Category Archives: Forestry

VANCOUVER, BC — Trimble announced that they have added to a growing list of colleges and universities around the globe which will feature a Trimble Technology Lab. This newest one also hits on a new category of science for the company’s program, as they have opened a Trimble Technology Lab specifically looking at forestry, housed at UBC at their Forest Sciences Centre. Two research forests in the area represent the main hubs for work being done at this lab: The Malcolm Knapp Research Forest and the Alex Fraser Research Forest. By opening this new lab. …This will not only be the first Trimble Technology Lab focused on forestry, but also the first lab of its kind in Canada. …The “Trimble Technology Lab will have a large application for research projects… such as creating digital twins of the forest and developing tree models using laser scanners. 

KOOTENAY LAKE, BC — BC’s forest ministry is investigating a West Kootenay logging company following a complaint that part of its timber harvest near Argenta in 2022 was clearcut when it should have been selectively logged. The provincial government has designated certain places in B.C. as scenic areas that when viewed from a distance should not be significantly altered by logging and roads. One such scenic area is the western side of the Purcell Mountains in the Argenta area as viewed from across Kootenay Lake along Highway 31. …The ministry of forests is investigating Cooper Creek Cedar’s alleged failure to meet the VQO guidelines in its logging operation at Salisbury Creek in 2022. Meanwhile, the same clearcut has been investigated by the Forest Practices Board. …In a similar case in 2016, Cooper Creek Cedar was fined $5,000 by the forest ministry for creating a clearcut in a scenic area.

The B.C. government says it’s extending an old-growth logging ban for part of the Fraser Canyon, located about 100 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, for another two years to help with the recovery of the endangered spotted owl.  On Friday, the province announced it had extended the suspension of old-growth logging activity in the Fraser Canyon’s Spuzzum and Utzilus watersheds — which span more than 300 square kilometres — until February 2025.   …The province says the two-year logging deferrals in the Spuzzum and Utzilus watersheds are part of its plan to bring back a “sustained breeding population” of the owl.  “These deferrals are an important component of a complex process that will allow us to learn as much as possible to support the reintegration of the spotted owl into its habitat,” Nathan Cullen, B.C.’s minister of water, land and resource stewardship said in a written statement.

BC Government Press Release by the Ministry of Forests: Province extends old-growth logging deferral in endangered spotted owl habitat

NORTH COWICHAN, BC — I’ve long known that unusual experiences await those tempted down remote dead-end roads. But nothing prepared me for the assortment of bizarre, ghoulish and even criminal artifacts I encountered on the logging roads of the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island. …North Cowichan’s 5,000-hectare Municipal Forest Reserve (MFR)… simply [doesn’t have] the staff to patrol every stretch of rutted gravel road for illegal activities such as campfires, campsites, littering, poaching and gunplay – especially at night and on weekends. …One winter, I reported an individual actively cutting wood. The town investigated, told me they caught him in the act, but let him go, too, with a warning. The illegal harvest of wood is one issue. Leaving behind a mind-bending array of garbage – if one can rightly call it that – is quite another. [to access the full story a Globe and Mail subscription is required]

A B.C. company that wants to avoid logging sections of at-risk old growth was told by the Crown corporation that manages B.C.’s public forests to cut the trees down or pay to leave them standing. Kerry Rouck, chief forester for Downie’s owner, Gorman Bros. Lumber, said it has remained on pause since the province launched the continuing old-growth deferral process that fall. …But BC Timber Sales, told Downie it must fulfil its logging contract — or pay full stumpage fees for the trees left standing, Rouck said. …“The irony is that we’re trying to work toward a balanced conservation result, and we stand to be penalized,” he said. …Rouck said he’s since had further discussions with Forests Ministry staff, who indicated they would be open to creative solutions. “Perhaps we can change the harvesting prescription from clearcutting to an innovative partial cut that is more caribou-friendly,” he wrote.

MANITOBA — Adding the land requirements for renewable energy, biodiversity conservation, less-intensive farming, and two billion trees equals 469,273 square kilometres or 72 per cent of the area of Manitoba. This is an immense area of land to be reallocated and is it even feasible? The lesson: Do the math. In 1959, scientist and writer C.P. Snow delivered a lecture entitled “The Two Cultures,” arguing the two intellectual cultures were “science” and the “arts.” Science is represented by objective and mathematical analysis while the arts are represented by subjective, non-quantifiable, feelings and emotions. I would submit that environmentalism, writ large, is similarly split. We have scientists measuring environmental factors and delivering numerical conclusions about nature, while passionate environmental activists usually… [the access the full story a Hill Times subscription is required].

As people commuted home from downtown Kelowna to start the weekend, chants of “save our trees,” could be heard from city hall all the way to Bernard Avenue. On Friday, (March 3) a group of approximately 50 people from Fridays for Future Kelowna gathered in front of city hall for the global strike and to protest old growth logging and to advocate for a greener future. Fridays for the Future is an international environmental activism youth-led initiative started by climate activist Greta Thunberg. Carley May, a member of the Kelowna chapter, said that the group’s mission is to raise awareness of the old growth deforestation that has been happening around B.C. …She said that Fridays for Future Kelowna is joining the movement that started on the island to hold B.C. Premier David Eby accountable for his promise to protect old growth forests.

When the world’s biggest sawmill opened its doors on Feb. 9, 2004, then-premier Gordon Campbell enthused that it could shoot out enough lumber to build all of British Columbia’s new annual housing stock, which was then averaging 26,000 units per year. After the ribbon was cut and the first logs passed through its computerized scanners and whirring sawblades, the mill’s owner claimed it might produce 600 million board feet a year — 25 per cent more than its closest global rival, a lumber mill in Germany. Just 20 years later, however, the super-sized mill is set to close — another casualty in a province and industry that went all-in on the idea that bigger is better and must now live with the consequences.Located in Houston, a three-and-a-half hour’s drive west of Prince George, the jumbo mill is owned by Canfor, a company that has made headlines in recent weeks — but this time, not for ribbon cutting.

Jennifer Hong gives forests a human face. This 26-year-old Vancouverite works for the Canadian Forest Service providing information and analysis on the potential economic interfaces between humans and forests. She also conceived, founded and runs Faces of Forestry, launched at the United Nations’ XV World Forestry Congress 2022, to allow youth to tell their own stories about what forests mean to them. …Faces of Forestry, a project of Youth4Nature supported by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, provides a platform for young people to help each other and the world understand more about their relationships with forests wherever they live. At the time of the congress, we had 20 such stories told in different media. We hope there will be many more as other young people come forward to use this link to add their voices.

Joan Atkinson

MACKENZIE, BC — There’s no lack of fibre in the Mackenzie Timber Supply Area, according to Mackenzie mayor Joan Atkinson. The problem, Atkinson says, is the lumber giants have locked up the rights to harvest timber in that vast territory and they’re not willing to part with it. “It’s not fibre supply that has robbed our community of hundreds of jobs, it’s current forest policy that has crippled my community,” said Atkinson. …Atkinson said the removal 20 years ago of appurtenancy, which meant that wood sent to mills was tied to the communities from which that wood was harvested, allowed tenure holders to close community-owned mills, which is what happened in Mackenzie. “That was the beginning of the end,” said Atkinson. “Although the Canfor sawmill has been closed permanently for more than three years, they still hold the largest tenure volume. It astounds me, it disappoints me, it makes me angry.”

LOWER POST, BC – Canada has the third-largest forested area in the world, with about 60 million hectares of forests located in British Columbia. With mostly coniferous tree species, British Columbia’s forests are home to valuable ecosystems, local wildlife and habitats. By working with organizations across the country, including provinces and territories, municipalities, private organizations, Indigenous communities and local organizations, the Government of Canada aims to plant two billion trees to support natural climate solutions, build up low-carbon supply chains and create good, sustainable jobs. That’s why, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources, today announced a contribution of $300,000 to the Daylu Dena Council of the Kaska Nation for their Capacity Building Strategy project. The contribution comes from the 2 Billion Trees program, aimed to motivate and support new tree planting projects.

Barrett Lenoir and Kris Brekke

Two environmental non-profit organizations, Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) and Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society – Northwest Territories Chapter (CPAWS-NWT), have been operating in the Northwest Territories (NWT) for decades and recognize the importance of protecting these natural spaces. DUC and CPAWS-NWT acknowledge that by pooling resources and focusing on common goals, more can be accomplished. Today, a Collaboration Agreement has been signed to leverage their shared capacity – which means more positive outcomes for NWT. …DUC and CPAWS-NWT have teamed up to assist with efforts to establish an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA) in the Slave River Delta-Taltson watershed area, led by Fort Resolution Métis Government and Deninu Kųę́ First Nation. The Collaboration Agreement enhances DUC and CPAWS-NWT`s ability to deliver the most effective conservation outcomes for the territory by committing to work on collective goals while sharing expertise, funding, capacity, and other resources.

PRINCE GEORGE, BC — Mayor Simon Yu could not help but notice the absence of young people at the Future of Forestry forum this week. Yu is worried the current state of the forest industry in the province, with Interior sawmills and pulp mills shutting down permanently or curtailing their operations in response to current market conditions and the perceived lack of economic fibre is swaying younger generations away from considering forestry careers. He told the forum crowd he wants to establish a community forest in the city managed by local government, First Nations and/or community groups to create employment and tourism and demonstrate and foster innovative forest management practices he says will encourage teens and young adults to become tree planters, work on logging crews thinning forests or in pulp and sawmills.

People can get involved in the timber supply review for the Sunshine Coast Timber Supply Area (TSA) by submitting comments before May 1, 2023.  Under the Forest Act, to ensure that B.C.’s forests are managed sustainably, the chief forester must determine the allowable annual cut (AAC) in each of the province’s 37 timber supply areas and 33 tree farm licences at least once every 10 years. The public is invited to provide comment on this update to the management of B.C.’s forests.  As part of this public review, a discussion paper has been released that provides the results of a timber supply analysis. …This review will support continued First Nations’ engagement and participation in defining a sustainable harvest level for the Sunshine Coast TSA. …he Sunshine Coast TSA covers approximately 1.9 million hectares on the southwestern coast. The current AAC for the Sunshine Coast TSA is approximately 1.2 million cubic metres.

A pair of recent studies — one American and one Canadian — has found a disturbing number of ecosystems in North America face collapse unless there’s a significant conservation effort.  B.C. has the second highest number of threatened ecosystems in Canada after Ontario, according to a report earlier this year by a leading Canadian conservation group.  That study, by the Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, found this country has 315 globally threatened ecosystems that are ranked by NatureServe as vulnerable to collapse. Of those, 26 are deemed critical, including the Western Red Cedar/Salal Forest ecosystem in B.C. under threat from logging.  …The American report, by NatureServe, analyzed data from more than 1,000 scientists in the U.S. and Canada and found that 40 per cent of animals and 34 per cent of plants in the U.S. are at risk of extinction, while 41 per cent of ecosystems are facing collapse, meaning they won’t be able to sustain wildlife.

A rally in support of old-growth protection will be held at Grizzly Plaza this Saturday (Mar. 4). The rally, hosted by Revelstoke-based group ‘Old Growth Revylution’, will be held in support of a province-wide rally held in Victoria last weekend (Feb. 25). According to Old Growth Revylution, the provincial government’s response to old growth forest protection has been ‘poor’. “Despite recent government announcements for action, progress is slow while logging continues,” said Old Growth Revylution in a press release. “We demand immediate action in the protection of the Inland Temperate Rainforest and more immediate action on the logging of our primary forests across the province.”

PRINCE GEORGE — Liam Parfitt, the owner of Freya Logging, knows the forest industry is in trouble and believes he has a helpful solution. “I think that selective logging is the only way to fix our big clearcuts from, starting in the ‘80s – all our clearcuts are actually full of wood and they can give us the wood we need to keep our mills open and keep our jobs,” said Parfitt, who spoke at the Future of Forestry forum at UNBC. …He refers to pine stands he sees in the forest as a “circle of death,” because they are too dense to support moose populations. If some of those trees are removed, deciduous vegetation will naturally propagate in that space and animal habitat will be restored. …He says Canfor and West Fraser are willing to change adopt thinning operations.

In an auditorium filled with about 100 people, Chuck LeBlanc, president of the Public and Private Workers of Canada Len Shankel Local 9, tried to imbue his speech with optimism about the forestry industry, especially after railing against the closure of Canfor’s pulp mill in Prince George. …The crowd and the speakers, including MLA for Prince George-Mackenzie Mike Morris, policy analyst Ben Parfitt and Mackenzie Mayor Joan Atkinson, had gathered to discuss solutions to the decline of the forestry industry, a sector that once drove economic growth and prosperity in several communities. One by one, speakers took the stage at the event organized by the environmental group Stop at the Spray B.C. to speak about specific areas of the industry that are failing and how they could be fixed.

Additional coverage in MyPGNow, by Darin Bain: Future of Forestry forum organizers hoping to hold more discussions