Region Archives: Canada

Chace Barber & Eric Little

Two Merritt locals are going full speed ahead on their electric logging truck idea, with truck driver Chace Barber and power system engineer Eric Little teaming up to bring a new idea to life in an old-school way. The duo has been working as part of their joint venture, Edison Motors, to create diesel generator powered electric vehicles out of their local shop. …Both soon discovered their passion for the mechanical and electrical trades, studying it in their spare time. …Barber is CEO of Edison Motors, and sat down with the Herald to explain their electric logging truck project. “It’s the same way that freight trains have been since the 1930s, so essentially what we did is build a freight train on wheels,” said Barber. “It’s a diesel generator that powers the electric drivetrain. You can also plug it in and run it entirely as an EV.

Officials in British Columbia’s Forests Ministry understood that a regulation introduced in 2020 to protect big trees on public lands would have little impact. They designed it that way. Internal records released to The Tyee in response to a Freedom of Information request confirm critics’ suspicions that the Special Tree Protection Regulation was meant to sound good to the public while continuing to protect the interests of the logging industry. “Timber supply and economic impacts associated with the use of the proposed specifications are predicted to be insignificant when viewed on a provincial scale,” said a Forests Ministry memo dated Jan. 14, 2020 — some eight months before the government enacted the regulation. The regulations apply to a dozen tree species on Crown and private lands managed under the Forest Act. Trees above set diameters are protected from logging. A hectare of forest surrounding each of those trees is also protected as a buffer.

Susan Bibbings

Susan Bibbings hasn’t had a bite of food in 10 days. …Bibbings, who is not Indigenous, describes her hunger strike as a Water Ceremony to “honour the water of the world.” She says she stopped eating to shine a light on Wetʼsuwetʼen First Nation opposition to the $5-billion Coastal GasLink pipeline currently under construction in Northern B.C. …Bibbings has been charged with mischief twice over the past 12 months, first in October 2021, when she joined Extinction Rebellion in blocking traffic to Vancouver International Airport, and again in June of this year, when she glued her hand to a section of the Sea to Sky Highway on the North Shore to protest against the continued destruction of old-growth forests in B.C. …Bibbings’s lawyer Elizabeth Strain said the judge in the case recognized a psychiatric assessment they presented in court, which showed the 46-year-old suffered from ‘eco-anxiety’ and ‘eco-depression.’

B.C. is a lucky province. Not only are we blessed with a wide variety of natural resources, from coal to gold, but we also have two renewable resources in abundance: hydro power and forests. That is if we don’t squander them. …our forests have the potential to feed our provincial economy for centuries if they are managed properly. …The two keywords in that last statement are “managed” and “properly,” which are both hard to pull off. After all, for decades the path to profit in the forest has been to extract as much fibre as possible at the lowest cost. Luckily, the old model is changing and forest companies are recognizing that long-term profits come with preserving and enhancing the forest for the future. …There is a lot of research going into what makes a healthy forest, which also bodes well for the future…

An organization protesting against logging in the Argenta area at the north end of Kootenay Lake may be forced to identify its social media managers, if requests by the logging company are accepted by a judge. Lawyers for Cooper Creek Cedar were expected to appear before a Nelson judge this week to ask the courts to order Last Stand West Kootenay to reveal the names of their website and social media managers. “They are alleging that account has created wrongdoings related to encouraging people to breach the injunction and counsel people to cause harm to Cooper Creek,” says the lawyer for Last Stand West Kootenay, Noah Ross out of Denman Island. …Ross says all Last Stand West Kootenay did was invite people to come to the site and witness the protest. He says he’ll argue that the application shouldn’t be granted unless there is evidence of wrongdoing.

Many thanks to everyone who submitted their ideas for the TLA’s tagline contest. We’re pleased to announce Peter van Dongen of MNP is the winner with the most votes for his tagline: Wood for Today, Trees for tomorrow. TLA swag with a choice of Peter’s among other graphics is now available for purchase from the TLA online store. Items include unisex long and short sleeve t-shirts and hoodies in a variety of colours and sizes, a selection of stickers and a TLA trucker cap. Show your TLA membership and forestry pride by wearing TLA apparel at the job site and in your community, or placing a sticker on your equipment or vehicle – and send us a pic! 

People within the Thompson-Okanagan region will have greater protection from wildfires through a provincial investment in a series of community-led projects. The BC Community Forest Association co-ordinated with 15 community forests on 48 Crown Land Wildfire Risk Reduction projects, including 11 within the Kamloops Fire Centre Region. These projects are part of the ongoing work to adapt and better prepare for climate change. “Managed by local communities and First Nations for the benefit of the entire community, community forests are key partners in our work to reduce wildfire risks across the province,” said Katrine Conroy, Minister of Forests.  …“Community forests are important partners in managing forested land near communities,” said Jennifer Gunter, executive director, BC Community Forest Association. “By partnering with the BC Wildfire Service, community forests are demonstrating an effective and efficient path forward to address wildfire risk while also supporting local employment opportunities.”

Related releases: 

• Partnerships in northern BC reduce wildfire risk in community forests
• Partnerships in Cariboo region reduce wildfire risk in community forests
• Partnerships in Kootenay-Boundary reduce wildfire risk in community forests

ALERT BAY, BC  – The Government of Canada is joining the ‘Namgis First Nation in celebrating the successful expansion of operations of the Beaver Cove Chip Plant, now operating as Atli Chip LP. This expansion opens up forestry-related opportunities, businesses, careers and governance within ‘Namgis traditional territories and other communities in the region. The Government of Canada invests in projects to help equip communities with the tools to build greener businesses, create sustainable jobs, and promote further economic opportunities within the sector. The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, announced over $1.4 million in funding to Atli Chip LP through the Indigenous Forestry Initiative (IFI) program which provides financial support to Indigenous-led economic development projects in Canada’s forest sector. Indigenous Services Canada also supported this project through the Strategic Partnerships Initiative.

Bill Dumont

Recently the Citizen has crossed the fine line from reporting on issues in the North Cowichan forests to being an advocate for questionable and nonsensical ideas being promoted by anti-logging, anti-forestry interests. North Cowichan has been endowed with an impressive area of forests covering more than 5,000 hectares and 25 per cent of the municipal area through tax sales and other acquisitions. At one time these beautiful forests and their sound management by forest professionals were similar to other large B.C. municipal forests such as those owned by the District of Mission. …That changed in Cowichan when radical interests convinced gullible North Cowichan politicians to stop listening to their forest professionals. The groups said they had better ideas that would stop logging and replace these forests as new parks and maybe generate some feeble income from selling carbon credits. …It’s time to return some sanity to managing North Cowichan forests.

People who live, work, and play in B.C.’s forests… have enthusiastically stepped forward with great ideas to enhance our forests and then collaborated to deliver on those innovative projects. …In many cases, FESBC forest enhancement projects have brought different groups to work together for the first time. The spirit of collaboration and the resulting positive relationships is now a platform for deeper partnerships. …One substantial change we’ve seen in the past five years has been the increased utilization of low-quality wood fibre. …Another profound transformative impact of these FESBC-funded projects is that Indigenous peoples have become project leaders and, by extension, are becoming forest management leaders. . …When FESBC was created, it wasn’t fully appreciated just how many tangential, durable and profound co-benefits were possible to achieve with forest enhancement projects. Now we know.

The biggest wildfire threat for Nelson will come from its western edge, but right now the city is powerless to protect itself from that occurrence, says Nelson’s mayor. John Dooley said it has been known for years that an untreated path through the forest comprises the most dire threat to the city when it comes to wildfire interface fires. “We know, from conversations with the BC Wildfire Service, that the threat to Nelson will be coming in from the west, through Blewett,” he said. A large fire near Rover Creek over the summer — which is still burning in mid-September — west of the city illustrated how fast a fire can travel through a forest that is largely untreated for forest fire fuels. The problem with the forest west of the city is it almost entirely on private land and out of the city’s jurisdiction, said Dooley.

Cody Oliver

Cody Oliver, 21, completed his internship at the Alberta Newsprint Company (ANC) this summer after being named a winner in the 2022 Green Dream internship program. Oliver was one of 11 recipients of the Green Dream scholarship this year and the only one from Whitecourt, according to the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC). According to FPAC, the Green Dream program supports youths across the country who “are passionate about working in the forest sector and have a strong commitment to the environment and their community”. Oliver is majoring in accounting at the University of Lethbridge, having started there in 2019. “Forestry has been a part of my life since before I could remember, providing my family with countless opportunities,” Oliver told FPAC. “I am extremely excited to help shine light on the industry.” …Oliver said he would be interested in pursuing a career in accounting in the forestry industry.