forestry

Protesters stand along the Island Highway near Parksville Heritage Centre on Friday, Sept. 18. (Michael Briones photo)

Protesters in Parksville demand change to current B.C. forest practices

Approximately 50 people march along Island Highway

Protesters stand along the Island Highway near Parksville Heritage Centre on Friday, Sept. 18. (Michael Briones photo)
Protesters gather in Duncan in solidarity with Forest March BC in April 2019. People will be gathered in groups across at least 13 B.C. communities to protest industrial logging and destruction of old growth forest on Friday, Sept. 18, 2020. (Forest March BC)

March to protect old growth, stop industrial logging coming to B.C. Legislature

Organizers say they want to give frontline communities a bigger say in nearby logging

Protesters gather in Duncan in solidarity with Forest March BC in April 2019. People will be gathered in groups across at least 13 B.C. communities to protest industrial logging and destruction of old growth forest on Friday, Sept. 18, 2020. (Forest March BC)
Grassroots groups unite for Oceanside Forest March in Parksville

Grassroots groups unite for Oceanside Forest March in Parksville

Rally planned for Friday, Sept. 18

Grassroots groups unite for Oceanside Forest March in Parksville
A monumental old-growth yellow cedar tree in the at-risk headwaters of Fairy Creek. Port Renfrew protesters have said the blockade that was launched on Aug. 10 will continue till the government meets their demands. Photo courtesy TJ Watt.

Vancouver Island protesters call B.C.’s response to new old-growth report a ‘diversion’

Port Renfrew blockade continues as protesters want Fairy Creek Watershed included in deferral areas

A monumental old-growth yellow cedar tree in the at-risk headwaters of Fairy Creek. Port Renfrew protesters have said the blockade that was launched on Aug. 10 will continue till the government meets their demands. Photo courtesy TJ Watt.
B.C.’s forests ministry has accepted recommendations to defer logging in nine old-growth forest regions of the province. (B.C. government)

B.C. suspends some old-growth logging, consults communities

‘Deferral areas’ total 3,350 square km of forest

B.C.’s forests ministry has accepted recommendations to defer logging in nine old-growth forest regions of the province. (B.C. government)
Dimension lumber is the backbone of B.C.’s forest industry. (Black Press Media)

B.C. forest industry celebrates lumber trade ruling against U.S.

World Trade Organization rejects softwood subsidy claim

Dimension lumber is the backbone of B.C.’s forest industry. (Black Press Media)
A monumental old-growth yellow cedar tree in the at-risk headwaters of Fairy Creek measuring 9.5ft in diameter, making it the 9th-widest known yellow cedar according to the BC Big Tree Registry. Photo courtesy, T J Watt

Protesters showcase massive old yellow cedar as Port Renfrew area forest blockade continues

9.5-foot-wide yellow cedar measured by Ancient Forest Alliance campaigners in Fairy Creek watershed

A monumental old-growth yellow cedar tree in the at-risk headwaters of Fairy Creek measuring 9.5ft in diameter, making it the 9th-widest known yellow cedar according to the BC Big Tree Registry. Photo courtesy, T J Watt
UBC’s Pulp and Paper Centre,located on the university’s Vancouver campus. Photo courtesy of UBC BioProducts Institute.

STANDING TALL: Forestry workers meet the challenges, remain hopeful

A look at the forest sector in B.C. – and those hoping for the best – amid mill curtailments

  • Aug 13, 2020
UBC’s Pulp and Paper Centre,located on the university’s Vancouver campus. Photo courtesy of UBC BioProducts Institute.
Protesters hold placards and signboards outside North Island MLA Claire Trevena’s office in Campbell River. The group is calling the provincial government to stop old-growth logging. Photo by Binny Paul/Campbell River Mirror.

Old-growth forest defenders in Campbell River call for B.C. forest minister’s resignation

Protestors outside North Island MLA’s office ask government to stop old-growth logging

Protesters hold placards and signboards outside North Island MLA Claire Trevena’s office in Campbell River. The group is calling the provincial government to stop old-growth logging. Photo by Binny Paul/Campbell River Mirror.
Log booms located near Iona Beach, in Richmond. Photo Kristen Holliday.

STANDING TALL: ‘Forced retirement’ a reality for sawmill employees

A look at the forest sector in B.C. – and those hoping for the best – amid mill curtailments

  • Aug 12, 2020
Log booms located near Iona Beach, in Richmond. Photo Kristen Holliday.
One of Wahkash Contracting’s logging trucks, a Hayes HDX, loaded with logs. Photo courtesy of Wahkash Contracting Ltd.

STANDING TALL: For some, B.C.’s forest industry is the best office in the world

A look at the forest sector in B.C. – and those hoping for the best – amid mill curtailments

  • Aug 11, 2020
One of Wahkash Contracting’s logging trucks, a Hayes HDX, loaded with logs. Photo courtesy of Wahkash Contracting Ltd.
Douglas fir in Saanich, B.C., 2019. (B.C. government)

What exactly is ‘old growth’ B.C. forest, and how much is protected?

Forests minister Doug Donaldson doesn’t support ‘moratorium’

Douglas fir in Saanich, B.C., 2019. (B.C. government)
Fred Thompson of Port Alberni was part of a crew logging near Jennis Bay when he spied a face cut into a rockface that was ‘too perfect’ to be natural. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)

QUINN’S QUIPS: Alberni man discovers a mystery in a rock face

Fred Thompson said ‘face’ revealed in rock after area was logged has to be man made

Fred Thompson of Port Alberni was part of a crew logging near Jennis Bay when he spied a face cut into a rockface that was ‘too perfect’ to be natural. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)
Ravi Kahlon, the mass timber lead parliamentary secretary with Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development touring a mass timber facility under construction in North Vancouver. (Adera Development photo)

B.C. government focused on mass timber industry to meet CleanBC goals

Mass timber lauded for sustainability, jobs potential

Ravi Kahlon, the mass timber lead parliamentary secretary with Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development touring a mass timber facility under construction in North Vancouver. (Adera Development photo)
Vancouver Island sawmill operation, 2009. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press)

B.C. delays increase to log export restrictions in COVID-19 crisis

Market slump frustrates NDP plan to revive mill employment

Vancouver Island sawmill operation, 2009. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press)
Old growth wood remains a mainstay for logging in Vancouver Island. (Dave Mann)

B.C.’s logging industry pleads for certainty as push away from old-growth continues

Truck Loggers Association wants to run their business without worrying about changing goalposts

Old growth wood remains a mainstay for logging in Vancouver Island. (Dave Mann)
An RCMP photo showing the steep grade of the cutblock, and the supersnorkel machine involved in the incident. Jeremy Tanaka was working near the yellow arrow seen when a tree dislodged and fatally struck him. (RCMP photo)

Western Forest Products fined $73K for high-risk violations causing a 2015 fatal accident

WorkSafeBC levied the fine nearly five years after the incident that killed a north island resident.

An RCMP photo showing the steep grade of the cutblock, and the supersnorkel machine involved in the incident. Jeremy Tanaka was working near the yellow arrow seen when a tree dislodged and fatally struck him. (RCMP photo)
Raw logs are loaded onto a logging ship from a log sort down the Alberni Inlet in March 2019. SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News

Steelworkers, Mosaic strike deal they hope can kickstart idled Vancouver Island logging operations

Union, forest firm reach tentative deal to unionize shipping facilities, add regional flexibility

Raw logs are loaded onto a logging ship from a log sort down the Alberni Inlet in March 2019. SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News
‘Who’s keeping an eye on logging activities on Vancouver Island during COVID-19 ?’

‘Who’s keeping an eye on logging activities on Vancouver Island during COVID-19 ?’

With no watchdog around, conservationists are worried about old-growth logging activities and call for ‘modernized regulations’ in the forest sector

‘Who’s keeping an eye on logging activities on Vancouver Island during COVID-19 ?’
REN Energy will source waste wood from ATCO Wood Products and other forest companies to create Renewable Natural Gas in a new facility planned for Park Siding just outside of Fruitvale. (Townsman file photo)

Renewable Natural Gas facility targeted for small B.C. town

Once in a lifetime thing, it doesn’t happen in small communities very often, says Fruitvale mayor.

REN Energy will source waste wood from ATCO Wood Products and other forest companies to create Renewable Natural Gas in a new facility planned for Park Siding just outside of Fruitvale. (Townsman file photo)