Region Archives: Canada West

A local community forest organization is developing a first in the province for strategic wildfire protection planning among tenure holders in B.C.  Under landscape-level planning, Slocan Integral Forestry Cooperative (SIFCo) has undertaken “the art and science of developing land management plans” for tenured areas or areas the provincial government grants the rights to for harvesting timber.  Seven years ago SIFCo looked to Forest Enhancement Society of B.C. (FESBC) for money to implement a landscape-level strategic wildfire protection plan and, since then, SIFCo has received $2.25 million for wildfire mitigation work.  “We have made significant progress toward completing our ground-breaking plan which aims to mitigate wildfire risks and better protect the region,” said Stephan Martineau, manager of SIFCo, in a press release.  The work undertaken by SIFCo through FESBC funding has created and been part of over 1,000 hectares of fuel-managed areas.

A First Nation with reserves north and west of Hope has signed an agreement with the provincial government to help manage a large debris trap along the Fraser River. According to the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness, the Shxw’ōwhámél First Nation — through a joint venture with a local construction company — will be responsible for the set of floating booms near Agassiz that capture thousands of logs during spring runoff and prevent blockages and damage further down the river. The booms were established in 1979 as a joint venture between the federal and provincial governments, and the coastal logging industry. The Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness took over in 2011. “As much as 100,000 cubic metres of woody debris — about 2,000 logging truck loads — is intercepted annually, mostly during the high-water period of the spring runoff and during periods of excessive rainfall,” the ministry statement read.

After nearly a week away, residents of Edson, Alta., and Yellowhead County have been given the green light to return home. The wildfire evacuation order issued June 9 will lift at 6 p.m. Thursday, allowing residents to head home, town and county officials said during a noon update on social media.  However, an evacuation alert is now in effect for residents in the region, meaning people should be prepared to evacuate on short notice within four hours.  “From a firefighting perspective this fire is like holding a tiger by the tail. We cannot turn our backs on it. This is the reality,” Christine Beveridge, Edson’s chief administrative officer, said during Thursday’s update. The town, 200 kilometres west of Edmonton, is among dozens of communities across Alberta forced to evacuate during this year’s historic wildfire season.

Jeff McWilliams has more than 30 years of experience in forest resource management and wood processing operations, both as a consultant and in private enterprise. His main areas of expertise are in strategic assessment and planning for various forest resource applications, silviculture practices and operational planning audits, silviculture and stand management prescriptions, and management of harvesting and silviculture operations.

A Trillion Trees: Restoring our Forests by Trusting in Nature (2022). It’s hard still to get a clear sense of what to believe about the state of the world’s forests. Our government claims that Canada is a world-leader in sustainable forestry, yet supports the pelletization of B.C.’s remaining primary forests and refuses to report on the carbon emissions of the logging industry. In other words, time for a book like this — an authoritative take on the state of the world’s forests. …In plain language, this book distills a library of recent science to offer an update on what we now know about forests and their ecosystems worldwide, before describing what he calls “the great restoration” now underway — efforts at rewilding and establishing sustainable forest commons, managed by local people — rather than the dreadful Draxes of the world.

The B.C Wildfire Service (BCWS) has now spent $105.3 million fighting fires so far this season, burning through half of its allocated budget well before the start of the peak fire season. The service provided the figures in a statement to CBC News on Monday. The BCWS’s total budget for the 2023 fire season is $204 million. In 2022, the budget was $199 million. “However, B.C. Wildfire Service has the authority to spend as required over those amounts for suppression activity, and that is funded, if needed, through government contingencies,” the Ministry of Forests said in a statement. “Wildfire threats to communities will be addressed and are not constrained by the budget.” The costs, just two weeks into June, are well ahead of trends in recent years. …The provincial government has increased the budget for the BCWS as the agency transitions to a year-round service,  describing it as “the largest investment in the history of the wildfire service.”

Lori Daniels

We’re just beginning to understand a wildfire’s impact on an ecosystem. Fires play complex roles that become even more perplexing when wildlife are in the mix. University of British Columbia (UBC) experts provide some insights. As Canada contends with what has been deemed its worst wildfire season this century, attention should also be turned to the ecosystems left in the wake of the blazes and what happens to the animals that dwell within. Instinctively, people may want to focus on the damage and mortality rate of each event, but that’s not how researchers decipher the ecological impacts. …Lori Daniels, a UBC forestry professor and wildfire expert, said, “animals like snakes, turtles and salamanders…will go to underground burrows, if they can. The amazing thing is that the heat of the fire, in general, kind of stays near the surface.” Adding, our highly altered landscapes will need improved forest management to create more resilient ecosystems.

An approaching wildfire had displaced students from the Clearwater River Dene Nation in northern Saskatchewan — but now they are leading the charge in restoring nearby forests.  Twenty-one students from the Clearwater River Dene School have helped plant 9,000 tree seedlings in the forests surrounding their community. This came weeks after a mandatory evacuation order was issued for their community.  The tree planting initiative is part of a community-driven project called Beading a New World: Collective Climate Accountability and Adaptation Project.  The project is funded by Environment and Climate Change Canada. It aims to establish Indigenous communities as equal treaty partners in Canada’s transition to a low-carbon, sustainable and decolonial society. …The project allowed the students to work with a soil scientist and terrestrial ecologists. The group also travelled up to a campsite at Patterson Lake run by NexGen — a Saskatchewan energy company — to help plant trees there.

Strong partnerships, wildfire protection and community involvement helped the Williams Lake Community Forest win the 2023 Robin Hood Memorial Award for excellence in community forestry. “Community forestry continues to make a valuable contribution to overall forest management in our province,” said Bruce Ralston, Minister of Forests. “The Williams Lake Community Forest is contributing to the transition to a modern forestry sector, supporting stronger, more resilient communities. Through their commitment to innovative forest practices and partnerships, they are generating economic opportunities for British Columbians.” The Robin Hood Memorial Award for Excellence in Community Forestry, established in 2016, is given annually to the B.C. community forest that best exemplifies the values exhibited by the B.C. community-forest program and the late B.C. community forestry pioneer, Robin Hood. The award winner receives a $10,000 grant.

KAMLOOPS, BC and BURNABY, BC – As wildfires burn across Canada and in B.C., a new survey shows that British Columbians are worried about the impacts of wildfires in remote, at-risk communities, and say more needs to be done to protect against wildfires. To help, BCAA and FireSmart BC have teamed up on a new multi-year partnership with the goal to protect more homes in more B.C. communities against the spread of wildfires. According to the BCAA-FireSmart BC survey, 91% of British Columbians anticipate a bad wildfire season this year, and 90% fear for vulnerable communities’ ability to recover from a fire. British Columbians also say they want to become better informed about wildfire resilience, with 72% indicating they want to learn how to better protect their home, and 88% saying that homeowners need more support to do so.

Erin Robinson (centre left)

Quesnel residents are sleeping more soundly, property by property and neighbourhood by neighbourhood, thanks to the award-winning efforts of Erin Robinson.  Robinson is the City of Quesnel’s forestry initiatives manager, and in addition to spearheading scientific research and industrial change initiatives, also leads the efforts to reduce wildfire damage within the municipality. For this latter focus, Robinson was one of three winners of the 2023 Lynn Orstad Award.  “In memory of Lynn Orstad, FireSmart BC, created this award to recognize women in B.C. or Alberta who have contributed to furthering wildfire resilience in their community, agency or province,” said the City of Quesnel in an announcement honouring Robinson.  “The Lynn Orstad Award – Women in Wildfire Resilience is an annual award honouring women who have made significant contributions in wildfire resilience and advocacy efforts.”

Highway 4 is expected to open to limited travel as early as the weekend of June 24-25, 2023, after a wildfire closed the route on June 6. …The roadway will reopen only when it is safe for drivers. Assessment of dangerous trees and slope stability is ongoing with work underway to eventually allow traffic to safely traverse the affected section along Highway 4 at Cameron Lake Bluffs. Crews continue to clear debris and remove unsafe trees to ensure a safe work environment for further repairs, and the installation of protective measures for the travelling public. A temporary load-bearing wall will be constructed in the eastbound lane of Highway 4 as a safeguard against potential falling debris that could result from an unstable slope. Protective mesh suspended by cranes will act as a barrier to falling rock and trees as the area continues to recover from fire damage. The phased reopening will initially operate with single-lane-alternating-traffic…

Additional coverage in the Victoria Times Colonist, by Carla Wilson: Highway 4 to remain closed for at least another 10 days

A group of logging contractors from the Nicola Valley have penned a letter to the provincial government regarding concerns with the province’s cutting permit referral process and high stumpage fees, along with economic and environmental worries over wildfire affected timber being left unharvested. The letter was sent to a number of local and provincial elected officials, and addressed to provincial Minister of Forestry, Bruce Ralston. The letter is from an unidentified group of local logging contractors who said they are requesting more clarity on timing for key issues like cutting permit issuance and responsible reforestation practices. “An estimated $100,000,000 in logging machinery is sitting idle and therefore, approximately 350 direct employees are not receiving pay-cheques,” states the letter. “These are tax paying citizens that are considering moving out of the province to keep their livelihood.”

In 2015, scientist Ellen Whitman set out on a visit to Wood Buffalo National Park, a vast wilderness spanning northeastern Alberta and the Northwest Territories. At that time, the land had been subject to two major wildfires a decade apart — the most recent in 2014. “The first fire burned a very large, mature pine stand and it was regrowing back as pine with a little bit of aspen mixed in,” recalled Whitman, a forest fire research specialist at Natural Resources Canada. “Then that second fire killed all those seedlings and suddenly it’s basically a grassland with a few scattered aspen trees.” Her team’s findings are part of a growing body of evidence showing how the changing climate and increased severity of wildfires are altering the makeup of North American forests. …But there is evidence that fires are becoming larger and more intense, changing what grows back after the flames go out.

Jesse Zeman

Dave Quinn

Although massive wildfires can cause disruption and danger to both wildlife and humans, environmentalists in B.C. note these wildfires can also bring benefits to certain species. According to Jesse Zeman, executive director of the B.C. Wildlife Federation, burned forest trees release nutrients into the soil, and the absence of canopy barriers allows for increased sunlight. …Dave Quinn, a program co-ordinator for the conservation advocacy group Wildsight, based in Kimberley, B.C., says if the fire burns the appropriate type of soil under favourable conditions, it can lead to the growth of a diverse range of deciduous trees and shrubs, which can then serve as an abundant source of food for wildlife. …Quinn recommends against replanting burned areas with coniferous trees like pine, fir, and spruce, as these species can become overgrown and contribute to larger wildfires.

We should know within weeks whether a relatively recent shift in government response to wildfires is having the desired effect, or whether the changes brought on by climate change will prove too daunting. By all accounts, B.C. is likely heading into its worst wildfire season in the province’s history, dwarfing even the catastrophic years of 2017 and 2018, which saw an average of 1,700 fires consume more than 1.2 million hectares each year. …After 2017 and 2018, the BC NDP government gradually moved to a “365 day” approach that deploys work crews year-round to do prep work in the forests, to mitigate the damage caused by wildfire as much as possible. …But will all this prep work be enough? …So far this season, more than a half million hectares have been consumed by wildfires. …Thankfully, as of this writing, only the northeast town of Tumbler Ridge has faced an evacuation order.

A dry spring here is expected to continue through the summer as temperatures continue to remain above normal, escalating wildfire risk, said Environment Canada meteorologist Ken Dosanjh. Between March and May, Terrace typically receives 224.5 millimetres of precipitation, but this year it received about 60 per cent of its normal… “We saw a mean temperature around 13C in Terrace, whereas the normal is around 10.6C,” Dosanjh said. …Environment Canada’s main concern with these ongoing patterns in temperature and precipitation, especially over the next few weeks, is the ongoing drought. …“The lack of precipitation is hardening the ground, so it becomes more hydrophobic in time.” …BC Wildfire Service Lead Fire Weather Forecaster Matt MacDonald said an unusually dry October, coupled with record-breaking temperatures in May set the stage for current conditions. …Forecasting months in advance can be challenging, but Environment Canada’s Dosanjh said there are some early indications that are concerning.

Slocan Valley, B.C. – In a world increasingly threatened by wildfires and climate change, a forest cooperative has taken proactive measures to safeguard its community and surrounding natural resources. The Slocan Integral Forestry Cooperative (SIFCo) embarked on the journey of wildfire risk reduction long before this work came on the general public’s radar, emphasizing the urgency of addressing this pressing issue proactively. With financial support from the Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC), the forestry cooperative has made significant strides toward reducing wildfire risk, climate change adaptation and setting a remarkable example for others. …The work undertaken by SIFCo has essentially created and/or been part of creating over 1,000 hectares of fuel-managed areas, leaving behind a more resilient forest landscape and helping better safeguard both the community and the environment.

Peachland forest preservation advocates are in search of surviving Northern Pygmy Owls. A rare species of bird found in B.C., documented sightings of the Northern Pygmy Owls, or lack of them, will offer some observation about the habitat loss in the local watershed. …Taryn Skalbania, co-founder of the Peachland Watershed Protection Alliance said the underlying purpose is vital to their grassroots organization – to protect the Peachland watersheds from further clear-cut logging degradation. …Skalbania says the PWPA believes the loss of birds or other wildlife in any watershed is a ‘red flag indicator’ that the balance between logging and preserving an ecosystem has shifted too far towards harvesting timber. …With the aggressive public profile the PWPA has adopted in recent years, Skalbania says their message has reached the B.C. Legislature with an invite to meet with officials later this month.