Alberta Parks is tentatively planning to burn 260 hectares of forest in the Ribbon Creek drainage in Kananaskis this year that was initially prescribed for fire in 2023 but not ignited due to hot, dry conditions fuelling wildfire danger. The burn is part of a larger 7,900-hectare prescribed fire plan being broken into several phases. Alberta Parks and Calgary Forest Area wildfire management unit officials have also, since proposing the plan last year, met with the Wild Sheep Foundation of Alberta to adjust the size of the burn to improve bighorn sheep habitat. …According to Alberta Parks, the Evan-Thomas area has not seen any major wildfires since 1936, leading to an accumulation of forest fuels and a “very high risk of severe wildfire.” The prescribed burn will create a fire break, shielding communities, resources and infrastructure nearby. It’s a proactive measure to curb potential wildfires and to keep them from spreading down the valley.

Fire Information Officer Madison Dahl said effective noon on Thursday March 28, Category 2 and 3 Fire Prohibition will go into effect in the Cariboo Chilcotin Forest District, the 100 Mile House Forest District, and the Quesnel Forest District. Dahl said, “A Category 2 fire is an open fire that burns material in one or two piles, each no larger than two metres in height and three metres in width, or burning grass over an area less than 0.2 hectares. A Category 3 fire is an open fire larger than two metres by three metres, burning three or more piles smaller than two by three metres, or burning an area of grass or stubble over an area greater than 0.2 metres.” BC Wildfire Service said anyone conducting a Category 2 or 3 open fire anywhere in the Cariboo region must extinguish them by noon March 28 and this prohibition will remain in place until noon November 1 2024 or until the Order is rescinded.

More than 30 years after B.C.’s New Democratic Premier Mike Harcourt had opened up large parts of Vancouver Island’s Clayoquot Sound to commercial logging, parts of the area could soon be off-limits again. Two conservancies covering 77,000 hectares would place much of the area opened for logging in 1993 under protection. Conservancies set aside Crown land for environmental, social, recreational, ceremonial and cultural uses, but also allow a “wider range of low-impact, compatible economic opportunities” than permissible in Class A parks. Commercial logging, mining and hydroelectric power generation, other than local run-of-the-river projects, are prohibited in conservancies. MaMook Natural Resources, a partnership of five First Nations on the western coast of Vancouver Island, currently holds the only tree forest license in Clayoquot Sound and the conservancies would cover almost 60 per cent of the TFL. The province has received 208 submissions on the conservancies since March 12 with an April 10 deadline. 

Three species of trees are facing the axe in the Central Okanagan if the regional district declares them invasive. The RDCO board is being asked to follow the lead of the City of Kelowna and list the Tree of Heaven, Siberian Elm and Russian Olive trees as invasive. That would allow the regional district to order the removal of them from private property. The Tree of Heaven, in particular, is particularly dangerous to the region, according to a staff report prepared for the board. It is the preferred host of the spotted lanternfly, an invasive species that has not yet arrived in B.C. “If the spotted lanternfly finds its way to BC, and the preferred host, the Tree of Heaven, is found in these important agricultural areas, the likelihood of this insect establishing itself here increases tremendously,” said the board report. The lanternfly would devastate local agriculture.

Paul George

Where is our MLA Nicholas Simons in making sure his government respects and acts in accord with the overwhelming majority of Sunshine Coasters opposed to the short-sighted, ill-informed decision to proceed with the Joe Smith Creek cutblock timber sales auction? In all my years as a campaigner for the protection of B.C.’s biodiversity and old-growth forest ecosystems, starting in 1980 with the Wilderness Committee, I have never seen so much local opposition to logging be disregarded by the provincial government. The provincial NDP must not ignore the call to halt this timber sale by the local SCRD government in January, the petition initiated by Robert Creekers that has gathered over 34,000 signatures , and by Elphinstone Logging Focus (ELF) whose reasoned opposition is based on simply applying BC Forest Service’s own policies, which have been established to save biodiversity and nurture healthy forests in BC forever. 

Join Us in Penticton! BC First Nations Forestry Conference, May 29-30 & ForestryConnect Youth Conference / Demo Day, May 31. The BC First Nations Forestry Conference brings together First Nations, industry, and Government to share and collaborate on the many changes occurring in the forest sector. The Conference is a uniquely First Nations experience to provide meaningful networking, informative engagement, purposeful collaboration, and support Indigenous businesses. General registration is now open to register as an attendee, exhibitor or sponsor. This year’s conference will also feature

ForestryConnect Youth Conference & Demo Day—A ‘Day-in-the-Life’ of a Forestry Career. The ForestryConnect Youth Conference and Demo Day occur the day after the main conference on May 31st (note: participation in the youth conference event is separate). This is a youth-focused interactive event where exhibitors/industry employers are asked to provide demos or activities for students and job-seekers to experience ‘a day in the life’ of a career in the forest sector.