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Highway 39 is heavily forested on both sides of the highway and is the only access route in and out of the community of Mackenzie. The Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC) provided a grant of $1 million toward supporting a project by the District of Mackenzie to reduce flammable woody fuel along the corridor. “Wildfire risk reduction treatments along key community access corridors like Highway 39 are important to help ensure safety of citizens in the event of a wildfire threatening the community,” said Ray Raatz, RPF, FESBC Operations Manager. “The success of this project was the result of a collaborative effort by local First Nations, the community of Mackenzie, contractors, and industry partners.”

Fire ecologists and Indigenous groups say bureaucratic provincial barriers are hindering their ability to perform prescribed burns and cultural burns that could reduce the fuel load for wildfires in BC’s forests. “It’s as simple as lighting a match,” said former Yuneŝit’in government chief Russell Myers Ross, who leads the community’s fire management program. “But the way the province deals with things, they want heavy equipment on the site. They want big hoses, they want a lot of equipment and high-priced personnel.” …Support for the two practices has grown in recent years as B.C. and other provinces grapple with more extreme fires. …But while Myers Ross and others say progress has been made, they also say change isn’t coming fast enough, citing high costs, overlapping jurisdictions, complex paperwork and tight timelines that often feel at odds with Indigenous philosophies and practices.

In a timely move, local governments in the Cowichan Valley are being provided with more than $500,000 from the Ministry of Forests to help reduce the risk of wildfires in their communities. The Cowichan Valley Regional District will receive $272,000 to assist with education, emergency planning, and fuel management; the Town of Lake Cowichan has been granted $130,000 to assist with education, development, inter-agency co-operation, emergency planning, cross-training, FireSmart demo projects, and FireSmart for residential areas; while the Municipality of North Cowichan will receive $110,000 to assist with education, planning, development, and fuel management.

VANCOUVER — The provincial and federal governments announced Sunday that they will be matching all donations made to the Canadian Red Cross for B.C. wildfire relief. The matching funds – up to $20 million from each level of government – will apply to all donations made since July 3, when the Red Cross began appealing for funds to help those affected by wildfires in the province. As of Sunday afternoon, there were more than 300 wildfires burning in the province, according to the BC Wildfire Service’s interactive dashboard. Of those, 57 had been sparked over the last 48 hours. …B.C. Minister of Forests Katrine Conroy said the Red Cross provides “critical help” in dealing with wildfires in the province.

Diane Beresford-Kroeger

Tree botanist, biochemist and author Diana Beresford-Kroeger is angry… she says from Merrickville, Ontario. “In this day and age I am furious that they are logging the last old-growth forests during a pandemic.” …She squarely directs the bulk of her considerable wrath against the BC government of Premier John Horgan. “The whole idea of a democracy is to look after the whole,” she says. And she thinks that fine idea has been undermined by Horgan’s commitment to the industrial logging. And all to take advantage of rising prices during a pandemic. “It is so underhanded. …“The liquidation of B.C.’s ancient forests represents a direct assault on Indigenous people and their ability to survive,” she argues. “It is a form of mass murder.”

Researchers from Simon Fraser University have turned to First Nations carvers to help them determine how many large western redcedars suitable for totem poles, canoes or traditional big houses are left in parts of Kwakwaka’wakw territory. The project was spurred by the Nanwakolas Council which represents five Kwakwaka’wakw communities on eastern Vancouver Island and the Central Coast. …Their report was, published in the Journal of Ethnobotany earlier this week by Jordan Benner, Julie Nielsen and Ken Lertzman, found only a few hundred large trees with the right characteristics remain in the study area. “We’ve realized that these trees of this dimension just aren’t in the abundance they used to be,” said Dallas Smith, president of the Nanwakolas Council. 

Bill Jones

…Pacheedaht elder Bill Jones has become a high-profile figure in the protests against old-growth logging at Fairy Creek. …His is the loudest voice in the Pacheedaht community ­speaking up for saving the old-growth forest. It has made him an Indigenous ally to protesters and an occasional thorn in the side of the band council, which has repeatedly asked protesters to leave its territory. …Throughout his life, he worked on and off in forestry, starting in 1956 as a 16-year-old. He worked in logging camps in the U.S., Port Alberni and Port Renfrew. …It was not until 2012, however, that Jones took his first step into activism, joining protests in the Walbran Central Valley. …Bill Jones’ support for the the protest group has put him at odds with Jeff Jones, but even though the elected chief disagrees with Bill Jones’ open invitation to the protesters, he respects the elder’s actions.

I first heard of the government’s forest intentions paper through the Community Forest (CF) newsletter.  The 28-page report has a lengthy title: Intentions Paper – Modernizing Forest Policy – Setting the Intention and Leading Forest Sector Transition.  As described in the CF newsletter “the paper articulates government’s vision for policy change in the next three years, and focuses on reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, diversifying the forest sector and providing more support and opportunities for communities. The Intentions Paper is painting a vision and the details of how it will be achieved will come through engagement. It is well understood that it will be a massive undertaking to implement and will take time. …The paper starts with the importance of the forest industry. More than 50,000 British Columbians work directly in the forest industry.  …Last year, forest products made up 29 per cent of B.C.’s total exports, equal to $11.5 billion. 

A blockade has been erected about 120 kilometres north of Revelstoke on Bigmouth Forest Service Road, by a group called Old Growth Revylution who are protesting the logging of old-growth forests in the area.  According to Dudley Coulter, director of communications for Splatsin, Splatsin Kukpi7 (Chief) Wayne Christian will be attending the blockade on July 11 around 1 p.m. …  “We will be conducting a ceremony to protect the old-growth forest, but also to protect the public who have decided to block access to critical old-growth habitat for our relatives the caribou,” said Christian.  “B.C., specifically BC Timber Sales (BCTS), need to cease all operations in this area. We have communicated this to BCTS officials on numerous occasions.”  Coulter said harvesting of old-growth forests in this area contradicts provincial commitments, as well as recommendations by caribou experts for the protection of critical habitat.

Additional coverage in the Revelstoke Mountaineer by Aaron Orlando: Splatsin and Secwepemc chief to join Bigmouth old-growth blockade July 11

The wildfire-ravaged village of Lytton, B.C., could be rebuilt to set a new North American standard in resilience to better protect people and property from similar disasters fuelled by climate change, a forestry researcher says.  Lori Daniels, a professor in the faculty of forestry at the University of British Columbia, said First Nations, the municipality and the provincial and federal governments need to work together with experts to redesign the community, using building materials like metal for roofs and fire-resistant shingles instead of wood so future wildfires won’t be as devastating.  “Lytton is surrounded by grasslands, shrub lands and some forest, which are highly flammable, very fire-prone environments,” Daniels said of the Fraser Canyon community known for its high temperatures. …Rebuilding plans have not yet been announced, as the focus has been on allowing residents to return to survey the damage ahead of a massive cleanup effort.