Logging on the riverbank just downstream from Englishman River Falls Provincial Park has some local residents calling for stronger regulation. Biologist and Errington resident Jessica Snider said that Timberwest clear-cut forest on the southeast side of the river near two popular swimming holes, which she said was inappropriate for a river that has been listed…
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says the devastating fire in Fort McMurray underlines the need for a national discussion on disaster mitigation. Notley said Tuesday she has already asked that the subject be added to the agenda for July’s premiers meeting in Whitehorse, Yukon. “We’re not the first jurisdiction that’s been struggling with this problem. It’s…
Attempts to link the Fort McMurray fire to climate change, most prominently by Elizabeth May, have been swatted down hard by ordinary Canadians, and many politicians and pundits. When I posted an article on the fire and climate change to Facebook, I was taken aback by the intensity of the discussion. This visceral reaction forced…
After two punishing wildfire seasons, the 2016 Northwest Territories fire season has started in unusually calm fashion. Updating reporters on Monday, Richard Olsen — the territory’s fire operations manager — said 2016 had been “quite quiet” to date. Two wildfires have been recorded so far this year in the territory. The most recent was a small…
Moderate and heavy rainfall across much of Northwestern Ontario over the past few days has allowed provincial crews to get a better foot-hold against the region’s seven active forest fires, the province said Monday. “Rain by itself isn’t enough to put out a fire, but it does give our crews an advantage because they can…
Resolute Forest Products Inc. (NYSE: RFP) (TSX: RFP) today announced a federal lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia against Greenpeace International, Greenpeace USA, Greenpeace Fund, Inc., STAND (formerly ForestEthics) and a number of their associates. The complaint included federal racketeering claims and racketeering, trademark, defamation and tortious interference…
Pinnacle Renewable Energy Inc. announced today (May 31) that it will curtail operations at its Quesnel pellet plant effective immediately. There are a number of factors that have gone into the decision. Key among them are that the plant, first opened in 1988, was designed to process a diet of dry residuals from the local…
The moving deadline for B.C.’s latest bold plan to control Earth’s weather with taxes has slid from March into June. Now that Premier Christy Clark has jetted back from her latest liquefied natural gas sales trip to Korea and Japan, brace yourself for the big reveal of Climate Action 2.0, as the second stage of…
Canadian softwood lumber negotiators held a one-day meeting with their U.S. counterparts in Ottawa this week but there was no report of progress on the contentious trade issue. Alex Lawrence, a spokesman for International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland, described the meeting, held Thursday, as “an informative exchange.” Officials said they expect talks to resume shortly,…
Bruce Stelmacker has had lots of time for gardening this spring. He’s one of about 125 workers who have been off the job since Christmas because of a dispute between his employer Island Pacific Logging and Western Forest Products. “We don’t know how long this is going on. We have no idea” lamented Stelmacker when…