On March 17, the Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists (MVFN) will once again host a presentation describing a uniquely special place in the natural world. The sixth event of the current season, it will take place in Almonte United Church at 7:30 p.m. The guest speaker for the evening will be Grant Dobson and his presentation…
Forest sector research and development is getting a boost with the help of Northern Development Initiative Trust’s new Forest Innovation Fund, says a news release on NDIT’s website. The fund will provide up to $1 million in grants over a two-year period for small and medium-sized companies and community forests engaged in resource extraction, resource…
The light and noise pollution that Lavington residents have been complaining about for months from their industrial neighbours is finally getting some attention. For the second time in five months, since the Pinnacle Pellet Plant opened in late September, neighbours have aired their concerns with the District of Coldstream. “Our home has been bombarded with…
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Barack Obama said last week in Washington that they are committed to fixing the continuing “irritant” of the U.S.-Canada softwood lumber dispute. “This issue … will get resolved in some fashion,” Mr. Obama said at a joint news conference in the White House Rose Garden. Let’s hope so,…
Grand Falls-Windsor has a rich forest resource dormant since the closure of the mill seven years ago and now it could be the subject of a study. The Centre for Forest Science and Innovation has requested a meeting with council to discuss the possibility of doing the study. The centre is responsible for the development…
Two new board members have been appointed to the interim board for the McBride Community Forest Corporation. Randy McFarland and Joseph Rich were appointed to two vacant seats on the board during its Feb 19th meeting. Mayor Loranne Martin says several members of the public have expressed their interest in becoming a director, and McFarland…
A plan to address the latest scourge on British Columbia’s forests — the spruce beetle — will include an extra $1 million in funding and the appointment of a spruce beetle project manager. Native to B.C. and a common forest pest that usually feeds on the inner bark of fallen or weakened trees, the spruce beetle…
It used to be to figure out what was going on in B.C.’s forests, foresters had the choice of walking into them and looking up from the ground, or hopping into a helicopter or airplane and looking down from high in the air. Enter unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly called drones. Now foresters can get a…
The provincial government has committed $1 million for the coming fiscal year and has assigned a resource manager to develop a plan to battle an outbreak of the spruce beetle in the Omineca region. Overhead flight surveys have shown an increase in affected area to about 156,000 hectares today from 7,653 hectares in 2013, Lands…
A potentially “large-scale” outbreak of the spruce budworm is currently making its presence known in areas around New Liskeard, federal scientists say. “We’re at the start of an outbreak, and have a small infestation along the Ontario-Quebec border,” Canadian Forest Service scientist Chris MacQuarrie said this week from his Sault Ste. Marie office. The budworm,…