Daily Archives: August 23, 2018

VANCOUVER—B.C. Indigenous leaders are calling on federal and provincial governments to set up an emergency fund for Indigenous communities dealing with the aftermath of wildfires. The fund was one of several recommendations in a 2017 report authored by B.C. First Nations groups following that year’s record-breaking wildfire season.  The report urged “support for those evacuated or relocated and for recovery, restoration and/or rebuilding of lands, homes, infrastructure in First Nations communities,” as well as support for training, supplies and equipment for emergency responders. “We can’t continue being held in ‘no man’s land’ between the two levels of government while they try to decide who will contribute first and how much,” said Grand Chief Steward Philip, president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, in a statement. “This has created a frustrating situation for impacted communities.”

Terry Teegee

BC Assembly of First Nations (BCAFN) Regional Chief Terry Teegee is hoping future wildfire season can be avoided. On Tuesday morning, Teegee joined Premier John Horgan and other officials addressing the current wildfire situation out west, worrying blazes like Shovel Lake could become the new normal due to dry forests and no one picking up the pieces afterward. Teegee explains more than a decade ago, the BCAFN released their own reports on wildfire seasons in 2003 and 2005, outlining ideas on fire prevention, which included the mountain pine beetle outbreak and low fuels as a result. “I think there has been some movement on those in terms of developing Community Wildfire Protection Plans, but there needs to be more resources to actually implement those recommendations, making their communities more fireproof.”

Something has changed this summer, in Canada, and throughout the world. Across social and traditional media, there’s a new face of summer emerging. …all you see are disturbing images of smoke, flames and family picnics held against a backdrop of grey skies full of falling ash. …[When mountain pine beetle struck] we responded to this ecological crisis by extracting the trees more aggressively than ever. “Waste-wood salvaging” became an excuse to let logging companies consume much of what was left of the forest. …Seeing these in person was devastating and shocking beyond words. …The extraction economy is an extinction economy, or maybe more accurately an extinction machine.

Vern Mickelson

Vern Mickelson is no stranger to wildfires. The Valemount logger has seen fires over the years, but they didn’t prepare him for what he saw Friday night. He and the other contractors working in the Hugh Allen valley roughly 60 km south of Valemount headed there in pickups Friday night to retrieve their logging equipment. It had been hot and windy for two days and they planned to move their equipment further from the blaze. When they arrived at 8 pm Friday night, the valley was engulfed, fire spreading both East and West. But other contractors fared worse. …In total, five trailers, several pieces of heavy equipment, a couple of parts trailers, a fuel truck, a service truck and several fuel tanks were destroyed. …“$5 million for sure was lost.

“Doug is just over there in that valley,” Harley Rustad explained over his shoulder, leading us on a sweaty hike up a dusty gravel road. Rustad rounded the corner and turned to his right, and there was Doug – still standing, looking healthy; tremendous, really. …Rustad is a writer; Doug is a tree, and the subject of his first book. …More specifically, Big Lonely Doug, as it has come to be known, is the second largest Douglas fir in Canada, 66 metres tall and estimated to be about 1,000 years old. …In 2015, Rustad, on staff at The Walrus as an editor, came across a photo of the tree – the only one left standing in a massive clear-cut outside Port Renfrew …“Somebody must have saved that tree,” he said. “Maybe I could find out who – and why.” …The result is Big Lonely Doug: The Story of One of Canada’s Last Great Trees. [A digital subscription to the Globe and Mail is required to access the full story]

Mike Farnworth

…I would like to add some more feedback to the ridiculous inadequate response from the Forest Ministry of BC to resource communities like Fraser Lake, Burns Lake and Fort St. James. Listening to Public Safety Minister Mike Farnsworth on BCTV tonight was disheartening, the minister was way too late in supporting resource communities in northern B.C. With regards to Fraser Lake in particular, many West Fraser timber cut blocks that supply the Lejac mill in Fraser Lake are currently experiencing some type of fire event. …The disrespect and callous response to both major wildfires currently trying to encompass and consume Fraser Lake borders on being a reckless response from Victoria.