Monthly Archives: August 2018

A private sawmill near Nanaimo is supplying wood to help to fight wildfires on the north Island. Gogo’s Sawmill and Christmas Tree Farm had to fill a rush order from the B.C. Wildfire Service last week for 32 23-by-23 centimetre by 4.9-metre-long timbers to build helicopter landing pads. Mike Gogo, mill owner, said the province placed the order at 4 p.m. Thursday and they were ready by lunchtime Friday after a 5 a.m. start. The order, which has been shipped to Woss camp, is enough timber to make four helicopter pads. “We’ve cut them for the last three years in a row. We are the successful bidder,” Gogo said.

Emotions are running high in areas ravaged by wildfires in Northern B.C., in what some are calling a breakdown of trust between people affected by the wildfires and fire officials. Dozens of wildfires continue to burn out of control in the Bulkley-Nechako district where, over the weekend, some residents of Burns Lake staged a protest in an attempt to prevent firefighting resources from leaving town. “We haven’t felt like we are getting the help or service over on the south side to help fight those fires,” said Ginger Moyah, a Lake District resident who organized the protest. “A lot of people feel like we’ve been lied to this whole time and let down.” Firefighters working for a Fort St. John-based company had offered sprinklers, pumps and hoses to fight fires on the Burns Lake fire’s south side, but the B.C. Wildfire Service turned them down, arguing the equipment wasn’t appropriate.  

2018 has just become British Columbia’s second worst forest fire season in history …Some have called this the “new normal,” but unfortunately it’s only part of a trend — things will likely become more severe as the years go on. Luckily there are things we can and must do to reduce the impacts of climate change in both the short and long term. First, we can adapt to these changes by altering how we work in our forests. Most forestry activities in Canada are regulated by the provincial governments, but the federal government can become involved at higher levels with significant funding and research. …There are also the obvious long-term actions we need to take to reduce the extent and strength of global warming. These actions will not stop forest fires and floods in British Columbia right away — but they are necessary so that Canada can do its part in global climate action.

Houston council is seeking the support of the provincial government to expand the Dungate Community Forest. Council hopes to expand the land and timber volume for the community forest’s K2L Licence, which currently permits an annual allowable cut of 29,000 cubic metres… to 50,000 cubic metres. …Although district staff have contacted the ministry and Canfor staff to seek assistance in identifying additional volume, the process to pursue an expansion remains unclear, according to the district, adding that it currently relies on the willingness of existing licensees to relinquish timber rights. …In addition, the District of Houston will ask the province to reintroduce appurtenance rules… regulations and policies that permit timber licensees to harvest timber from one timber supply area and process it in another community.

The Province is taking additional action to manage moose in the Chilcotin part of the Cariboo Region after a decade-long population decline, wildfire impacts and concerns from First Nations. Over the past 10 years, moose populations have decreased in the area from about 18,000 to 11,500 animals.  …These restrictions are the result of discussions between the Province and the Tsilhqot’in Nation, and aim to address concerns related to decreasing moose numbers and increased vulnerability of moose to hunting following last year’s wildfires. Changes to the landscape from wildfire can increase sightlines for hunters, potentially resulting in higher success rates and more moose killed. The restrictions will be in place for this year’s moose hunting season and will be re-evaluated after the season is over.

For decades, scientists have predicted that B.C. would experience longer, more intense wildfire seasons as the climate warms. But the destruction of the last two years is still a bit surprising. According to Chilliwack fire ecologist Robert Gray, the scale of the wildfire emergencies we’ve lived through in 2017 and 2018 wasn’t expected for decades. “What we thought was going to be an average condition in 2050, we’re starting to see those conditions coming a lot sooner,” Gray told CBC. “There’s been a lot of discussion in the scientific community about really changing what we think the future is going to look like.”  In all, more than 12,000 square kilometres of B.C. landscape went up in flames last year, making it the worst wildfire season on record. Any hope that was an anomaly has been blown away during the 2018 season, which is now the second worst on record.

David Suzuki

Scientists, journalists, environmentalists and others who draw the connection between increasing wildfires and global warming often face a backlash. It’s not climate change; it’s lightning, careless smokers or campers, poor forestry management, industrial activity or sparks from vehicles, bad government… One doesn’t negate the other. Wildfires have many causes, and more than one factor is fuelling increases in the number and intensity of fires worldwide. But hotter, drier weather increases the risk. Forestry practices and urban development are among the contributors to wildfires. …We can do a lot to prevent fires: avoid campfires and other burning when risks are high, improve forestry practices, better manage buffers between urban and forested areas, maybe even let some smaller fires burn. But until we address climate change, we’re likely to see more smoke-clogged skies and devastated forests.