Join the Sp!ce Podcast’s Natasha in a conversation with Margareta Dovgal, managing director, Resource Works Society on what old growth protesters are getting wrong and why it’s alienating the BC public and making polarization worse in Canada as a whole.

Community members, businesses, and nonprofits alike came together to raise awareness about the upcoming wildfire season in BC, with a plethora of vendors, informational sessions, and games educating residents to become ‘Firesmart.’ Despite the wind, and the presence of a new wildfire on Merritt’s Mountain Drive, the Merritt Fire and Rescue Department and BC Wildfire Service put on a great show for community members. Hundreds of Merrittonians attended the event and played games, won prizes, and engaged local emergency services to learn about the dangers of wildfire. …Firesmart is a community based program by the BC Forest Safety Council which promotes the collaboration and cooperation of community members to prepare for wildfire season… Krista Minar, emergency management coordinator for the City of Merritt added that people are often mistaken about the causes and proper preventative measures, but the event has allowed for many educational opportunities.

In recent weeks, there have been countless stories related to Save Old Growth protesters blocking key roadways in BC to urge the government to do more to protect old growth forests. Now, another group is standing up in the face of Save Old Growth and its aim is to give a voice to anyone impacted by the blockades. The group is called Clear the Road in BC, and Daily Hive spoke with its creator about what the group hopes to achieve — including a potential lawsuit. Tamara Meggitt also highlighted some key actions from protesters that gave her cause for concern ever since the protests started. …Clear the Road is also taking aim at Zain Haq. Zain Haq is an SFU student currently in BC on a student visa, according to Clear the Road. He’s also the leader of SOG and has been arrested 10 times since 2019. 

Zain Haq

An international student leading a controversial campaign to end old-growth logging in BC is fearful the Canada Border Services Agency is looking to deport him. Zain Haq, a co-founder of the Save Old Growth protest group behind highway blockades across the province, has been ordered to show up at a CBSA office. The third-year history major at Simon Fraser University who hails from Pakistan is in Canada on a study permit. The 21-year-old activist has gone into hiding after talking to a number of lawyers who advised him it’s likely CBSA wants to detain him. He has yet to find a lawyer who will represent him. “Basically, they suggested to me was that I should pack light and be prepared to travel”. Ultimately, Haq is worried CBSA intends to deport him because of his activist work. “It’s my suspicion that it’s due to political reasons,” he said.

Procter, B.C. – The Harrop Procter Community Cooperative (HPCC) has released a series of videos that highlight the local community, wildfire risks in the surrounding forests, and some of the work being done to adapt to climate change. …the four short videos – and accompanying 1-minute trailers – focus on climate change adaptation and wildfire risk reduction initiatives undertaken by the cooperative. “Our community has told us that the inter-related issues of wildfire and climate change are top of mind”, says HPCC forest manager and the videos’ executive producer Erik Leslie. “Next to clean drinking water, wildfire risk reduction is the primary concern of local residents. …HPCC has managed their 11,300 hectare community forest on the West Arm of Kootenay Lake since 2000. For the past decade, the community forest has been working to reduce wildfire risks by thinning the forest, retaining large fire-tolerant trees, and promoting the growth of deciduous trees and shrubs.

Climate change is already on the doorstep of the Musqueam First Nation. January saw one of the highest king tides in recent years. Waves crashed at the edge of Musqueam’s low-lying reserve. …It’s not the only First Nation with a reserve in a flood zone. In the Lower Mainland, there are 61 reserves belonging to 26 First Nations that are vulnerable to floods, according to the Fraser Basin Council. …“Historically, all we’ve had is local governments and First Nations competing for inadequate funds that are proposal based. One year you get funded, the next year you don’t. …“If you go back 200 years ago, there’s no such thing as an industry called logging,” said McNeil. “It would take anywhere from three months to six months for rain to make its way into the river.

To reduce wildfires in higher-risk communities, the B.C. government is providing $25 million in new funding to the Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC). This investment will support community projects that reduce wildfire risk and enhance wildlife habitat, greenhouse gas reduction, forest recreation and ecological resiliency. Applications for this funding will open on Monday, June 20, 2022. “The Forest Enhancement Society of BC is a proven partner in delivering projects on the ground that protect people from wildfire risks and reduce emissions from slash pile burning,” said Katrine Conroy, Minister of Forests. …FESBC has supported 263 projects throughout B.C., and 43 of these projects have been in partnership with First Nations. These projects have reduced wildfire risk in 120 communities and have created about 2,200 full-time-equivalent jobs, among other outcomes. …The $25 million provided to FESBC is a component of $359 million announced in Budget 2022 to protect British Columbians from wildfires.

The Lower Kootenay Band has sent a letter to B.C.’s forests ministry and to a timber company telling them to stop logging in an area known as the Argenta-Johnsons Landing Face on the east shore of Kootenay Lake. “We demand that the forest company, Cooper Creek Cedar, stop logging on the Argenta-Johnsons Landing Face and benches immediately”. It is signed by Nasuʔkin Jason Louie, the chief of the band that is located near Creston. …The Argenta-Johnsons Landing Face is a forested mountainside bordered on three sides by the Purcell Wilderness Conservancy Provincial Park and on the west by Kootenay Lake. …For several years a local group has been unsuccessfully attempting to persuade the province to protect the area from logging. …To clear the way for the logging, the RCMP arrested 17 people on May 17. Another two were arrested this month.

PEMBERTON, BC — Seven months after a mudslide killed five people on Highway 99 north of Pemberton, the B.C. Ministry of Forests is launching an investigation into the event. And for the first time, the government has indicated that a failed logging road may be behind the tragedy. The ministry has issued a request for proposals calling on engineers and geotechnical experts outside government to submit bids on a job that will assess the risks posed by old logging roads above the highway, propose fixes, and delve into what, exactly, led to the deadly slide. The request for proposals notes that the area is crisscrossed by hundreds of kilometres of aging logging roads, one of which appeared to fail with devastating consequences on Nov. 15. …The landslide occurred during the height of last November’s heavy rainstorms, which the government characterized at the time as climate change-related.