Forestry

23/12/22
Author: 
David Broadland
This satellite photo of logging west of Kelowna covers an area of 63 square kilometres. The 220,000 square kilometres of primary forest in BC that is being converted to clearcuts, logging roads and plantations is 3,500 times greater than the area shown here (click image to enlarge). For context, the entire state of Washington covers 184,827 square kilometres.

Dec.13, 2022

The BC government is committing a 220,000-square-kilometre, biodiversity-killing, climate-destabilizing fraud on its own citizens and the international community.

THERE’S BEEN A LOT OF WRITING over the past year about the “Big Lie” in American politics: A deliberate, gross distortion of the truth, repeated over and over, even in the face of evidence that what’s being claimed is false.

23/12/22
Author: 
Natasha Bulowski
A processor strips the bark and branches from a log in Copper Canyon on Vancouver Island, B.C. Photo by David Stanley / Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Dec. 23, 2022

Canadian environmental groups have levelled another greenwashing complaint — this time at the largest certification scheme for sustainable forestry in North America.

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) certifies 115 million hectares of forest within Canada’s borders for companies.

14/12/22
Author: 
Rob Miller
We know these ancient forests are worth more standing. We understand the consequences of losing them. There is a sense of urgency for change. We need binding agreements from international negotiations like COP15. Photo via Flickr

Dec. 14, 2022

During Biodiversity Day at COP27, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault committed $855,000 to ensure non-profit environmental groups and Indigenous partners can participate at COP15, the UN biodiversity conference in Montreal. This funding levels the playing field as industries increasingly send their paid representatives to participate in the negotiations.

30/11/22
Author: 
Marc Lee and Ben Parfitt
Climate-related disasters like 2021 flooding in the Fraser Valley will take an increasing economic and human toll. Photo via City of Abbotsford.

Nov. 30, 2022

In BC, 2021’s heat, fire and floods cost the economy $10.6 billion to $17.1 billion, a report calculates.

When Don and Mary Nowoselski moved from Dawson Creek in northeast British Columbia to the Creston Valley 30 years ago, they were looking for a little less winter.

A bit of land tucked near the U.S. border in a fertile valley in the province’s East Kootenay region seemed to fit the bill, and the couple settled into a new life that included an expanding cherry orchard operation.

24/11/22
Author: 
Rochelle Baker & Jennifer Osborne
RCMP officers arrest Fairy Creek protesters following a pepper spray incident in August 2021. Photo by Jen Osborne

Nov. 24, 2022

At least one police officer joined protesters, journalists and politicians raising alarm bells over RCMP enforcement tactics during the peak of conflict at the Fairy Creek old-growth blockades in B.C. during the summer of 2021.

24/11/22
Author: 
Herb Hammond
The Evergreen Alliance - clearcut

Nov. 23, 2022

Dear President Mierau and Council Members, Association of BC Forest Professionals (ABCFP):

By way of this letter, I resign my membership in the ABCFP.

I no longer wish to be part of an organization that alleges to “care for BC’s forest and forest lands,” while remaining silent about the degradation and frequent destruction of natural forest integrity and resilience perpetrated by the vast majority of forestry activities. I will provide examples of these endemic problems below.

22/11/22
Author: 
Ainslie Cruickshank
When born, fisher are blind, deaf and only partially covered with fine hair. In B.C., they're categorized as "red," which is reserved for "any species or ecosystem that is at risk of being lost," according to the province. Photo: Shutterstock

Nov. 10, 2022

The B.C. NDP campaigned on protecting species at risk. Years later, the province still doesn’t have stand-alone species at risk legislation

‘Huge legal gaps’ are driving B.C. species to extinction, conservation groups say

More than five years ago, during an election campaign that saw the B.C. New Democrats form government, the party committed to enact a stand-alone law to protect species at risk of extinction.

18/11/22
Author: 
Maya Menezes
Illustration: The Breach

Nov. 17, 2022

Amidst a boom in fossil fuel lobbyist attendance, Canada is doing the bidding of oil and gas companies at the UN summit in Egypt

As delegates walked into the Canada Pavilion at the United Nations climate summit last week, we were met with a shocking surprise: at least eight confirmed oil and gas lobbyists with Canadian-government sponsored badges. 

22/10/22
Author: 
Stefan Labbé
Drones Replanting Burned Forests?

See video here 

Oct. 22, 2022

With promises to rejuvenate forests from the air, tree-planting start-ups are looking to supplement shovels and long days of labour with swarms of seed-bearing aerial drones. A growing target: B.C.'s burnt forests.

The charred remains of Douglas fir and Lodgepole pine forests once sent their seeds fluttering through the air — often in the belly or beak of a bird — but not like this. 

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