Category Archives: Forestry

Squamish’s Justin Perry, 29, was searching for the heat this summer, but not in a find-the-beach kind of way.Perry, chief pilot with Stinson Aerial Services Inc was on contract with the BC Wildfire Service this fire season flying drones over areas where wildfires had recently occurred, looking for hotspots. A spokesperson for BC Wildfire told The Chief that drones are among the many tools that the provincial body utilizes to conduct thermal imaging scans; helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft may also be used. A pilot program was conducted in 2020 to assess how the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs, or drones) could help with planning wildfire response activities, assessing areas facing high wildfire risks, and planning and conducting fuel management projects.

The widespread ban on motorized vehicle access to the fire-affected Okanagan backcountry is unusual but necessary, the government says. About 200,000 ha of Okanagan wilderness has been blocked off to cars, trucks, ATVs, snowmobiles, and even electric bikes. Similar closures have occurred before after wildfires, though rarely to the extent now being taken. “Closures of this scale are unusual, and were put in place because of the unprecedented size, extent, and intensity of fires during the 2021 season,” the Ministry of Forests said in a statement to The Daily Courier. Signs indicating the closure are being put at each “major entrance point” to the areas where the motorized vehicle ban is now in place for an indefinite period. …Last Friday, the government said the motorized vehicle ban was necessary to give the fire-scarred landscape time to recover.

The head of the BC Wildfire Service says the organization is shifting, working to make more connections with local associations and groups to improve future wildfire response. In a Thompson-Nicola Regional District committee meeting Thursday, Executive Director Ian Meier said the BC Wildfire Service is “committed” to making connections and providing training to groups like the BC Cattlemen’s Association and those in the forest industry to bolster capacity to fight fires. “It’s not phoning a logging contractor when there’s a fire, we need to do it before, so they understand how, and we understand them, and we listen to their years of experience working in the forests,” Meier said. “That’s where, as an organization, we are going. …We do need to shift as organization, and we are.” …Kaitlin Baskerville, Kamloops Fire Centre manager, said one of their successes this year was how many times fire response was led by industry.

Premier John Horgan is under increasing pressure to halt old-growth logging on B.C.’s coast, a step that would come with a billion-dollar price tag to buy back existing timber rights, according to one industry analyst.  …In a rough estimate, industry analyst Jim Girvan calculated it could cost $1.7 billion to cancel the existing timber rights held by companies and First Nations to halt old-growth logging, with old-growth trees still representing 50 per cent of the coastal timber harvest.  “There’s one analyst’s back-of-the-envelope estimate of what it would cost to buy out an industry that William Shatner wants closed,” said Girvan. “So we’re talking big, big money.” A spokesperson for the Sierra Club of B.C. said some of the economic impacts are being overstated before government makes its decisions. …“We forecasted that at least four sawmills on the coast would close,” Girvan said. …Then a paper mill would also be at risk for closure.

Trevor Hancock

In this series of columns, I am exploring the UN’s call for humanity to make peace with nature. Last week, I noted that B.C.’s ­government is failing to act, or is taking inadequate action, on climate change.  This week, I look at B.C.’s continuing war on nature, focusing on the second of three global ecological crises noted in the UN report — biodiversity loss. But I also look at its failure to address the wider economic, social and other transformations needed if we are to make peace with nature.  …In fact, the B.C. government’s 2021 update to its Red and Blue List found 782 ecological communities, native species and ­subspecies in B.C. are at the greatest risk of being lost (Red List) and a further 1,141 on the Blue List that are “of special concern” ­(vulnerable).  Yet the government reneged on Premier John Horgan’s 2017 commitment to bring in a Species At Risk Act.

Two community forest awards, along with $10,000 grants, have been awarded to the West Boundary Community Forest for 2020 and the Westbank First Nation for 2021.  “Local governments, community groups and First Nations manage community forests for the benefit of the entire communities where they are located,” said Katrine Conroy, Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development. “Due to COVID-19, the Robin Hood Memorial Award was not given out in 2020. So yesterday, I had the distinct honour of presenting two awards that will represent the winners of both 2020 and 2021. Both West Boundary and Westbank First Nation community forests exemplify the values of the program by looking for new ways to diversify economic interests.”  …The awards were presented during the British Columbia Community Forest Association (BCCFA) annual general meeting on Oct. 22, 2021. 

Additional coverage in: Castanet by Jayden Wasney: Westbank First Nation one of two B.C. communities awarded for forest work and Vernon Morning Star by Aaron Hemens.

This past summer, a Black Creek company used cutting-edge technology to help battle the B.C. wildfires. From July to September, Stinson Aerial Services provided remotely piloted aircraft system (drones) flight crews to B.C. Wildfire to conduct thermal scanning throughout British Columbia. As one of only a handful of Canadian companies experienced in such techniques, particularly surrounding firefighting, Stinson Aerial Service was contracted out by BC Wildfire to supply the drone expertise. …The drones were used to find buried hot spots – fires that had yet to ignite above ground, or are invisible to the naked eye. The drones would fly anywhere from 50-100 metres above the ground and use thermal imagery. The actual deployment of the drones is done at night, for numerous reasons. The ground is cool, there is less manned air traffic, and the drone operators can distinguish a hot spot from a rock.

Western red cedar is in the news mainly because of its ongoing harvest in the most productive old growth forests on the coast. Old growth forests are defined by the province as being 250 years or older with WRC being one of the most valuable log types, currently selling for two to five times the price of other conifers. …In 2011, the standing volume of WRC and yellow-cedar in B.C. was estimated at 750 million m3… 83 per cent of which was coastal and 17 per cent Interior. …While stem rot is one of the reasons given for early harvesting cedar trees it is mostly a problem of Interior stands especially WRC where as the coastal cedar can attain old age and large sizes with little rot which makes it a valuable lumber asset as well as an important component of old growth forests.

The Village of Valemount approved a policy limiting who can be on the boards of Village-owned companies, stating that anyone with real or perceived conflict of interest should not be on the board. …The policy has big implications for the Valemount Community Forest (VCF) and Valemount Industrial Park (VIP) boards. It means directors who make decisions for the companies cannot collect a paycheque from the companies. This rule affects four of six sitting directors (one director recently retired and is no longer in conflict, and another had no conflicts). …in addition to five members of the public, one Councillor and the Village CAO will be on the board, similar to what was done prior to the community forest’s corporate restructuring in 2018. The policy takes effect January 2022, but existing board members may stay on until the VCF/VIP AGMs, usually held in April. The Village Councillor and CAO would also join after the AGMs.

Western Forest Products and the Nanwakolas Council, which represents the Tlowitsis, K’ómoks, Wei Wai Kum and We Wai Kai First Nations, have agreed to work together on developing a resource management plan for forest land in the central Vancouver Island traditional territory of the nations. The two parties have completed a letter of understanding outlining a process to develop a mutually beneficial business plan and sustainable forest management strategy. …Both sides say they intend to explore options for long-term business partnerships that will support communities, sawmilling and value-added manufacturing. The partnership endeavours to include the values of Indigenous communities in designing and implementing new approaches to forest management.

Rory Filer’s climate action started out as a handful of chestnuts. After British Columbia’s sweltering heat dome in June highlighted how big trees can cool the air making neighbourhoods more resistant to global warming and heat waves, he wanted to take action in Kitsilano. …The Cool ‘Hoods Champs program is a unique neighbourhood-based climate change workshop run by researchers at the University of British Columbia to bridge the knowledge gap between climate science and everyday people — by bringing solutions to where they live, said lead researcher Cheryl Ng. …Steph Troughton signed up eight members of her family for the UBC program, saying the urge to do more about climate change had been gnawing at her for months. …Stephen Sheppard, an emeritus professor from UBC’s Faculty of Forestry said it makes sense to get neighbourhoods more involved in the climate conversation because Canada will need buy-in from households to reduce emissions.

John Betts

…amendments to the Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA) will enable significant changes to the priorities and processes that direct forest and range management in British Columbia. The Forest Statutes Amendment Act (Bill 23), now in First Reading, is part of our BC government’s legislative strategy to improve resource and lands stewardship through changes to FRPA. The original Act introduced in 2002 reflected the then government’s intention to move towards “results-based management.” But bias towards timber production, ambiguity around environmental objectives, diminished trust in professional reliance, and the advent of the mountain pine beetle assault, wildfire disasters, and climate change left FRPA short of the kinds of results, our Government felt that British Columbians and their landscapes needed. …how these changes will be implemented will come with the development of supporting regulation as the next step after Bill 23 has Royal Assent. Meanwhile, the WFCA will continue its work on Minister Conroy’s Public Advisory Committee…

Conservationists are ratcheting up pressure on the B.C. government over old-growth logging ahead of the upcoming COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. The Siera Club B.C. recently delivered a petition to the provincial government signed by more than 250,000 people calling for the province to curb old-growth logging, arguing ancient forests are a key buffer against climate change. …Conservationists like Sierra Club organizer Jens Wieting argues that temperate rainforests are unique in their ability to capture and store carbon as the world seeks to find ways to ward off the worst effects of climate change. …Advocates for the province’s forestry industry aren’t convinced. Stewart Muir with industry advocacy group Resource Works argued the science remains unsettled on whether old-growth or new-growth trees actually do a better job of capturing carbon.

The Province has introduced legislation to make BC’s approach to forests more focused on sustainability, return more benefits to people and local communities, and position the province to take advantage of future economic opportunities. …“The current Forest and Range Practices Act and forest stewardship plans leave little room for Indigenous input,” ?Esdgiagh Chief Troy Baptiste said, “The improvements to the act are a step in the right direction toward meaningful government-to-government engagement. ?Esdilagh First Nation is committed to the continuance of the forest landscape planning process within the Quesnel Timber Supply Area for the protection of the biodiversity of the land. We have looked forward to the day when a collaboration would begin between Indigenous communities and the Province of British Columbia for the care of the forests. A day when traditional land knowledge and modern forest practices come together to ensure the health of the land for future generations.”

The BC First Nations Forestry Council held its 2nd Annual BC First Nations Forestry Conference from June 16-18, 2021. The theme of the Conference was “First Nations as Full Partners”.  The Conference was broadcasted virtually from the unceded territory of Snuneymuxw First Nation.  A total of 420 participants attended the three-day event, with representation from over 100 First Nations, and 76 non-Indigenous organizations (industry, post-secondary institutions, and provincial government). The Conference brought together industry, government, and First Nations to discuss changes to forest policy and legislation and workforce partnerships that can support First Nations as full partners in the forest sector. Meaningful participation of First Nations in the forest sector will advance reconciliation and facilitate a climate of investment based on sustainable resource development. Over the three days, speakers from First Nations communities and businesses, government, industry, and post-secondary institutions shared experiences. 

As protests continue on Vancouver Island over old-growth logging, and a new advisory committee wrangles over the question of just how much old growth is left and how much should be off-limits to logging, one number persistently pops up: 3%. That’s how much old growth trees are left in B.C., environmentalists say. That number is based on a report by three researchers who now sit on the B.C. government’s five-person old-growth advisory panel. The Council of Forest Industries (COFI) …commissioned an independent firm, Forsite Consultants, to do another assessment of old growth in B.C., and it arrived at a very different number: 30%, not 3%.  …“We’re trying to be very just-the-facts-ma’am, based on the classifications,” said COFI president Susan Yurkovich. …Forsite arrived at some very different numbers because they used a different measuring stick – the B.C. government’s Provincial Site Productivity Layer tool. …Yurkovich said the new study has been submitted to the provincial government. Whether it will be considered by the old growth technical panel is unclear.

Green Growth BC, our latest initiative, has arrived. Check out the first report, “Reality Recovered: The Facts on Old Growth,” to learn how this effort will elevate and deconflict the discourse around BC forestry – in what has been an incredibly charged environment over the past year. Since Fairy Creek became a household name, British Columbians have found themselves inundated with wildly differing stories about forestry in our province. Is B.C. a conservation leader, are mature forests “worth more standing”? The loudest voices are usually wrong. That’s certainly true when it comes to conservation and forestry policy. For far too long, registered forestry professionals and other subject-matter experts have been sidelined as media turn to activists for facts instead of trained experts. …What British Columbians are left with is an alarming and deeply misleading portrait of forestry in their province. Yet, that narrative could not be further from the truth.

Murray Wilson

In the sixth episode of the ForestWorks podcast, host Stewart Muir and guest Murray Wilson discuss Land management’s role in raging forest fire seasons. ForestWorks delves below the rhetoric to get to the real facts of this important industry through conversation with people who really know their stuff. In this episode of ForestWorks host, Stewart Muir sits down with veteran Registered Professional Forester Murray Wilson to speak about the role historical forest management is playing in worsening forest fire seasons and the changes that could help. In recent years BC’s forest fires have pushed more carbon into the atmosphere than all other sources in the province combined, so it’s an important challenge.

At Ada’itsx, or Fairy Creek, on Vancouver Island, Indigenous-led blockades have been active for over a year in an effort to halt the logging of old-growth forests on Pacheedaht and Ditidaht Territories by logging company Teal-Jones Group. …For months, land defenders at the blockades say they’ve endured unwarranted violence at the hands of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Media outlets, including Teen Vogue, have linked to videos and witnessed instances. …Teen Vogue reporters have embedded themselves at the blockades on multiple occasions over the past six months, speaking to 30 people who share similar accounts of Indigenous and Black land defenders facing particularly harsh treatment. …The sheer volume of accusations… is forcing a reckoning over the RCMP’s colonial history. Land defenders say what they’re experiencing at the blockades is part of a pattern that stretches back to the earliest days of colonization.

VICTORIA – Kevin Kriese, chair of B.C.’s Forest Practices Board, has issued the following statement in response to the tabling of Bill 23, the Forest Statutes Amendment Act, in the legislature on Oct. 20, 2021: “The Forest Practices Board is pleased to see the introduction of amendments to the Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA) through Bill 23. For many years, the board has been recommending legislative changes to strengthen forest and range practices in the province. Our most recent recommendations for change were made in reports issued in 2017 and 2019, as well as two letters to the minister of Forests in the summer of 2019. “A number of the changes being proposed speak directly to issues we have identified through our work – the introduction of forest landscape plans and the ability to publish contravention determinations to increase public transparency. These changes are both constructive and necessary and we are pleased to see them included in the bill.

VANCOUVER — The chair of British Columbia’s forest watchdog says he was pleased to see a bill introduced with proposed changes to the Forest and Range Practices Act that could “reassert the public interest” in forestry decisions. Kevin Kriese of the Forest Practices Board said the amendments are overdue and “only a start,” given the complexity of implementing new forestry policies on the ground. …Forests Minister Katrine Conroy told the legislature that a new system of forest landscape plans developed alongside First Nations and local communities would replace the existing forest stewardship plans that had been developed largely by industry. The existing system tends to be “industry driven” and doesn’t plan for the health and makeup of forest ecosystems in the long term, Kriese said. …Kriese said he hopes additional amendments … to the Forest Act, …would address what he called an “unusual” level of constraint on government decision-making.

The Conservation Officer Service has presented the Okanagan Forest Task Force (OFTF) with a special recognition award. The OFTF is being recognized for their efforts to tackle illegal dumping in BC’s backcountry. The group was formed in 2016 by outdoor enthusiasts who were tired of the illegal dumping taking place along trails, recreational sites and waterways. …Since 2016, the group has collected more than 350,000 pounds of garbage and metal from BC’s forests. The group has also grown to more than 1,800 volunteers. In 2020, the OFTF assisted in ticketing around 60 people for illegally dumping garbage.

VICTORIA – An investigation of a complaint by a trapper has found that BC Timber Sales (BCTS) is meeting government’s expectations to manage habitat for fishers (a type of weasel) and has accommodated the trapper’s interests in its forestry plans and practices. “Our investigation found that government has provided forest licensees in the Cariboo Natural Resource Region with clear expectations for managing fisher habitat, and district managers used their powers under the Forest and Range Practices Act to ensure those expectations are being met,” said Kevin Kriese, chair, Forest Practices Board. “The district managers placed conditions on the approval of forest stewardship plans to ensure they would address fisher habitat needs. This is a constructive approach to ensure wildlife values are addressed in forestry operations.” The trapper was concerned that timber harvesting is removing habitat for furbearers and is affecting his ability to make a living. 

Huu-ay-aht First Nations is seeking leave to intervene in an appeal from the recent decision in Teal Cedar Products Ltd. v. Rainforest Flying Squad, 2021 BCSC 1903 where the Court refused to extend an injunction against interference with Teal Jones forestry operations in the Fairy Creek watershed and surrounding areas. Huu-ay-aht’s lands are not directly implicated in the Fairy Creek protests, however Huu-ay-aht has an interest in ensuring it is able to effectively manage and meaningfully participate in decision making about lands and forests in which it has Treaty rights and interests. Whether the Court restores the injunction or not, First Nations need to be able to rely upon the Courts in situations where First Nations want to enforce their laws or rights with respect to land and resource use within their Territories. In this regard, Huu-ay-aht, as a Treaty First Nation, can provide a unique perspective to assist the court in its decision.

Additional coverage in CBC News by Ethan Sawyer: Huu-ay-aht First Nations seeks leave to intervene in Fairy Creek appeal