The debate over the role of forests & climate change dominates the news:
- Maine’s forests are our weapon against climate change
- US biomass is not health neutral
- The controversial biofuel threatening BC’s inland forests
- Climate change fight should shift to look at Canada’s forest policy
In related news: Canadians want forest protections but are concerned about jobs; BC is bracing for impact of old-growth timber crunch; and more meaningful discussion on BC’s forest policy.
In other news: Ontario invests in northern forestry projects; Mosaic’s old-growth plan receives guarded ENGO support; and Dallin Brooks is appointed Executive Director of National Hardwood Lumber Association.
Finally, genetic resistance may be key to saving the Western White Pine from blister rust.
Kelly McCloskey, Editor
Western white pine is an important conifer species that produces highly prized straight-grained, non-resinous wood used in lumber and value-added products. Once prevalent in BC’s forests, this white pine species almost vanished when, in the early 20th century, an exotic pathogen called Cronartium ribicola was introduced into North America from Europe — killing up to ninety-five percent of Canada’s wild stands of western white pine. “This situation may become worse because climate change makes the race between trees and pathogens even more unpredictable,” said Dr. Jun-Jun Liu, a molecular forest pathologist working to save the threatened pines.
A B.C. Indigenous woman is pleading with the provincial government not to spray herbicides from Squamish to Hope, and is asking for a public consultation extension. B.C. Timber Sales has a proposed a five-year pest management plan that would involve aerial and ground spraying of herbicides, which include glyphosate, in the Chilliwack and Sea to Sky Natural Resources District, starting April 1. This area includes Stó:lō, St’át’imc, Nlaka’pamux, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh territories. But Angelina Hopkins Rose, 28, whose ancestral home is part of the St’át’imc Nation, said there wasn’t enough public consultation with Indigenous people… that could be negatively impacted by the potentially carcinogenic chemicals. Glyphosate is controversial but is still approved by Health Canada. …Rose said many Indigenous communities rely on picking organic berries to keep them healthy through the winter, and she worries about what chemicals they will be ingesting from picking wild fruit.
An environmental organization is offering cautious support for an announcement by the largest private landowner in British Columbia that will defer logging in 400 square kilometres of old-growth forest for the next 25 years. Mosaic Forest Management, which oversees the private lands of logging companies TimberWest and Island Timberlands, announced the deferral last week along with intentions to finance the plan through a carbon credit program that is expected to raise several hundred million dollars by 2047. A statement from the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance says exempting old-growth and older second-growth stands from logging will protect the unique trees that support everything from the climate and endangered species to wild salmon, clean water and tourism. Ken Wu, executive director of the alliance, says long-term deferrals will buy time to arrange further protection and Mosaic should be commended for its “important step” if the measure “pans out.”
STURGEON FALLS – The Ontario government is providing more than $460,000 through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) to two forestry and manufacturing sector projects in Sturgeon Falls. This investment will go towards purchasing new equipment and upgrading facilities, and help to build a stronger Ontario by creating jobs, expanding business operations and boosting economic development in Northeastern Ontario. “Promoting business expansion in our forestry and mining sectors helps these important industries and the companies that service them remain competitive, innovative and current,” said Greg Rickford, Minister of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry. “These investments not only enable these companies to grow and thrive, but also bring good-paying jobs to the community.” Sturgeon Falls Brush and Contracting Limited, a land clearing contractor and forestry service provider, will receive $400,000 to purchase new equipment to diversify its operations.
Canada hasn’t paid enough attention to what could be a leafy, green ally in the fight against climate change, says one of the country’s most prominent scientists. “We need to talk about forests,” said Suzanne Simard, the University of British Columbia researcher whose study into old-growth communities has changed the discipline and inspired novelists and filmmakers. “Forests have been ignored in the climate-change picture.” Dr. Simard, whose book In Search of the Mother Tree describes how trees in healthy forests communicate and share resources, said Canada’s old-growth forests are one of its largest reserves of stored carbon and that the way those forests are now harvested is setting that climate-warming element free. …Her work has upended the science of forest ecology and filtered through to pop culture in movies such as Avatar, novels like The Overstory and TV shows including Ted Lasso.
Michelle Connolly, an ecologist… described the area’s remaining ancient cedars, which grow up to four metres in diameter and can be close to 2,000 years old. The inland rainforest is also home to around 2,400 plant species, many of them rare, and wildlife such as wolves, wolverines, and southern mountain caribou. But this patch of forest is also under threat. In 2021, Connolly co-authored a peer-reviewed study that found that BC’s inland rainforest—which once totalled over 1.3 million hectares—was endangered, according to International Union for Conservation of Nature criteria, and could experience ecological collapse within a decade if current logging rates continue. The study found that 95 percent of its core habitat, forest located more than 100 metres from a road, had been lost since 1970. “We’re fighting over the last pieces,” Connolly says.
Even as Congress declares that biomass is carbon neutral, burning it puts thousands of lives at risk. In the $1.5 trillion spending bill recently passed by Congress, lawmakers codified a declaration that biomass taken from forests is “carbon neutral.” Putting aside the many questions and conditions that need to be met in order for this to be true and the potential impacts on biodiversity, encouraging the use of biomass for energy will increase air pollution, public health impacts and environmental justice issues around the siting of these facilities. We recently published a 
Can we reduce greenhouse gas emissions in New England by 30 percent? …The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change February 28 report is an urgent call to action. With more than 17 million acres of forest, Maine is in a unique position to make a difference. …large acreages of commercial forest produce the raw materials for everyday items from toilet paper to two-by-fours to auto parts… But Maine forests are more than an endless wood supply. …Wood, once harvested, can also lock up carbon. One example worth paying attention to is Mass Timber, a wood laminate that is as strong as steel and concrete but has a much lower carbon footprint and can replace both in multi-story buildings. By applying climate-focused forestry to feed a steady supply of wood into retooled Maine mills that produce wood products, we can lock up a lot of atmospheric carbon…
BRYSON CITY, N.C. – Authorities say wind-driven wildfires in and around Great Smoky Mountains National Park have burned hundreds of acres in western North Carolina and forced the evacuation of several homes. The fires also prompted officials to close several trails and backcountry campsites in the nation’s most-visited national park. The park covers more than 520,000 acres straddling the border between North Carolina and Tennessee. Crews from the National Park Service, North Carolina Forest Service, Bryson City Fire Department and Bureau of Indian Affairs were working to contain the fires. Officials said both fires were started from power lines knocked down by high winds and were estimated to be 10% contained as of late Saturday night.
The southern canton of Ticino has been hardest hit by forest fires as a drought that began in early December has prompted several regions to raise their wildfire risk levels to “severe”. Authorities in Centovalli in Ticino were able to bring a large forest fire under control as winds died down on Saturday. The fire, which began four days earlier, destroyed a total of 55 hectares and forced the evacuation of 21 people from the municipality of Verdasio. …A meteorologist with MéteoSuisse warned the level of precipitation in Switzerland was “critical”. At most measuring stations, water levels were less than 25% the normal flow at this time of year, Aude Untersee told