During a time where our world faces unprecedented biodiversity loss, social inequities and climate change, the 2022 FSC General Assembly will explore how we can further strengthen our approach to local and global forest stewardship solutions, reinforce the role of forests as critical nature-based solutions, and define the credibility and value of FSC on global agendas. We are excited to share with you the first announcement of the 2022 FSC General Assembly programme. Programme highlights include three keynote sessions featuring how together we can shape solutions for resilient forests… The programme also offers a variety of side meetings which dive deeper into recent developments and current issues. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to exchange with leaders and decision makers from Indigenous Peoples, environmentalists, businesses, and many others in FSC’s membership… We invite you to join us as we come together to help shape the future of forests at the FSC 2022 General Assembly.
“Fire conditions across the U.K. are really extraordinary, and particularly in the southeast of England,” Andy Elliott said. “We would use the word extreme.” …Elliott leans down to put a soil moisture gauge in the ground and reaches into the brush to collect crisp leaves and brambles which he places in a bag. These samples will be taken to a university lab where they’ll be ignited under controlled conditions to measure how flammable they are and how they could fuel a fire. It’s all part of a project involving universities and researchers across the U.K. to adapt a national wildfire danger rating system based on the 
Different name, same face. The Vancouver chapter of Extinction Rebellion has spawned another protest sub-brand that threatens to disrupt traffic Monday for an anti-shale gas march from Vancouver city hall to the CBC studios, via the Cambie Bridge. The central coordinator of Stop Fracking Around (SFA) is Muhammad Zain Ul-Haq, the Save Old Growth (SOG) co-founder. The 21-year-old Pakistani Simon Fraser University student was detained by Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) in June for allegedly violating terms of his student visa. Haq was freed after a closed-door Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) hearing on June 23, but neither IRB nor CBSA will comment on the outcome. …SOG’s website says the group receives most of its funding for recruitment, training, capacity building and education from the Climate Emergency Fund (CEF), a California-based charity whose board includes an heiress to the Getty oil fortune. …Haq did not respond for comment.
VICTORIA – An audit of BC Timber Sales (BCTS) and timber sale licence (TSL) holders in the Terrace Field Unit portion of the BCTS Skeena Business Area found most forestry activities complied with the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act, but there were several exceptions. The audit found that BCTS did not report all its activities to the government’s tracking system on time. It also found that TSL holders had two bridges and three wood-box culverts that were unsafe for industrial use, and one TSL holder did not have a proper fire-suppression system on an active site. All of these findings were significant non-compliance with the legislation. The report also notes that most TSL holders did not document fire-hazard assessments following logging, a practice that needs improvement. …Since the completion of the audit, BCTS has corrected its reporting deficiencies and the TSL holders have removed the unsafe bridges and two of the three culverts.
At a community celebration, the Wei Wai Kum First Nation and the Province of B.C. signed an Incremental Treaty Agreement (ITA) that will transfer 2,276 hectares of territorial lands back to Wei Wai Kum and help boost the Nation’s economic activities. Lands transferred under the ITA will help increase Wei Wai Kum First Nation’s participation in the forest industry for economic purposes and give its citizens access to lands for cultural and harvesting activities. Crown lands were carefully selected to balance support for Wei Wai Kum’s interests and maintenance of public access to popular recreation sites such as Loveland Bay Provincial Park and areas required for BC Timber Sales operations. The ITA demonstrates the commitment of Wei Wai Kum and the Province, along with the federal government, to the treaty process – a critically important pathway to meaningful reconciliation. 
Climate change is the greatest existential threat to society, driving wildfires, flooding and species extinctions. But, because voters care deeply about combating climate change, climate action — or, too often, lip-service in support of climate action. …Climate change is an omnipresent calamity, but as wildfire ecologists, hydrologists and biologists have been researching for years, climate change is not the only problem. If we ignore that, we overlook a wide suite of distinct issues with tangible causes and conceivable solutions. …Resolving the comorbidities of species decline, wildfires and flooding, particularly short-sighted and destructive land, water and resource management, will create effective ways to adapt to climate-fuelled destruction. Better forestry practices can reduce the threat of wildfires and help us prepare our forests for a hotter world. Better watershed management will help make places like British Columbia more resilient to atmospheric rivers and record precipitation.
Forces are gathering to halt logging in a watershed that supplies much of Vernon’s drinking water. Blue Nose Mountain resident Justin Oblak say he and other residents are concerned planned logging in the Duteau Creek watershed east of Vernon could impact water quality for tens of thousands of North Okanagan residents. The planned cutblock is within 700 metres of the Harvey Lake reservoir. Oblak says two areas are proposed to be logged, one on either side of the reservoir, which feeds into Duteau Creek. The push against the logging has been going on for months, but has just come to light. “The preservation of water quality and quantity within the Duteau Creek Watershed is a priority for the RDNO as owners of the Greater Vernon Water Utility,” the district wrote in a letter to Tolko Industries in April.
An analysis of more than 4,500 seedlings of nine North American tree species revealed just a slight temperature increase of 1.6 degrees celsius (about 2.9 degrees Fahrenheit) alone, or combined with reduced rainfall, would increase mortality among the trees and significantly restrict growth. The research, carried out by a team at The University of Michigan, was published in the journal Nature and underscores the precarious situation of North American boreal forests seen throughout Alaska, Canada and parts of Michigan and Minnesota. These areas are one of Earth’s largest nearly intact forested ecosystems and play a significant role in decreasing human-made carbon emissions; they are located below tundra regions but above more temperate forests. …The resulting consequences could have sweeping impacts on forests’ ability to produce timber, host other plant and animal biodiversity and reduce flooding and carbon in the air. 
MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL — For decades, the mountain pine beetle has caused an unprecedented amount of forest mortality in western North America, tearing through pine stands from the Pacific Coast all the way to the Black Hills of South Dakota. Now, researchers at the Minnesota Invasive Terrestrial Plants and Pests Center (MITPPC) are preparing for the impending arrival of one of the top threats to Minnesota’s trees. Brian Aukema, Ph.D., a professor in the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences and a researcher at MITPPC, answers questions about the species and why they pose a threat to Minnesota pine forests. …Do researchers expect the mountain pine beetle to arrive in Minnesota? …What are researchers working on currently? …How do you hope this research will better prepare the state for the impending arrival of the species?
Environmental and climate activists are calling on the U.S. Forest Service to halt logging of mature and old-growth trees that are crucial for storing carbon to combat climate change, including a project in northern Wisconsin. The Fourmile Vegetation Management Project in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest is cited among the 10 worst logging projects on federal lands, according to a report released by a coalition of groups this summer. The project 7 miles east of Eagle River would log nearly 12,000 acres in parts of Oneida, Vilas and Forest counties. It’s expected to yield around 45 million board feet of timber. …”At ELPC, we are calling on the Forest Service to freeze all logging of mature and old-growth trees while this process goes forward, and especially in the Fourmile project area,” said Andy Olsen, a senior policy advocate with the Environmental Law and Policy Center or ELPC.
ASHEVILLE, North Carolina – Three days of objection resolution meetings left some advocates “cautiously optimistic,” but still wary of a 30-year forest land management plan they fear could increase logging in the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests. “I felt like, maybe for the first time, the Forest Service is actually listening,” said Will Harlan, a scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity. ……According to Forest Service spokesperson Cathy Dowd, following the objection meetings, the Forest Service team, led by reviewing officer and Deputy Regional Forester Rick Lint, will continue its work of reviewing all the objections and considering potential remedies. Lint will prepare a response to all of the objection topics that will be issued later this fall. …”The final plan could be out by the end of this year or early next year depending on the outcome of the review.”
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The Virginia Department of Forestry is offering $900,000 in grant funding for tree-planting efforts this fall and in the spring of 2023. The funding is part of the Virginia Trees for Clean Water Grant Program, which is designed to improve water quality across Virginia by encouraging tree-planting projects of all types. The cycle of grant funds will be used for projects this fall and next spring. Grants may be awarded to civic groups, communities, local governments, tribal organizations, non-profit organizations, neighborhood associations, public educational institutions, state agencies and volunteer groups.
The National Association of Forestry has issued a statement drawing attention to the fact that forests are Hungary’s most important resource alongside arable land, and their conservation and enrichment is a key national issue. The association stresses that under the current conditions, forest managers will be able to meet the demand for firewood in a timely manner without endangering the sustainability of our country’s forests, Hirado.hu reports.According to the statement, the great social resonance of the emergency government decree shows that the Hungarian people are committed to the cause of forests to the utmost, which is why the association considers it important to shed light on the background of individual decisions within a broad public scope. The aim of the government decree is to serve the interests of society by temporarily speeding up the supply of harvestable firewood to the market in the event of an emergency. 