Zain Haq

A lawyer for a Vancouver-based climate activist says government plans to deport his client could have a “chilling effect” on international students looking to exercise their right to political speech. Zain Haq co-founded the Vancouver-based group Save Old Growth. In 2022, he caught the attention of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) while protesting and speaking to the press about Canada’s climate policy. That’s when CBSA sought to declare Haq retroactively inadmissible to Canada for failing to make enough progress as a student while attending Simon Fraser University, said Haq’s lawyer, Randall Cohn. According to Cohn, the border agency failed to communicate with the university and carry out a full investigation, a procedural shortcut he worries could intimidate other international students looking to speak up for what they think is right. …“If they remove him, then what they’re doing is they’re saying they don’t want people like Zain in the conversation,” said Cohn. 

Williams Lake First Nation and Tsilhqot’in Nation communities, along with the BC Wildfire Service and other government agencies are beginning cultural and prescribed burns to help manage the upcoming wildfire season. Carly Desrosiers, a fire information officer with the wildfire service explains how the prescribed burn fire program works. “Prescribed fire program plans are made well in advance … there’s a lot that goes into them, working with our partners, and local governments and First Nations to understand their objectives,” said Derosiers. Despite the planning, the decision to go ahead with a burn is decided in the moment depending on factors like weather, site conditions and wind speed. …Sarah Budd, the communications and engagement lead for the cultural and prescribed fire program says that only the First Nations communities can determine whether a burn is cultural. “In terms of implementation…on the ground [a cultural and prescriptive] burn can look very similar,” said Budd.

West Kelowna, B.C. – Ntityix Resources LP, fully owned by Westbank First Nation, has been busy working to proactively reduce wildfire risk in the West Kelowna area. With funding support from the Forest Enhancement Society of BC, Ntityix has successfully undertaken various initiatives around the community, specific to this wildfire mitigation work. The work itself contributes to a long-term mitigation strategy being undertaken to enhance the fuel modification zone, which will help slow down and, ideally, prevent the spread of wildfires in the area. “The continued revitalization of cultural and prescribed fire helps to create healthy, safe and resilient forests, and I applaud Ntityix and the Westbank First Nation for continuing to take on wildfire risk reduction projects year after year, including working with the Province last year on prescribed burns,” said Bruce Ralston, Minister of Forests. 

Although it’s unseasonably warm across the B.C. Interior for a few days this week, BC Wildfire Service says conditions aren’t alarming, despite two wildfires sparked on Sunday. A wildfire was sparked burning outside of Lumby, near Creighton Valley Road just after 2 p.m. on Sunday. The wildfire grew to three hectares in size. The Lumby Fire Department confirmed the fire was a burn pile that got away from a resident. A small fire that sparked near Fish Lake Road in Summerland just before 4 p.m. was quickly ‘held’ by fire crews. That fire was also deemed human-caused. …”Wildfire risk is higher than normal this spring. BCWS is preparing for what could be a very challenging season. At this time most wildfires are started by human activity, said B.C.’s Minister of Forests Bruce Ralston at a press conference on Monday afternoon.

A new World Meteorological Organization study finds that last year’s wildfires caused glaciers in western North America including British Columbia to lose a record amount of mass. The report titled State of the Global Climate found that “above-average summer temperatures and record wildfire activity in western Canada” contributed to the “extreme melt” as particulates from the wildfires further darkened the surfaces of glaciers. The darker any surface, the more heat it absorbs. Glaciers, sea ice floats along with polar caps, contribute to the ‘albedo effect’ by reflecting sunlight back into space. The more they melt, the less sun gets reflected back. Using pulsating radars to measure distances remotely, researchers including Brian Menounos of the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George and the Airborne Coastal Observatory of the BC-based Hakai Institute, found that, western North America experienced record glacier mass loss in 2023. 

Eddie Petryshen, Wildsight conservation specialist and Kristi Chorney, Wildsight board president met with council to request an immediate cease of old growth logging in the Goldstream CP 310 Block L area, currently managed by Revelstoke Community Forest Corporation (RCFC) until council can tour the area with Wildsight. Wildsight also asked that council look into alternative economic streams for RCFC, following the direction of other municipalities throughout B.C. “Municipalities in B.C. are making more money managing carbon than logging,” Petryshen told council, breaking down economic alternatives Revelstoke could adapt to replace old growth logging in the region. In an interview, Petryshen said there are only two options for the forestry industry in Revelstoke and B.C. “We can continue to log them until there’s very little left … or we can decide to transition the industry. I think there’s a huge opportunity for jobs and a restoration based economy.”

A new hybrid electric heavy duty truck developed by Edison Motors in Merritt, B.C., is now officially road-worthy. Edison ‘s L500 semi prototype — dubbed the “Topsy” — has been granted a vehicle identification number and registration. The company now has four orders for the truck, which uses regenerative braking for much of its power, and will soon be opening a new manufacturing plant in Terrace to build the trucks. “We have officially built the first truck in British Columbia… in over 30 years,” Edison Motors founder and CEO Chace Barber said in a press release. “We’ve officially built a truck that passes all the government certifications, a truck that can be driven on the road.” Edison Motors was started by Chace Barber and Eric Little, who started a truck-logging company in 2016 in Merritt. After putting in an order for a Tesla electric semi truck in 2017, and waiting four years, they decided to just build their own.

Calls are mounting for the Vancouver Park Board to stop clearing trees in Stanley Park, with a petition gaining momentum online. Those behind the change.org petition claim the removal of trees is “causing irreversible damage to our environment.” …Officials have said the work to remove roughly 25 per cent of the trees in the park is necessary, noting they have been destroyed by a hemlock looper moth infestation. However, those behind the petition question this “narrative,” saying the city has “failed to provide scientific evidence to substantiate its claim; further, many living seemingly-healthy trees are being cut down.” …Despite the criticisms, Vancouver Park Board Chair Brennan Bastyovanszky is doubling down that the felling has to be completed. …Bastyovanszky says aside from safety concerns, the dead trees also pose an elevated fire risk.