KELOWNA, BC — Wildfires will continue to grow in intensity and destruction if changes are not made to the way we manage our forests. To do that, there will need to be dramatic changes in practices that have gone on for decades and decades. And that will take time. That was one of the many takeaways from a 90-minute panel discussion on the effects of wildfires that kicked off a three-day solutions symposium hosted by UBC and UBC Okanagan.  The panel discussion included UBC professor Dr. Lori Daniels, UBCO professor Dr. Mathieu Bourbonnais, Joe Gilchrist from the Salish Fire Keepers Society, Dr. Paul Hessburg with the US Forest Service and West Kelowna Fire Chief Jason Brolund. “We need to fight fire with fire,” said Daniels. “Fire has a negative impact but it is also part of the solution. We need to change the way we manage our forest, changes in policy and changes in practice.”

Chris Googoo

NOVA SCOTIA — Ninety per cent of the hemlock trees in Nova Scotia could disappear. A Mi’kmaq-led effort is ensuring at least one forest will survive. When Chris Googoo first visited Wapane’kati, the old-growth eastern hemlock forest at Asitu’lɨsk, it was like stepping back in time. …“It’s awe-inspiring,” Googoo, chief operating officer for Ulnooweg, said. The towering trees were a stark contrast to those elsewhere in Nova Scotia, where less than one per cent of the province is covered in old-growth forests. “Along the Trans Canada Highway, with these little trees that have been harvested by the lumber industry over the years, there is no old growth that we see, even near our own communities.” …Previously Asitu’lɨsk was known as Windhorse Farm, which was privately owned by the Drescher family. …In 2021, the Drescher family sold the property at a deep discount to the Mi’kmaq, where it remains under the care of Ulnooweg.

Several hunters are speaking out against the provincial government’s recent changes to reduce caribou and moose hunting in northern British Columbia. Hunting regulations are reviewed by the provincial government every two years and the move to cut the number of recreational and commercial caribou and moose hunters in B.C.’s northwest were announced on May 10. However, some hunters say it’s not clear why the changes were made. “I really don’t think they’re going to address the issue that they need to address,” said Richard Wale, a recreational hunter in Salmon Arm. But Peter Lee, with the Water, Land and Resource Stewardship Ministry, defended the move. The changes aim to support sustainable hunting now and for the long term, he said. “Regulations for moose and caribou in the Northwest support advancing reconciliation through deeper collaboration, weaving of Indigenous knowledge and science to achieve shared objectives, and working together with hunters and the community,” he said.