A B.C. government decision to source a forest fertilizer outside the U.S. for “political reasons” ended in disaster in an incident that killed 13 cattle and triggered a major environmental penalty.
Every year, B.C.’s Forest Investment Program tenders contracts to fertilize thousands of hectares of forest across the province in projects meant to boost tree growth for harvesting and to capture carbon.
One of the sub-contracts went to Western Aerial Applications Ltd. in late September 2025. Its job was to use helicopters to scatter a newly sourced blend of fertilizer onto forests near Quesnel, B.C.
That plan fell apart when employees overfilled bags used to load helicopters with fertilizer.
→ Continue reading at BIV