Region Archives: Canada

Firefighters are battling six wildfires that have occurred on the South Island over the last few days. All caused by controlled burns at logging sites. …No structures are at risk, but the fire is causing smoke that can be seen from Victoria, said fire information officer Donna MacPherson. …All the fires were started from controlled burns where forest companies burn slash, branches and other forest debris in a designated area, said MacPherson. The wildfires went beyond the perimeters of the provincially-approved fire plan. The fires are used to reduce wildfire risk in the summer. This week’s fire were likely caused by a “weird weather event,” said MacPherson.

Paul Pickell

A team of B.C. researchers has developed a system it says can be used to predict the likelihood of human-caused wildfires in boreal forests, allowing fire officials to focus their preparations and prevention efforts. The system uses satellite imagery to track the growth of new leaves in forest undergrowth during the spring, which gives the researchers an idea of how flammable a given tract of forest is going to be over the rest of the season. “We essentially just go download that imagery and process it and create a prediction on about a week-by-week basis,” said Paul Pickell, a post-doctoral fellow in UBC’s Faculty of Forestry. “We can know by the end of March, before the start of the fire season, essentially when is going to be the most flammable part of the fire season for human-caused fires.”

A quiet battle is being fought in the forests of western North America, and millions of pine trees are dying in its wake. Shades of green that once permeated the flora of British Columbia’s forests are disappearing. …According to Christine Chiu — a graduate student focusing on botany and chemical ecology at UBC — climate change, specifically rising temperatures, has played a major role in the widespread decline of the forests over the course of the past two decades. …Treating this problem has proven difficult, to put it mildly. “Preventing the spread of this species is extremely laborious,” said Chiu. …Imagine hunting for a needle in a haystack, except the needle only becomes visible after it’s too late.

The Supreme Court of Canada is expected to deliver a landmark ruling on Thursday in the case of religious freedom that is at the centre of dispute between the Ktunaxa Nation Council and the provincial government over the development of a proposed ski resort west of Invermere. …In 2012, the provincial government approved a master development agreement for the resort. That touched off the court battle, as the Ktunaxa challenged the approval of the plan in BC Supreme Court seeking a judicial review, arguing that they were not adequately consulted during the development plan process. After a nine-day trial in 2014, Justice John Savage eventually ruled that the provincial government and Steve Thomson, the Minster of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources at the time, had passed a reasonable standard for consultation and accommodation during the Master Development Plan process.

On August 23, 2017, 18 eager school teachers came together from a range of schools across the Lower Mainland and Southern Vancouver Island—their common thread was a desire to learn more about the forest sector in British Columbia. Hosted by Festival of Forestry tour guides Michel Vallee and Ryan Dvorak, they were ready for three days of forest-immersion. This year’s tour was based in Port Alberni—Along the way, special guests joined the group to share their expertise and answer questions. They included Makenzie Leine, forester and communications director from Island Timberlands, Warren Lauder, manager of Hupacasath First Nation forestry, Ken Epps of Island Timberlands, and Rhonda Morris, the district manager for the South Island Natural Resources District.

…I am a 79-year-old retired forest service employee. My long suit was fire suppression. I have been writing letters to the premier, starting with Gordon Campbell in 2003, all to no avail, but this year’s response took the cake. I received a two-page glowing report from a PR person that made this year’s fire control efforts appear fantastic. Here is a sentence right out of her letter: “Confronted by an average of 2,000 wildfires each year, highly trained provincial fire crews were successful in containing 94 per cent of all wildfires in BC. by 10 a.m. the following day.” Was she watching the same evening news as me? Our forest firefighting capabilities are grossly understaffed, undertrained and underfunded. …We also need another Filmon Report, but this time focused on fire suppression and made up of forest industry personnel and people with fire experience.

Mike Larock

Megan Hanacek

…The state of old growth forests on Vancouver Island resurfaced in the news recently with the announcement that a pair of environmental activist groups plan to reprise a tour of Vancouver Island communities to talk about preserving the Island’s old growth forests. The difficulty with any conversation about old growth forests begins with the definition. As anyone who attended the same environmental group’s meetings in March quickly discovered, definitions of what constitutes “old growth” were mushy and malleable depending on who was speaking. This lack of a clear definition of what constitutes “old growth” then leads to incorrect numbers and assumptions about the amount of old growth forests on Vancouver Island that are just plain wrong.

The results are in from the public survey, conducted in September, asking residents how they felt about the operations of the Bella Coola Community Forest (BCCFL). 130 submissions were received, answering seven questions, with an additional 80 comments on how forest operations could be improved. …The survey confirms that there is a need for more and better communications between the community forest and valley residents. This survey and the resulting data is a step in that direction. There was response from a good cross section of the local communities, displaying various interests. Most people had some knowledge of the community forest but preferred to get more through the BCCFL website, the local newspaper or Facebook. Some people suggested the use of an occasional newsletter, email or public presentations as a way to get information. There was also interest in educational programs, operations tours and school field trips.

Dianne Watts (center)

Re-connecting with communities and coming up with a province-wide forestry strategy were two key points in BC Liberal leadership candidate Dianne Watts’ speech to party members in Port Alberni, Saturday night. …Chris Duncan, a board member of the Alberni Valley Community Forest, said the BC Liberals need to educate themselves on forestry issues such as the difficulty smaller contractors are having in dealing with larger forestry companies. “…Contractors are going broke,” while larger companies are making 18-percent profits, he said. Another retired forester said access to private lands now locked behind gates is an issue any potential leader needs to take seriously. Watts was critical of the present-day government for their lack of an overall forestry plan for B.C. that deals with not only wildfire management but the closure of small mills and access to private lands as well.

Nelson — By January, forestry consultants John Cathro and Erik Leslie will have decided, in detail, what will it take to reduce the risk of wildfire in five specific areas of West Arm Provincial Park. B.C. Parks’ Amanda Weber-Roy, who will act once she has received Cathro and Leslie’s plans, said the prescriptions for wildfire fuel treatments will have measurable goals that will differ in different parts of the landscape. “The prescriptions will show what the forest stand looks like now, and what we want it to look like after,” said Weber-Roy during a public meeting about the West Arm Park fire plan on Tuesday. The unadvertised meeting was sparsely attended.

While I am certainly no expert on logging practices I feel my questions arising from the article are valid. …1. Why are logging corporations allowed to externalize the costs onto the taxpayer for the environmental damage that they might cause? …2. Why are logging corporations being allowed to cut in forest reserves? …3. If logging corporations need to pick the lowest hanging fruit for larger profit then why are they being allowed to ship raw logs to foreign customers where foreign workers will turn those logs into lumber? …4. Why in Heaven’s name is the Kalesnikoff website the repository for documents and comments in advance of their logging in the Selous Creek watershed?

Gene Runtz, RPF

The McBride Community Forest Corporation (MCFC) has chosen local forester Gene Runtz as its new manager. Runtz is a Registered Professional Forester. According to a news release, interim managers Jeff McWilliams and Wes Bieber will be available to Runtz as he begins his work. McWilliams and Bieber have been navigating MCFC over the last two years, through what the board deemed “a challenging and uncertain time.” The Board let go of former manager Marc Von der Gonna in August 2015 and halted logging shortly thereafter due to overcutting. …At least two outspoken critics of the community forest appreciate the choice of the new manager.

Paul Whittaker

It’s been a terrible year for forest fires in North America. As I write this, 31 lives have been lost to a massive blaze in northern California. We’ve also seen unprecedented destruction in British Columbia, with some devastating spillover into Waterton National Park. It all brings back painful memories of last year’s Fort McMurray tragedy. There’s an important lesson in all of this destruction, though. We can’t let our guard down on forest management. We need to actively identify areas that could burn and take steps to prevent the next catastrophe. …If you ask a professional forester where the next devastating fire might happen, they’d probably point to Hinton and Jasper. That’s because a massive pine beetle epidemic has killed much of the pine in Jasper National Park and is surging towards Hinton.

Jim Eglinski

Yellowhead Member of Parliament Jim Eglinski took aim at the Trudeau government for its response — or lack thereof — to the devastating effects on the Yellowhead region, specifically, Jasper National Park. On Thursday Oct. 19, Eglinski took part in debate over a Conservative motion. The motion calls for federal support of the Yellowhead’s forestry industry and workers, largely based in Hinton. The topic is closely tied to the current and potential future effects of the pine beetle in the Yellowhead riding. “I have been working for two years with the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, to take some serious action with respect to the pine beetle in Jasper National Park,” Eglinski said to Parliament. “It has destroyed the forest there. It has now moved into the province of Alberta and, in one year — if the members across would listen — it has increased tenfold.”