A heavily logged mountainside in Port Alberni has watchdogs concerned the B.C. government failed to notice clear violations of provincial forestry practices. An investigation launched by B.C.’s Forest Practices Board found a scenic mountainside on the Port Alberni Inlet was over-logged — twice — according to provincial ‘visual quality’ standards, and the ministry of forests was warned of the violations, but…
West Fraser has commended the Alberta Government for its caribou preservative plan but there could be a fly in the ointment – the loss of timber supplies and jobs. West Fraser officials appeared before members of Yellowhead County Council on Sept. 27 to inform councillors of the possible consequences of the Little Smoky and A…
WorkSafeBC will be ramping up inspections of log trucks across the province in response to a spike in the number of fatal incidents so far this year. There have been five deaths involving the vehicles, the most recent occurring on Sept. 2 near Fernie, where a truck went off a logging road and down a…
Canadian softwood lumber executives will meet this week with America’s trade ambassador as they brace for the prospect of U.S. tariffs that they say could result in mill closures and layoffs. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman will speak with the Canadian lumber industry in Toronto on Wednesday, days before U.S. producers could start petitioning Washington…
A Williams Lake forester is urging the business community and local politicians to lobby the provincial government, B.C. Hydro and the B.C. Utilities Commission to make it more affordable for companies to retrieve biomass fuel from the forest. Speaking to the Williams Lake and District Chamber of Commerce at its regular lunch meeting Thursday, Tsi…
In response to UBCM Resolution C-27, Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Minister Steve Thomson re-affirmed government’s commitment to Vancouver Island’s old growth forests and stated there was no need to cease logging. The province’s old growth forests, including those on Vancouver Island, are managed for a multitude of resource values. There’s approximately 1.9 million…
Editor: The loss of another important intact forest on the Elphinstone slopes is very troubling, and in light of the tiny economic contribution that timber revenues will provide to the province, is equally shocking. The stumpage fees from this timber sale of approximately 23 hectares of old growth forest paid to the province is a…
A study is looking into why birch trees are dying off in the prairies and British Columbia, but a researcher says they can be saved. Natural Resources Canada started the study in 2008 to focus on the state of birch health. The study has examined over 300 birch tree plots in urban centres. David Langor, a…
Mayors and councillors from across the province are calling for a halt to logging of old-growth forests on Vancouver Island. On Wednesday, delegates to the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention endorsed a resolution put forward by Metchosin and championed by Metchosin Coun. Andy MacKinnon, a retired forest ecologist, calling for protection of the Island’s old…
In what looked and sounded like a road-test of her 2017 election campaign, Premier Christy Clark used her annual speech to municipal leaders Wednesday to announce new funds for water systems and benefits for forest firefighters. Speaking to a packed room of local politicians at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in Victoria, Clark committed…