WASHINGTON and OTTAWA — The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) announced that its 2022 Chain of Custody Standard has met the rigorous third-party assessment of the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). PEFC is an international organization that endorses national forest certification systems developed collaboratively by diverse stakeholders, tailored to local priorities and conditions. Organizations certified to SFI’s 2022 Chain of Custody standard can now apply the PEFC on-product label and make PEFC claims, giving them more options to meet customer demand around the world. “SFI makes important contributions that address the needs of North America’s forests and communities,” said Dr. Michael Berger of PEFC. …The SFI 2022 Chain of Custody Standard was endorsed by PEFC after a 60-day international public consultation period and a detailed examination that included a third-party assessment.
Inside you will meet the entire FSC Canada team, discover how we are supporting the implementation and measurement of our National Forest Stewardship Standard (NFSS), carbon research updates, learn of the training initiatives related to woodland caribou and Free, Prior and Informed consent, and of FSC’s continued efforts to build brand awareness, increase market uptake and certification to help achieve our goal of certifying 100 million hectares of Canadian forest by 2030. Together we can ensure forests for all, forever.
The City of Winnipeg is seeking input on its urban forest strategy. The strategy is a long-term planning document that will guide the long-range protection, preservation and management of Winnipeg’s tree canopy, the city says. “Development of the strategy is crucial and timely as the urban forest faces increasingly significant loss due to insects and disease as well as mounting pressure from climate change and urban development,” a city news release reads. “Now is the time for all of Winnipeg to play a part in defining plans to protect our trees and ensure our urban forest can grow into the future.”
In partnership with First Nations, the B.C. government is making changes to hunting regulations to support reconciliation and improve wildlife stewardship and habitat conservation. The changes affect the hunting of elk, moose, mountain sheep, bighorn sheep and mountain goat, and are the outcome of provincial regulation changes that occur every two years. …These decisions were informed by extensive engagement with the public, First Nations, the Guide Outfitters Association of British Columbia and the BC Wildlife Federation. The hunting regulation changes in northeastern B.C. are an interim measure and part of broader actions to improve wildlife stewardship, uphold Treaty rights and enhance habitat conservation. The Province, regional First Nations and affected stakeholders will continue to work together to develop an approach to wildlife co-management that improves shared understanding and management of the wildlife resources in a manner consistent with the Together for Wildlife strategy.
For years, residents of West Kootenay have campaigned to have an important landscape on Kootenay Lake, included in the Purcell Wilderness Conservancy. But now, a portion of this locally cherished area is slated to be logged. Logging activities were set to begin last week when a group of protesters blocked the Salisbury Forest Service road near Argenta. This logging is slated to begin during the start of the nesting and migratory bird season. Migratory birds and their nests are protected under the federal Migratory Birds Convention Act. …Cooper Creek Cedar must delay logging until at least after the nesting period, and allow time for a resolution of the conflict that will spell the fate of this important forest that connects mountains to the shores of Kootenay Lake.
VICTORIA – The Cheakamus Community Forest Limited Partnership (CCF) has met almost all requirements of the provincial Forest and Range Practices Act, the Wildfire Act and related land-use orders, with the exception of a requirement to address fire hazards following logging activity. In one cutblock with two piles of logging debris … the CCF did not meet the requirements of the Wildfire Act to dispose of the piles to reduce wildfire hazards. Eight additional slash piles were also not disposed of but were located within the boundaries of the Resort Municipality of Whistler, where municipal bylaws supersede some sections of the Wildfire Act. However, Whistler’s bylaws do not include a requirement to address debris left after industrial activities. “Leaving this slash created a significant wildfire risk,” said Kevin Kriese, chair of the Forest Practices Board. …Adding, “the board is recommending the municipality update its bylaws to create a requirement equivalent to the Wildfire Act.”
Smoke was not the only thing that polluted the sky when several wildfires burned in the West Kootenay last summer. Noise pollution from helicopters was also a problem and — along with several complaints from regional district residents — the board of the Regional District of Central Kootenay has petitioned federal MP’s with a plan. RDCK board chair Aimee Watson has written a letter to South Okanagan-West Kootenay MP Richard Cannings (NDP), Kootenay-Columbia MP Rob Morrison (Conservatives) and Transport Canada about helicopter noise pollution in the regional district. The concern over the noise of helicopters — working in the region for heli-logging — was district-wide, Watson noted in her letter. …“Of particular concern is the ability for heli-logging operations to operate outside daytime hours and over built up areas.”
Nova Scotia is “making great progress” in the implementation of the Lahey recommendations on forestry, the deputy minister of natural resources and renewables said. …Lahey recommended that Crown forestry land be divided into three management categories. The mixed forestry or matrix would provide for ecological forestry with a priority on conserving biodiversity through lower impact harvesting and reduced clearcutting. Another leg of the triad model would protect some forest from all harvesting and a third leg would be designated for high production with a cut, plant and spray approach. Gatien said the conservation leg has already begun, along with the ecological matrix leg and the province should be releasing information soon on the high-production piece. The silvicultural guide for the ecological matrix is being gradually phased in and by June 1, the majority of practices in the guide will be required. 
There are exciting possibilities in the world of forest biomass and the products that can be made from them. Ian Dunn, president and CEO of the Ontario Forest Industries Association gave a presentation during the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association conference on April 28 that focused on both the OFIA and provincial forests as well as some of the new opportunities available to the sector with the advances of new technology and businesses. “Forest products are gaining a lot of attention right now globally,” Dunn said. Dunn noted that provinces such as B.C. and Alberta, typically seen as the leaders of the forestry sector in Canada, have been struggling in the sector in recent years, from the devastation of the mountain pine beetle to major forest fires. Dunn notes major companies in those provinces have begun looking to Ontario and making acquisitions, which he calls a positive signal for the industry.
Last week, the most comprehensive changes to Oregon’s forestry regulations in 50 years were ceremonially signed into law. What is remarkable about the bipartisan Private Forest Accord is not just that it is the most significant update to the Forest Practices Act since 1971, governing the management of more than 10 million acres of private forestland, but how the legislation came to fruition. …Old adversaries setting aside their differences and coming together to solve tough problems. Under the Accord, the timber industry and conservation groups reached an unprecedented agreement on the most effective ways to improve protections for the aquatic habitat needed by native fish and amphibians. …The rules that implement these changes still require approval by the Board of Forestry and need to be communicated to more than 65,000 forest landowners in every corner of Oregon. This will be followed by years of scientific monitoring and fine tuning.
A New Mexico facility where researchers work to restore forests devastated by fires faced an almost cruelly ironic threat: The largest wildfire burning in the U.S. was fast approaching. Owen Burney and his team knew they had to save what they could. Atop their list was a priceless bank of millions of ponderosa pine, spruce and other conifer seeds meant to help restore fire-ravaged landscapes across the American West. Next were tens of thousands of tree sprouts, many of which were sown to make them more drought tolerant, that were loaded onto trailers and trucked to a greenhouse about 100 miles away. New Mexico State University’s Forestry Research Center in the mountain community of Mora stands at the forefront of a major undertaking to rebuild more resilient forests. …Firefighters have managed to keep the flames from reaching the center’s greenhouses and there’s a chance some of the seedlings left behind could be salvaged.
BILLINGS, Montana — President Joe Biden’s order to protect the nation’s oldest forests against climate change, wildfires and other problems devastating vast woodlands is raising a simple yet vexing question: When does a forest grow old? Millions of acres are potentially on the line — federal land that could eventually get new protections or remain open to logging as the administration decides which trees to count under Biden’s order covering “old growth” and “mature” forests. …Experts say there’s no simple formula to determine what’s old: Growth rates among different tree types vary greatly — and even within species. Any definitions for old-growth or mature trees adopted by the Biden’s administration are “going to be subjective,” said Mark Ashton, at the Yale School of the Environment. …That’s likely to complicate Biden’s efforts to protect older forests as part of his climate change fight, with key pieces 
Wildlife advocates are suing the U.S. Forest Service to stop another logging project in core grizzly bear habitat of the Kootenai National Forest. On Tuesday, wildlife organizations sued the U.S. Forest Service and the Kootenai National Forest in Missoula federal court over the lack of grizzly bear habitat analysis in the decision to okay the 
Mexican experts said 35 per cent more monarch butterflies arrived this year to spend the winter in mountaintop forests, compared to the previous season. The rise may reflect the butterflies’ ability to adapt to more extreme bouts of heat or drought by varying the date when they leave Mexico. The butterflies’ population covered 2.84 hectares this year, compared to 2.1 hectares last year. …Each year the monarchs return to the United States and Canada on an annual migration that is threatened by loss of the milkweed they feed on north of the border, and deforestation in Mexico. …Drought, severe weather and loss of habitat — especially of the milkweed where the monarchs lay their eggs — as well as pesticide and herbicide use, and climate change, all pose threats to the species’ migration. Illegal logging and loss of tree cover due to disease, drought and storms also continues to plague the reserves.
All around the Arctic Circle, trees are invading as the climate warms. …At lower latitudes, some warmer, arid regions are also seeing an uptick in trees, in part because increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) are enabling plants to use water more efficiently and thrive in drier soils. And the fertilizing effects of CO2 are enabling existing forests to add more leaves and wood, increasing their biomass. It’s a startlingly different picture from what is unfolding in the tropics, where hundreds of thousands of hectares of forest are lost each year to chainsaws and fire, and climate change is stressing the remaining trees. But those tropical losses could be more than offset by gains elsewhere, some studies predict. …That might seem like surprisingly good news for curbing global warming. Forests often have a cooling effect. …But the calculus of forests’ climate effects is far from straightforward.