Daily Archives: March 8, 2018

Today’s Takeaway

US duties on steel and aluminum won’t apply right away to Canada and Mexico

March 8, 2018
Category: Today's Takeaway

US spokesman says tariffs on steel and aluminum—to be effective within 30 days—won’t apply right away to Canada and Mexico. In related news: US allies plan to sign Trans-Pacific Partnership without the US; and Canada’s softwood exports to the US fell 14 per cent in January due to lumber duties. 

Companies in the news include: Kruger (best company award); Canfor (upgrades Alabama sawmill); West Fraser (updates city on fibre supply); and Hampton Affiliates (appeals WorkSafeBC fine).

In Forestry news: BC strikes panel to review its environmental assessment process; Oregon’s top forester says forestry can help water quality; ENGOs question the science behind Canada’s wildlife management; and fashion designer Chanel is accused of environmental heresy for using chopped-down trees in their show.

Finally – it’s International Women’s Day, so we close with a feature story on the career challenges (and rewards) faced by Jeanna Glendinning, a logging truck driver with Western Forest Products.

–Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor

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Froggy Foibles

Karl Lagerfeld’s tree parade for Chanel gets a cutting reply

By Charles Bremner
The Times
March 7, 2018
Category: Froggy Foibles
Region: International

Karl Lagerfeld has been accused of “environmental heresy” after he created a forest with chopped-down trees for a Chanel fashion show in Paris. …His apparent ode to nature for Chanel’s autumn and winter ready-to-wear parade used tonnes of dry leaves strewn on the floor, forest scents and woodlands with a centre-piece of nine oaks. …France Nature Environnement accused it of destoying century-old trees for a three-hour show that amounted to “a heresy which shows the luxury trade’s failure to take the environment into account”. …Chanel said that none of the oak and poplar trees which it acquired from a forest in the Perche region in Normandy had been a century old. “In buying the trees Chanel also promised to replant 100 new oak trees in the heart of the same forest,” it said.

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Business & Politics

U.S. Duties Saw Off a Sizable Chunk of Canadian Lumber Exports

By Greg Quinn
Bloomberg
March 7, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

With the U.S. and Canada at odds over steel and the North American Free Trade Agreement, new figures show how import duties on lumber rattled shipments heading south of the border. Canada’s exports of lumber and sawmill products dropped 14 percent in January, the largest monthly decline since March 2014, according to data released Wednesday in Ottawa. “This decrease occurred as the U.S. Department of Commerce resumed collecting import duties on Canadian lumber in late December 2017,” Statistics Canada report said. The lumber decline along with shutdowns at auto plants — another industry the U.S. administration wants to reshape in its favor — curbed total shipments abroad for the first time in four months. [END]

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U.S. Allies to Sign Sweeping Trade Deal in Challenge to Trump

By Motoko Rich and Ernesto Londono
The New York Times
March 8, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

TOKYO — A trade pact originally conceived by the United States to counter China’s growing economic might in Asia now has a new target: President Trump’s embrace of protectionism. A group of 11 nations — including major United States allies like Japan, Canada and Australia — is set to sign a broad trade deal on Thursday that challenges Mr. Trump’s view of trade as a zero-sum game filled with winners and losers. Covering 500 million people on either side of the Pacific Ocean, the pact will represent a new vision for global trade as the United States threatens to impose steel and aluminum tariffs on even its closest friends and neighbors. Mr. Trump withdrew the United States from an earlier version of the agreement, then known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

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U.S. steel, aluminum tariffs won’t apply to Canada or Mexico right away, Trump adviser says

The Associated Press in CBC News
March 8, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Peter Navarro

Donald Trump’s trade and manufacturing adviser says the U.S. president’s planned tariffs for steel and aluminum imports would not immediately apply to Canada and Mexico. Peter Navarro told Fox Business on Wednesday evening that Trump intends to sign a proclamation including such a clause favouring the two neighbouring countries. Navarro said the tariffs would go into effect within 15 to 30 days. …Trump has signalled that other trade actions could be in the works. In a tweet, he said the “U.S. is acting swiftly on Intellectual Property theft.” A White House official said Trump was referencing an ongoing investigation of China in which the U.S. trade representative is studying whether Chinese intellectual property rules are “unreasonable or discriminatory” to American business.

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Province transfers land to Simpcw First Nation as part of resort approval

By Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development
Government of British Columbia
March 7, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Province is transferring 185 hectares of Crown land in the Tete Jaune Cache and Valemount areas to the Simpcw First Nation, as part of accommodation for the Valemount Glacier Destination resort approval, Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development Minister Doug Donaldson has announced. “We’re pleased to support Simpcw First Nation in re-establishing their presence in this part of their territory,” Donaldson said. “This land transfer is an exciting opportunity for the Simpcw to participate in the economic diversification of Robson Valley.” …The land parcels being transferred to the Simpcw are within the northern portion of the Simpcw’s territory and include a historical village site on the banks of the Fraser River, as well as hunting and fishing camps in proximity to the Cranberry Marsh, the Canoe River and the Village of Valemount. 

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Kruger Products Named One of Canada’s Best Managed Companies in 2018

By Kruger Products L.P.
Cision Newswire
March 8, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

TORONTO – For the first time, the Company is included on this respected list for its overall performance. Kruger Products L.P., Canada’s leading manufacturer of tissue products for consumer in-home and commercial away-from-home use, is recognized for overall business performance and sustained growth with the prestigious 2018 Canada’s Best Managed Companies designation. “We strive to continuously exceed our consumer and customer expectations, while consistently improving our products and processes,” said Dino Bianco, CEO. “Being recognized as part of this revered list is an honour.” Kruger Products has a rigorous planning process that includes all levels of the organization, lead by the Leadership team. The Company believes this is an active-learning experience and contributes to developing their management skills and strategic thinking necessary for sustained success in a dynamic marketplace. 

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US Forest Service chief steps down amid sexual misconduct investigation

By Stephanie Ebbs
ABC News
March 7, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States

Tony Tooke

The chief of the country’s forestry agency has stepped down amid an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct, the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed to ABC News in a statement on Wednesday night. A PBS News investigation first reported allegations against Chief Tony Tooke related to relationships with subordinates prior to when he assumed his current role. The U.S. Forest Service confirmed last week that an independent investigator was looking into concerns about Tooke’s behavior. In a memo to employees Tooke acknowledged the investigation and said he has been cooperating but that he decided to resign to do what is best for the agency. “I have been forthright during the review, but I cannot combat every inaccuracy that is reported in the news media.

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Canfor Southern Pine’s Profiling Performance: Profiling At The Curve Sawing Gang Yields Significant Flow Improvements Downstream

TimberLine
March 7, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

A recent upgrade at a southern yellow pine mill in Alabama has had a major impact on the mill’s productivity with the addition of profiling incorporated into the mill’s curve sawing gang process. The mill was facing daily bottlenecks at the edger that resulted in backed up lumber decks, hours of overtime work to clear the backlog, and continual maintenance to keep the overworked components operating. Today lumber is flowing, and the bottleneck has moved on down the line to the kilns. …“The new system has exceeded all our expectations,” continued Perry. …Based on the success of the recent mill upgrades, the Canfor team is talking about what improvements they can make next.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Large Denver fire kills one person, leaves one missing and one person in critical condition

By John Aguilar
Denver Post
March 8, 2018
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

A three-alarm fire raced through an apartment construction site in the North Capitol Hill neighborhood Wednesday, killing one person and forcing panicked construction workers to jump from the second and third floors to escape the flames. The fire destroyed one building and damaged or destroyed dozens of vehicles, fire officials said. Six people were injured, including one who was in critical condition and one firefighter who suffered minor burns. …Pixley said the fire burned so hot and so quickly because the building was under construction and wood was exposed. “The building behind us had nothing to protect the wood,” fire Capt. Greg Pixley said at a midafternoon news conference, as he gestured to the smoking ruins behind him. In response to questions, Pixley said there is no reason to believe the building wasn’t following the city’s permit process. It was last inspected three days ago, and no issues were reported.

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From tree to wood: Where does it go?

Petoskey News-Review
March 8, 2018
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

NORTHERN MICHIGAN — Ever wondered where wood from local state forests goes after it is logged? Look around any office or home and some forestry products are likely to be hidden in plain sight with some of the products originating from state land timber in this area. Homes tend to owe some of their construction to forest products. The Michigan Forest Products Council lists a 2,000-square foot home as using roughly 13,000 board feet of framing lumber with about 6,200 square feet of sheathing that is often oriented strand board, commonly referred to as OSB. Todd Johnson, forestry services manager for Weyerhaeuser in Grayling and chairman of the Michigan Forest Products Council, said different businesses in Northern Michigan each use different parts of a harvested tree, and some even take the leftover bark and turn it into stored energy. 

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Rotorua pegged for $20m cross-laminated timber factory

By Catherine Harris
Stuff.co.nz
March 8, 2018
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

NEW ZEALAND — A $20 million cross-laminated timber plant is set to be built in Rotorua by the country’s biggest sawmill. Red Stag Wood Solutions will build the plant at its 95 hectare wood processing site and said it saw the investment as a logical next step in the trend towards faster construction and tall timber buildings. “Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) is a product on a rapid growth curve globally”, the mill’s chief executive, Marty Verry, said. …”Our vision is that wood will be the norm in mid-rise buildings by 2030, and I can see the KiwiBuild target being achievable in the early 2020s as a result.” The… plant would create 40 new jobs, mostly in Rotorua.

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Forestry

Study queries how much science behind government wildlife management

By Bob Weber
Canadian Press in the Chronicle Herald
March 7, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

Governments everywhere say they use science to manage wildlife, but newly published research questions whether they actually do. “We were surprised by the overall pattern,” said Kyle Artelle, lead author of a paper published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances. “We certainly weren’t expecting it to be such a low score.” Artelle, a biologist with Simon Fraser University and the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, noticed something odd a few years ago when studying bear management in British Columbia. Although the province said its approach was based on science, Artelle found basic scientific tenets — measurable objectives, clear evidence, transparency and independent review — were missing. How common was that? he wondered.

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Moose make move from boreal forest to prairies

CBC News
March 8, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

More and more in recent years, moose have been making their way onto the prairies in what biologist and author Chris Fisher calls an “opportunistic adaptation.” Normally found in the boreal forest and Rocky Mountains — where they usually spent the winter months feeding on trees and bushes — moose have moved in recent years as they seek out new and easier to acquire food sources. “It’s not unusual going for a drive that certainly we’ll see a lot of pronghorn, elk and deer, but every now and again, you’ll see a big old moose trotting along on the prairie where there’s not a tree in sight,” Fisher, the author of Mammals of Alberta, told the Calgary Eyeopener on Wednesday. …Researchers have begun looking at the effects of moose migration, which Fisher says has so far been limited to “the periphery of the prairie.”

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Cowichan Lake honours the year’s best

By Warren Goulding
BC Local News
March 7, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Lorne Scheffer and Brent Clancy

Lorne Scheffer was beaming as he provided Lake Cowichan Chamber of Commerce members with an update on the work of the Cowichan Lake Community Forest Co-operative. And the smile got a little broader following his speech when he was named the 2017 Lake Cowichan Citizen of the Year.  As the chair of the Forest Co-operative, Scheffer has led the organization in its 10-year quest to obtain a new long term Community Forest Agreement to replace the fixed term 20-year licence they knew would expire in 2017. “We’re going to be able to make an announcement very soon,” Scheffer said… “We’re just waiting to hear from the Ministry but we expect the minister to be here later this year and it will be great news for the Cowichan Lake region,” Scheffer said, confident the new licence is on the way. Scheffer was a popular choice for the prestigious award.

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B.C. environment assessment getting an overhaul

By Tom Fletcher
The Columbia Valley Pioneer
March 7, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

George Hayman

B.C. Environment Minister George Heyman has appointed a 12-member advisory committee to review B.C.’s environmental assessment process, with an emphasis on keeping project approvals from being challenged in court by Indigenous communities. Heyman announced the review Wednesday, emphasizing that while Indigenous people will have an increased role in decision-making, he does not intend it to mean a veto over resource development projects. He said the recent history of conflict and protest against industrial development suggests changes are needed. The advisory committee is co-chaired by Bruce Fraser, a former chair of B.C.’s Forest Practices Board, and Lydia Hwitsum, former chief of the Cowichan Tribes and former chair of the First Nations Health Council.

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McFall Creek runoff concerns property owners

By David Brindle
The Powell River Peak
March 7, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Clearcutting and windfall trees from this winter’s blustery weather are causing concern for Cranberry residents, who say McFall Creek is being blocked on land owned by Island Timberlands and not flowing normally as a result. …Steiger said she thought she was getting somewhere with the company recently. According to an email she received on February 13 from Island Timberlands manager of government and community relations Makenzie Leine, the company had “someone scheduled to be on site today assessing the area so we can develop a plan.” …Steiger said she has done all she can to address and prevent the flooding, but requires action to be taken to stop the flow of water into her garden. 

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Female driver finds her calling behind the wheel of a logging truck on Vancouver Island

By Derek Clouthier
Truck News
March 7, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Jeanna Glendinning

CAMPBELL RIVER, B.C. — If you were a young man growing up on Vancouver Island, chances are good you would eventually find yourself working in the forestry sector just like several of your family members had through the years. If you’re a woman, however, you might need some persuasion to convince you that forestry is a viable career path. Jeanna Glendinning grew up on the island… Despite her family connection to forestry, it wasn’t an obvious choice for Glendinning when it came to her career. On the contrary, it was downright difficult. …Being a woman, just getting her foot in the door was a challenge. …Glendinning drives for Western Forest Products out of Nanaimo, B.C. …David Elstone, executive director of the Truck Loggers’ Association, said he would like to see more women enter the industry.

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West Fraser gives council a fibre and operations update

By Ken Alexander
The Quesnel Cariboo Observer
March 7, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

On Feb. 27, the City of Quesnel council received an update regarding West Fraser Quesnel fibre and operations from regional manager D’Arcy Henderson and woods manager Stuart Lebeck. …Henderson showed a slide that deals with potential supply of logs and some of the challenges with those log capacities – timber supply area volume from 100 Mile House to Quesnel. In 2018, the forecast for available logs is about four million cubic metres short of what it was in 2013 in the terms of meeting supply demand in the Cariboo. Noting the lowering trends in the annual allowable cut of fibre, the general manager noted: …“We are moving logs quite a distance these days. You’ll see trucks from Fort St. James and Mackenzie areas.”

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Revitalizing B.C.’s environmental assessment process

By Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy
Government of British Columbia
March 7, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The provincial government is reviewing British Columbia’s environmental assessment process to ensure the legal rights of First Nations are respected and the public’s expectation of a strong, transparent process is met, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy George Heyman announced today. The newly formed Environmental Assessment Advisory Committee will review and make recommendations on the environmental assessment process. Revitalization of the environmental assessment process will focus on three key outcomes: Enhancing public confidence, transparency and meaningful participation; Advancing reconciliation with First Nations; and Protecting the environment while supporting sustainable economic development.

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Open letter to Minister Des Rosiers – caribou

Multiple writers
Elliot Lake Standard
March 7, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

As northern, grassroots organizations, academics and concerned citizens who have been advocating for environmental and social justice across Northern Ontario, we are dismayed by the recent portrayal that the economic interests of the forestry industry are the “voice of the north”. This has been particularly true during the ongoing debate over the declining state of boreal caribou. In reality, many people in Northern Ontario understand the impacts that industrial logging, fragmentation, and degradation of our forests has on northern species and their habitats. We hope you understand there is a diversity of local perspectives when it comes to managing public/territorial lands in the north. …We want to see the recovery of boreal caribou and of other species in decline. We don’t agree that the forestry industry, their lobbyists and supporting organizations represent our perspectives on this issue. We hope that you, the minister, will consider our perspectives, and others, when consulting with “the north”.

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Congress must act to protect forests from worsening fires

By Bill Imbergamo, Federal Forest Resource Coalition
The Hill (blog)
March 7, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

Over the last decade, communities across America have experienced longer and more intense fire seasons, averaging a full 60 days longer than in the past. In some places, fire season now means practically the entire calendar year.  …America’s fire crisis is threatening communities, damaging fish and wildlife habitat, degrading watersheds, and trashing the budgets of our federal land management agencies. If Congress does nothing, the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management will continue to see fire suppression expenses consume larger and larger portions of their budgets. …Here’s the good news: there are bipartisan approaches to fixing this problem that have been introduced in Congress since 2013. Congress recently came close – yet again – to passing legislation.

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Attracting and keeping the next generation of loggers

By Larsen Arndt, D&S Logging, Oregon
The Independent
March 7, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

…There’s been a lot of talk in our industry about attracting young people. A lot of us have been trying to address the problem. …Our industry has acted like loggers would always be here. But they aren’t. Just like re-growing a healthy forest takes effort on level of the industry, so will re-growing a skilled, younger workforce. …We’ll never take all the uncertainty out of the woods; we deal with crazy weather, unpredictable markets and many other things beyond human control. But if everyone, contractors and timber companies alike, are willing to come to the table and solve this problem, we’ll make a difference. With more effort, careful planning and more money in our guy’s paychecks, we can certainly make the woods a great place to work.

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Good forestry helps keep Lane County water quality high

By Fran Cafferata Coe, Oregon Society of American Foresters
The Register-Guard
March 8, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Fran Cafferata Coe

As chair of the Oregon Society of American Foresters, I must respond to Samantha Chirillo’s Feb. 23 guest viewpoint, “ODF needs rigor, transparency in forest herbicide science,”. …Oregon’s landmark Forest Practices Act, the first-in-the-nation legislation to regulate forest management, led the way toward adopting best practices based in sound science. It remains current today with nearly 40 revisions since 1971. Its forestry regulations are among the strictest in the nation, incorporating more than 45 years of science to safeguard our water, fish and wildlife habitat, soil and air — including large buffers around streams. …It is simply irresponsible and reckless to suggest through hearsay, in the face of overwhelming evidence and years of sound scientific data to the contrary, that our drinking water is anything but the safest and highest quality anywhere in the country.

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Franklin College earns award for forestry efforts

Daily Journal
March 8, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Franklin College has earned a national award for its efforts to teach conservation and to manage its campus forests. The college has earned a Tree Campus USA recognition for the fifth consecutive year by the Arbor Day Foundation. Tree Campus USA is a national program created in 2008 by the Arbor Day Foundation to honor colleges and universities for effective campus forest management and for engaging staff and students in conservation goals.

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Start to finish: What’s the DNR’s role in forest management?

Petoskey News-Review
March 1, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

OTSEGO COUNTY — The landscape of forests in Northern Michigan’s public lands has changed through the decades and that landscape continues to change from year to year as areas are cut, thinned, replanted, strategically and carefully burned or allowed to grow by state stewards. Currently, those forests are managed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR). But what does that management look like and how does the process unfold in a region flush with state land? Steve Milford, DNR Eastern Lower Peninsula district supervisor, said in the 19th century, forests were cut by lumber barons who had different goals than many today.

 

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Sweet! Students build a sugar house from wood they sourced responsibly

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative
Treehugger
March 7, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

When students are given the opportunity to work alongside professionals in their field and perform a community service, the rewards can be great. We could all learn a lot from the students in the Forestry Natural Resources Program at Stafford Technical Center in Rutland, Vermont. For a two-semester class project, they worked toward building a sugar house (and more!) from studying forest health to sourcing the timber, learning forestry skills and creating the structure. …The Rutland City Forester and Arborist helped the students identify a declining plantation stand of red pine in the Rutland City Forest in Mendon, Vermont. Threats from insect infestation and the need to improve songbird habitat helped guide the forest management decision to perform a prescribed patch cut and liquidate the timber.

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Wildfires set to increase: Could we be sitting on a tinderbox in Europe?

By The European Commission Joint Research Centre
EurekAlert
March 7, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: International

2017 was one of the worst years on record for fires in Europe, with over 800,000 hectares of land burnt in Portugal, Italy and Spain alone. As the world gets warmer and Europe’s land gets drier, fires are set to get even worse – and not just for the hottest countries around the Mediterranean. Even relatively safe Alpine mountain regions will see a rapid increase in fire danger unless action is taken to limit climate change and reduce the main causes for wildfires starting and spreading. These warnings come from a JRC study of factors affecting fire danger across the continent. Scientists modelled fire danger for several weather and climate scenarios. The study compares a high greenhouse gas emissions scenario to one in which global warming is limited to 2°C above pre-industrial levels, run across several models to assess patterns of danger up to the end of the century.

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VicForests charged over alleged illegal logging in Gippsland forest

By Adam Carey
The Sydney Morning Herald
March 8, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Victoria’s state-owned forestry corporation has been charged with illegal logging of a rainforest in East Gippsland after a near two-year investigation. The Andrews government’s Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning is pursuing VicForests over alleged destruction of a protected section of native forest near Cann River in the state’s far east. VicForests will defend the charges in court next month.  If found guilty of breaching the Sustainable Forests Act it will face financial penalties of up to $38,000. The state-owned company is sole supplier to the Heyfield timber mill in Gippsland, which the government purchased last year at a cost to taxpayers of more than $62 million.

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Health & Safety

Merritt man killed in northern BC logging truck crash

By Greg Fly
CFJC Today
March 7, 2018
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada, Canada West

FORT ST. JAMES — A logging truck crash in northern BC has claimed the life of a Merritt man. Police say it happened early Wednesday just after 6 a.m. on the 100 Forest Service Road north of Fort St. James. “On scene police discovered that a loaded logging truck had gone off the road and down a 15-foot embankment,” says North District Cpl. Madonna Saunderson. “The crash caused the logs to shift into the cab, trapping the driver. The driver, and lone occupant, a 44 year old man from Merritt, was pronounced deceased at the scene.” The man’s identity has not been released.

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Sawmill explosion fine appealed once again

By Rod Link
BC Local News
March 7, 2018
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada, Canada West

The majority owners of Babine Forest Products are trying once again to stay a fine of more than $1 million that was levied following the Jan. 20, 2012 explosion and fire which killed two workers and destroyed the facility. Oregon-based Hampton Affiliates was first fined in 2014 by WorkSafeBC and has already been unsuccessful in having the fine stayed by having it reviewed internally by WorkSafeBC. The latest review by WorkSafeBC was released last November, with Hampton officials saying they weren’t surprised their request to have it stayed was turned down as the fine originated with WorkSafeBC in the first place. But now it’s moved its appeal to the provincial Workers’ Compensation Appeal Tribunal which is independent of WorkSafeBC.

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