Daily Archives: December 14, 2018

Today’s Takeaway

Forest for Climate Declaration at COP24 welcomed by some, derided by others

December 14, 2018
Category: Today's Takeaway

Poland’s ‘Forest for Climate Declaration‘ at COP24 is welcomed by FPAC; but derided as a climate bomb by Wake University’s Justin Catanoso; and called hypocritical by ENGOs given Poland’s dependence on coal. In related news: BC’s climate plan fails to promote biomass upside; bamboo producers hype their fast growing mitigation potential; and the UN Forest Products Annual Market Review is out.

In Business news: Repap Resources plans to buy and reopen Resolute’s Fort Francis papermill; Cascades purchases three US packaging companies; Northern Pulp lacks a Plan B; and Western Forest Products TFL 39 audit gets high praise.

Finally, a BC Forest Service retirees’ TREEdition, a global competition on forest education; and the Lorax helps stop development in a US federal appeals court.

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor

Read More

Special Feature

Forest Service Retirees TREEdition of Friendship

By Robin Brown
Letter to Tree Frog Editors
December 14, 2018
Category: Special Feature
Region: Canada, Canada West

Every December, retirees of the BC Forest Service in and around Victoria gather to renew acquaintances,  reminisce of forests past, and share some Xmas cheer. This TREEdition was started in 1982 by Gordie Ackerman and Curt Clarke, an infamous office prankster, to celebrate Pete Robinson’s retirement. It was held at the Army and Navy on Wharf St. Events are now held at the Royal Cdn. Legion on Gorge Rd. and commence at 1 pm so attendees can return home before dark.  Robin Brown, former Manager, Silviculture Branch, is the current custodian of this TREEdition.  Robin’s Xmas gathering announcement is welcomed news amongst his unfortunate, but appreciated, conveyances of colleagues’ departures.

Read More

Business & Politics

Cascades buys Urban Forest Products packaging factory in Newton County

By Joseph Pete
The Times of Northwest Indiana
December 13, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Cascades Inc. acquired the Urban Forest Products pulp packaging factory in Newton County and two other American companies for $37.4 million. Rob Richards, general manager of the plant in Brook, said the deal would mean new ownership, a name change, more capital for improvements, and greater possibility for growth. The Newton County plant, now known as Cascades Moulded Pulp-Indiana, will remain open and continue to employ 80 workers. It makes protective pulp packaging for the quick-service restaurant industry and eggs. Indiana is one of the top egg-producing states in the nation. The new owner, Quebec, Canada-based Cascades… employs more than 11,000 workers across North America and Europe. In conjunction with the Urban Forest Products purchase, it also acquired Clarion Packaging in Iowa and a majority interest in Falcon Packaging in Iowa, Ohio, and Georgia.

Read More

Fort Frances Looks to Re-Opening of Papermill

The Net News Ledger
December 13, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

FORT FRANCES, ONTARIO – The Town of Fort Frances is pleased to have been informed that Repap Resources Group has notified Resolute Forest Products that it wishes to negotiate the purchase of the shuttered Fort Frances papermill assets, with the intention of quickly moving to restart the facility in 2019. …Repap Resources Group is a private investment group that is partnering with 4Front Capital Partners Inc., an investment bank in Toronto. …Repap plans to produce packaging grades. The Fort Frances pulp and paper mill was closed in 2014 by Resolute Forest Products. To reopen the manufacturing facility, Repap will also have to successfully negotiate with the Province, access to the fibre currently assigned to the Fort Frances mill from the local Crossroute Forest.

Read More

BC Forestry Trade Mission Strengthens Relationships, Opens Opportunities in Asia’s Green Building Market

BC Council of Forest Industries
December 14, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Vancouver, BC – The British Columbia forest industry concludes its 8-day trade mission to Asia today with a focus on strengthened relationships with existing customers and future partners, as well as new opportunities to work collaboratively to advance wood construction, particularly in Asia’s green, energy efficient and low-carbon buildings market. “This trade mission provided an excellent opportunity to continue to strengthen relationships with our customers and trading partners in Korea, Japan and China,” said Susan Yurkovich, President and CEO, BC Council of Forest Industries (COFI). “As some of the largest markets for B.C.’s forest products, we value our relationships in these countries. It was encouraging to hear from our customers and stakeholders that B.C.’s renewable forest products continue to be in demand in Asia, particularly to advance green building initiatives.” 

Read More

No ‘Plan B’ for potential shutdown of Northern Pulp mill, minister says

Canadian Press in the Vancouver Sun
December 13, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

Iain Rankin

HALIFAX — Nova Scotia isn’t currently planning for the potential shutdown of the Northern Pulp mill if it can’t solve its effluent problem, says Lands and Forestry Minister Iain Rankin. The mill has already said it likely won’t be able to meet a legislated deadline of Jan. 30, 2020, for the closure of its Boat Harbour effluent treatment plant, and it hasn’t yet submitted an environmental assessment application for a new effluent pipe into the ocean. Northern Pulp officials have said that no pipe would mean no mill. With seismic testing in the Northumberland Strait still incomplete, time is quickly running out on the mill and Rankin was asked following Thursday’s cabinet meeting whether a plan was in place for the worst case scenario. “We’re not there yet,” he said. “We continue to expect that they (Northern Pulp) will meet the timelines.”

Read More

Forestry minister not ready to contemplate closure of Northern Pulp just yet

By Michael Gorman
CBC News
December 13, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

Stephen McNeil

Iain Rankin isn’t ready to consider what the fallout would be for Nova Scotia’s forestry industry if Northern Pulp closes. …Rankin and Premier Stephen McNeil said they expect the Pictou County-based mill will meet a legislated deadline to get a new treatment facility in place, with McNeil adding the government will “continue to [look at] how do we best diversify the sector” if the mill does close. …Rankin and McNeil may be two of the last remaining people in the province who believe it’s possible for Northern Pulp to have a new treatment facility in place ahead of a legislated closure date of January 2020 for Boat Harbour. Northern Pulp has yet to even submit an application for an environmental assessment of its plan, and the company itself has indicated meeting the deadline isn’t a reality.

Read More

Forest Products Annual Market Review 2017-2018

UNECE – United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
December 14, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

The Forest Products Annual Market Review 2017-2018 provides a comprehensive analysis of markets in the UNECE region and reports on the main market influences outside the UNECE region. It covers the range of products from the forest to the end-user: from roundwood and primary processed products to value-added and housing. Statistics-based chapters analyse the markets for wood raw materials, sawn softwood, sawn hardwood, wood-based panels, paper, paperboard and woodpulp. Other chapters analyse policies and markets for wood energy. Underlying the analysis is a comprehensive collection of data. The Review highlights the role of sustainable forest products in international markets. Policies concerning forests and forest products are discussed, as well as the main drivers and trends. The Review also analyses the effects of the current economic situation on forest products markets.

Read More

Forestry

Forest Enhancement Society of B.C. Proposal Intake Sees $119 Million in Funding Requests

The Forest Enhancement Society of B.C.
December 14, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Steve Kozuki

Kamloops, B.C. – The Forest Enhancement Society of B.C.’s (FESBC) fifth intake deadline for proposals was November 30. In this round of funding, the Society is making $63 million available for deployment to projects aligned with FESBC’s five purposes to advance environmental and resource stewardship of B.C.’s forests. As of the deadline, the Society received proposal requests for almost double the $63 million available from across the province. …“We are delighted with the number of good quality proposals,” says Steve Kozuki, Executive Director of FESBC. “Our team of forest professionals guided proponents through the application process to ensure funding is well spent on projects that have a meaningful impact. Our Society is now in a position to award new grants … to organizations like community forests, municipalities, and First Nations, who implement projects focused on a variety of treatments on Provincial Crown forest lands.”

Read More

Western Forest Products gets good audit on TFL 39

BC Forest Practices Board
December 13, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

VICTORIA – An audit of Western Forest Products Inc. on tree farm licence 39 (TFL 39) has found Western met the requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act, according to a Forest Practices Board report. “The board commends Western for its good practices in TFL 39,” said Kevin Kriese, board chair. “This is the third time the board has audited TFL 39 since 2008, looking at a different geographic area of the TFL each time, and all three audits found full compliance with forest practices legislation.” TFL 39 is made up of four geographically distinct blocks. Two of those blocks were the subject of this audit. Block 2 is located near Sayward on Vancouver Island and Block 5 is located on the mainland in the Phillips River watershed.

Read More

Logging in a living technology laboratory

HarvestTECHX
December 14, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

A few years ago, American logger Eric Krume expressed some frustration that technology had not moved quickly enough to adapt to Pacific Northwest conditions and dynamics. A lot has changed since then.  To address this, Eric constantly seeks technology with flexible solutions to suit the differing forest conditions his logging crews encounter from one setting to the next. His inventiveness has led to his other business – equipment manufacturing through Summit Attachments for other loggers. In addition to other developments, Eric is now perfecting his latest innovation – a fully hydraulic 100-foot yarder for logging steep forests. A constant thirst for new knowledge makes Eric an ideal choice as one of the keynote speakers at the HarvestTECHX 2019 Conference in Vancouver in March.

Read More

Are feds over-fighting fires? Critics point to this blaze

By Adam Aton
E&E News
December 13, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

…California’s 2016 Soberanes Fire broke records for costing the most money to fight a wildfire — much of it in a national forest near Big Sur. That’s the kind of place where experts say fire is good; the ecosystem depends on it, and the flames don’t threaten people or property. Instead of letting it burn, the Forest Service unleashed an air show. … That lesson threatens to be lost in the whiplash pace of fighting fires. The past two years of infernos has overshadowed the $262 million Soberanes Fire, but experts say it foreshadowed a pair of escalating trends. Climate change is amplifying wildfires. And policymakers…are pushing for more fire suppression, regardless of the costs to taxpayers or the environment. …Forests evolved with fire, and they rely on it to renew the ecosystem. But critics say the government rarely manages fires with ecology in mind… A century of fire suppression is one reason the West’s forests are so combustible.

Read More

Archangel Ancient Tree Archive to Plant Clones of World’s Largest Trees at National Site

By Archangel Ancient Tree Archive
Cision Newswire
December 14, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

SAN FRANCISCO — Archangel Ancient Tree Archive will plant 75 champion coastal redwood saplings that have the potential to grow into the world’s largest trees. These trees hold champion eco-technology that filters air, soil and water and are capable of removing record amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The nonprofit is working with the Presidio, a national site in San Francisco, to plant the saplings, which were cloned from massive ancient tree stumps, to form a “super grove.” “We’re excited to set the standard for environmental recovery,” said David Milarch, co-founder of the Archangel Ancient Tree Archive. “These trees have the capacity to fight climate change and revitalize forests and our ecology in a way we haven’t seen before.” Milarch and his team led an expedition to clone the saplings from five ancient tree stumps in northern California.

Read More

Little has changed in federal forest rhetoric in past 25 years

By Mickey Bellman, professional forester
The Statesman Journal
December 13, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Mickey Bellman

Yogi Berra once said, “This is like déjà vu all over again.” If I had not looked at the calendar, I would have thought it was 1994, and we were amid the spotted owl wars. …Naturally, the preservationists decry any further harvest activity on any federal land, just as they did when spotted owls were in the spotlight 25 years ago. …Once again it seems the big, greedy corporations are poised to cut down every last tree and line their treasuries with profits. …The rhetoric has changed very little in the past 25 years. Until the zealots descend from their lofty pedestals and embrace common-sense management, I foresee little hope  that our federal, overcrowded, stagnant forests will get little more than passive lip service. Meanwhile, the forests will continue to be managed by uncontrolled incineration.

Read More

Federal appeals court rejects permits for Atlantic Coast Pipeline

By Gregory Schneider
The Washington Post
December 13, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

RICHMOND — A panel of federal judges has rejected permits for the Atlantic Coast natural gas pipeline to cross two national forests and the Appalachian Trail in Virginia, finding that the U.S. Forest Service “abdicated its responsibility” and kowtowed to private industry in approving the project. The harshly worded, 60-page decision issued Thursday by three judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit is part of a string of legal setbacks for the 600-mile pipeline.  …“We trust the United States Forest Service to ‘speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues,’ ” the ruling said, quoting “The Lorax,” a 1971 Dr. Seuss book. “A thorough review of the record leads to the necessary conclusion that the Forest Service abdicated its responsibility to preserve national forest resources.”

Read More

Sweden’s forests have doubled in size over the last 100 years

By Alex Gray
QRIUS
December 14, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Sweden is a land of trees. More than 70% of its landscape is covered by forest and in less than 100 years, Sweden’s forest assets have doubled. Yet this is also a country where chopping down trees is big business. Sweden holds just under 1% of the world’s commercial forest areas and provides 10% of the sawn timber, pulp and paper that is traded on the global market. Far from being a logged wasteland, however, Sweden has more forest now than it did a century ago – when it had only a fraction of its current population and globalisation didn’t exist. So, how has Sweden managed to grow its timber industry as well as its level of tree cover? The simple answer is that Sweden grows more trees than it chops down.

Read More

Global Competition on Best Practices in Forest Education

The European Forest Institute
December 12, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: International
Nominations now open for the best teaching method to the Global Competition on Best Practices in Forest Education. Don’t miss the 18 January 2019 deadline! More often than not, great educators do not receive the recognition they deserve and their powerful teaching methods have a limited sphere of influence. To raise awareness of forest education and its impact on sustainable forest management, IUFRO, IFSA, HY+ and the University of Helsinki in collaboration with FAO have launched a Global Competition to find the Best Practices in Forest Education. Winning methods will be shared to a worldwide audience, and winners will of course receive prizes! The Best Practices Competition will award two main prizes: One IUFRO 2019 World Congress Prize Package and one Forest Visit to Finland!

Read More

Drones and satellite imaging to make forest protection pay

The European Commission
Horizon Magazine
December 13, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Every year 7 million hectares of forest are cut down, chipping away at the 485 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) stored in trees around the world, but low-cost drones and new satellite imaging could soon protect these carbon stocks and help developing countries get paid for protecting their trees. ‘If you can measure the biomass you can measure the carbon and get a number which has value for a country,’ said Pedro Freire da Silva, a satellite and flight system expert at Deimos Engenharia, a Portuguese technology company. International financial institutions, such as the World Bank and the European Investment Bank, provide developing countries with economic support to keep forests’ carbon stocks intact through the UN REDD+ programme.

Read More

NASA and FAO jointly develop a new forest and landscape monitoring tool

By Aditya Chaturvedi
Geospataial World News
December 13, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: International

A new way of looking at the dense forests and tall trees has been devised as NASA and FAO joined hands to create a new open-access tool. The initiative, which is backed by Google Earth Engine Team and the US governments SilverCarbon Program, permits any user to monitor change in landscape patterns across the globe. Collect Earth Online (CEO) boosts the capacity of FAO’s Open Foris Collect Earth tool that assisted in collecting data related to land use, vegetation and forestation patterns. Collect Earth tool is mainly used for supporting multi-phase National Forest Inventories, monitoring agrarian and urban land patterns, verifying existing maps, collecting socio-economic data, and quantifying deforestation, reforestation and desertification. CEO will henceforth be a core technology that will bolster FAO’s global Remote Sensing Survey. The new platform is absolutely free-of-cost.

Read More

Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

FPAC welcomes the Katowice Declaration on Forests for the Climate at COP24

The Forest Products Association of Canada
December 13, 2018
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) is pleased to support the Ministerial “Declaration on Forests for the Climate”, which was tabled today at the COP24 meeting in Poland. Today’s declaration recognizes the critical role that forests in Canada and around the world play in achieving global climate change targets. In addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, forests have an important role to play in the sequestration and storage of carbon in the soil, trees and other vegetation, as well as providing products that store carbon. …FPAC President and Chief Executive Officer Derek Nighbor… “This declaration is aligned and supports our sector’s 30 X 30 Climate Change Challenge to remove 30 megatonnes of carbon dioxide per year by 2030 – more than 13% of the Canadian government’s emissions target”.

Read More

Using waste forest products to reduce carbon emissions

By Jim Hilton
The Quesnel Cariboo Observer
December 13, 2018
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada West

After reviewing the recent coverage of the provincial government’s attempts to deal with climate change, I was surprised that there was little mention of potential options in the forest industry. For example, a recent government report estimates that there could be up to 54 million oven dry tons over a 10- to 20-year period of forest material that could be used by new forest industries, which could help mitigate the loss of traditional timber lost to insect attack and wildfires. Up to now, most of this material has been burned in slash piles, so any use of this biomass could help reduce carbon emissions while providing a new source of employment. A joint project between the Inventory Section and FPInnovations produced maps and costs involved to bring this material to designated delivery centres in the 11 Timber Supply Areas (TSA) of the province.

Read More

National climate change report: what’s in store for Southern Appalachian forests?

By Karen Chavez
The Citizen Times
December 13, 2018
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US East

ASHEVILLE – Drought, fires, epic storms, flooding, even plagues of insects. The recently released government report on climate change, the “National Climate Assessment,”predicting drastic changes to the way our local forests will look and function in the next few decades reads like the worst of Bible tales. But according to local scientists… the dire predictions laid out in the report are true and real, and shouldn’t have taken anyone by surprise. …The long, painful history of Western North Carolina’s forests might play a role in some of the impending disasters due to climate change, ecologists say. “We are already starting to see a shift in our forests, but that is largely due to fire suppression over the last century. When you couple fire suppression and historical logging, they’re already shifting in a different direction,” said Megan Sutton.

Read More

COP24: Nations complicit in ignoring bioenergy climate bomb, experts say

By Justin Catanoso
Mongabay
December 13, 2018
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

KATOWICE, Poland – Today, it’s being called the bomb that could explode the United Nations carbon climate emissions accounting system – and possibly destabilize the global climate. …Some 20 years ago, bioenergy produced from biomass was seen as the next new thing, and a valuable sustainable resource. And because it was deemed renewable, countries that burned biomass – wood pellets instead of coal – would not be required to count those carbon emissions. All that carbon dioxide was believed to be absorbed by the new tree seedlings. For the purpose of United Nations carbon accounting policy, established under the Kyoto Protocol, the burning of biomass was established as, and is still considered, carbon neutral. But in recent years, the supposed benign process has been revealed through a series of scientific studies and reports to be a dangerous fraud. It is the ticking bomb underlying the UN accounting system…

Read More

The “Forests for Climate” Katowice Ministerial Declaration Has Been Accepted

COP24 Katowice 2018
December 12, 2018
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

The Polish presidency has announced its next initiative – the Katowice Ministerial Declaration “Forests for Climate.” …The Paris Agreement shows a general will to get involved in a global effort aimed at achieving a balance between anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases deriving from sources and their absorption by scrubbers and absorbing agents. Responsibility for achieving this goal lies with all governments, because it can only be achieved through a global effort. …The parties should take measures in order to preserve and improve the state of absorbers and greenhouse gas reservoirs, including forests. Multifunctional and sustainable forest management is fundamentally important for achieving climate neutrality.

Read More

Climate experts bat for promoting bamboo as solution to climate change

Business Standard
December 13, 2018
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Climate experts and policy makers assembled at the UN Climate talks advocated for promoting bamboo, a fast-growing grass plant, as a solution to climate change, environmental degradation and poverty. Quoting a study conducted by the Nature Conservancy and the International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation (INBAR), experts said natural resources can deliver over 35 per cent of cost-effective carbon dioxide mitigation needed by 2030.  …The policymakers and private sector representatives said bamboo – commonly grown in Africa, Asia and South America – can be an important way to ‘green’ infrastructure drives. According to INBAR, bamboo’s potential to mitigate climate change is realised at a high level in China. A fast growing and durable plant, bamboo can be used for making heavy-duty materials, such as pipes and scaffolding, as well as used in housing purposes, the experts, which included UNFCCC director of policy and programme, said.

Read More

At COP24, Poland Unveils a Declaration to Protect its Forests

By Kate Wheeling
Pacific Standard Magazine
December 13, 2018
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

On Wednesday at the UN global climate summit, Poland launched a new declaration drawing attention to the important role of forests in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. At the contentious negotiations, a declaration on forest protections might seem like a welcome announcement—but the declaration… has become a controversial document. The declaration calls on countries to “take action to conserve and enhance sinks and reservoirs of greenhouse gases, including forests,”  while urging scientists to study the role of forests in “achieving a balance between anthropogenic emissions” and carbon sinks. …But members of civil society say the language of the declaration suggests that Poland, a coal-dependent country, is seeking to use carbon offsets in its forests to delay real efforts to reduce its emissions.

Read More