Daily Archives: March 13, 2019

Today’s Takeaway

Housing starts rebound, softwood lumber prices soften in January – go figure!

March 13, 2019
Category: Today's Takeaway

January US housing starts came in well above expectations as they rebounded from December’s plunge, but after remaining flat for several weeks, softwood lumber prices dropped. In other Business news: Lumber Liquidators agrees to major penalty in flooring scandal; the Steelworkers say their Northern BC deal is good but WFP’s shutdown news is a bargaining tactic; and more on the Fort Frances/Resolute debacle.

In other news: Nelson Bennett and Port McNeil residents give the NDP’s Coastal Revitalization Plan a reality check; Alberta’s Wood Buffalo Park gets a buffer; Oregon lawmakers want to ban clear cuts; NRDC takes on Charmin’s sustainability claims; and a North Carolina fire chief addresses mid-rise fire concerns. 

Finally, Greenpeace co-founder Patrick Moore, Fox News and Trump.

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor

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Business & Politics

Softwood Lumber Board seeks nominations for board seats

Softwood Lumber Board
March 12, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

The Softwood Lumber Board seeks nominations of softwood lumber manufacturers and importers interested in candidacy for Board seats coming open in January 2020. Each Director will serve a three-year term and may serve for a maximum of two consecutive terms. The deadline for nominations is April 9, 2019. Ballots will be provided to eligible companies in each region and votes will be tabulated by region. The SLB administers an industry-funded and -directed program (commonly known as a “check-off”) designed to promote the benefits and uses of softwood lumber products in both established and new market segments. …The SLB sees the pursuit of diversity in Board membership as an opportunity for embracing new ideas to better serve the industry. 

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Housing Starts Rebound Big in January

Wells Fargo Economics Group in For Construction Pros
March 11, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

January U.S. housing starts came in well above expectations as they rebounded 18.6% from December’s 14.0% plunge, rising to a 1.23 million-unit seasonally adjusted annual pace. …Residential building permits rose 1.4% to a 1.35 million-unit annual pace. Despite a softening trend, permits are running roughly 15.0% ahead of starts, which suggests starts could rebound further in coming months. Much of the monthly gain in starts is owed to a 25.1% leap in the single-family segment, which rose to a 926,000 unit pace. January’s increase breaks a four-month string of monthly declines. One soft spot in today’s report is that single-family building permits fell 2.1% to an 812,000-unit pace, its slowest since August 2017. Multifamily starts, which are normally quite volatile, increased 2.4% during the month after plunging 25.4% in December. Multifamily permits rose 7.2% to a 533,000-unit pace and continue to exceed expectations and track even higher.

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Softwood lumber prices soften, January US housing starts pop

Madison’s Lumber Reporter
March 12, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Important data releases delayed by the US government furlough are starting to catch up to normal schedule. Because everything is related between agencies, there have been delays in Statistics Canada releases, since StatsCan works closely with US Census on North America data. This week Monday came out Canadian sawmill manufacturing sales and Canadian softwood lumber production for full-year 2018, as well as US housing starts for January.  When this data is put against North America lumber prices there is apparent a very good metric and indicator for near-term future US home building activity. After remaining flat at US$422 mfbm for several weeks, wholesaler prices for benchmark lumber (net FOB sawmill) commodity Western Spruce-Pine-Fir KD 2×4 #2&Btr dropped by -$20, or -5%, to end last week at US$402 mfbm. The prices of most other standard commodities were unchanged from the previous week, however studs took a beating, with big dips of -1% to -6% across all species of studs. 

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United Steelworkers Loc. 1-1937 says Alberni Pacific Division Sawmill shutdown a ‘bargaining tactic’

By Susie Quinn
The Alberni Valley News
March 12, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

The union representing workers at Alberni Pacific Division Sawmill says an upcoming curtailment is nothing more than a poor bargaining tactic. Western Forest Products, which owns and operates APD Sawmill, confirmed on Friday the mill will close for at least a month starting March 18. …WFP director of communications Babita Khunkhun… “This decision is directly related to market conditions… for the Japanese market.” …Brian Butler, president of United Steel Workers’ Local 1-1937, said the union’s view of the shutdown is “considerably different”. This is a contract year for the coastal forest industry, and the union recently agreed to start collective bargaining on April 15.

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Local 1-2017 votes on deal with Conifer

By Blair McBride
Burns Lake Lakes District News
March 13, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Members of the United Steelworkers local 1-2017 are expected to finish voting on an agreement reached with the Council on Northern Interior Forest Employment Relations (Conifer) by March 11. The union represents workers at the Babine Forest Products mill in Burns Lake and the Canfor mill in Houston. The vote is on whether or not to ratify a tentative agreement that the union made with Conifer in Prince George on Feb. 13, following several months of negotiations and strikes. “We’re recommending that they accept it…We think it’s a fair deal.” Paul French, vice president of the union, told Lakes District News. The proposed agreement covers 2018-2023 and provides for wage increases, including a retroactive raise to July 1, 2018.

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Coastal forestry revitalization plan awaits reality check

By Nelson Bennett
Business in Vancouver
March 13, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Nearly 20 years ago, forest-sector unions began warning that eliminating rules that tied cutting rights to sawmills and allowing more logs to be exported would result in a vicious cycle. Moving to an auction system and allowing increased log exports would raise log prices, they warned. Smaller coastal sawmill operators, unable to compete with bigger operators and foreign buyers, would shut down. The more mills that closed, the more surplus timber there would be, justifying even more log exports. And because B.C.’s forest sector is highly integrated, with pulp and paper mills relying on sawmills for wood waste, the sawmill closures would also result in pulp mill closures. …Log export defenders argue that most of the logs exported are low-value hemlock, which has little value for making lumber. …Some within the industry say log exports are not the problem and that without them, the logging industry will suffer.

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Repap plans to submit conditional offer to purchase Fort Frances mill

By Gary Rinne
Thunder Bay News Watch
March 12, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

FORT FRANCES, ON — The private investment group hoping to reopen the idled pulp and paper mill at Fort Frances intends to submit a purchase offer to Resolute Forest Products this week. Repap spokesperson Sean Twomey says it will be conditional on receiving a guaranteed supply of fibre to produce the specialty paper—the kind used for cement bags and sugar bags—that Repap proposes to manufacture. Resolute previously required that any offers before its March 15 deadline must be “binding,” but company vice-president Seth Kursman has told Tbnewswatch Resolute agreed to accept non-binding offers to accommodate Repap “and their financing needs.”  In an interview with Tbnewswatch from his New York office, Twomey confirmed Repap still needs to complete financing arrangements for the mill purchase. Some progress may have been made with regard to a fibre supply, however.

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Fort Frances Evokes Site Plan Control Process

The Net News Ledger
March 12, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

FORT FRANCES – The Town of Fort Frances has issued the following statement… The Town of Fort Frances, in protection of our community, has informed Resolute Forest Products that we will invoke our site plan control process if a demolition company takes ownership of our Mill. Through the site plan control process, we will require any owner, prior to demolition, to provide the Town with a line of credit that Administration is recommending be no less than $20 million, to ensure that the process is completed with minimal impact to our community. Town Administration is also recommending a series of third-party professional studies to be completed with respect to historic, engineering and environmental aspects. …These proactive steps will protect our town from the unfortunate disasters that happened in communities like Red Rock and Iroquois Falls when they lost their major industries. 

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Unrolling Charmin’s Sustainability Claims

By Shelley Vinyard & Jennifer Skene
Natural Resource Defense Council
March 12, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States

The toilet paper giant, Charmin, makes a lot of claims about its environmental impact and commitments on its website, but how are they really doing? Charmin is America’s leading toilet paper brand, but it’s at the back of the pack when it comes to sustainability. …Charmin toilet paper comes in part from the Canadian boreal forest, one of the most important forests in the world for Indigenous Peoples, wildlife, and the climate. But the Canadian boreal is being logged at a rate of seven NHL hockey rinks a minute, largely due to destructive logging for products like Charmin. …Procter & Gamble supports certification systems including SFI and PEFC that contain glaring loopholes and are a long way from guaranteeing forests are being harvested sustainably. The only certification system with any credibility is the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which, while not perfect, has the most stringent sustainability requirements by all measures. 

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Housing slowdown to affect 2019 timber markets

By Christine Souza
Ag Alert
March 13, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US West

After timber operators experienced record earnings last summer, they say a slowdown in new home construction and an oversupply of lumber going into this season points to likely lower prices for harvested logs and lumber products. But many say they remain hopeful the market for harvested logs and timber will stabilize during the spring. …New housing construction represents a major indicator in domestic lumber prices, and California Forestry Association Vice President Steven Brink said housing starts declined last fall and early winter. That contributed to a declining lumber price, although housing has rebounded slightly. …Now that the demand and price for harvested logs and lumber products has slowed, Webb said, sawmills are being more cautious, uncertain of “whether there’s enough demand out there to absorb higher production levels, or if production levels will drop off and mills decide they cannot sell what they are producing.”

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Lumber Liquidators to pay regulators $33 million in flooring scandal settlement

Reuters
March 12, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc has agreed to pay a $33 million criminal penalty to settle federal charges it misled investors about the safety of its laminate flooring made in China and sold to U.S. customers. The settlements announced by the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday came four years after Lumber Liquidators was alleged to be selling products with illegally high levels of formaldehyde, a known carcinogen. The Justice Department settlement includes a deferred prosecution agreement, under which the government agreed not to prosecute Lumber Liquidators for securities fraud so long as the company upgrades oversight and cooperates with its ongoing probe for three years. The hardwood flooring retailer knew that products made by its largest Chinese supplier had failed third-party formaldehyde emissions testing, but the company had misled investors, regulators said.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

UBC plans online wood products management skills training

By Karl Forth
Woodworking Network
March 12, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER — The UBC Centre for Advanced Wood Processing has released its Online Management Skills Training schedule for Spring 2019. Two modules, Quality Management and Control, as well as Sales and Marketing, will be offered starting April 1, 2019. Two additional modules, Business Finance and Investment Evaluation, along with Supply Chain Management, will begin on May 13, 2019. Each module has email and phone support from a tutor. The management training program is in the form of a set of nine short, affordable online training courses for wood products manufacturers. Program development was undertaken by the Wood Manufacturing Council.

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When is wood not really wood?

By David Malone
Building Design + Construction
March 12, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States

Wood has been used as a building material for structures, tools, and weapons for hundreds of thousands of years. …Now, the next evolution of wood can be seen on the scientific horizon. A group of researchers from Columbia University has created “digital wood” through the use of 3D-printing, while another group of researchers from several universities—including the University of Pennsylvania… have created “metallic wood.” In a study published by the researchers from Columbia University (bit.ly/2WKMFye)… is a 3D print a substance that resembles real wood. …The researchers say the workflow can be used in the digital replication of objects with complex internal patterns that are currently impossible to manufacture. In a separate study, researchers created “metallic wood” that… Like the digital wood, isn’t really wood at all. It is actually a nano-structured cellular material… as strong as titanium, but four to five times lighter.

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Apartment fire reignites concerns over materials used by builders

By Nathan Morabito
WCNC News
March 12, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As arson investigators try to track down suspects in two separate Charlotte apartment complex fires, the city’s fire chief said he’s concerned about the material crews are using to build the massive apartments taking over Charlotte’s landscape. “It is worrisome to me,” Chief Reginald Johnson said. “Now, we have a five-story wood framed apartment that we really need to be concerned about. Those fires can get pretty big in short order.” Our Defenders investigation raised similar concerns nearly a year ago about apartments made of wood frame that could fuel massive fires in highly populated areas. The fire chief said CFD is now reviewing its procedures to make sure firefighters are fully capable of responding to that kind of fire. …The fire inspector said the biggest concern is when crews are in the construction phase.

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Ennead Designs New Nature Reserve and Public Aquarium in China

By Eric Baldwin
Arch Daily
March 12, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

CHINA — Ennead Architects has won the international design competition to design the new Shanghai Yangtze River Estuary Nature Preserve in China. Located on an island at the mouth of the Yangtze River, the design was made to raise public awareness around the impact of pollution and construction. The nature reserve aims to rescue critically endangered species and restore biodiversity while allowing visitors to immerse themselves in a natural setting outside the dense urban core of Shanghai. …The project features undulating and fluid forms that take cues from the rippling surface of the river and the iconic landscape of the Upper Yangtze. Curving wooden structural ribs radiate around a central spine that joins the three wings of the building into a singular unified expression.

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Forestry

Logging town of Port McNeill wary of changes to forestry on B.C. coast

By Megan Thomas
CBC News
March 13, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

James Furney

At Port McNeill’s picturesque harbour, a historic steam donkey stands as a reminder of the logging industry that built the north Vancouver Island town. It’s a history James Furney with the Port McNeill Museum Society knows well. He’s also the son of legendary former mayor Gerry Furney, an outspoken champion of the town’s place in B.C.’s resource sector. …But there are far fewer jobs in the forests around Port McNeill than there used to be. Logger Dave Weymar watched the decline during his decades working in the industry. Now, he teaches a Vancouver Island University course called Fundamentals of Forestry to the next generation. …”In particular the raw log export legislation, we need to know what those changes will mean, because if the unintended consequences are not looked at, it has a very direct and quick ripple effect for us in a smaller rural remote community,” said Mayor Gaby Wickstrom.

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First Nation praises creation of new park to buffer Alberta national park

The Canadian Press in CBC News
March 12, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

A new wildland park in northern Alberta will go a long way toward ensuring Indigenous people can keep up their traditional pursuits, a local First Nation said Tuesday. …The Alberta government announced on Tuesday the creation of Kitaskino Nuwenene Wildland Park, a 1,600-square-kilometre park that links and expands two previously announced parks buffering Wood Buffalo National Park. The park comes after three energy companies… returned oilsands leases to the government. …Both UNESCO and a federal government report have concluded that Wood Buffalo’s environmental values were deteriorating. A buffer zone around the park was one of UNESCO’s 17 recommendations to turn that around. …It will be closed to forestry and new energy development, although existing wells can keep operating.

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Lack of funding, not roadless rule, is bigger factor in Utah forest health

By Harv Forsgren, retired Forester, Utah
The Salt Lake Tribune
March 12, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Harv Forsgren

In Utah about half of our national forests — over 4 million acres — are designated as “inventoried roadless areas.” When a 2001 federal rule was being drafted to guide management of roadless areas, 73 percent of Utahns who commented supported complete protection of roadless lands. These lands disproportionately contribute to: reliable supplies of water for drinking; agriculture and industry; high-quality habitat for fish and wildlife; recreation opportunities such as hiking, camping, picnicking, wildlife viewing, hunting, fishing, cross-country skiing; and the state’s high scenic values and opportunities for solitude. Keeping roadless areas healthy and intact is vital to the well being of Utahns. Since 2001 the Roadless Area Conservation Rule has prohibited road construction and timber harvest in these areas with exceptions when a road is needed to: protect public health and safety; conduct an environmental response action; honor existing rights; or where road realignment is needed to prevent environmental damage.

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Agency looks to more logging, improved forest health

By Amy Beth Hanson
The Associated Press in the Lewiston Tribune
March 13, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

HELENA, Mont. — Montana’s forestry agency is working with federal, local and private organizations to increase logging on national forests to improve forest health and decrease the risk of disease and catastrophic fires. State lawmakers are supporting a $2.2 million request from the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to hire people to help implement the Good Neighbor Authority program. Montana’s forestlands are deteriorating because of insects and disease, fire seasons are lasting longer and the numbers of acres burned has increased 15-fold over the past 20 years, Forestry Division Administrator Sonya Germann told a House appropriations subcommittee in January. …The Good Neighbor Authority… has to follow the same federal environmental laws the Forest Service would have to meet in offering sales.

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Oregon bill would protect drinking water, ban clear-cuts, chemicals on private forestland

By Tracy Loew
The Statesman Journal
March 12, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Two Oregon lawmakers want to protect public drinking water sources by banning clear-cuts, pesticide and fertilizer applications, and new logging roads on private forestland in those watersheds. The aim is to prevent disasters such as last year’s Detroit Lake algae bloom. …Supporters of House Bill 2656, dubbed the “Oregon Safe Waters Act,” say those forest activities degrade water supplies with sediments, chemical and thermal pollution and other contaminants, also increasing the risk of wildfires, flooding, and landslides. …Private forests already are regulated under the Oregon Forest Practices Act. But environmental groups say the state’s rules don’t go far enough, and are weaker than those in Washington, California and Idaho. …Some of the state’s largest private timber owners, including Weyerhaeuser, Hampton Lumber, Stimson Lumber and Starker Forests, are fighting the proposal.

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Official: Trump signs bill creating 30,000-acre Oregon wilderness in public lands deal

By Zach Urness
Statesman Journal
March 12, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

With one stroke of the pen, President Trump brought success to a decades-long effort to protect 30,000 acres of old-growth rainforest in Oregon’s coastal mountains. Trump signed into law a package of 120 public lands bills Tuesday morning that includes creation of a new wilderness area and protection of 250 miles of waterways under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in Oregon. It was a rare moment of bipartisanship after the package of bills, which impact parks, monuments and forests across the nation, sailed through both the Senate and House. Among the numerous bills in the package, a handful impact Oregon. …“By designating the Devil’s Staircase Wilderness, President Trump follows the proud tradition of Republican presidents like Teddy Roosevelt who have stood up for the environment and done the right thing for the American people,” said Andy Stahl, who has worked toward protecting the area for almost 20 years. 

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Georgia is Leading the Way to Stand4Forests

By Vicki Weeks
Dogwood Alliance
March 11, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Last year the Stand4Forests movement was launched, laying out a bold vision for forest protection in the US endorsed by organizations, elected officials, and scientists from around the country. The Stand4Forests movement calls for a new vision of forest protection. In Georgia, residents and lawmakers are leading the nation in taking the first powerful steps towards making the Stand4Forests vision a reality. In early 2019, GA State Senator Lester Jackson introduced the Stand4Forests resolution, SR108. It’s been co-sponsored by at least 6 other State Senators and when the 2019-2020 legislative session begins again, we could see SR 108 going to a vote! That means that now – this year – is the time to call on all of our GA Senators to become forest champions. 2020 could be the year that Georgia becomes the first state to officially Stand4Forests.

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Can smarter forest buffer strips along streams help to mitigate climate change?

By Marcus Klaus, Umea University
Phys.org
March 13, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: International

SWEDEN — Forests are important components of the global climate system, taking up large amounts of carbon. Yet, part of this carbon is lost to inland waters and emitted back to the atmosphere as greenhouse gases. Recent research indicates the importance of forest management along streams for such emissions. Supported by new research funding, Marcus Klaus is now seeking to understand how forestry related greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by new ways to design forest buffer strips along streams. …The two studies… lead to exciting new questions: If not inland waters, is it the riparian buffer zones that emit the greenhouse gases accumulated in groundwater after forest clear-cutting? Can these emissions be reduced by smarter riparian buffer zone designs?

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Who Is Patrick Moore, Fox News’ New Anti-Climate Change Hero?

By Michael Sebastian
Esquire Magazine
March 12, 2019
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, United States

Patrick Moore

He called Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a “pompous little twit,” which, naturally, landed him a spot on Fox News. Climate change deniers have a new hero in Patrick Moore, who’s tweetabout a Green New Deal leading to the “mass death” has gone viral, landed him on multiple Fox News shows, and earned a glowing tweet from President Trump. “Patrick Moore, co-founder of Greenpeace: ‘The whole climate crisis is not only Fake News, it’s Fake Science. There is no climate crisis, there’s weather and climate all around the world, and in fact carbon dioxide is the main building block of all life.’ @foxandfriends Wow!” The president tweeted on Tuesday morning. Fox and Trump are billing Moore as the founder of Greenpeace, but here’s a shocker: That’s not accurate. Here’s what you need to know about Patrick Moore.

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Bruce County leads the way as first community forest to sign up for development of forest carbon offset project

By Astrid Nielsen
Eastern Ontario Model Forest
March 12, 2019
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada East

KEMPTVILLE, ONTARIO — Last year, the Eastern Ontario Model Forest (EOMF) partnered with Bluesource Canada to help forest certification members such as Bruce County navigate through the complexity of carbon credit development, verification and marketing. In the partnership, the EOMF and Bluesource Canada provide guidance to those community forests that are interested in pursuing the opportunity.  Bruce County has a long history of sustainable forest management. In the early to mid-1900’s, the County began purchasing privately owned lands that were devastated by over harvesting or land clearing. These marginal lands were replanted mainly with conifers (evergreens) and managed to promote a natural forest condition, consisting of both hardwoods and conifers. In 2017 Bruce County achieved Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) certification (FSC® C01880) through the EOMF. 

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Bruce County signs landmark forestry partnership deal

iHeartRadio
March 7, 2019
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada East

The County of Bruce has announced a new and innovative partnership with Bluesource Canada that will make the County part of the solution to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. Bluesource Canada is the leading carbon offset developer in North America and is recognized as such by clients and industry peers in the Environmental Finance rankings. It has the forestry and market expertise to help evaluate options for forest owner across North American carbon markets and project types, and develop and monetize the offsets on their behalf. Warden Mitch Twolan stated that “The County is the first public sector forest owner in the Province of Ontario to respond to this global climate crisis in this way, and we are proud of our meaningful response to the international rally cry from the 2015 Paris Accord”. The County has a long history of sustainable forest management.

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Health & Safety

VIDEO: Logging truck that crashed in Port Alberni had a close call minutes earlier

By Susie Quinn
Ladysmith Chronicle
March 12, 2019
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada, Canada West

A logging truck that lost its load in front of a Port Alberni hotel in February had nearly lost its load a couple of kilometres earlier, crossing a bridge over the Somass River. Dash cam video reveals the 25-year-old driver from Qualicum Beach taking a corner off the Orange Bridge at Falls Street on his left side wheels—the right side wheels in the air. Charlie Starratt, Beaver Creek Volunteer Fire Department chief, was approaching Pacific Rim Highway from Falls Street when his dashcam caught the logging truck coming fast off the bridge. He turned left and followed the truck, watching in horror when the truck turned right onto Stamp Avenue from Roger Street and tipped over. …Starratt’s dashcam video shows the truck turn the corner and shift left then fall all the way over, logs spilling over four lanes Stamp Avenue, cars narrowly missing a collision.

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Preliminary report on helicopter crash expected in two weeks

By Paul Gottlieb
The Peninsula Daily News
March 12, 2019
Category: Health & Safety
Region: United States, US West

OLYMPIC NATIONAL FOREST — A preliminary report on a logging helicopter crash Friday morning that killed a member of a Montana family steeped in the timber industry will be issued in two weeks, a National Transportation Safety Board spokesman said Monday. …The chopper crashed in a rugged area of Olympic National Forest 7 miles west of Lake Crescent while hoisting logs during a logging operation, they said. …Tripp was subcontracted by the timber company Interfor U.S. Inc., to work out of a 193-acre tract in Olympic National Forest, U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Susan Garner said Monday. Interfor had contracted with the Forest Service to conduct thinning operations, Garner said. “We’re deeply saddened by the death of Josh Tripp, president of Iron Eagle Helicopters,” Andrew Horahan, Interfor vice president of operations, said Monday in a prepared statement.

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Weyerhaeuser Attempts to Suppress Evidence in Severe Workplace Injury Case- Lawsuit Alleges

By Parris Law Firm
Cision Newswire
March 12, 2019
Category: Health & Safety
Region: United States, US West

LOS ANGELES — A lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court alleges Weyerhaeuser… is guilty of creating an unsafe working environment that led to severe injuries for one truck driver. The proceeding litigation also exposed an alleged attempt by Weyerhaeuser to suppress evidence showing that the company left a hired contractor for dead on its lumber yard. …Weyerhaeuser maintained security cameras on the property, but coincidentally claimed that the cameras did not pick up the incident and further refused to produce any footage. …On January 25, 2019, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ordered Weyerhaeuser to turn over its investigative incident report among other relevant case materials “within 30 days.” …On March 8, 2019, The Second Appellate District Court for the State of California ruled against Weyerhaeuser’s petition to withhold the incident report.  

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