Region Archives: Canada West

Fourth generation logger Bob Marquis has lived and breathed the forestry industry on the Sunshine Coast as well as globe-trotted around the world competing in logger sports games for more than 40 years. He is a former logger sports world champion, and the current president of the Powell River Logger Sports Board. “I started [competing] for my brother’s memorial show,” said Marquis, in an interview with the Peak. “He passed away in a logging accident.” …Marquis believes the local event is “Canada’s first real global competitive sport here in Powell River.” In 1971, BC premier WAC Bennett proclaimed logger sports to be BC’s official industry sport. At this year’s event (July 14 – 16 at Loggers Memorial Bowl), BC’s minister for sport and culture, Lana Popham, will be at the opening ceremony to proclaim July 15 as Loggers Sports Day in BC. “It’s rare to have an industry where there has been a sport created,” said Marquis. 

In the ‘50s and ‘60s, when I was working in the logging industry, we still had fire seasons. We still burnt slash, or mitigated as they now call it. We still had forestry lookouts. …When the weather became hot, these towers were manned day and night. When smoke or fire was spotted the forestry station then took action. …As time wore on, the forest companies and government decided that it was too costly to keep burning slash as there seemed there was not too much of a risk. It was decided if people were told to be careful there was no reason to shut down the forest during hot weather.  …Now we see the effect: this has helped create the fire problem we have. I hope this will let people know, we need the forest to be closed during these hot spells. Why take a chance? Mitigate, as they now call it, must keep going on. 

How’s that tree doing in your backyard or on the boulevard in front of your house or business? Strong winds last weekend brought some trees crashing down in Kelowna. Now they’re facing another threat from worsening drought conditions. “We are moving into pretty severe drought conditions in our area. What we might see from some of our trees in the city are kind of going into an early fall dormancy,” says Tara Bergeson, urban forestry supervisor with the City of Kelowna. “They’ll conserve energy by…we might see browning off, we might see fall colours coming a little bit early. “If you see that happening for trees on your property or on city trees on the boulevard, they could certainly use an extra five gallon bucket of water once a week to help them through this period.”

VANCOUVER — British Columbia residents will get a clearer picture today about the status of the drought that has parched much of the province. Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Minister Bowinn Ma has scheduled a briefing with weather and wildfire experts to provide an overview of the drought situation. Earlier this week, she urged B.C. residents to take measures to conserve water, including watering lawns sparingly, taking shorter showers and doing only full loads of laundry. Ma said many communities are already implementing water restrictions, and further measures across larger areas of the province are anticipated. …Premier David Eby and Ma both said this week the situation in B.C. is serious and much of the province has never before experienced the current level of drought this early in the summer.

PRINCE GEORGE, BC — It is a fundamental democratic principle that the taxpayer may scrutinize the public expenses they contribute to. So why don’t they let us see what we are brushing and spraying? …But you don’t. Those spray maps and brushing maps showing the locations where this public money is being spent, which Stop the Spray BC demanded two years ago, are still not published, despite new reporting requirements in forestry. It’s not like they can’t do it. The Ministry of Environment in fact gets the maps before spraying. They just don’t have to alert the public. …Back in 2018, when I got the spray maps directly from Canfor, I publicized a cutblock that shouldn’t have been marked for spraying. And what do you know? The company backed out of spraying it. …Canfor stopped giving me the maps after that.

British Columbians are invited to share their thoughts on grizzly bear stewardship and commercial bear viewing, as the Province develops strategies to strengthen environmental stewardship and biodiversity. The Ministry of Forests is gathering public feedback on the draft Grizzly Bear Stewardship Framework and the Commercial Bear Viewing Strategy through two online questionnaires, which can be accessed online until Aug. 18, 2023. The Grizzly Bear Stewardship Framework will strengthen stewardship of bears and their habitat, better managing biodiversity in B.C. and ensuring bears continue to be an integral part of healthy ecosystems. The Commercial Bear Viewing Strategy provides guidance and recommendations for bear viewing throughout the province. The strategy includes guidance for viewing bears in a way that reduces viewer’s influence on bears and the development of area-based viewing plans to ensure a healthy and sustainable wildlife tourism industry in British Columbia. 

Sophie Wilkinson

Wildfire scientist Sophie Wilkinson joins Simon Fraser University to launch a new lab addressing how increasingly volatile fire seasons are impacting communities and ecosystems. Wilkinson is founder of the new Fire and Ecosystems Research Group and an assistant professor in the School of Resource & Environmental Management (REM). She’ll head SFU’s Fire and Ecosystems Research Lab, where researchers will study wildfire behaviour and impacts and the conditions that fuel them, including the importance and management of peatlands (bogs, fens and swamps). …As head of SFU’s Fire and Ecosystems Research Lab, Wilkinson and her group are developing ecosystem management strategies that reduce the negative impacts fire can have on all aspects of the environment and society. …Wilkinson, a former NSERC post-doctoral fellow with the University of Toronto’s School of Forestry FireLab, is also collaborating with the Canadian Forest Service, Provincial Parks and resource and land managers from various industries.

Between June and November 2022, Russia’s largest timber company, Segezha Group, opted out of logging moratorium in ecologically valuable forests across Russia. According to World Wildlife Fund data, the total forested area that Segezha withdrew from protection and is now allowed to log is 1.5 million hectares. In Karelia, the company has already decimated 680 hectares of valuable forest. Environmentalists said that Segezha refused to protect valuable forest because the principle of sustainable land use no longer made economic sense for the company. After the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, began the European Union imposed sanctions on the import of Russian timber products, and the international organization the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) suspended certifications for responsible forest management in Russia. …Environmentalists in Karelia have tried to persuade Segezha to maintain the ban on logging in intact taiga. “They said they’d lift the moratorium because the FSC had left Russia.

There is no simple solution to protecting residents on the floodplain of Chemainus River from the potential impacts of a one-in-200-year flood, according to a report from Northwest Hydraulic Consultants. The report… concluded that building continuous dikes to control the flow of water and other major initiatives is not recommended, and that preparing for smaller and more frequent flooding events might be preferable. …After some discussion around the fact that logging and other industries further up the Chemainus River are contributing to the build up of sediments and logs in the waterway, the committee decided to recommend that a resolution be brought to to the upcoming Union of B.C. Municipalities meeting in September. The motion would be about cost recovery from those industries to help pay for the removal of logs and sediments from the river.

Prince George, B.C.: the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation (HCTF) is proud to announce over $8 million in funding for 167 fish and wildlife conservation projects throughout B.C. this year, with over $1 million allocated to projects in the Omineca-Peace region. Among this year’s projects in Omineca-Peace is a multi-year prescribed burn program which aims to restore wild sheep habitat in current and historical ranges. By treating grasslands with prescribed fire, forage will improve in quantity and quality, and sightlines will increase for better predator detection. “The overall goal of the Wild Sheep Habitat burn program is to restore and enhance habitat to retain healthy and sustainable sheep populations and to support ecosystem diversity at a landscape scale,” says wildlife biologist and project leader Alicia Woods of Ridgeline Wildlife Enhancement. …The project is being supported by the HCTF and the Forest Enhancement Society of BC with $123,462 in co-funding this year.

Wells Gray Community Forest Corporation Manager George Brcko speaks with conviction about the mandate of the corporation in Wells Gray Country, including the District of Clearwater. “We are here to protect the forests, the park, the water, that’s what community forests do. We are committed to managing the landscape to maintain healthy forest ecosystems and promote a future resilient forest,” said Brcko. During this crucial wildfire season … preventative planning and fuel reduction is top of mind in what has become a very dry situation in the woods throughout the Interior of B.C. …Brcko’s vision includes coming up with inventive ways to benefit the community, possibly reward good stewardship and collectively create a loop that will encourage involvement in forestry clean up while providing some employment opportunities, especially in the transition following completion of the pipeline project in the North Thompson.

The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation passed a motion Monday to update the 14-year-old Stanley Park Forest Management Plan. “Back when the plan was created we didn’t have summer droughts as long as we have them now,” said Park Board Commissioner Tom Digby. “The park is not immune to the wildfires ravaging Canada.” Digby says updating the plan is long overdue in the midst of climate change. …One of the main concerns highlighted in the motion is the ongoing looper moth infestation that has killed about 20 per cent of the park’s trees. …The Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nation Development Corporation refused to comment on their involvement with the soon-to-be updated Stanley Park Forest Management Plan. …The park board has directed staff to prepare an assessment report on the looper moth infestation and fire risk by September this year.

Bowinn Ma, Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness… “We’re investing in mitigation projects across the province.” …The Province is providing more than $44 million through the Community Emergency Preparedness Fund, which will go to more than 70 projects in 63 communities under the Disaster Risk Reduction-Climate Adaptation program stream. …Funding may be used toward: risk mapping, risk assessments and planning (such as the development of a hazard map); land-use planning (amendments to relevant plans, bylaws or policies); purchasing equipment (such as monitoring equipment); delivering community education; and small-scale structural projects. More than $1.76 million is being provided to the City of Grand Forks for a flood-mitigation project that includes channel excavation, installation of 82 fish habitat structures and planting 45,000 trees and shrubs along the channel banks and riparian area along the Kettle River.

A B.C. man has been ordered to pay the province $100,688 for what it cost the government to fight a wildfire he ignited in 2019. The decision, upheld by the Forest Appeals Commission, came following a complaint by the BC Wildfire Service (BCWS), after they responded to a 2019 wildfire in the Skeena-Stikine region. The decision … shows the liability individuals can face when they don’t plan before lighting a fire. “The total area burned was 11.5 hectares but could have been much larger if BCWS was not immediately dispatched,” said commission panel chair Cynthia Lu. On March 31, 2019, Realtor Eldon Whalen lit a burn pile on his property. Over the coming weeks, he returned regularly with buckets of water and hand tools to monitor the fire. But 40 days later he saw smoke and flames. He called 911 and told dispatchers he didn’t have the gear or water to fight the fire.

Herald Friedenberger, a long-time Nakusp local, wasn’t always privy to logging.  But he and his son Daniel Friedenberger have seen many changes over the years in the Nakusp forestry operations.  Originally from Manitoba, Herald moved to Nakusp in the 1960s when he was 21, looking for work.  His plan was to earn money (at the time, $2 per hour) to buy a new combine for his family farm back home.  Growing up on his family farm is where his knowledge of trapping started. Gophers and other prairie animals earned the young man two cents per tail.  Today, in Nakusp he owns three trap lines with his son and wife. And, has retired as a successful independent logging contractor.  …The work here was different.

Courtney Brown & Digger Pond

The 17th edition of the BC Bike Race returned to Vancouver Island last week, with nearly 700 mountain bike riders from 35 countries competing on some of the most exceptional trails in the world. Mosaic Forest Management provided sponsorship and an access agreement to support the world-class event that has been welcoming riders to Vancouver Island and Coastal BC since 2007. Mosaic and the BC Bike Race signed a memorandum of understanding to share commitments to public safety and environmental values on the land base. The BC Bike Race competitors completed 25-50 km a day on trails in Duncan, North Cowichan, and Campbell River, along with race days in Nanaimo and Cumberland that featured trails on Mosaic’s managed forest lands. “We are pleased to support this world-class event that brings racers and visitors to Vancouver Island to experience some of the most scenic and challenging trails,” said Rob Gough, President and CEO at Mosaic Forest Management. 

The provincial government announced in a recent press release that immediate steps are being taken to help protect rare forest habitats, as well as expand forest management and planning through public engagement. …Most notably, forest licence holders will be required to publish forest operations maps the public has access to. …Whether these new measures and regulations will have an impact on the ongoing local issues with cutting permits and employment in the forestry sector, remains to be seen. Aspen Planers continues to struggle with obtaining cutting permits. Both AP Group and mill union leadership have said the issue behind the Merritt mill’s recent closures is a lack of cutting permits… due to concerns by local First Nations with the applications. …It remains unclear if this will remove the barriers in the licensing process. 

“Fire prevention and suppression polices over the last century have led to a buildup of fuels in our forests, and have contributed to the loss of natural firebreaks in places.” – Keith Atkinson, Chair, BC Forest Practices Board. …Forestry experts have long warned that forest practices and government policies are intensifying wildfire risk. But industry and government have disregarded numerous studies and persistent calls for action. …Mike Flannigan, a professor of fire science at Thompson River University, told the CBC that without climate change this fire season would have been impossible. …Promisingly, techniques to mitigate risks in forests and reduce wildfire events exist. Governments need only adopt them, and of course pay for them. 

A Northwest B.C. environmental group is raising the alarm about the provincial government cancelling more than 1.35 million acres of land designated for conservation and recreational use. SkeenaWild says this was done despite warnings from government personnel and with no consultation with land and resource planning committees including the Bulkley Valley Community Resources Board (BVCRB), Kalum Plan Implementation Committee (KPIC), Indigenous nations, municipalities, regional districts and the public at large. “These cancellations put valued habitats at risk of being removed from public lands, logged or impacted by industrial development, including popular recreational areas such as Klinger Lake, Tyee Mountain, Atlin, and the Stewart estuaries, the non-profit said in a release. The Ministry of Water, Lands and Resource Stewardship, however, said extensive consultation was conducted and the move is progress toward reconciliation and modernizing land use.

Follow-up coverage, letter by Anne Hetherington, Smithers, BC: Province wrong in conservation land cancellations

Kristina Swerhun… who sits on the board of directors of the Whistler Naturalists, is concerned that the way the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) and its contractors are undertaking fuel-thinning prescriptions is resulting in ecological harm to the forest, particularly to the forest floor, by using logging machines. She wants to see more thought put into potential ecological outcomes while thinning is taking place, and a reassessment of the use of thinning by hand. …In 2022, the RMOW received $10.1 million from the federal government to undertake fuel mitigation in several areas across the municipality. …Forest ecologist Rhonda Millikin… argues the RMOW’s current practices are having adverse effects on the ecology of the forest, increasing the rate at which the forest floor is drying out. The RMOW has long enlisted forester and biologist Bruce Blackwell, of B.A. Blackwell and Associates, to build its fire mitigation plans.

MCLEOD LAKE, BC — In just three years, much of the McLeod Lake Indian Band’s treaty lands were stripped of their bountiful and valuable trees in a surge of logging that included one clearcut almost 3,000 hectares in size. The extensive logging by the band of its own treaty lands has left two former band councillors questioning why so much forest vanished so quickly. Defenders of the logging say that beetle infestations made the speed and scale of the logging necessary. But it’s not clear how much of the timber removed had been degraded by beetles, and some scientists say that not immediately clearcutting such forests will allow them to recover, while still maintaining healthy habitat for plants and animals. …Just how much of a threat this posed is unknown. Neither the band nor the provincial government have posted any information quantifying the alleged damage done by the insects, and with those forests now all logged it’s impossible to tell.