Blog Archives

David Elstone

Re: “If an old-growth tree falls in a forest, does it make political hay?” column, June 29. …What is most concerning about this warning is the misconception this plea has created among the public about how much of B.C.’s forests are protected, and the reality of timber harvesting in B.C., specifically in our rainforests and primary forests. This misconception requires clarification and correction. Most importantly, B.C. has already protected a significant majority of its rainforests and old growth. It is estimated that more than two-thirds of old-growth timber on Vancouver Island’s Crown land is already protected, which is a considerable increase over the past decade. …The current proportion of coastal second-growth harvest has risen steadily over the past decade to about 50 per cent today, and that is forecasted to continue to increase. This has reduced reliance on old-growth harvest as additional areas have been protected.

Ross Muirhead

Re: “Changes coming as Community Forest directors resign,” June 22. Our organization, Elphinstone Logging Focus (ELF), looks forward to a restart on this community forest licence and supports Sechelt council taking these necessary steps to improve oversight of its logging company, the Sunshine Coast Community Forest (SCCF). As the name implies, it’s also about managing the “forests” – not just clearcutting the timber. Under the former president, SCCF disbanded the Public Advisory Committee where operations could be discussed in an open context and cancelled the Walk in the Woods program which allowed the public to view proposed cutblocks and offer input. These two public processes were disbanded without consultation with the district.

Kayla Brock

Three forestry-sector summer students in Quesnel are promoting their industry and our city after winning the Forest Products Association of Canada 2018 Green Dream Internship contest. West Fraser Mills summer students Ryan DaSilva, Alexander Davis and Kayla Brock have each begun blogging about their experiences at work and play in our area, as part of the program. …Quesnel’s summer students were three of 10 winners around the country, who will receive a scholarship towards their ongoing schooling as well as an iPad Mini or GoPro camera to help them blog about their experiences in Canada’s forest products industry throughout the summer. The program aims to promote a wide variety of forest sector career opportunities. …The Green Dream blogs are posted bi-weekly and can be found at GreenestWorkforce.ca.

West Kelowna has added a new tool in its effort to prevent forest fires. Members of West Kelowna city council recently got their first look at the city’s new fire danger monitoring station, located in the hills above Rose Valley. According to the Westside Fire Rescue, the station provides accurate weather information and was strategically-placed on a south-facing slope to give fire fighters the most accurate, West Kelowna-specific weather information. The station was installed and commissioned during the 2017 fire season and provides hourly reports on temperature, relative humidity, precipitation and wind speed and direction. Fire danger class ratings are established through these readings.

Alberni Valley hiking enthusiast, Laurie Morphet, was on a hike up Mount Arrowsmith in June when she encountered a Vancouver Island Marmot. …They weren’t always rare. …The first people on Vancouver Island knew of them and hunted them. …But it wasn’t them that brought their population into a long gradual decline. It was a changing climate. This decline was accelerated when logging started to move higher into the mountains. …In doing that they found recent clearcut habitat that resembled their colonies and started to live in them. They died because the damp rather than dry winter conditions at lower elevations weren’t right for them. Added to that, predators were found to be changing their habits as well due to forestry activities. 

As scientists, we have travelled the world’s rainforests on several continents. Few temperate places rival B.C.’s rich rainforest tapestry and its life-giving benefits. Canadians are fortunate that B.C.’s globally rare old-growth rainforests are working behind the scenes all the time — helping to stabilize the climate, upholding irreplaceable cultural values of Indigenous peoples, and supporting tourism and recreation jobs. All of that is at risk, however, if logging continues at its current liquidation rate. …Unfortunately, British Columbia lacks a provincewide policy for protecting old-growth rainforests. …B.C.’s coastal rainforests represent a quarter of the world’s temperate rainforests. Yet these forests are now so globally rare that they only make up 2.5 per cent of the world’s forests.