The idea that climate change, and specifically wildfires, is a "new normal", "ignores the reality that the effects of climate change are bolstered by the particular actions of specific corporations – they are not simply the result of climate change alone."

https://rabble.ca/environment/wildfires-are-not-the-normal-result-of-climate-change/

#Forestry #climatechange #wildfire #Canada

Back in the day there were 7 large Pulp and/or Paper Mills on Vancouver Island. They were the major employer in Port Alice, Gold River, Powell River, Campbell River, North Cowichan/Crofton, Nanaimo (Harmac), and Port Alberni.

Gold River closed permanently 20 years ago.
Campbell River closed permanently 15 years ago.
Harmac was sold to the employees 15 years ago, it continues.
Port Alice closed permanently 10-15 years ago.
Powell River closed permanently this year.
Crofton has been 'curtailed' for last 3 months due to 'market conditions’ (see link). The outlook is not bright.
Port Alberni is the last “company mill” on the Island and has avoided most of the turmoil at least outwardly.

Other than Harmac, the last 3 mills were the final ones owned by one entity. That entity, Paper Excellence, is owned by a member of the Wijaya family who run a huge conglomerate in Indonesia: Sinar Mas.

It's just numbers on a spreadsheet now.

I expect Port Alberni's mill to be closed within 5 years.

There are lots of reasons for the shutdown, but I believe the major one is company consolidation and offshoring of global pulp and paper production.

#megaCorps #Billionnaires #Forestry #PulpandPaper #PortAlberni #Nanaimo #CampbellRiver #Canada #CanPoli #BCPoli
https://www.albernivalleynews.com/trending-now/crofton-mill-extends-shutdown-another-month-3099321

“I don’t believe we have the right to control nature. We work with it from a place of responsibility, respect and reciprocity.

"This means that every time we do something in the forest, we ask, ‘What is in the best interest of animals, plants, soil, water, air and humans?’

"Humans are in that circle, but we are just one of the spokes in the wheel.”

#forestry #forests #wildfires #biodiversity #california #

https://www.rewildingmag.com/learning-how-to-garden-a-forest/

Pried some Thuja seeds out of their pods and planted them in wet sawdust. Bit of an experiment, but since I now have a nice sack of sawdust from the tablesaw, I might as well find some uses for it other than just compost.

#Gardening #Forestry #Sawdust

Global News BC: Is herbicide spray in the forestry sector raising B.C.’s wildfire risk? https://globalnews.ca/news/9918597/bc-herbicide-broadleaf-wildfire-risk/ #globalnews #britishcolumbia #news #forestryindustry #Glyphosatespray #silviculture #stopthespray #BCwildfires #BCWildfire #Glyphosate #broadleaf #deciduous #forestry #Wildfire #Spray #Fire

Why loving trees sometimes means cutting them down https://grist.org/science/prescribed-burns-land-management-california-forests/

"An outdated land management ideology with roots in colonialism is keeping California and the West from taking essential steps toward mitigating increasingly destructive wildfires."

#Botany #Forestry

@robsonfletcher Given what is happening in #NWT and other locations, I am reminded of this 2019 #CBC article on the increased risk of fires due to the #forestry industry heavy application of #glyphosate to remove undergrowth they do not want, but which is more fire-resistant. This is based on research by forest ecologists.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/forest-fires-glyphosate-1.5366185

#ForestryCorp is moving in on #Newry state forest, near Urunga, on Gumbaynggirr lands. Elders and activists are leading protest and trying to raise awareness. Please do all you can to help. As usual, Forestry Corp is playing fast and light with the law, and police were already at the site when people arrived.

"They were met with fencing and a contingent of police and fire officers, who doused a sacred fire lit by the protesters, before semi-trailers loaded with stripped logs drove out of the forest."

Newry is part of the highly endangered Gondawanan subtropical coastal/lowland rainforests - some of the oldest and most diverse forests in Australia, and some of the oldest on Earth.

Newry is a sacred site to the Gumbaynggirr for mens ritual, and many individual trees are culturally significant or sacred in their own right.

Forestry Corp NSW is entirely owned by the NSW Government, and has a history of blatantly breaking the laws it is supposed to operate under. Their operations have made consistent losses for years, requiring taxpayer subsidies in order to ensure the killing of our native rainforests can continue. Without these subsidies, it would stop.

Forestry Corp only exists because we allow it to.

https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/gumbaynggirr-elders-are-leading-a-protest-against-logging-in-forest-area-that-includes/enrrv6fb6

#Auspol #NSWpol #ecocide #GreatKoalaNationalPark #ForestryCorp #Logging #Forestry #NewSouthWales #CoffsCoast #Urunga

@penpencilbrush On the family that owns New Brunswick
By Abbie Moser / green issue / September 27, 2019

"How one family creates and curates a culture of fear throughout an entire province

"There are very few names that stir up as much debate and controversy in New Brunswick as “Irving” does. As Canada’s eighth wealthiest family, formerly the third wealthiest family in 2014, the Irvings are ranked 13th in terms of most extensive landownership globally, the largest private landowner in Maine, and the fifth largest private landowner in America—the Irving family have disproportionately impacted the historical and contemporary development of my home province. Strong opinions on the Irving family and its corporation are limited to residents of the province, and Canada’s most unknown and corrupt family has gone out of their way to ensure that it has remained this way for decades.

"With their current net worth of $7.38 billion, the Irving family had humble beginnings. The dynastic company got its start back in the 1920s when K.C. Irving started a small service station in his hometown of Bouctouche, New Brunswick. With persistence, he would eventually turn this service station into Irving Oil, a 3,000-franchise distributor across the east coast that controls more than 250 enterprises scattered across North America. None of the various companies that the Irvings own are up for public trade, allowing for no financial transparency. The Irving Oil refinery in #SaintJohn, New Brunswick is the largest oil refinery in all of Canada. The #LungCancer rates in Saint John also just so happen to be 50 percent higher than in #Fredericton and #Moncton, the province’s other major cities, and are likely linked to #environmental factors instead of smoking. Their empire spans from #energy, #forestry, #trucking, #construction, #shipyards, and hardware stores, to owning every single #newspaper in the province (no, I’m not exaggerating), and even a junior league hockey team. Together, the various companies, which are all privately owned by the family, are estimated to be worth $10 billion.

"To feed an oil refinery that produces up to 320,000 barrels a day, Irving imports 100 million barrels of oil each year, most of which comes from #SaudiArabia. The family owns more than 900 gas stations, railway lines, shipping companies, and paper & pulp mills. Supplying 60% of the gasoline in Boston, the Irvings are responsible for nearly one-fifth of American gasoline imports. They employ roughly one in every eight New Brunswickers and account for more than half of the province’s exports.

"K.C. believed heavily in vertical integration and instilled the values of loyalty, hard work, and attention to detail into his empire. He was one of the first Canadians to utilize offshore #TaxHavens, placing his companies in a trust in Bermuda. This move to Bermuda would eventually prompt a Canada Revenue Agency investigation that would reveal that the Irvings’ move allowed them to lower their tax bill by $142 million. Now, roughly a dozen Irving companies are based in Bermuda. Escaping taxes is something that the Irvings are professionals at now. Oil refineries in Alberta that produce the same daily quantity as the one that the Irvings own would pay roughly between $15-16 million a year in taxes while the Irving’s refinery gets away with paying only $5 million.

"The Irvings continue to exploit the province, the natural resources of which have allowed for their wealth and power to flourish, without giving as much as a dime back to the province, allowing for our provincial infrastructure and education systems to suffer. New Brunswick is the second poorest province in Canada—our median income is the lowest amongst the provinces, we have the highest unemployment rates, our provincial government is facing a $453 million deficit, and is paying $685 million a year towards debt-servicing costs. This family doesn’t stop at exploiting the environment; they continue to exploit New Brunswickers, without whom their fortune would not exist. In 2013, it was revealed that Moncton taxpayers paid $88,000 per year to the Moncton Wildcats hockey team to compensate for the loss of income in their corporate seats. Robert Irving owns this hockey team, and the citizens of Moncton were never told that their tax dollars would be distributed to the team. City council made this decision under the condition that another Irving business would establish operations in the city."

Read more:
https://thestrand.ca/on-the-family-that-owns-new-brunswick/

#Pollution #OilRefinery #Oligarchy #Oiligarchy #Toxic

Cut through the smoke on Canada’s Logging Emissions. If it’s true that logging is this big a problem, I think we have a right to a clear answer. We want to see the government come clean on logging emissions. | PETITION Nature Canada #forestry #carboncredits https://act.naturecanada.ca/page/130941/petition/1

https://www.uvm.edu/news/story/plans-plant-billions-trees-threatened-massive-undersupply-seedlings #climate #forestry #silviculture #science

The Side Eye - Deeper Roots [Cyclone Gabrielle, Tairāwhiti (Gisborne), New Zealand]
--
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/28-07-2023/the-side-eye-deeper-roots <-- Spinoff Side Eye story
--
https://teweu.nz/towards-an-indigenous-bioeconomy/ <-- towards an indigenous bio-economy in Tairāwhiti
--
H/T @manu Caddie
“Months after Cyclone Gabrielle smashed Tairāwhiti [Gisborne, New Zealand], locals are still cleaning up the damage. The Side Eye travels to the erosion-prone region to meet the people asking hard questions about a plan for the future…”
#GIS #spatial #mapping #massmovement #climatechange #CycloneGabrielle #Tairāwhiti #Gisborne) #NewZealand #extremeweather #Gabrielle #cyclone #flood #flooding #water #hydrology #ecosystem #monoculture #forestry #forestry #risk #hazard #mitigation #monitoring #erosion #landslides #slumps #slips #slash #forestrestoration #pine #planning #impacts #humanimpact #publicsafety #economy #economic #governmentplanning #indigenous #Maori #firstnations #bioeconomy

EU Commission:
"structural complexity & species #diversity is unnaturally low in many parts of Europe: 75% of forests are even-aged and 1/3 of forests consist of only one species with another 50% limited to 2 or 3 species. Lack of diversity reduces the resilience of our #forests."
https://environment.ec.europa.eu/news/green-deal-new-guidelines-sustainable-forest-management-and-payment-schemes-forest-ecosystem-2023-07-27_en

To try & improve the situation, they just published guidelines for close to nature #forestry: help natural tree regeneration, less destructive logging practices...
https://environment.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2023-07/SWD_2023_284_F1_STAFF_WORKING_PAPER_EN_V2_P1_2864149.PDF

“The forest looks pristine,” he says, as a flurry of snow falls through the open canopy.

“These big maples and basswoods are around 150 years old. But we have been #logging here for over a century, and we still have more #trees than when we started.”

#biodiversity #sustainability #forestry

https://e360.yale.edu/features/menominee-forest-management-logging

Sad to see #NZ #export more raw materials

#Wool has stagnated for decades, and right at the verge of a move away from oil based products, we are giving up our processing capacity. If this was #cows or #forestry, it feels like we would have had the #Agriculture Minister all over it

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/132627113/strong-wool-switches-manufacturing-offshore-to-compete-with-synthetics

When sustainable logging practices yield more forest than they started with, one could argue that there's something very smart about the traditional tribal code of forestry.

#indigenous #tribal #forestry #sustainability

https://e360.yale.edu/features/menominee-forest-management-logging

@riceboilsover try also #forestry #ecology #plants #PlantAwareness for more reach. 😀

“Basically, we are taking tribal knowledge & blending it with today’s ecological science.”

#IndigenousPeoples #Forestry #RegenerativeCulture #Ecology #Conservation #Timber #Carbon #IndigenousKnowledge #Wildlife #Biodiversity

https://e360.yale.edu/features/menominee-forest-management-logging

Dear Friends,
#ClimateDiary 2/2

Another view of what proactive wildfire management can look like. Trees are thinned leaving room for the Mule's Ears (Wyethia angustifolia) and some other stuff I couldn't identify to thrive in the understory. Notice the burn piles of woody debris (aka slash). They may be burned after seasoning or some left for habitat.

Photo taken in Tahoe City within Burton Creek State Park
ESM

#ForestEcology #Forest
#Forestry
#California
#Photography #PhotoResearcher

Dear Friends,
#ClimateDiary 1/2

This is what proactive wildfire management can look like. Trees are thinned, bottom story shrubs and debris are culled. Prevents #wildfires from spreading along the ground and subsequent flaring from tree tops. This generally makes fires easier to contain, manage or control over time.

Photo taken at Sawtooth Recreation Area.

ESM

#ForestEcology #Forest
#Forestry #Forester
#California #Truckee
#ClimateSolution
#Photography #PhotoResearcher