Category Archives: Forestry

The B.C. government has tasked new Forest Minister Ravi Parmar with reviewing its lead timber agency, B.C. Timber Sales. The Jan. 15 news release announcing the review, and Premier David Eby’s mandate letter to Parmar, both downplay the environment in favour of the business side of forestry… There is no mention of watersheds, biodiversity, wildlife, and climate change in either the news release announcing the review or in the mandate letter, which mentions old growth once in passing. Asked why it is not mentioned in the above six reasons for the BCTS review, or in Eby’s mandate letter, Parmar said, “I’m fully committed to fulfilling my obligations on the old growth action plan. … Biodiversity, taking care of our lands, being good stewards of our land, is critical to me, and it’s going to be a huge part of this review.”

In a mandate letter to Ravi Parmar, B.C.’s new minister of Forests, Premier David Eby directs Parmar to somehow come up with “a sustainable land base” that will ensure an annual harvest of 45 million cubic metres of timber to help support a floundering forest industry. That could be a tough order to fill, given the caveat attached to Parmar’s mandate that he do this “while fulfilling our commitment to protect old growth.” Old growth, after all, has been estimated to make up about one quarter of B.C.’s annual allowable cut (AAC) overall, and 50 per cent of the coastal AAC… The single biggest uncertainty is dwindling access to raw timber. In its letter to political leaders, the society asks for a working forest protected through legislation.

PEACE RIVER, Alberta – Mercer Peace River Pulp and Woodland Cree First Nation have signed a historic agreement extending their co-ownership relationship of Peace River Logging. The renewed partnership extends their positive working relationship and reinforces their commitment to responsible forestry practices. …Mercer and Woodland Cree have co-owned Peace River Logging since 2004, and this new agreement ensures the long-term sustainability of the joint venture and secures the jobs of more than 80 local people. “Mercer Peace River is committed to working with Indigenous communities and we look forward to continuing our relationship with Woodland Cree First Nation,” said Roger Ashfield, Managing Director of Mercer Peace River.”

Southern mountain caribou are disappearing in British Columbia and the federal government has been dragging its feet for more than a decade on protecting the endangered herds, conservation groups say in a letter to the environment minister Steven Guilbeault. The letter sent on behalf of the Wilderness Committee, Wildsight (see their press release here) and Stand.earth said three populations of the caribou are in particularly steep decline as logging and other industrial development cuts through their habitat in eastern B.C. Wildsight’s Eddie Petryshen said successive federal governments and environment ministers have “kicked the can further down the road,” and that trend continues today. …Environment and Climate Change Canada did not immediately respond to a request for comment. …Predator reduction may be part of a comprehensive recovery strategy for endangered caribou, Petryshen said, but it doesn’t address the destruction and fragmentation of their habitat, which is the driving force behind their decline.

In British Columbia, wood remains the primary framing material, remarks Anthony Marks, who constructs fire resistant modular homes, but the fire resistant modular homes his company constructs are framed with steel. They also use wood sheathing coated with a fire retardant and fibrous cement board products for exterior cladding. …Anabela Bonada, manager and research associate at the University of Waterloo’s Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation says there are solutions at hand to reduce the risk of fire to homes — Canada just hasn’t demanded they be taken yet. …Canada’s National Building Code is geared toward protecting buildings and homes in cities and doesn’t refer to wildfires. …Most Canadian communities are lagging in responding to wildfire threats, Bonada said. …Referring to the National Research Council of Canada’s guide for wildland-urban interface fires, she said programs like FireSmart have made simpler guides available.

Lori Daniels

Marina Melanidis

UBC Forestry wishes to congratulate Dr. Lori Daniels and Marina Melanidis on being awarded the prestigious King Charles III Coronation Medal! The Medal, administered by the Chancellery of Honours at Rideau Hall, commemorates individuals who have “made a significant contribution to Canada or to a particular province, territory, region or community of Canada, or have made an outstanding achievement abroad that brings credit to Canada”. As the inaugural Koerner Chair in Wildfire Coexistence, and with her award-winning teaching, leading-edge research, and dedication to knowledge mobilization, Lori has worked tirelessly to keep our forests healthy and our communities safe. Marina Melanidis launched two very successful youth-led NGOs (Youth4Nature and Climate Guides) focusing on nature-based solutions and climate action, and is currently enrolled in a PhD program at Cambridge.

Legislative loopholes have been discovered that enable extensive logging in southern mountain caribou habitat, claim local environmental groups. The Wilderness Committee and Wildsight are calling on the province to stop approving roads and cutblocks in no-harvest zones and to fully protect all federally-identified core caribou habitat. …“According to our new map analyses, more than 78 hectares of no harvest zones (NHZ) — set aside for caribou in the Revelstoke area — have been logged or approved to be logged since then,” noted a press release on the matter. …Over the past two decades, only 10 of the 18 sub-populations (herds) remain on the landscape in southern and central B.C. …New research from the University of British Columbia confirms this dependency on hair lichen, warning that abundant hair lichen can only grow in advanced aged old-growth forests, and that restoring such lichen is virtually impossible in young forests.

Steven Kozuki

Forestry businesses are writing to the provincial government and opposition to “champion” better practices to protect the industry. Forestry Works of BC, a collection of businesses, details different ways the governments could implement greener practices within the industry. It asks the governments to take “specific and divisive action” to support and grow the sector. “The feeling in the industry right now, it’s financially and economically as bad as it’s ever been,” says Steve Kozuki, Executive Director of Forestry Works BC. “We’ve been under trade tariffs for quite some time, and the feeling is it would be nice to have our leaders in the province stand up for forestry.” Kozuki detailed several “key programs” the province could make a pivot within the industry and other resource sectors. Using lumbered and engineered wood that are eco-friendly for construction materials that would store and cleanse carbon dioxide.

Colorado wildlife officials say the capture of 15 grey wolves in British Columbia and their release in the U.S. state is complete, an operation they say led to unspecified threats against staff. The operation that began in B.C. on Jan. 10 and wrapped up on Saturday follows Colorado voters’ approval of a 2020 ballot initiative to reintroduce grey wolves to the state, where the animals are listed as endangered. But the program has stirred opposition, and a statement from Colorado Parks and Wildlife on Sunday says its staff have been threatened over the relocations. It says its officers were “watched” and were targeted by threatening phone calls and social media posts. The department says it did not share details while the wolf release was underway due to the “safety risk and security needs of our staff and the animals.” It adds that two of the 10 wolves reintroduced in Colorado in 2023 have been illegally shot.

The provincial government is injecting cash into early-stage planning for a potential forestry project by Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) and its economic development arm, Nch’Kay Development Corporation, it was announced last week. With $50,000 from the BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund, the Nation will conduct pre-construction engineering and site assessments to determine the potential for a future capital project… Though details of the project haven’t been finalized, it represents a larger push in the forestry sector to use resources more efficiently, shift away from old-growth timber reliance, and invest in high-value manufacturing. The BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund is partnering with forestry companies throughout the province to grow and stabilize their operations and get the most out of our fibre supply, while producing more made-in-B.C. engineered wood products.

Forestry Works for BC is a group of forest-based organizations and companies, representing businesses engaged in all aspects of British Columbia’s forestry sector. …We ask you, the leaders of British Columbia, to take specific and decisive actions to support forestry. Become champions of forestry. Proclaim your intent to grow the forest bio economy in British Columbia. Create a legislatively protected working forest to ensure the forest sector can continue to create the social, economic, and environmental benefits for generations of British Columbians. Publicly and vocally recognize good forest management that reduces greenhouse gases, reduces wildfire smoke in the air, improves wildlife habitat, reduces wildfire risk and flooding, and provides family and community supporting jobs.

The Vancouver Park Board has unlocked another $3 million to the contractor currently cutting down dead trees in Stanley Park destroyed by a hemlock looper moth infestation. The bid committee for the board and city decided in mid-December on behalf of the elected park board and city council to approve a “change order” of $3 million to fund the next phase of “immediate work required to mitigate safety risks.” …A staff report that goes before commissioners Jan. 20 said “weather events” in October and November 2024 resulted in “tree failures.” That triggered urban forestry staff to get an independent assessment of the impacted areas of the park. …Typically, looper moth outbreaks occur on a 15-year cycle and last for up to two years before collapsing from cold winters and natural predators. The outbreak in Stanley Park is in its fifth year, with a park board document attributing its longevity to warmer winter and spring conditions.

Lori Daniels

Metro Vancouver isn’t immune to widespread wildfires like the ones devastating southern California. …Lori Daniels is a professor at the University of British Columbia and the faculty’s Koerner Chair in Wildfire Coexistence. She researches forest and wildfire dynamics and says the Lower Mainland has the potential for a disastrous conflagration given the right conditions.  “It’s already happened in Canada. We have seen wildland fires spread through communities where the ember or the flames ignited homes and then the fire becomes contagious from home to home,” she said. Wildfires have partially or fully destroyed several towns and cities across the province. While several factors contribute to fires, rising temperatures increase their likelihood dramatically. …”Could you imagine if the recent Dunbar fire had been on a windy day during the 2021 heat dome? It would have consumed multiple structures throughout the neighbourhood and perhaps created a conflagration in Pacific Spirit Park,” Daniels remarks.

Rhonda Millikin, an award-winning ecologist who has questioned Whistler’s approach to wildfire mitigation, was issued a cease-and-desist letter last month from Forest Professionals British Columbia (FPBC), which said she is not certified to offer forestry advice. The FPBC said in its Dec. 14 letter that Millikin was unlawfully engaged in the reserved practice of professional forestry by providing advice and recommendations to the RMOW to limit or cease forest fuel-thinning efforts. “On principle, we don’t have an issue with people, whether a member of the public or someone from a different profession, researching or holding opinions or even talking about those opinions,” explained Casey Macaulay, the FPBC’s registrar and director of act compliance, who authored the cease-and-desist letter. “Where it’s an issue is when they start to advocate for a particular practice, and in this case, where that practice is so out of sync with the current science and the current practice of protecting communities from wildfires.”