Daily Archives: May 16, 2019

Today’s Takeaway

Here comes the smoke: Health officials tell BC to prepare

May 16, 2019
Category: Today's Takeaway

Here comes the smoke: Health officials tell BC to prepare for new ‘5th season’. In related news: Fires have become a fact of life in Alberta, Federal fire officials update forecast for this year’s wildfire season; and wildfire prompts evacuation alerts near Osoyoos, BC.

In other news: optimism and criticism amid BC’s timber review; the pros and cons of logging in Alaska’s national forests; and UBC energy centre wins green building award.

Finally, case solved: it wasn’t Trudeau’s wood-pledge to France the Tree Frog Editors reported seeing yesterday at Notre Dame Cathedral, but rather, the construction of a huge wooden framework to secure the stone structure.

Kelly McCloskey, a Tree Frog in Paris

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Special Feature

The Fire of Notre-Dame de Paris

By Caroline Harrap
France Today
May 16, 2019
Category: Special Feature
Region: International

…One of the nation’s most beloved landmarks, this masterpiece of medieval architecture dates back more than 850 years. …Since that time, the building has been the scene of… the crowning of King Henry VI of England in 1431, Napoleon’s coronation took place there in 1804. …Today, the cathedral is the most visited monument in France, even ahead of the Eiffel Tower, attracting some 12 million people a year. …Though the cathedral is still standing… it has been estimated that it will take at least four months to fully secure the site. …As well as creating a temporary roof, a huge wooden framework will be erected in order to support the main structure, while most of the stained-glass windows will need to be removed and put into storage.

Several leading restoration experts have expressed their desire to see the cathedral recreated as it was previously and the integrity of the building preserved. They have also pointed out that this would be the quickest and easiest way to restore the cathedral – an important consideration if it is to be rebuilt… in time for the 2024 Olympics. …Others have suggested that perhaps a compromise could be reached – where the integrity of the existing structure is respected but new materials are incorporated. For example, the roof could be constructed with steel, concrete or laminated beams – removing the difficulty and expense of finding enough large oak trees. “If laminated wood was used, it could also have the added benefit of making the building more eco-friendly,” adds Michael Heurtevant.

There’s a new sense of optimism that whatever form the renovation takes, France’s beloved cathedral will be back. There was perhaps no better symbol of this than the moment when the statue that once topped the fallen spire, a copper sculpture of a cockerel, was recovered from the rubble “battered but apparently restorable”. A phoenix from the ashes indeed.

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Business & Politics

Forestry Renewal plan misses point, critics say

BC Local News
May 15, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Just over a month after the British Columbia government announced it would push an initiative to renew the Interior forestry industry, some say the province is a bit late to the game. The initiative seeks to maximize the potential of existing amounts of timber amid the challenges of mountain pine beetle reducing the supply, the impact of wildfires and lower lumber prices. But the Burns Lake Community Forest (BLCF) has been working on plans to tackle these problems for two years, as Frank Varga, General Manager of the BLCF told Lakes District News. …Removing the dead pine from those areas could reduce fire hazards and boost harvesting activity, in so doing satisfying two of the aims of the B.C. renewal initiative. …John Rustad, MLA for Nechako Lakes said he thinks the government’s renewal initiative has merit but its approach is flawed.

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Governments, industry bid on optimism amid timber review

By Blair McBride
BC Local News
May 16, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

The possibility of reduced forestry activity in the near future is sinking in for residents of the Burns Lake region. The questions, anxieties and calculations of the public follow the provincial government’s release of the Lakes Timber Supply Analysis (TSA) Discussion Paper on April 29 and an open house on May 1. Though the level of the new Annual Allowable Cut (AAC) won’t be known until the fall, many people are already examining options for a forestry industry different from the one they’ve known for decades. Speaking to Lakes District News, Burns Lake mayor Dolores Funk takes a glass-half-full perspective of the future. “It is important to recognize that this decrease in AAC does not include the area-based tenures in the Lakes TSA, such as community forests, woodlots and First Nations Woodlands licenses. These area-based tenures will continue to contribute approximately 500,000 m3 to the local economy and provide a level of stability,” she said.

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Kamloops Tolko employees do not need to worry despite Quesnel sawmill’s closure

By Cavelle Layes
Kamloops Matters
May 15, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Despite the Quesnel branch of Tolko mills announcing they will be shutting down, officials say Kamloops employees have nothing to worry about.  …Kamloops employees, however, do not need to worry, Lockyer says, noting it is a plywood mill which means it is able to use different forms of logs and has not seen the same impacts on their resources. “We regularly evaluate all our operations, including the Kamloops location,” Lockyer says. “It will be fine.” “Kamloops is running, it is within the Tolko ‘core asset group’, so they are fine in terms of closure,” she notes, adding there is no reason for employees to be concerned anytime in the near future.

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The International Council of Forest and Paper Associations elects Sylvain Lhôte as its new president

WoodBizForum
May 15, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

Jane Molony and Sylvain Lhôte

The International Council of Forest and Paper Associations (ICFPA) has announced Sylvain Lhôte as its new president. According to the announcement, Mr. Lhôte, director general of the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI), was elected at the ICFPA’s recent annual meeting in Vancouver, Canada, which was attended by representatives from 12 ICFPA member country associations. Sylvain Lhôte has 25 years of government and public affairs expertise working with leading material technology and manufacturing industries on climate and energy policies, sustainability and industrial affairs, as well as competition and international trade issues. He will serve as ICFPA president for the next two years in conjunction with his role at the European industry association.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

UBC’s new campus energy centre wins green building award (PHOTOS)

By Kenneth Chan
Daily Hive
May 15, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

The University of British Columbia’s recently completed Campus Energy Centre (CES) has won national recognition for its leading-edge sustainable design. CES has won the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada’s 2019 Green Building Award, and it is the only building in BC to be recognized in this year’s Awards of Excellence. …the CES was completed in 2016 at a cost of $24 million to provide a critical function to the campus: the supply of hot water to 130 campus buildings through 14 km of underground pipe. …And all of this is contained inside a building predominantly made out of timber, which is rare for an industrial-sized utility building of such importance. The building is constructed with cross-laminated timber — a low-carbon, renewable alternative to steel construction, and a design that enables natural ventilation and cooling.

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Lumber industry and local college team up for upcoming 10-week mill training program

By Robert Dalheim
Woodworking Network
May 15, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East
SUMMERSVILLE, W. Va. A West Virginia community college is dedicating a day-long event to recruiting studens for its upcoming 10-week lumber and mill training program. New River Community and Technical College in Summersville, West Virginia says the training program will allow students to gain skills through the college to prepare them for a paid internship in the lumber industry, and was developed by working with lumber mills and identifying training needs for current and potential employees. “Our lumber and mill training was developed in response to the need for skilled employees in the local lumber industry,” Dean of Workforce, Technical, and Community Education Dr. Jerry Wallace explained. “Through this training, we can help current employees already working in the field along with those interested in working in the wood industry.”

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Multiplex project becomes Australia’s largest Passive House

The Construction Index
May 16, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

Australia’s largest Passive House building is located on Monash University’s Peninsula campus in Frankston, Melbourne. The Passive House – Passivhaus – standard is designed to ensure that buildings energy efficient, comfortable and affordable at the same time. The new student accommodation complex comprises 150 single occupancy units set over six levels and was completed by Multiplex in March. …The project was designed by architect Jackson Clements Burrows. “We have set a new industry standard for environmentally sustainable construction, and we look forward to working towards the prestigious Passive House standard on future projects.” …The project was Multiplex’s first foray into cross-laminated timber construction (CLT). The use of CLT has the capacity to halve the embodied carbon in the building relative to a concrete structure.

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Forestry

Fires a fact of life in Alberta, even with average fire season predicted

CBC News
May 15, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Alberta is expected to see an average risk for wildfires for much of this summer, but scientists warn that “normal conditions” could still result in significant fire activity in the province. “Average in a fire-prone landscape means there will still be fires,” Michael Norton, director general of the Northern Forestry Centre, said on Wednesday. “Exactly how many, exactly where, exactly when — we’re not able to predict that level of specificity.” …The long-range forecast suggests the fire hazard could rise to “above average” in southern Alberta by September, and in the Rockies as early as July. Meanwhile, much of neighbouring B.C. will be at an increased risk of fires through the summer season. …The public still needs more awareness about how to reduce the risk of human-caused fires… with programs such as Fire Smart offering many tips.

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Falkland Forest Rehabilitation Project: 129,000 Trees Planted Spring 2019

Forest Enhancement Society of BC
May 15, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

FALKLAND, BC: a large area 8 kilometers east of the community of Falkland on Highway 97C, previously burned by a wildfire 14 years ago, was the focus of a local Natural Resource District staff and Tolko Industries Ltd. project funded by the Forest Enhancement Society of B.C. (FESBC) for forest rehabilitation and to improve the area for Mule deer winter range. “The Cedar Hills fire of 2005 in the Okanagan Shuswap Forest District burned approximately 1,200 hectares of forest land,” said Dave Conly, Operations Manager for FESBC. “Of the land affected by the fire, 830 hectares was salvage logged and reforested by Tolko Industries Ltd., BC Timber Sales, and local woodlot holders. There remained a significant area of land untreated, and until now, was severely degraded due to the intensity of the fire.” Difficult growing conditions, including drought, existed for some of the remaining area and previous attempts to reforest for timber productivity had been largely unsuccessful. 

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Record year for Community Forest revenue

By Sean Eckford
Sunshine Coast Reporter
May 15, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

2018 was a record year for revenue, according to the year-end financial report presented at the Sunshine Coast Community Forest’s (SCCF) May 13 annual general meeting. The SCCF brought in $3,647,458 for a profit of just over $1.2 million. As a result the SCCF board voted an extraordinary dividend of $600,000 to the sole shareholder, the District of Sechelt, as well as a regular dividend of $25,890. Sechelt councillors Brenda Rowe and Matt McLean were on hand to receive the dividend cheques on behalf of the district. “The extraordinary dividend is the second highest ever and reflects our plan to declare an extraordinary dividend next year even if our profits are lower,” SCCF board president Geoff Craig said in his written summary of the year’s activities. He also said the final tally for legal fees associated with fighting a court challenge against logging in the East Wilson Creek area amounted to more than $85,000.

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Federal fire officials update forecast for this year’s wildfire season

By Colette Derworiz
Canadian Press in National Post
May 15, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

EDMONTON — This year’s fire season forecast is normal across the country for the month of May, but the hazard is expected to increase for much of Western Canada this summer. Natural Resources Canada’s Northern Forestry Centre in Edmonton, one of five research centres with the Canadian Forest Service, provided the update on Wednesday. “For the month of May, we are showing normal or below-normal levels of expected fire severity through the entire country,” said Richard Carr, a wildland fire research analyst. “However, through the summer beginning in June and extending through August, we’re seeing the western-most regions — British Columbia, Yukon, western Alberta — that have increased risk of fire severity and therefore the possibility of more fires.”

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Out-of-control wildfire prompts additional evacuation alerts for properties near Osoyoos, B.C.

The Canadian Press in CTV News
May 15, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

A growing wildfire in British Columbia’s southern Okanagan region has prompted additional evacuation alerts for several properties west of the town of Osoyoos. Residents of 13 properties along Sumac Road and Highway 3 in Cawston are being warned to be ready to leave on short notice as a wildfire sparked Monday by a burning vehicle has now scorched four square kilometres of bush. The evacuation alert is in addition to one issued shortly after flames from the vehicle on Highway 3 spread into the surrounding grass and trees. The BC Wildfire Service says the blaze is burning in steep terrain and is considered out of control. Forty firefighters backed up by two helicopters are working to contain it, and the wildfire service website says additional resources will be assigned over the coming days.

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Don’t revive logging in national forests

By Adam Kolton, executive director, Alaska Wilderness League
The Hill
May 15, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Nearly two and a half years ago, the U.S. Forest Service finalized an updated management plan for America’s largest national forest, the Tongass in Southeast Alaska. This plan recognized the importance of conservation in the Tongass by identifying high-value salmon watersheds, inventoried roadless areas and other conservation lands where logging should not occur. …Between then and now, however, Alaska state officials and the Alaska congressional delegation have attempted to force on local communities and the region’s economies something they don’t want or need: a revival of large-scale clear-cutting and an attempt to resurrect an industry that supports less than 1 percent of the region’s economy. …If Congress is willing to look long term, keeping the roadless rule in place will help maintain the health of our forests and the communities and wildlife that depend on them.

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Strong support for responsible resource development in Southeast Alaska

By Jim Clark, formerly chief of staff to former Gov. Frank Murkowski
Juneau Empire
May 15, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Jim Clark

The theme of Southeast Alaska Conservation Council Executive Director Meredith Trainor’s recent My Turn is “there is no clamor for expanded logging and logging roads in Southeast; there are just a few outsized voices with access and influence, chasing after an outdated dream.” There are two recent events by which the accuracy of that claim can be measured. First, in 2014, SEACC and other environmental groups sued to enjoin the Big Thorne timber sale, which was intended to maintain the last remaining medium-sized sawmill on Prince of Wales Island. …Second, over the last few weeks, Alaska’s congressional delegation and Gov. Mike Dunleavy met or spoke with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue to request that the Department of Agriculture reinstate its 2003 total exemption of the Tongass National Forest from the 2001 Roadless Rule. 

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Eggesford Forest commemorated 100 years after planting

BBC News
May 16, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: International

The first woodland to be planted by Forestry England is being commemorated after 100 years. Eggesford Forest in Devon was planted on 8 December 1919, shortly after the passing of the Forestry Act. A Luckham oak is being planted by the chairman of Forestry England, Sir Harry Studholme, before a new centenary avenue is planted in December. …The Forestry Commission was founded in September 1919 with the aim of restoring the nation’s woods and forests after World War One. It is now England’s largest land manager, maintaining more than 1,500 forests. In 1956 the Queen unveiled a stone in Eggesford Forest to mark the commission’s milestone of planting 1,000,000 acres of woodland.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Rooting for a sustainable future: how forest resources can help tackle climate change and air pollution

UN Environment
May 17, 2019
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Forests are among the most valuable treasures on earth: they supply energy from timber, help with water regulation, soil protection and biodiversity conservation. Yet in traditional forest management, trees are still primarily viewed as a source of wood. All other products derived from wooded lands… are considered of secondary importance. Non-timber forest resources, however, have far-reaching benefits for millions of households, both in terms of subsistence and income. …Over 90 per cent of the annual yields of wild and cultivated herbs are sold as raw material to Germany, Italy, France and the United States, making Bulgaria one of the world’s leading suppliers in this sector. …In addition, forests act as carbon sinks and can remove pollutants from the atmosphere. …Every year, they absorb one third of the carbon dioxide released from burning fossil fuels worldwide.

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Bioproducts are an important part of Maine’s economic future

By Jamie Chittum, president of the board, Biobased Maine
Bangor Daily News
May 15, 2019
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

For too many of our rural communities in Maine, it’s a familiar tragic story: declining industries led to job loss, the hollowing-out of beautiful downtowns, and an exodus of young people and families from once-thriving communities. …At the same time, a booming global industry now offers these rural communities an opportunity for new growth and revitalization. Demand for biobased manufacturing, which means making products out of renewable resources instead of oil and gas, is rapidly rising around the world, because sustainable plant-based products are better for people and the planet. With Maine’s robust forest products industry, our ample supply of sustainably harvested wood, and research at the University of Maine’s Forest Bioproducts Research Institute that has demonstrated many of the exciting industry applications for biobased chemicals and products made from our sustainably harvested forest residuals, our state is uniquely poised to grab a share in the growing global “bioeconomy.”

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Health & Safety

Here comes the smoke: Health officials tell B.C. to prepare for new ‘5th season’

By Simon Little
Global News
May 15, 2019
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada, Canada West

Sarah Henderson

Move over autumnal equinox, there’s a new season in town. …the BC Centre for Disease Control is advising British Columbians to be ready to protect themselves from the potential harmful effects of worsening air quality as wildfires begin to flare up once again. The agency has created a new hub with health information for residents, with fact sheets on health concerns, air cleaners and tips on how to prepare for the anticipated smoke. “​In addition to spring, summer, fall and winter, B.C. has added a fifth season to its calendar — wildfire season,” states the site. “And with the month of May now in full swing, fires are already burning in parts of the province.” …Sarah Henderson, a senior environmental health scientist at the BCCDC, says with annual smokey summers becoming a reality, British Columbians will need to be prepared to protect their health.

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