In May, I had the honour of being invited By Dorian Uzzell to the Wahkash Contracting harvesting operation. From the first few moments in the air heading to East Thurlow Island… it was obvious how this area of the province could sustain both our economy and the abundant and beautiful nature we all cherish. Back on the ground, I met with the dry land sort and shop crews and the float camp staff who all make the operation possible. …I also had the opportunity to get an upclose look at the stewardship going into Tree Farm License (TFL) 47 in Hemming Bay, held by Mosaic Forest Management. This area is part of the Great Bear Rainforest where ecosystem-based management guides forest stewardship. The scale of work, the attention to detail, the sheer effort and the work going into the management of the full scope of values, including streams, cultural and biodiversity values is outstanding in this TFL.
Related News by Dorian Uzzell, TLA President: My boots-on-the-ground tour with Forest Minister Ravi Parmar
The NDP government is making changes to development cost charges that builders say could help reduce the burden they face as material and labour costs continue to increase and the number of projects under construction drop. Starting in 2026, builders will only have to pay 25 per cent of their fees to municipalities up front and will be able to defer the remaining 75 per cent for four years or until people move into the building. The fees help cover the cost of infrastructure such as community centres, roads, sewers and parks. The changes will also allow developers to use bonds instead of irrevocable letters of credit as financial guarantees, allowing them to preserve access to capital throughout the project. Wendy McNeil, CEO of the Homebuilders Association Vancouver, said the changes will allow builders certainty when it comes to the cost of the project and the timeframe for making payments to municipalities.
ST. JOHNS, Newfoundland — St. John’s lawyer Bob Buckingham is not sure how an investigation into the illegal burial of hazardous and contaminated materials in Deer Lake will take place, but he’s giving all the credit for it happening to one man. Buckingham represents Richard Dewey, a resident of Deer Lake who, for more than a decade, has worked to bring attention to three separate environmental issues in the town: the burial of the hazardous and contaminated materials, pollution of the town’s drinking water and property damage caused by seepage from the Humber Canal. …Dewey made a complaint to the provincial government claiming that creosote-contaminated soil was trucked from beneath the penstocks on the Humber Canal and buried near the town’s water supply, and that creosote-soaked penstocks were dumped at the closed town landfill.
Flow at the Cowichan River will be reduced again with the lake at 48 per cent full. Brian Houle, environmental manager at Domtar’s Crofton pulp mill, says a meeting with regulators of the watershed on July 7 led to an agreement to reduce flow from seven cubic metres per second (cms) to 5.5. “Given the summer 2025 drought conditions in Cowichan Lake, careful watershed management decisions need to be made,” reads a news release from Houle. “Today’s water levels are not dissimilar to 2023, when several factors resulted in a fish kill event in the upper Cowichan River and pumping of lake to river was needed for extended period of 36 days in the fall.” In May, the flow was reduced to seven cms and Houle said the plan was to hold that rate through July and August. In 2023, the river flow was reduced to 4.5 cms in May. Houle says keeping it at seven this year was intended to reduce impacts on fish.
NELSON, BC — BC Timber Sales is talking to residents about logging and wildfire protection planned for the Falls Creek watershed in the Bonnington area. In a June 6 letter to residents posted on social media, Mark Tallman, planning forester for BCTS, said the agency is beginning a community watershed planning process that will include local residents. …Will BCTS have already decided which trees will be cut before the watershed plan is created? …A Ministry of Forests spokesperson said potential cut blocks have not yet been mapped. “The project is being designed to use early engagement with interested parties to help guide BCTS planning around forest harvesting, road construction, and wildfire risk reduction.” …An initial draft of the watershed forest plan is expected to be completed by “early winter 2026” and the “timing of the timber sale is anticipated to be around 2028-29 at the earliest.
It’s a widely-accepted mystery: whether or not a tree that falls in the forest makes a sound. But what about the riddle that Jasper National Park officials were faced with last year: If hundreds of thousands of burned trees are down in high visitor use areas, who clears them away? Since the Jasper Wildfire Complex razed 33,000 ha of Jasper’s forests last July, Lethbridge’s Adam Ross and his team of arborists, foresters, danger tree specialists and wildlife tree assessors, have been cutting, pruning, clearing, mulching, sawing, chipping and generally making passable the area’s roads, right-of-ways and trails. “Bush surgeons, that’s who we are,” says Ross, who owns and operates Rossco’s Tree Service. Ross’ company has been contracted to clear all of Jasper’s campgrounds, day-use areas and roadways impacted by the fire. The enormity of the crews’ task is difficult to put into perspective, and not just because of the sheer volume of trees to be cleared.
Fire hazard assessments and hazard abatement are key activities in reducing the potential threat of wildfires arising from fuels left on the land base following industrial activities. Under the Wildfire Act a person carrying out an industrial activity or prescribed activity is required to assess and abate fire hazards as necessary. The BC Wildfire Service has developed 
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WHITEHORSE, Yukon — Communities in southern Yukon will reduce their wildfire risk after a combined investment of more than $17 million from the federal and Yukon governments. The funding was announced by Dr. Brendan Hanley, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Northern and Arctic Affairs and Member of Parliament for Yukon. …Funding for the Government of Yukon’s Wildland Fire Management branch will decrease fire risk in the communities of Whitehorse, Teslin, and Haines Junction—communities which are part of the northern boreal forest region and prone to aggressive wildfire behaviour. …New treatment will include reducing or managing materials that are flammable or combustible in the wildland-urban interface. These measures follow national standards set out by FireSmart Canada and will increase the wildfire resilience of these three communities.
On the Easter long weekend, there was a wildfire on Egmont Forest Service Road that had to be controlled by the local fire department because a logging slash pile being burned was left unattended. How big does a wildfire have to get before the shíshálh Nation or the province will finally fulfill their promises to the residents around North Lake in Egmont? …Four years ago we participated in a community engagement process with BC Timber Sales and the shíshálh Nation regarding the cutting of 60,000 cubic metres (thousands of trees) around North and Klein Lakes. …One of the bigger concerns that we had was the removal of hundreds of large burn piles created by the logging. We were promised by both BCTS and the shíshálh Nation that the burn piles would be dealt with after the logging ended. It is now two years later and the burn piles have not been removed. 
Four years ago, British Columbia endured the deadliest weather event in recorded Canadian history. The 2021 heat dome claimed the lives of more than 600 people, many of whom died alone in overheated homes. As we mark the fourth anniversary of this devastating mass casualty event with record-breaking heat elsewhere in the country, we must confront a troubling truth: B.C. remains dangerously unprepared for the next one. Despite some advancements, including updated building codes, rebates for heat pumps and a now-depleted $30-million fund to provide vulnerable households with air conditioning units, one of the most critical aspects of climate readiness has seen little to no progress. In fact, it’s getting worse. Our communities are rapidly losing tree canopy, green space and permeable surfaces — the very elements that keep cities cooler during extreme heat.
The union representing Ontario’s wildland firefighters says they’re working long hours that are contributing to “fatigue,” and is calling for a funding increase to address a lack of resources. “Historically Ontario’s had about 180 four-person fire crews,” said Noah Freedman, a wildfire crew leader in northwestern Ontario and vice-president of Local 703 of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU). …”While we should be looking to staff more firefighters, and have more water bombers and pilots and all of our incredible support staff that we need more of, we’re just going the other direction at the moment.” Freedman said the union has been unable to confirm the exact number of crews currently operating; last year, there were 143. …The province is also short water bomber pilots.
The other day, in the midst of a heat wave that suffocated central Canada, this newspaper brought us the story of a five-year-old at a public school in Ottawa, sent to hospital for heat exhaustion. The accompanying photo shows the child and his mother seated on a picnic table in the schoolyard, surrounded by grass and pavement – and one tree. As a forester, I volunteer with a program of Forests Canada called Forestry in the Classroom, whose goal is to connect ”the next generation of forest stewards with forestry and environmental professionals.” This spring I visited a school in north Toronto to take a class of Grade 5 students to a nearby forested ravine, to help them identify trees and to evaluate tree health. On my arrival at the school, I was shocked to find the playground a barren wasteland. 
The Wood Pellet Association of Canada will host the largest gathering of the Canadian wood pellet industry. Biomass and wood pellets play a key role in ensuring Canada has renewable and responsible energy. Join us in Halifax, Nova Scotia, September 23-24, 2025.
In 2023, the Canada wildfires that incinerated more than 17 million hectares of boreal forest were so hot they … smoldered underground all winter. That heat created vast columns of rising air, carrying dust, volatile organic compounds, and huge quantities of a simple particle with the potential to exacerbate climate change: black carbon. Commonly known as soot, black carbon is a type of pollution formed by the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels or biomass such as trees. It’s a risk to human health, having been linked to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. It’s also a potent short-term warming agent. Black carbon absorbs copious heat from the sun and, when it coats a layer of ice or snow, reduces its ability to reflect solar energy back into space. …The research on black carbon needs to be updated as more becomes known about the aerosol, and that makes tracking wildfire smoke even more important. 
EGANVILLE, Ontario — The Government of Ontario is protecting workers and jobs in the forest sector by investing over $9.1 million in five research, innovation and modernization projects in Eastern Ontario. The investments from the Forest Biomass Program will help boost Ontario’s forest sector’s competitive advantage by creating new jobs, increasing productivity and opening up opportunities for revenue streams in new markets. …The government’s investment is supporting projects related to underused wood and mill by-products, known as forest biomass. …These projects will help create good-paying local jobs while supporting the delivery of high-quality, made-in-Ontario products to market at a lower cost. In addition, they will strengthen Eastern Ontario’s economy by creating added demand for the harvesting, hauling and trucking industries, and develop new opportunities for Indigenous communities to participate in the growing forestry industry.
Overlapping work activities are one of forestry’s most complex safety challenges; without proper controls, phase congestion can pose serious hazards to workers. However, with proper management, forestry operations can achieve safe, efficient phase integration. “Preventing injuries and fatalities takes ongoing commitment to coordinated planning, qualified supervision, worker training, and clear communication, says Tom Pawloski, manager of prevention programs and services at WorkSafeBC. Phase congestion occurs when multiple harvesting phases overlap in the same or nearby area, often due to insufficient time or distance between phases. It often builds gradually and can go unnoticed until a serious incident occurs. …When phases aren’t properly coordinated, workers face greater risks of being struck by or caught between equipment or missing other hazards. …Safe phase integration begins before work starts. …”Phase congestion doesn’t always show up right away … staying proactive, adjusting plans as conditions change, and maintaining clear communication is essential to keeping workers safe,” Pawlowski says.
Halifax spent more than $160,000 on the wrong type of wildfire protective gear, and the union for municipal firefighters says the mix-up is just one example that the department is not properly preparing for wildfires. In the aftermath of the 
Ontario Forest Fires says there are now six forest fires in the northeast region after four new ones were discovered Monday. One of the fires is under control while the other five are being held, the group said in its daily update on the area’s forest fire situation. “The fire hazard is low across the central and southern section of the region and moderate to high with a few pockets of extreme values across the northern section of the northeast region,” the update said. Wildland fires can affect communities when they occur in or near neighbourhoods near forested areas. The FireSmart program offers tangible tips on how to mitigate the risk of wildland fires spreading to your home, cottage, or community. “Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services would like to remind the public to use caution when performing any outdoor burning,” the update said.
The province’s biggest-ever forest fire is now considered unlikely to spread beyond its existing boundaries. The 196,000-hectare Red Lake 12 was declared “being held” by the Ministry of Natural Resources on Sunday. The MNR described it as “a significant milestone” for the fire that prompted the evacuation of both Deer Lake and Sandy Lake First Nations. Eighteen firefighting crews supported by seven helicopters are still assigned the task of bringing the fire under complete control, but some other equipment has now been demobilized. Logistic support staff will be shipping firefighting apparatus out of Deer Lake and Sandy Lake over the next few days.