We are pleased to be featured in the Summer 2025 edition of BC Forest Professional magazine with our article on growing Communities of Practice in BC. There is nothing quite like the power of learning from our peers and colleagues! This is why “Communities of Practice” can be such a powerful tool to support enhanced learning on particular topics, issues and/or skills. 

Read our feature in the BCFP magazine to learn:  

✅ How Communities of Practice support forest practitioners today

✅ How to build a Community of Practice

✅ A checklist for supporting effective Communities of Practice

☀️ Read the full Summer 2025 edition of the BCFP magazine here (pg 8-10)

The SIP team welcomes Ingrid Farnell, Research Technician, who returned to the team from parental leave this summer. Ingrid’s research first began in the towering trees of the Date Creek Research Forest in the Kispiox Valley, where she studied the dynamics of downed dead wood after partial harvests and impacts to wildlife. Now, she supports the coordination of the SIP research project and provides technical expertise to evaluate monitoring data. Welcome back, Ingrid!

The second field season for the SIP research project will come to a close this month. The project, which examines how different variable retention practices impact ecological and cultural values in sub-boreal ecosystems at various time periods after harvest, continued the monitoring of over 60 sites this summer. At each site, technicians measure forest vegetation and monitor wildlife habitat use with cameras and acoustic recorders. The team continues to work towards efficient and effective methods to monitor multiple values throughout stand development - in this case, wildlife, fuels, cultural values and timber, in structurally and spatially complex stands.

This summer, the field season has been led by technicians with the Office of the Wet’suwet’en, Kimberly Alec, Vernon Joseph, and Tieasha Pierre. The work is also supported by Isabel Bodnar, who joins the Fire Stewardship Program with the Bulkley Valley Research Centre. The work continues this Fall and Winter, as the team will continue to catalogue the thousands of remote camera photos, share project results with the community, and begin exploring the social and cultural drivers and management history of the innovative practices applied within Wet’suwet’en territory.

  Photo Caption: A doe and fawns captured on remote cameras in the study area. 

• Alana Clason, Research Lead with the SIP, was featured by FESBC in their Faces of Forestry series. Read her interview here.
  
  
• Explore the resource, Fuel for Thought, a practical explainer addresses several burning questions and misconceptions about fuel treatments in Community Forests. It provides clear, accessible information to support informed, productive conversations, and includes links to additional resources for those looking to deepen their understanding. Fuel for Thought was developed by the BCCFA with support from the SIP and many other collaborators. Learn more here.
  
  
• The BC Community Forest Association hosted their annual conference in Nanaimo with a field tour hosted by Khowutzun Forest Services in May. The SIP moderated two sessions on commercial thinning and prescribed burns. Read the full summary report here.
  
  

• The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) is now accepting applications to support Indigenous-led Climate Smart Forestry projects that ensure forests managed by Indigenous communities are more resilient to a changing climate. Learn more here.
  
  
• In June, the Government of BC released an updated version of the Silviculture Systems Handbook, available as a central reference for recommended approaches for the design, planning, and application of silvicultural treatments, objectives, and stand development pathways.
  
  
• Learn about upcoming UBC Faculty of Forestry online micro-certificates courses and register for upcoming micro-certifications information sessions.
  
  
• Read the new workbook, “Create a Cultural Burn Pathway Workbook” from the Indigenous Leadership Initiatives (ILI) and First Nation Emergency Services Society (FNESS)