Category Archives: Forestry

The increasingly dire situation on the Chemainus River is also being seen on … most other rivers on Vancouver Island… While most are quick to attribute water scarcity solely to drought from climate change, Erik Piikkila of Ladysmith takes it a step farther… Piikkila… went to BCIT and learned about forestry… [and] has done most of the jobs in the woods… He’s also a B.C. forester in training. His academic training at the University of Washington included: forest, old growth, watershed and landscape ecology along with wildfire and fire ecology. He refers to five prongs that must be properly addressed for the betterment of the environment and the ecosystems that contribute to such things as water flow on rivers. These include: ecosystem based management forestry, forest thinning … restoring fire in forests, restoring damaged ecosystems, and local governance of forest resources …

When the Tremont Creek wildfire escaped containment lines near Tunkwa Lake on Aug. 11, Logan Lake was among the communities put on evacuation alert. Fuelled by yet another heat wave in B.C., it continued to burn seven kilometres south through dry forest. By Aug. 12, all of Logan Lake was evacuated and two days later, the fire was within municipal boundaries. It seemed reminiscent of Lytton But…the town survived. Logan Lake survived largely untouched because of nearly 20 years of work preparing for this eventuality. They’ve written a playbook, of sorts, on how to protect themselves from a wildfire and it’s becoming required reading in nearly every B.C. community. While Logan Lake has been deemed a Fire Safe community, one of the first in the province, the forest management done in and around the community won’t stop a wildfire in its tracks — but it does save homes.

Hundreds of protesters gathered at 15 RCMP detachments across British Columbia on Monday to bring attention to what they feel is escalating police aggression at anti-logging blockades on Vancouver Island. The rallies came in the wake of video posted on social media over the weekend showing police using pepper spray on dozens of linked armed protesters. …The video is age restricted and therefore only available to watch on YouTube. …RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Chris Manseau said pepper spray was used after protesters knocked an officer unconscious. “Prior to that short video that was posted online there was some pushing and shoving from the protesters that actually knocked over an RCMP officer… into a ditch area where [the officer was] knocked down and knocked unconscious,” said Manseau. “Pepper spray was used and [the protesters] did disperse and that member was able to be removed from that area.”

Here’s the unedited version of what happened before the protestors got peppered sprayed. In this video you’ll see two cops on the ground, stunned and badly injured. One was knocked out and air lifted to Victoria hospital with head injuries. The protestors were there specifically to create that crowd in order to block police access, and to storm their line. And storm it they did, which resulted in two officers down. Things escalated quickly and that’s the reason they got pepper sprayed. Edited videos never tell the full truth.

Seeing the forest for its trees is a long-standing B.C. business tradition that is threatened with an abrupt unhappy ending if the province fails to find a middle ground between environment and economy. …If it were up to mono-focused environmental activists, there would be no lumber companies operating in this province at all. Destructive logging practices need to be eliminated, and some old-growth timberlands need to be preserved, but the economy and every B.C. citizen who benefits from it have a significant stake in B.C.’s forests, too. …So B.C. needs to find middle ground where there is more diversified allowable-cut allocations, proactive forest management to reduce wildfire devastation, increased market leverage for value-added wood products coupled with strategic preservation of wilderness areas. …Unless compromise enters the forestry equation, we will remain mired in a deeply divided partisan battleground, and nothing good is seeded there.

Protesters calling for a halt to old-growth logging rallied in Nanaimo to ask RCMP to “stand down” from enforcing an injunction at Fairy Creek. Extinction Rebellion Nanaimo organized a ‘Stand Down RCMP’ event outside the Nanaimo RCMP detachment, in solidarity with numerous such rallies provincewide. “You are acting in contravention of the democratic laws of the country you have sworn to obey,” said Robert Fuller, Extinction Rebellion Nanaimo coordinator …“The RCMP is enabled, by our governments, to enforce the destruction of our biosphere for the primary benefit of people who are already wealthy and who don’t seem to grasp the existential threat that destroying our life support system for profits has created for all of us.” RCMP said its primary concerns are safety of members of the public, police officers, and preservation of the right to peaceful, lawful and safe protest, while preventing efforts to block industry access in the area.

The province of B.C. will pay for up to eight youth to launch careers as professional logging truck drivers in the Okanagan region. “Projects like this one support people to find new opportunities in a growing and high-demand sector,” said Nicholas Simons, Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction. “Graduates of the program will have the skills they need to find good-paying jobs, while employers will have access to qualified employees.” The total cost borne by the province will be nearly $325,000, which will allow the youth to get their education at Okanagan College in Vernon. They’ll undergo 15 weeks of training before taking mandatory entry-level training and B.C. Forest Safety Council Professional Industry Driver theory and mentorship programs. They’ll also receive nine weeks of on-the-job work experience. …Those interested should contact their local WorkBC centre.

Re: “Forest industry not needed on panel,” letter, Aug. 20. More than 50 per cent of old-growth forests are already fully protected in B.C., and to say otherwise is fiction. Old growth is a term that is too often thrown out without any shared understanding of what it actually means. Old growth on the coast means trees more than 250 years old; in the Interior it means older than 140 years. And, about 70 per cent of B.C.’s old-growth forests — nine million hectares — are protected in perpetuity from harvesting. All forest areas of high conservation value — regardless of age or size or species — are protected by law and through ongoing evaluation and consultation, until the creation of this advisory panel. …There can be no justification in a democracy to prevent multi-stakeholder dialogue, and to disrespect First Nations governments, 50,000-plus voters employed in the forestry industry, their families and their communities.

Additional coverage: Best to log trees before they start to rot, Chris Betuzzi, RFT

A unique partnership between a pulp mill and several Indigenous communities in Alberta is aiming to establish a more inclusive consultation process for forest management. In co-operation with First Nations and Métis Settlements in its Forest Management Area, the Mercer Peace River woodlands team has begun Traditional Land Use projects to build and maintain communication and trust between all parties. One way they are developing knowledge-sharing is through a web-based tool called the Spatial Viewer, which houses planning data from MPR, as well as historical and cultural data shared by Indigenous communities through a data sharing agreement with Mercer. …Mercer Peace River is located about 500 kilometres north of Edmonton and manages about 2.7 million hectares of Alberta forest across two 20-year renewable government FMAs and three hardwood timber allocations, which provide fibre for the mill’s softwood and hardwood kraft pulps.

Provincial entomologists are prophesizing an awfully mothy few weeks, as the endemic western hemlock looper enters its final form. In July, the province warned we were in our third year of a naturally occurring outbreak of the population, which defoliates hemlock, cedar and pine trees… After spending the summer months turning much of the forest brown or orange, those larvae are now emerging as moths. “A lot of people will see the moths flying. They tend to congregate. And lots of people hate the look of them. But the key thing to remember here is that this is not an invasive species,” said Jeanne Robert, provincial forest entomologist. …After a few weeks, when colder weather and rain arrives, the moths will start to die off, bringing an end to the third year of the outbreak. Looper moth outbreaks typically last three years before their population crashes.

The Sunshine Coast Community Forest (SCCF) and Sechelt council awarded $100,000 in 2021 grants from the SCCF Legacy Fund on Aug. 11. Five community groups will share the money. The largest award amount of $30,000 went to the Sunshine Coast Salmonid Enhancement Society to install submersible well pumps at its Chapman Creek hatchery. …The One Straw Society was awarded $20,000 to complete construction of a “Tiny Barn” project. …Expansion of solar energy projects at the Coast’s SPCA facility located on Solar Road in Sechelt received $19,500. …Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue Station 12, based in Halfmoon Bay, was granted $18,500 for a retrofit of the navigation system on its rescue vessel, the Ken Moore. …A grant of $12,000 will help fund the replacement of a bridge crossing Steele Creek in Tetrahedron Park. 

Sleep. Eat. Chain people into the ground to block the logging of old trees. Repeat. That’s been the routine in the Fairy Creek valley on southeast Vancouver Island for one year now, in what has become the biggest protest against old-growth logging since the “war in the woods” of 1993… Now, with more than 700 people arrested for the cause of protecting the Fairy Creek watershed from logging by the company Teal Jones — and the RCMP undertaking arrests in areas they had previously left alone — the conflict appears to be boiling over from its spot in the forest, and into the federal election campaign. …In general, the Fairy Creek protests target the provincial government of B.C. …But with a federal election called Aug. 15, and RCMP officers dismantling protest camps that have been in place for a whole year, the movement is again coming into the public spotlight.

Anthony Britneff

Jobs in British Columbia’s forest sector have become a talisman exploited by the forest industry and its associations in persuading politicians of the importance of the sector to the provincial economy. As forestry jobs have steadily declined, industry lobbyists such as the Council of Forest Industries, Resource Works and the Truck Loggers’ Association have become increasingly creative in overstating the contribution of the forest sector to the provincial economy by inflating job numbers with indirect jobs. If Statistics Canada counted jobs this way, we would have many more jobs than there are residents in the province. …If we as a society in B.C. can shed 400,000 jobs in two months of 2020 to deal with a global pandemic, is it that ridiculous to transition, say, 40,000 forestry jobs into non-destructive forest and value-added enterprises, and into other economic sectors in order to mitigate a global climate emergency already having such profound consequences for B.C.’s environment and residents?

Karen Hodges

The blazes that have scorched several parts of Western Canada have affected wildlife populations incinerating their habitat, which may take many years to recover, an expert says.  Karen Hodges, a professor of conservation ecology at the University of BC. …Scientists are most worried about old-growth forests in fire areas, which are home to the Canada lynx, the marten, fishers, caribou and northern goshawk, she said. “Then I start getting worried about most of the predators, because they need those big ranges to obtain enough prey and keep enough of a population on the landscape,” Hodges said Monday. …The fires burning now are bigger and hotter where the season starts early and ends later, she said, noting there are at least six to eight weeks still to go this year. “So, we really are seeing a big reset of habitats.”

Last Friday, the governments of BC, Canada and the Haida Nation announced a new framework agreement that recognizes the nation’s inherent title and rights across the archipelago of Haida Gwaii… a collection of more than 200 islands forming an area about a third of the size of Vancouver Island and tucked under the Alaska panhandle. …The new GayGahlda “Changing Tide” Framework for Reconciliation unveiled Friday charts an alternative course that prioritizes negotiation over litigation while saying the two can coexist. The crucial part is the starting point. Instead of having to prove title, negotiations will now begin from a place of inherent Haida title and rights, which includes the right to self-government. …The agreement sets negotiation priorities from forestry and fisheries — which are co-managed by the province and federal government, respectively — to fair compensation from the Crown for past damages.

The need for more intensive forest management practices to prevent the spread of wildfires in B.C. has been raised by the Regional District of Central Okanagan rural area director for Central Okanagan West. Wayne Carson says the devastating impact left behind by the White Rock Lake wildfire, which has heavily damaged or destroyed 70 homes in the Killiney Beach area, demands a rethink of the current provincial strategy for countering the wildfire threat. “There is not much we can do about floods, but wildfires are something we can fix and we need to start working on that,” said Carson, who was told last Wednesday his house had survived intact while his neighbour’s house did not. “We need to do a better job of being proactive rather than reactive.” …He says the public resistance to the smoke caused by burning waste piles of that accumulated material needs to be rethought.

PORT RENFREW, BC — At least two people were injured at the Fairy Creek Blockade on Vancouver Island on Saturday, where protesters have been demanding a stop to all old-growth logging in B.C. Lake Cowichan RCMP say protestors were blocking the roadway and people had locked themselves to an industry gate. Police say protestors became “aggressive” and failed to take direction. “There was pushing and shoving and OC spray was deployed when the crowd failed to comply with police directions,” the statement reads. One police officer was injured with a concussion and was transported to hospital. The RCMP have confirmed 33 individuals were arrested for breaching the court injunction and obstruction, including one minor. …The Rainforest Flying Squad say its protestors were non-violent and say they were allegedly physically assaulted by RCMP officers. Police say one protester was assessed by medical crews.

I would like to share my perspective of widespread mismanagement within the BC Wildfire Service. First, I want to express that I feel some of the most brilliant fire managers and best firefighters who ever lived are from the BC Wildfire Service… From my angle, mismanagement exists a little further up the ladder. Policies which direct their use of resources prevent them from hiring contractors, or utilizing private resources. …The province is not saving money using international crews. …Taxpayers pay for those deployments, so this program has considerable costs. And questionable value. …It appears to me that BC Wildfire has spun quite a tall tale about who is qualified and who is not. …Public service unions, to the exclusion of contractors. What we’re seeing is the refusal of public service personnel to use contracted, non-union resources. If such is the case, this is called union protectionism.

While the BC Wildfire Service has called upon forestry companies to battle wildfires all summer, changing attitudes of how fire is managed on the landscape appear to be running up against the motivations of logging companies. Castanet News has obtained an email sent by forestry company Louisiana-Pacific to BCWS earlier this month, detailing the protests of the company after being told to stop building guard around the Crazy Creek Gorge FSR fire north of Sicamous. The email states Louisiana-Pacific and its contractors were told to stand down after constructing about 80 per cent guard along the east flank of the fire. The stop-work order was issued due to concerns related to safety and lack of awareness related to logger’s suppression efforts on that side of the fire, the email says. In the email, a Louisiana-Pacific representative disputes those claims and argues that BCWS staff were well aware of their plans…

Police tactics are getting increasingly aggressive, according to protesters at the Fairy Creek watershed on southern Vancouver Island. The RCMP have been actively enforcing an injunction that prohibits interference with Teal Cedar’s forestry operations in the region since May. …As arrest numbers increase, so does police aggression, blockaders are saying. “There was pushing and shoving and OC spray [pepper spray] was deployed when the crowd failed to comply with police directions and became aggressive,” said RCMP in a statement dated Aug. 21. …RCMP had started waiting for protesters locked in hard blocks to remove themselves and then arrest them, rather than try the hours long process of extracting them. But soon after, blockaders started a new strategy of creating a human wall around hard blocks allowing a fresh person to exchange places in the hard block. They’ve also effectively linked arms in tight circles and physically pushed police back.

With another bad fire season there will no doubt be some discussion regarding a return to some of the ways forest fires were fought in the past. Some very experienced people think the use of live fire guards (thinned forests) will not be sufficient to stop a very aggressive wildfire and 200 metre cleared strips will be needed as well. I found two articles about the effectiveness of forest thinning on fire control. An Australian study… compared fire severity in unthinned versus thinned forest burned. The results showed that across almost every forest age and type, thinning made little difference. …Closer to home, a small trial (3.6 ha experimental fire) was conducted in a black spruce peatland forest that had undergone thinning the year prior. …While I was not able to find research on the impact of thinning, I believe most support comes from observations of reduced fire behaviour on stands with less fuel loading.

Victoria — The Martin Mars water bomber sits idle on the shores of Sproat Lake, raising questions about why the massive aircraft isn’t being used to fight the flames ripping though the province — including in its own backyard. The short answer, according to the B.C. Wildfire Service, is the Martin Mars “is a retired aircraft that hasn’t been used in B.C. since 2015,” said spokeswoman Jean Strong. The service is contracting a fleet of smaller fixed-wing tankers and helicopters that can target fires quickly and efficiently, she said. Wayne Coulson, chief executive of the Coulson Group of Companies and owner of the Martin Mars tanker, disagrees with the strategy. He flew over the Mount Hayes fire near Ladysmith this week… He said a few dumps from a tanker like the Martin Mars would have “a huge effect on that fire.” …The irony of the Port Alberni-based company not working within its own province isn’t lost on Coulson. 

When Premier John Horgan called a snap election last fall, he found himself promising, if re-elected, to implement all 14 recommendations of A New Future for Old Growth, a recently released report by an independent review panel consisting of expert foresters Garry Merkel and Al Gorley. For Horgan, it was a case of promise now, to get the Green Party off his operating ticket, and worry about the logistics later, once his desired majority had been achieved. The tactic worked, at least in the short run. …The government remains unmoved. Or maybe not. In June, Minister Conroy selected yet another panel of experts… a stellar group and include the indefatigable Garry Merkel. Maybe it’s a sign more deferrals are coming. …In the meantime, the talking continues over the whine of the saws. 

At Resource Works …what we have discovered about the vigorously debated issue of old growth forests in British Columbia might come as a surprise. With daily reports in the news media about protests against logging of “British Columbia’s last old growth forest”, it’s worth understanding the issue at hand. …To simplify things let’s look just at Vancouver Island, which happens to be the location of the protected Fairy Creek watershed. …our mapping experts accessed government databases to extract information about the state of the forests. What they found might come as a surprise if you are among those who believe claims being made by protest organizations. …despite a century and a half of industrial logging, old growth forests remain superabundant in most parts of the Island. The least amount of old growth is on the east and southeast areas of the Island, where the vast majority of its human residents live.

Re: Understanding impacts: A look at the forestry industry in Revelstoke  For many people who read this article there were lots of triggering statements. …First of all, the areas that we have chosen to blockade are not only old growth forest, but they are also core habitat for the critically endangered mountain caribou. …Secondly, on the point of accessing machinery for wildfire work there seems to be a misunderstanding. …our policy is to allow equipment to be accessed and pulled from sites. …Thirdly, in the article we see mention of all the jobs that might be lost if we stop logging old growth. We believe the forestry sector should be frustrated on this point too, not at blockaders, but at the last few decades of government inaction …The reason for the blockades is that protests in Victoria don’t stop the trees from being cut down right now. 

Thousands have signed an online petition calling for the minister of public safety to reevaluate B.C.’s wildfire suppression strategy but the B.C. Wildfire Service says it’s using all the resources it has in its arsenal. “We need to expand our fire fighting force so that it is capable of containing wildfires that are in close proximity to communities, towns and cities across our beautiful province. The number of destructive wildfires across our province has increased dramatically over the last decade, causing unnecessary risk to the lives of our farmers, citizens, and firefighters,” says the petition — calling for an increase in resources for air support as well as support staff and specialized structure protection crews. As of Sunday, Aug. 22, the petition addressed to Minister of Public Safety Mike Farnworth, Cliff Chapman, director of provincial operations with the B.C. Wildfire Service and the B.C. Legislative Assembly has gathered more than 7,500 signatures.

Development permits for four Rossland properties were denied by city council, [which] agreed that the main problem with the proposals was that there were no plans to develop anything other than removing marketable trees… Coun. Janice Nightingale said, “But it is private land, the applicant has met all the city’s proscribed guidelines, as a reforestation plan along with a deposit held by the city for … the reforestation cost… The forestry consultant [Crone] deemed the tree removal necessary to reduce fuel load and minimize the risk of fire [and] said that reforestation will be delayed for two years while development plans are determined. If no plan has emerged … the entire property will be replanted. [The]Forest Management Plan [indicates] that 60 per cent of the stand was comprised of Interior Douglas fir [which has] been afflicted by Armillaria root rot.

Jeff Kelly

As more people in our province find out their homes were lost in the White Rock Lake Fire, a Northern BC-based company claims they could’ve prevented some of the destruction. The company in question, Safeguard, says they would’ve been able to help if they had a contract to do so. Katrine Conroy, Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations, and Rural Development said the reason behind Safeguard and its water curtain technology not being used was due to the province’s procurement process. Jeff Kelly with Safeguard responded by saying there is no proper procurement for his company to apply for. Kelly says the BC Wildfire Service’s maximum hose diameter allowed is four inches… what the company offers is much larger at 12 inches… According to Kelly, those technical requirements are simply outdated.