Residents of the Joe Rich area near Kelowna were stunned to learn that hectares of land near their homes appeared to have been mostly clear-cut by a logging company. …In recent years, the area has struggled with washouts and mudslides, and locals are concerned that logging will just make it worse. …In an email, Tolko said it’s trying to help reduce the wildfire risk in the area and that some trees have to be harvested because of the killer Douglas fir beetle. Residents claim that’s just an excuse and also allege that the logging is putting nearby homes in danger. …In a statement, a spokesperson for the forestry ministry said Tolko conducted geotechnical assessments and is following the geoscientist’s recommendations. …After Global News reached out to Tolko, the company said it will halt its harvesting activities until September and consult with nearby property owners.

Suzanne Simard & Amy Adams

The project is a collaboration between production houses Nine stories, Co-founded by Jake Gyllenhaal, and Bond Group Entertainment, Co-founded by Amy Adams. The latter, who was nominated several times at the Oscars, will play the role of a Canadian scholar. The enthusiasm for telling her story in the cinema was such that Susan Simard had to choose between proposals by famous actresses, in particular, Amy Buehler, Rachel McAdams and Natalie Portman. It was very difficult for me to choose between all these amazing women. They all had a unique idea that would have been awesome. The film is based on the researcher’s memories, Search for the mother tree : Discovering the wisdom of the forestAnd the Published in April.

Additional coverage in The Financial Times: Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard — the wood wide web

The B.C. government has put biodiversity and old-growth at risk in Vancouver Island’s Nahmint River watershed, which is home to ancient forests with some of the province’s largest Douglas fir trees, a Forest Practices Board investigation has found. …“The evidence is irrefutable; BC Timber Sales is failing to adequately protect old-growth in the Nahmint Valley,” Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner Andrea Inness told The Narwhal. “There is such a lack of oversight and accountability inherent in B.C.’s forest system that companies and BC Timber Sales are failing to meet the already inadequate standards that are set for old-growth protection,” Inness said. “And it’s more or less gone unnoticed until now.” …Inness said the Ancient Forest Alliance is not interested in watching B.C.’s ancient forests and some of the world’s biggest trees continue to fall, even if the forest stewardship plan for the Nahmint Valley is brought into compliance with “our very inadequate laws.” 

NELSON, BC — The main threats to Nelson’s water sources, according to a new report, are wildfire, flooding and drought. But the watersheds that provide Nelson’s drinking water are outside the city and are not owned or controlled by it. At a May 11 council meeting, Councillor Jesse Woodward floated the idea of expanding the city boundaries “Boundary expansion would give us more control,” he said. “Are we relying too much on the good graces of other organizations, or do we need to be more aggressive about securing our water source?” …The report was written with contributions from a technical committee consisting of representatives from the city, the ministries of environment and forestry, and the RDCK, along with input from Anderson Creek Timber [and] Kalesnikoff Lumber.

A British Columbia forestry watchdog has found forest practices near Port Alberni have put old growth and biodiversity at risk. The Forest Practices Board report comes three years after the Ancient Forest Alliance submitted a complaint about timber harvesting in the Nahmint River watershed. The board has determined that BC Timber Sales … failed to comply with land-use objectives for biodiversity protection in the Nahmint Valley. Now, the board says the Ministry of Forests needs to find a way to make sure this lack of compliance doesn’t happen again. …The final recommendation from the report asks the ministry to identify a mechanism that will allow forest stewardship plans to be corrected if they are out of compliance. In light of the board’s findings, the Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the B.C. government to direct BC Timber Sales to immediately stop auctioning off cutblocks in old-growth forests and instead champion conservation solutions and sustainable second-growth harvesting practices.

The Fairy Creek blockaders want to save B.C.’s old growth. Climate activists want to protect the planet for our children. Loggers want to save their jobs, and Premier John Horgan wants to ride those jobs to win the next election. Big lumber corporations want to keep on making a lot of money. The forests just want to stay alive and raise their families of wolves and trees, moss and marbled murrelets, like they have for millions of years. We can have jobs and timber and forests; we just have to change the way we do a few things. First, we get the Supreme Court of Canada to recognize clearcutting as deforestation and make it illegal. This gives us the legislative tool to protect all our old growth, rip up our destructive “tree farm licence” logging policies, and switch to “single tree selective forestry”.

The Vibrant Forest Landscapes Lab at UBC Forestry is conducting research on how small and medium scale forestry can contribute to resilience, innovation, and sustainable development. Researchers would like to hear from licence holders involved in small and medium scale forestry in BC on the objectives and challenges of managing forests and timber production. If you own or manage a small or medium forest licence in BC, we invite you to complete the survey found here. This survey is part of a research program on Vibrant Forest Landscapes. We seek to create knowledge, capacity, and partnerships for enhancing benefits from forests. The information gathered in this survey will inform strategies to improve policy and practice, be presented at academic conferences, and published in academic journals. If you are interested in learning more or contributing to the study, please contact Rebecca.riggs@ubc.ca.

Paul Nicholson

One of the other old-growth defenders asked me “Why are you here?” … The answer is simple, really: disgust, sadness, anger, frustration, coupled with deep-seated passion to be part of a movement trying to save the last of the Island’s old-growth trees. … After joining the Rainforest Flying Squad my partner and I headed up to the Caycuse camp south of Lake Cowichan to check out what was happening. … During my 35 years as a political journalist and government relations consultant, I learned a lot about how government really works, especially the deep, dark side where politics trumps common sense.

Salmon. Old-growth forests. Moose. Steelhead. Some of B.C.’s most prized fish, wildlife and habitat are in big trouble. A new broad-based coalition is calling on the B.C. government to focus on habitat, stewardship, and protection, in a way that reverses decades of declines.“Together the group is seeking a commitment from the province to invest in healthy landscapes, waters, and fish and wildlife stewardship, in partnership with First Nations and communities,” according to a May 13 release from the Fish, Wildlife, and Habitat Coalition. Representing diverse interests from across B.C., the coalition comprises 25 organizations, representing more than 273,000 British Columbians and 900 businesses. … The coalition will work to promote “solutions guided by science” but also recognizes traditional ecological knowledge for managing species and habitat in B.C.

CAMPBELL RIVER – Canada’s forest sector is an important source of employment for many Indigenous communities. The Government of Canada is investing in projects to equip them with the tools needed to promote further economic opportunity in the forest sector and within their communities. The Honourable Seamus O’Regan Jr., Minister of Natural Resources, today announced $245,000 in funding to Homalco First Nation to grow Homalco Forestry Initiatives, which provides forest management and timber harvesting services within the community’s tradition territory in Campbell River on Vancouver Island. This funding will help with communications and strategic planning, tenure management, contract logging and business planning that will increase employment and revenue opportunities for their community. Funding from Natural Resources Canada is provided through the Indigenous Forestry Initiative (IFI) program…