Madill Equipment, a Nicholson Manufacturing company, announced the completion of the first Madill 124 swing yarder to be manufactured in Canada since 2007. Madill was founded as a blacksmith shop in Nanaimo B.C. in 1909 and, during the 1950’s, began manufacturing equipment for the forest industry. In 1955, the first spar tree yarder was invented…
B.C.’s biomass energy sector believes it has a unique opportunity in the aftermath of the mountain pine beetle infestation that has ravaged 18 million hectares of provincial forests, but it needs a little help from Victoria. Gordon Murray, the executive director of the Wood Pellet Association of Canada, which makes fuel for biomass power, says…
Of all the properties The Land Conservancy of B.C. holds, none is more complex than Wildwood, a 31-hectare woodlot known as Merv Wilkinson’s ecoforest. The TLC board has been grappling over the best management and ownership structure, but is confident that a resolution will be reached soon for this much-loved property. There is an agreement…
The trees are in the ground; now it’s up to Guinness Worlds Record to confirm whether the multi-team tree planting record attempt on May 20th was successful. In total, 28 teams from across North America banded together to plant multiple sites in locations ranging from Thunder Bay, Ontario to Washington, D.C. The goal: Plant the…
Students from Bamfield Community school helped make Vancouver Island a little bit greener in April with the planting of the 40 millionth seedling for Island Timberlands. The special cedar seedling was planted on April 10 in an Island Timberlands cut block 57 kilometres from Port Alberni in Huu-ay-aht traditional territory. Along with witnessing the planting…
In order to assist with the massive flames ravaging Northern Alberta, the B.C. Wildfire Management Branch is sending 88 personnel and two fixed-wing aircraft to our neighbouring province. Minister of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations Steve Thomson made the announcement on Wednesday that 80 sustained action firefighters and eight support personnel will initially be…
The mountain pine beetle has severely affected pine forests across more than 25 million hectares (60 million acres) of western North America in the last decade. In the aftermath of this epidemic, is there a significant increase in wildfire threat? For many given the task of managing wildfires the answer is a resounding yes. However,…
In an unprecedented move, elected municipal officials and forest industry representatives from Quebec and Ontario met in Ottawa today to ask the various levels of government to step up their efforts to promote the sustainable forestry practices of Quebec, Ontario, and Canada on the international scene. At a press conference, Jean-Pierre Boivin, representative of Fédération…
In the wake of increasing threats to Winnipeg’s tree population, city officials undertook a massive project in 2009 to build an inventory of every tree on public space in order to help better protect its valuable urban forest. Nearly a hundred years of monoculture has made Winnipeg’s trees vulnerable to disease, but the decision to…
Simcoe County Forestry has launched a communications campaign to educate residents, municipalities and stakeholders about steps they can take to protect their ash trees against the invasive emerald ash borer (EAB). The EAB is a wood-boring beetle typically eight to 14 millimetres long. It is bright metallic green with a coppery-reddish or purple colour to…