Region Archives: Canada

Business & Politics

Builders FirstSource Releases 2023 Corporate Social Responsibility Report

Builders FirstSource Inc.
Businesswire
May 24, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

IRVING, Texas — Builders FirstSource, the nation’s largest supplier of building products, announced that it has published its 2023 Corporate Social Responsibility report, highlighting advancements in environmental, social, and governance across the Company in 2022. The report offers an overview of the initiatives and programs the Company has implemented to improve transparency and sustainability. Highlights include: Established Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions baselines. The Company intends to set short-, medium-, and long-term reduction targets for Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions no later than 2025; >90% of the Company’s wood is from Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) or Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified vendors; and >1.3 million trees saved in 2022 through the use of Builders FirstSource manufactured framing components versus traditional framing methods.

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Interfor Appoints Nicolle Butcher to its Board of Directors

Interfor Corporation
May 19, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Nicole Butcher

Interfor Corporation announced the appointment of Nicolle Butcher of Toronto, Ontario as an independent director of the Company, effective May 19, 2023. Ms. Butcher is the Chief Operating Officer of Ontario Power Generation, where she has held a wide range of roles with increasing responsibility over the past 22 years. …Ms. Butcher was named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women and named Women of the Year by WIRE (Women in Renewable Energy) and APPRO (Association of Power Producers of Ontario). She holds an MBA from McGill University, is a Chartered Business Valuator, and has earned an ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. Ms. Butcher’s appointment increases the number of Interfor directors to 11 and the percentage of women directors to 27%. 

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B.C. eyes opportunities in Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement as part of revamped trade strategy

By Nelson Bennett
Business in Vancouver
May 24, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Canada and Mexico have been part of a North American free trade agreement for three decades… yet the amount of trade B.C. does with Mexico is paltry compared to the trade it does with Asia. In 2021, B.C. exported a mere $107 million worth of commodities to Mexico – much of that pulp and paper products. …As the U.S. moves to decouple from China and re-shore some of its industries, Mexico is well positioned to become America’s manufacturing branch plant, owing to its proximity to the U.S., its inclusion in the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) and Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and its low-cost but highly skilled workforce. …Mexico could become a market for B.C. lumber and other wood products, and the recent acquisition of the Kansas City Railway by Canadian Pacific to create a new North American railway could help facilitate those kinds of exports.

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2023 Indigenous Partnerships Success Showcase

2023 Indigenous Partnerships Success Showcase
May 26, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Indigenous Partnerships Success Showcase is an annual event responding to the growing demand for practical guidance on how First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities and their enterprise partners can work together, in common purpose, for shared success. Canada’s Indigenous economy is worth $30 billion and it is expected to more than triple in the coming years, hitting $100 billion by 2025. Much of this success comes through partnerships, like the ones at the heart of the Indigenous Partnerships Success Showcase. Economic reconciliation is the key to securing bright futures for First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities — and it opens the door to continued prosperity for all Canadians in this era of transformative change. By highlighting the relationships that underpin economic reconciliation, we enable participants and society at large to build toward an inclusive vision for what reconciliation looks like into the rest of the 21st century.

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Support grows to limit industrial tax reductions

By Rod Link
Houston Today
May 24, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

HOUSTON, BC — A push by the District of Houston council to limit the impact on tax revenues from the closure of major industries has received support. As provincial legislation stands now, a large company can apply to reduce the assessed value of improvements or facilities on property it owns down to 10 per cent when it closes the facility. The Houston council submitted a resolution to the North Central Local Government Association. The resolution will now be considered by all local governments in B.C. this fall. …Although the District’s resolution did not mention Canfor by name, the closure as of last month of its mill would have a substantial impact on the heavy industrial portion of the District’s tax base. …For its part, Canfor says that while it is closing its sawmill, it does want to build a new one, but won’t be making that decision until June.

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Mosaic Forest Management Releases 2022 Sustainability Progress Report

Mosaic Forest Management
May 24, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Nanaimo, BC – Mosaic Forest Management released achievements related to the environment, Indigenous partnerships, people, community, and safety in its 2022 Sustainability Progress Report announced today. The report discloses the company’s progress across key areas that ensure sustainability for its people and the communities and forests where Mosaic operates. “Sustainability is about multiple factors. It’s safeguarding and recognizing the team, ensuring there is fibre for tomorrow through stewarding the lands we work on today, and advancing partnerships with First Nations and local communities,” said Mosaic President and CEO Rob Gough. “We’ve made exciting progress in 2022 with accomplishments like the launch of the BigCoast Forest Climate Initiative, which recently issued its first carbon credits under Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard.”

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Forest Enhancement Society of BC recognizes outgoing director Brian Banfill

Forest Enhancement Society of BC
May 23, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Brian Banfill

The Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC) is recognizing Brian Banfill, a remarkable individual whose term on the Board of Directors is coming to an end. We express our most sincere gratitude for Brian’s invaluable contributions and unwavering commitment to advancing the vital work of FESBC. With over 30 years of distinguished forest-sector experience, he has played an instrumental role in shaping the organization’s vision and fostering sustainable forest management practices throughout British Columbia. Brian joined the board in 2017, shortly after FESBC’s inception in February 2016. Board Chair Dave Peterson shared that, “Brian’s tenure on the FESBC Board of Directors has been nothing short of exceptional. His six years of dedicated service to the public, including two consecutive three-year terms, have had a profound impact on our organization’s success.”

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Finance & Economics

Stella-Jones updates its financial objectives building on sustained growth

Stella-Jones Inc.
May 24, 2023
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, Canada East

Montreal, Quebec—Stella-Jones Inc. today updated its three-year objectives, reflecting the years 2023–2025. The Company will be featuring its new financial targets at its Investor Day, being held this morning in Toronto, Ontario. “Following a record year in 2022, coupled with our outstanding start to 2023, we are excited to share updated financial objectives that reflect Stella-Jones’ performance and growth potential,” said Eric Vachon, President and Chief Executive Officer of Stella-Jones. “In light of our favourable position to meet or exceed our original financial targets, we are raising our 2025 sales target to almost 20% above 2022 sales and the 2023–2025 EBITDA margin goal to 16%, primarily driven by the accelerating demand for our higher margin utility poles business. …Our inaugural investor day today sets the stage for us to share our new targets and build on what we believe is a defining time for us and for the essential infrastructure businesses we serve.”

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Industry has a ‘complete void of basic knowledge’ on carbon footprints

By Grant Cameron
Daily Commercial News
May 26, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada

…A recent roundtable of panellists and leaders from various sectors of the construction industry gathered to focus on tactical ways to eliminate carbon emissions. “90 per cent of your footprint is the embodied carbon of the materials that you put in place on jobsites,” explained moderator Tim Coldwell, president of Chandos Construction. “Most sub and general contractors don’t understand the concept of embodied carbon.” …The roundtable hosted panellists and industry leaders to discuss how to eliminate carbon emissions related to the selection of building materials, the supply of the construction elements, the movement of personnel and management of waste from an energy and carbon use perspective. …For example, the wood industry often claims negative embodied carbon because it is stored in the timber. However, Coldwell maintains that’s nonsense because eventually when a structure is demolished and the wood is sent to landfills or is burned, the carbon that was stored gets released.

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Two years after Lytton burned, not a single building permit has been issued

By Vaughn Palmer
The Vancouver Sun
May 25, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

VICTORIA, BC — On the first anniversary of the fire that destroyed Lytton, the New Democrats predicted that the village would soon begin to re-emerge from the ashes… predicted that most of the 150 homes, businesses and other buildings destroyed in the fire would be rebuilt by the time the second anniversary rolls around this June 30. It didn’t happen. There’s been no rebuilding to date. Not even a building permit. …As to why B.C. hasn’t done better, excuses abound. When I asked the government for a response, I got back a statement that tried to put the onus back on poor, beleaguered Lytton. …Notwithstanding the vow that “we want to see Lytton rebuilt and rebuilt quickly,” the provincial bureaucracy has contributed to major delays. Others were attributed to the destruction of village records, supply chain issues and the havoc caused on local highways and bridges by record floods in the fall of 2021.

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Time for mass timber and prefab? B.C. eyes changes to ‘bias’ in building code

By Penny Daflos
CTV News
May 24, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

The provincial government in BC is looking at ways to bring housing online faster and more sustainably. Prefabrication and mass timber construction make up only a small portion of the housing built in the province and the housing minister sees regulations ripe for change to make them a more attractive option for builders. “It means you can get projects done at double the speed of traditional methods,” said Ravi Kahlon of pre-fab construction. “We (also) need to look at the building code to find ways to make the ability to use mass timber in housing much more smooth. We know there’s a bias against mass timber in the building code.” …In B.C., houses and townhomes are essentially built from scratch on-site but in much of the world panels are pre-fabricated more efficiently in warehouses and assembled on-site.

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British Columbia government seeks input on building code updates

By Ministry of Housing
Government of British Columbia
May 24, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

People will get a say in how future buildings are constructed in B.C. … as the Province launches a survey on proposed changes to the BC Building Code. …The proposed changes to the BC Building Code are based on the 2020 National Model Codes with some B.C.-specific variations to reflect the province’s geography, climate, local government needs, industry practices and provincial priorities, such as accessibility. A four-week public review invites interested parties to comment on proposed building code changes, including … mass timber construction and earthquake design… People can learn about the proposed changes and provide feedback through an online survey. The Province anticipates adopting the updated BC Building Code this year and bringing it into force in December 2023. The transition period will give local governments, the construction industry, education providers and others governed by the code time to adjust their practices and training materials.

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Global gathering of forestry innovators coming to Vancouver in June

BC Ministry of Forests
Government of British Columbia
May 23, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

In partnership with the University of British Columbia, Foresight Canada and FPInnovations, the Province of BC will host keynote speakers from international and B.C. organizations on topics such as sustainability, Indigenous leadership and future opportunities in the forest bioeconomy. The Forest Innovation and Bioeconomy Conference (FIBC) will take place in Vancouver from June 19-21, 2023. …The forest bioeconomy is a part of B.C.’s forestry sector and is estimated to create approximately 17,000 new direct and indirect jobs by 2030. B.C.’s bioeconomy uses wood such as bark and branches to make new, innovative products such as textiles, wood-based graphite for electric cars, alternatives to plastic packaging and much more. By 2030, the global market for forest bioproducts is estimated to reach $670 billion. 

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Industry professionals get to the root of timber building through two-day course

By Angela Gismondi
Daily Commercial News
May 26, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada East

A recent mass timber course provided industry professionals with practical and theoretical concepts as well as hands-on installations into the various stages of this specialized type of construction. The two-day course, titled Theory in Practice: The Phases of Timber Construction Using a Full-Scale Model, was presented by Rothoblaas, a global player in mass timber that started over 30 years ago Trento, Italy, in collaboration with the Carpenters’ Regional Council and the College of Carpenters and Allied Trades. The training was held in Vaughan, Ont. and was part of the training collaboration Rothoschool on Tour! …The company creates solutions for the heavy and mass timber, energy efficient, net-zero and other better building practice sectors and offer a range of products including fasteners and connectors, building envelope and acoustic solutions, worker safety and tools. The agenda for the session provided detailed information on what needs to be considered when building with timber.

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Forestry

Minister Guilbeault rallies pan-Canadian effort to support nature protection goals brokered at COP15

Environment and Climate Change Canada
Cision Newswire
May 24, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

OTTAWA — Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, announced that the Government of Canada will bring provincial and territorial governments and national Indigenous organizations together on May 25–26, to discuss halting and reversing biodiversity loss in Canada. The goal is to put nature on a path to recovery by 2050, including the development of Canada’s 2030 Biodiversity Strategy. It will be the first face-to-face ministers’ meeting since December’s breakthrough COP15, where the world agreed to the Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework. …The Government of Canada recently released a Discussion Paper entitled Toward a 2030 Biodiversity Strategy for Canada and is inviting all Canadians to share their priorities on biodiversity by completing an online survey. The Discussion Paper provides information to Canadians on some of the key issues and challenges, as well as the opportunities involved in protecting biodiversity.

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The future is uncertain for our last old-growth boreal forests

By Maxence Martin and Nicole Fenton
The Conversation Canada
May 24, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

Driving along the Trans-Canada Highway, with its endless succession of spruce, aspen, fir and birch trees, it’s easy to assume that our country is bursting with forests. This article is part of La Conversation Canada’s series The boreal forest: A thousand secrets, a thousand dangers. Although we might see a few logging operations and traces of forest fires here and there, we probably wouldn’t imagine that our forests could some day disappear from the landscape. Yet the reality may be quite different. The issue at stake is not so much the loss of forests, but rather, the loss of intact forests, i.e. forests where no harvesting activities have ever taken place. …Our research in recent years on boreal forest ecology and the impact of forest management shows that we must pay special attention to protecting old-growth forests within intact forests.

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The spruce budworm poses a big threat to Canadian Forests

By Cheryl Santa Maria
The Weather Network
May 23, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

The spruce budworm is a moth species known for its destructive nature. While native to North America and parts of Europe, it has quickly become a menace in Canada’s coniferous forests, with caterpillars that can swiftly destroy vast areas of trees, leaving the forest vulnerable to pests, diseases, and extreme weather events. As caterpillars, the budworm feasts on balsam fir and spruce, sparing no needle and eventually killing the tree. Budworm epidemics occur every 30 to 35 years, with each epidemic lasting 15 to 20 years in the same sector. This leaves the trees no time to recover, and deforestation begins to occur after about four years. During an extensive outbreak in the 1970s and 1980s, the spruce budworm destroyed more than 50 million hectares in eastern Canada. Quebec is in the midst of an outbreak. More than 9.6 million hectares of forest had suffered defoliation by 2019.

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Mackenzie annual allowable cut reduced, policy the real problem says Mayor

By Caden Fanshaw
CKPG News
May 25, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

MACKENZIE — After lengthy consultations the Annual Allowable Cut (AAC) for the Mackenzie Timber Supply Area was released in early May resulting in a 20% reduction of available fibre, not a surprise according to the Mayor of Mackenzie Joan Atkinson. …The longtime Mayor argues the issue in BC is not fibre supply in some areas, it is forestry policy. According to stats provided by the District of Mackenzie roughly two-thirds of the AAC will be rolled down the highway away from the community. …Pre-2003 when appurtenancy was still law in BC, forestry companies had logs tied to local communities. When that clause was thrown out, it opened the door to the situation we have now. The BC Liberal government of the day was the one behind the move, one now brought to the forefront 20 years later.

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Book Review: When John Vaillant Contemplates Catastrophe, We Should Listen

By Crawford Kilian
The Tyee
May 25, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Vancouver resident John Vaillant’s new book focuses on one day in May 2016, in the small city of Fort McMurray, in northern Alberta. But from there it sweeps two centuries into the past, around the world to California, Europe and Australia, and brings us back to our own hot, smoky spring and ominous future. It is a fast-paced narrative of a disastrous wildfire and of the culture that both created the fire and was damaged by it. And it is a brilliantly written description of our own insights and follies: we saw the present disaster coming long ago. We could have prevented it, and we let it happen anyway. …Vaillant ends his book with the discovery of “revirescence,” the return of life to fire-blasted land. The forests are reviving around Fort McMurray, and in the ashes of its Abasand neighbourhood Vaillant saw tulips blooming.

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Wildfire expert shares learnings from urban-wildfire disasters

By Ruth Lloyd
Quesnel Cariboo Observer
May 25, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Alan Westhaver

Community Wildfire Preparedness Roundtables around the region are hosting FireSmart presentations by Alan Westhaver MSc., a 30-year veteran of wildland fire, now a wildland-urban expert. Westhaver and his fellow fire researcher Dr. Jack Cohen, a world-renowned fire physicist with the U.S. Forest Service, recently completed a report on the Lytton Creek fire which destroyed that community in 2021 which focused on how homes ignited, and how fire then spread throughout the community. What Westhaver had to say may surprise many members of the public. “We’ve long considered this to be a wildfire control problem however, it is really a problem of so many homes and structures being so easily ignited,” he states in his presentation. Instead, he emphasized the answer to saving urban areas from these disasters will not come from more planes, helicopters or tanker trucks, but from mostly small measures property owners can take, over time, to make buildings less susceptible to igniting and burning.

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‘All I see are ghosts’: fear and fury as the last spotted owl in Canada fights for survival

By Leyland Cecco
The Guardian
May 26, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Jared Hobbs

…For thousands of years, northern spotted owls, a subspecies of the spotted owl, lived in southern British Columbia, their range extending through Washington, Oregon and into northern California. In Canada, as many as 1,000 owls probably once lived in the cathedral-like forests. But generations of industrial development and logging have fractured the landscape and gutted their habitat. When Jared Hobbs began working for the provincial government as a species-at-risk biologist in the 1990s, there were an estimated 40 breeding pairs, but the numbers kept dropping. He noticed the adult owls were living into old age but the juvenile owls were dying before they could acquire a territory of their own and produce young. …In recent years, when the young owls left the nest to seek out new food sources and establish their own territories, they had to negotiate a patchwork of forest broken up by cleared areas or development. 

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Fire ban to end in parts of Alberta as progress continues on wildfires

CBC News
May 25, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Provincial officials say the wildfire response will continue to be a marathon, but more evacuees are being allowed to return home and fire bans are set to change in some regions. Fire bans …across most of the province will be replaced with a fire restriction, which comes into effect Friday. That means wood campfires are allowed in designated campgrounds and on private property, like backyard fire pits. Under the fire restriction, all outdoor wood fires are still banned on public lands, including backcountry and some camping areas. Alberta Wildfire information unit manager Christie Tucker said that because the northern portion of the province received less rain recently and the fire danger is still high, a fire ban and off-highway vehicle restriction is still in place in the High Level and Fort McMurray forest areas. It also remains in effect for Yellowhead County, where there are still active wildfires.

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Big tree hunters: saving the last untouched areas of the planet

By Madigan Cotterill
Canadian Geographic
May 26, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

BRITISH COLUMBIA — Amanda Lewis stands completely alone on the edge of British Columbia’s Stewart-Cassiar Highway, contemplating her next step as she confronts a wall of dense, dark trees. …Lewis, who has been a big-tree hunter since 2018, has been on a mission to visit each of the 43 champion trees in the B.C. Big Tree registry and chronicle that journey through her memoir, Tracking Giants. Like many big-tree hunters, Lewis’ passion for the environment continues to bring her back to the forest where ancient trees have stood for hundreds, sometimes even thousands, of years. But as each day passes, more ancient trees in B.C. disappear, felled by logging. …TJ Watt has been using his camera to document the disappearance of ancient trees in a powerful Before & After series. Watt hopes to draw viewers’ attention to their destruction by highlighting the incredible grandeur of old-growth ecosystems. 

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B.C. wildfires fuel online conspiracy theories, says researcher

CBC News
May 26, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Darryn Wellstead

As wildfires burn in parts of British Columbia, rumours and conspiracy theories about them are spreading online, according to a researcher. Darryn Wellstead, who researches social media and misinformation and teaches sociology at Northern Lights College in Fort St. John, B.C., says social media covers a multitude of theories, including how climate change is a hoax used to destroy the oil and gas industry and how the government uses wildfires as a scare tactic to force people into 15-minute cities. “Most of the theories were that the fires were politically motivated and not just a consequence of accidents or bad decision making,” said Wellstead. …Forrest Tower, a B.C. Wildfire Service information officer, is no stranger to conspiracy theories. In 2021, Tower was the subject of a theory that alleged he was a government-hired actor and not a real person, given how well his name suits his job. 

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‘Birders, not blockaders’ ask B.C. to protect old-growth in Fairy Creek to save marbled murrelets

By Rochelle Baker
The National Observer
May 25, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

FAIRY CREEK, BC — Birders and biologists are banding together to urge the B.C. government to protect ancient forests on southwestern Vancouver Island in a bid to save threatened marbled murrelet nesting sites. Around a dozen citizen scientists are documenting the rare robin-sized seabird, which raises its young in old-growth forest found in tree farm licence (TFL) 46, which includes the Fairy Creek region near Port Renfrew, said team leader and avid birder Royann Petrell. The team of birders has documented murrelets on more than 300 occasions in and around the Fairy Creek watershed. …The citizen scientists, backed by four murrelet experts on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border, are pushing the province to protect 996 hectares of old-growth from logging. The proposal submitted in December suggests adding 828 hectares to an existing 603-hectare murrelet habitat area in Fairy Creek. 

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Opinion: Where the ‘Wood-Wide Web’ Narrative Went Wrong

By Melanie Jones, Jason Hoeksema and Justine Karst
Undark Magazine
May 25, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Over the past few years, a fascinating narrative about forests and fungi has captured the public imagination. It holds that the roots of neighboring trees can be connected by fungal filaments, forming massive underground networks that can span entire forests — a so-called wood-wide web. …The narrative — recounted in books, podcasts, TV series, documentaries, and news articles — has prompted some experts to rethink not only forest management but the relationships between self-interest and altruism in human society. But is any of it true? We have studied forest fungi for our whole careers, and even we were surprised by some of the more extraordinary claims surfacing in the media. Thinking we had missed something, we thoroughly reviewed 26 field studies… What we found shows how easily confirmation bias, unchecked claims, and credulous news reporting can, over time, distort research findings beyond recognition. It should serve as a cautionary tale for scientists and journalists alike. 

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The Ada’itsx/Fairy Creek watershed deferral may expire on June 8

By Jocelyn Shepel
BCIT News
May 24, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The watershed deferral in Fairy Creek, that temporarily paused logging in certain areas, could expire in a few weeks. For Pacheedaht First Nations Elder, Bill Jones, the potential of the deferral ending is extremely difficult. …Ada’itsx/Fairy Creek is located on Pacheedaht First Nation territory and is one of the last standing high productivity old growth forests on Vancouver Island. Jones is 83-years-old and still fighting to protect the forest. “We are in an exploitative, oppressive system that is about 2,000 to 3,000 years old now, and I think they’re on the end game of resource exploitation and now they’re desperately trying to take all the marbles.” …“They’re remaining very tight-lipped on the situation, no one’s contacted, there’s been no call out to community members that we’re aware of,” he said. 

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B.C. tourism operators struggle as conflicts over backcountry land use rise

By Glenda Luymes
The Vancouver Sun
May 24, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Ministry of Forests administers B.C.’s tenure system, granting companies the right to harvest timber in public forests — or helicopter clients to a remote mountain peak so they can bike down. But as groups compete for use of a limited land base, conflicts are increasing. Scott Ellis, of the Adventure Tourism Coalition, said B.C.’s backcountry has long been a “Wild West,” where the interests of large corporations trump smaller tenure holders, like ski guides, outfitters and sport fishers. …Poor communication among provincial ministries with different mandates — including forestry, mining, tourism and environment — mean a ski guide might arrive in fall to find their terrain completely logged. …Tenure applications made under B.C.’s adventure tourism policy are decided by the forests ministry, which is also responsible for logging tenures. Mining tenures fall under the mines ministry. …“There’s no branch to advocate for us,” said Kathy MacRae.

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Preparing for wildfires: UBC experts share their tips

UBC Faculty of Forestry
May 24, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Kelsey Copes-Gerbitz

Sarah Dickson

Around 1,600 wildfires burn in British Columbia every year. While many wildfires are a natural and important part of B.C.’s landscapes, climate change is driving hotter and drier conditions that can make wildfires more threatening. As these fires grow larger and more frequent—beginning earlier in the spring and extending well into the fall—UBC experts emphasize the importance of adapting to the new reality. Drs. Kelsey Copes-Gerbitz and Sarah Dickson-Hoyle, faculty of forestry wildfire researchers, share valuable insights in this Q&A. They suggest practical measures for individuals and communities to protect their homes and surroundings from the B.C. wildfire risk, while calling for broader-scale solutions.

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The BC Conservation & Biodiversity Awards celebrate the 2023 Award recipients

By BC Conservation and Biodiversity Awards
Cision Newswire
May 24, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER, BC – The BC Conservation & Biodiversity Awards are pleased to announce the twelve Award recipients for 2023. The twelve recipients are BC based charities honoured for their work contributing to the improvement of the natural environment of BC and the preservation of its wilderness and biodiversity. The Awards focus on land and ocean-based initiatives, clean air and water, climate change, and science-based studies. Created in 2020, the BC Conservation & Biodiversity Awards granted a sum of $225,000 to the 2023 Award recipients. …The Selection Committee is comprised of representatives from prominent BC academic institutions and conservation-based organizations. This science-based independence makes the BCCB Awards unique in the field of environment and conservation-based funding. Current members represent The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Sierra Club of BC, the Wilderness Committee, The Nature Trust of BC, the Faculty of Environment at Simon Fraser University and the Faculty of Environment at the University of Northern BC.

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MP Mendès Announces 10,000 New Federally-Funded Trees for Saint-Lambert

By Natural Resources Canada
Cision Newswire
May 23, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

SAINT-LAMBERT, QC — Alexandra Mendès, Member of Parliament for Brossard–Saint-Lambert, on behalf of the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources, and Pascale Mongrain, Mayor of Saint-Lambert, announced nearly $400,000 in federal funding under the 2 Billion Trees program to support the planting of 10,000 trees in Saint-Lambert.  This project will revitalize local urban forest cover and replace aging trees and those affected by Dutch elm disease and the emerald ash borer. The trees will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions while also creating green spaces. This project will engage community organizations and encourage local participation and environmental awareness through tree planting and educational activities. …The Government of Canada’s 2 Billion Trees program is helping to clean the air, keep neighbourhoods cool in the summer, create thousands of jobs and fight climate change while protecting nature.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Biomass fuel plant proposed for Kensington, P.E.I., residents turn out in droves for info

By Colin MacLean
The Saltwire Network
May 24, 2023
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada East

KENSINGTON, P.E.I. — A new biomass fuel production facility proposed for construction in Kensington is garnering a lot of interest from its potential neighbours. …SustainAgro is proposing to build a facility that will process 40 metric tons of wood chips annually into several marketable products, the primary of which is renewable diesel. Secondary byproducts include biochar and wood vinegar. These products would be created by burning wood in a low-oxygen, closed-loop, environment. The wood would come from P.E.I.’s own forestry sector and specifically from Dan DuPont’s sustainable forestry business, Working Forests P.E.I. Joachim Stroink, a spokesperson for the SustainAgro, said the company is aware of the feelings of Islanders towards clear-cutting practices,  and it is unequivocally committed to avoiding contributing to that problem.

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Forest Fires

Australian forestry firefighters lending a hand in Canada

By Matt Deans
Forestry Corporation of New South Wales, Australia
May 26, 2023
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, International

AUSTRALIA — Three of Forestry Corporation’s most experienced firefighters are part of the Australian firefighting contingent being deployed to Canada to assist with the wildfire emergency. The overseas deployment comprises a 222-strong contingent from Australian and New Zealand fire agencies, coordinated by the Australasian Fire Authorities Council’s National Resource Sharing Centre. AFAC CEO Rob Webb said…“Australia, New Zealand and Canada have a long history of supporting each other, and we are pleased to be able to help Canada as they experience significant wildfire activity,” he said. …“I’ve got to say the Canadians were awesome during our big firefighting season a few years ago so any opportunity to go over there and lend them a hand and return the favour is a great thing and I put my hand up for this straight away,” Peter Simon said. The firefighters are expected to complete a 30-day deployment.

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Nearby wildfire leads to state of emergency in northern Manitoba community

By Sam Thompson
Global News
May 25, 2023
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

A large wildfire has impacted thousands in the Cross Lake area, and led to the evacuation of a northern Manitoba community. Chief and council of Pimicikamak Cree Nation declared a state of emergency overnight as residents are threatened by a 1,200-hectare blaze — around the size of 2,300 football fields. Pimicikamak Chief David Monias told Global News that some community members are trying to find places to stay in Winnipeg, while others are waiting in Thompson and The Pas. Monias said the fire kept growing and getting too close for comfort. …Jason Small of the Canadian Red Cross told 680 CJOB’s Connecting Winnipeg the organization is trying to find hotel rooms for all of the evacuees — with around 200 people already temporarily housed as of early Thursday morning.

Additional coverage in the CBC News by Darren Bernhardt: Some residents already returning after raging wildfire forces 7,000 people to flee Pimicikamak Cree Nation

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Wildfires in Alberta halved since emergency declared; Fire ban to end Friday

By Alex Antoneshyn
CTV News Edmonton
May 25, 2023
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

The number of wildfires in Alberta is about half of what it was two-and-a-half weeks ago when the provincial government declared a state of emergency.  On Thursday afternoon, Alberta Wildfire was counting 55 wildfires in protected forest areas, including 16 which were considered out of control. When the provincial state of emergency was announced on May 6, 110 wildfires were burning across Alberta, including 37 that were out of control. To date, Alberta Wildfire has recorded some 523 wildfires this year. Altogether, they have burned more than a million hectares of land. Recent wet and cooler weather has helped the firefighting effort, but officials said the season is far from over and additional help continues to arrive. A Hercules air tanker with the capacity to hold 11,350 litres of water from California was scheduled to arrive in Alberta on Wednesday. Twenty-five firefighters from New Zealand and 200 from Australia are also expected to arrive this week. 

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Fires continue to show limited growth in Peace region

By Shailynn Foster
Energetic City
May 25, 2023
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) says wildfires in the Peace region continue to show limited growth. There are two helicopters, 14 pieces of heavy equipment, and 28 structure protection personnel responding to the fires in the North Peace Complex, including the Stoddart Creek, Red Creek, Cameron River, and Boundary Lake wildfires. The Stoddart Creek wildfire is being held at 28,603 hectares. During the day, 157 firefighters have been working on the fire, while 19 are covering the night shift. According to BCWS, crews are working on mop-up and extinguishing hot spots in the fire’s northeast, east, and southeast flanks. In the northwest and the northeast, crews are patrolling the fire’s perimeter. …The air quality in Fort St. John is currently a low risk, and the special air quality statement was removed Wednesday morning. Evacuation orders in the region have been removed, while some alerts remain. 

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Rain puts a damper on raging wildfires

Jasper Fitzhugh
May 24, 2023
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

Firefighters tackling Alberta’s rampant wildfires thanked the heavens for the precipitation seen over much of the province since the weekend. “Alberta is starting to see some cooler temperatures and scattered precipitation, helping to provide some relief to firefighters,” said Bre Hutchinson, executive director of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency during Tuesday’s daily provincial update on the wildfire situation. …Officials are reporting that progress is starting to be made during Alberta’s worst-ever wildfire season. “Due to the hard work of firefighters along with the weather, we have been able to reclassify the Sturgeon Lake Complex near Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation and Valleyview from ‘out of control’ to ‘being held’,” said Christie Tucker, information unit manager with Alberta Wildfire. Alberta is still under a provincial state of emergency, however. 

Additional coverage in the CBC News, by Stephen Cook: Firefighters make progress on Alberta wildfires as more evacuees return home

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More than 10,000 squares kilometres of land has burned in Alberta due to wildfires

The Canadian Press in The Toronto Star
May 23, 2023
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

EDMONTON — Wildfire officials say more than 10,000 square kilometres of land has burned in Alberta this year as dozens of wildfires continue across the province. Christie Tucker of Alberta Wildfire says the province has never seen this much wildfire activity in recorded history. Tucker says that in 1984, there was a record of 13,000 square kilometres burned over the entire fire season, which usually lasts from the beginning of March to the end of October. Scattered showers over the last week have given firefighters headway in battling the flames. There are 71 wildfires burning in Alberta, 20 of which are deemed out of control, and about 10,000 people are out of their homes in various communities. Bre Hutchinson, executive director of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency, says the wildfire situation remains serious and all Albertans should remain vigilant, especially those who live in areas that under an evacuation alert.

Additional coverage in CBC: More than one million hectares of land in Alberta has burned

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Rise in extreme wildfires linked directly to emissions from oil companies in new study

By Benjamin Shingler
CBC News
May 24, 2023
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

As fires blaze in Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C., new research has drawn a direct and measurable link between carbon emissions traced back to the world’s major fossil fuel producers and the increase in extreme wildfires across western Canada and the United States.  The peer-reviewed study, published last week in the journal Environmental Research Letters, found that 37 per cent of the total burned forest area in Western Canada and the United States between 1986-2021 can be traced back to 88 major fossil fuel producers and cement manufacturers.  “What we found is that the emissions from these companies have dramatically increased wildfire activity,” said Carly Phillips, co-author on the study and a researcher at the Science Hub for Climate Litigation at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

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Pictou County wildfires under control, extinguished

By Jake Boudrot
The Pictou Advocate
May 25, 2023
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada East

Crews have contained or extinguished four separate wildfires in Pictou County this week. On May 24, someone alerted the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables (DNRR) to four “small fires,” including 1.5 hectares in Sunny Brae, two hectares in McLellan’s Mountain, as well as half a hectare on both Gray Road and Union Centre. “The cause of the fires is under investigation,” spokesperson Patricia Jreige wrote in an email. “But it’s unclear exactly when they began.” …Jreige said there were no reports of evacuations. “No homes were at risk,” she wrote. “There are roads and other buildings in the area, but no damage done to them.”

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