Industrial development is fragmenting Canada’s boreal forest. Governments should think carefully about future approvals

Seismic lines in northeastern British Columbia, near the town of Fort Nelson. (Maria Strack), CC BY-NC-SA Industrial development is fragmenting Canada’s boreal forest. Governments should think carefully about future approvals Published: July 20, 2026 1.53pm EDT Share article Print article There’s been a lot of talk about major infrastructure projects in Canada lately, with the federal government planning to fast-track resource development across the country. This push isn’t surprising. In 2024, the natural resources sector accounted for 16 per cent of Canada’s GDP and provided 1.8 million jobs. Yet these economic benefits result in trade-offs for the environment, with many consequences still unclear. Before accelerating development with less environmental oversight, these unknowns need to be considered. Read more: Why the federal government must act cautiously on fast-tracking project approvals Examples of unintended environmental consequences aren’t hard to find across Canada. If someone told you about a high-density network of corridors, often spaced less than 100 metres apart, you might picture city roads or an urban park trail system. In fact, such a network of linear clearings, also called seismic lines, can be found across Canada’s boreal forest. There are an estimated over 1.8 million kilometres of such clearings in Alberta alone. They were, and continue to be, created for geophysical exploration, allowing personnel and equipment to move across the landscape and map underground resources like oil and gas. In Alberta, early records of this type of exploration date from the late 1920s, with activity greatly expanding from the 1960s onwards. As these exploration programs expanded, governments didn’t require companies to return the land to how it was before. The assumption was that trees would simply regrow on the narrow clearings, returning forest cover to the landscape. However, many seismic lines have remained without forest cover for decades, particularly when they cross forested wetlands. While improvements in geophysical technology and a recognition of the environmental consequences have led to lower-impact methods, this legacy of activity remains as a grid that scars forests. Fragmented forests A seismic line seen from the ground near Cold Lake, Alta. (Maria Strack), CC BY-NC-SA Seismic lines fragment forests and alter their ability to act as habitats and provide climate change mitigation benefits. Forest fragmentation shifts how…