Dry weather and high winds have made it a busy season for fire crews in northeastern Ontario. The forest fire hazard is currently high to extreme in Greater Sudbury and surrounding area. That includes Elliot Lake, Sault Ste Marie, French River and Killarney. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry has the fire hazard for the rest of the…

Canada is listing nine B.C. species under the Species at Risk Act for the first time, ranging from a fly found in the South Okanagan to a lichen found in older forests within the Rocky Mountain Trench. The federal decision follows the recommendations of a national group of scientific experts, theCommittee on the Status of Endangered…

Canadian wildfire prevention teams are constantly looking for new and innovative ways to manage wildfires with limited budgets. One speaker during the panel sessions at the International Bioenergy Conference and Exhibition in Prince George, B.C. put forth an interesting strategy that also has the potential to provide an economic stimulus for the region while servicing…

Our climate is changing; that is an irrefutable fact. And we need to deal with the implications of that fact. Our communities are surrounded by forests. We have always lived with the danger of wildfires, but as the effects of climate change become more pronounced, and these fires become more intense and more frequent, risks…

Vernon residents can learn how to protect themselves from wildfire. From 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, Vernon homeowners can join local and provincial fire officials at Deer Lake Park (9192 Tronson Rd.) to learn about the FireSmart program. “Residents play a key role in wildfire protection because when it comes to wildfires,…

Here’s some good news for the animals that live in Eastern Canada’s boreal forest and the forestry industry that operates there — the trees that dominate the boreal forest can do just fine in the warmer, drier temperatures expected with global climate change. Black spruce are found across North America from Newfoundland to Alaska, and are…

If you make your living in Canada’s boreal forest — whether you’re a logger or a songbird — you might want to consider a move to Quebec. Research suggests a Spain-sized area of forest in the centre of the province will be one of the rare places where nature will ease the effects of global…

There are still three active fires burning in the northeast, while the risk for more fires ranges from low to moderate across most of the region. The three active fires have been burning for more than a week, but the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry says its fire fighters have brought all of them…

The Fort McMurray wildfire is no longer growing. On Monday morning, the province announced it had updated its condition to “being held.” However, this does not mean the fire is under control. Wildfire information officer Lynn Daina said that “being held” means that, with current weather conditions and resources, the flames were not expected to grow past expected boundaries….

From May 16-20, our community hosted nearly 400 biologists, policy-makers, First Nations, environmentalists, forestry, oil and gas interests to discuss the most recent scientific findings on the decline of woodland caribou across Canada. An evening, organized by the Thunder Bay Field Naturalists, was dedicated to sharing information with the general public. At that session, Paul…