigm shift’: Liard First Nation tackles housing crisis with timber home kits, new production plant

By Katie Todd
CBC News
October 7, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

Fifteen unique kit-set timber homes have sprung up in the forest outside Watson Lake, Yukon, created by — and for — members of the Liard First Nation (LFN).  The project, run by the First Nation’s economic development corporation First Kaska, is being billed as a game changer.   The frame parts are cut on-site at a brand new production plant, with three different floor plans available.   It takes five days to prepare the frame for each house and just one day to piece the numbered frame parts together on the building site.   Watson Lake is grappling with a housing crisis, and LFN Chief Stephen Charlie said the project is “a paradigm shift.”  Tthe project eliminates the supply chain issues that make it difficult to build new homes, he said.  Charlie said it’s created about 50 jobs and will go a long way toward ensuring the well-being and long-term security of his people.

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BCIT marks funding milestone for Trade and Technology Complex

Mechanical Business
October 5, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

BURNABY, BC — The British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) has announced it has reached $33 million in funding towards its new Trades and Technology Complex in Burnaby, BC. The $220-million complex, announced in February 2023, will… train future trades and technology professionals, the complex will have the capacity for 700 new full-time students annually. It will include the Concert Properties Centre for Trades and Technology, the Robert Bosa Carpentry Pavilion, and the Marine and Mass Timber Workshop, as well as offering state-of-the-art workshops, five advanced technology simulation labs, maker space, additional demonstration and learning spaces, and a reconfigured works yard for students and faculty to collaborate across disciplines. While the province of BC and BCIT have committed $162.6 million in funding, the school has already raised $33 million in contributions from 45 industry organizations and individuals through its INSPIRE Campaign. 

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Forestry

Forest Practices Board investigates planned back burn in B.C.’s Shuswap region

By Brenna Owen
CBC News
October 14, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

BC’s forest watchdog has confirmed it is investigating the province’s response to wildfires that ripped through small communities on the shores of Shuswap Lake in August, destroying or damaging more than 200 properties. The Forest Practices Board (FPB) says it launched the probe after a resident filed a complaint about the B.C. Wildfire Service’s (BCWS) use of a planned ignition aimed at reducing forest fuels between populated areas. At the time the back burn was lit on Aug. 17, two blazes, the Lower East Adams Lake and Bush Creek wildfires, had been steadily moving toward the northern shore of Shuswap Lake after igniting about five weeks earlier. …The Forests Ministry says BCWS, “The purpose of [the burn] was not to contain the wildfire but reduce its intensity and provide a greater chance of survival to any structures in its projected path”. …The FPB says its probe will take six months to a year.

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FireSmart B.C. program aimed towards youth

By Laísa Condé
The Merritt Herald
October 13, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

FireSmart BC has announced a new program that aims to teach the next generation how to keep their communities safe. According to a news release, the program will offer free and comprehensive lesson plans and materials that will introduce kindergarten to Grade 6 students and educators with essential knowledge in fire resiliency. Rachel Woodhurst, FireSmart BC program lead, said in the release that after the devastating wildfire season this year, wildfire education is no longer an option, but a necessity. “One of the best ways to be FireSmart is to start young. By equipping teachers with tools to educate the next generation, we can collectively work towards creating safer and better prepared communities across B.C.,” she said. The program, which includes themes such as safety, fire science and wildfire mitigation and prevention, will allow children and teachers to learn how they can help during or prepare for a crisis.

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A Q&A with the BC Community Forest Association’s executive director Jennifer Gunter

By Maria Church
Canadian Forest Industries
October 16, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Jennifer Gunter

Jennifer Gunter has been with the BC Community Forest Association since its inception nearly 22 years ago, translating her post-secondary research on the emerging concept of a community forest into a leadership role with community forests in BC. As co-founder and executive director, she supports communities building a model of landscape management that advances their economic, social, and ecological sustainability goals. …”Right now, there is so much change in B.C.’s forest sector,” said Gunter. “Some of the positive change includes  an increased focus on relationships with Indigenous nations and moving towards co-management and Indigenous-led decision making. Community forestry in B.C. has always included First Nations. About half of the existing community forests in the province are held by First Nations or a partnership.” Gunter also spoke to climate change, saying, “community forests have worked for decades to reduce the risk of wildfire to their communities. …a landscape-level approach to wildfire is critical”.

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Dene Nation calls for public inquiry into Northwest Territories wildfire season

By Sarah Pruys
Cabin Radio
October 13, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Dene Nation is calling for a full, independent public inquiry to begin as soon as possible into the Northwest Territories’ 2023 wildfire response. In a news release on Thursday, Dene National Chief Gerald Antoine said a public inquiry should encourage everyone in the NWT to talk about their experiences. The NWT government has already said it is planning a wildfire review, though the scope of the only request for proposals issued to date does not include public engagement. Behchokǫ̀, Fort Smith, Jean Marie River, Hay River, Kátł’odeeche First Nation, Enterprise, Ndılǫ, Dettah, Yellowknife, Kakisa and Wekweètì all evacuated this summer – with some communities facing multiple evacuations and some residents displaced for more than a month at a time. …The territorial government’s wildfire response is directed by its Forest Fire Management policy, which asserts that fire management should “draw upon local knowledge.”

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B.C. forest watchdog will investigate province’s response to Shuswap wildfire

By Derrick Penner
Vancouver Sun
October 12, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

B.C.’s Forest Practices Board has opened an investigation into B.C. Wildfire Service’s response to the catastrophic Bush Creek East wildfire that devastated communities on the north shore of Shuswap Lake in August. Shuswap Lake resident Jim Cooperman filed a complaint for what he alleges was “gross negligence” on the fire service’s part for lighting a back burn just before a major wind storm that he argues blew it out of control and overwhelmed the communities of Scotch Creek, Celista and the Skwlāx First Nation, destroying 176 homes. A Forest Practices Board spokesperson, said an investigator is arranging to travel to the site this month to conduct interviews at the start of an investigative process that could take six months to a year. “Ultimately, I’m looking for accountability,” Cooperman said. And he offered the opinion that the officials responsible “for this disastrous back burn basically are losing their jobs.”

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Allowable annual cut reduced in Lillooet Timber Supply Area

By Ministry of Forests
The Government of British Columbia
October 12, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

British Columbia’s chief forester has set a new allowable annual cut (AAC) level for the Lillooet Timber Supply Area (TSA). The new AAC for the Lillooet TSA is 375,000 m3. This is a 34% reduction from the previous AAC, while remaining 9% above 2016-2021 harvesting levels. The change brings the AAC in line with recent harvesting levels; supports old growth management areas, riparian areas, and wildlife habitat areas; and accounts for First Nations cultural heritage resources and practices. Within this AAC, there are two partitions: a maximum of 300,000 m3 from live trees; and a maximum of 180,000 m3 from live trees where the ground is sloped less than 40%. As well, to encourage the continued harvest of trees killed by the mountain pine beetle outbreak, the ongoing spruce bark beetle outbreak and by wildfire, the chief forester added 75,000 cubic metres from dead trees to the AAC.

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Nature Trust aims to raise $1M to purchase Denman Island property

By Jeff Bell
Victoria Times Colonist
October 12, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Nature Trust of B.C. is ­aiming to raise $1 million by the end of the year to purchase 38.7 hectares of mature Douglas fir forest on Denman Island. The goal is to conserve rare coastal rainforest and at-risk species, including the endangered Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly. The trust announced this week that it has been given an opportunity to buy the land, but needs the funds by the end of the year. The land is located adjacent to a Denman Conservancy Association conservation area called Central Park, and the Denman Island Provincial Park and Protected Area. Acquiring the 38.7 hectare property would increase the conserved area to 187 hectares that will never be sold or developed, the Nature Trust said. The trust said the property has timber value “and its purchase will ensure that its sensitive, rare, mature forests and wetlands are protected in perpetuity.”

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Three years after the Old Growth Strategic Review, 13 recommendations remain unmet

By Melanie Marchant
The Martlet, UVIC Independent News
October 12, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The clashes between environmentalists and industry workers on the topic of old growth logging are nothing new to British Columbians or the UVic community. In the fall of 2020, the B.C. government announced their commitment to the recommendations of the Old Growth Strategic Review (OGSR). …Environmental NGOs are calling for the other recommendations to be met in all due haste. …However, the response from nations on the topic of allowing old-growth logging in their territory has been mixed. As things stand, nations who approve the logging are in a position to work with logging companies and receive partial monetary compensation from the profits. No such compensation is currently available as an incentive to oppose the logging. Both the Sierra Club and B.C. Green Party have called for “conservation financing” — provincial government funding to offset the loss of revenue for nations who wish to protect old-growth in their territory. 

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A look back at government leaders’ response to the Okanagan wildfire crisis

By Gary Barnes
Kelowna Capital News
October 12, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

In the midst of the wildfires raging through the Central Okanagan in August, came visits by B.C.’s premier and the prime minister. Premier David Eby toured areas devastated by the McDougall Creek, Walroy Lake, and Clarke Creek wildfires by helicopter on Aug. 22. “The devastation for families who have lost everything, homes burned to the ground, will be some time recovering, for community members and so many affected individuals,” the premier said during a news conference. Eby, who was joined by Emergency Minister Bowin Ma, Forests Minister Bruce Ralston, and Federal Minister of International Development Harjit Sajjan, also visited Royal LePage Place in West Kelowna, the reception centre for those evacuated due to the McDougall Creek fire. …Trudeau did not announce any funding or programs to help those affected by the wildfires during his visit. However, on Aug. 18 Sajjan did offer the federal government’s support to those impacted by the wildfires.

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The grizzly truth? B.C. conservationists say bears need more food, habitat

The Canadian Press in Penticton Western News
October 11, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Grizzly bears seen starving in the rainforests of BC’s south coast because there isn’t enough salmon to sustain them raises alarm bells for wildlife biologist Wayne McCrory. The science is “crying out” for greater habitat protections for the iconic species as industrial activities eat away at the landscapes the bears depend on, he said. …McCrory said the province’s draft plan to adjust grizzly management doesn’t meaningfully address habitat loss and could prove “disastrous” for the bears. He is among the signatories of an open letter sent to provincial officials last week as public engagement closed for the draft grizzly stewardship framework. The letter published by Pacific Wild and signed by more than 50 scientists, advocates and conservation groups says the proposed plan minimizes the threats posed by the “severe fragmentation” of grizzly habitat in B.C. by logging, road building and other industrial activities against the backdrop of climate change.

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51 days of fire that gripped the Central Okanagan: A look back at the Grouse Complex

By Jordy Cunningham
The Kelowna Capital News
October 11, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Despite starting almost exactly 20 years to the day after the Okanagan Mountain Park wildfire, no one batted an eye when the McDougall Creek wildfire was first reported. …Over the month and a half the Grouse Complex took over the Central Okanagan, so many incredible and emotional stories came out as well as bringing up many memories of 20 years ago. Over the four fires, 189 structures were damaged or destroyed, including firefighters who lost their homes. Not many people would ever think the fire would cross Okanagan Lake causing two more large blazes to ignite, but it did. Not many people experience stopping their lives in order to save their family or their home – they did. While wildfires happen every single year, the 2023 Grouse Complex is something the Central Okanagan hasn’t seen in years and something residents hope they don’t have to experience again for a long time.

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Living in a Rainforest Without Rain?

By Karen Charleson
The Tyee
October 12, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER ISLAND, BC — We live in the coastal temperate rainforest… on the west coast of what is now known as Vancouver Island. …The resource extraction companies have already come for the nearby mountainsides. …Climate change is both a consequence of and larger than what the resource-taking industry has done here. Drought, extreme heat, torrential rains, floods, unpredictable storm patterns and wildfires are already here. …Fifty kilometres down the coast from us, Tofino’s precipitation records show an average annual rainfall of 327 centimetres. In the first eight months of 2023 — January to September — there was less than 97 centimetres of precipitation. …What becomes of the rainforest when it no longer rains? When do we slip below the level at which a rainforest can sustain itself as a rainforest …How long will it be until our home is no longer our home?

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New funds allow Merritt forestry company to get more value out of harvest

By Laísa Condé
The Merritt Herald
October 11, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The British Columbia government has announced new funding to strengthen wood-product manufacturing and to further support local First Nations economies around the province. According to a news release, the funding announced is part of the BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund (BCMJF), which supports non-for-profit organizations to plan and launch high-value industrial and manufacturing projects. In the release, Brenda Bailey, minister of jobs, economic development and innovation, said the provincial government continues to work and support First Nations and manufacturing companies in order to achieve long-term growth in the industry. “By investing in innovation, we’re getting more value from the wood harvested in B.C., while creating and preserving high-quality jobs in the forestry sector,” she said. In addition to non-for-profit organizations, the BCMJF is also supporting three Indigenous-led planning projects, including Stuwix Resources, which is located in Merritt.

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Boundary Region forester wins national achievement award

By Karen McKinley
Grand Forks Gazette
October 12, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

A Boundary professional forester was honoured for his hard work in community-based forest management and education. Dan Macmaster was honoured with the prestigious Canadian Forestry Achievement Award at the 2023 Canadian Institute of Forestry National Awards Ceremony. The award “recognizes individuals who have made unique and outstanding achievements in the field of forestry”. This award acknowledges Macmaster’s accomplishments and commitment to the natural environment, forest education, and community-based forest management. “Dan has an admirable influence towards the forestry profession and beyond, and is deeply deserving of this Award,” stated Mark Pearson, CIF executive director. Currently, Macmaster is the Forest Manager of the West Boundary Community Forest and the Osoyoos Indian Band’s Nk’Mip First Nations Woodland licence. …He firmly believes that learning experiences, like those provided through the West Boundary Community Forest and its Outdoor Education Centre, are essential for the future well-being of community forests and the forest sector.

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Horsefly, Quesnel Lake-area logging topic of discussion at upcoming open house

The Williams Lake Tribune
October 11, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Logging in the Horsefly River watershed will be the topic of discussion at an open house set to take place Saturday, Oct. 14. Hosted by the Horsefly River Roundtable, representatives from the Ministry of Forests, Tolko, West Fraser and BCTS are expected to be in attendance. The meeting was initially requested back in June when the Horsefly River Roundtable and stakeholders requested an immediate moratorium on all industrial forest-related activities in the Horsefly River Fisheries Sensitive Watershed as they sought more information on logging activities. “Obviously we don’t want logging to stop but we would like to put on some pressure to have the area assessed by boots on the ground,” Helen Englund, a member of the roundtable, said at the time.

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Huu-ay-aht First Nations Celebrates the Bamfield Main Road Reconciliation Project

Huu-ay-aht First Nations
October 10, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

ANACLA, B.C. –  Today, Huu-ay-aht First Nations hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the Bamfield Main Road at Kilometre 76 to mark the completion of the Bamfield Main Road Reconciliation Project. Following, was a celebration at the House of Huu-ay-aht. This project started back in 2020 with Huu-ay-aht and the Province sharing the same vision of creating a safer route between Bamfield and Port Alberni, and today both partners have made it a reality.  Providing mitigation towards a safe route is one substantial task completed. The Bamfield Main Road is an active industrial road. It supports multiple users from industry to residents living in the Bamfield and Ditidaht area and the growing number of visitors. Over the years, the Bamfield Main, known as a dusty gravel road, has put many road users at risk and in some cases taken their lives. 

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Banff to consider enhanced tactics to protect community from wildfire

By Cathy Ellis
Rocky Mountain Outlook
October 10, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

BANFF – Banff’s elected officials are keen to look at extra tactics to better protect the townsite from future wildfire in the wake of an alarming record-breaking fire season in Canada. Council has directed administration to bring to service review deliberations later this year broad-based funding tactics, including options on where enhancements could be made to address climate resiliency. Coun. Chip Olver said the intent is to help the community of Banff better prepare and respond to the increased frequency, duration and severity of weather events due to climate change. …As well as the Town of Banff’s FireSmart work and incentive programs, such as rooftop sprinkler systems, Parks Canada also does fire protection work on neighbouring national park lands, including logging large-scale fireguards as well as prescribed fires that not only have environmental benefits – including for wildlife – but would also make it easier to fight a future wildfire.

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Osoyoos Indian Band Works to Reduce Wildfire Risk to the Community

Forest Enhancement Society of BC
October 11, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Osoyoos, B.C. – Extending its reach from South Okanagan into the Kootenay Boundary region, the Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB) has taken a lead role in a project important to users of Mount Baldy. With funding from the Forest Enhancement Society of BC, this project centres on creating an 8.5-kilometre fuel break along Mt. Baldy Road, squarely aimed at mitigating the persistent wildfire threat and creating a safer egress route for public and firefighting crews in the event of a wildfire. “…mitigating wildfire risk is vital for keeping people, communities and First Nations in B.C. safe – now more than ever,” said Bruce Ralston, Minister of Forests. …Peter Flett, operations manager with Nk’Mip Forestry, OIB’s forestry department said, “completion of this fuel treatment will decrease the risk of a high-intensity wildfire starting along the corridor by removing surface, ladder, and crown fuels in areas where the forest is dense and overgrown.”

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B.C. has doubled its old wildfire record. Experts say we can take action now to slow crisis

By Bethany Lindsay
CBC News
October 7, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

It’s official — B.C. has now more than doubled the previous record for area burned during a single wildfire season.   As the extreme weather of climate change makes destructive summers like this year’s more and more likely, the province’s independent forests watchdog is calling for radical action to make our landscapes more resistant to fire.  “The urgency is really unfortunate. The numbers this year are devastating. The casualties, loss of life is horrific,” Keith Atkinson, chair of the Forest Practices Board told CBC News.  …Atkinson described 2023 as an “alarming” year for wildfires, but said it hasn’t necessarily come as a shock.  …In June, as the wildfire season was ramping up, the Forest Practices Board released a report calling on the B.C. government to take “bold and immediate action” to change how the province’s land is managed. 

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Advanced aerial mapping program delivers better public data

By Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship
Government of British Columbia
October 6, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Nathan Cullen

People and communities can look forward to more freely accessible high-quality data to support informed and effective decision-making on climate resiliency and land-use planning as the LidarBC program is now underway.  Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data can be used to help communities plan for and respond to climate emergencies, support habitat and ecosystem protection and inform sustainable forestry management.   …“B.C. covers almost a million square kilometres and almost none of it is properly mapped and understood. Working with First Nations, industry and other interest groups, B.C. is taking action to map every corner of the province,” said Nathan Cullen, Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship. …B.C. has signed a contract with Kîsik Geospatial and Aerial Survey (Kîsik) to collect LiDAR elevation data. This process delivers highly detailed and accurate three-dimensional mappings of landscapes for all of B.C.

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What lichens can tell us about climate and pollution

By Dennis Kovtun
CBC News
October 8, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Diane Haughland

ALBERTA — When you walk past a tree in Edmonton’s river valley, you may notice multicoloured growths, decorating them in yellow, green, grey and bluish spots. These are lichens. They work closely with their photosynthesizing partner — usually algae — which live inside lichens. Lichens are important determinants of air quality, said Troy McMullin, a lichenologist at the Canadian Museum of Nature. “They get their nutrients and minerals from what is floating by, what’s in the air,” he said. “Essentially, they’re eating the air and if there’s pollutants in the air, they’re going to eat those too.” Different lichens have different sensitivities to pollution and other environmental conditions. …Lichenologist Diane Haughland wrote the guide on lichens of Alberta. We took a walk with her to learn more about some of Alberta’s common lichen species, and learned what their presence – or absence – can tell us about local air quality.

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‘Freak of nature’ tree is the find of a lifetime for forest explorer

By Cathy Free
The Washington Post
October 8, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

TJ Watt has spent half his life as a forest explorer, a self-described “tree hunter” in British Columbia. He wades deep into endangered forests to find pristine towering trees that are hundreds of years old and massively wide but have never been photographed or documented.  He draws attention to the enormous old-growth trees to show the importance of saving the natural wonders from logging. The day he approached a gargantuan western red cedar he’d been trekking with a friend for several hours in a remote area on Flores Island in Clayoquot Sound in Ahousaht territory off the west coast of Vancouver Island. …As he drew closer to the tree, Watt said he was overcome with disbelief: He was dwarfed by a tree standing 151 feet tall and 17 and a half feet in diameter. The tree, believed to be more than 1,000 years old, was the find of a lifetime.

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Vancouver police expect number of protests to reach 1,000 this year

By Mike Howell
Castanet
October 5, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Vancouver police say 800 protests have already occurred in the city and it is expected the grand total will reach or surpass 1,000 by year’s end — a significant and steady increase from 563 recorded in 2020, 785 in 2021 and 810 last year. Police Chief Adam Palmer signalled to the Vancouver Police Board in June 2021 that protests were on the rise in the city,saying “by far and large, the greatest number of protests we’re seeing are environmental — whether it’s logging, [protecting] old-growth forests, TMX pipeline — those sorts of protests [are] way more than anything else.” Palmer updated his comments at a police board meeting last month, where he said the VPD anticipated 1,000 protests or more will have occurred in Vancouver before year’s end. Statistics supplied to Glacier Media show a steady increase on money spent to manage protests and demonstrations, with $478,460 in 2018, $1,033,297 in 2019, $2,835,584 in 2020 and more than $3 million last year.

 

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Piece of logging history installed in Powell River park

By Justin Waddell
My Powell River Now
October 5, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

An old piece of local logging history has made its way back to its original home in Powell River. The city says a steam donkey, also known as a steam powered winch, has been installed at Lindsay Park. It was built in 1918 by Vancouver Engineering Works and was used by the Anderson Sawmill, run by Andy and Clara Anderson on Powell Lake in Block Bay from 1932 to 1960. …After their business was unable to run, they decided to donate the entire sawmill to the Burnaby Village Museum, who said they would get the steam donkey up and running again. However, that proved to be too costly. In 2014, through a grant from the Powell River Community Forest and partnerships with Powell River Forestry Heritage Society, the city and qathet Museum and Archives, the steam donkey has been brought home and installed close to where it was once used.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Community Bioenergy Systems: A View from the Summit

City of Revelstoke
October 4, 2023
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada West

Rural, resource-based communities are exploring options to boost their economies and take action on climate. Community bioenergy systems are one solution and the City of Revelstoke is presenting a Bio-Heat Summit in October to share what it has learned over the last 20 years and bring together experts, operators, and other communities interested in implementing similar solutions. Since 2005, heat generated using sawmill residuals from Downie Timber has been distributed by an underground piping system into the City Centre. Evan Parliament, CAO of the City of Revelstoke conceived of the idea of the Bio-Heat Summit to increase everyone’s knowledge of local bioenergy energy and the benefits”. …The event will include keynote presentations from BC and across Canada, including the release of results from the 2023 national bio-heat survey, which has been conducted annually by Natural Resources Canada and identifies trends in community biomass heating systems.

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Health & Safety

Why the air in Kamloops smells so bad (and why you needn’t worry about it)

By Shannon Ainslie
InfoTel News Ltd
October 16, 2023
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada, Canada West

A pulp mill has been operating in the centre of Kamloops for almost six decades, and like all cities with pulp mills, the air can get a little bit odiferous. Some residents have aired their grievances about the offensive smell, particularly those living in Kamloops’ North Shore across the river from the pulp mill. Byron Steele has lived on the North Shore for decades. “It always stinks when the wind blows just right, its coming from the settling ponds,” he said. “It’s the price we pay for jobs, we need local industry for the economy, unfortunately it’s the pulp mill. For the most part I just put up with the stench, it keeps Kamloops afloat, but yeah, it’s gross.” The odours are a byproduct of the pulping process and occurs when sulphur molecules combine with carbon and hydrogen molecules. Although unpleasant, the smell doesn’t pose a health risk.

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Fort Nelson was hardest hit for wildfire smoke, with 100+ days of air quality alerts

By Tiffany Crawford
The Vancouver Sun
October 5, 2023
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada, Canada West

Many B.C. residents struggled with air quality this summer as catastrophic wildfires darkened skies with plumes of smoke containing harmful particulate matter. However some parts were hit harder than others. Fort Nelson had the worst air quality in the province because of the Donnie Creek wildfire, B.C.’s largest wildfire on record, which scorched close to 6,000 square kilometres of forest land. The northeast community had more than 100 days of air quality alerts since April, according to data provided by Environment and Climate Change Canada on Thursday. The Fort Nelson airport recorded 1,054 hours of smoke from May to October, said Alyssa Charbonneau, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada. That’s compared with just 26 hours in the 2022 wildfire season and 24 hours the year before, adding the B.C. Peace River and Prince George areas both had more than 70 days of air quality alerts.

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Forest Fires

New, fast-growing wildfire threatens more than 2 dozen properties in northeastern B.C.

CBC News
October 10, 2023
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

Properties near Chetwynd in British Columbia’s Peace region are under an evacuation alert after a wildfire discovered Sunday grew to seven square kilometres. The Mount Wartenbe wildfire is already considered a wildfire of note by the B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS), meaning it’s highly visible or a potential threat to public safety. It’s burning near Lone Prairie, about 20 kilometres southeast of Chetwynd and 80 kilometres southwest of Fort St. John. On Monday, the Peace River Regional District put in place an evacuation alert for two dozen addresses along with properties in the vicinity of Highway 97, west of Chetwynd Pulp Mill Road and east of the Guillet subdivision. The alert means residents should be prepared to leave their properties on short notice should the fire expand.

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Forest fire starts near Chetwynd

By Adam Reaburn
Energetic City
October 8, 2023
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

CHETWYND, B.C. – The B.C. Wildfire Service is responding to a wildfire that started Sunday afternoon southeast of Chetwynd.  The fire was reported to the fire service just after 4 p.m. Sunday, and as of 8 p.m., it was already 70 hectares. By Monday evening, the fire had burned over 700 hectares.  The Peace River Regional District issued an evacuation alert for an area near the fire. The alert includes properties near Highway 97 (West of Chetwynd Pulp Mill Rd and East of Guillet Sub) and certain properties on Rimsmith Rd.  The Wildfire Service believes the fire was naturally caused and has initiated a full response. During a full response, a wildfire is suppressed and controlled until it is deemed “out.” There are nine type one firefighters being assisted by three helicopters on scene.

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BC Wildfire Service is on the verge of declaring the end of the fire season

Castanet
October 4, 2023
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

After five months of fighting wildfires and battling smoke that choked B.C. residents throughout the spring and summer the BC Wildfire Service is on the verge of declaring the end of one of its busiest, most intense fire seasons, even though large fires continue to burn in the Prince George fire centre region. Two fires that continue to burn out of control are close to Prince George. The Great Beaver Lake fire is about 64 kilometres northwest of the city, while the Tatuk Lake fire is about 73 km southwest. The North Lucas Lake fire is in a remote area, 48 km south of Fraser Lake. There are two other large fires in BC – Big Creek (91 km northwest of Mackenzie) and Gatcho Lake (140 km southwest of Vanderhoof). BCWS unit crews and initial attack remain on the scene monitoring those fires.

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