Daily Archives: March 16, 2018

Today’s Takeaway

Washington Post gives Trump four Pinocchios on US trade deficit with Canada

March 16, 2018
Category: Today's Takeaway

Trade dominates the airwaves again. Notable headlines include:

  • Trump gets four Pinocchios on trade deficit with Canada (Washington Post)
  • Canada’s dependency on the US looks like a liability (National Post
  • Duties are a critical cost challenge for Catalyst (Vancouver Sun)
  • Gov. Lepage challenged on why logs went to Canadian company (Maine Free Press)

In Business news: Norbord suspends OSB mill in BC due to a lack of wood; BC economist Finlayson says economic outlook stable but politicians lose sight of the importance resource-based industries; US construction material prices continue to rise; and US homebuilder optimism is down for a third straight month.

Climate change studies speak to the risk: of permafrost loss in Europe; the loss of wildlife in the Amazon; and UN projects doing more harm than good in Africa.

Finally, can concrete be improved with wood nanocrystals? Can plastic drink cartons be made with wood? Yes and Yes!

–Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor

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Froggy Foibles

Photosynthesis turns your tabletop into a three-dimensional cardboard forest

The Guardian
March 16, 2018
Category: Froggy Foibles
Region: International

Blue Orange Games launches Photosynthesis. Players take control of species of trees, all vying to dominate a woodland canopy. You’ll compete to plant seeds in prime spots on the forest floor, growing your tiny saplings into towering giants. It might all sound very sedate and gentle, but this is a game as fiercely competitive as natural selection itself. You’ll need to aggressively seize space on the board, thinking several moves ahead and cutting off opportunities for your rivals. You’ll aim to tower over your opponents’ trees, soaking up life-giving sunlight while casting them into shadow. It’s simple and elegant, but it squeezes some real thought out of its straightforward design. It’s also visually striking. As you play, you’ll place three-dimensional cardboard trees on the board, creating a dense, colourful forest. It’s a pleasing combination of looks and brains, and it will bring you back to the table time and time again.

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Business & Politics

Canada’s staggering trade dependency on the U.S. looks like a liability

The National Post
March 14, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Canada’s unfettered access to the world’s biggest economy was once seen as an immense advantage. But now Canadian businesses’ huge dependence on trade with U.S. firms is seen as a liability. U.S. President Donald Trump’s undeclared trade war on many things Canadian — planes, dairy, newsprint, lumber, steel and aluminum, among others — has left the prospects of many U.S.-exposed industries hanging in the balance. The graphics below illustrate the staggering depth of dependency of Canadian goods on the American marketplace. [END]

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Here’s why Trump keeps saying — wrongly — the U.S. has a trade deficit with Canada

By Glenn Kessler
The Washington Post
March 15, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

 …In some ways, this exchange reflects the conversation between Trudeau and Trump. Trudeau said the two countries had a surplus, while Trump said, no, it’s a deficit. Trump claimed one of his aides went to check and reported: “Well sir, you’re actually right. We have no deficit, but that doesn’t include energy and timber. But when you do we lose 17 billion dollars a year.” So, there was a $17 billion trade deficit in merchandise goods in 2017 between the United States and Canada, primarily because the United States imported about $77 billion worth of mineral products (primarily oil) from Canada — more than one-quarter of all Canadian exports — while exporting about $21 billion of mineral products back. There’s also a big gap in timber, since Canada possibly has more trees than people. …The Pinocchio Test: … If [Trump] had bothered to listen to Trudeau’s explanation, he might have learned something.

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Lawmakers Ask Why Logs Not Delivered to Mill Owners Who Oppose LePage

By Christine Parrish
The Free Press Online
March 15, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Paul LePage

Chris and Jason Brochu, who own and operate four Maine sawmills and strongly favor tariffs on Canadian lumber, were expecting a February delivery of logs from Maine state forests to keep the sawmills operating smoothly. They didn’t get it. Instead, LePage administrators delivered logs to Stratton Lumber, a Canadian-owned company in western Maine that they said had a three-week supply. Maine lawmakers want to know if it was politics that was behind why the Stratton mill got wood and the Brochu mills did not. LePage strongly opposes Canadian lumber tariffs. …The basic question: Who decided who got the wood and what was the reasoning behind it?

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Kruger Tariff Based On Another Company: Ball

VOCM.com
March 15, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

An anti-dumping tariff that’s expected to cost Corner Brook Pulp and Paper tens of millions of dollars a year is based on a review of another Canadian company. …Premier Dwight Ball says the latest 22.16 per cent anti-dumping tariff is based on a completely different formula, and Kruger wasn’t even involved. …Ball says Catalyst set the 22.16 per cent benchmark, and other companies that were reviewed, like Resolute, had no anti-dumping tariffs placed on them. Ball says it’s strange for Corner Brook Pulp and Paper to be stuck with a tariff based on zero analysis of their dumping products into the United States.

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B.C.’s Catalyst hit with second salvo of duties in U.S. paper trade war

By Derrick Penner
Vancouver Sun
March 14, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Catalyst Paper

Richmond-headquartered Catalyst Paper has been hit with a second round of punitive duties on U.S.-bound exports in a trade dispute launched by a single American mill. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross has hit B.C.’s Catalyst Paper with a second round of punitive duties in a trade dispute with a U.S. paper mill. …North of the border, CEO Ned Dwyer characterized the trade action as “unwarranted and without merit,” which the company will continue to fight. Directory paper was excluded from the action, Dwyer said, but “the remaining anti-dumping and countervailing duties are onerous and a critical cost challenge for Catalyst.”

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100 Mile OSB Mill to temporarily suspend operations due to a lack of wood

By Max Winkelman
The Williams Lake Tribune
March 15, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Norbord oriented strand board mill in 100 Mile House will suspend production temporarily due to a wood shortage. The suspension is expected to commence on about May 14 and to last for about one month. The 2017 wildfires damaged logging areas; and the severe winter weather conditions this winter have limited loggers’ ability to access the forests during the months when the mill typically build annual inventory, according to a release by Norbord. …During the suspension, Norbord will continue to supply its customers with OSB from its other mills and 100 Mile will continue to receive log deliveries during this period. Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett asked in the legislature for permits to log the wood around the mill.

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Economic outlook projects stable growth for B.C.

By Barry Gerding
The Revelstoke Review
March 14, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Jock Finlayson

The projected growth for B.C.’s economy over the next two years should be consistent but not robust, says one of the leading economists in the province. …While clean and environmental-friendly technology may be the growth sector of the future, Finlayson said green-thinking politicians in Ottawa and Victoria are losing sight of the importance resource-based industries play in our current economic fortunes. “The Canfor forest products company had more exports out of B.C. last year than the entire clean technology industry did across Canada,” Finlayson said. …“If you look to our export growth, half of our exports come from resource-based industries. In B.C., that mark rises to 75 per cent. …“So that makes up 70 per cent of Canada’s exports, while clean environment technology exports amount to 3.7 per cent, yet that is where politicians in Ottawa spend all of their attention.”

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Solid Timberland Performance to Aid Rayonier’s Growth

By Zacks Equity Research
Nasdaq
March 15, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States

Rayonier ‘s portfolio of timberlands reflects a geographical diversity and is likely to benefit from developments in biogenetics & cloning that boost growth of trees. The company has also upgraded its U.S. South portfolio through strategic acquisitions and is expected to gain from the recovery of nation’s housing sector. However, Rayonier faces competition from its substitutes and other market players in the timberland sector. …Notably, Rayonier owns or leases around 2.6 million acres of timberlands in some of the most productive timber-growing regions of the U.S. South, Pacific Northwest and New Zealand. …Moreover, recent developments in the field of biogenetics and cloning have provided a tremendous impetus to the timberland REIT’s business. Application of biogenetics leads to fast growth in trees, ensuring proper size for maximum extraction of wood. 

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ABC: Construction materials prices continue to expand briskly in February

Building Design + Construction
March 15, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States

Overall construction input prices rose 0.7% in February, slightly lower than the rate set in January, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Compared to February 2017, prices are up 5.2%. Nonresidential construction materials prices are also up 0.4% on a monthly basis and 4.9% compared to the same time last year. Prices for all 11 subcategories increased year over year, and only three saw monthly declines. …“For the last several months, construction firms have become increasingly concerned about rising construction materials prices,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. …These factors include global monetary policy… a strong U.S. construction market and a policymaking environment that has impacted the price of softwood lumber, steel and aluminum.

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3 concerns of homebuilders that could affect every American

By Leia Klingel
Fox Business News
March 15, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States

Homebuilders’ optimism is retreating, and the factors behind the decline – land, labor and lumber – could affect every American who owns or rents a house. A gauge of sentiment among homebuilders declined in March for a third straight month. While builders are still positive about the housing market, they see some potential cost pinches, some of which are related to government policy. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index fell this month to 70, the lowest reading since last November. The stock market reacted, with major U.S. homebuilders… trading lower. The retreat in homebuilders’ optimism comes amid concerns that tariffs will increase raw costs of building a home.

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Prices for Wood, Other Construction Materials far Outpace Other Commodities, Bureau of Labor Statistics Says

By Craig Webb
ProSales Magazine
March 14, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States

Wholesale prices for construction products–particularly wood–have risen several times faster than for wholesale goods overall, today’s Producer Price Index report shows. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) monthly report found softwood plywood prices were 26.9% higher in February than in the same month in 2017 and had risen 5.3% just since January. Meanwhile, wholesale prices for wood trusses rose 17.3% and 4.6%, respectively, while laminated veneer lumber prices rose 4.8% for the year and 0.1% over the month. Millwork productsrose 4.4% for the year and 1.2% for the month. …Not all wholesale wood prices shot up. The index for stock wood kitchen cabinets, related cabinetwork, and countertops has gone down 0.1% since February 2017 but did rose 0.7% in February from January. And the index for wood window units was up just 2.0% for the year and was unchanged from January.

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Lumber prices are up, local industries concerned

ByDennis Valera
Your Central Valley
March 15, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US West

FRESNO, California – One for the record books: lumber prices are going up and those who sell it say there are a number of reasons. However, it all comes down to supply and demand. Jack Holt, president of Fresno’s Holt Lumber, said since November he’s seen lumber prices go up 40-percent. He credits it to an unseasonably warm winter helping demand not let up for the material. …Other factors, according to Holt, are rising transportation costs. Not to mention our devastating fire season. Those who lost their homes in fires — like the Detwiler Fire and other state fires, like the Santa Rosa Fire — are starting to rebuild. …Darius Assemi, president of Granville Homes, said the price hikes mean a higher home price for his industry.

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Savanna Pallets not just a ‘run of the mill’ manufacturer

By Brielle Bredsten
Aitkin Independent Age
March 16, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

Over a half million board feet of lumber pass through the sawmills at Savanna Pallets in McGregor each week.  The company’s customers include some of the region’s largest manufacturers. Aitkin County Commissioner Bill Pratt recently visited with Co-owner Allen Raushel with a goal to see what the county could do to foster the local business of 40 years. …Savanna Pallets utilizes a wide variety of wood species, of various diameters. Loggers are able to market a wide variety of wood to Savanna Pallets because the company makes use of pieces that might not be of grade, according to Raushel.  “From stem to stump, we are using the entire tree,” Raushel said. However, a problem the industry faces is finding an outlet for biomass. Biomass is organic matter used as a fuel, especially in a power station for the generation of electricity.

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McBain’s Biewer Sawmill constructing new facility, hiring 17 additional workers

By Chris Lamphere
Cadillac News
March 16, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

MCBAIN, MICHIGAN — Responding to increased demand for their products, Biewer Sawmill plans to build a brand new facility on their property in McBain and hire 17 additional workers. Shawn Johnstone, director of Michigan sawmills for Biewer, said they will be constructing a 50-by-350-foot addition to house new sawmilling equipment and a continuous dry kiln. “We needed to increase our drying capacity,” Johnstone said. “This will increase capacity by 50 percent.” …He expects construction will begin in April and should be finished by November or December.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Sudbury architecture school’s design stands out

By Jim Moodie
The Sudbury Star
March 15, 2018
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada East

In fact, it’s up for an award. …The McEwen School of Architecture… was built not only to house students of building design but, through its own form and functionality, inspire them. Now the educational complex …[is] shortlist for a design excellence award from the Ontario Association of Architects. …The school also features a relatively new type of building material in its use of cross-laminate timber. “It was a first time using a product that’s very relevant to the economic future of Ontario, and it references a lot of the past of the North,” said Janna Levitt, a partner in the Toronto-based firm that designed the school. Levitt said CLT has been used in Europe — where it is called thick wood — for about 15 years, but is now catching on more in Canada. …The laminated timber…came from Quebec but Levitt said southern Ontario will soon have its own factory, and “a place like Sudbury could become a centre for manufacturing CLT.”

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Pro-forestry bill killed by prorogation: Fedeli

The Timmins Press
March 15, 2018
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada East

Vic Fedeli

A private member’s bill aimed at helping Northern forestry is among the casualties of today’s “needless and desperate” decision by Premier Wynne to prorogue the legislature, says Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli. Wynne announced today that the lieutenant governor accepted her advice to prorogue the legislature as of 1:30 p.m. today. The government’s plans for the new session will be outlined in the Speech from the Throne March 19. Fedeli’s Bill 169, the Ontario Forestry Revitalization Act (14-storey wood buildings), 2017, was slated for second reading debate on March 29, but instead dies on the order paper. The act would have amended the Ontario Building Code to allow for wood frame construction to be used in mid-rise buildings up to 14 stories, instead of the current six stories.

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Concrete Builds Strength Thanks to Wood Nanocrystals

By Jeffrey Heimgartner
Engineering.com
March 14, 2018
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States

Concrete and wood are the literal building blocks of civilization. The latter is a given, but materials similar to concrete date back to before 6500 BC. Ancient Egyptians used it, and then the Romans took the concept a step further and added volcanic ash to make the material stronger and water resistant. …Concrete has proven its abilities, but is it strong enough for the next stage of civilization? Researchers at Purdue University tackled that question but with a modern twist, asking: Could concrete be made stronger by infusing it with microscopic-sized nanocrystals made from wood? According to a recent press release, the answer is yes, and it’s about to be tested on a bridge in California.

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Two Timber Skyscraper Towers Set For Construction

CRL Construction Insurance for the Venturous of Spirit
March 15, 2018
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

There are many reasons why timber is being advocated as a structural material for tall buildings. Unlike concrete and steel, it is a renewable resource. Other potential benefits include improved construction timelines, reduced costs, better fire resistance, and a reduction in overall building weight. Proposals are currently being developed to create a one million square foot mixed-use tower in central London. It would contain over 1,000 new flats and be integrated within the Barbican. …The most obvious concern for residents of timber homes is risk of fire. However, the project team said that the building would meet every fire regulation currently in place for concrete and steel buildings. According to recent research, timber buildings can have beneficial effects on the health of their occupants. It has even been suggested that children in schools constructed from timber can learn better than in concrete school buildings.

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Renewable by design: the eco-carton that replaces fossil fuels with wood-based resin.

Bio-Based World News
March 15, 2018
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

A three-company partnership has developed a completely biodegradable and sustainable drinks carton, replacing the plastic that can make traditional equivalents hard to recycle with a wood-based alternative. Called naphtha, the wood-based chemical has been produced by Finnish company, UPM Biofuels, which along with Elopak and Dow have created the packaging that will completely remove fossil-based raw materials from their production. Using its unique process, UPM Biofuels is able to engineer the raw materials that make naphtha into a packaging-friendly resin that can be used to keep contents fresh and prevent leaks. …Should the packaging enter the mainstream it stands to make a huge impact on the packagain industry – Elopak, the Norwegian packaging company, already supplies the world with 15bn cartons made from traditional methods.

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Where did the wood of Jesus’ cross come from?

By Philip Kosloski
Aleteia
March 16, 2018
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

Not surprisingly, the wood that Jesus was hung upon nearly 2,000 years ago is itself the subject of many myths and legends. Medieval Christians believed that everything was made for a purpose and that the wood of Jesus’ cross could not have been from a random tree, but from a specific tree with great spiritual symbolism. One of the most popular tales is narrated in a manuscript from the 12th century entitled On the derivation of the Wood of the Cross from the Tree of Knowledge. In it a Christian monk named Lambertus shares the legend.

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Forestry

FPAC and Earth Rangers Announce Living Forests Initiative

Forest Products Association of Canada
Earth Rangers
March 15, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

Derek Nighbor

Healthy, vibrant and sustainable Canadian forests is the theme of a new youth-focused initiative announced today by Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) and Earth Rangers, the kids’ conservation organization. Announced on the sidelines of the GLOBE Forum the joint Living Forests Initiative will focus on educating youth about the many benefits healthy, living forests provide — and what needs to be done to ensure they continue to thrive for generations to come. …“We view this partnership with Earth Rangers as an important part of FPAC’s continuing efforts to engage and communicate to the public” says Derek Nighbor, chief executive officer of the Forest Products Association of Canada.

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Natural Resources Defense Council has it wrong

Forest Products Association of Canada
March 14, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

…In a blog post last week, NRDC stated: “Ontario doubled down on a policy that jeopardizes the future of boreal caribou and other at-risk species in the province, gifting the logging industry two more years of exemptions under Ontario’s Endangered Species Act (ESA). These exemptions, as we reported in January, have severe implications for threatened boreal caribou in the province, giving industry a near-carte blanche to degrade and destroy critical habitat.” This comment grossly misrepresents what we know to be true here in Ontario. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources “is proposing that an independent panel be formed that will provide advice on consideration of species at risk in Crown forest management”. This is not an exemption from managing species at risk but an opportunity to develop a solution that harmonizes with existing legislation, with all parties at the table.

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Pacific Forestry Centre assists Province and industry in assessing efficacy of breeding programs in southern Vancouver Island seed orchards

By David Dunn, Robert Kowbel, and Annette van Niejenhuis
Natural Resources Canada
March 14, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Natural Resources Canada, Pacific Forestry Centre (PFC), Analytical Chemistry Lab is performing DNA microsatellite marker analysis of select foliage and seed to assess self-pollination rates in Western redcedar (Thuja plicata) and external pollen contamination rates in Coastal Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii) in southern Vancouver Island seed orchards.  Approximately 5,000 individual tests of Western redcedar and Douglas-fir are being conducted at the PFC lab to help orchardists ensure sufficient seed of high genetic value is produced through tree breeding, seed-orchard production, and related activities to meet reforestation objectives and enhance timber supply and quality. 

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$100,000 kicks off new wildfire recovery campaign

By Max Winkelman
BC Local News
March 15, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

There’s some extra recovery support coming for communities affected by the 2017 wildfires. CN, partnered with Tree Canada, is pledging $100,000 to kickstart #OperationReLeaf. Tree Canada is asking for support to help restore as many community green spaces as possible. B.C. Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, Doug Donaldson expressed gratitude for the initiative. “We appreciate CN and Tree Canada providing funding and expertise to assist with B.C.’s wildfire recovery efforts. This is an excellent example of how national charities and private businesses can work together to make a difference. Supporting communities affected by last year’s wildfires continues to be one of our government’s top priorities.” Tree Canada’s campaign after the Fort McMurray wildfires raised enough money to plant more than 70,000 trees.

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Fire retardant roofed structures more likely to survive fires

BC Local News
March 15, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Stephanie Masun

Now that it’s spring, people may be focused on preparing their property for the summer in the case last year’s is a repeat. There was no better way to figure out how to do that than attending the Fire Smart and Era of Megafires presentations. The Fire Smart meetings were on March 5 at the 108 Community Hall and at the Lac la Hache Community Hall on March 8. At the meetings the Cariboo Regional District Recovery Manager, Stephanie Masun, the BC Wildfire Services and in the 108 Meeting, Marcelle Ried, the local fire chief. …Shelly Harden of the Wildfire Service said people should make their roofs out of fire retardant materials, as resting embers is one of the leading causes of houses and structures catching fire. According to her presentation, 85 to 90 percent of homes with fire retardant roofs survive major fires and the majority of structures burning is because of embers and not the fire itself.

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Forest back on death row

Letter by Hermann Ziltener, Gibsons
Sunshine Coast Reporter
March 15, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

BC Timber Sales (BCTS) recently published their five-year plan of forestry operations. I was dismayed to discover that DL 1313 is again targeted for clear-cut logging. DL 1313 is a healthy low-elevation forest with large firs and cedars that regenerated after a big forest fire in 1904. It has never been logged, except some limited hand logging before the fire and has an intact ecosystem that is typical for a maritime forest. It is one of very few remaining mature forests in our area, can be easily reached and is enjoyed by many. …It is time to change this cycle and remove DL 1313 once and for all from the BCTS logging inventory. The forest with its rich biodiversity is an asset for all of us. Once logged, wildlife and forest diversity in our area will be lost forever. …While I support a healthy forest industry and accept that some trees will need to be harvested, there also must be a balance and consideration for other forest users.

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Province admits old-growth forest may have been cut for fuel

By Aaron Beswick
The Truro Daily
March 15, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Danny George

The provincial government is admitting that an area of Crown land being cut primarily to support Nova Scotia Power’s biomass burner may include old-growth forest. “We acknowledge the possibility of old forest or oldgrowth in there,” said Mark Pulsifer, regional resource manager for the Department of Natural Resources. …Following that initial investigation, the department is assembling a team to examine the entire area south of Salmon River that is accessed by Loon Lake Road near Guysborough. The revelation raises questions about how the department could not, as it claims, know what is being cut off the Crown land under its care. In 2012, the province signed over management of all the Crown land in the seven eastern counties to Port Hawkesbury Paper.

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Alaska’s old-growth forests are our climate-change insurance policy

By Dominick DellaSala, Ph.D. (Geos Institute) and Gordon Orians, Ph.D. (University of Washington)
Seattle Times
March 15, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

DellaSala and Orians

The Tongass National Forest in Alaska …is facing an unprecedented threat. At the end of last year, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, introduced two legislative budget riders aimed at allowing thousands of acres of pristine, roadless old-growth rain forest on the Tongass and the Chugach National Forest to be clear-cut. We recently joined more than 220 of our fellow scientists from Alaska and across the country in sending a letter to Congress urging members to reject these backdoor efforts to undermine long-standing roadless and old-growth forest protections. Murkowski’s first rider would exempt all of the federal forests in Alaska from one of the country’s most important conservation safeguards — the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. The second rider would overturn the Tongass forest plan, which protects roadless areas and other ecologically important lands from logging and charts a transition away from logging old-growth forest.

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Nordic forestry industry at risk from deep thaw below Arctic Circle

The Business Times
March 16, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: International

The forest floors below the Arctic Circle are usually frozen solid this time of year, hard enough to support the giant timber machines needed to harvest their wood. But that is changing, according to the foresters who work the land in Finland and Sweden. Unusually mild winters are turning once icy grounds into thick layers of mud capable of swallowing up the 25 tonne vehicles used to gather the materials that go into pulp, paper and packaging. “We will see more and more of these difficult conditions,” Uno Brinnen, head of forestry at Sweden’s BillerudKorsnas AB, said in an interview. …countries and companies in the region are being forced to adopt new ways of conducting traditional business. …It has also started using bigger wheels and rubber tracks on some machines.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Ottawa offering $500M for projects aimed at cutting greenhouse gasses

By Gemma Karstens-Smith
Canadian Press in the National Observer
March 15, 2018
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

Minister Catherine McKenna

VANCOUVER — Ottawa is offering $500 million to businesses, local governments and advocacy groups for new ideas on how to cut Canada’s carbon footprint. Environment Minister Catherine McKenna says the government’s Low Carbon Economy Challenge will dole out the money over the next four years to fund projects aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, while also saving energy and creating green jobs. McKenna says those projects could look to cut emissions in the forest industry, make homes more energy efficient, or clean up the transportation sector. Groups of all sizes will be eligible for $450 million of the funding, while $50 million is being set aside for Indigenous communities, small- and medium-sized businesses, non-profit organizations and small municipalities.

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UN forest project ‘does more harm than good’

By Alex Kirby
Climate News Network
March 14, 2018
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

LONDON – The harm a UN forest project in Africa is doing to local people is greater than the good it is managing to achieve for them, researchers say. They say they have found significant flaws in conservation projects in a densely-forested region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where a decision on future investment by the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility(FCPF) is imminent. The DRC province of Mai-Ndombe, with an estimated 73,000 indigenous people, has 10 million hectares of forest and the world’s largest wetland of international importance. It is a testing ground for international climate schemes designed to halt forest destruction, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reward indigenous and other local people who care for the forests.

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Half of All Wildlife Could Disappear from the Amazon, Galapagos and Madagascar Due to Climate Change

By Eli Meixler
Time Magazine
March 14, 2018
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

As much as half of wildlife and 60% of plants in the world’s richest forests could be at risk of extinction in the next century if stronger efforts aren’t taken to combat climate change, according to a new report on the risks of rising global temperatures. The landmark study was conducted by the World Wildlife Fund, University of East Anglia, and the James Cook University, and published on Tuesday in the journal Climatic Change. It warns that rising temperatures and associated phenomena, including extreme storms, erratic rainfall patterns, and prolonged droughts, could have disastrous effects on some of the world’s most biodiverse areas, including the Amazon river basin, Galapagos islands, southwestern Australia, and coasts of Europe and the Caribbean.

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