Category Archives: Forestry

As autumn rains extinguish the last of this summer’s fires, the final accounting for a brutal B.C. wildfire season is becoming clear. Nearly one million hectares of forest has been burnt and more than $500 million spent containing the carnage. That doesn’t begin to include the human cost, as British Columbians – our friends and neighbours – were forced from their homes, tourism curtailed and agriculture disrupted. Add to that, human exposure to airborne pollutants was up to 40 times worse than maximum recommended levels, a pall that enveloped parts of the province in the worst air quality in the world. How we manage our forests in the next five to 15 years will determine whether we can secure a future with healthy forests, healthy wildlife, and safe communities.

Let us protest logging and save the world! I have no doubt that most of those who are out there protesting, passionately feel that they are out there to save the planet. But because we live in a resource based economy and our governments are extremely in debt, I must ask: if we shut down industry, how do you propose we pay for our education, our hospitals… the renewable infrastructure we so desperately need? Do you propose we market our beautiful land to tourists? …Are the jobs as high paying as logging? Do tourists fly here in solar powered airplanes or fuel guzzling jets? Do most of us live in houses made of wood? …Do you know that logging is a renewable resource and that trees grow back? …If you agree with my message please speak up. Those of you who support sustainable industry need to say so by writing to your elected officials. 

The contentious issues around whether North Cowichan should continue logging in its 5,000-hectare municipal forest reserve or switch to carbon offsets to cover the revenue lost by not logging are not expected to be discussed anytime soon. While the long-delayed public engagement process to help develop a forestry plan for the Municipal Forest Reserve (MFR) is expected to begin again in October, council was informed by Lees & Associates, the engagement facilitator, that the options of logging or not logging and using the MFR to attain carbon offsets won’t be up for discussion for some time. …But Lee & Associates’ Erik Lees said it’s still early in the process and that, after more consultations and engagement with the public, and further research, council will receive a comprehensive set of recommendations from the UBC partnership group, which is also assisting with the forest review, that will inform the municipality of its choices around different scenarios.

…B.C. Hydro says we can expect more power outages as we head into a La Niña fall and winter that is forecast to bring more wind, rain and colder ­temperatures. Trees are weakened from an extraordinary summer of blistering heat and extended dry spells, which means more trees will be blown down onto power lines. There are telltale signs of drought damage. ­Scientists say several species are showing dead or drooping branches, browning foliage, sudden limb loss and ­compromised root systems. Forest ecologist Andy MacKinnon says he has ­spotted dying Western red cedar trees in Metchosin… Peter Constabel, chair of the biology department at the University of Victoria, said extended periods of little precipitation can cause severe stress to trees. Adding, these long dry spells — including a 53-day stretch in Victoria this summer — can make trees more susceptible to fungi and insects.

…While forest fires are natural, the rate at which our forests are burning is not. It is unprecedented and unsustainable. Fire can be incredibly damaging to buildings, habitats, animal populations… Inhalation of smoke can cause irritation in the respiratory tract, minimized lung functions, heart failure, bronchitis, and early death. …There are approximately 8,000 wildfires per year in Canada alone, and about 2.5 million hectares are burned in the process. …humans are responsible for the majority of forest fire ignitions, and the rest are sparked by lightning. …On average, it costs B.C. over $265 million to combat the raging flames each summer, with that figure exceeding $650 million in the most damaging year. …The BC Forest Service does an amazing job fighting the fires during the summer season, but for a more successful approach, wildfires prevention should be done year-round. Luckily, the B.C. government has recently promised exactly that for 2022.

The City of Edmonton is gearing up to battle the arrival of the emerald ash borer — a beetle that would threaten the city’s ash trees. …green ash trees making up nearly two-thirds of Edmonton’s boulevard trees, says Mike Jenkins, pest management co-ordinator with the city. Jenkins said the emerald ash borer is not in Edmonton yet, but it’s made its way across North America and most recently into Winnipeg in 2017. “It’s moving farther and farther west,” he said in an interview with Postmedia. “We’re preparing for it, but we expect when it does show up it will be an all-hands-on-deck sort of emergency and we’ll need to really up a lot of the activities we do, once it’s detected.” …Jenkins encourages people to not import firewood from other jurisdictions because the invasive species could be transported into Edmonton with that delivery which would speed up their arrival.

I would like to respond to a letter appearing in the Oct. 5 edition of the Cowichan Valley Citizen. Paul Slade is among many British Columbians who are frustrated by what has transpired over the last several months at Fairy Creek and the BC Truck Loggers Association joins him in expressing that same frustration and concern … most people would agree this situation is creating a level of uncertainty that goes beyond Fairy Creek and has serious implications for the entire sector, forest dependent communities and working families. If we truly and collectively want the sector to prosper, there are solutions to address government and societies’ expectations of B.C.’s forest management. However, this requires meaningful collaboration, decision-making that is informed by a true understanding of the issues, and the consequences… It’s time to stop talking at each other and start talking to each other.

Premier John Horgan—it’s time to stand up for old-growth forests. After having my backpack searched by police, I hiked 14 kilometres up the forest service road to the Heli Camp at Fairy Creek. …I passed two university-aged kids walking down; soaked, cold, tired, and hungry. They looked battle beaten and yet I could tell, after exchanging a few words with them, that they were quite undeterred. …The camp leader… told me how they had been forced to change tactics. Instead of blockading the logging road the activists had moved into the forest. The new tactics undertaken by the youth is a strategy they call “Cops & Loggers.” As the chainsaws roar the kids disperse and position themselves within two tree lengths of the trees being targeted. Loggers are not allowed to cut a tree if a human is within two tree lengths. The RCMP then moves in.

Peter McCartney

…All over the province, regular people are putting their bodies in the way of the industries driving global temperatures higher. These folks are not zealots—they are mothers, healers, leaders… Many are Indigenous. When your culture depends on the land, these fights for survival are not abstract. These nations and families have been pushing back against Canada’s colonial project to take their lands and resources for generations. …If we keep pumping carbon pollution from the burning of fossil fuels into the atmosphere and clearcutting the colossal forests that absorb it, we will face escalating climate disasters. …Our elected officials should be protecting us from these impacts. …Visit these frontlines when they call for supporters to come. Share their stories on social media and in person. Hold or participate in solidarity rallies in your community. Or book a meeting with your MLA…

David Suzuki

Meeting the needs of eight billion people is a serious challenge. Meeting the “wants” of those tied to political and economic systems based on endless growth, consumption, and waste makes it daunting. Our growing population’s unceasing appetite for luxury living, the latest electronic devices, up-to-date fashions, meat-rich diets, and private automobiles and the infrastructure to support them has left little of the world untouched. (Of course, the wealthiest nations and people are most at fault.) A study in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change concluded that less than three percent of Earth’s land base remains “intact”—much of it in remote areas of Canada, Russia, and Greenland. According to Smithsonian magazine… the bright spot is that restoration efforts could push the global area “with full ecological integrity” to almost 20 percent by reintroducing five or fewer important species in undamaged habitat where they’ve been lost.

The Sakitawak Indigenous Protected Conserved Area (IPCA) has announced a new partnership with Nature Canada that will see Indigenous-led conservation efforts be promoted for the N-14 Fur Block in Northwestern Saskatchewan. The campaign is focused on raising national awareness around the importance of the area while helping Sakitawak IPCA secure the financial support necessary to continue regional protection. Located approximately five hours North of Saskatoon, the area is said to be the habitat for woodland caribou, freshwater fisheries and old-growth pine forests. …The campaign is designed to draw the attention of residents across the country so the Sakitawak IPCA and the community of Île-à-la-Crosse can share their stories with more than 1,000 nature organizations and millions of Canadians. …If the N-14 Fur Block is protected, it will become the third-largest IPCA in Canada, covering nearly 22,000 square kilometres or 523,000 hectares of the Boreal forest.

VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board has released its 2020-21 annual report of the board’s work and accomplishments during the year. “This year brought us some significant operational challenges due to the pandemic,” said Kevin Kriese, board chair, Forest Practices Board. “While this created some limitations for field work, it also gave us the time to work on improvements to our internal policies and processes, particularly for complaint investigations and for Indigenous engagement. A major focus for the board is increasing our understanding of climate change and how we can mitigate its impacts and adapt our forest practices to a changing climate.”

Accomplishments in 2020-21, include:

• five audits of forestry and range operations;
• three reports about important forestry issues;
• nine new investigations of public complaints;
• nine new recommendations for improvement to forest policy and practices; 16 reports published; and
• two webinars about key reports.

How much is a thriving ecosystem worth? How do you do a cost-benefit analysis of healthy salmon stocks, flood prevention, bird watching, carbon sequestration or the ability of eelgrass to filter pollutants from the marine environment? A new report attempts to do just that by placing a monetary value on natural assets in the Squamish River estuary, tallying local and global benefits, direct economic contributions derived from use, and the value of not using some resources at all. Its conclusion: The Squamish River estuary is worth over $12.6 million a year. “This is just a way of starting the conversation about understanding and valuing nature, not only for its beauty and how it nourishes our soul, but also its inherent monetary value and its function,” says Patricia Heintzman, spokesperson for Squamish River Watershed Society. 

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. “This was the first year that we were deployed,” said Rhys Abel, a professional drone pilot and a business systems analyst with Stinson. “We worked all across the province – from Vancouver Island, the Interior, the northwest area – all across B.C.” The drones were used to find buried hot spots – fires that had yet to ignite above ground, or are invisible to the naked eye. …Abel said this summer’s experience should prove beneficial for future B.C. wildfire seasons, and internationally.

People often associate wild mushrooms with poisonings and even death. Andy MacKinnon thinks of them as givers of life itself.  …“If there wasn’t fungi, there almost certainly wouldn’t be life on Earth,” says MacKinnon, a former forest ecologist with the provincial government and co-author of Mushrooms of British Columbia, a new handbook published by the Royal B.C. Museum. “Some are helping the trees grow. Others are decomposers. They are the ultimate recyclers in forest ecosystems. Without them, everything would grind to a halt.” There are at least 3,000 known mushroom species in B.C., more than anywhere else in Canada. Beyond the ecological role played by wild mushrooms, humans value them for their beauty, taste and even for dying fabrics. …The timing for MacKinnon’s guide book couldn’t be better. Fall is when mushroom pickers fan out across the landscape, rummaging through forests in a treasure hunt.

In British Columbia, climate change is no longer something abstract for the future. The late June heat dome event—that claimed 500-600 lives—and the wildfires that followed confirm that climate change is a clear and present danger that’s not going away any time soon. As of September 28, some 867,000 hectares of land had burned, making 2021 one of BC’s worst ever wildfire seasons. The record is 1.35 million hectares burned in 2018, which came on the heels of 1.2 million hectares burned in 2017. Prior to 2000, wildfires simply did not happen at this scale. Cooler and wetter weather setting in by late August probably prevented 2021 from setting the new record. Before a return to rain and winter make us lose focus, here are some lessons from the 2021 wildfire season…