Larry Pynn

As the citizens of North Cowichan consider the future of the municipal forest reserve, they are being asked to choose among four management scenarios. That can be challenging given that the amount of logging in each scenario is being expressed in cubic metres of timber. So, let’s talk in terms of logging trucks. The municipality says that one logging truck operating in the forest reserve hauls from 30 to 35 cubic metres of timber. So, let’s assume an average of 32.5 cubic metres per truckload. Now, let’s see what that looks like for each of the four scenarios presented by the UBC Partnership Group, keeping in mind that these are annual figures: (1) Status Quo: 17,500 cubic metres = 538 logging trucks; (2) Reduced Harvest: 7,400 cubic metres = 227 logging trucks; (3) Active Conservation: 1,300 cubic metres = 40 logging trucks; and (4) Passive Conservation: No logging; no trucks.

Parks Canada says mountain pine beetle populations have practically bottomed out in Jasper National Park. The most recent population survey shows that their numbers have dropped 94 per cent since their most recent peak in 2019. The survey also shows a sharp decline in trees killed by mountain pine beetle for the fourth consecutive year. Dave Argument, resource conservation manager with Parks Canada, said that he expected to see a continued decline in the mountain pine beetle. “This year’s survey results are not a surprise to us. They’re confirmation of the good news story that we’ve been seeing.” It was a cold snap of the winter of 2019 that really started to significantly bring down the population of mountain pine beetles. Parks Canada has been conducting two surveys on the situation every year. …That survey also aids in mapping out the total area impacted by the mountain pine beetle.

FESBC Board Directors Wayne Clogg and Jim Snetsinger recently completed their six-year terms, and are therefore stepping down from FESBC. Each has served as Chair of the FESBC Board, significantly contributing to the success of FESBC since its inception in 2016. In the early days, it was daunting to lead a start-up funding entity from scratch, but they brought instant credibility to FESBC by virtue of their previous backgrounds as Vice President of a major forest products company and Chief Forester for the Province of B.C. FESBC welcomes some new additions to the Board of Directors. They bring important experiences and perspectives that will help shape the future of FESBC. In this newsletter: Learn about 12 new FESBC-funded projects; changes on the FESBC Board, how FESBC funding for community forests across B.C., is helping them in wildfire mitigation efforts, and Meet our Faces of Forestry featured person, Dan Macmaster.

In 1937, Ernest C. Manning, B.C.’s chief forester, told the Vancouver Board of Trade that “our forest resources are our real central bank. … Keep the assets in a productive state and do not dissipate the capital.” In 1939, in his annual report to the legislature, Manning said: “We are turning capital into revenue. We are creating barren lands.” Despite this warning, B.C. continued to maintain unsustainable forestry practices, resulting in much of B.C.’s “capital” being turned into revenue. Most of our iconic high-value old-growth forests are gone. The recent letter “North Cowichan could sell its forests” supported management of our forests that would include spraying forests with glyphosate to kill deciduous trees… [and] replace naturally regenerated mixed forests with monoculture plantation forests. …We need to “manage” our forests using ecoforestry approaches. A good example of this is the Wildwood Ecoforest at Yellowpoint.