Daily Archives: June 4, 2019

Today’s Takeaway

Canfor closes Vavenby sawmill, agrees to sell forest tenure to Interfor

June 4, 2019
Category: Today's Takeaway

Canfor is closing its Vavenby sawmill in BC and, assuming the gov’t approves, will sell its related forest tenure to Interfor. In related news: West Fraser is curtailing five BC mills for one week; Random Lengths says the expectation of idled mills generated stronger sales last week; Norbord resumes operations in Alberta post-fire; and Resolute has a fire-scare at its mill in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

In other news: the Atlantic has a feature story on opioids and timber poaching in BC, the deadline for BC’s caribou plan looms, as two mayors say more consultation is needed; FPAC responds to FSC’s new forestry standard; old growth protection is sought in BC’s interior; and Alberta gets a wake-up call on climate change, as a new wildfire quickly grows out of control.

Finally, the NY Times on why the US doesn’t build to withstand earthquakes.

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor

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Business & Politics

Project Learning Tree Canada applauds strategy to address barriers to youth employment

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative
Global Newswire
June 3, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada

OTTAWA,  — Project Learning Tree Canada applauds the federal government for modernizing and streamlining its Youth Employment and Skills Strategy (YESS) program to better meet the needs of young people seeking jobs in today’s challenging labour market. PLT Canada is pleased to see that today’s announcement aims to address the specific needs of youth facing socio-economic and educational barriers to joining the workforce. “The modernized Youth Employment and Skills Strategy strongly aligns with PLT Canada’s mission and objectives of providing youth with practical training and diverse employment opportunities that benefit the community, the economy and the environment,” said PLT Canada President Kathy Abusow. “By expanding the program… the government is ensuring that youth employment remains a priority and that young Canadians will be empowered to find good-quality jobs and pursue meaningful and rewarding careers.”

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Expectation of more idled mills generates stronger sales

Random Lengths
June 3, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Mills idled by wildfires in Western Canada and expectations that more market- or resource-related shutdowns were coming in the region generated stronger sales and stemmed a steep downward slide in prices of Western S-P-F. Even so, prices in all framing lumber species faltered in the holiday-shortened week, leaving traders frustrated with a messy and oversupplied market. …Lethargic sales weighed on structural panel prices in the holiday-shortened week. Prices of OSB softened, with mills in the South most vulnerable to discounts. Producers in that region sought trading levels to clear accumulations. Subdued demand coupled with a perception of an oversupplied market left some Southern Pine plywood prices soft. Western Fir plywood trading remained stuck in a rut. Availability of sheathing continued to outpace demand.

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TimberWest Releases 2018 Sustainability Report with 20 Key Achievements Across Four Focus Areas

By Mosaic Forest Management
Cision Newswire
June 4, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

NANAIMO, BC – TimberWest Forest Corporation today released its 2018 Sustainability Progress Report detailing major achievements in the four focus areas of safety, environmental leadership, First Nations partnerships and community support. Key highlights from the 2018 report include: The first forest company globally to obtain certification with the Carbon Trust across the entire supply chain carbon footprint; 6.5 million seedlings planted in 2018; 800,000 juvenile salmon released from hatcheries on TimberWest land; $500,000 donated to more than 100 environmental initiatives and local communities; $200,000 in scholarships and training to support First Nations education initiatives; 24% reduction in on-site harvest residual burning. The Report also outlines the 2019 commitments, which will be led by Mosaic Forest Management, the timberland manager for TimberWest and Island Timberlands.  

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Interfor Enters into Agreement to Acquire BC Interior Cutting Rights from Canfor

Interfor Corporation
June 3, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Interfor today announced that it has entered into a purchase agreement to acquire cutting rights in the Adams Lake area of the BC Interior from Canfor Corporation. …“While business conditions in the Interior are currently challenging, we’re in the business for the long- term and believe the capacity rationalization now underway will help reset the equation going forward”, said Duncan Davies, Interfor’s President & CEO. “This transaction materially enhances Adams Lake’s log supply and sets the stage for its future success…” The transaction will also provide a basis for Interfor to engage more actively with local First Nations to explore a variety of forest stewardship and partnership opportunities in the region. …Interfor will also work closely with Canfor and the Province to help mitigate the impact of the Vavenby mill closure on the community… including the logging contractors and truckers who will play an important role supporting Adams Lake going forward.

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Canfor announces closure of Vavenby mill

By Jamie Polmateer
Clearwater Times
June 3, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Employees at Canfor’s Vavenby mill received a letter on June 3, announcing the closure of the facility along with the termination of 172 jobs. “To all USW 1-417 employees of Vavenby, unfortunately we’ve been facing significant log supply constraints in the Vavenby region for some time now and we’ve ultimately determined that we do not have sufficient fibre supply to support the ongoing operation of this mill,” read the letter. …The wind-down of the operation will start June 4 and the dates of termination for employees will be staggered based on their individual roles and take place throughout the rest of June until July 31. …Canfor has reached an agreement to sell the forest tenure … to Interfor for a price of $60 million. “The BC forest industry has recognized for several years that sawmill capacity must be reduced as the annual allowable cut decreases following the end of the Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic,” said Don Kayne, president and CEO, Canfor

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Arterran is taking first steps to initiating pellet plant in Port Alice

The North Island Gazette
June 3, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Arterran Renewables has expressed interest in developing the Port Alice pulp mill site into a pellet plant as part of their initiative to replace coal and reduce carbon emissions. The company intends to use cellulose, the waste wood left behind from logging projects—of which there is plenty around Port Alice—as their raw material. Being that Japan and China have a strong interest in increasing pellet imports to replace coal and nuclear energy, Port Alice’s deep seaport enables access to these overseas markets. Arterran’s process takes the woody biomass and transforms it through a low temperature, low pressure catalytic process to create a product with a higher carbon and oxygen content and therefore a higher mass and energy potential which is similar to coal, but cleaner burning. With minor modifications, this can be used along with coal in existing plants and could eventually replace it. This would have a significant effect on carbon emissions while also creating jobs.

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Alberta Forest Products Association Welcomes Mercer International to the Association

Alberta Forest Products Association
May 27, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Edmonton, Alberta – The Alberta Forest Products Association announced that Mercer International will be joining the Association as its newest member. Mercer International Inc. is a global leader in the production and sales of wood-based products including pulp, wood products, bio-chemicals, and energy. The company operates a kraft pulp mill in Peace River, which employs 285 people and also owns facilities in British Columbia, Germany, and Australia. …“We are very pleased to welcome Mercer to the AFPA family,” said AFPA President and CEO Paul Whittaker.

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West Fraser Announces Temporary Production Curtailments in British Columbia

By West Fraser Timber Co.
Cision Newswire
June 3, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER – Today, West Fraser announced temporary production curtailments during which all mill activities will be curtailed for one week in June at five British Columbia sawmills: Chetwynd, Quesnel, Williams Lake, Smithers and Fraser Lake. The decision to implement this temporary reduction is due to sustained weak pricing in global lumber markets and high log costs.  Lumber production is anticipated to be reduced by approximately 30 million board feet. Over the previous six months including this most recent announcement, West Fraser has implemented temporary and permanent capacity curtailments of approximately 125 million and 300 million board feet respectively. West Fraser is a diversified wood products company producing lumber, LVL, MDF, plywood, pulp, newsprint, wood chips and energy with facilities in western Canada and the southern United States.

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Canfor to Permanently Close Vavenby Sawmill

Cision Newswire
June 3, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER – Canfor Corporation announced today it will be closing its Vavenby sawmill in British Columbia this July following an orderly wind down. Canfor has reached an agreement to sell the forest tenure associated with the Vavenby sawmill to Interfor for a price of $60 million. The sale of the forest tenure is subject to customary closing conditions including the consent of the Minister of Forests. Closing is expected to occur in the third quarter of 2019. “Due to the current and long-term log supply constraints we face in the Vavenby region, along with the high cost of fibre, we have made the very difficult decision to permanently close the sawmill and sell the associated forest tenure to Interfor. The ongoing depressed lumber markets have expedited this decision,” said Don Kayne, President and CEO, Canfor.

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West Fraser announces temporary production curtailments in five northern BC mills

By Heather Norman
Houston Today
June 3, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

West Fraser announced a temporary production curtailment at their mills in Chetwynd, Quesnel, Williams Lake, Smithers and Fraser Lake this afternoon (June 3). The curtailment will be for one week in June, in which all mill activities will be curtailed for the full week. The press release does not specify which week. The release cites “sustained weak pricing in in global lumber markets and high log costs” as the reason behind the curtailment. The curtailment is expected to reduce lumber capacity by approximately 30 million board feet. According to the release, over the last six month, including this curtailment, West Fraser has implemented temporary and permanent capacity curtailments of approximately 125 million and 300 million respectively.

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Norbord’s High Level, Alberta OSB Mill Resumes Production

Cision Newswire
June 4, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

TORONTO – Norbord Inc. today reported that its OSB mill in High Level, Alberta resumed production earlier this week after the evacuation order for the town of High Level was lifted. On May 21st, Norbord reported that its OSB mill in High Level had temporarily suspended production in order to comply with evacuation orders due to wildfires burning in the region. All non-essential mill employees were safely evacuated at the time and the mill did not incur any damage. The curtailment is not expected to materially impact Norbord’s second quarter results. The High Level, Alberta mill has a stated annual production capacity of 860 million square feet (3/8-inch basis) and has been ramping up toward full production since resuming operations in late 2013. 

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Timmins sawmill celebrates a century of work

By Maija Hoggett
Northern Ontario Business
June 3, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

A century of hardwork was celebrated at EACOM’s Timmins sawmill on May 31. EACOM’s president and CEO, Kevin Edgson, said the TImmins sawmill’s story is one of resilience and growth. ..Located on the banks of the Mattagami River, Rudolph McChesney Lumber was founded in 1919.  …“If you think about it, when… a mill was built 100 years ago, logs came down the river, the woods were worked by people using a team of horses. Back in 1919, the war had just ended, it was a new dawn and as things came forward, so did industry and the development here in the North,” Edgson said. Through the years, the ownership of the site has changed hands several times, with EACOM purchasing it from Domtar in 2010. …EACOM has invested more than $42 million to modernize its facilities and improve its performance.

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Firefighters respond to fire at Resolute Forest Products

TB Newswatch
June 4, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

THUNDER BAY – An overheated piece of machinery is being blamed for a fire at Resolute Forest Products Monday afternoon. Thunder Bay Fire Rescue was called to reports of a structure fire at Resolute Forest Products on Monday around 2:30 p.m. First arriving crews were met with high heat and smoke being emitted from a unit known as a “Cyclone” dust recovery bin. Fire crews wearing self-contained breathing apparatus were able to contain the fire to the associated machinery thus limiting damage mostly to the wood fiber contents within it. The fire did not extend beyond the associated machinery. TBFR credits staff at Resolute for alerting city fire crews early and assisting in accessing and containing the fire to the machinery involved.

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Conifex Reducing Shift at its El Dorado Sawmill

Conifex Timber
Global Newswire
June 3, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Conifex Timber announced today that commencing June 4, 2019, it is implementing one shift operations at its El Dorado sawmill in order to optimize and upgrade operations during the current poor market conditions. The shift reduction is expected to reduce Conifex’s planned US South lumber production by approximately 5 million board feet in the second quarter of 2019.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Call for Nominations: WoodWorks Announces 2020 Wood Design Awards

WoodWorks – Wood Products Council
PR Newswire
June 4, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States

WASHINGTON — WoodWorks – Wood Products Council, a nonprofit that provides education and free technical support related to the design and construction of commercial and multi-family wood buildings in the U.S., is seeking nominations for its 2020 Wood Design Awards. The deadline to submit a project is Sept. 30, 2019. …Nominations will be judged by an independent jury of design and building professionals, who will also select up to 10 projects to receive regional excellence awards. Program rules, category descriptions, and nomination information are available on the WoodWorks website. “There’s been a lot of focus on taller wood buildings, and it will be exciting to see some of those nominated,” said Jennifer Cover, WoodWorks’ President and CEO. …Special consideration will be given to recently completed buildings, projects that utilize wood as a dominant structural element, and designs that exemplify new opportunities for wood construction.

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Buildings Can Be Designed to Withstand Earthquakes. Why Doesn’t the US Build More of Them

By Thomas Fuller, Anjali Singhvi, Mika Gröndahl & Derek Watkins
The New York Times
June 3, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States

When the shaking started at 5:46 a.m., Yasuhisa Itakura… was sitting at his desk. His office swayed, but… “I thought to myself, this earthquake is not that big.” It was, in fact, catastrophic. The Great Hanshin earthquake of January 17, 1995, killed more than 6,000 people in and around the industrial port city. Mr. Itakura had been cushioned from the violence of the earthquake because his three-story office building was sitting on an experimental foundation made from rubber — an early version of an engineering technique called base isolation. But with notable exceptions, including Apple’s new headquarters in Silicon Valley, the innovations have been used only sparingly in the United States. Seismic safety advocates describe this as a missed opportunity to save billions of dollars in reconstruction costs after the inevitable Big One strikes. …One company has developed inflatable airbags that deploy underneath a wooden home when a large earthquake is detected.

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Settlement agreements require Enviva to install more stringent air pollution controls on wood pellet plants in Richmond, Sampson counties

NC Policy Watch
June 4, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

Enviva, the world’s largest manufacturer of wood pellet fuel, will install more stringent air pollution controls at two of its plants, as part of settlement agreements with the state and environmental groups. In the first settlement agreement, Clean Air Carolina had challenged the air permit for the Hamlet plant in Richmond County that was approved by NC Department of Environmental Quality earlier this year. In court documents, Clean Air Carolina alleged that the Division of Air Quality had violated state and federal law in classifying the plant, which is under construction, as a minor source of air pollution. The environmental group, based in Charlotte, also argued that DAQ arbitrarily relied on emission estimates in Enviva’s air permit application. As a result, Enviva would have been allowed to emit greater amounts of volatile organic compounds, as well as hazardous air pollutants, formaldehyde and methanol into the air.

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Forestry

Canada’s Forest Products Sector Responds to Launch of FSC’s New Certification Standard

Forest Products Association of Canada
June 3, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

Ottawa, ON – The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) formally released its new National Forest Stewardship Standard for Canada. FPAC embraces third party certification and participated in FSC’s consultation process which was used to develop the new requirements. …“Canada’s forest product companies… are among the most strictly regulated forestry sectors in the world,” noted FPAC CEO Derek Nighbor. “Even though third party certification is voluntary in Canada, 100% of FPAC’s member operations are certified by FSC, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), or the Canadian Standards Association (CSA). The FSC standard is one of three voluntary programs used in Canada that has been endorsed by Canada’s Council of Forest Ministers. …FPAC will… review FSC’s new forest management requirements, as well as the changes taking place related to FSC chain-of-custody certification. Significant changes are expected between July and December. 

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FPInnovations announces new leader of PIT Group

FPInnovations
May 30, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

Jan Michaelsen

Jan Michaelsen has been named the new leader of FPInnovations’ PIT Group. Michaelsen will be responsible for supporting the group’s direction and implementing a strategic development plan to ensure PIT Group’s continued growth. He assumes the new role immediately. …Michaelsen has been with PIT Group for the 11 years of its existence and was previously a lead researcher. “I look forward to continuing working with such a talented and accomplished group of people to further our innovative programs and to develop new partnerships and capacities to test emerging technologies,” says Michaelsen. The role had been vacant since last fall with the departure of former PIT Group director, Yves Provencher.  PIT Group is the leading neutral, third-party organization that tests heavy truck technologies and evaluates operational effectiveness for fleets.

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The Opioid Crisis Is Killing Trees Too

By Lyndsie Bourgon
The Atlantic
June 4, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

…Hidden behind a row of trees lay the scene Clarke and Blid had expected: a small clearing punctuated by a single large stump. …Sometime during the previous few days, the tree had been illegally felled, and the wide end of its trunk abandoned. This was unusual—poachers usually take the “butt end” of a tree first, since it has the most wood—and Clarke speculated that the culprits would soon be back to pick it up. …Over the past five years, the NROs in British Columbia have reported 2,300 forest crimes, mostly along the north and west coasts, with the most common being timber theft, illegal harvesting, and arson. …Clarke and Blid work with a dizzying number of entities: city police, the RCMP, traffic officers, and the private security firms that work for the two largest private timber companies, TimberWest and Island Timberlands.

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Prince George conservationists to rally for protection of interior old growth

By Hanna Petersen
Prince George Matters
June 3, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

A group of conservationists will be holding a rally to call for old growth protection in B.C.’s interior. In a news release, Conservation North says hunters, fallers, biologists, business owners, and other members of the community will come together to hold a rally in support of old growth forest protection in front of Prince George-Valemount MLA Shirley Bond’s riding office this week. “We’re concerned about the lack of protection for our globally unique interior old growth forests,” stated Jenn Matthews, Outreach Coordinator for Conservation North in the release.  …The Prince George-based organization has been pushing for legal protection of endangered old growth forests in the interior since 2017 and has encouraged community members to send over 1,000 emails to local MLAs and relevant Ministers via its Take Action campaign.

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Deadline for caribou plan looms, as B.C. stalls endangered species action

By Justine Hunter
The Globe and Mail
June 3, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Blair Lekstrom

Former BC Liberal cabinet minister Blair Lekstrom has tabled his report on how to navigate a community backlash to the provincial government’s plans to save the southern mountain caribou. But the Lekstrom report, filed May 27, is still sitting on Premier John Horgan’s desk, with just weeks before the province will face unilateral action from Ottawa to protect the caribou. Environment Minister Catherine McKenna has threatened to impose an emergency protection order if the province fails to implement its own plans. That threat prompted the province to negotiate recovery plans with Ottawa and the West Moberly and Saulteau First Nations – a strategy that drew anger from residents of the Peace River region who fear job losses if caribou habitat is protected.

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Sicamous and Revelstoke mayors deliver petition on mountain caribou recovery

By Jim Elliot
Vernon Morning Star
June 3, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Local officials who feel their communities are not being adequately consulted on mountain caribou recovery plans were in Victoria May 27 to present a petition showing many residents feel the same. Sicamous Mayor Terry Rysz and Revelstoke Mayor Gary Sulz recorded a video alongside Shuswap MLA Greg Kyllo in Victoria, where they say the petition has more than 12,000 signatures. The key issue driving concern in Southeastern B.C. communities is the closure of vast mountainous areas in Southeastern B.C., which opponents contend is a possibility under Section 11 of the Species at Risk Act. In the video, the mayors and the MLA voice concerns about backcountry closures which could affect activities such as snowmobiling, heli-skiing and logging and seriously affect the economies in Sicamous, Revelstoke and the rest of the Columbia Shuswap Regional District.

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The BC Community Forest Association is gearing up for the 2019 conference and annual general meeting, June 12-14.

BC Community Forests Association
June 4, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

This year’s event, being held on the unceded, ancestral, and shared territory of the Sto:lo People of the Kwantlen; Leq’á:mel; Matsqui; and Sq’éwlets First Nations, is hosted by the Mission Municipal Forest in Mission, BC. The conference will include discussion and presentations regarding First Nations reconciliation; wildfire and disaster management; and updates to provincial forest policies. It will feature speakers from a diverse range of BC forest professionals from First Nations and community forests to provincial government, academics, and consultants! Come join us for what is sure to be an enjoyable and informative conference focused on the big changes facing communities and forests in British Columbia. Complete details including conference program and registration can be found at http://bccfa.ca/2019AGM

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The threat of a destructive wildfire in South Jersey is growing. Is enough being done to prepare?

By Maya Miller
NJ.com
June 4, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Forester Bob Williams … manages a thin stretch of forest in Camden County that is sandwiched between a row of homes at the edge of Pine Hill and the Pine Valley Golf Club, which Golf Digest calls the top course in America. His goal is twofold: he wants to keep the forest healthy, and protect the famed course from the risk of wildfire. Those fresh shoots of grass, rising out of an area that was recently coated in ash, are proof that Williams’ use of prescribed burning — the act of intentionally lighting and controlling a fire — has been successful. It sounds wildly counterintuitive: To prevent a forest fire, you should first set a whole bunch of other fires. But across New Jersey, some land managers like Williams have long used prescribed burns as an important tool for their work.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Alberta needed a wake-up call to take climate and fire risk seriously

By Elise Stolte
Edmonton Journal
June 3, 2019
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada West

… A hotter, drier climate combined with Alberta’s forest management practices are already increasing the likelihood of intense fires. They start early, burn too hot to control and keep burning right through the summer. …Canada’s fire problem is complex. Traditionally, fires rolled across most parts of Alberta every 30 to 70 years, depending on the area. After the fire, the boreal forest would naturally progress from deciduous trees like aspen and poplar to coniferous trees such as pine or fir over the course of decades. Then 100 years ago, forest officials started fighting fires. It protected the new towns and industrial facilities growing up in the forest, but also gradually caused a shift in forest composition. More stands of spruce, fir and pine now provide higher-value lumber for forest companies but also flame up like torches and burn more intensely when a fire gets established.

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Finland to be carbon neutral by 2035 – One of the fastest targets ever set

By Megan Darby
Business Green
June 4, 2019
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Finland will go carbon neutral by 2035, under a coalition deal published on Monday, setting one of the world’s earliest timelines for reaching that mark. …five parties agreed on the goal championed by incoming Social Democrat prime minister Antti Rinne. …Unlike neighbouring Norway, which has an even earlier 2030 carbon neutral target, Finland does not intend to rely on buying credits for carbon cutting projects in other countries – although that is subject to review in 2025. …Environmentalists welcomed the programme, which includes energy tax reforms, investment in railways and nature conversation, and sustainability rules for generating energy from burning wood. …The target calls into question investments in new pulp mills. Forest harvest rates have risen from 68 million cubic metres in 2015 to an estimated 75-77m last year. A planned mill in Kemi is expected to drive another 4.5m cubic metres of demand and more facilities are proposed in Kemijärvi and Kuopio.

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Forest Fires

Montana Hotshots headed to Alberta fires

By Tom Kuglin
Helena Independent Record
June 3, 2019
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, United States

Multiple Montana Hotshot firefighter crews will dispatch to Alberta Wednesday as the province deals with more than two dozen large wildfires. Helena, Lolo, Bitterroot and Flathead national forest Hotshots will leave from Great Falls. Rogue River Hotshots from Oregon will join them, said Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest public affairs officer Kathy Bushnell. The crews do not yet know much about where they will go or their mission once they get there, which is not uncommon at this stage, she said.

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Community of High Level reunites after two-week wildfire evacuation

By Dustin Cook
The Edmonton Journal
June 3, 2019
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

High Level, Alberta — …The Dempsters were among 4,000 people eager to get home, including residents of the surrounding areas of Mackenzie County and the Dene Tha’ First Nation communities of Bushe River, Meander River and Chateh, after hearing the news Sunday they would be able to return — albeit it with the knowledge they need to be prepared to leave again if fire conditions change. Scattered rain and cooler temperatures helped give fire crews time to contain the flames in key places leading into Monday. …But there are still three active wildfires in the High Level forest area. …Hundreds of kilometres away to the southeast of High Level, another cluster of out-of-control fires in the Slave Lake forest area saw minimal growth, according to the province. …And even with the cautions, High Level residents started pouring into the town early Monday morning.

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New wildfire erupts in northern Alberta, quickly grows out of control

The Canadian Press in CTV News
June 4, 2019
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

Between 80 and 100 firefighters are battling an out-of-control wildfire near the town of Bonnyville in northeastern Alberta. The Municipal District of Bonnyville says on its Facebook page that the fire started Monday evening west of the town along a range road between highways 28 and 660. The flames erupted in a ditch and spread rapidly due to tinder dry conditions in the Moose Lake forest area. There is no immediate word on the size of the blaze, which is moving in a southeasterly direction, but no evacuation order has been issued. Officials say natural barriers that include the lake are protecting the community of some 6,000, about 240 kilometres northeast of Edmonton. Six fixed-wing aircraft, three helicopters and a dozen fire trucks are aiding firefighters. [END]

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Forest fire prompting Pikangikum First Nation evacuations grows

CBC News
June 4, 2019
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada East

The Ontario government continued today to get people out of Pikangikum First Nation by aircraft as a forest fire burning a few kilometres from the northern community grows. On Monday, several flights operated by private carriers flew Pikangikum residents out of the community, which is about 230 kilometres north of Kenora. The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) said two Hercules aircraft remained on standby, available to help in the evacuation efforts if needed. The RCAF has flown more than 1,700 Pikangikum residents out of the community, which has a population of about 3,800, since the fire started nearly a week ago. …The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry’s Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services said the fire, known as Red Lake Fire 14, is about 3,800 hectares in size and not yet under control.

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