Indigenous land titles, data centres and human-bear conflicts are among the top-of-mind concerns for municipal politicians, as they gather for their annual fall convention and attempt to influence the provincial government’s agenda. The Union of B.C. Municipalities convention this year is being held in Vancouver from Sept. 14 to 18. … The City of Nanaimo is calling for a ban on exporting raw logs and lumber cants. A cant is a raw log with its bark removed. The motion identifies a lack of adequate and affordable wood fibre supply as a key factor in the continued curtailment or permanent closure of B.C. sawmills and pulp mills. Over the past five years, on average, about 3.2 million cubic metres of raw logs have been exported. The ban would be to “ensure that forests harvested in B.C. from Crown land and private managed forest lands are processed in B.C., encouraging value-added manufacturing in B.C. and supporting employment in B.C.’s forest industry,” the motion states.
As part of the City of Rossland FireSmart program, contractors will complete FireSmart fuel treatment projects on municipal land parcels within the community beginning this week. The objective of the fuel management project is to reduce hazardous forest fuels and to decrease wildfire risk to the adjacent residents and the community, noted a release from the city. “The goal for the project is to reduce hazardous surface fuel accumulations close to homes and the community,” it stated. Expected activities include: Reduction of woody surface fuels from tree mortality and winter storm damage; Removal of dead standing trees; Retention of the healthy, large trees to maintain a cool and moist under storey; Retention and protection of all healthy, deciduous trees and shrubs (leaves have a high moisture content and are low flammability); Retention and protection of high value wildlife trees; and Debris disposal (chipping).
Communities in McLeod Lake and Mackenzie, and on northern Vancouver Island, will have greater opportunities to manage local forests, support wildfire resilience and strengthen local forestry economies through expansions of two community forests. “Rural communities understand forestry, both as an economic driver and as a tool to reduce wildfire risk,” said Ravi Parmar, Minister of Forests. “Driven by powerful partnerships, these expansions will mean real benefits for their communities in the form of local logs for local manufacturing, jobs on the land base and healthier, more resilient forests.” These expansion decisions will result in a total of 20,000 cubic metres allocated to the McLeod Lake Mackenzie community forest, and more than 8,100 cubic metres to the North Island Community Forest. The expansions will provide more opportunities for local forest management, including wildfire risk reduction, while helping ensure a sustainable fibre supply for local facilities and users.