In response to the Auditor General’s report tabled on June 23rd, the industry association, Forest NB, considers that the findings validate that the current investment in silviculture on Crown and Private lands do support forest management objectives with regard to sustaining wood volume which will translate into more stable and predictable wood supply for the…
Auditor General Kim MacPherson has released a new report detailing audits into infection control in hospitals, as well as chapters on silviculture and private wood supply. MacPherson outlined her latest report to the legislature on Tuesday morning. Hospital infection prevention and control programs lacking, AG finds The auditor general’s report described how the province’s two regional health authorities do…
MLA Bill Bennett was invited to the Elkford Lamplighter Pub on Wednesday, June 17 to discuss several issues, including Jemi Fibre’s cutting near Josephine Falls. The meeting, hosted by the Elkford Chamber of Commerce, invited locals, councillors and District of Elkford Mayor Dean McKerracher to bring forward their concerns, many of which were addressed by…
Members of The Land Conservancy blocked a move that some say could have paved the way for the sale of Wildwood Ecoforest in Cedar to private interests. The conservancy, a non-profit land trust, is dealing with an $8-million debt and is attempting to fulfill legal requirements to creditors through a B.C. Supreme Court-approved plan. It…
The Oregon Spotted Frog used to be common in the wetlands around the Fraser Valley but as their habitat turned into farmland, or urban development, the amphibian population declined. Now the frogs are the most endangered amphibian in Canada. “The frogs across Canada are declining to the extent that at least three per cent of our known…
It was scorched and blackened by fire, but thanks in part to the quick action of B.C. fire crews, one of Canada’s oldest living things will live to see another day. The Elaho Giant, estimated to be the third thickest Douglas fir on record, was caught in the middle of a 700-hectare fire that swept…
The BC Wildfire Management Branch has sent 31 firefighters to the Yukon to help crews battling a massive wildfire there. This latest deployment comes on the heels of the 77 firefighters sent to Alberta to help crews battle a large blaze. Another 21 personnel have been deployed to Alaska to assist crews there. Considering the…
This year, for the first time, the prestigious Schweighofer Innovation Prize included participation of a North American forest products company. Canfor Corp. sponsored 10 researchers from universities across North America to attend the prize ceremony and present as part of the wood innovation workshop in Vienna, Austria on June 15 and 16, 2015. Canfor, one…
New research from the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences shows that pine beetle attacks not only lead to the death of adult trees, but can also leave the next generation of pine vulnerable to future insect attack. “The next pine forest is at risk,” said Justine Karst, an assistant professor…
Earlier this year, I had a chance to visit the Jim Pattison Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Building Technologies and Renewable Energy Conservation. The Centre, located in Penticton, is part of the South Okanagan and Similkameen campus of Okanagan College. Thank you to Jim Hamilton, President of Okanagan College, and Donna Lomas, Regional Dean, for…