Robin Gregory
Robert Gray
…In Western Canada, getting ahead of the wildfire crisis is one of these “hard things.” It will take knowledge, political leadership and public support to address its fundamental causes, and to embark on the kind of transformational change necessary to avert a social, environmental and economic disaster. It’s a sharp turn from our current path. …people living in forest-dependent communities are realizing that an important source of economic and social stability is under severe and imminent threat. …a “soft landing” option … means bringing back the open grasslands, retaining the natural hardwood forests, encouraging larger riparian areas, building on the knowledge of Indigenous stewardship and cultural burning… It means managing forests for ecological, wildlife, and social and cultural benefits, rather than focusing on economic profits. …Reducing wildfires and mitigating climate change can be achieved, with innovative and competitive forest and bioenergy industries. …With a mix of political resolve and public support… [Full access to this story may require a subscription to the Globe and Mail]
Each year National Forest Week (NFW) is celebrated across Canada by many individuals and diverse governmental and non governmental organizations. During NFW, Canadians are invited to learn more about Canada’s forest heritage and to raise awareness about this valuable and renewable resource. Forests are fundamental to our economy, culture, traditions and history – and to our future. Communities, families and individuals depend on forests for their livelihood and way of life.
The summer season is slowly transitioning into fall, but the BC Wildfire Service says this isn’t the time to let up when it comes to awareness around wildfire risk. Shaelee Stearns, BCWS fire information officer, said the Kamloops Fire Centre … still generally has a high fire danger rating. This means forest fuels are dry, and new fires could easily start. “The summer is not over, fires are still burning, there is still chances for ignition,” Stearns said. “So just be aware of that, and especially if there’s storms that pass through the area, the public is our eyes and ears on the ground. They’re the ones who report it. It’s super beneficial.” Temperatures throughout the Kamloops area have started cooling to more of a seasonal average which can help to decrease wildfire activity, but the forecast still shows some hot days ahead.
At Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries Inc. (Al-Pac), we understand the value of being a good neighbor and have a strong tradition of supporting communities within our Forest Management Agreement area and our mill site. …Al-Pac invests in initiatives that focus on education, culture, environment, and health and wellness. These funding priorities reflect our commitment to being actively engaged in the development of sustainable communities where we live and operate. In 2011, we introduced our Community Enhancement Program (CEP). The program supports small-scale projects that include, but are not limited to: small scale non-profit facility upgrades, expansion and development projects within a 100 km radius of our Mill Site and communities within our Forest Management Agreement (FMA) area. Since 2011, the CEP provides a grant of up to $25,000 to two qualified non-profit organizations each year. Applications for October close September 15.
Protect native species, eliminate invasive trees and plant more that belong here. Those are three tips that conservationists would like to see followed to halt the decline or even extinction of tree species across the globe. Malin Rivers is head of conservation prioritization at the Botanic Gardens Conservation International, which runs the Global Tree Assessment project and produced a paper warning about the risk of massive tree extinction. In Quebec, Rivers and her team assessed 78 species of trees and found that four of them are at risk: White ash; Eastern hemlock; Butternut; and American elm. …Invasive trees are common in Quebec as well. The Norway Maple, for example, was introduced to North America in the 1700s. Tree Canada says the Norway Maple can prevent native tree seedlings (sugar maple and red oak) from establishing, and its leaves release toxins that affect soil fungi and microbes.
Quebec’s forests saw very little fire this summer, according to the Société de protection des forêts contre le feu (SOPFEU). The organization last week calculated 235.9 hectares burned during the 2022 season, a small fraction of the 180,820.5 hectares burned on average by Sept. 1 over the past 10 years. “We want to see a certain number of fires, but always very small fires,” noted SOPFEU spokesperson Mélanie Morin. The 356 fires was also below the average of 436. …Of the 48 fires declared in August, no less than 90 per cent were caused by human activity. …The forest fire season doesn’t end until November, and it’s still too soon to know how the fall will be, Morin warned.
The Decorative Hardwoods Association and our industry partners are opposing a new sweeping, universal definition of “
OREGON — Two years ago, on Labor Day evening, wildfires exploded across Oregon and brought a level of destruction never before witnessed in the state. Nine people were killed, including five in the Santiam Canyon, and thousands of homes and over a million acres burned. The causes of the wildfires have been debated ever since they ignited. Historically powerful east winds on Sept. 7 and 8 caused existing wildfires, including the Beachie Creek and Lionshead fires, to explode and quickly spread. The wind also brought down power lines in numerous locations statewide, likely igniting additional wildfires. 
On Earth Day this year, President Joe Biden signed an executive order aimed at strengthening the nation’s forests, communities and local economies. Section 2 of the executive order recognizes the value of mature and old-growth forests as natural tools against climate change and the biodiversity crisis. …The order also directs the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to inventory these forests on federal lands and develop policies that conserve them as a linchpin of U.S. climate policy. By the time all that comes to fruition, however, many of these forests could be gone. Logging continues to pose a great and immediate threat to mature and old-growth forests, according to a new report “Worth More Standing” by the Climate Forests coalition. This initiative considers older forests and trees on federal lands “one of the country’s most straightforward, impactful and cost-effective climate solutions,” according to the coalition’s website.
RALEIGH, N.C. — Jack Wang is with North Carolina State University’s forest biotechnology program. Wang works 
WISCONSIN — John Bates is a naturalist who sees his professional purpose as enabling people to develop environmental literacy. Since 2003, Bates has been particularly interested in old-growth forests, made up of trees that are hundreds of years old at minimum. Bates shares his Brief But Spectacular take on helping others “fall more deeply in love with the world” and connecting time through old-growth forests. “My interest in old growth took off in, oh, about 2003. I’d been walking in older forests, and found that they were quite rare and wondered why. Why did we cut so many down? They’re a filter for air. They’re a storage of carbon. They provide shade to our streams. …If you’re standing under an old white pine here in Wisconsin that’s 400 or 500 years old, you are standing underneath a tree that Native Americans had stood under.”
The current timber supply shortages in Victoria brought about by vexatious legal action against VicForests is causing anguish among the people of Orbost, where 37% of its workforce faces the axe. Already thrown into an atmosphere of uncertainty with the announcement in 2019 that the Andrews Government would inexplicably shut down native timber harvesting by 2030, Orbost is the canary in the coalmine as many regional Victorian centres face similar crises. Parkside, which is Orbost’s second largest employer, is running on the last few loads of log supply and will need to take steps similar to Mectec sawmill in nearby Newmerella. Mectec was forced to lay off its casual workforce and put its permanent staff on whatever annual leave they had left. Now the 37 staff at Parkside face a similar fate. Should these mills close, along with the contracting businesses which supply them, the estimated direct timber job losses to the Orbost/Marlo area will be 115.
The wildfires that swept across Europe this summer, driven by high temperatures and prolonged dry conditions, have caused the highest CO2 emissions from fires in 15 years,