Region Archives: Canada West

SOOKE, BC — Initiatives aimed at preventing forest fires from burning homes are getting a boost in Sooke, which has received a $198,000 grant to reduce wildfire risk and prepare the community for any fires that do break out. The funds will go toward community-based programs such as free FireSmart home assessments, and initiatives like disposal events for yard waste. …The funding comes from the Union of B.C. Municipalities FireSmart Community Funding and Supports Grant. “Basically it’s about getting the information out there and educating people,” Ruiter said. “The goal is to work with community groups to provide them with the tools they need to mitigate the threat of wildfire.” Sooke Mayor Maja Tait said a community like Sooke, which is surrounded by forests, is more vulnerable to wildfires than areas like Victoria or Oak Bay.

CLEARWATER – The Wells Gray Community Forest Corporation (WGCFC) will be holding a Community Forest Input Session November 20. The goal is to share updates with the public regarding current and upcoming forestry projects, as well as get a better understanding of the community’s perception. “We are given the opportunity to share some of the goals we have as a community forest, while also giving community members lots of time to ask questions and provide their feedback and ideas,” shared George Brcko, General Manager of the WGCFC. “We then will take this input from community, and together with the best practices for good forest management, we will develop a forest management plan and our operational objectives.” Joel Steinberg, President of the WGCFC Board of Directors, believes this is a great opportunity to get member of the community more involved.

The BC Forest Discovery Centre in North Cowichan is receiving $222,000 in federal funding to develop an online exhibit on sustainable forestry from pre-colonization to modern day. Question is: will the exhibit take a biased approach to logging — like the centre’s industry-funded Forests Forever exhibit — or explore a full range of management options, including potentially no logging? …Despite being located in North Cowichan, the centre makes no mention of the fact the municipality’s forest reserve overlaps the coastal Douglas-fir forest, the rarest forest type in B.C. — described as “imperilled” by the watchdog Forest Practices Board. Private land development and logging are contributing factors. …It’s time for the BC Forest Discovery Centre to recognize the value of protecting the forest in its own backyard and to portray logging with fairness and balance. The expenditure of almost a quarter million in federal taxpayers’ dollars on the centre’s newest exhibit only emphasizes the point.

It has been a satisfying 50-year journey for Pioneer Log Homes of B.C. founder Bryan Reid Sr. “I did not regret one day,” he said while sitting in his home in Lac La Hache that was originally built as a show home. “I worked with the most wonderful people on earth – our employees and our clients.” Reid has loved log homes since he was a child. …A pivotal moment emerged for Reid when someone from the coast wanted to retire and asked Reid to build them a log home. …He got his brothers André Chevigny and David Chevigny to build with him, as well as his son Bryan Jr., who started when he was as young as 7 or 8. …While the company had been building homes for people all over the world, in 2014 Pioneer Log Homes became even more well-known with the launch of Timber Kings, a TV series on HGTV.

Isla Myers-Smith

The Faculty of Forestry wishes to congratulate Professor Isla Myers-Smith and the project team and collaborators on being awarded the Canada Excellence Research Chair in global change ecology. The position comes with an $8 million grant towards Isla’s research in Arctic greening. As Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in global change ecology, Isla and her team will study the impacts of global change on northern ecosystems. The research program will focus on tundra and boreal ecosystems in the Western Canadian North, which face threats to sustainable food systems, wildlife populations and their habitats, which together challenge the resilience of communities. …Additionally, this CERC program aims to provide international leadership in Arctic research and will integrate long-term monitoring, remote sensing, drone technology, and traditional knowledge from Indigenous partners in the Yukon and Northwest Territories.

WILLIAMS LAKE, BC – The Community Forest grant has been approved for 15 organizations for 2023. A total of 18 organizations applied to receive some of the grant money, which the total amount requested was $91,285. However, Williams Lake Community Forest Granting Program Coordinator, Mary Thurow says they were only able to provide $68,067 for the 15 chosen. “Grants are reviewed by a group of volunteers called the Standing Committee.” says Thurow. …Typically max asks are around the $5,000 range, but are able to reach up to $10,000 in rare situations. As for how much is able to be provided each year, it’s determined by five percent of Williams Lake Community Forest’s profits, which are set aside. For 2023, a total of $65,000 was able to be provided, with 2024 being increased to $75,000. The grant window is open for 2024, which closes on November 17th, 2023, for registered charities, non-profit-and or community organizations

Conservationists are welcoming a years-in-the-making strategic plan that would prioritize the health and biodiversity of ecosystems in B.C. in provincial legislation. On Wednesday, the province publicly announced its draft Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework, which, once finalized, would provide direction to ensure the province delivers on a promise made in 2021 to maintain and enhance biodiversity and ecological integrity. The strategy will also help the province meet its reconciliation goals it enshrined in law in 2019 to legally implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). A biodiversity plan was part of 14 recommendations… from the so-called Old Growth Strategic Report. …Ministers of Forests Bruce Ralston said, “This new framework is another step to enhance our forests and natural systems for the generations to come.” The province will now consult with First Nations, industry and other stakeholders over the draft to complete a final version in early 2024.

BC’s government is trying to implement further steps to protect and preserve the province’s at-risk environment through a new biodiversity and ecosystem health framework (BEHF). Right now the BEHF is just a draft proposal, but Nathan Cullen, the Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, is hopeful that it will become legislation and allow for the preservation of BC’s well-known natural landscapes. “People in BC share a deep connection to nature, from our ancient forests and diverse wildlife, to our coastal waters and mountain ranges,” said Cullen. “Together, we are charting the next steps for conserving BC’s rich biodiversity and healthy ecosystems that support us all.” …Although the BEHF is vague in its current stages, conservation activists are applauding the government’s steps towards preservation and protection of BC’s old-growth. However, these groups warn that “the devil will be in the details.”

B.C. Christmas tree farmers plant, prune and tend to trees in various stages of growth, ensuring that every tree chopped the previous Christmas is replaced with another evergreen that will be ready for trimming in five to 10 years. But successive summers marked by heat and drought are making the job tougher. The head of the B.C. Christmas Tree Association estimates more than 5,000 seedlings were lost due to drought this summer, with about 250 B.C. growers leaving the business over the last decade. While seedling loss is unlikely to impact tree availability this year, the overall trend is concerning, said Larry Whitehead, owner of Red Truck Trees in South Surrey. …It’s unclear if hot, dry weather and drought over the last few years have caused the trees to decline, or if lack of moisture has made them more susceptible to pests or fungus. But the result is the same.

Todd Loewen, the Alberta Minister of Forestry and Parks, has weighed in on the logging concerns in Kananaskis Country. There are many issues that have been brought up including allowing the logging trucks and equipment the use of Highway 40 during the winter. Minister Loewen explains why Spray Lake Sawmills is allowed to use 12 kilometres of Highway 40. “The forest harvest happens during the winter months when the ground is frozen and that’s to protect the landscape so that there’s no heavy ruts and things like that. And that road being closed is basically closed for recreational use.” …”The mountain slopes and valleys beyond these gates are critical to wintering wildlife. Restricting traffic through this area protects wildlife.” …When asked about how and why Spray Lake Sawmills were allowed to build a bridge over the Highwood River during spawning season, Minister Loewen said that falls under federal jurisdiction.

A local fire ecologist says more prescribed burns are needed to reduce the devastating impacts of wildfires in the region. Bob Gray of R.W. Gray Consulting Ltd has over 35 years of experience in the research and application of fire science and has been instrumental in some of the region’s burns. “We can expect what just happened and worse in the future,” he said. “Most of the modelling suggests that we could see a doubling or tripling of area burned in the future. The best way to mitigate impacts is to limit the potential size and severity of these fires. Part of that is mimicking the stewardship practices of indigenous peoples. The landscape they stewarded didn’t support these kinds of fires.” A recent burn he was a part of was the airport burn done in the spring. …He says we need to learn from this and start getting these burns done quickly.

No bear should burn to death in a slash pile. That’s the message longtime Greeny Lake trapper Paul Blackwell is trying to spread this fall as bears prepare to go into hibernation. He said that as slash piles grow ever larger they’re becoming attractive places for bears to build their dens ahead of winter hibernation. “(They are) so appealing to bears it’s almost like a hotel. You’ve got this great pile of wood that insulates the bear from the snow, so it’s no wonder they like it so much,” Blackwell said. …Rather than burning large slash piles, Blackwell said forestry companies should be required to burn their slash in smaller piles or arrange them in windrows across the cut blocks. He said the Ministry of Forests is aware of these facts but doesn’t seem interested in pushing for legislation that would reduce the size of slash piles or eliminate them altogether.

QUESNEL, BC — The B.C. Forest Appeals Commission says a man who lit a large debris pile on fire that eventually caused a wildfire should pay the provincial government nearly $450,000. In an appeal decision released last week, the commission says Clarke Matthiesen tried to blame an arsonist for the blaze that investigators say started on his property west of Quesnel, B.C., in the province’s interior. The decision says Matthiesen lit the debris fire on a property he owns with his brother in February 2019, thinking snow around the blaze would work as a “fuel break.” …The commission rejected Matthiesen’s claims that his neighbour’s grandson could have lit the fire. …He was ordered to pay a $2,350 fine, $260,369 for fire control costs and $179,344 for destruction of Crown-owned timber resources.

Amalia Schelhorn taught Victoria, B.C., to dance to protect old-growth. This one-time National Ballet of Canada soloist helped bring media attention to the call to end old-growth logging in British Columbia by choreographing and organizing community dance protests. …I know the media likes visual and performing arts and, as a dancer and teacher, I had good networks. I choreographed and taped a dance to Bruce Cockburn’s If a Tree Falls and contacted everyone I could think of. …Three days later, 40 people, young and old, showed up to Dance for the Ancient Forests. We were very successful in attracting media attention because it was a novel and visually compelling protest. Since then, I have created another dance to a rewritten version of Stop In the Name of Love. …Once again, the media has picked up these protests.

The Province is taking more steps to conserve nature for the long-term health and well-being of communities with the release of a draft biodiversity and ecosystem health framework. “Together, we are charting the next steps for conserving B.C.’s rich biodiversity and healthy ecosystems that support us all,” said Nathan Cullen, Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship. B.C. has the greatest diversity of species, ecosystems and habitats of any jurisdiction in Canada. The resilience of the province depends on an integrated and inclusive approach to stewarding B.C.’s water, land and natural resources. The framework is another action the Province is taking as part of ongoing work to improve stewardship of B.C.’s lands, forests and water, to implement the recommendations of the Old Growth Strategic Review and to honour B.C.’s commitments under the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.

Two Merritt-based companies are revolutionizing sustainable forest management in British Columbia. …Stuwix Resources Joint Venture (SRJV) and Valley Carriers have announced that they will be working together to make a better use of leftover forest materials, such as forest residuals. …According to the release, the BioHub Pilot Project is centred around Stuwix’s transition from the traditional cut-to-length forestry practice to now full-length tree harvesting, moving toward a full tree utilization and zero-waste approach. “Through the Bush Grinding project, forest residual will be ground instead of being left behind and burned in slash piles, helping to reduce waste and avoid greenhouse gas emissions,” the release reads. “This ground fibre will be transported to a green energy facility in Merritt.” …Gord Pratt, FESBC senior manager, added “Exploring new ways to optimize the delivery and use of forest fibre is long overdue.”

HARRISON MILLS, BC — Recent logging activity in the Chehalis area is seen as a setback for one of the rarest birds in British Columbia. In 40 years, a swath of forest north of Harrison Mills could have qualified as old growth, which would have been viable habitat for the spotted owl. The forest that had been growing since around World War II was approved for logging this year, and it’s being harvested. …Joe Foy with the Wilderness Committee, said that while the harvesting of the Chehalis area trees isn’t necessarily fatal for spotted owl conservation efforts, it would make species recovery less likely. …Foy said the fragmented nature of potential habitat for spotted owls comes down to the federal and provincial governments having different plans to preseve the species.

James Hobart trudges up an old logging road and into the territory of the last wild-born northern spotted owl in Canada. …Chief of the Spô’zêm First Nation, Hobart has put his people’s weight behind saving the owl. …Where once that territory supported upwards of a thousand owls, today, the survival of Canada’s wild-born population has dwindled to a single female, who lives high up in the Spô’zêm watershed in the territory of Hobart’s people. Early failures to reintroduce captive bred owls have revealed duelling visions over what’s causing the bird’s near extinction — and how best to pull it back from the brink. On one side, B.C.’s provincial government says it’s focused on the culling and removal of invasive barred owls, while breeding the endangered species back; on the other, a federal ministry says it makes no sense to release owls into a forest ecosystem when its integrity remains shattered.

An enchanting forest called Wildwood, south of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, has tall old-growth Douglas-firs soaring into the sky, the rat-a-tatting of pileated woodpeckers echoing through the trees and emerald-green moss blanketing the ground. Surprisingly, this magnificent 31-hectare patch of old-growth forest has been commercially logged since 1945 and stands in stark contrast to the patchwork clear cuts of modern industrial forestry. At Wildwood, nature rules, while also yielding a harvest for humans to reap. …Merv Wilkinson logged this land, not by clear-cuts and monoculture plantations, but instead by selective logging. For more than seven decades, the old-growth beauty has been preserved, the habitat maintained for black-tailed deer, squirrels, bats, pileated woodpeckers and more. His logging was revolutionary not only in method, but also in philosophy. Although Merv’s methods are ignored by the provincial logging industry, his wisdom was recognized by others. 

VERNON, BC — The long process of restoring trails lost to the Bush Creek East wildfire will begin with wildfire impact assessments. Assessments for two of those trails… are being initiated by the Shuswap Trail Alliance (STA) with Forsite Consultants. “Forsite will be creating a process for us, as well as doing the initial assessments,” said Jen Bellhouse. …“There will be slope stability assessments required because soil becomes hydrophobic after a fire so it’s a longer process for that,” said Bellhouse, noting the process will involve reassessing slope stability after year of snow melt and precipitation, to see how slopes impacted by the fire are holding up – recognizing there may be slides. …Bellhouse said BC Parks is going through a similar process for its trails impacted by the wildfire.

Satellite surveillance shows 31,800 hectares of old-growth trees — 50 per cent more than the government reported — have been logged in the three and a half years since the province promised a “paradigm change” in B.C. forestry practices. That’s according to a recent report from the environmental group Stand.earth, which used a satellite watchdog platform to track old-growth logging since April 2020. That month marked the release of the Old Growth Strategic Review, a landmark report that signalled government might put an end to cutting the rarest old-growth stands. The satellite tracking system, known as Forest Eye, was built with the help of the satellite firm Planet Labs. It systematically tracks forest cover change across the province since the B.C. government promised to halt logging in big treed old-growth forests nearly three years ago. The group said it manually verifies all the alerts the system flags to ensure forest cover loss occurred due to logging activity.

Additional coverage: Stand.earth press release

An old-growth forest on Haida Gwaii, a popular swimming hole in southern British Columbia and a lush hillside along a world-renowned canoe circuit are among the parcels of land the Province has acquired to expand B.C.’s parks and protected areas. The Province has acquired 109 hectares of land to be added to five provincial parks, enhancing protection of the province’s biodiversity. The newly acquired land is valued at $1.9 million and includes: Naikoon Park (Haida Gwaii), Wells Gray Park (near Clearwater), Gladstone Park (near Grand Forks), Bowron Lake Park (near Quesnel), and Mount Pope Park (near Fort St. James). Through the acquisition of private land and partnerships with conservation groups, individual donors, the BC Parks Foundation and supporters, the Province regularly adds land to the parks and protected areas system. …The Province is consulting with First Nations’ governments prior to making decisions about legally establishing the lands as parks and protected areas.