Region Archives: Canada West

There will soon be no way for old-growth logging to go undetected in B.C. An online tracking system developed by an international environmental group goes live today. It will enable the public to monitor where old growth is being logged and is designed to hold the province accountable for promises to reform forestry, said project lead Angeline Robertson with Stand.earth. Forest Eye — an online mapping system and database — employs satellite imagery, remote sensing technology and government data to detect and alert users to logging and road-building in the most at-risk old-growth forests in the province, Robertson said. The mapped logging alerts will pinpoint old-growth logging two to four weeks after it begins. Most importantly, it will also determine if it occurred in areas considered for logging deferrals since 2020, she said. Site users can subscribe to get alerts or updates about activity in their areas of interest.

Tofino is teetering on a water crisis. The streams on nearby Meares Island that supply the resort community with drinking water are still flowing and the reservoirs are full, but unprecedented drought conditions have the town on edge. A packed town hall meeting Tuesday night was told that if the drought persists, more drastic measures would be on the table. …Mayor Dan Law recognized First Nations and protesters who defied court injunctions in the 1980s and stopped old-growth logging on Meares Island, where four creeks fill reservoirs and feed a sea-floor pipeline that supplies the town with water. …since May 1, Tofino has received 19 millimetres of rain. On average, cumulative rainfall for the period is 249 mm. …if the reservoirs show diminishing supplies or there is a massive wildfire, Rodgers said, stage 4 measures could include closing some businesses and resorts and limiting access to the town by visitors. 

Fire season has arrived and experts say it’s time to put your rainy day habits behind you. “All we can really do is adapt to more extreme drought,” said John Richardson, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia. …With El Niño superimposing on top of the climate effects occurring, Richardson said now is the time for people to tap the brakes on water usage. …cutting shower time down from four minutes to two minutes an individual would save up to 20 litres of water per shower, per person. …B.C.’s premier alongside the Emergency Minister Bowinn Ma have both stressed the severity of the situation in the province, citing these levels of drought have never occurred this early in the summer before now. Two-thirds of the province’s water basins are currently at Drought Level four or five, out of a scale of zero to five for severity.

Additional coverage in the Campbell River Mirror: Stage 2 watering restrictions in place in Campbell River to maintain fire safety, environment

A new watchdog satellite tracking map found 2,600 hectares of that forest — almost all big ancient trees — were slated for deferral by the province in 2020, but were logged anyways. The number is expected to grow significantly as more data is vetted. …The government data Forest Eye is collecting worries Stand.earth’s Tegan Hansen that not much has changed. Hansen said that in many cases, forests aren’t being given that chance to come back, instead being turned into mono-crop plantations and sprayed with glyphosate to eliminate fire-resistant species. “Effectively, we are destroying these forests,” said Hansen. “It’s not considered illegal logging because it is permitted by our governments.” …Forest Eye is designed to help people understand what’s happening in forests either next door or down a remote logging road thousands of kilometres away. Hansen said her group will support people who want to present the information to elected officials.

George Harris & Quentin Goodbody

The Ladysmith and District Historical Society along with the Ecoforestry Institute Society have partnered on the newest exhibit at the museum on First Avenue, Treemendous: Our Fascinating Forests. Stz’uminus elder George Harris shared stories relating to the continuing importance of the forest to the Stz’umimus First Nation. The museum plays a role as a learning centre in which the present is explained through examining the past, thus providing a foundation for charting a way to the future” said Quentin Goodbody of the historical society. The exhibit starts by looking at the growth of forests, focusing on the coastal Douglas fir. It then introduces the importance of forests to the Indigenous Peoples, provides glimpse of their knowledge gained and explains some of their forest management practices. The exhibit moves on to commercial exploitation of forests.

VICTORIA — British Columbia is expecting the arrival of 100 firefighters from Brazil today, adding to the province’s growing international wildfire force. BC Wildfire Service spokesman Cliff Chapman says about 500 international firefighters are already in B.C., boosting the ranks of the more than 2,000 provincial wildfire service personnel on the front lines battling hundreds of blazes. He says the firefighters from Brazil will join firefighters from Mexico, the United States and Australia currently in the province. Bowinn Ma, B.C.’s emergency management and climate readiness minister, recently requested 1,000 international firefighters through the non-profit Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, which co-ordinates national and international fire management. Chapman says the Brazilians and the international firefighters already in B.C. will provide much-needed relief and assistance to crews battling almost 400 fires currently burning in the province.

A group of North Okanagan-Shuswap residents are looking to prevent logging in a 255-hectare area of land near Gardom Lake by having it recognized as a protected area. At its July 20 meeting, the Columbia Shuswap Regional District received a presentation by biologist Wayne McCrory on the proposed Mallory Ridge Protected Area. Accompanying McCrory in the gallery was a large number of people behind the effort to protect the area of Crown land that is a popular hiking spot. McCrory told the board Mallory Ridge was recognized as an important conservation area and proposed as a regional park in 2000 and 2008. …“If planned logging goes ahead, it is our professional opinion that significant habitat fragmentation and loss of biodiversity values of this small island of diverse habitats, remnant of an ancient transition ecosystem, will be the outcome,” McCrory and Peters conclude in the study.

The N.W.T. government took the extraordinary step Thursday of issuing a fire ban for almost the entire South Slave region, a measure the territory has never before used. The ban is needed to protect against “continued extreme fire danger and extraordinary weather conditions to protect communities and protect wildfire fighting resources by limiting avoidable person-caused fires,” a news release reads. On Wednesday, the N.W.T. Métis Nation posted to Facebook a letter it received from the territory’s forest supervisor, informing them the restriction would be coming. “The South Slave region has been experiencing extreme fire danger for several weeks, with forests that are tinder-dry, making fire control very challenging,” the letter reads. …The letter points to the issue of not having enough resources to fight more fires. Firefighters from elsewhere in Canada, who the territory would usually rely on to bolster its crews, are tied up fighting fires in other jurisdictions.

Molly Hudson

Like most resource sectors, forestry has long been seen as an industry staffed, led, and dominated by the culture of men. But it is changing. The situation has been progressing thanks to the kinds of leadership we’ve seen over the past few decades that acknowledge the need to change the industry – the need to knock down barriers that impact different people in different ways. While this began with conversations of women with other women, it has grown to include everyone in the important efforts to make the sector a place where women do not have to face the gender-based challenges of the past. We have seen our leaders and colleagues make real efforts to change their knowledge and understanding. Both of us have benefitted from confident female professionals teaching and guiding us directly – and demonstrating the kind of leadership required to build the culture and the workplace that is desired.

More soldiers are expected to be deployed today to help firefighters battle the nearly 400 active wildfires in British Columbia. Emergency Management Minister Bowinn Ma says 75 military members are heading to Burns Lake, in central B.C., to join 75 others who were sent to nearby Vanderhoof yesterday as part of federal assistance in the province’s wildfire fight. Ma says forecasters are expecting an increase in fire activity, as shifting winds lead to clearer skies, higher temperatures, and lower humidity. …BC Wildfire Service officials say the season has not yet hit its peak and they are warning that the drought that has helped fuel the flames this season could roll into next year, potentially causing the 2024 fire season to start early. A provincial drought bulletin shows 18 of the province’s 34 water basins are at drought Level 4, meaning harm to ecosystems and communities is likely, while four more are at the highest Level 5.

VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board will audit the forest planning and practices of the Valemount Community Forest Company Ltd., specifically community forest agreements KQ5, K2T, and forest licence A93987, in the Prince George Natural Resource District, starting Monday, July 24, 2023. Auditors will examine whether timber harvesting, roads, bridges, silviculture, wildfire protection and associated planning carried out between July 1, 2021, and July 28, 2023, met the requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act, and the Wildfire Act. The Valemount Community Forest is in the Robson Valley Timber Supply Area in east-central B.C., and the territories of the Simpcw First Nation and Canim Lake Band. The audit area is both topographically and ecologically diverse, as reflected in the broad mix of tree species, the diversity of wildlife habitats and the wide variety of land uses in the area, including forestry, recreation, agriculture and protected areas.

Aaron Wilde & Alexa Fowler

ALBERTA — Two local youths have been immersed in the world of forestry this summer, and their experiences will be showcased through the Forest Products Association of Canada. In July, FPAC announced this year’s Green Dream Internship Program recipients, including Whitecourt’s Alexa Fowler and Aaron Wilde. Fowler said… “Before I got this job, I didn’t really understand what the forestry industry is like and didn’t understand what opportunities there are.” She attends the University of Lethbridge [and] is working at Millar Western. …Whitecourt’s other Green Dream recipient is Aaron Wilde, who is working with the Alberta Newsprint Company this summer. “After all that the environment has done for me, I am happy to work in the forestry industry and give back,” Wilde said. He is a second-year mechanical engineering student at the University of Alberta, according to FPAC.

The University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Forestry is launching nine new micro-certificates aimed at delivering in-demand skills and knowledge in a flexible manner to working professionals in forestry and construction. The micro-credential system is designed to work with the schedules of older professionals with an eye to meeting the needs of industry, said Sheri Andrews-Key, program lead and lecturer with UBC. …The nine new certificates are: Tall Wood Structures, Fire Safety for Timber Buildings, Zero Carbon Building Solutions, Hybrid Timber Construction, Forest Health Management, Communication Strategies for Resource Practitioners, Strategic Management for Sustainability, Environmental Footprints of Organizations and Circular Bioeconomy Business Development. The micro-certificate program was initially launched in 2021 with one certificate. In less than three years, the program will have grown to 13.

The logging of private forest lands, including for vineyards, is generating plenty of concern in the Cowichan Valley. It should also be a wake-up call to North Cowichan council to do what it can to protect B.C.’s most at-risk forest type — the coastal Douglas fir — found in the Municipal Forest Reserve. The latest controversy centres on California vintners logging 24 hectares of land off Menzies Road to grow grapes. Most of the logged land consisted of coastal Douglas fir. …At this Wednesday’s council meeting, Councillor Christopher Justice will propose a motion that North Cowichan consider the “financial and resource” impact of joining the Coastal Douglas-Fir Conservation Partnership. …It is no small irony that while the Agriculture Ministry supports removal of this forest, two other provincial departments — the Forests Ministry and Environment Ministry — are members of the protection-seeking partnership.

©APTN

The Northwest Territories government is confirming an anthrax outbreak among the Slave River Lowlands bison population. The Department of Environment and Climate Change reported the suspected outbreak last week after 15 bison carcasses were found. This week, it says the outbreak has been confirmed by laboratory testing and a total of 28 carcasses have been found. …Parks Canada says two cases were confirmed along Highway 5 in Wood Buffalo National Park. …Parks Canada says it is extremely rare for humans to contract anthrax but they can from direct contact with dead bison. Parks Canada is putting a traffic control area in place to prohibited and public access. An incident management team is working to detect and dispose of the infected bison and treating soil to prevent the spread of anthrax spores. Anthrax outbreaks are a semi-regular feature among the North’s bison herds. Last year, 50 bison died in the same park.

A Western red cedar tree that is believed to have been centuries old fell in Vancouver’s Stanley Park over the weekend, at what experts describe as a particularly stressful time for trees in the area. It was anywhere between 800 and 900 years old, according to local tree tour guide Colin Spratt. …Spratt said any number of stressors — drought, pollution, fungi or insects — could have led to the tree’s demise, but the heart rot brought it down. Spratt said the tree’s collapse could be a symptom of a larger problem in Vancouver’s largest park. …Spratt, said the Vancouver Park Board should consider watering the large trees — something he said would be unthinkable in years without large-scale drought. Joe McLeod, the park board’s manager of urban forestry, said the fallen tree will now act as a “nurse log” as it decays.

Leslie Dart

In a video viewed millions of times on social media, Leslie Dart walks across a desolate and burnt landscape in Saskatchewan. She plunges a small spade into the ground, levers open a hole, drops in a seedling, then stomps the hole shut, barely breaking stride as she does it again, and again. By the end of that day, Dart had planted 4,545 trees. In the past three summers, she has planted 372,290 trees across Canada. Dart, who now works in the aerospace manufacturing industry after graduating from Durham College, is among the thousands of tree planters, many of them college students, who work mostly for logging companies across Canada to plant trees each summer. …The B.C. Ministry of Forests says replanting is a legal requirement for forestry licensees, who must “regenerate” a specified number of trees in their stewardship plans. More than 200 million seedlings are planted in B.C. each year.

Stephan Martineau

In the Slocan Valley in B.C.’s southern Interior, a community group has used logging rights and responsibilities granted by the province to help reduce wildfire risk. That model — where a community has stewardship of the forests in its surrounding area — could help other communities successfully confront the increasing threat of climate-driven wildfire in B.C., says Stephan Martineau, the manager of the Slocan Integral Forestry Cooperative, known as SIFCo. He’s an advocate of putting wildland-urban interface areas surrounding communities — including First Nations – under its own stewardship system, so communities can directly tackle the wildfire risk. …The area-based rights, called a community forest, allow the residents to have a say on logging and preserving natural values. …Brian Watson, the operations manager for the Forest Enhancement Society of B.C., said the Slocan co-operative’s efforts demonstrate a cost-effective strategy for community protection but also serve as an impressive demonstration of landscape-scale climate change adaptation and wildfire preparedness.

As we have often seen, one of the strengths of our reforestation contracting sector is its ability to adapt to unexpected conditions ranging from road washouts to a COVID pandemic. But 2023 may be showing the limits of that resilience. Disruptions to this year’s seasonal planting campaign have been various, numerous, and severe. For many planting contractors, and nurseries lately, it’s been difficult to maintain operational tempo and continuity coping with heat, drought, smoke, wildfire, and floods. The unsettled conditions may be affecting the workers’ resolve as well. …Through all this, nevertheless, the vast majority of this year’s estimated ~390-million seedlings (290 in BC the rest in Alberta) already have or will be planted. Approximately 60 million seedlings planned for this summer in BC are underway-albeit subject to smoke and fire. …Just how the industry can adapt to this operationally and contractually will be a major topic for the WFCA annual business and market summit in Kamloops in September.