The RCMP says it has no clear-cut policy on how to handle journalists when Mounties are breaking up protests such as those at remote A freedom-of-information request. …Mounties are obligated to ensure journalists “have fair and safe access to observe and report,” said the statement sent by Marie-Eve Breton. In recent years, the RCMP has sent hundreds of its members to enforce injunctions sought by industry against protesters in several remote corners of the country, from forestry blockades like the one at Fairy Creek on Vancouver Island to fisheries protests on the East Coast. Earlier this year, the RCMP’s civilian oversight review body responded to hundreds of public complaints by opening a probe into the Mounties’ handling of years of protests against large-scale pipeline and logging projects at B.C. sites, such as those in traditional Wet’suwet’en territory.
NORTH VANCOUVER, BC
Trees of breathtaking size surround us …Self-described “big-tree nerd” Colin Spratt, 28, has a knack for spotting the shadowy grey bark indicating an ancient western red cedar. …Spratt and fellow big-tree seeker Greg Herringer invited The Canadian Press to join their search last month after hearing that a western red cedar with an estimated six-metre diameter had been spotted by forestry workers scouting the area. The pair are members of the B.C. Big Tree Registry, which has a mandate to identify, document and conserve British Columbia’s largest trees. “The sad reality is there’s so little left. What drives you is this incredible desire to sort of prove yourself wrong, that it’s not all gone, that there are still these mythically large trees you’re reading about from the 1800s,” says Spratt. As industrial logging continues to eat away at old growth, experts and advocates worry that climate change is threatening the next generation of giants.
With drought conditions forecasted to persist into fall months, the Urban Forestry team have ramped up efforts to hydrate the city’s 160,000 street trees using ground probes, 400-gallon water trucks and cannons, and are now asking residents and businesses to join the cause. “Trees are incredibly important to the health of this city,” said Joe McLeod, Manager of Urban Forestry at the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation. “Besides adding moisture and purifying the air, they provide shade; an essential in protecting communities through extreme heat events due to climate change. Protect trees and they will protect us.” For effective watering: Pour 3 to 5 gallons of water around the drip line of a tree, twice a week. …In line with 
A salvage logging operation undertaken on the east flank of Bald Mountain last fall by the Idaho Department of Lands left impacts visible from public hiking trails in the area. …Idaho Department of Lands Public Information Officer Sharla Arledge said the timber stand on the Public Schools Endowment-owned parcel, along with trees on adjacent federal and private lands, were infested with Douglas-fir beetles that were killing the larger trees in the stand. “This was not a clear cut,” Arledge said. “The larger Douglas fir trees were removed as they are the preferred host for the beetles. Healthy smaller Douglas fir trees were left to provide both seeds and shelter to encourage a new stand.” The timber cutting operation took place on about 80 acres within a 120-acre stand of trees on state land designated as “endowment timber,” to support public schools. 
AUSTRALIA — The New South Wales government has been accused of stalling on a promise to create a national park to protect koalas as tension mounts over logging in the state’s northern forests. Protesters and police have been engaged in a standoff, with both groups setting up forest camps, as logging takes place in the Newry state forest near the town of Bellingen, on the mid-north coast. Hundreds rallied in nearby Coffs Harbour on Friday to demand the state government cease logging in areas intended to form part of the promised national park. …Before the March election, Labor committed to establishing the new national park. But the government has defended the recent forestry activity by saying it had not committed to a suspension or moratorium on logging. …There has been growing pressure on the NSW Labor government to end native forest logging after Victoria’s Andrews government announced the practice would cease in December, six years earlier than planned.