Daily Archives: June 18, 2018

Today’s Takeaway

California and Quebec close carbon market to Ontario given Ford’s plan to scrap cap-and-trade

June 18, 2018
Category: Today's Takeaway

California and Quebec have closed their carbon market to Ontario after premier-elect Doug Ford announced an end to the provincial cap-and-trade system. In other Business news: Scotiabank says a trade war would knock North American markets into recession; Steve Forbes (Forbes Magazine) speaks out against US newsprint tariffs; and Reuters reports that “NAFTA isn’t dead yet”.

In Forestry news: clearcuts are blamed for flooding in New Brunswick; limiting logging is viewed as the best way to manage Pacific Northwest forests; while a lack of harvesting is blamed for forest deterioration in Arizona and New Mexico; and more logging is needed to address BC’s persistent under-harvest of coastal hemlock-balsam stands.

Finally; in line with plans to reinvent its sustainability image, a Chicago McDonald’s is featuring cross laminated timber! 

–Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor

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Business & Politics

Ramifications of a trade war: Experts look at the numbers for Canada

By Andy Blatchford
The Globe and Mail
June 17, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

A new analysis of escalating trade disputes involving the United States warns that a deterioration into an all-out, global trade war would knock North America’s economies into recession. The report by Scotiabank said if the U.S. breaks all trade ties with its partners – and imposes across-the-board tariffs that average 20 per cent – then Canada and Mexico would see their economies contract in 2020. For Canada, it predicts the economy would shrink 1.8 per cent. “A ramp-up in protectionism in the U.S. results in a negative impact on growth in each of the NAFTA partners’ economies,” said the report. 

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Canada says agreed with U.S. to keep NAFTA alive, no talks set

By David Ljunggren
Reuters
June 15, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

 

Chrystia Freeland

Canada agreed with the United States on Thursday that slow-moving talks to update NAFTA should continue although they did not set a date for the next round, a senior official said in remarks casting further doubt on the chances of a deal this year. Negotiations to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement started last August and were initially scheduled to finish by the end of December. That deadline has been extended several times as Canada and Mexico struggle to accommodate far-reaching U.S. demands for change… “We decided … to continue our negotiations on NAFTA,” Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said in Washington after she met U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

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The U.S. Should Reject a Ruinous New Tax on America’s Free Press Tradition

By Steve Forbes, Chairman of Forbes Media
Real Clear Markets
June 18, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

The United States may  impose tariffs on Canadian imports on what is commonly called newsprint. Remember, tariffs are sales taxes, pure and simple. The only thing worse than overt protectionism is protectionism that threatens the exercise of Americans’ First Amendment freedoms. …Few issues in the Trump presidency have prompted more debate and controversy than trade policy. …But there is a difference between updating agreements such as NAFTA and upending a coherent U.S trade strategy by lurching into  piecemeal imposition of tariffs to benefit individual companies. …NORPAC’s petition is an example of protectionist cronyism.  Among U.S. paper producers, the company is conspicuously alone in its petition for protective tariffs. The trade association that represents paper mills, the American Forest and Paper Association, opposes the tariffs.

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Unifor reaches tentative agreement with Catalyst Paper

By Unifor Canada
Cision Newswire
June 16, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER – A new four-year tentative agreement has been reached between Catalyst Paper and Unifor, representing approximately 750 workers in British Columbia.”This agreement achieves the pattern bargaining goals that Unifor set for the western pulp sector, which is helping to raise standards across the board,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias. “I congratulate the bargaining committee on obtaining a fair deal in these very challenging times for the Canadian pulp and paper industry.”…Details of the collective agreement will be released upon ratification, which will take place next week.

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US builders say Trump’s tariffs are adding $9000 to new home price, and that’s not all

By Steve Brown
Post-Bulletin
June 15, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US West

LAS VEGAS — Higher lumber costs, labor shortages and growing regulations are holding U.S. builders back as they try to ramp up construction to meet the huge demand for housing. After starting about 850,000 single-family homes nationwide last year, builders around the country are forecast to construct almost 910,000 houses this year and increase production to 1 million homes by 2020, says Robert Dietz, chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders. The rise in construction still won’t be enough, Dietz said at a meeting of the National Association of Real Estate Editors. …“We get a third of the lumber we use in the U.S. from Canada,” he said. “A lumber tariff is very much a tax on homebuyers. It’s pushed up the price of a typical home by $9,000.” Dietz said a lack of construction industry workers is also limiting homebuilding in many U.S. markets.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Polycarbonate Dock Building by Michael Green Architecture glows on Vancouver beachfront

By Bridget Cogley
Dezeen Magazine
June 16, 2018
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

Vancouver firm Michael Green Architecture has built a boathouse for storing racing shells and sails and monitoring maritime activity, with translucent walls and garage doors. The Dock Building was built for the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club on a modest budget by the local architecture studio. …Because the building sits close to the waterfront, providing a strong structural foundation was a major design challenge. To construct the facility, a series of glulam engineered wood posts set deep into the ground, while timber beams infill decking and walls. …Interiors surfaces are mostly plywood, which is a common material used in sail lofts because it is hard-wearing, and also easily replaceable.

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Downtown’s new McDonald’s shows off its cross-laminated timber design

By Jay Koziarz
Curbed Chicago
June 15, 2018
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

A far cry from the kitschy memorabilia of the Rock ’n’ Roll-themed building it replaces, the essentially all-new design of River North’s flagship McDonalds at 600 N. Clark Street is finally starting to come together. At its heart is an innovative construction material known as Cross Laminated Timber. In line with the fast food brand’s plan to reinvent its image, the sustainable building method is being employed for the first time in a commercial project in Chicago. …The choice to use timber came early in the process when McDonald’s first engaged Ross Barney Architects with the goal of design authenticity. “Some of the most durable materials aren’t very authentic,” explained the architect. “And some of the most authentic materials don’t hold up over time. CLT offers a great deal of both while reflecting the client’s commitment to sustainability.”

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School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences begins enrolling students in new packaging degree

By Elizabeth Hurley
The Auburn Plainsman
June 17, 2018
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

Students can now declare and begin signing up for classes in the new sustainable biomaterials and packaging degree in the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences. The Alabama Commission on Higher Education approved the degree in March, and the School has been working hard to recruit students for the new program. They already have over 10 students for it. Dr. Janaki Alavalapati, dean of the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, has worked with colleges across campus to create this new degree for over 2 years. “Various dicisplines have to be involved,” Alavalapati said. “That’s why we worked very closely with the College of Engineering, the College of Agriculture, the College of Architecture and Design and the College of Business.” Collaboration was key in creating this degree. The School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences worked with Virginia Tech and Clemson University to learn about creating this type of degree.

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Forestry

Developing a long-term vision for Snowden

By Mike Davies
The Campbell River Mirror
June 15, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Campbell River — This week’s Committee of the Whole meeting at City Hall… discussed as there is in what’s going to happen to the Snowden Demonstration Forest. This Tuesday’s meeting saw presentations from Jeffery Hamilton of BC Timber Sales (BCTS), Graham Cameron of Recreation Sites and Trails BC, and Gary Ullstrom, the Campbell River resident representing the mounting opposition to the proposed logging activities in the popular mountain biking and hiking area northwest of town. The discussion surrounded how to best develop a long-term plan for the area – both in terms of timber harvesting and recreational use and development – something that currently doesn’t exist.

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Vancouver B.C. government investigating felling of centuries-old trees on Haida Gwaii

By Michael Mui
The Star Vancouver
June 17, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER — B.C.’s forests ministry is investigating logging practices on Haida Gwaii after the islands’ First Nation presented evidence alleging “monumental,” centuries-old cedar trees were being cut down without authorization. The evidence was submitted as part of a petition from Haida Nation to the B.C. Supreme Court, seeking an injunction to halt logging by Husby Forest Products in five designated areas on Haida Gwaii. …“We disagree with a lot of the information that’s been provided by the CHN (Council of the Haida Nation) and their affidavits,” said Husby vice-president Rob Sandberg. The Haida allege the company has already over-cut its allowed portion this year.

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Port McNeill in Focus: Not exactly the community forest kumbaya I envisioned

By Derek Koel, Port McNeill
North Island Gazette
June 16, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Let’s dive into the North Island Community Forest Limited Partnership, (NICF). I was a founding NICF Board Director, until 2013. I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge, the people and learning about the forest industry. The political foundation for the Community Forest was laid long ago. In 2010 the Port’s finally pulled the trigger, formed the Board, and after much preparation, plans and paperwork the North Island Community Forest Partnering Agreement was signed by the three “Stakeholders,” Port Alice, Port McNeill and Port Hardy. …NICF has been touted as one of BC’s most successful Community Forests, and the numbers bear it out, over $4.5 million dollars has been shared by the three Port’s. If your definition of success is a quick buck, it has been a success. …NICF was formed as a Limited Partnership and thus it can cloak itself in various legislation to keep it’s business private. There is no obligation to provide any information to the public.

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Squamish Chamber forestry resolution gets support from BC Chamber

The Squamish Chief
June 15, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The advocacy group for B.C.’s chambers of commerce has thrown its weight behind the Squamish Chamber’s call for the provincial government to address a pressing forestry issue. A Squamish Chamber of Commerce policy resolution about what the local forest industry sees as an under-harvest of the coastal allowable annual cut was adopted at the 2018 B.C. Chamber AGM in … May… The Squamish Chamber resolution calls for the government to make changes that would allow for more timber to be harvested. “The Coast region continues to experience a persistent under-harvest, with mature hemlock-balsam stands which are not being fully utilized to the benefit of British Columbia. The ongoing under-harvest has had significant negative impact on businesses, infrastructure and employment,” said Eric Andersen, Policy Chair, Squamish Chamber. “The harvest of the full allowable cut would stimulate significant economic activity in forestry communities.”

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Of forests and floods: Devastatingly high water raises clearcut questions

By Shane Fowler
CBC News
June 18, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

In the rolling hills near Penobsquis, almost every tree has been cut down for as far as the eye can see. Greying piles of stumps and woodchips occasionally clot the bare landscape, and a single strip of trees has been left to shade the small streams at the base of the hills. The former forest in southern New Brunswick, now a series of clearcuts, is known to local conservationists as the Red Dragon.  And according to some scientists and conservationists, the Red Dragon, along with countless other tree-shorn areas in the province, contributed to the record flooding along the St. John River this spring. …Meteorologists pointed to the rapid shift from winter temperatures to summer-like conditions as the main culprit.  But many whose properties were pulverized asked if clear-cutting boosted the magnitude of the flood.

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A Renewed View of Some of the World’s Oldest Trees

By Thomas Fuller
The New York Times
June 18, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — John Muir… called giant sequoias the “noblest of God’s trees.” For three years, some of the most striking examples of these towering marvels were off limits to visitors in Yosemite National Park. After a $40 million renovation the Mariposa Grove, a collection of around 500 mature giant sequoias, reopened last week. …The renovation addressed a problem that the park has struggled with for years. On the busiest summer days, more than 7,000 cars may converge on the park, which is about a four-hour drive from San Francisco. …Partly financed with a $20 million gift from the Yosemite Conservancy, the renovation involved ripping up nearly an acre and a half of pavement near the trees where cars and trams would pass and replacing it with walking paths.

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Loggers and wood manufacturing are keys to forest health

By Nick Smith – Executive Director of Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities
East Oregonian
June 15, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Nick Smith

Arizona and New Mexico once had a vibrant forest products industry … That infrastructure disappeared as changes in federal forest policy all but eliminated timber harvesting from national forests. Today forests in the southwest are rapidly deteriorating as millions of acres have been impacted by catastrophic wildfire, insects, and disease. …The U.S. Forest Service now struggles to reduce fire dangers and improve forest health because there are few logging businesses left with the personnel, equipment, and technical expertise required to remove the wood and fewer sawmills to process the fiber. This spring several national forests in the region have announced closures due to high fire risks, limiting recreational opportunities and tourism business for local communities. …It’s time [ to restore Eastern Oregon’s forests] before more of the region’s forest products infrastructure has been lost. Otherwise what is now happening in the southwest will happen here.

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Forest science foundation study released

By Jane Stebbins
Curry Coastal Pilot
June 15, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Scientists are facing a moving target when trying to predict the future in regards to forest health and management in a new era of climate change and mega-fires, they agreed in a new voluminous study released by the U.S. Forest Service this week. But research indicates the status quo of protecting threatened species and limiting logging, as part of the Pacific Northwest Forest Plan (PNFP), might still be the best way to manage the forests. The 919-page tome outlines what scientists have learned in the last 12 years since the last “synthesis of science” was published, and will serve as the scientific foundation for land management planning in Western Washington, Oregon and Northern California. Although it provides new information for the PNFP, implemented 24 years ago, it is not a decision-making document.

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State to meet with public in north Maine about forest pest

Associated Press in the Seattle Times
June 17, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

FRENCHVILLE, Maine — Maine forestry officials are holding a meeting near the Canadian border to address the discovery of a destructive forest pest in the state. The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry says the emerald ash borer was discovered recently in Madawaska, less than 200 yards from the Frenchville town line in Aroostook County. The agency and others are holding a public meeting Monday at 6:30 p.m. at the Frenchville Community Center. The state says the detection of the borers is a first in Maine. The forestry department says the borer kills most species of ash and presents a major threat to Maine’s trees.

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International Paper And World Wildlife Fund Collaborate To Develop Science-Based Targets For Forests And Advance Forest Restoration In Brazil

By International Paper
Cision Newswire
June 18, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: International

MEMPHIS, Tenn — How much forest land—and what quality—is needed to ensure forests can continue to provide people, plants and animals worldwide with clean air and water, food and the goods and services they need to thrive? Through a new collaboration between World Wildlife Fund and International Paper, research will be undertaken to help answer the question of the quantity and quality of forestland needed for the planet to thrive. The outputs of this work will be used to help create the world’s first regional and global science-based targets for forests, as well as the first comprehensive set of guidance on actions that can be taken to sustain the world’s forests. Such ‘forest positive’ actions include investing in responsible forest management, supporting forest conservation, restoring forestland, and raising awareness about the importance of forests with consumers.

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Forestry companies to attend meeting on debris damage

By Anusha Bradley
Radio New Zealand
June 18, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Three forestry companies appear to have had a change of heart over their attendance at a community meeting in Gisborne. In a recent letter issued to landowners, Eastland Wood Council chief executive Kim Hollands said Ernslaw One, PF Olsen and Hikurangi Forest Farms were not going to attend the meeting organised by the Gisborne District Council. However, New Zealand Forest Owners Association spokesperson Don Carson said this was not the case, and the companies will make an appearance. Mr Carson said the forestry firms planned to stick to their word. Tolaga Bay farmers were disappointed forestry companies were refusing to meet with them again, and they feared lives are at stake unless the slash (forestry debris) issue is addressed immediately. Earlier, Tolaga Bay farmer Mike Parker, whose land was flooded twice in a week, said he was “disappointed” and “disillusioned” by the companies’ refusal to meet again.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

California, Quebec close carbon market to Ontario

By Shawn McCarthy
The Globe and Mail
June 17, 2018
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, United States

California and Quebec have closed the joint carbon market to Ontario, preventing companies from dumping some $2.8-billion in emissions allowances after premier-designate Doug Ford announced an end to the provincial cap-and-trade system. While Mr. Ford’s decision could provoke lawsuits from companies that purchased allowance, the province is also set to join Saskatchewan’s legal fight over the federal government’s right to impose its carbon tax where provinces have not levied their own carbon price, whether by direct tax or cap-and-trade system. The move by Ontario’s partners in the Western Climate Initiative comes as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s principle secretary, Gerry Butts, suggested Mr. Ford’s action has left the province open to lawsuits.

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Ontario will scrap cap and trade, challenge Ottawa’s carbon tax: Doug Ford

By Shawn Jeffords
The Canadian Press in the National Post
June 15, 2018
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada East

Doug Ford

TORONTO — Doug Ford said Friday he will scrap Ontario’s cap-and-trade system and fight a federal carbon tax as soon as his Progressive Conservative cabinet is sworn in later this month because the measures hurt families and do nothing for the environment. To that end, the incoming premier said he will give notice of Ontario’s withdrawal from the carbon pricing market it shares with Quebec and California when he takes office on June 29. …“Today, I want to confirm that in Ontario the carbon tax’s days are numbered,” he said. “In fact… the very first item will be to pass an order to cancel the Liberal cap-and-trade carbon tax.” …Ford also said he would challenge the federal government’s rules requiring provinces to have carbon pricing in place.

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Health & Safety

New Squamish paramedic service brings emergency department to the sky

By Haley Ritchie
The Squamish Chief
June 15, 2018
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Technical Evacuation Advanced Aero Medical, or TEAAM, recently launched, bringing a new not-for-profit model to providing helicopter healthcare to remote B.C. The society is focused on bringing advanced emergency medical care to remote worksites and other hard-to-reach settings in B.C., and it is badly needed, according to president Miles Randell. “There’s a gap in pre-hospital care delivery in B.C. in remote settings,” he said. …To illustrate the need for the service, Randell referenced a February 2017 report from the B.C. forest safety ombudsman on emergency helicopters in B.C. The report includes an example of a logging industry worker injured in Haida Gwaii in 2014. After his leg was crushed by a fallen tree, it took over five hours to transport the man to a hospital in Queen Charlotte.

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Forest Fires

Crews battling 25-hectare wildfire near Mackenzie in B.C.’s northeast

By Simon Little
Global News
June 17, 2018
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

Wildfire season is heating up again, with crews tackling a 25-hectare blaze near the town of Mackenzie in British Columbia’s northeast, in the region of Fraser-Fort George.  The fire is burning nine kilometres south of Mackenzie and briefly cut the town off Saturday night, said BC Wildfire Service fire information officer Ryan Turcot. “Last night, for a little while, Highway 39 was closed, just due to visible smoke from the wildfire’s proximity to that highway,” he said.  “But the highway was reopened last night at around 11 p.m.”  The fire is burning within the jurisdiction of Mackenzie’s fire department, which has taken the lead in containing it.  Turcot said provincial crews are also assisting “with 13 firefighting personnel, as well as support from heavy equipment, as well as a helicopter.”

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Good intentions not enough to prepare BC for fire season

By Monique Keiran
Victoria Times Colonist
June 17, 2018
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

Last year was the worst wildfire season in the province’s recorded history. More than 12,000 square kilometres burned, and more than 65,000 residents and business owners were displaced. The provincial state of emergency that resulted stretched an unprecedented 10 weeks, from early July until mid-September. According to the report on the disaster that was released recently, direct fire suppression cost more than $564 million. …Addressing the New Normal: 21st Century Disaster Management in British Columbia, the report prepared by former B.C. Liberal cabinet minister George Abbott and Sq’ewá:lxw (Skawahlook) First Nation Chief Maureen Chapman, reviews the steps that the province had taken to limit the risk of wildfires to B.C. communities since the last provincial state of emergency was declared 14 years earlier.

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Remnants of hurricane help crews in Colorado, Wyoming fires

The Associated Press in the Montreal Gazette
June 17, 2018
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US West

DURANGO, Colo. — A welcome dose of rain spawned by a hurricane that churned through the Pacific has given a boost in the battle against two large wildfires in Colorado and Wyoming. The remnants of Hurricane Bud slowed the growth of the a fire in southwest Colorado, which has blackened more than 50 square miles and is 25 per cent contained, The Durango Herald reported Sunday. Butch Knowlton, director of La Plata County Emergency Management, said Bud provided the perfect amount of rain, helping firefighters increase containment. …He said it kept the blaze from spreading, but crews are still putting out hot embers that could ignite dry trees, grass and shrubs.

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