Region Archives: Canada West

Business & Politics

Crofton paper mill workers anxious over another delayed restart

Unifor Canada
August 30, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Unionized workers at the Paper Excellence paper mill in Crofton are getting increasingly anxious over a delayed restart of the mill. In May, Paper Excellence said it would curtail the mill for the month of June, citing market conditions. …“This is the third time Paper Excellence has announced a shutdown extension since May 2023, when a 30-day curtailment was planned,” the union said in a press release. “The last thing forestry workers need right now is more uncertainty,” said Unifor Western Regional Director Gavin McGarrigle. “Our members need to know when they’ll be back on the job. Workers don’t have the luxury of curtailing their bills.” Pulp and paper mill workers in B.C. have good reason to worry about indefinite or temporary closures becoming permanent. Since 2020, a number of sawmills have been permanently shuttered in B.C., and these closures have begun to drag pulp and paper mills down with them.

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Aldergrove forest products company catches fire Wednesday

By Heather Colpitts
Langley Advance
August 30, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Several people had to evacuate their homes due to an early morning fire at an Aldergrove forest products company. Langley Township fire crews were at a structure fire in the 26900 block of Old Yale Road in Aldergrove all night. The fire broke out overnight at Elykwood Forest Products and Manufacturing. The RCMP was contacted about the fire at about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, shortly after the Township Fire Department was dispatched, said Langley RCMP Sgt. Barry Beales. Additional fire halls were called out just after 9 a.m. to help personnel already on scene. The fire department and RCMP will be doing investigations. “But now we’re just waiting for it to cool down to get a fire investigator on site,” he said. Old Yale Road was blocked off in the area for several hours Wednesday.

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Paper Excellence Catalyst Crofton mill extends shutdown another month

By Don Bodger
The Chemainus Valley Courier
August 29, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

CROFTON, BC — The curtailment at the Paper Excellence Catalyst Crofton pulp and paper mill has been extended into a third month. “We’re saddened to have to announce that we’re having to extend the Crofton curtailment till the end of September,” said Graham Kissack, for Paper Excellence Canada. “That’s for all operations – the kraft mill as well as the paper mill. …Global prices for pulp and paper, they are absolutely in the tank.” Kissack said employees were notified on Monday. …Nearly 400 employees from the Public and Private Workers of Canada Local 2 plus around 60 from Unifor Local 1132 are affected. …“It’s very disappointing,” said Geoff Dawe, president of PPWC Local 2. …“We were told it was going to be one month. Now, we’re into three months. …Tanner McQuarrie, Unifor Local 1132 president, added in a statement. “Earlier in the year there was a 50 million dollar commitment between Paper Excellence and both governments. 

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Better dialogue with First Nations could have avoided Joffre Lakes closure, critics say

Victoria Times Colonist
August 29, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

The closing of a popular provincial park by two First Nations is a consequence of the B.C. government’s failure to negotiate treaties with Indigenous communities, says a prominent Indigenous lawyer.  The Lílwat Nation and N’Quatqua First Nation announced last week they jointly shut down Joffre Lakes provincial park, also known as Pipi7iyekw, because they could not come to agreement with the province on times when they could have exclusive use of the park for harvesting and traditional ceremonies.  …“This is an example to British Columbia of why we should have treaties in the province,” said Hugh Braker, a lawyer and member of the First Nations Summit. “If [the province] would reach an agreement with the First Nations, they wouldn’t have these problems.”   Few First Nations in B.C. have modern treaties with the provincial and federal government, agreements which formalize Indigenous rights and title.

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Union of B.C. Municipalities says more money, not finger-pointing needed to reduce wildfire risk

By Gordon Hoekstra
Victoria Times Colonist
August 25, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Bruce Ralston

More money and assistance — not finger-pointing — is needed to help communities to reduce their wildfire risk, says the presdient of the Union of B.C. Municipalities.  Jen Ford was responding to B.C. Forests Minister Bruce Ralston’s comments, made Wednesday, that blamed communities for slow progress on reducing wildfire risk in and around their communities.  “It’s not the time to … point fingers at local governments. Rather, say: ‘How can we help?’ ” said Ford, a Whistler councillor and chairwoman of the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District.  …And Ford added there are some small communities that simply don’t have the resources or capacity to apply for provincial wildfire resiliency programs or carry out and monitor the work. What they need is help from other levels of governments, she said. …On Thursday, Robert Gray, a longtime wildfire ecologist in B.C., called Ralston’s comments “completely false.” …“The problems is there is not enough money. It’s basically wrapped up in bureaucracy,” he said.

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Finance & Economics

B.C. Premier David Eby asks Bank of Canada to freeze hikes to interest rates

By Richard Zussman
Global News
August 31, 2023
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, Canada West

David Eby

In an unprecedented step, B.C. Premier David Eby has sent a letter to the Bank of Canada asking for the regulator to avoid an interest rate hike next month. In writing directly to Governor Tiff Macklen, Eby said another rate hike would hurt mortgage holders with expired or soon-to-expire policies. “People in B.C. are already hurting. In your role as Governor, I urge you to consider the full human impact of rate increases and not further increase rates at this time,” Eby writes. …The current key lending rate of 5.0 per cent is the highest it has been in Canada in 22 years. …In his letter, Eby also raised concerns about the impact the rates will have on home building and current housing prices. …“This quiet but devastating impact of rate increases will result in even higher housing costs, feeding inflation further,” Eby writes.

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Atlas Engineered Products reports positive Q2, 2023 results

By Atlas Engineered Products Ltd.
Cision Newswire
August 29, 2023
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, Canada West

NANAIMO, BC — Atlas Engineered Products (AEP) announced its financial and operating results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2023. Highlights include: Revenue for the three months ended June 30, 2023 was $11,217,336 compared to revenue of $16,836,329 for the three months ended June 30, 2022. …Net income was $786,236 for the three months ended June 30, 2023 compared to net income of $2,044,118 for the three months ended June 30, 2022. Non-IFRS measure adjusted EBITDA decreased to $2,051,169 and $3,791,143 for the three and six months ended June 30, 2023 from $3,665,814 and $6,623,260 respectively for the three and six months ended June 30, 2022. …Hadi Abassi, CEO and Founder said. “We continue to believe that there is an ongoing need for more housing in Canada.” …AEP has established operations in Canada’s truss and engineered products industry.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Try out this easy-to-use mass timber planning tool

naturally:wood
August 31, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Mass Timber Navigator is an easy-to-use planning tool for developers and design teams in the early stage of a mass timber building project. Using data from eight different mass timber archetypes, situated in four British Columbia regions, the tool helps users to understand energy and code compliance costs of mass timber buildings in the province. The level of code compliance is based on the B.C. Energy Step Code, including the latest Step 3 revisions. What is Step Code 3? A revision to the B.C. Building Code (BCBC) came into effect May 1, 2023, and requires a 20% improvement on energy efficiency compared to the 2018 B.C. Building Code. What if I’m not in B.C.? As a concept tool, Mass Timber Navigator can still be helpful for zones with similar climates.

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Forestry

New Forestry Support Program for the Yukon

Government of the Yukon
August 31, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Government of Yukon and the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency combined financial contributions to launch a new support program offering funding for commercial harvesters and retailers. Commercial harvesters and retailers can now apply for reimbursements of up to $15,000 for purchases, repairs and upgrades to harvest equipment, vehicles, trailers, personal protective equipment and other equipment. For larger harvesting businesses, the funds can be used for things like planning and administrative costs. This program will help commercial timber harvesters and retailers reduce barriers in getting more firewood to market. Commercial timber harvesters and retailers that harvest, process or sell timber and firewood can apply for this program. Applicants have until March 31, 2024, to apply or until the $200,000 in total available funds is exhausted. This program is in addition to the Timber Harvesting Incentive, which is accepting applications until March 31, 2024.

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BC Wildfire Service expanding community response program after earlier North Shuswap roadblocks

By Tip Petruk
Castanet
September 1, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Jim Jones, owner of North Thompson Aprotek Fire Safety offered free firefighter training last weekend to three dozen North Shuswap residents looking to protect their homes. Jones said he was contacted by community members in the North Shuswap looking to get certified so that they could help BC Wildfire Service crews battle the Bush Creek East fire. …Jones said he worked for decades with B.C.’s Ministry of Forests, including extensive wildland firefighting experience. …Dozens of North Shuswap residents were desperate for certification after the BC Wildfire Service last week said it was willing to work alongside those in the community provided they had proper training. …BCWS operations director Cliff Chapman said the Co-operative Community Response Project aims to provide “community members that are willing” basic training to have them work alongside firefighters.

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Pivotal War in the Woods protester says arrests, pressure in Clayoquot changed B.C. forestry forever

By Derrick Penner
The Vancouver Sun
August 30, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The 1993 protests over clearcut logging in Clayoquot Sound were a seminal moment for environmental activism in B.C. that shaped much of what has happened since, both in terms of forestry practices and the conservation movement. And 30 years later, environmentalist Tzeporah Berman estimates the protest — dubbed the War in the Woods — “had a massive impact,” helping to push forest companies toward eco-forestry practices and government into working with First Nations on co-management of forests to consider ecological values. …Industry rep Linda Coady agrees… who was an executive for MacMillan Bloedel at the time. “On the coast, it really opened up and changed the role of First Nations, (which) continues today. …Government’s response sparked the Clayoquot Sound scientific panel, which made the ecological case for new harvesting methods, such as variable retention logging rather than clearcutting. Those lessons were used in the landscape-level planning [which]… the province now is expanding across the province, Coady added.

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BC Community Forest Association News

The BC Community Forest Association
August 30, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Each year at the BCCFA conference we hear from a number forest professionals. As wildfires raged across the province this month, some of our past conference speakers were called upon to share their perspectives and insights on the situation. Check out what they are saying as BC has the biggest fire year ever.  Lennard Joe, RPF and CEO of BC First Nations Forestry Council acknowledged that the catastrophic intensity of wildfires fires has grown, as has the impact on wildlife and berry producing areas. Kira Hoffman is a UBC Fire Ecologist and a friend and colleague of the BCCFA was interviewed by CBC News. Bruce Blackwell, Robert Gray and Sarah Dickson-Hoyle were featured in an article by Gordon Hoekstra, in the Vancouver Sun: 20 years after devastating Kelowna wildfires, what have we learned? These professionals continue to advocate for significant increases in provincial funding for proactive fuel reduction. Click the Read More to see the full newsletter.

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30 years after Clayoquot Sound protests, old-growth logging continues unabated: B.C. conservation group

By Chad Pawson
CBC News
August 30, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Sierra Club of B.C. says the logging of large old trees in verdant, biodiverse forests on Vancouver Island has continued mostly unabated in the 30 years since one of the biggest acts of civil disobedience in Canadian history. “We have ongoing industrial devastation of the last intact forests,” said the conservation group’s Jens Wieting in Vancouver. “We have few exceptions. We need a breakthrough in terms of conservation solutions.” …The Sierra Club of B.C. and the Tla-o-qui-aht used provincial data to show that in 1993 there were about 6,870 square kilometres of productive old-growth rainforest — trees at least 140 years or older — left on Vancouver Island. That’s about 31 per cent of what’s estimated to have been there before industrialized logging began. Thirty years later, the groups say the remaining productive old-growth rainforest on the island is 4,470 square kilometres — about 20 per cent of the amount before logging began.

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Why Parks Canada wants to eradicate invasive deer from B.C. island

By Ella Matte
Cowichan Valley Citizen
August 30, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Becky Miller

This coming winter the European fallow deer population on Sidney Island will be eradicated to restore the native understory growth. The invasive deer have impacted the island’s ecosystem by eating the diverse species of plants, including Douglas fir, western red cedar, arbutus and maple trees. Local First Nations and Parks Canada are implementing the cull to recover the herbs and trees. The deer eradication is part of a $5.9-million contract that has produced a backlash from animal advocates. In response, Parks Canada took media members to Sidney Island to show the impact of fallow deer. Restoring the island’s understory is crucial to protect Sidney Island from significant wildfire impacts if one were to strike it. According to forest ecologist Becky Miller, the grand fir makes up a majority of the forest floor seedlings.

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Preparations Being Made for Pumps to Maintain Cowichan River

By Mike Patterson
My Cowichan Valley Now
August 30, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

COWICHAN LAKE, BC — Pumps will soon be installed at the Cowichan Lake weir to maintain the flow of water from the lake into the Cowichan River, if needed, next month. Catalyst Crofton pulp and paper mill Environmental Manager Brian Houle says unless there is an adequate amount of rain, the lake level will be too low to continue gravity feeding the river as of September 12th. The flow of water over the weir into the Cowichan River has been reduced to 4.5 cubic metres per second since the beginning of July. He says they will start moving pumps out of storage at locations in Canada and transporting them to the weir in Lake Cowichan next week. The Cowichan Watershed Board is currently lobbying the province for funding to raise the level of the dam by 70 centimetres.

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Ottawa investigating logging company over bridge in Alberta’s Kananaskis Country

The Canadian Press in CBC News
August 30, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Federal officials are investigating an Alberta logging company for building a bridge without a permit over a river considered crucial habitat for threatened species. “Fisheries and Oceans Canada is investigating the construction of a bridge over the Highwood River,” said department spokesman Rodney Drover. “Construction of infrastructure near water may require review to ensure compliance with relevant provisions under the Fisheries Act.” Spray Lake Sawmill is building the bridge in a popular recreation area called Kananaskis Country in order to reach a large swath of forest it has slated for clearcutting. Fisheries and Oceans has confirmed no authorizations for the bridge have been issued, although the Species at Risk Act requires permits for such activities in critical wildlife habitat.

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Former councillor urges fire guard ‘headband’ be cut around Salmon Arm

By lachlan Labere
Salmon Arm Observer
August 30, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

A former municipal councillor is urging the city to pursue creating a fire guard “headband” around Salmon Arm. In a letter to the city, Chad Eliason encourages working with the province and local forest companies to plan and log a fire break around the community. He noted communities need fire breaks and FireSmart programs cost money. “This would mean expanding their licences into areas that they would not have been able to log previously,” wrote Eliason. “I envision a headband-like ring around the city. “While not acceptable in the past as it was not aesthetically pleasing, it could make a big difference.” Eliason said the initiative would result in jobs, increased safety and trails. Coun. Kevin Flynn saw merit to Eliason’s suggestion, though jokingly said he didn’t wish to give the former councillor credit, as it’s something he’s “been talking about forever.”

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BC Wildfire Service head says challenges with Shuswap residents will inform agency’s policies

By Tim Petruk
Castanet
August 30, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The head of the BC Wildfire Service says the agency is willing to work alongside community members like those in the North Shuswap as destructive blazes become a more common occurrence. Cliff Chapman, director of operations for the BCWS, said he knows the agency has to be nimble given the increasing frequency of interface fires. The BCWS took a lot of heat earlier this month from residents of the North Shuswap, who claimed they were not consulted in the firefighting process and not allowed to help protect their homes. That has since changed. Over the weekend, the BCWS trained a number of North Shuswap residents, and they are now working the fire line — paid employees alongside regular BCWS crew members. “Climate-related emergency hazards are on the rise in B.C., and with it we need to be willing to adjust, willing to evolve and willing to learn from the things that we’re experiencing right now,” Chapman said.

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Legacy fund established for Cranbrook Community Forest Society

By Ryley McCormack
My East Kootenay Now
August 30, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Jean-Ann Debreceni, Sandra Haley & Lisa Barnes

The Cranbrook Community Forest Society (CCFS) will receive annual grants from the Community Foundation of the Kootenay Rockies (CFKR) thanks to a newly established legacy fund. This comes as the Cranbrook Community Forest Society Legacy Fund surpassed its $20,000 goal and raised over $30,000 for the permanent endowment. “The annual grant from this fund will support our ongoing work to maintain and enhance the Cranbrook Community Forest, which is such an important recreational, educational, and environmental resource in our community,” said Joseph Cross, CCFS Board Chair. CFKR officials said the campaign was kicked off in the spring of 2022 with a $500 donation from Jean-Ann Debreceni, a long-time user of the Community Forest, along with her husband, Joe.

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Bureaucracy and ‘balls’: Why BC’s forests are still full of wildfire fuel

By Tyler Olsen
Fraser Valley Current
August 31, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Of all the ways to protect BC communities from increasingly furious wildfire seasons, few have been as widely endorsed as the tactical, controlled use of fire. Both experts and provincial officials say fire is one of the best ways to clear forested areas of dangerous (and unnaturally large) amounts of dead underbrush and dry vegetation. BC’s forest minister Bruce Ralston recently attributed the slow progress on mitigating BC’s forest fuel threat to a lack of willingness by communities to apply for existing funding. But conversations with fire experts, local emergency officials, and the province’s own staff reveal the issues are much deeper and more complex than that. They involve bureaucratic obstacles, human resource challenges, funding caps, and the weather itself. And looming just as large is a political and philosophical question: Are BC’s risk-averse institutions brave enough to take the heat if and when a burn gets out of control?

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Conservationists invoke Clayoquot anniversary to press old-growth preservation

By Derrick Penner
The Vancouver Sun
August 29, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER — B.C. conservation groups have launched a new campaign to pressure government on protecting old-growth forests on the anniversary of the seminal 1993 Clayoquot Sound protests. The blockade won some protections for Clayoquot Sound, but the Sierra Club of B.C. argues logging in Vancouver Island’s remaining ancient stands hasn’t slowed. Since 1993, according to a Sierra Club mapping project, some 35 per cent of the old-growth forest that stood at that time has been logged. …“A breakthrough to reverse this pattern and safeguard our best ally in the fight against the climate emergency will require much greater support from the provincial and federal governments to overcome deeply entrenched industrial logging interests,” said Wieting, a forest and climate campaigner. …Logging deferrals have been controversial for B.C.’s forest industry, which has argued that the province has already protected significant swaths of old-growth forests, and reducing access to valuable timber would come at the expense of existing forestry jobs.

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Amidst wildfires B.C supports forest protection, government resists

By Bruce Uzelman
Nanaimo News Bulletin
August 29, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

A new poll by EKOS Research reveals a large proportion of Canadians, 80%, agree that governments in Canada should do more to protect and restore the boreal forest, even if it means imposing limits on the logging companies.  …BC residents may not be familiar with the BC Forest Practices Board, an advisory agency, but they clearly are sensitive to the message in their report, “Forest and Fire Management in BC”.    .,..Provincial governments, and definitely the British Columbia government, tolerate activities in the forests which have proven extremely damaging.  …Landscape Fire Management is the board’s recommended response.  …The application of LFM has scarcely begun. Really, no risk reduction activity has occurred beyond the wildland urban interface, and insufficient reduction has happened within the interface.

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More than $11K in fines issued during record Alberta wildfire season

By Madeleine Cummings
CBC News
August 29, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Alberta government has levied more than $11,000 in fines for wildfire-prevention violations this year.  Nineteen violation tickets, with fines totalling $11,520, were given out between April 1 and July 31, according to statistics provided by Alberta’s forestry and parks ministry.  Most of the tickets were for failing to extinguish an open outdoor fire during a fire ban, which comes with a $600 fine.   Tickets have also been issued this year for operating equipment or an off-highway vehicle during a restriction, burning without a permit, and breaking the conditions of a fire permit. All are violations of the Forest and Prairie Protection Act.  A small portion of the tickets were levied under other legislation.  More fines have been levied this year than last year, but in the past five years, 2020 saw the highest number handed out.

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After fires, B.C. communities at higher risk of floods and landslides

By Glenda Luymes
Vancouver Sun
August 29, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Where fires burn, floods often follow.  The environmental impacts of B.C.’s devastating wildfire season will be felt well beyond this summer, experts say, with numerous examples from past years where communities hit by fire found themselves facing another disaster months later.  Because burned slopes no longer effectively absorb and moderate rainfall and snowmelt, flooding and landslides are often part of the “cascading effects” of wildfires, said John Clague, an earth sciences professor at Simon Fraser University.  …Fire also causes a big risk of landslides and debris flows, particularly on steep slopes that have been logged in the past, he explained. …The risk can remain elevated for a long time, said Clague, as the needles, stems and branches of large trees that once intercepted precipitation and shaded snowy slopes don’t do that job anymore.

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Regional District of Central Kootenay asked to advocate for West Kootenay sawmills

By John Boivin
The Nelson Star
August 28, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Representatives of the region’s lumber manufacturers are looking for closer relations and support from the West Kootenay’s local governments. The Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK) board meeting opened with a visit from the new president of the Interior Lumber Manufacturers’ Association (ILMA), Paul Rasmussen, and local business leader Ken Kalesnikoff. One of the most critical issues facing the industry, they said, is the fibre supply. Between cuts in annual harvest allowances, forest fires and economic uncertainty, supply lines that feed the mills are being threatened. …“I’ve never seen the supply as bad as it is now,” added Kalesnikoff, whose company now buys up to a quarter of its logs from the United States. “At this time, we have about two weeks of supply.” The men asked the RDCK to pass on their message to provincial leaders at next month’s Union of BC Municipalities conference.

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Calls grow for a national wildfire service, while Canada battles worst wildfire season

By Katie DeRosa
The Vancouver Sun
August 27, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

On Friday, provincial officials said 131 structures, including homes, were razed in the Shuswap region. …If this were Australia, which relies on a massive army of volunteer “firies” to respond to brush fires across the country, locals like Mark Libera might be trained and contracted as volunteer firefighters. But instead, tensions flared between Shuswap residents who say they felt abandoned by the B.C. Wildfire Service and government officials. That’s led to calls for more wildfire resources… [but] no one can agree on what those resources should look like. Some have called for Ottawa to establish a national wildfire service with trained crews that can be sent wherever needed in the country. Premier David Eby said he’s more in favour of an Australia-style volunteer fire service. …Michael Flannigan, an expert on wildfire behaviour and landscape fire modelling, and NDP MP Richard Cannings are among the loudest voices calling for a national wildfire service.

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Northwest Territories MLAs approve additional $75M for fire suppression

By Emily Blake
Cabin Radio
August 28, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Northwest Territories government now has a budget of around $100 million dedicated to 2023 wildfire suppression as it deals with the ongoing crisis. During a sitting hosted in Inuvik on Monday, MLAs unanimously passed a bill allocating an additional $75 million to the wildfire suppression budget for the financial year. That budget originally contained around $21.8 million. …“The Department of Finance is taking steps to ensure that the government remains in compliance with the fiscal responsibility policy, as well as how best to mitigate the financial impacts of the wildfire season.” …The minister said based on current estimates, the new budget should be enough to address this year’s wildfire season. ….Wawzonek added the NWT government has “all but wiped out” its surplus and is facing a “litany of problems,” including not just wildfires but also low water levels affecting the power corporation and barges.

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Why are Americans smarter about forests than us?

By James Steidle – Stop the Spray
Prince George Citizen
August 29, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

James Steidle

Our boreal forests are changing.  More intense fires following in greater frequency are occurring from Alaska clear through to Quebec.  This is giving deciduous species like aspen and birch the upper hand in our unmanaged northern forests. This is an undeniable fact, but what I want to zero in on is how Americans feel about this shift compared to Canadians. Last week, Toronto writer Hannah Hoag wrote an article in the Globe and Mail. The headline was ominous. “As Canada’s boreal forests burn again and again, they won’t grow back the same way,” it says, before noting this shift “threatens to recur across Canada’s boreal forest.” …Compare that to Nathanael Johnson who wrote about the same conifer-deciduous forest shift in the American publication Grist two years ago.  You couldn’t come up with a more contrary headline: “Rising from the ashes, Alaska’s forests come back stronger,” it says.

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Climate change and increased wildfires disproportionately affect First Nations

By Doug Cuthand
The StarPhoenix
August 26, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The events of this summer are a harbinger of things to come, and it’s time for serious discussion on the climate crisis. When the cost to Canada of the wildfires, the floods and the drought are tabulated, the bill will be enormous and it will be a continuing fact in the future. First Nations people live on the front lines and the cost of the forest fires has been especially hard on our people. Whether it was the loss of property or weeks spent in evacuation centres, our people suffered and, in some cases, disproportionately. Earlier this month the federal government provided the Prince Albert Grand Council with half a million dollars to train firefighters. This two-year pilot project will be delivered by the Grand Council’s emergency and protective services program and will provide both traditional knowledge and modern firefighting techniques. This type of approach should be repeated across the country.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

We can’t watch our world go up in smoke, we must build better climate resilience

By Stuart Hood and Robin Hawker, Climate Resilience
Business in Vancouver
August 31, 2023
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada West

With new emergency declarations every year, extreme heatwaves, wildfires and smoke are quickly becoming our new normal across Canada – and climate scientists project this will only get worse under future climate change. All these events are a deafening call to action about the climate crisis. …Heatwaves and wildfire smoke are also particularly concentrated in urban areas.  Extreme heat, wildfires and smoke must become core considerations when we design and retrofit buildings across Canada. However, while our industry is starting to design buildings for extreme heat, it is further behind on smoke. …Starting with new buildings is good, but it concentrates benefits in areas experiencing growth and development. …Moving forward, we must design and build our buildings to much higher standards, such as the German Passiv Haus standard. …On top of that, we now need a sharper focus on how to build resilience within our existing buildings. 

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Health & Safety

BC Forest Safety Council News

BC Forest Safety Council
August 31, 2023
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada, Canada West

The fall edition of the BC Forest Safety Council newsletter is packed with great stories and announcements. Some highlights include:

  • 2023 Vancouver Island Safety Conference, October 28th in Nanaimo, BC
  • Nominations are open for the annual Safety Awards – nominate an individual, crew, team, division, contractor, company, supplier, consultant, etc. 
  • Seeing the Forest for the Trees – David Adshead helps you identify hazard trees
  • Commercial vehicles and electronic logging devices
  • A new role for Steven Mueller – congrats on becoming Manager, Prevention Field Services in Prince George

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Wildland firefighters battle mental health, labour challenges atop deadly blazes

By Tyler Griffin
The Canadian Press in the National Post
August 27, 2023
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada, Canada West

Two-week work cycles. Shifts that can last up to 18 hours. Sleeping in tents. Dangerous and unpredictable work environments. Those are the working conditions for many wildland firefighters across the country as Canada contends with a record wildfire season. …“There’s no question that we are seeing burnout,” said Steve Lemon, safety and well-being officer with the BC Wildfire Service. …“We’ve been engaged pretty full on since the beginning of May really, without any respite,” he said. “The length of the fire season, the intensity, the long-term drought that we’ve been experiencing, that all leads to more complex fires, bigger fires. Those will all undoubtedly have an impact on people.” That’s weighing on the service’s approximately 700 full-time staff, who would typically take advantage of the off-season to rest and recover, he said. …The BC Wildfire Service offers mental health supports that include a 24/7 dedicated counselling line, said Alex Lane, a firefighter.

Additional coverage in Global News by Isaac Callan: ‘We are sick of it’: Ontario forest firefighters burning out as concerns grow

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Forest Fires

Will the wildfires ‘being held’ near Yellowknife ever be ‘under control’? Maybe by winter, officials say

By Natalie Pressman
CBC News
August 30, 2023
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

Two of the wildfires burning in the N.W.T.’s North Slave region are now classified as “being held” — and experts say the change has to do with controls around the perimeters. The fire between Yellowknife and Behchokǫ̀, as well as the fire near the Ingraham Trail, are still burning large areas of land — more than 167,000 and 50,000 hectares, respectively — but the new classification means officials expect the fires won’t grow beyond controlled boundaries, according to terms defined by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC). Phane Ray, incident commander for the fires in the North Slave Complex, said in a Monday news conference that cooler temperatures and a little bit of rain created opportunities for firefighting crews. …Ray said crews are working 50 metres into the fire and that’s eliminating the potential for flames to spread back toward the community.

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B.C. government says it’s spent $585M so far this year fighting wildfires

By Tim Petruk
Business in Vancouver
August 28, 2023
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

The B.C. government has spent more than half a billion dollars so far this year fighting a historically bad wildfire season, and that number is expected to continue to rise in the coming weeks as hundreds of blazes continue to burn.  B.C. Forestry Minister Bruce Ralston said during a news conference on Monday afternoon that the price tag for 2023 wildland firefighting costs to date is about $585 million.  Despite that eye-popping figure, Ralston said Victoria is not concerned about running out of money.  “There is no financial challenge to the province — the money is there,” he said. “Whatever it takes to protect people and property, the money is there.”  Cliff Chapman, director of operations for the BC Wildfire Service, said the two biggest line items on the agency’s budget are aircraft and personnel.

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Lightning sparks about 40 new B.C. wildfires, including 18 on Island

Canadian Press in the Victoria Times Colonist
August 30, 2023
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

Lightning strikes have sparked dozens of new wildfires in British Columbia — including 18 on the Island — as thunderstorms brought mixed blessings to the province’s battle against its worst fire season on record.  A forecast of rain promised relief for some wildfire zones in the south and Interior, but lightning associated with the storms triggered most of the 47 new blazes recorded in the past day, pushing the total number of fires in the province above 400 on Tuesday.  Thirty-seven lightning-caused fires started in the Coastal fire region, including Vancouver Island, but there were also new lightning-related blazes in the Kamloops and Prince George regions.  …Eighteen wildfires on Vancouver Island were linked to lightning strikes on Monday and through Tuesday afternoon. …There were 417 wildfires burning in B.C. Tuesday afternoon, including 197 classified as out of control and 12 “wildfires of note,” meaning they’re highly visible or pose a threat to public safety.

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Fire restrictions in effect as Wood Buffalo Complex wildfire grows

MIX 103.7
August 28, 2023
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

ALBERTA – The fire danger south of Lake Athabasca is going from high to very high, while the hazard north of Lake Athabasca is listed as Extreme. The Wood Buffalo Complex fire remains out of control and has grown to over 471,000 hectares. The blaze is now 3.1 kilometers from Fort Fitzgerald and 3.4 kilometers from Fort Smith. There are 376 personnel which includes 86 pieces of heavy equipment, 24 helicopters, and 150 firefighters and structure protection personnel responding to the Wood Buffalo Complex. …A fire advisory is in effect for the entire Fort McMurray Forest Area. Under this advisor, existing fire permits are still valid but may be suspended or canceled if warm, dry weather continues.

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Lightning sparks wildfires in Strathcona Park as storms roll over Vancouver Island

By Jeff Bell
Victoria Times Colonist
August 29, 2023
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

Lightning from thunderstorms Monday on Vancouver Island sparked a series of wildfires in Strathcona Park. Coastal Fire Centre information officer Kimberly Kelly said there were five small fires spread around the park by mid-afternoon, including one burning close to Highway 28 near Gold River. Firefighters were focusing on the latter fire, with two helicopters involved in fighting the blaze, Kelly said. Others were in steep, inaccessible terrain and were only being monitored, she said. Kelly said while Monday’s thunderstorms were accompanied by rain in some cases, that’s no reason to relax when it comes to being careful outdoors after a stretch of hot, dry weather. “The drought conditions are going to persist for quite some time.” Monday’s thunderstorm warning, which included a chance of large hail, damaging winds and torrential rainfall, covered an area from Port Alberni to Lake Cowichan and northward almost to Port McNeill, said Environment Canada meteorologist Armel Castellan.

Additional BC coverage in CTV News: Lightning sparks out-of-control wildfires on Vancouver Island

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Number of homes destroyed or damaged by wildfire in B.C.’s Okanagan rises to 189

CBC News
August 28, 2023
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

The latest on the wildfires in BC: The Central Okanagan Emergency Operation Centre says new assessments have revealed 189 structures were burned by the McDougall Creek wildfire, up from 181. The province says 8,000 properties continue to be under an evacuation order due to wildfires, while 54,000 are under an evacuation alert. Officials in B.C.’s Shuswap began notifying residents Monday about properties affected by the Bush Creek East wildfire. People in B.C.’s northwest are once again watching fires closely as the the Village of Witset issued an evacuation alert. Air quality advisories stemming from wildfire smoke remain in effect for B.C.’s South Coast and southern Interior, along with a severe thunderstorm watch for Vancouver Island. The B.C. Wildfire Service says from April 1, it’s spent an estimated $585 million on fire suppression efforts.

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Hay River fire crosses highway, crews save buildings

Cabin Radio
August 28, 2023
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

Yellowknife, Ndılǫ, Dettah, Ingraham Trail – “These fires remain out-of-control. Although these fires are not progressing as dramatically as others in the NWT, that does not mean the danger has passed,” the wildfire agency stated, using capitals. …“Winds should ease later tonight, but temperatures are expected to hit a record high on Monday to the mid-twenties, well above seasonal averages. …Hay River, KFN, Enterprise – The fire near Hay River jumped Highway 2 near the intersection with Highway 5 on Sunday, during what NWT Fire called a “very active” day. …Fort Smith – The fire hopped across parts of some containment lines yesterday and crews are working to contain that along the Foxholes Road, an area east of Connie’s Road near Highway 5, and on the south side of Highway 5 between Thebacha Road and Bell Rock.

Additional coverage in CTV News by Noushin Ziafati: ‘Preparing for the worst, hoping for the best’: Evacuation order issued in Hay River, N.W.T.

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Highway 1 reopens, flames visible from Shuswap wildfire

The Salmon Arm Observer
August 27, 2023
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

SALMON ARM, BC — Highway 1 has reopened. Drivers using this highway are not permitted to stop where evacuation alerts and orders are in place. Spokesperson Derek Sutherland said wildlife is posing a problem as food begins to rot in people’s homes where the power has been out for several days. “We’ve placed garbage bins at Scotch Creek Market, Celista Fire Hall, and the Ross Creek Store to facilitate the removal.” …Fire behaviour above Sorrento is expected to increase and flames are visible from the highway. “We have some bridges burnt out on the Adams Lake Road, or Holding Road… That bridge is being open by the Ministry of Transportation in the evening between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m., but closed during the day while crews are working on it. Squilax-Anglemont Road remains shut down for safety. …The Bush Creek East wildfire has destroyed 131 structures and damaged another 37. 

 

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