Daily Archives: October 29, 2018

Today’s Takeaway

Disappointment permeated lumber markets, structural panels continued to lose ground: Random Lengths

October 29, 2018
Category: Today's Takeaway

According to Random Lengths – disappointment permeated framing lumber markets last week and structural panel sales continued to lose ground. In other Business news: Steelworkers in BC’s southern interior returned a 98% strike vote; forestry experts say Montana’s forest industry is rebounding; and BC forests face a worker shortage for reforestation. 

In Forestry news: Ottawa and BC are still talking on endangered southern caribou; a gov’t scientist is sounding the alarm on drunken trees in Canada’s North; an Irish botanist worries about ancient trees worldwide; and an Oregon senator says the West has an epidemic of trees

Finally, McDonald’s rebrand includes CLT; and Washington could be the first state to charge for carbon emissions.

–Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor

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Business & Politics

Random Lengths Lumber and Panel Market Report

Random Lenghts Publications
October 26, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Disappointment permeated framing lumber markets, as trading lacked follow-through from the previous week’s pickup in sales. One brighter spot was a modest increase in sales of Southern Pine, as some prices reached what buyers called “investment levels.” Elsewhere, however, a quiet, if not gloomy, tone left prices stalled at best, and many continued to fall — some to levels not seen in two years. …Structural panel sales picked up, but prices continued to lose ground. Price trends covered the gamut in OSB. Small increases were posted in Western Canada early in the week, but activity quieted and prices held at midweek levels. Leaner inventories led Southern Pine plywood buyers to purchase more volume as the week progressed, and the pace of price erosion dissipated. Western Fir plywood sales were the most robust traders had seen in several weeks.

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B.C.’s rural areas in limbo as electoral reform looms

By Justine Hunter
The Globe and Mail
October 26, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

British Columbia’s northern MLAs clock thousands of kilometres behind the wheel each year to reach the far-flung, sparsely populated communities where their constituents live. …New Democrat MLA Doug Donaldson [Minister of Forests] plans out regular road trips where he takes up residence in coffee shops for hours at a time to meet with locals in the remote communities across his riding of Stikine. But those hours on the road could get longer if British Columbians opt to move to a proportional representation system in a referendum next month: According to Elections BC, electoral districts are usually larger than in first past the post. …The mail-in referendum is being held until Nov. 30 and asks voters if they want to keep the current voting system for the next provincial election, or move to a form of proportional representation.

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Pipeline explosion in B.C. leaves businesses, governments scrambling for natural gas supplies

By Amy Smart
The Globe and Mail
October 28, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

A natural gas shortage projected to stretch through the winter months could mean higher vegetable prices this spring, as gas users from mills to local governments hustle to conserve and find alternative fuel sources. The shortage follows a pipeline explosion near Prince George earlier this month. …Enbridge Inc., the pipeline’s owner, has said it expects to have its ruptured pipeline back in service by mid-November, but the pressure in that line and in a smaller pipeline nearby will remain below maximum levels until spring. …Wood product company Canfor Corp. has been given a set amount of natural gas to use among its three Prince George pulp mills, spokeswoman Michelle Ward said in a statement. …Catalyst Paper Corp. relies on FortisBC for natural gas service at its three mills in Powell River, Crofton and Port Alberni.

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United Steelworkers in B.C. Interior return strike vote

By Trevor Crawley
BC Local News
October 27, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Union membership with United Steelworkers in the southern interior returned a 98 per cent strike mandate over the last 10 days of balloting by three locals in Cranbrook, Kelowna and Kamloops. The vote was conducted by members with USW Local 1-405 (Kootenays), USW 1-423 (Kelowna) and USW1-417 (Kamloops). …Mills covered under the collective agreement include Galloway Lumber; Stella-Jones Pole Plant; Canfor Elko; Canfor Woodlands (Trucking; Cranbrook Mechanic Shop; Wood Chipper at Skookumchuk; not the pulp mill itself); Canfor Radium; Louisiana Pacific – Golden; Interfor – Castlegar. …Negotiations have stalled what the USW calls a concession list from the IFLRA, that include issues such as health and welfare benefit changes, alternate shift schedules, extending the probationary period and more.

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Canada Promotes Indigenous Participation in Ontario’s Forest Sector

Natural Resources Canada
Cision Newswire
October 29, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

Amarjeet Sohi

CHAPLEAU, ON – …The Honourable Amarjeet Sohi, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, and Paul Lefebvre, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister, today officially highlighted a multi-year $743,000 investment in the Northeast Superior Regional Chiefs Forum to promote Indigenous-led economic development in our forest sector. Through this investment, Indigenous-owned businesses have delivered real results for their communities by enabling the Chapleau Cree First Nation to develop the Northeast Superior Regional Chiefs “Conservation Economy Strategy” — a cornerstone for forest sector economic development in member communities, including Missanabie Cree, Brunswick House, Michipicoten and Pic Mobert First Nations. This opportunity was co-funded by NRCan’s Indigenous Forestry Initiative and Indigenous Services Canada’s Strategic Partnerships Initiative

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Photo-op with Resolute reps leaves bitter taste in Iroquois Falls

Letter by Jim Brown
Timmins Press
October 26, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

This new government just got sucker punched and Mr. Ford and Mr. Yurek smiled, and fell for it — while at the same time blackening the eyes and opinion of all of the displaced workers of Resolute Forest Products employees in Fort Francis, Kenora and Iroquois Falls.  What’s more embarrassing, and sour, it was a normal efficiency and maintenance announcement and Mr. Ford and Mr. Yurek tried to make hay out of wood. Not only did they stoop this low for that photo op, it appears they simply endorsed the corporate modus operandi of unnecessarily selling off eight power dams, in those communities to disable designed energy mill efficiencies for quick cash to build another mill in the USA. …Very poor judgement and very sad to witness this deceived government and its misled action. Somebody didn’t do their homework, and it shows. Wow what a big, big, big boob.

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Forestry experts: Industry rebounding; natural resources draw visitors and spending to Montana

By David Erickson
The Missoulian
October 27, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US West

Montana’s forests, outdoor recreation opportunities and other natural resources draw economically significant numbers of tourists, students and jobs in Missoula County. The forest products industry is also on the rebound in the state due to tariffs and increased timber harvest limits put in place after a disastrous wildfire season. That’s all according to a panel of experts convened by the Missoula Area Chamber of Commerce on Thursday. …Companies like Idaho Forest Group are planning on doubling capacity. SmartLam, a company that manufactures cross-laminated timber products in Columbia Falls, plans to hire 75 workers in 2019. Chuck Roady… said tariffs on imported Canadian softwood lumber have boosted Montana mills. …Partly in reaction to the devastating fire season of 2017 in Montana… the U.S. Forest Service is planning on increasing timber harvests in the region.

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Robust Exhibit Sales for 2019 Forest Products Expo

Southern Forest Products Association
October 26, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

Nearly 100 companies have contracted fully 80% of the available exhibit space for the 35th Forest Products Machinery & Equipment Exposition – Expo 2019 – to be held June 26-28, 2019 at Atlanta’s Georgia World Congress Center.  “Participation in Expo is reaching an early sell-out; most of the larger exhibit spaces are already occupied. Many of the exhibiting companies are determining the equipment they’ll bring for display in Atlanta.  And some have expanded their exhibit space based on strong, pre-show orders,” commented Eric Gee, SFPA’s exposition director. “Expo 2019 is the best place to be for companies wanting to showcase the latest equipment, products and services for the wood industry,” he added. Sponsored and conducted by the Southern Forest Products Association (SFPA) every two years since 1950, this event has traditionally included many of the biggest names in the business.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Ross Barney Architects’ CLT Design for McDonald’s Expands the Possibilities of Timber Construction

By Lindsay Duddy
ArchDaily
October 28, 2018
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

In an effort to reinvent an iconic American fast-food brand, McDonald’s U.S. has announced a new direction for the corporation, beginning with rethinking the restaurant’s current archetypal design both in its interior eating spaces and exterior urban landscape. A primary example of this commitment can be seen in the recently completed design for McDonald’s Global Flagship in Chicago by Ross Barney Architects. The structure, which fills an entire city block in the heart of Chicago, was envisioned as a hallmark example of both the architect and the corporation’s shared commitment to environmentally sustainable design. Cross Laminated Timber (CLT), an essential material for the project, replaced many of the commonly-used building materials such as steel, concrete, and plastics that have a larger environmental footprint. McDonald’s Flagship is the first commercial use of Cross Laminated Timber in Chicago.

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Who’s moving into the nation’s tallest timber building? Portlanders with lofty dreams

By Janet Eastman
The Oregonian
October 27, 2018
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

Neighbors Holly Poupore and Dennis Laird have different needs for a home, and yet they have this in common: They added ease to their life by moving into new condos, one facing east, one facing west, that flex to their wants, tastes and desires. They were one of the first residents of Carbon 12, an eight-story, glass-and-wood building in Northeast Portland’s expanding Mississippi District. The handsome structure, on the corner of well-traveled North Williams Avenue and Northeast Fremont Street, is the nation’s tallest mass timber building. The innovative use of thick panels of cross-laminated timber — CLT — attached to glulam columns and beams may be revolutionizing the building industry as plywood did a century ago. Environmentalists like that renewable wood stores carbon rather than generates it. Builders say wood has been engineered to have the strength of steel.

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Paper industry to transform biowaste with research hub

Foodprocessing
October 29, 2018
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

A new research hub aims to help Australia’s pulp and paper industries transform their production waste into marketable materials such as food packaging. The Australian Research Council (ARC) Hub for Processing Advance Lignocelluosics into Advance Materials, launched by Monash University, will enable pulp and paper companies to become biorefineries. Over five years, a total of $6.8 million will be invested to convert wood, plant-based matter and other biomass into materials such as cellulose-based hydrogels for personal medicine, nanocellulose films to replace plastic food packaging and nanogels to help farmers maintain crops in the ever-changing climate.

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Stora Enso Acquires Swedish Cellulose Technology Company

By Stora Enso
Markets Insider
October 29, 2018
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

Stora Enso has increased its ownership up to 100% in the Sweden-based company Cellutech AB. The company specialises in the development of new materials and applications based on cellulose, micro-fibrillated cellulose (MFC) and other wood-based components. The acquisition of Cellutech supports Stora Enso’s vision of replacing fossil-based materials with renewable ones originating from wood. The acquired company works, among others, in the areas of foams for packaging and hydroponics where the markets are continuously growing. Cellulosic foams can, for example, be used in packaging to replace polystyrenes which are the most widely used plastics. …Cellutech was formed to take world class scientific research developed at SweTree Technologies and Wallenberg Wood Science Center and develop the ideas into commercially successful technologies and products.

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Aveo Norwest at Sydney’s Northwest Business Park

Architecture and Design
October 29, 2018
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

Aveo Norwest at Sydney’s Norwest Business Park ‘Circa’ precinct is a multi-residential development that delivers high levels of amenity, social, and environmental sustainability within an innovative design and build. Discarding convention and pushing the boundaries of mass timber technology, this multi-storey, luxury retirement village represents one of the largest applications of cross laminated timber (CLT) in Australia, winning the Sustainability category at the 2018 Australian Timber Design Awards.  The client’s brief was for an efficient, high quality construction that went beyond a ‘standard box’ design. ‘Waratah’, the resulting flagship 10-storey residential building, certainly achieves this, featuring distinctive curved and seemingly cantilevered balconies constructed from approximately 3,000m3 of CLT. While original plans called for conventional design and construction methods, Aveo was guided by architects Jackson Teece and builders Strongbuild to utilise CLT in the design, resulting in significant time and cost savings.

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The Unlikely Life, Death and Rebirth of the Hastings Pier

By Katherine Allen
Arch Daily
October 29, 2018
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

The story of the Hastings Pier is an improbable one. Located in Hastings – a stone’s throw away from the battlefield that defined English history – the pier was first opened to the promenading public in 1872. For decades the structure, an exuberant array of Victorian-era decoration, entertained seaside crowds but by the new millennium had fallen out of disrepair. In 2008 the pier was closed – two years later, it burnt down. When London practice dRMM won the competition to reimagine the structure, they took it as an opportunity to not just relive the glory days but work with the public to make a “pier for the people.” Their careful efforts won them the 2017 Stirling Prize and marked a landmark moment in regenerative architecture. …The cross-laminated timber structure is clad in reclaimed decking and surrounded by reclaimed deck furniture (designed in an inventive collaboration by dRRM and Hastings & Bexhill Wood Recycling.) 

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Forestry

Drunken trees and browning forests: Why a Canadian government scientist is sounding the alarm

By Barry Cooke
CBC Radio
October 26, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

Dr. Barry Cooke… says he and his colleagues at the Canadian Forest Service have been growing increasingly worried about what climate change is doing to trees in the North. So this week, against the backdrop of a political debate around the Liberals’ carbon tax and rebate scheme, Cooke took “a big breath” and fired off 75 tweets about “drunken trees” and browning forests in Canada’s North. …In the North, two factors in particular are leading to forest decline, Cooke said. Low-lying trees like black spruce are falling over because of too much moisture at their roots due to melting permafrost, leading to what Cooke calls the “drunken trees” phenomenon. On drier, gravelly slopes like the Rocky Mountains, trees are still standing — but they are browning. “These sites are more exposed and so the warmer, drier air conditions are drying out leaves,” Cooke said.

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Tree Teachings: How Fossil Fuels and Climate Change Are Altering the Global Forest

By Andrew Nikiforuk
The Tyee
October 29, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The world’s most ancient trees are failing. And their demise is telling us something about the dramatic impact of climate change on the natural world, says famed botanist Diana Beresford-Kroeger. The tree expert, who is also a medical biochemist, is clearly concerned, if not shaken. …The botanist, who has been studying the health and importance of global forests for decades, rhymes off one example after another. She begins with evergreens in the Atlas Mountains across northwest Africa. …Other primal and iconic trees are floundering too. In Africa the great baobabs, or “upside down trees,” are dying in en masse, says Beresford-Kroeger. …She also worries about the fate of the “totally unique” boreal forest, which covers northern Canada and much of northern Europe and Asia.

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‘The level of urgency is high’: Ottawa still hasn’t acted on endangered southern mountain caribou

By Justine Hunter
The Globe and Mail
October 28, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The federal government was preparing last May to override BC’s powers over logging and permitting, in order to protect the endangered southern mountain caribou. Ottawa warned at the time that the province needed a robust protection plan or it would lose control over resource-development decisions. …Five months on, it looks like an empty threat. …In the statement declaring an imminent threat, the federal government said the most significant and immediate threat to recovery is unsustainable predation. However it has not acted to prevent BC’s new logging plans, saying instead it is working “to come to an agreement as soon as possible”. …Doug Donaldson, B.C.’s Minister of Forests, said… “We want to avoid unilateral measures by the federal government based solely on habitat considerations,” he said in an interview. “We want to make sure these iconic species are recovering, but logging has not stopped.”

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The magic and utility of Trembling Aspen trees

By Jim Hilton
BC Local News
October 28, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Anyone who has been in an aspen forest can relate to the name Trembling Aspen when there is a slight breeze which creates one of the most unique and unforgettable forest sounds. …From an industrial viewpoint, aspen was once considered a weed species but around 1975 with the introduction of wafer-board, oriented strand board, wood panels and pulp the use of aspen increased many fold. The increased utilization caused concern that the aspen cut could exceed the growth rate in some area. …While the strength properties are relatively low, bending strength and stiffness compare favourably to the soft woods. …While a wide variety of animals use aspen leaves and young stems, some insects like the Aspen Leaf Miner use them exclusively.

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B.C. forests face worker shortage as demand for reforestation soars

By Jon Hernandez
CBC News
October 27, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Dave Robinson is no rookie tree planter. After a steady campaign planting nearly 300,000 trees across B.C., Alberta and Quebec this year, the veteran planter says he earned about $30,000 for 95 days of work. “I like working in the field, and I like generating wealth,” said Robinson when asked why he keeps returning to what’s often described as a gruelling job. But after five years in the industry, Robinson admits he’s had his highs and lows. Last year, he got into a labour dispute with an employer after his piece work wages worked out to be below B.C.’s minimum wage. “My gross pay was $355 for 55 hours of work,” he said, noting that he did eventually get paid the difference after working with labour regulators to resolve the dispute.  … In recent years, many tree planters in B.C. have reported earnings below minimum wage, despite the industry having a reputation of high earnings and hard work.

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Over 30 moose seized

By Ryan Forbes
KenoraOnline
October 29, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Conservation officers with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry have seized 32 moose that were harvest illegally in a recent enforcement blitz in the area. The ministry says that from October 13 to October 22, conservation officers in northwestern and northeastern Ontario checked 4,768 hunters from Ontario and the United States for compliance with the Fish and Wildlife Act, the Off-Road Vehicles Act and the Liquor Licence Act.  During the enforcement blitz, conservation officers laid 132 charges and issued 329 warnings. They also seized 32 moose that were harvested illegally. Charges and warnings were issued for: Failing to wear a proper helmet on an ATV, Driving an off-road vehicle without insurance, Having open liquor in a vehicle, Having a loaded firearm in a vehicle, Night-hunting offences, Not wearing proper hunter orange, Shooting from the roadway, Trespassing for the purpose of hunting.

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Charlottetown to Host Canadian Urban Forest Conference

The Charlottetown Guardian
October 28, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. – Charlottetown has been chosen to host a prestigious Canadian Urban Forest Conference in 2020.  Alternating coast to coast every two years and co-ordinated with the guidance and support from Tree Canada, the conference brings together dedicated individuals and groups to share their experiences, innovative strategies, policies, technologies, research and best management practices all aimed at protecting and enhancing Canada’s urban forests. Charlottetown Mayor Clifford Lee said it’s an honour for the city to host the national conference. …The conference will provide opportunities for city and park planners, architects, arborists, researchers and health scientists to participate.

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Public invited to comment on Herbert’s proposal to amend Forest Service ‘roadless rule’

St George News
October 29, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert

CEDAR CITY — With Utah and other western states experiencing yet another devastating wildfire season, Gov. Gary Herbert said he believes the state can do a better job of managing its own forests and that he plans to petition the federal government to allow that to happen. Anyone interested is invited to comment online or attend a public forum Tuesday for discussion about the governor’s proposal for forest management in Utah. …There were more than 875 fires during the 2018 fire season, prompting Herbert to issue a directive to the Utah Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office to work with the U.S. Forest Service to improve the health of Utah’s forests. To that end, the Utah Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office plans to submit a Utah-specific amendment to the to the U.S. Forest Service’s 2001 “Roadless Rule.”

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State senator: West has ‘epidemic of trees’

By Vickie Aldous
Mail Tribune
October 25, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Sen. Herman Baertschiger, Jr.

Oregon state Sen. Herman Baertschiger, Jr. says the West has an epidemic of trees, and he criticized the U.S. Forest Service for its handling of wildfires that left Southern Oregon choking in smoke two summers in a row. “I call it the ‘epidemic of trees.’ We have way too many trees per acre,” he said. Baertschiger, R-Grants Pass, said the Forest Service doesn’t get enough funding from Congress for fuels-reduction projects, so instead of aggressively fighting summer wildfires, the federal agency uses the blazes to reduce fuel loads in overstocked forests. He made the comments during a meeting Thursday with the Jackson County Board of Commissioners, which has been calling in a string of officials — including those from the Forest Service, Oregon Department of Forestry and Bureau of Land Management — to discuss concerns about smoke and wildfires.

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Beetle-kill mitigation project in southern Colorado a potential model for nationwide forest management

By: Liz Forster
The Gazette
October 27, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

In 2002, a massive blowdown and a spruce beetle infestation snatched the life from hundreds of thousands of trees in the Rio Grande National Forest. Forest Supervisor Dan Dallas thought he had time to make the best of the destruction.A similar beetle infestation in the 1940s that had affected 60 percent of a 225-square-mile portion of the Flattop Mountains resulted in Dallas’s counterparts logging high-quality timber for house logs through the 1990s. He estimated he had 20 to 30 years to do the same in the Rio Grande.But just a decade after the lush conifers in the Rio Grande were attacked, Dallas found that some of the trees already had deteriorated to the point that they could not be sold to traditional markets. Without a market, Dallas’s role is “custodial,” cleaning up the forests when a stray spark ignites.

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Environmental groups file lawsuit to halt major timber sale near Riggins

By Eric Barker
Lewiston Tribune
October 26, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

A pair of environmental groups is suing the Nez Perce National Forest, alleging a large timber sale near Riggins designed to combat insects and disease violates several federal laws. Friends of Rapid River and Friends of the Clearwater filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Idaho’s Federal District Court in an effort to stop the Windy-Shingle Project.The timber sale is designed to reduce mortality from forest pests like pine beetles, root rot and mistletoe, and thereby reduce fire danger in the area west of the Little Salmon River. The project would log about 2,500 acres and produce an estimated 14 million board feet of timber. The agency is carrying out the project under provisions of the 2014 Farm Bill that allowed it to shorten the often lengthy environmental analysis that is required for most large logging projects.

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Missoula forestry tour emphasizes collaboration in reducing wildfire risk

By Laura Lundquist
Missoula Current
October 26, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

In a nation that is increasingly divided, it appears there’s still at least one thing that can bring neighbors, nonprofit groups, and state and federal agencies together in Montana: wildfires. That was evident on Thursday when about 40 interested citizens and employees of the U.S. Forest Service, the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, and a smattering of lumber companies spent the afternoon touring three forest projects intended to reduce the risk of wildfire. Sponsored by the Missoula Area Chamber of Commerce, the tour is an annual event, but this year’s focus was a little different. In addition to jobs and the local economy, talk often turned to community, collaboration and coming together to reduce the amount of fuel that’s accumulated in forests, especially near residential areas. 

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Green development takes root in the ‘forest capital’ of China

Ecns.cn
October 29, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Sixty years ago, Yichun, the so-called forest capital of China, was thriving thanks to its vast woodland. …As a result [of logging], …northwestern Heilongjiang province was virtually laid bare by the 1990s. City authorities, seeing ecological catastrophe ahead, slowly began shrinking the lumber industry, and over the past two decades they have led a painful transition to a more sustainable way of life. Last year, forest coverage in Yichun reached 84.4 percent, up by 17 percentage points over that of 1978, according to the Yichun government. …After years of effort to reduce logging, Yichun announced in 2011 that it would permanently halt the practice. It released a guideline on ecological protection and economic restructuring. Within two years, all commercial logging had banned. Because the sector had employed nearly a third of the population, the city endured tough times and it shifted its economic base. Families on low incomes have worked to develop forest agriculture to make a living.

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Deforestation: When should I panic?

By Euan Murray, Chief Executive, The Sustainability Consortium
GreenBiz
October 29, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: International

…We know that forest loss comes hand-in-hand with the production of consumer products. We also know consumer products bring countless benefits to society, and although we are making progress on more sustainable consumer goods, there is still a cost to that production. Along with industrial water pollution, forced and child labor and greenhouse gas emissions from energy use, deforestation continues to be one of the biggest costs of producing consumer goods. In fact, it is even bigger than we thought. The Sustainability Consortium, along with the World Resources Institute and the University of Maryland, recently published a paper in Science, one of the world’s top academic journals. “Classifying Drivers of Global Forest Loss” shows that a quarter of global forest loss is permanent, and that deforestation is not slowing down. Despite the efforts of the entire sustainability community, governments and conservation organizations, the overall rate of commodity-driven deforestation has not declined since 2001.

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International forestry experts to gather in Rotorua

The New Zealand Herald
October 26, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Forestry experts from all over the world will arrive in Rotorua next week to meet with New Zealand’s forestry stakeholders. The Tree Plantations in the Landscape event will focus on the role of tree plantations in the New Zealand economy and the resulting social and environmental impacts, building on issues raised from earlier TPL events in Brazil and Chile. Participants will discuss new pathways to advance Māori forestry, sustainably increase forest production, and the use of planted forests as a means to mitigate climate change. Discussions will also take place around the Government’s billion tree planting initiative and optimising land use to maximise production and environmental benefits.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Washington could be the first state to charge for carbon emissions that cause climate change

By Steven Mufson
The Washington Post
October 28, 2018
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US West

What’s happened is climate change. It has contributed to the dry conditions that fueled forest fires, blanketing Seattle with smoke this year. It has altered the acidity of the oceans, damaging oyster farms in Seattle’s Puget Sound. And now, climate change has made its way onto the Nov. 6 ballot, in the form of a statewide initiative that would impose a $15-a-ton fee on carbon emissions that cause global warming. If the measure is adopted, Washington would become the first state in the nation to tax carbon dioxide, the most prevalent greenhouse gas. …The battle has already set a new Washington state record for spending on a ballot issue. …Washington state tried a similar idea two years ago, combining a carbon tax with other tax cuts.

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Health & Safety

Ontario Northland freight train service interrupted after derailment in Hearst

By Benjamin Aube
CBC News
October 26, 2018
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada, Canada East

Four freight cars from an Ontario Northland train carrying lumber derailed Friday morning in Hearst. The derailment occurred at around 6:45 a.m., said company spokesperson Renee Baker. No injuries were reported. …”Right now it would be a little bit too premature to speculate on the actual cause,” said Baker. “We have crews in place working as quickly and safely as possible to re-rail the equipment, make necessary repairs to the track and inspect it for safety so we can resume our freight service as soon as possible.”

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Protecting Construction Workers’ Lungs is a Safety Issue

By Molly McGuane
For Construction Pros
October 26, 2018
Category: Health & Safety
Region: United States

Although air quality often takes a backseat to occupational safety, lung cancer mortalities are 50% higher among construction workers than the general population. The Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR) and Duke University found that nearly one-fifth of lung diseases among construction workers may be a result of harmful emissions on site. While some of these toxins are considered respiratory irritants, others are long-known carcinogens directly linked to lung cancer. …As of late, silica has been referred to as the “new asbestos” because of its prevalence throughout the building trade and its ability to cause silicosis, an incurable lung disease. OSHA reports that 2 million construction workers are exposed to crystalline silica and over 800,000 workers exposed to levels beyond the recommended limit. Often a result of sawing or cutting concrete products, it has been found that these workers are twice as likely to develop chronic obstructive lung diseases like chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

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Two men die in separate logging accidents

Statesman Journal
October 27, 2018
Category: Health & Safety
Region: United States, US West

Two men died in logging accidents Friday morning, one in Benton County near Alsea and the other in Linn County near Lyons. Hector Rodarte , 27, was working for Wiest Logging off Lobster Valley Road near Alsea when a log rolled onto him and co-worker Ricky Payton, 29, of Independence at 8:40 a.m. An air ambulance was requested but declined because of bad weather. Emergency personnel declared Rodarte dead at the scene. Payton was hoisted out of a steep ravine and taken to Good Sam Regional Medical Center in Corvallis; as of Saturday morning, officials said he is in stable condition. Corvallis Mountain Rescue, Corvallis Fire Department, Alsea Rural Fire, Weist Logging Employees and Benton County Sheriff’s Office Deputies assisted in the rescue.

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