The Grand Chief of the Cree Nation is in Waswanipi, Que., trying to calm concerns over a forestry agreement signed last week between the Cree Nation and the province of Quebec. The deal was signed last Monday in Quebec City to resolve a long-standing dispute over how forestry industry was clear cutting on a large swath of land…
Two new evacuation orders have been issued in British Columbia because of wildfires. The latest was issued early Tuesday in West Kelowna for residents in about 70 properties on the west side of Okanagan Lake. The residents (on Westside Rd.) were asked to report to a community centre in West Kelowna. Other residents in the…
Saying this year’s wildfires may be the new normal, the premiers of British Columbia and Saskatchewan are calling for a national approach to fighting forest fires. Saskatchewan’s Brad Wall is calling for a partnership between the provinces and the federal government to ensure firefighting equipment is available where it is needed. Wall — who says…
A Spruce budworm infestation is on its way and it appears to be entering a new outbreak phase in northeastern Ontario, according to CBC Sudbury’s backroads adventurer Bill Steer. The Spruce budworm is the most destructive pest of spruce and fir forests in North America, notes Steer. The larvae are wasteful feeders as they only…
Even though the smell and smog spewing out of Northern Pulp has faded this summer, a Pictou activist group remains skeptical the pulp mill’s emissions will stay out of their lungs for long. “It’s not a big issue in the town of Pictou any more, except for the people who comment, ‘Oh isn’t this nice…
British Columbia’s official bird is the Steller’s jay, but a close second, in the worst forest-fire season since 2003, is the flying whale known as the Martin Mars water bomber. The government has burned through its $63-million fire budget, but with 200 fires raging, 10 evacuation orders and 1,600 crew on the ground, it has…
A Vancouver engineer is lucky to be alive following a grizzly bear attack near Bella Coola on the B.C. Central Coast. George Knoll was working with several other forestry workers in an area about 33 kilometres outside of Bella Coola. The crew was flagging off an area for logging when Knoll encountered a sow grizzly…
Crafted by artisans using high quality oak, “Made in France” wine barrels — in which age some of the world’s most expensive wines — are selling like hot cakes abroad, with exports making up 70 per cent of the market. The barrels house an elite club of wines, with only two to four per cent…
Pictou Landing First Nation is taking its Northern Pulp appeal to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia. Earlier this year, the Environment Department issued an industrial permit for Northern Pulp that calls for the Pictou County mill to reduce its environmental footprint and close its Boat Harbour effluent treatment facility, which is located on First…
While there are fewer wildfires this week than last, an upcoming thunderstorm predicted for early next week following a dry weekend means the fight isn’t over yet. As of Thursday, there are 166 wildfires burning across the province, but thunderstorms next week and a humid, dry weekend threaten that progress, according to the BC Wildfire…