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Do you know the Okanagan is home to some of the very last remnants of interior old growth fir and spruce forests, specifically Peachland’s watershed, near Glen Lake? Do you know Glen Lake is a major source of our community drinking water, as it joins Peachland Creek before supplying our brand-new $35M water treatment plant? …Tell your government, Peachland’s trees are not destined for mills, ships to Asia or a flailing forestry industry safety-net. Peachland watershed’s forests are worth more standing, they store 83 per cent more carbon than pine plantations and mono-culture conifer farms. Most importantly we rely on their free infrastructure services and natural ecosystem benefits. …Act now before your back country is compromised. Four ways to make a stand! Write, call, online submissions and a petition…

Rob Botterell

“Talk and log” old growth, mill closures, drought, wildfires, lack of value-added products from second-growth forests and climate change have shaken the very foundations of the forest sector in our province. Key NDP forestry initiatives such as the Old Growth Strategic Review have stalled. Nor is the province any closer to protecting 30 per cent of the B.C. land base by 2030, implementing the biodiversity and ecosystem health framework, local watershed governance and a paradigm shift to a sustainable industry that protects workers and communities. Following the money tells the same story: the Ministry of Forests’ 2026 budget is $910 million, essentially unchanged from last year. No new money means no new effort to deliver on previous NDP forestry promises. …as the Green Caucus forests critic, I will continue to press for immediate implementation of the PFAC report, as well as full implementation of the Old Growth Strategic Review, 30X30, the biodiversity and ecosystem health framework, and local watershed governance.

The widely discussed West Fraser forest management plan for West Bragg Creek and Moose Mountain has been updated to incorporate a new provincial wildfire mitigation program. West Fraser outlined the changes during its annual spring open house April 1 at the Cochrane RancheHouse, including a new supplementary harvest area in West Bragg Creek and a delayed timeline for Moose Mountain operations. The updates align with Alberta’s Community Hazardous Fuels Reduction (CHFR) program, introduced last year to reduce wildfire risk near vulnerable communities. “Working with forest companies, the program prioritizes the harvest of hazardous fuels within five kilometres of surrounding vulnerable communities,” the province said in an information package. “The CHFR program leverages existing forest tenure holders to adjust harvesting plans to make an immediate impact.” …“They’ve asked us as industry to prioritize our operations in that area,” said Tyler Steneker, woodlands manager for West Fraser Cochrane. 

WILLIAMS LAKE – The Forest Practices Board has completed an investigation into wildfire risk reduction harvesting in wildlife habitat areas near Alkali Lake in the Cariboo, following a complaint that activities did not meet legal requirements. The board found that most activities met those requirements, with one administrative error resulting in two non-compliances. The board received a complaint in July 2024 alleging that harvesting in mule deer winter range and old-growth management areas did not meet legal requirements and commitments set out in forest plans. Investigators reviewed five cutblocks harvested since 2020 within these areas as part of wildfire risk reduction treatments. Four cutblocks met requirements. In one case, harvesting proceeded without a required exemption, resulting in non-compliance with both forest stewardship plan commitments and general wildlife measures. While the exemption was not obtained, the board observed that the work on the ground reduced wildfire risk and maintained mature forest cover important for mule deer winter habitat.

The Ministry of Forests has responded to residents’ concerns about a proposed logging project in the north BX area of Vernon. Area residents launched a petition last month in an effort to halt the 24-hectare logging operation near Hartnell Road and Brookside Creek. “Forestry plans to clear a significant amount of very old cedar and fir trees along the steep Brookside Creek catchment area. It will be highly visible from the many communities in Vernon,” the petition stated. In an email, the MOF said the area will not be clear cut. “BC Timber Sales is in the early stages of developing a wildfire risk-reduction project in the Brookside Creek area to increase forest resiliency against wildfire. Suggestions that the area will be clear cut are incorrect,” the MOF said. …The ministry said wildfire risk reduction projects are guided by a fuel management prescription … typically resulting in relatively high levels of tree retention.

The B.C. government is recommending a fine against those responsible for the deaths of more than a dozen cattle last fall, but the Ministry of Environment and Parks won’t say who, exactly, investigators believe is to blame for poisoning in the Quesnel area. The October incident prompted public outcry… The cattle … were believed to have been poisoned when they consumed nitrogen fertilizer meant to accelerate timber growth. B.C.’s Ministry of Forests said that laboratory analyses of the fertilizer and animal tissues are still being completed. …Meanwhile, the investigation under the Environmental Management Act has concluded with investigators recommending an administrative penalty — a fine imposed on a person or business alleged to have violated a regulatory requirement. …James Steidle, of Stop the Spray BC, worries that the poisonings did not result from a mishap but from standard forestry practices.

High in a tree in Vancouver’s Stanley Park, an arborist dangles from a climbing harness with a chainsaw… The work is part of a significant – and, to some, distressing – intervention to address the Hemlock looper moth outbreak that killed almost a third of the public park’s 600,000 trees between 2020 and 2023. …what’s happening in the park underscores the broader challenges of managing city green spaces in the era of climate change. …The city says those dead trees pose many risks, and the only way to deal with them is with saws. Joe McLeod, the city’s associate director of urban forestry, called it a “risk mitigation project for public safety.” …To better understand the twin risks of wildfire and falling trees, the city hired veteran wildfire ecologist and forester Bruce Blackwell. …None of this has sat well with Stanley Park Preservation Society founder, Michael Robert Caditz. …But fuel mitigation isn’t about preventing the most common fires; it’s about protecting against the worst possible ones, the kind of fires that occur on the most extreme weather days, when high temperatures, low humidity and strong winds combine to drive the wildfire risk into the red. [A Globe and Mail subscription is required for full story access]

Each year, the Canadian Institute of Forestry (CIF-IFC) Silver Rings are presented to new graduates to welcome them as forestry professionals. The Silver Ring is a symbol of achievement, presented to those who have completed a CIF-IFC recognized program. The ring signifies a national bond among forestry professionals and a commitment to sustainable forest stewardship. The first Silver Ring ceremony was hosted in 1953 at UBC Forestry & Environmental Stewardship. It has since become a growing tradition at forestry schools across Canada. The ring is typically worn on the little finger of the recipient’s dominant hand. The maple leaf engraved on the ring is to be pointed towards the tip of the finger, representing a growing professional responsibility. The Silver Ring unites graduates from forestry programs across Canada in a shared promise to uphold the values and responsibilities of the forestry profession.

Textbook disaster capitalism. That’s how a forest advocacy group describes the Ministry of Forests’ Forest Statutes Amendment Act, a set of legislative changes to the Forests and Range Practices Act. “As social license for continuing to log primary forests dries up, the Ministry of Forests doubles down, accelerating logging while claiming that BC is a global leader in sustainable forest practices,” said Jenn Matthews, in a Conservation North news release. …The proposed changes would also expand ‘salvage’ logging, a controversial practice where trees are harvested following a natural disturbance. “Salvage logging – especially in forests that have never been logged – damages soils, wildlife habitat, and water flows,” said Conservation North’s director, ecologist Michelle Connolly. “Moreover, when you log after natural disturbance, you’re robbing the forest of key building blocks (including still-living trees) for the forest that will follow. The Ministry’s claim that this is forest stewardship is garbage.”

After roughly 100 sawmills, pulp mills, and engineered wood plants closed down or cut shifts since 2000, and thousands of loggers lost their jobs, the trade union representing those workers has its hands full. The consensus is: this is do-or-die time to stabilize the forest industry in British Columbia. USW Canada – District 3 represents workers across Western Canada, including BC’s unionized forestry workforce. Recently, District 3 Director Scott Lunny offered a forward-looking view of the industry on a podcast, despite the challenges it faces. Jeff Bromley, the union’s Wood Council Chair, put it this way: “What’s the alternative—giving up on rural communities throughout the province? We accept the responsibility to manage a transition in the best interest of our members.” …The Provincial Forest Advisory Council’s report, From Conflict to Care, has tabled a set of recommendations — and the Steelworkers Union agrees with its main thrust.

The Government of British Columbia and Tla’amin Nation have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to enhance collaborative stewardship actions in Tla’amin Nation territory, focusing on advancing key treaty commitments through a shared stewardship framework. The MOU, or the yiχmɛtštəm ʔəms gɩǰɛ Territorial Stewardship Action Plan, sets out how the B.C. government and Tla’amin Nation will work together to care for land and water, heritage resources, and Tla’amin wildlife harvesting rights in the region. In the Tla’amin language, yiχmɛtštəm ʔəms gɩǰɛ means “together we are taking care of the land.” “With the signing of this memorandum of understanding, the Province and Tla’amin Nation have taken a significant step forward to implement key commitments of the Tla’amin Treaty,” said Randene Neill, Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship.