An open house about proposed logging in the Horsefly Lake area attracted around 90 people Saturday, May 28, who shared their concerns, many of them expressing the desire to see logging done in a better way. Three Tolko Industries Ltd. foresters with maps, google images and computers were stationed around the Horsefly community hall to answer questions from the public in advance of the company making any final plans for harvesting in the area. …Tolko forester Rob Van Buskirk said Horsefly Lake is classified as a B class lake, which means it has more rules on how companies operate around it. …Helen Englund with the Horsefly River Roundtable has been researching the watershed, logging activities and gathering input from people who have concerns that she will forward to Tolko and the ministry of forests.

Jeremy van Loon

Canada’s forests have an outsized role to play — for better or for worse — in Canada’s efforts to counter climate change. Canada’s vast northern forests stretch from Labrador to the Yukon. …In spite of this vast potential, however, Canada’s forests have actually been a net source of carbon emissions for the better part of two decades, releasing into the air more carbon than they absorb, according to Natural Resources Canada data. With the threat of warmer, drier summers in the years to come, there is a real risk of more and bigger fires. …Currently, most fire management strategies do not include a focus on limiting carbon emissions from burning forests, which is by far the largest source of carbon emissions from Canadian forests in recent years. …Canada will need every tool in its toolbox to avoid setting off a carbon emissions bomb in our forests as we push towards net-zero by 2050.

Fergus McSween

Fergus McSween loves the outdoors. Growing up in Calgary, he spent much of his youth roaming Alberta’s forests as a scout or camping with friends and family.  …“Nature is so peaceful and tranquil. I feel I belong out there.” He graduates June 15 with a bachelor of science in forestry, as well as a job and a zeal to contribute to his chosen field. …“I want to help preserve nature for the enjoyment of future generations — one of the main tenets of a forester — and that’s become the focal point … my career: ensuring our forest practices do the utmost to minimize all environmental impacts.” McSween now works as a full-time planning forester [for West Fraser] in the logging industry …he discovered there was a demand for forestry professionals. “Forestry is an industry that is inherently stable, so no one ever really struggles to find a job when they graduate.”

For the first time since the pandemic hit, City of Powell River council chambers were full of recipients for the nearly $2.3 million for 16 grants handed out from the Powell River Community Forest reserve fund. At the June 2 city council meeting, mayor Dave Formosa’s reaction was: “Wow, wow, what would we do without this community forest?” He added that the community forest members know what they do to helps the community. …“The recreation complex would probably not be standing today if it wasn’t for this group,” said Formosa. “My heart is just full of love and thanks for this group.” …Powell River Community Forest president Greg Hemphill said he wanted to extend thanks to city council, on behalf of the board, for its ongoing support. …The dividend from the 2021 operations was $2,668,952. Hemphill said this will allow both a spring and fall grant take-up. 

LAVINGTON, BC — Helicopter logging above a Lavington neighbourhood is coming to a close.  The logging has been ongoing for the past few weeks to reduce wildfire risk in an area affected by fir beetle kill, says Trish Balcaen of Balcaen Consolidated, the logging arm of Coldstream Ranch, where the work is happening.  Residents of Brewer Road have been complaining about noise from the operation, but Balcaen says a terrain stability assessment dictated the use of helicopters as the 10-hectare stand is on steep ground.  … “The terrain stability report was part of the guidance on the type of harvesting we used.”  Some residents complain they weren’t informed of the work before it began, and Balcaen acknowledges some may not have been reached, but both she and her site manager canvassed the area to inform those they could contact.

British Columbians can expect cooler and wetter conditions in June, which means the fire hazard is anticipated to remain low through the early summer, as shown in the BC Wildfire Service’s latest seasonal outlook.  Despite this, there are several key regions demonstrating drier-than-normal patterns, including southern Cariboo, Thompson-Okanagan and Rocky Mountain Trench. These regions will be monitored closely. The longer-range forecast indicates a shift to above seasonal temperatures for late July and August, which may bring an increased wildfire hazard.  To support wildfire prevention, preparedness and resilient communities, Budget 2022 provided $359 million in new funding to protect British Columbians from wildfires.  This is the largest investment in the history of the wildfire service and is helping transform the organization into a year-round service and shift from its current reactive model to a more proactive approach. 

After a year-long pilot project that allowed homeowners to cut down trees up to 30 cm in diameter without a permit, Vancouver is being urged to scrap the change because the 640 trees lost during that period were more than the city expected.  The change last June to Vancouver’s protection of trees bylaw, which also allowed homeowners and builders in certain situations to forgo an arborist report before a tree was removed, was intended to eliminate a bottleneck in the application process for residential building permits.  …Staff said there were 240 trees between 20 cm and 30 cm staff knew of that had been removed in the past year. Staff estimated an additional 400 trees of that size were removed from private lands.

KAMLOOPS — After an extreme fire season in BC in 2021, the province is predicting a less severe fire season this year.  Last summer, many parts of the province saw towns and forests go up in flames.  Friday (June 3), the province outlined its predictions for this year’s summer season. Lead Forecaster from the B.C. Wildfire Service Matt MacDonald says the province felt a heat dome last year which contributed to the extreme temperatures.  He says the odds of that occurring again this summer isn’t likely.  “As our climate continues to change we can definitely expect a higher frequency some studies have shown that we can expect these heat dome-like signatures to present themselves perhaps once in a decade. ” …He says B.C. residents can possibly be optimistic as lightning strikes that start fires are down significantly compared to the 10-year average.