WE ARE ON FIRE AND LOGGING HEROICS DON’T HELP
Updated September 12, 2024
While the province is on fire, the logging industry is positioning itself as heroes saving the land from destruction … by cutting down more trees. Decades of misguided forest practices, such as banning low-intensity controlled cultural burns, have led to an excess of fuel in forests, but intensifying logging activities in the name of mitigating fires has more to do with increasing profits than providing protection against fires. The forestry sector has been ramping up a national PR campaign to rebrand itself as a climate hero, in what many see as a tactic to downplay the fact that forestry as it is currently practiced in B.C. actually contributes to the wildfire problem. Journalist Stefan Labbé interviewed seven forest ecologists and found that the majority agree that, “limiting wildfires would require a combination of leaving moist forests unharvested, leaving burned forests unsalvaged, and encouraging the regrowth of more fire-resistant deciduous trees.” Read the full Times Colonist article here.
It’s important we challenge the forest industry’s narrative that increasing clearcutting will address the wildfire crisis, since this is a crisis which they helped cause. Clearcutting has actually exacerbated wildfire risks by creating highly flammable landscapes and contributing to the accumulation of dead fuel left behind by loggers. The industry’s insistence on increased logging as a solution ignores how it has paved the way for more severe and frequent megafires. By shifting the blame to past fire suppression and global warming, while promoting clearcutting, the industry engages in greenwashing– obscuring the true impact of its own practices on the environment and climate.
IS IT TOO LATE?
Canada is fortunate to have some of the last significant stands of ancient temperate rainforest in the world, but in 2024 it suffered another unprecedented wildfire season with over 1300 fires recorded in B.C. alone as of August 11. In 2023, around 18 million hectares of land burned in Canada (a footprint larger than Greece), emitting an estimated 480 million tonnes of carbon.
These infernos are unprecedented and catastrophic, but not all fire is bad for forests. Gathering Voices Society is one of many Indigenous groups that have been changing the way people think about controlled burning in forests, a traditional practice banned in B.C. by the Bush Fire Act of 1874. In partnership with the Yunesit’in First Nation, the Gathering Voices Society fire stewardship programs in the Tŝilhqot’in region helps prevent wildfire and restore and regenerate many fire-dependent plant species. The bi-annual cultural burns are all carried out by trained members of the community guided by a core group of expert fire stewards. Its goals include not only wildfire prevention and mitigation but also address climate change, grassland and forest health, and even food security.
It is only very recently that the B.C. Wildfire Service has recognized the value of prescribed burning, and come to understand the devastating impact banning the practise has had on the landscape. Low intensity controlled burns do not burn as hot, high or large as wildfires which greatly changes the way the fire affects the ecosystem. In contrast to large wildfires that can cause the ground to repel water, small fires bring nutrients back to the soil. Additionally they control pests and invasive species, increase certain types of habitat spaces and forage plants for wildlife and reduce the buildup of forest fuels thereby preventing larger, uncontrolled future fires.
WHY OLD GROWTH?
Old growth forests are nature’s firefighters. The thick bark and high moisture content of the older trees make them less susceptible to igniting. Additionally, the complex, layered structure of old growth forests, with diverse species and age classes, helps create natural firebreaks that slow the spread of flames. The rich, undisturbed soil layers act as a buffer against the rapid spread of fire. Evidence suggests that thinning forests, as proposed by the industry, may harm old-growth forests, making them more susceptible to fires by removing large trees that play a critical role in maintaining forest health. This approach could lead to greater environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity.
“Everyone knows when you start a fire, you start with kindling, small material, not the gigantic trees that you get in an old-growth forest,”
Protecting old growth forests is an important way B.C. can help mitigate the effects of wildfire in the province but the government continues to fall short on its promises.
By preserving these ancient forests, we maintain natural defences against wildfires, thereby protecting surrounding communities and ecosystems from the devastating impacts of uncontrolled fires, a severe and growing concern within the province. Whoever forms the next B.C. government in October has the chance to leave a legacy of protection for these ancient trees, and future proof against catastrophic fires.
Raise your voice today!
Phone: (250) 387-1715
Email: premier@gov.bc.ca
Watch Gathering Voices Society’s documentary “The Word of the Land” to learn more about building resilient ecosystems and communities with cultural burning.
