The Province is providing a $1-million lift to the Forestry Service Providers Compensation Fund to protect eligible forestry contractors and service providers in the event of licensee insolvency. The one-time grant was announced today by Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Steve Thomson at the Interior Logging Association’s 58th annual conference and trade…

Following the release of the COMEX report regarding the proposed construction of two major access roads in sections H west and I on Waswanipi territory, and the certificate of authorization issued for these projects, the Cree First Nation of Waswanipi is satisfied that the approval of these roads in the Broadback Forest will not encroach…

Ever-increasing pressures to clear-cut forests for fibre, biomass and chemical feedstocks tend to ignore their immense ecological and social values. But even as simple production systems, serious challenges to our forests’ sustainability exist. The broad outlines of this story have been known since the 1980s, when precipitous declines of salmon in many of our Atlantic…

As wildfires plague northeastern B.C. and ravage northern Alberta, B.C.’s forests minister is blunt about what the logging industry can expect this year. “We know we face significant challenges over the summer,” said Steve Thomson, Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, during a speech to industry representatives attending the Interior Logging Assocation’s annual…

Forest fires popping up along the eastern part of the province are making for smokier air in the region, which has Manitoba health officials reminding people with breathing problems to be on their toes. A major forest fire burned east of Caddy Lake near the Manitoba-Ontario border late this week. It forced cottagers in the Beresford subdivision at Nopiming…

All fire permits are suspended beginning Sunday morning in Thunder Bay as the city joins other municipalities in northwestern Ontario and the provincial Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry in issuing a fire ban. The Ministry declared the region a restricted fire zone as of Saturday because of a “high to extreme” risk of forest fires…

This week, 18 human-caused forest fires have been reported already in Newfoundland and Labrador. Forest fire season began May 1 in Newfoundland, and begins May 15 in Labrador. It ends on Sept. 30 province wide. The Department of Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development is reminding residents that forest fire regulations are being enforced. Residents…

By dousing small, regular fires, forest managers are creating the conditions for cataclysmic events, scientists have said. Fires in temperate forests are generally increasing in size and area. This is partly because of climate change. Fire seasons in many parts of the world are getting longer and drier. But equally important in the temperate forests…

The raging wildfire that has forced the evacuation of Fort McMurray, Alta., and engulfed parts of the community is the kind of blaze that firefighters dread, but could become more common, according to experts. Alternatively described by officials as “catastrophic,” a “multi-headed monster” and a “dirty, nasty” fire, the blaze is at least 10,000 hectares in area and has destroyed more than 1,600 structures. It…

A by-the-numbers look at forest fires in Canada over the last four-plus decades: 373,597: Forest fires in Canada between 1970 and 2015 51,320: Forest fires in B.C. between 1990 and 2015, the most of any province during that time 32,894: Fires in Alberta during the same time, the second-highest total of any province 64,639,645: Hectares…