Government and industry are in discussions re: post wildfire season recovery actions https://tinyurl.com/y9owj89a COFI CEO says “discussions about changing forest-management practices are expected to continue beyond the current fire season.” Hopefully these are within the parameters of long-term forest stewardship and not focused on short-term economics. Government and industry need to provide assurances to the public such will be the case. We look forward to this commitment.
Category Archives: 2013-2020 Articles and Resources
Pouring money into interface protection not enough
The Victoria Times editorial https://tinyurl.com/y7oetxne suggests more money is needed to treat forest-community interface areas from wildfire. Although this is correct, the cost is high but could be reduced if Government was to change some policies regarding harvesting of merchantable trees within these areas. These changes would generate revenue and off-set treatment costs while at the same time protect the interface area and contribute to long-term forest stewardship. These would also generate jobs and economic benefits for the community. The barriers to these benefits are well know within the industry and wildfire experts. Government just needs to listen!
Use of wood waste for community diversification
The use of wood waste from forest harvesting or wood processing can have a greater value than its use for bio-energy as outlined in Logging residue-opportunities lost. Washington State University has developed a new technology for the use of lignin (a by product of wood processing and bio-chemical digestion technologies) for use in car manufacturing https://tinyurl.com/ya49amdb. Other research is on-going in Alberta in this regard to replace metals and plastics in car bodies. This is the type of technology we need in BC to utilize wood residue and increase community economics and diversification. Government and industry must work to remove the barriers to the encouragement of investors in use of these technologies and move communities forward in achieving resiliency.
Forest protection investment needed for sustainable managed forests and community resiliency
Bill Tieleman’s opinion https://tinyurl.com/ybmdau8h is neglect in wildfire protection due to low investment by BC Liberals was a major factor in the current wildfire situation. Whether you agree with the analysis or not, it is clear we need to invest in the forest relative to a number of issues previously identified in HFHC documents as part of long-term forest stewardship. This is critical if we are to have forests contribute to community resiliency. Government must act on this, if their commitment to rural development is to become reality.
Video regarding value of student forest field trips
The Federation of BC Woodlot Associations has a new short video on the value to students of a forest field trip Video “A Walk in the Woods” Teachers are encouraged to take a look. There are numerous opportunities for field trips across BC both in rural and urban communities. National Forest Week-BC Coalition https://www.bcnfw.ca/ is a good place to start if a teacher is interested in a forest field trip.
Planting decisions considering climate change
UBC research shows BC foresters are including climate change into reforestation decision-making in “change & changes in silvicultural practices,” Julie Sheppard https://tinyurl.com/ybusrkbx
Full utilization of fibre through cluster creation
The Corewood Sawmill in Houston (Tahtsa Group) https://tinyurl.com/y78klznu champions a cluster partnership with forest companies to fully utilize available wood fibre and boost the local economy. This is consistent with the recommendations in Logging residue-opportunities lost Well Done!
Moving toward community resiliency-recommended strategic actions
Using the progress in implementing the recommendations from the Healthy Forests-Healthy Communities Initiative dialogue, Moving toward community resiliency-specific actions identifies steps by Government, industry and communities that can be taken immediately to move along paths to long-term forest stewardship and community resiliency.
Need for a new forest research infrastructure model
The BC Government and forest industry response to the forest sector changes and economic conditions over the last 15 years has resulted in a major reduction in adequately delivering research for long-term forest stewardship of BC forests. The rationale for a new model is presented in Need for a new research model. A new forest research infrastructure model (1) outlines a proposed framework for a cooperative and collaborative model.
Demonstrate SFM-actions required
The BC Government and forest industry promote a high level of Sustainable Forest Management. Their rationale is usually based on the existing legislation, regulations and policies and the fact a large percentage of BC forests have third part forest certification. However, there are a number of deficiencies in this approach that could be rectified, in-part, by adopting the recommendations presented in SFM-what needs to be done to demonstrate status. Taking these actions would either show support for their positions or identify the required actions to get to this point. Regardless, these actions would demonstrate to communities and the public the level of SFM in BC forests. For several decades we have known and had the capability of doing this. It just needs leadership and commitment by Government and the industry to practice long-term forest stewardship.