Blog Archives

In the latest edition of Woodlots Weekly, Woodlots BC outlines three priorities ahead of the October 24 provincial election: strengthening wildfire protection through locally managed forests, maintaining woodlot tenures to support rural jobs, and recognizing the benefits of community-based forest stewardship. The organization also announces its membership in Canadian Forest Owners, providing a stronger voice for B.C. woodlot licensees in national forest policy discussions. Other highlights include the availability of presentations from the recent Woodlots BC conference, new Innovation in Action grants of $25,000 to $50,000 for innovative silviculture projects, and funding opportunities through the Forest Enhancement Society of BC for wildfire risk reduction and ecosystem rehabilitation.

How can autonomous trucks be integrated in forest operations? That’s one of the questions that FPInnovations’ autonomous transportation team aimed to get clarity on during this year’s autonomous transportation pilot project. FPInnovations has facilitated collaboration between West Fraser and Kodiak AI,  a leading provider of Physical AI-powered autonomous vehicle technology, and had the opportunity to oversee a pilot which took place this summer in Hinton Alberta. The FPI-Kodiak team completed two test weeks which included crew training, validating safety procedures, collecting baseline data, and mapping key road segments to pinpoint operational constraints. With both manual and autonomous runs completed — combined with insights from logging truck drivers and site personnel — the team gained a sharper view of real‑world variables such as dust, grades, surface conditions, and mixed traffic. West Fraser, Kodiak and FPInnovations are now working together on defining the next steps from this initial validation, engaging with stakeholders and Alberta Regulators.

The Municipal District of Opportunity No. 17 is pushing the provincial government to establish a reliable funding stream for the ongoing maintenance of local fireguards, warning that rapidly overgrown vegetation is creating severe new wildfire risks for northern communities. During a regular council meeting on Sept. 28 in Red Earth Creek, Reeve Marshall D. Auger shared a detailed update on the municipality’s recent advocacy efforts. He told the council that he and Deputy Reeve Brendan Powell recently met with Alberta’s Forestry and Parks Minister, Todd Loewen, to press him directly on the issue. The impromptu meeting took place during the Alberta Forest Products Association annual general meeting and conference. The gathering gave the local leaders a brief window to speak face-to-face with the provincial minister about their escalating safety concerns.

Tolko Industries has signed a new partnership with the Westbank First Nation’s forestry company, Ntityix Resources, to manage forestry tenure in the Okanagan. The agreement sees Tolko transfer Forest Licence A98912, with an annual allowable cut of 52,100 cubic metres, to Ntityix Resources. The WFN company will then provide timber to Tolko’s mills under an automatically renewable 15-year deal. “This agreement reflects a shared commitment to reconciliation, economic development, and responsible forest stewardship,” said Mic Werstuik, CEO of Ntityix Development Corporation. “The transfer of this tenure expands Westbank First Nation’s participation in the forest economy and creates a platform for long-term Indigenous leadership in sustainable forestry management while supporting employment, capacity development, and stewardship within our traditional territory.” The deal means Ntityix will take over much of the work that goes into timber development prior to logs being sent to a mill.

Press Release by Ntityix Resources: Westbank First Nation and Tolko Industries Ltd. Announce Landmark Forestry Partnership and Tenure Transfer Agreement

The Forest Practices Board will conduct a limited-scope compliance audit of stand-level biodiversity practices and block reserve management in the Thompson Rivers Natural Resource District, beginning Monday, Oct. 19, 2026. The audit will examine the practices of BC Timber Sales’ Kamloops Business Area, the Lower North Thompson Community Forest and Gilbert Smith Forest Products. Auditors will review harvest planning, and on-the-ground practices and reporting, including the establishment and management of wildlife tree-retention areas and block reserves, to determine compliance with legal requirements. The audit area is within the Kamloops Timber Supply Area, which covers approximately 2.77 million hectares. The audit will focus on operations within the Clearwater, Dunn, Vavenby, Adams Lake and Barrière landscape units within the Kamloops Timber Supply Area. Wildlife tree-retention areas help support biodiversity by retaining trees and other forest features in harvested landscapes. They can also help protect important forest attributes, including riparian areas, cultural heritage values and visual quality.

Ecologist Karen Price spent months as part of an advisory panel tasked with identifying the old growth forest in B.C. most at risk and in need of protection. The places her team identified, known as deferral areas, were to be temporarily protected from logging, with local governments and First Nations to decide whether those protections became permanent. Now she’s watching the province auction off some of those areas to logging companies. “The province is putting out, for bid, old growth that is identified as some of the most at-risk old growth around,” she said. “They have taken that mapped area and they are precisely asking folks to bid to log it.” The B.C. NDP committed on multiple occasions, most recently in the 2024 provincial election campaign, to implementing the 14 recommendations of the 2020 Old Growth Strategic Review. …”People immediately translate [the Old Growth Review] into losing jobs … and that’s not true,” said Garry Merkel, one of the authors.

The Forest Practices Board will conduct a full-scope compliance audit of Carrier Lumber Ltd.’s forest planning and practices near Prince George, beginning Monday, Oct. 19, 2026. The audit will cover operations under forest licence A18158 within the Prince George Natural Resource District for the period Oct. 1, 2024, until Oct 23, 2026. Auditors will review harvesting, roads and structures, silviculture activities, wildfire protection and associated planning. They will assess compliance with the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act. The licence operates within the Prince George Timber Supply Area, which includes the Prince George and Stuart Nechako natural resource districts. Only operations within the Prince George Natural Resource District will be audited. The operations being audited are within approximately 100 kilometres of Prince George, extending from Bear Lake in the north to Penny in the east, Hixon in the south and the Stuart River to the west. The licence has an allowable annual cut of approximately 187,000 cubic metres.

Additional coverage in My Bulkley Lakes Now, by Brendan Pawliw: Carrier Lumber under the microscope: Forest Practices Board to begin regional audit

After nearly eight years of seeking funding, the City of Kimberley has secured $400,000 to study how wildfires could affect its drinking water supply. The effort dates back to the 2018 Meachen Creek fire, which raised concerns about the vulnerability of local water sources. Mathieu Bourbonnais, an assistant professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Okanagan and co-director of the Centre for Wildfire Coexistence, said people often take their drinking water for granted. …Kimberley’s drinking water comes from the Mark Creek and Matthew Creek watersheds. A severe wildfire could affect both the quality and availability of Kimberley’s drinking water long after the flames are out. The project aims to identify those risks, and find ways to reduce them without creating new problems for the water supply. …Bourbonnais’s lab at UBC Okanagan is working with the city and fire ecologist Bob Gray to model how fires could behave in the Mark Creek watershed.

In its latest Woodlots Weekly newsletter, Woodlots BC encourages licensees to engage with political candidates ahead of the provincial election, advocating for no net loss of woodlot tenures, reduced regulatory burdens, healthier and more resilient forests, and greater local decision-making. The newsletter also looks back at the 2026 Woodlots BC Conference and AGM, highlighting field tours, presentations, student participation and discussions with funding partners. Looking ahead, members are encouraged to explore two funding opportunities. The Silviculture Innovation Program’s Innovation in Action grants offer $25,000 to $50,000 for innovative silviculture projects, with applications closing November 30, 2026. Meanwhile, the Forest Enhancement Society of BC opens a new funding intake October 15, supporting wildfire risk reduction and forest ecosystem rehabilitation projects. Woodlots BC is inviting project ideas from members and plans to develop proposals for both programs, while encouraging individual licensees and associations to apply independently.

The Town of Lake Cowichan has acquired nearly 100 acres of land that will serve the community’s future needs, say officials. “What the acquisition provides is something Lake Cowichan has historically had very little of: strategically located municipal land and the flexibility to plan for the future,” said Mayor Tim McGonigle. “We’ve been working on this for over two years, and we certainly appreciate Mosaic’s help in helping us acquire these lands.” The $1.4 million transfer agreement between the town and Mosaic for two parcels of land … was signed on Sept. 17, with funds from the town’s existing municipal reserves. The properties … include approximately $400,000 in standing timber that will become a town asset, and Mosaic has the first right of refusal should the town sell the timber. …No final decisions have been made on the use of the two parcels … those decisions would be made by the new council voted in on Oct. 17.

BC Timber Sales has extended the public input process until Oct. 15 for a proposed logging operation in the Mount Rose Swanson area in Spallumcheen. …BCTS website said, “BCTS has heard the concerns expressed by the public and Township of Spallumcheen and has completed a rigorous process to refine the Results and Strategies in the 2018 Forest Stewardship Plan…to better reflect the Sensitive Area Order and make it more clear to the public how these Results and Strategies guide timber harvest. (The) new set of Results and Strategies aims to create balance between the recreation available on the mountain and timber harvesting, aiming to maintain and where possible, enhance recreation opportunities for users.” The required 120-day referral period has been extended to Oct. 15. An online petition launched by community members opposing the plan has more than 1,300 signatures.

A man responsible for setting a massive wildfire that burned through northern Saskatchewan last year has been sentenced to six years in prison. Thirty-year-old Jason Halkett, originally from Brochet, Man., was sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty to one count of arson causing damage to property for lighting the Ditch 2 wildfire. The fire burned more than 200,000 hectares of forest during Saskatchewan’s 2025 wildfire season. “This really sets a precedent for public prosecutions and that there was no prior wildfire sentencing case, per se. So it was a lot of work and detailed a lot of public prosecutions efforts to bring this to fruition,” Crown prosecutor Robyn Ermine told reporters after the sentencing. …The maximum penalty for the offence is 14 years in prison. …Taken into consideration was Halkett’s potential for rehabilitation, as he has been completing his high school education while in custody.

What if investing $1 today could save $4 in catastrophic wildfire damage tomorrow? In this episode, Jason Fisher (Executive Director of FESBC) breaks down why active forest management isn’t just logging—it’s frontline wildfire defense. Can smarter management stop megafires before they start?