In 2023, British Columbia experienced its most destructive wildfire season on record, leading to widespread evacuations, loss of personal property, and damage to critical infrastructure. This follows severe wildfires experienced in 2022 that threatened communities throughout every region of the province. Additionally, in the spring of 2023, communities across British Columbia also experienced flooding and landslides. Today, the Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada, announced payments of over $148 million to the Province through the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA) program, to assist with response and recovery costs associated with the wildfires in 2022 and 2023, and the floods in 2023.
University of New Brunswick forestry professor Anthony Taylor began a research project to examine what was killing balsam fir trees favoured by many Canadians to decorate their homes at Christmas. …in a paper recently published in the journal “Frontiers in Forests and Global Change,” Taylor and his co-authors identify the cause of the die-off in western New Brunswick and eastern Maine as drought and high temperatures brought on by climate change. “Identifying the broad scale climate anomalies, such as a drought, associated with the reported sudden balsam fir mortality in 2018 could prove useful to determine the likelihood of future mortality in response to climate change,” the study says. Taylor said he was shocked by “that much” death of balsam firs. …Taylor said heat and drought have weakened balsam firs, making them more vulnerable to pests and diseases that they would otherwise be able to defend against. 
The U.S. government is investing $265 million in 17 states to save private forests from development, while improving rural economies, mitigating wildfire threats and reconnecting wildlife. The U.S. Forest Service recently announced the grants in its latest batch funded by the Forest Legacy Program. The October awards were made through Inflation Reduction Act funds. These new grants will help protect some 335,000 acres of vital forest lands in 21 projects. …“Landowners face many pressures to convert forests to other uses and this investment is key to keeping the economic, social, and ecological benefits that these forests provide,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Oct. 29 in press statement about the recent round of grants. …The total allocation for 2024 will amount to nearly $420 million in grants to 47 projects to save 500,000 acres of forest land. Over the last three decades since the program began, the federal government has saved 3.1 million forest acres in 479 completed projects.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service announced a new policy for monitoring national forests and grasslands. The policy aligns monitoring, partnerships, and information-sharing efforts to help land managers monitor changes related to climate change and other stressors affecting National Forest System lands and make timely, informed, science-based decisions within staffing and budget constraints. This policy is an important step in implementing the agency’s 2012 planning rule, which requires the agency use monitoring to inform adaptive management. The Forest Service monitors national forests and grasslands to gauge progress toward forest restoration, the effects of disturbance and climate on forests — such as the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires, drought and floods — and to help people understand how forests are changing through time.
KALISPELL, Mont. — The Flathead National Forest and the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation are working together to reduce wildfire risk through the Jackknife Project. The project is made possible by the Good Neighbor Authority, which allows the two agencies to plan and coordinate forest management projects. A Eureka company, Stoken Logging will harvest about 800 trees per acre and will leave about 100 to 250 trees per acre as part of a timber sale. The project spans over 1,000 acres on Good Creek Road and the harvest will allow residual trees to have more access to light water and nutrients. The reduction in trees will reduce the ability of wildfires to reach the top of trees, known as a crown fires.
J.P. Morgan Asset Management announced that institutional investors advised by the firm’s wholly-owned timber investment manager, Campbell Global, have led the acquisition of 40,800 productive acres of high-quality, commercial timberland located on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. The firm has named the property Tyee to acknowledge the Cascadia region’s indigenous Native American history. Campbell Global was acquired by J.P. Morgan Asset Management in 2021 and is recognized as a pioneer in timberland management, having managed more than five million acres worldwide for pension funds, foundations and other institutional investors since inception. Tyee will be continuously managed for both carbon capture and timber production to meet growing demand for sustainable building products and other uses. Some details of the property include 100% certified in accordance with Sustainable Forestry Initiative standards.
