Category Archives: Forestry

Forestry

Canada invests $72 million on satellite constellation to monitor active wildfires

By Stéphane Blais
Associated PRess in Kelowna Courier
February 7, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

LONGUEUIL, Que. – Canada is investing $72 million on a novel satellite constellation that will monitor active forest fires across the country, the Canadian Space Agency announced Friday. Consisting of seven satellites that will enter orbit in 2029, the WildFireSat program will collect daily data on active forest fires, allowing officials to determine which blazes are the most dangerous and predict their behaviour. That information will help officials make better use of firefighters and equipment, and ultimately save lives, Lisa Campbell, Canadian Space Agency president, told reporters at the agency’s headquarters on Montreal’s South Shore. …The money will go to Ontario-based Spire Global Canada, which will develop the satellite constellation. Infrared sensors will be installed on the satellites to produce thermal imaging, allowing officials to assess the intensity of the fires and track their progress.

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A fire deficit persists across diverse North American forests despite recent increases in area burned

By Sean Parks et al
Nature
February 10, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, United States

Rapid increases in wildfire area burned across North American forests pose novel challenges for managers and society. Increasing area burned raises questions about whether, and to what degree, contemporary fire regimes (1984–2022) are still departed from historical fire regimes (pre-1880). We use the North American tree-ring fire-scar network (NAFSN), a multi-century record comprising >1800 fire-scar sites spanning diverse forest types, and contemporary fire perimeters to ask whether there is a contemporary fire surplus or fire deficit, and whether recent fire years are unprecedented relative to historical fire regimes. Our results indicate, despite increasing area burned in recent decades, that a widespread fire deficit persists across a range of forest types and recent years with exceptionally high area burned are not unprecedented when considering the multi-century perspective offered by fire-scarred trees. …There is abundant evidence that unprecedented contemporary fire severity is driving forest loss in many ecosystems and adversely impacting human lives, infrastructure, and water supplies.

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Low-Value Wood Waste Generates Environmental, Social, and Economic Benefits in Fort St. James

Forest Enhancement Society of BC
February 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Fort St. James, B.C.With funding from the Forest Enhancement Society of BC, uneconomic residual fibre is being delivered from locations farther from town to BioNorth Energy, a joint venture partnership between Arrow Group of Companies, the Nak’azdli Development Corporation, the economic development arm of the Nak’azdli First Nation, and low-carbon infrastructure developer, Nexus PMG. The project, which began in the fall of 2023 after an intense wildfire season, will finalize this winter, helping reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions from entering the atmosphere while also generating economic and social benefits for the community of Fort St. James. …The project focuses on grinding residual logging debris into feedstock for BioNorth Energy, a 40-mega-watt biomass power generation plant in Fort St. James. 

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‘They just don’t make sense for the Americans or us’, says North Island forester on tariff threats

By Nora O’Malley
Ha-Shilth-Sa
February 8, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Len Apedaile, RPF, is the general manager of Tiičma Forestry, a small market logger based up in Ka:’yu:’k’t’h’/Che:k’tles7et’h’ First Nations (KCFN) territory on Vancouver Island’s north coast. He thinks, if anything, the American tariffs scenario of 25% on all Canadian imports will give businesses the opportunity to re-evaluate how they fundamentally do things. …“This doesn’t happen overnight, but I think that you’ll see that this will spur on those efforts over time,” said Apedaile. …“We really don’t understand where these tariffs are coming from because they just don’t make sense for the Americans or us. …Tiičma Forestry operates in a high-cost area of Vancouver Island. The relatively new First Nations forestry company sells west coast old and second growth logs to a Terminal Forest Products sawmill on the mainland who exports primarily to the U.S.

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Forest Professionals BC Receives Provincial Grant to Improve Managing Forests for Wildfire

Forest Professionals of British Columbia
February 7, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The BC government is providing Forest Professionals British Columbia (FPBC) with a $620,000 grant to improve and expand the use of registered forest professionals in managing BC’s forests for wildfire. “The increasing frequency and severity of wildfires has shown that we need to be more proactive in managing our forests and the forested lands near our communities to make them more resilient to wildfire and enhance public safety,” said Christine Gelowitz, RPF, Forest Professionals BC chief executive office. “Working in partnership with BC Wildfire Service, we will set robust practice standards in wildfire prevention, planning, and recovery, allowing forest professionals to better manage forests for wildfire and help reduce the risk to the public and the environment.” The funding will support the Wildland Fire Joint Panel Initiative, which includes Forest Professionals BC and the BC Wildfire Service.

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Old Logging Roads In The Chilcotin Getting A New Life

By Pat Matthews
My Cariboo Now
February 7, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

A crisscross network of logging roads in the Cariboo Chilcotin are being rehabilitated back into a more natural habitat for wildlife. Daniel Persson, Forestry Superintendent of Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation Ltd. said most of these roads are not used today other than for hunting. “When not rehabilitated back to their original, natural state, these roads create “predator super-highways which allow wolves and other species, including human hunters, to move more quickly and for longer distances than they normally would, becoming more effective hunters at the cost of other wildlife.” Persson said the planning of this rehabilitation work began in late 2020 and this the first year that we are actually getting into it. …Ann Nielson, Silviculture Superintendent with Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation Ltd said some of these roads are 20 to 30 years old.

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Doris Duke Foundation funding advances Sustainable Forestry Initiative’s Climate Smart Forestry Practices

Sustainable Forestry Initiative
February 10, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

Washington D.C.–The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) is proud to announce a groundbreaking new project to advance climate smart forestry practices across the United States, supported by a generous investment of over $800,000 from the Doris Duke Foundation. The project, Advancing Carbon Stewardship Practices for Large Landowners in the United States, will use a forest sector-focused approach to advance forest management and conservation activities to both enhance the carbon sink and reduce sources of emissions from forests. Forests … are experiencing increased frequency and severity of fire, drought, pest outbreaks, and disease—all of which negatively impact forest and community health, economic development, and resiliency while threatening our safety. “We are so thankful for this investment from the Doris Duke Foundation to leverage our network, scale, and the SFI Forest Management Standard, which includes progressive requirements on climate and fire,” said Kathy Abusow, President and CEO of SFI. 

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‘Very aggressive’: B.C. crews recount time on front lines of Los Angeles

By Ruth Lloyd
Victoria News
February 7, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Five Cariboo firefighters were part of the 23-person team who travelled to California to help battle devastating wildfires in the state recently. …Five of the 23-person team heading south were from the Cariboo Fire Centre, including Bardossy, and the group went as a unit crew to help support the beleaguered California ground crews dealing with the devastating fires and intense fire conditions. …The crew was then deployed to the Eaton Fire for three days, a fire in a mountainous area north of Pasadena encompassing over 14,000 acres. …”We were just one of many spokes in the larger wheel,” said Rob Bardossy, a senior wildfire officer, noting there were a massive number of resources in the area ready to respond. …”There’s no real forest, so it’s a very flashy, explosive fire,” explained Bardossy, noting by the third day, things had calmed down significantly.

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Curry County considers using state of emergency to take over federal forests management

By Justin Higginbottom
Oregon Public Broadcasting
February 7, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Curry County, Oregon, is considering taking over management of federal forests within its borders by applying a novel legal strategy used by a county in Arizona. Curry County commissioners presented a draft proclamation on Wednesday to declare a state of emergency for the purpose of taking over management of public forests from federal authorities. Those in support of the proposal say it is needed due to federal agencies’ failure to manage their forests for wildfire. At the recent meeting, Commissioner Jay Trost claimed every major recent fire in the county occurred on state and federal land. “The private timber industry is managing their land right,” said Trost. The proclamation also claims that the forest mismanagement, along with state regulations for homeowners in high wildfire hazard zones, will impact county housing costs and supply.

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Auburn University’s EcoDogs sniff out danger to American forests

By Amy Burtch
Alabama News Center
February 8, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Melissa Singletary

The Asian longhorned beetle, a threat to U.S. trees, will soon have a new foe: Labrador retrievers bred and trained by Auburn University to search for the invasive species. The retrievers are part of the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Canine Performance Sciences (CPS) program, which uses canines to detect plant and animal species in ways that benefit ecological research, management and conservation. As part of a partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), this project will reach its goal to train operational dogs for Asian longhorned beetle detection in 2025 with an anticipated spring start date. Their work will help find the beetle sooner, which in turn helps the agency stop the beetles’ spread. CPS Assistant Director Melissa Singletary said finding the beetles is important because they damage economically and environmentally important hardwood trees.

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New York launches ‘Tree Tracker’ as part of quest for 25 million trees

By Sophia Fox-Sowell
StateScoop
February 10, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

The State of New York last week announced the launch of two new interactive tools for recording and tracking the number of trees planted as part of a climate initiative to reach 25 million trees by 2033. Developed by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation and its Office of Information Technology Services, the Tree Tracker allows state agencies and private organizations and individuals to report the number and location of trees planted, as well as planting dates, species and tree size. “New York is taking decisive action to protect our environment and strengthen communities’ ability to withstand severe weather,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in the press release. “Our progress toward the 25 Million Tree goal is a testament to the power of community-driven action, and the new Tree Tracker will make it easier for New Yorkers to track our progress, share updates and contribute to a healthier environment for the future.”

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When art imitates life’s mathematics: Fractals and how we perceive trees

University of Michigan News
February 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

While artistic beauty may be a matter of taste, our ability to identify trees in works of art may be connected to objective—and relatively simple—mathematics, according to a new study. Led by researchers from the University of Michigan and the University of New Mexico, the study investigated how the relative thickness of a tree’s branching boughs affected its tree-like appearance. This idea has been studied for centuries by artists, including Leonardo DaVinci, but the researchers brought a newer branch of math into the equation to reveal deeper insights. …The math the duo used to approach their question of proportions is rooted in fractals. Geometrically speaking, fractals are structures that repeat the same motifs across different scales. …“We measure branch diameter scaling in trees and it plays the same role as fractal dimension,” Mitchell Newberry said. “It shows how many more tiny branches there are as you zoom in.” .

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David Stahle has dedicated his life to the study of climate change through tree ring research

By April Wallace
Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette
February 9, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

David Stahle

Arkansas — David Stahle is a distinguished professor and director of the tree ring laboratory at the University of Arkansas, but you won’t always find him in the lab at Ozark Hall on the Razorback campus. You’re just as likely to find the world renowned dendrochronologist in the old growth forests of Oklahoma, the swamps of North Carolina or traversing the Great Plains as he searches for trees and takes coring samples from them. …For more than four decades this has been his chosen work, reconstructing climate and making chronologies, and Stahle has done it all over the world — in both the southwest and southeast regions of the U.S., in California, Africa, Nepal, and in Mexico partnering alongside a colleague in the Mexican Forest Service. …Stahle is working on book called “The Ancient Cross Timbers: A natural history of the old growth forest that bordered the Southern Plains” 

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