In a recent letter to the editor, it was suggested that BC stop cutting old-growth forests and instead focus on cutting “old-growth politicians, bureaucrats and excess government.” Unfortunately, if there was to be a moratorium on old-growth logging, the brunt of the cuts would not fall upon “the people in the ivory towers,” but the men and women who work on the front lines in forestry. Forestry sustains a multitude of businesses in the Nanaimo region, large and small. They range in size from the employee-saved-and-owned Harmac Pacific pulp mill to specialty mills, logging contractors, and businesses that service the industry. These are good-paying jobs that allow many residents of Nanaimo to support themselves, their families, and their communities with much-needed tax dollars for community services and projects.
BRITISH COLUMBIA – Real dialogue and consultation with the provincial government over NDP forest policy tops the list of priorities at this week’s Truck Loggers Association (TLA) convention this Wednesday and Thursday in Vancouver. The TLA plans to initiate the “long overdue dialogue through a series of virtual sessions with industry representatives offering a broad spectrum of viewpoints”. It will include a series of speakers and sessions to address the “harsh reality and implications of sweeping forest policy changes by the BC government, and options to move the sector forward.” …The TLA has called for meaningful collaboration among all key stakeholders for a number of months, including First Nations, community groups, licensees, and non-government organizations. The Association has suggested there is an opportunity for a collective vision for forestry that addresses society’s expectations of BC’s forest-management while ensuring decision-making is informed with a true understanding of the issues and the consequences.
Ombudsperson Jay Chalke released his final update regarding an investigation highlighting gaps in oversight of the regulatory scheme that seeks to protect some of B.C.’s most sensitive ecosystems. The ombudsperson’s initial 2014 report Striking a Balance examined the Ministry of Forests use of what’s known as a professional reliance model in the protection of land surrounding streams, lakes and inland waters when development occurs. Under the Riparian Areas Protection Regulation government relies on the registered members of five environmental professions — agrologists, applied biologists, applied science technologists/technicians, engineers and foresters — to conduct assessments and make recommendations to protect riparian areas from development, while government provides oversight. The ombudsperson’s investigation found there were significant gaps in how this system operates and recommended changes to strengthen oversight, compliance with the law, public accountability and transparency.
I support the B.C. Government proposal deferring old growth logging in Crystalline and Stockdale Creeks. I urge local [and provincial government] to take back the planning and control of our forests. The liquidation of our forests is occurring by a few large corporations who are in charge of the harvest of our most valuable resource. …The Liberal Government [2001 – 2017] essentially eliminated forest management by the Forest Service and delivered our most valuable resource to public enterprise. …What we see now is systematic logging of all merchantable wood, which is harvested drainage-by-drainage and will continue to be harvested until precious little of the forests remain. …At the present time the Forest Licensees are free to operate with very few restrictions. …A good place to start would be to eliminate full log exports and instead sell manufactured products within B.C. and the world instead of shipping full logs and jobs to the US.
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VICTORIA, B.C. – The Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation has approved 14 grants for projects that help restore caribou habitat in British Columbia, including eight in the Northeast region. With support from the B.C. and federal governments, the 2021 grants were allocated through the foundation’s Caribou Habitat Restoration Fund, totalling more than $1.65 million. The province committed $8.5 million in 2018 to support the foundation, and in 2021, the federal government added $5 million over five years for projects to support the Central Group of Southern Mountain Caribou. Five of the projects approved in 2021 will be funded in part by the province and by Environment and Climate Change Canada. Since 2018, 32 grants have been provided by the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation worth close to $4 million.
Hardly a day goes by when we don’t hear in the media and from the Forest Service that fire suppression is responsible for the intensity and size of wildfires. According to proponents, a “hundred years of fire suppression” has permitted the build-up of fuels, and by their assertion, more fuel results in larger conflagrations. However, at best, this “fire suppression” narrative is hyperbole. …However, fire suppression’s influence is greatly exaggerated for many plant communities in the West. …Logging proponents often claim that thinning leads to the survival of more trees in thinned plots, thus storing carbon. However, proponents ignore that they have already removed (and killed) most of the trees in logging the site, releasing much of that carbon into the atmosphere. …Trying to preclude large fires through fuel reductions is ineffective. …we need to focus on reducing the flammability of the home and the immediate area surrounding it.
Lake County approved plans for a sprawling, luxury development in the Guenoc Valley wine region in the summer of 2020. But nearly a month later, when the LNU Lightning Complex fire enveloped the development’s only evacuation route critics said the plan was a potential disaster not just for future residents, but for those who already lived in the area. …Now a state court has …ruled that the county must set aside its approvals for the 16,000-acre mixed-use project because they failed to properly analyze evacuation routes during a wildfire. …The orders reflect a growing realization that developers simply cannot continue to invade unoccupied areas without dramatically increasing fire risk, said Stephanie Pincetl, a professor at the UCLA, Institute for Environment and Sustainability. …“If the counties had to pay for their own fire protection, they wouldn’t allow this kind of development,” Pincetl said. “They couldn’t afford it.”
Most trees live in symbiosis with fungi. ETH Zurich researchers show just how important this partnership is for tree growth through the first-ever comprehensive data analysis compiled for European forests on a massive scale. …What has been missing, however, is a full understanding of the extent to which ectomycorrhizal fungi influence the growth of mature trees and whole forests. …The fastest growing trees were found where ectomycorrhizal fungal communities are highly adapted to extract the inorganic nitrogen compounds from soil and make these available to the trees. …There was slower growth in forest trees where local ectomycorrhizal fungal communities are adapted to supply trees with nitrogen from organic sources. …To release it, the fungi must first generate special enzymes… Doing this costs the fungi more energy … and in turn it also costs trees more. …The right fungi could ensure that their tree partners grow steadily into the future.
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… Deforestation involves clearing land for agriculture and livestock, or using timber for fuel, construction and manufacturing. … Forests are an important natural resource, but humans have destroyed a significant amount of forest areas. In North America, from the 1600s to the late 1800s, about half of the forests in the eastern part of the continent were logged for timber and agriculture. Today, most deforestation occurs in the tropics. As people build new roads through dense forests, previously inaccessible areas are now within reach. Since 2000, the world has lost about 10% of its tropical tree cover, and in 2019 alone about 47,000 square miles (121,000 square kilometers) have been destroyed. … According to reports, the majority of tropical deforestation is largely due to only four commodities: beef, soybeans, palm oil and wood products. UCS estimates that an area of Swiss size (14,800 square miles or 38,300 square kilometers) is lost to deforestation each year.