After years of environmental destruction, China has spent billions of dollars on the world’s largest reforestation program, converting a combined area nearly the size of New York and Pennsylvania back to forest. The government-backed effort, known as the Grain-for-Green Program, has transformed 28 million hectares (69.2 million acres) of cropland and barren scrubland back to…
A landmark ruling in 2004 by the Supreme Court of Canada paved the way for the Haida Nation and other aboriginal groups to gain control over resources on their ancestral lands. For the Haida, that meant the richly timbered Haida Gwaii archipelago off the coast of British Columbia, formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands….
The mayor of The Pas is offering a massive tax relief to the owners of a nearby paper mill in an effort to stave off a closure that could cripple the town’s economy. “We can’t just sort of sit back and see how things fall out, so we are going to take the lead and we are literally…
In 2012, I took a fateful trip to Cortes Island — a northern gulf island three ferry rides away from Vancouver — to document the Cortes community’s fight to fend off an impending logging operation by coastal timber giant Island Timberlands. Community members took us deep into the woods privately owned by Island Timberlands and showed…
A prolonged commodities downturn has put a crimp on economic growth in the Thompson-Okanagan region, but there’s another, potentially greater challenge waiting in the woods. In its latest economic briefing, B.C. Central 1 Credit Union offers a bright overview of the province’s performance with strong gains in export sales in July. Export volumes were also…
Buried in the middle of the province’s new plan for making the forest industry more competitive is a commitment to make the so-called value-added sector exempt from export duties that might come in a new softwood lumber trade agreement with the U.S. “That’s the thing we’re really, really pleased that (Forests Minister Steve Thomson) is acknowledging,” said Russ Cameron, president of…
The Environment Department has meted out a penalty to Northern Pulp for exceeding the allowable emissions during a June stack test. “As a result of the mill’s non-compliance with the industrial approval, Environment staff conducted an investigation and served a summary offence ticket to the company in the amount of $697.50,” department spokeswoman Krista Higdon…
Ten months after Governor Brown declared an emergency because of the massive tree die-off in the California, the situation has gotten worse. The latest wave of wildfires adds to worry that many of our forests may disappear in the next few decades. Besides burned trees, millions more are being killed by drought and insects. It’s…
Tree lover Ira Sutherland thinks Metro Vancouver should do a lot more to showcase the giant trees in a large North Shore recreational area called the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve. Sutherland, who has a masters in forest ecology, said he will suggest putting up viewing platforms when the region hosts an open house at Capilano…
Controlled fires could be ignited in Banff National Park later this week in hopes of preserving the long-term health of the forests, experts say. Six fires are planned inside the park this year, some as big as 6,800 hectares and some as small as 25. Erin Tassell, the acting fire and vegetation specialist at Banff…