James Steidle

One definition of insanity I heard is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. And yet that’s exactly what the Ministry of Forests is doing up on Tabor Mountain with taxpayer money in their various reforestation schemes. Well, almost. But this is a pretty succinct summary of forest management, past and present, so bear with me. In 1961, two massive wildfires swept over Tabor Mountain…  Almost immediately, government started with its “rehabilitation” efforts, which of course meant planting conifer trees and suppressing the all-important deciduous regeneration- the aspen, birch, and cottonwood, with either herbicides or brush saws. …In forestry’s reductive mind, the forest is battleground of competition, and anything that isn’t a “crop” tree is a weed, and must be exterminated. …Maybe the government figures the rules are different for them.  Maybe doing the same thing and expecting a different result is a special privilege only government can enjoy.

In this newsletter:

• Message from executive director Steve Kozuki.
• A safety tip from our friends at the BC Forest Safety Council.
• Wildfire mitigation and fibre utilization work by NorthPac Forestry Group.
• Addressing forestry’s role in rural development at the “Keeping it Rural”conference. 
• FESBC 2024 BC Cleantech Awards finalist.
• Meet our Faces of Forestry featured person, Trish Dohan.

CHETWYND, BC — The province has removed its initial response wildfire team from Chetwynd, sparking worries the fire-prone region in northeast B.C. will be more vulnerable to flames. Chetwynd’s mayor and chief administrative officer both say wildfires are only escalating in their region, pointing to a fast-growing fire that closed a main highway and forced the evacuation of several properties Wednesday. …But in 2024, unlike previous years, Chetwynd will not have an initial attack crew, which the B.C. Wildfire Service describes as three or four-person teams “strategically” placed around the province in order to be first on scene when a fire is detected. …Forests Minister Bruce Ralston assured local leadership that the move wouldn’t impact wildfire defence, because the Dawson Creek team is only about 20 minutes away from Chetwynd by helicopter. Officials say that timeline was met when crews were deployed to respond to this week’s fire. 

VICTORIA, BC — A new report claims a sharp increase in wood-pellet exports is fuelling the loss of primary forests in B.C., but Forests Minister Bruce Ralston says that is not the case. Ben Parfitt… says B.C.’s forests are in crisis after decades of “intense logging” that has “depleted and fragmented” the forest industry, and now the demand of wood pellets is adding to the loss of B.C.’s primary forests. …However, Ralston said “forests are not being turned into pellets,” adding that the source material for making pellets is sawmills, shavings, chips and forest residues. He said all of those materials, which are taken to the Drax mills and made into pellets, would otherwise be burned in slash piles that “releases a lot of carbon and it wastes a lot of valuable forest products… so it’s just way more valuable to trade those logs for the kind of sawdust, chips, bark that is used for pellets.”

Sonia Furstenau

The April 20 editorial “In this election, Eby should be put to the test,” notes that the official Opposition “has an obligation, a responsibility, to provide cohesive policy alternatives in the next election” and then laments that “this is not happening.” While this critique rings true for much of British Columbia’s political sphere, it overlooks the efforts of the B.C. Green Party. …Take, for example… the NDP’s plan to use public land for housing is weakened by their willingness to let for-profit private developers use that land. …One of our best defences against climate change is protection of the last remaining old growth forests in this province, yet the NDP has dragged its feet on implementing the Old Growth Review Panel’s recommendations. We saw an increase in the logging of old growth in 2021 — despite all the rhetoric from this government, the destruction of these ancient forests has continued.