VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board will audit forest planning and practices on five woodlots in the Campbell River Natural Resource District during the week of Oct. 17, 2022. Auditors will examine whether timber harvesting, roads, silviculture, fire protection and associated planning carried out between Oct. 1, 2020, and Oct. 20, 2022, met the requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act, as well as the Woodlot Planning and Practices Regulation. The woodlots are located within the North Island Timber Supply Area, near the communities of Union Bay, Campbell River, Gold River and Tahsis on Vancouver Island. The Campbell River Natural Resource District was randomly selected for audit, and the board then selected woodlots as the focus of the audit. …Once the audit work is complete, a report will be prepared. Any party that may be adversely affected by the audit findings will have a chance to respond.
ALBERTA — The extreme fire danger in forests around Sundre and Nordegg is not going to immediately decrease with the coming cooler weather, warned Alberta Environment. “We would like people to be extra cautious,” said department information officer Colby Lachance, since 67 per cent of last year’s wildfires were human-caused. Lachance believes warmer weather has potentially extended tourism. “We’re seeing more people in the forest at this time… so we’re asking Albertans to be extra cautious when outdoors,” she added. …Although there could be showers or snow in the Sundre and Nordegg areas on Thursday or Saturday, there’s no appreciable precipitation in the forecast for the next seven days. And Lachance said consecutive days of cold, rain or snow are needed to reduce the combustibility of dry vegetation. Although it’s very unusual to have fires this time of year, it’s been an unusually warm fall, she added.
The Province has convened a new advisory council in support of forestry workers and communities. “As someone who has worked in forestry and lives in a forestry community, I know personally how vital the sector is for our province,” said Katrine Conroy, Minister of Forests. The Forestry Worker Supports and Community Resiliency Council will advise the Province on improvements to existing programs and the development of new, forward-looking initiatives aimed at supporting forestry workers and the economic resiliency of rural communities. The council will assist government in ensuring programs are targeted, effective and responsive to community needs and priorities. Chaired by Doug Routley, Parliamentary Secretary for Forests, the council includes 18 members from broad sectors of B.C., including local government, Indigenous communities, forest industry and labour representatives, academics, and non-governmental organizations. [See press release for a full list of council members]
The province could see a shortage of naturally grown Christmas trees over the next decade. As a result of B.C.’s extreme weather conditions in recent years, many Christmas tree farmers have noticed a decline in the amount of quality trees they are able to produce in a year. This has caused worries about a possible increase in the popularity of plastic trees and how they will affect our climate. According to Richard Davies of Langley’s Oh Christmas Tree Farm, it has been difficult for young trees to thrive in the province’s current conditions. “The seedlings can’t withstand these long periods with no rain,” said Davies. …He expects a large number of families to opt for a plastic tree… “Plastic Christmas trees are not fixing any CO2, in the end you end up with a worse environmental footprint than cutting the natural tree,” said Richard Hamelin, UBC Forestry.
Bob Simpson plans to keep busy after losing his reelection bid for mayor of Quesnel. According to a news release by B.C.’s Ministry of Forests, Simpson has been named a member of a new advisory council in support of forestry workers and communities. Simpson said he had known for a while that he would be part of the Forestry Worker Supports and Community Resiliency Council, which includes 18 members from across the province. …Simpson previously served two terms as Quesnel mayor and was defeated by longtime city councillor Ron Paull on Saturday, Oct. 15. …Following his loss, Simpson believes he will be able to further enjoy the simpler things in life and looks forward to volunteering in the community and consulting on projects that interest him, such as forestry innovation, food security and zero waste initiatives. …He said he is also interested in possibly getting involved with those working to address some of the social issues within the community.
HAINES JUNCTION, YT – Collaborating with numerous Indigenous groups across Canada, Parks Canada and Indigenous peoples are partners in conserving natural and cultural heritage and sharing the stories of these treasured places. Partners Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, Kluane First Nation and Parks Canada are excited to introduce Dákeyi ukaanathį̀ jè: All of you watch over our country with your heart – Restoring forest ecosystems in Kluane National Park and Reserve. This project will help plan long-term approaches to restore and increase the resilience of the park’s forests while helping to revitalize Southern Tutchone traditions and culture. …Parks Canada, announced a federal investment of 
WILMOT, ON – The Government of Canada supports tree planting as an important part of fighting climate change. With the help of local communities, groups and volunteers, tree-planting efforts are made possible; this is where Let’s Tree Wilmot and their vibrant volunteers have played a huge part. Natural Resources Canada announced a contribution of over $163,000 to the Wilmot Horticultural Society while joining in the group’s tree-planting activity. The Wilmot Horticultural Society, through their Let’s Tree Wilmot initiative, will be planting 2,600 trees on 3.9 hectares of public land over the course of one year. …Public education efforts, including workshops, public talks and locally produced videos, will encourage local property owners to grow more native trees on their property while also equipping them to care for their trees properly.
The use of a controversial herbicide in Ontario forest management practices is at the heart of a lawsuit being taken against the provincial government by three northeastern Ontario First Nations. Chapleau Cree First Nation, Missanabie Cree First Nation and Brunswick House First Nation are challenging Ontario’s approach to forestry and its method of consultation in a statement of claim filed in Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Toronto on Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. They point to the aerial spraying of glyphosate — done without their consent — as a prime example of the gradual erosion of their rights under Treaty 9 as well as a lack of say in the industrial activity that takes place on their traditional territories going back to the singing of Treaty 9 in 1905.
BOISE, Idaho — Idaho Gov. Brad Little and other statewide elected officials have approved a northern Idaho conservation easement as part of a program that has protected from development about 156 square miles (400 square kilometers) of private timberland. The Republican governor and other Land Board members on Tuesday unanimously approved the deal giving Idaho the easement title to 166 acres (67 hectares) in northern Idaho under the federal Forest Legacy Program. In return for the easement, the non-industrial family landowner, Hartland LLC, will receive a $275,000 payment. That money comes from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a popular federal program that supports conservation and outdoor recreation projects across the country. …For Idaho, the objective of participating in the Forest Legacy Program is to help maintain the cultural and economic stability of rural communities by conserving timberland. Other objectives include enhancing water quality and protecting wildlife habitat.
As counterintuitive as it might seem, logging could be one way to help make California’s woodlands more wildfire resilient. Unfortunately, the process is beset with its own unique set of supply chain problems. Freelance journalist Jane Braxton Little said the process is called selective logging, and it involves landowners working with foresters to identify individual fire-risk trees, which are then harvested for lumber. While there’s evidence that this practice could help mitigate future wildfires, there’s a critical problem: No one is able to buy the logs. This ultimately comes down to California’s overburdened sawmills, which are at capacity and often unable to take on new lumber, Braxton Little said. “The diminished capacity of the industry in recent years means they can’t always handle the supply,” she said. “It’s a narrow neck funnel that slows down the flow of timber logs from private, non industrial forest owners to the sawmills.”
LINCOLN, Montana — Fire personnel on the Lincoln Ranger District are preparing for a prescribed burn on both public and private land in the Helmville-area. Prescribed burning could begin as soon as Tuesday and is anticipated to last two days, pending favorable conditions. The Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest Service is working closely with the landowners of the privately-owned Mannix Ranch to remove fuel build-ups across jurisdictions and reduce wildfire risk for adjacent communities. The prescribed burn will help to reduce the risk of wildfire while also helping to improve forage quality and quantity for wildlife. The burn will promote aspen and Ponderosa pine health and reduce confer encroachment. …Smoke may settle in valley bottoms and drainages overnight, but it is expected to dissipate within a few days.
The 2022 wildfire season in Oregon has been among the mildest in the last decade, with human-caused fires down nearly 20% from the 10-year average, according to state data. Humans are the number one cause of wildfires in Oregon and across the country. The Oregon Department of Forestry credits the decline to a wetter than normal spring, statewide investments in the firefighting workforce, aircraft and detection cameras and an expansive public messaging campaign about wildfire risks by the department. In the year to date, it has responded to 806 wildfires in Oregon, down from the 10-year average of 973. Humans caused 587 of this year’s fires, down from the 10 year average of 717 and down nearly 35% from a high of 898 last year. Lightning strikes caused the other 219 fires this year, according to the forestry department.
…a new study from US Department of Energy suggests the harmful impact of western wildfires may extend much further. The study… links extreme hail, dangerous deluges, and the growing risk of flash floods in states like Colorado, Wyoming, Oklahoma and Nebraska to the growing intensity of wildfires in the west. As fire season in the west stretches longer… big blazes are increasingly coinciding with storm formations in other states. “Western wildfires significantly increase the intensity of severe storms over the central US,” said Dr Jiwen Fan. …“We’re seeing an increasing impact in the midwest and even as far away as New York City, where smog events are fueled by wildfires happening in the western US,” Dr Michael Jerrett, chair of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of 
Some things in life are hard to understand and explain. …Such as: California’s wildfire woes. In the past five years summer and fall firestorms have killed dozens of people, wiped out homes, businesses and entire communities, torched millions of acres of forestlands, caused billions in property losses, and swept away untold numbers of animals and wildlife. The cause of all this wreckage is easy to pinpoint. It’s simple as two words: spotted owl. In the 1980s California was a superstar timber producer. …From 1988 to 2011, Little writes that the number of wildfires in California “increased by seven large fires annually.” It is no coincidence that 1988 was the year the spotted owl received protection. …The irony here is… according to Dan Porter of the Nature Conservancy, the critical lack of timber industry infrastructure and know-how is “one of the biggest barriers to scaling ecological forest management.”
ALABAMA — An Auburn University research team received a $2.1 million grant from the U.S. Forest Service to fund an ongoing effort to combat pine blight, a condition that affects pine trees. The team will use the funds to “determine the impacts on productivity and biological causes of needle blight,” said a press release from Auburn, which said that non-native pests and pathogens have caused an estimated $4.2 billion in damages to the forest industry. The disease affects pines of various types and are marked by the discoloration of needles, often looking like they have been burned. It is commonly spread by wind and rain. Pines have been affected by the disease in 36 counties out of the 67 in Alabama. Landowners who believe that their pines are being affected are encouraged to call their local Alabama Forestry Commission office.
A pledge to end native logging in Western Australia’s southwest is included in a draft Forest Management Plan released for comment by the state government. The move will preserve another 400,000 hectares of forest on top of the 1.6 million hectares already protected from logging, though not mining. Under the 10-year plan, the only timber to be taken from native forests will come from managed activities designed to improve forest health, such as ecological thinning, or for clearing for approved mining operations, and infrastructure maintenance. …Environment and Climate Action Minister Reece Whitby said the decision to end native logging had not been made lightly but the government had to preserve forests for future generations. …Forestry Minister Dave Kelly said the decision also reflected the changing attitudes of the community towards native forests and built on the earlier decision to end old-growth logging.
Finland, together with Sweden, Austria, and Slovenia, have formed an informal strategic partnership, ‘For Forest’, to deepen cooperation in forestry management and policies within the EU. The agreement can be interpreted as preparation for the mounting pressure to protect and preserve forests with new legislation. …Finnish Agriculture and Forestry Minister Antti Kurvinen said that it would be a mistake to look at forestry solely through the lens of climate and environment policy. Next to it, one has to keep in mind also competitiveness and employment issues as the climate crisis cannot be solved without a successful European forest industry, said Kurvinen. Brussels suffers from an acute lack of expertise in forestry compared to existing good knowledge of climate issues. One of the aims of the ”For Forest” group will be to block initiatives based on ”false or unscientific facts” and instead advance ”sensible and sustainable” legislation, said minister Kurvinen.
