Category Archives: Forestry

British Columbians can expect cooler and wetter conditions in June, which means the fire hazard is anticipated to remain low through the early summer, as shown in the BC Wildfire Service’s latest seasonal outlook.  Despite this, there are several key regions demonstrating drier-than-normal patterns, including southern Cariboo, Thompson-Okanagan and Rocky Mountain Trench. These regions will be monitored closely. The longer-range forecast indicates a shift to above seasonal temperatures for late July and August, which may bring an increased wildfire hazard.  To support wildfire prevention, preparedness and resilient communities, Budget 2022 provided $359 million in new funding to protect British Columbians from wildfires.  This is the largest investment in the history of the wildfire service and is helping transform the organization into a year-round service and shift from its current reactive model to a more proactive approach. 

LAVINGTON, BC — Helicopter logging above a Lavington neighbourhood is coming to a close.  The logging has been ongoing for the past few weeks to reduce wildfire risk in an area affected by fir beetle kill, says Trish Balcaen of Balcaen Consolidated, the logging arm of Coldstream Ranch, where the work is happening.  Residents of Brewer Road have been complaining about noise from the operation, but Balcaen says a terrain stability assessment dictated the use of helicopters as the 10-hectare stand is on steep ground.  … “The terrain stability report was part of the guidance on the type of harvesting we used.”  Some residents complain they weren’t informed of the work before it began, and Balcaen acknowledges some may not have been reached, but both she and her site manager canvassed the area to inform those they could contact.

For the first time since the pandemic hit, City of Powell River council chambers were full of recipients for the nearly $2.3 million for 16 grants handed out from the Powell River Community Forest reserve fund. At the June 2 city council meeting, mayor Dave Formosa’s reaction was: “Wow, wow, what would we do without this community forest?” He added that the community forest members know what they do to helps the community. …“The recreation complex would probably not be standing today if it wasn’t for this group,” said Formosa. “My heart is just full of love and thanks for this group.” …Powell River Community Forest president Greg Hemphill said he wanted to extend thanks to city council, on behalf of the board, for its ongoing support. …The dividend from the 2021 operations was $2,668,952. Hemphill said this will allow both a spring and fall grant take-up. 

Fergus McSween

Fergus McSween loves the outdoors. Growing up in Calgary, he spent much of his youth roaming Alberta’s forests as a scout or camping with friends and family.  …“Nature is so peaceful and tranquil. I feel I belong out there.” He graduates June 15 with a bachelor of science in forestry, as well as a job and a zeal to contribute to his chosen field. …“I want to help preserve nature for the enjoyment of future generations — one of the main tenets of a forester — and that’s become the focal point … my career: ensuring our forest practices do the utmost to minimize all environmental impacts.” McSween now works as a full-time planning forester [for West Fraser] in the logging industry …he discovered there was a demand for forestry professionals. “Forestry is an industry that is inherently stable, so no one ever really struggles to find a job when they graduate.”

Jeremy van Loon

Canada’s forests have an outsized role to play — for better or for worse — in Canada’s efforts to counter climate change. Canada’s vast northern forests stretch from Labrador to the Yukon. …In spite of this vast potential, however, Canada’s forests have actually been a net source of carbon emissions for the better part of two decades, releasing into the air more carbon than they absorb, according to Natural Resources Canada data. With the threat of warmer, drier summers in the years to come, there is a real risk of more and bigger fires. …Currently, most fire management strategies do not include a focus on limiting carbon emissions from burning forests, which is by far the largest source of carbon emissions from Canadian forests in recent years. …Canada will need every tool in its toolbox to avoid setting off a carbon emissions bomb in our forests as we push towards net-zero by 2050.

An open house about proposed logging in the Horsefly Lake area attracted around 90 people Saturday, May 28, who shared their concerns, many of them expressing the desire to see logging done in a better way. Three Tolko Industries Ltd. foresters with maps, google images and computers were stationed around the Horsefly community hall to answer questions from the public in advance of the company making any final plans for harvesting in the area. …Tolko forester Rob Van Buskirk said Horsefly Lake is classified as a B class lake, which means it has more rules on how companies operate around it. …Helen Englund with the Horsefly River Roundtable has been researching the watershed, logging activities and gathering input from people who have concerns that she will forward to Tolko and the ministry of forests.

The Emerald Awards showcase those who are raising the bar in addressing local, regional, and global environmental & climate issues. In doing so, a standard of excellence is set that inspires others in their own practices. Since 1992, the AEF has recognized nearly 400 recipients and 900 finalists through the Emerald Awards program. Steve McIsaac, executive director of Inside Education is this year’s recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award. Steve’s career began in 1992 as the first full-time educator at Inside Education (then FEESA). With his background as a social studies teacher, Steve ensures a balanced approach to exploring environmental issues and sustainability. The legacy, consistency, and opportunities that Inside Education provides as an organization are directly attributed to Steve’s leadership. …With Inside Education’s annual reach averaging over 20,000 students Steve’s passion for environmental education has influenced the lives and learning of more than 600,000 young people!

The largest sector of industry in northern Saskatchewan is getting a shot in the arm. The provincial government has announced an additional $400,000 from the 2022-23 provincial budget to be put towards an updated forest resource inventory.  New technology makes mapping the forest a simpler job than in years past. They’ve inventoried five million hectares so far, with the hope of inventorying the full province within five years.  “We anticipate that this funding will make it easier for us to do our job,” said Lane Gelhorn, forest inventory specialist with Forest Services, “to provide adequate information for sustainable management of our forest resources.”  According to Gelhorn, the information gained from this investment will help determine not only what levels are appropriate for harvesting right now, but also whether levels can be maintained.  The forestry industry involves a lot of scouting and accurate forecasting in order to be sustainable. 

The Government of Saskatchewan is renewing its commitment to a strong, resilient and growing forestry sector with the development of a forest resource inventory project by the Ministry of Environment. “This project will facilitate the expansion of our forestry industry and support appropriate stewardship of our forests by providing critical information to industry and other users,” Environment Minister Dana Skoropad said. “The information from the forest resource inventory will help us, along with industry, continue to sustainably manage Saskatchewan’s publicly owned forests to a high standard that is recognized nationally and around the world.” …The Ministry of Environment has completed the forest resource inventory for more than five million hectares and anticipates completing the entire commercial forest within five years.

The Kitasoo Xai’xais and Nuxalk First Nations, along with BC Parks, have signed an agreement that could lead to shared compliance and enforcement responsibilities within provincial protected areas in both Nations’ territories. Once established, the Guardian Shared Compliance and Enforcement Pilot Project will designate select Indigenous guardians with the same legal authorities as BC Parks rangers, making it the first project of its kind in B.C. “Our Nation has stewarded our traditional territory for millennia. Our traditional laws, knowledge systems and practices, combined with the legal authorities envisioned under this pilot project, create a unique opportunity to ensure the land and all of its natural and cultural values are protected for the long term,” said Chief Doug Neasloss of the Kitasoo Xai’xais Nation.

Re: When protests turn into stunts… The desperate state of our old-growth forests… have led some people, like Save Old Growth, to take desperate measures. And it’s true; those desperate measures may have cost the support of some old-growth allies. Added to this mess is our provincial government, which appears beholden to the forest industry with policies like wildlife protection, which sound good, but are only enforced on the condition that they do not unduly reduce the timber supply, and by shifting logging oversight to industry. Provincial lawmakers attend annual meetings of the forest industry … to address their concerns while disavowing any part in the mess. …Unlike Save Old Growth, the local Save Our Forests Team, through our booth at community events, chooses to offer people a means to tell government that we are aware of and opposed to the policies and practices leading to the eradication of old-growth forests.

Quazi Hassan

On the anniversary of two of Alberta’s largest-ever fire-related disasters, a University of Calgary researcher is determined to develop a forest fire-forecasting system for the province. In May 2011, more than a third of the town of Slave Lake was destroyed by a wildfire, with insured losses estimated at $700 million. Five years later, wildfires in the Rural Municipality of Wood Buffalo, including Fort McMurray, caused more than $2.7 billion… Dr. Quazi Hassan, PhD, has been analyzing NASA satellite data from the past 20 years, hoping to better understand forest fires and the conditions that create them. The geomatics engineering professor has broken the province up into 21 natural subregions, quantifying the extent and magnitude of monthly and annual warming trends, and is starting to see some trends develop. …Looking at the intersection of climate change and wildfire risk Hassan released recommendations for urban planners on how best to prevent catastrophic infernos from entering communities.

Forest for the Trees opens with a birds-eye view of a logging truck, winding its way through the thick forests that surround Prince George. The film then moves to a remote tree planting work camp, where young people from all across Canada spend their days jabbing shovels into clear cut land, with the hope that their hard work regenerates a massacred forest.  Rita Leistner’s evocative and layered documentary provides a detailed look at tree planting life by sharing the stories of people who sign up for this grueling work. But the film is also a fascinating study on perseverance, and the deep connections between body and mind. In the documentary, we meet a dozen or so tree planters, who share how they ended up on the job, and what it’s actually like to go out alone on the cut block and plant 1000 or so trees a day in sweltering heat. 

Alison Long and Kirby

…This season, roughly 5,000 tree planters will fan out across British Columbia to repopulate cut blocks and replant forests charred by wildfire. By the end of the season, those planters will have dropped an estimated 280 million seedlings into the ground, says John Betts, executive director of the Western Forestry Contractors’ Association (WFCA). It’s an industry that has traditionally relied on word of mouth to replenish its workforce — the promise to walk into an adventure and walk away with a lot of money by summer’s end. But getting enough workers to plant those trees has become increasingly challenging. Several tree planting companies Glacier Media spoke to said they had a hard time filling positions this year. Some attributed that to a wide-open job market, most to rising inflation. “We were doing really well. We had lots of applications in February and March,” said Timo Scheiber, CEO of the New Westminster-based Brinkman Reforestation Ltd.

YELLOWKNIFE — A vast northern wilderness that has for centuries been a cultural sanctuary for northern Indigenous people has become Canada’s latest National Wildlife Area. Edehzhzie, more than twice the size of Banff National Park, comprises more than 14,000 square kilometres of forest, lakes, rivers and uplands. Many bird species that migrate south have their breeding grounds there and it is home to animals including bears, lynx, caribou, moose and bison. Edehzhie has been a Protected Area since 2018 and is partly managed by local First Nations through guardian programs. …The federal government is kicking in $10 million to support management and research in the area.