Members of the Avola community gathered Friday evening to discuss the logging activity in the area with local politicians Stephen Quinn and Peter Milobar (Thompson-Nicola Regional District Director for Area B and Kamloops-North Thompson MLA). On the people’s minds was a proposed logging camp and the damage to the water supply on their neighbour’s land. Milobar first stated that he and the ministers are not able to engage because BCTS and the property owners, Beth Patterson and Nels Olson, have both obtained lawyers. …Avola’s water system is provided by an Improvement District, managed by community volunteers and paid for by those that live there. The town’s water system is also a gravity-fed system off of Avola Creek, which they say is a protected watershed. …Avola community members are concerned the protected status of their water system doesn’t hold a lot of weight.

With no meaningful salary changes in 20 years and a work model that keeps 85 per cent of employees in a seasonal, part-time role, retention and turnover among crews have become major issues for British Columbia’s wildland firefighters. “Previously, we saw workers with 10 to 20 seasons of experience, and it used to be a job, 10 to 20 years ago, that paid really well, but the wages have not kept up,” said Stephanie Smith, president of the BC General Employees’ Union (BCGEU).  “So BC Wildfire members… are amongst the lowest-paid in direct government. For example… the starting wage for a BC Wildfire Service member is for $24 an hour.” With so few permanent, full-time wildland firefighters most wildfire crews in the province expect a 25-per-cent turnover year to year.

NANAIMO — Local ATV riders are celebrating a new relationship agreement which is opening up considerably more land for them to legally ride on. The deal between Mosaic Forest Management and ATV BC will see all six Island clubs be granted additional access to Mosaic lands on weekends and statutory holidays. Edwin Peeters, past president with the Mid-Island ATV Club, said it builds on an existing agreement which had been in place for many years and worked well for local riders. …The updated land area includes backcountry land between Nanoose Bay and areas south of Nanaimo. …The agreement is the first one with Mosaic which includes all six recognized ATV clubs on Vancouver Island and will affect members across Vancouver Island.

Dutch elm disease (DED) puts Saskatchewan’s urban and rural forests at risk, stated the Saskatchewan Government in a release, especially in the eastern part of the province. Slowing the spread of DED is critical for the health of the province’s forests. The Ministry of Environment has contracted Regina-based Northern Tree Co. Inc., to remove and dispose of infected elm trees in high-risk areas. Detecting infections early and removing the diseased American elm trees is key to slowing the spread of the disease, explained the Government release.  “Dutch elm disease is an ongoing concern for Saskatchewan residents and wildlife,” Environment Minister Dana Skoropad said. …Survey contractors will be in the high-risk areas over the summer marking trees for removal. Northern Tree Co. Inc. will follow with the removal of diseased trees in the fall and early winter. 

A few kilometres up Giveout Creek Road near Nelson, ecologist Greg Utzig stands dwarfed beside a tall grove of old growth hemlock and cedar. The grove, he says, is a remnant of a much larger stand of several hundred hectares that has been logged over the years since the 1980s down to its current one hectare. “This was all growth,” says Utzig, gesturing toward the logged area. …That logged forest was never included in a provincial Old Growth Management Area (OGMA). It was logged as part of the conventional timber supply, and the small remainder of the old trees could be logged too, without any discussion of protection. …Nelson scientist Rachel Holt she says government and industry know how to fix the OGMAs if they wanted to, adding that logging of old growth should be stopped until that planning is done.