Region Archives: Canada

Let’s pause for a moment of gratitude. June 26 will be a kind of armistice day — the old growth battlegrounds of the “War in the Woods” in Clayoquot Sound will receive permanent protection. The Ahousaht and Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations have landed an agreement with the province of B.C. to protect about 760 square kilometres of the world’s most stupendous ancient forest and other unique biomes, creating 10 new conservancies to protect the old growth. In the process, the nations forced a local revamp of B.C.’s heinous “Tree Farm Licence” system — the “TFLs” that reign across the province’s “crown lands,” effectively privatizing the living world into corporate satrapies. The armistice has been a long time coming. The Tla-o-qui-aht Nation declared Meares Island a tribal park in the early 1980s — long before such inconveniences were taken seriously by provincial governments or Ottawa.

In a special episode of the YourForest Podcast released on June 19, 2024, Percy Guichon, executive director of Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation Ltd. (CCR) and Councillor of Tŝideldel First Nation, sat down with host Matthew Kristoff to delve into topics surrounding reconciliation in the forestry sector. Throughout the episode, Guichon shared details about his life, discussing his experiences attending residential school, ongoing challenges faced by Indigenous peoples due to inequitable opportunities, and the origins of CCR and its vision. YourForest Podcast, created in 2017, deals with diverse topics around environmental issues and forest management, discussing the challenges and triumphs of the pursuit of sustainability and providing insight to both the public and forest professionals alike. 

Dan Albas

Last year six forest firefighters lost their lives in the line of duty. The challenges of wildfire fighting are well-known, especially to those who live in or near forest interface areas. What isn’t well known is that forest firefighters are currently not included in the list of public safety occupations under the income tax regulations. What does this imply? Individuals listed in “public safety occupations” can retire early, at age 50, and contribute 2.33% annually to their pension. At present, forest firefighters are categorized as silviculture and forestry workers. For those workers, the minimum retirement age is set at 55 and the maximum pension accrual rate is capped at 2% per annum. Currently, firefighters in local and regional locations, at airports and in industrial and shipboard environments are included in the “priority occupation” list, as defined by the Government of Canada’s national occupational classification (NOC). However, forest firefighters are not included.

VICTORIA – The BC Forest Practices Board has published its comprehensive summary report detailing the audit findings from 2018 to 2022. This special report encapsulates the results of 43 audits conducted over the five-year period, highlighting trends, compliance levels, and areas needing improvement across British Columbia’s diverse forest and range management practices. Key Highlights from the 2018-2022 Audit Summary Report:

• Overall Compliance: Most licensees were found to comply with legislative requirements, with 86 percent of findings in full compliance with the Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA) and the Wildfire Act.
• Audit Scope: The Board reviewed 675 recently harvested cutblocks, inspected 1,005 stream crossings, and evaluated 1,028 kilometres of road construction or deactivation across 20 natural resource districts.
• Non-Compliance: The report identifies several instances of significant non-compliance, particularly in bridge and road construction, fire hazard assessments, and silviculture reporting. These findings underscore the need for ongoing improvements in specific areas to ensure the sustainable management of forest resources.

For more than a century, the forests of Vancouver Island have been the economic backbone of the region. …In 2022, Mosaic Forest Management flipped that model on its head, saying it would defer logging on 40,000 hectares of its land throughout coastal B.C. for at least 25 years. Instead of logging those sites, Mosaic said, it would package the carbon stored in those trees into nature-based carbon credits. …But this past February, Renoster Systems, a carbon-credit-ratings agency assessed the project on measures such as “additionality” and transparency. …The agency gave the project a failing grade, saying it lacks additionality because most of the sites included in BigCoast are not actually at risk of being logged because they are on steep slopes or in other areas that are unlikely to be harvested. …Mosaic forcefully disputes the Renoster review. Mosaic accused Renoster of making “false, misleading and defamatory” statements. [to access the full story a Globe and Mail subscription is required]

Marking a pivotal moment for sustainable forestry practices and Indigenous stewardship of the land. We aim to unite Indigenous leaders, forestry professionals, environmentalists, and policymakers to explore the integration of traditional Indigenous knowledge with modern forestry management practices. We underscore the crucial role of collaboration and respect for Indigenous rights and territories in achieving ecological sustainability and unlocking economic opportunities for Indigenous communities. A significant focus will be on closing the economic gap, emphasizing the need for First Nations’ access to capital to participate meaningfully in the forest sector and creating opportunities for Indigenous entrepreneurs.

ALBERTA — When wolves are killed by bullets fired from helicopters during Alberta government culls, surviving members of the pack quickly learn to evade the threat, a new study has found. For nearly two decades, Alberta has killed off hundreds of grey wolves each year in an attempt to bolster dwindling caribou populations, a practice critics have described as a misguided measure to help herds on the brink recover from habitat loss. New research sheds light on how the practice alters the surviving wolves and warns of unintended consequences on threatened caribou and the broader boreal habitat. Researchers at the University of Victoria and the University of British Columbia… found that culls alter the behaviour of survivors by pushing them deeper into the forest to new hunting grounds — changes that may help caribou in the short term but could ultimately help wolf populations quickly recover from a slaughter.

Urban foresters managing green spaces in our communities respond to public demand for this vital infrastructure in settings under increased pressure from the effects of climate change and population growth. Vancouver’s iconic Stanley Park recently captured headlines following plans to remove looper moth-killed trees from the forest. Water scarcity and extreme heat are adding layers of complexity to urban landscape management. What can urban foresters tell us about this valuable community resource, along with present and emerging best practices in the field? What role do residents play in decisions surrounding living infrastructure in their neighbourhoods? Join us for an engaging expert panel discussion to answer these questions and more, including audience-generated queries. Moderated by UBC’s Richard Hamelin, with speakers Bruce Blackwell and Joe McLeod. Tuesday, June 25, 2024 | 12:00pm – 1:00pm PT | ONLINE

The Government of Yukon provided an update on the wildfire weather outlook at a briefing on June 13. In summary: For the past month, the Yukon has had mixed weather. Conditions are dry through central Yukon (from Destruction Bay through Carmacks, Faro and Ross River). The rest of the territory, in the north and the south, is not very dry due to last fall’s rain and winter snowpack. This means the wildfires so far this year are not burning as deeply or intensely as last year’s wildfires. This past weekend and continuing through midweek, warmer dry conditions will escalate fire danger across the territory. Fire danger can be expected to rise gradually through the week, with more lightning-started wildfires. …This summer the Yukon has 24 wildfire crews in regional bases across the territory, comprising 10 Government of Yukon and 14 Yukon First Nations crews.