Effective at noon Pacific time on Friday, Sept. 19, 2014, open fires will be permitted within the Columbia Fire Zone due to a decreased risk of wildfires.

The Province is permanently closing two kilometres of the White-Ram Forest Service Road, which runs through the Ram Creek Ecological Reserve that protects a geothermal hot spring, as well as rare plant and animal species.

As part of its ongoing commitment to climate leadership and to maintain its carbon neutrality, the Province has issued a procurement call for greenhouse gas (GHG) offsets.

South Island Natural Resource District and the Pacific Rim Forest Professional Network invite members of the public to celebrate National Forest Week at an open house at the district office, 4885 Cherry Creek Rd., Port Alberni on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014, 8 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

The Province has approved $120 million in royalty credits which will create jobs and support the construction of 17 infrastructure projects in northeast B.C.

Open fires remain prohibited within the Southeast Fire Centre to help prevent human-caused wildfires and protect public safety.

A prescribed burning program is being planned in the South Fork area east of Vernon between Sept. 17 and Oct. 31, 2014, weather conditions permitting.

Effective at noon on Monday, Sept. 15, open fires will be permitted in the entire Clearwater Fire Zone and areas above 1,200 metres in the Salmon Arm Fire Zone within the Kamloops Fire Centre, due to a decreased risk of wildfires.

Results from fish tissue collected from Quesnel Lake on Aug. 9 and 10, 2014, are consistent with provincial background data collected from 54 uncontaminated lakes across the province, indicating no health concern.

On Sept.4, 2014, the Mount Polley mining facility was inspected by staff from the Ministry of Environment and was found to be out of compliance with the Environmental Management Act (EMA) because effluent was still discharging from the tailings storage facility into Hazeltine Creek.