Daily Archives: June 6, 2019

Today’s Takeaway

Canada’s beaten-up forestry stocks set to rebound: Analysts

June 6, 2019
Category: Today's Takeaway

Some investors are betting that Canada’s beaten-up forestry stocks will see double-digit gains over the next 12 months. In other Business news: Kalesnikoff’s mass timber gamble; Tolko extends downtime at two BC mills; Stimson’s layoffs called a ‘rebuke to Oregon’; and Vaughn Palmer on the high-stakes test of BC’s new Forest Ministry powers.

In Wildfire news: Premier Hogan on BC’s preparations; the Globe and Mail on how to break the cycle; the US Forest Service on the risk of catastrophic wildfires; the Seattle Times on investing to avoid the haze; and the role of the ‘working forest‘ in New York state. Elsewhere; why wood is good; and what’s behind the rise of ‘ghost forests‘ in the US southeast.

Finally, Peter Bentley retires from Canfor. Here’s his ‘75-year Journey‘ (in 8 min).

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor

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Business & Politics

The time is right for beaten-up Canadian forestry stocks

By David Berman
The Globe and Mail
June 5, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada

Are Canadian forestry stocks set for a rebound? Some brave investors are betting that the worst is over, given tentative rallies earlier this week. …Nimble investors can point to several upbeat signs for the beaten-up sector, including tumbling borrowing costs that could stimulate U.S. home construction. Shares have also been pummelled over the past 12 months, making the downside risks look relatively slight. But perhaps the best thing going for forestry stocks: The potential returns are huge if investors get the timing right for this notoriously cyclical sector. The last time forestry stocks rallied, from mid-2016 to mid-2018, West Fraser shares surged 170 per cent. …Paul Jannke, a principal for Forest Economic Advisors… expects that lumber prices could rebound as much as 40 per cent this year. …Mr. Jannke warns that more curtailments are needed… rising home sales and drier weather will spur demand. [To access the full story requires a Globe & Mail subscription]

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Peter Bentley Retires from the Canfor and Canfor Pulp Board of Directors

By Don Kayne
Canfor CEO Blog
May 7, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Last week marked Mr. Peter Bentley’s official retirement from both the Canfor and Canfor Pulp Board of Directors. This was announced at both companies’ Annual General Meetings held May 1.  Mr. Bentley, former CEO and Chairman, is the son of company co-founder, L.L.G. “Poldi” Bentley, and has been a part of this company since a very young age. Over his 75-year tenure with the company, he has been an invaluable member of Canfor and is known for his leadership, respect for employees and dedication. The age of 14 marks his official first day and his long history with the company includes 53 years on the Board of Directors, 24 years as Chairman of the Board of Directors and over 10 years as CEO.

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Union expresses disappointment, sadness as Tolko extends shutdown at Armstrong mill

By Megan Turcato
Global News
June 5, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

More than 150 employees at Tolko’s Armstrong sawmill thought they would be going back to work on Monday. However, on Wednesday, the company informed workers that the sawmill would be taking another two weeks of downtime. This comes on top of the two weeks the mill has already taken, extending the total closure time to four weeks. Tolko blamed the extended shutdown on economic conditions….The president of the local worker’s union said news that the downtime would be extended was very sad and disappointing. …McGregor said the company had indicated to him it is sure there will be no further extension of downtime at the Armstrong mill. …Industry expert Russell Taylor, the managing director of Forest Economic Advisors Canada, said it is currently a “very, very ugly market” for B.C. lumber producers selling to the United States.

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Timber companies pose fast test of new Forests Ministry powers

By Vaughn Palmer
The Vancouver Sun
June 6, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

VICTORIA — Two major forest companies have lost no time in testing the NDP government’s intentions under new legislation giving the forests minister a veto over the transfer and sale of timber-cutting rights. COFI, had asked Premier John Horgan to hold off passage of the Bill 22 for consultations. Horgan balked at the request. The New Democrats wanted a say over what they believed was the imminent transfer of some tenures as the industry rationalizes operations. …On Monday, the premier’s information about pending tenure transfers was proven correct. …“This legislation is intended to create the dialogue when companies are considering a disposition or a corporate change of control,” explained Donaldson. …The dialogue will take place amidst a forest of troubles, recognized by government and industry alike. …If Donaldson nixes this deal, he could increase pressures for mill closures elsewhere. …Yet the New Democrats also hope to persuade companies to invest… to make the shift to value-added production in B.C. …Should be high-stakes dialogue. 

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Layoffs at Stimson Lumber Are Part of a Wrenching Shift in How Oregonians Work in the Forest

By Nigel Jaquiss
The Willamette Week
June 5, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US West

When Stimson Lumber announced the layoff of 60 workers at its Forest Grove sawmill last week, the cacophonous social media reaction was out of proportion to the numbers. …The announcement touched a nerve—in part because Stimson CEO Andrew Miller said he would move the jobs to Montana and Idaho as a rebuke to Oregon’s taxes and carbon caps. …”I do not need to be hit with a 2-by-4 in the face to see that Oregon is an urban state and rural Oregon is a place for urbanites to recreate,” Miller wrote. …But he was also nodding to a crushing socio-economic shift that began four decades ago. In 1980, 1 in 10 Oregon private-sector jobs was a forest products job, says Josh Lehner, a state economist. Today, it’s fewer than 1 in 50.

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Timber CEO: Georgia-Pacific Closures to Range Far and Wide in Arkansas

By Gwen Moritz
Arkansas Business
June 5, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

Steve Anthony

Georgia-Pacific’s announced plan to close its bleached board operations in Crossett will have a ripple effect across Arkansas’ forest products industry, Steve Anthony, CEO of Anthony Timberlands Inc., told Arkansas Business. It also makes the slow-to-materialize Sun Paper plant in Clark County more important than ever, he said. “But who knows if that will ever happen?” “This is a big deal way beyond the 500 jobs, which devastates Crossett and will have a significant negative impact on El Dorado,” Anthony said in a phone interview Wednesday morning. “The ramifications of this really extend further than, say, Kimberly-Clark laying off 500 people.” …There is already a glut of wood fuel, Anthony said, because stricter environmental regulations… The loss of G-P as a buyer and user of wood fuel will exacerbate the glut of unused wood fuel in Arkansas’ timber region, Anthony predicted.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Coming into Focus: Wood Is Good, and the Facts Back It Up

Pallet Enterprise
June 5, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, United States

Forest products industry facts and information that can help educate children about the wonders and benefits of working with wood. The forest products industry has a lot of positive facts and figures it can share with people who might be skeptical about buying or using products made from wood. That skepticism may be rooted in the mistaken idea that it is somehow ‘bad’ to cut down trees, an image that’s been fostered by some environmentalists. …the North American Forest Foundation (formerly the Hardwood Forest Foundation)’s Truth About Trees teaching kit is designed to provide lesson plans and tools for elementary school teachers. These plans and tools make learning science-based facts about trees fun for children. They can be used alone or along with a field trip to the foundation’s traveling museum exhibit, Forever Forest.

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Sustainable Gamble: Kalesnikoff Lumber Company Makes $35 Million Investment in Mass Timber Plant

By Rick LeBlanc
Pallet Enterprise
June 5, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

The family-owned lumber company plans to open its new facility in late 2019. A thorough business plan was critical for the process. South Slocan, British Columbia – Later this year, Kalesnikoff Lumber Company will open its new $35 million mass timber facility in the West Kootenays, with full product line availability by the summer of 2020. The fully financed project includes the construction of a new 110,000 building on existing company land, as well as the purchase of state-of-the-art processing equipment and technology from companies in Canada and Europe. The plant will produce custom glulam and CLT products, creating 50 jobs in the community. “We see mass timber as a natural and exciting innovation and next step for our company and team,” said Chris Kalesnikoff, chief operating officer, of Kalesnikoff Lumber Company. “We’ve done extensive research to ensure our new world-class equipment will create exceptionally high-quality cross-laminated timber and glulam beams.”

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Leveraging the workforce: producers join forces in new educational program

By Ellen Cools
Wood Business – Canadian Forest Industries
June 5, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

As anyone in the forest sector can tell you, the industry is facing a labour shortage. But four competing forest product companies in BC have joined forces to address this challenge head-on by developing a new educational program, in collaboration with BCIT, focused on industrial wood processing. …In 2016, senior representatives from each company met with BCIT to discuss the possibility of creating a new lumber manufacturing program. Two years later, a pilot cohort consisting of employees from each of the four companies started the program, now known as the Associate Certificate in Industrial Wood Processing. …The first group of students to take the program began classes in January 2018 and graduated in December. Interfor, Tolko, Canfor and West Fraser handpicked the students, who were asked to participate and give feedback.

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Cross-Laminated Timber Will Save Time, Labor Costs On Local Commercial Construction Projects

By Shawna De La Rosa
BisNow
June 5, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

As commercial construction costs soar and the time it takes to complete a project continues to climb, the new cross-laminated timber building option may soon be offering some relief for Washington state’s commercial real estate community. Washington is the first state in the nation to allow CLT to be used in buildings without first pursuing alternative methods. The code changes are the result of the passage of SB 5450 …Forterra President and CEO Michelle Connor said, “as mass timber becomes more widely utilized, it has great potential to support employment in rural areas, improve forest health on public lands, and enable new and affordable approaches to building for fast-growing urban populations.” DLR Group Senior Associate Matthias Olt said, “Cross-laminated timber is not cheap. …The savings come in reduced labor costs. The number of construction workers required on-site is cut in half, Olt said.” 

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Forest Products EXPO Update

Southern Forest Products Association
June 6, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

EXPO 2019 – With opening day less than a three weeks away, registration is trending about 15% higher for SFPA’s 35th Machinery & Equipment Exposition – Expo 2019. The official housing block is filling up quickly and you’ll want to make sure you have your room reservations well in advance of the Expo. Click here to register to attend.  For questions about Expo 2019, e-mail Eric Gee.

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Forestry

Four woodlots near Fort St. John get good audits

By Darlene Oman
BC Forest Practices Board
June 5, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

FORT ST. JOHN – An audit of four woodlots in the Peace Natural Resource District found all four met the requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act. “Two of these woodlots suffered major timber losses due to wildfire, which significantly affected their operations,” said Kevin Kriese, Forest Practices Board chair. “The woodlot owners were able to effectively manage these challenges and still meet the requirements of legislation for their activities.” The woodlots are located along Highway 97, northwest of Fort St. John. The audit examined planning, timber harvesting, road construction and maintenance, reforestation and fire protection activities carried out on the woodlots between September 2016 and September 2018.

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How to break Western Canada’s accelerating cycle of wildfires

By Editorial Board
Globe and Mail
June 5, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Wildfires are again raging in Western Canada. …Some 11,000 Albertans were forced to evacuate their homes; many have not yet been allowed to return. As of Tuesday, six major fires were burning almost 6,800 square kilometres of Alberta forest – an area larger than Prince Edward Island. Such calamities have become an annual event in the West. Three years ago, Fort McMurray burned; insured losses were $3.7-billion in total, the most expensive disaster in Canadian history. The following summer, 12,000 square kilometres of British Columbia’s forests burned, a provincial record. The record was broken the next summer, when 13,500 square kilometres burned. …And yet, governments are not rising to the challenge. B.C.’s auditor-general concluded that the province’s efforts to mitigate and prevent blazes “have not been sufficient to substantially reduce the fire risk.” Provincial governments in Western Canada can do more. …Faced with such an acute threat, provincial governments must fight back with equal intensity.

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Preparing for wildfires

By Premier John Horgan
Castanet
June 5, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

After the last two years of unprecedented wildfires, many people in B.C. are heading into summer with a feeling of uncertainty. …We can’t predict how this wildfire season will unfold, but we can lay the necessary foundation to keep people and communities safe. Our government is doing everything in its power to support communities and prepare for what lies ahead. In May, we gave a $36 million boost to the Community Emergency Preparedness Fund, so that local governments and First Nations can reduce their wildfire and flood risk and effectively respond to emergencies when they happen. …Each of us has a responsibility to rise to the challenge of climate change. The choice is ours to make. Our decisions will shape the future for the next generation. I invite you to join me as we take steps to keep our communities safer today, with bold climate action for a better tomorrow.

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Premier Ford Joins Leaders of Ontario’s Renewable Forest Sector to Discuss the Province’s Forestry Strategy and Continued Responsible Stewardship

Ontario Forest Industries Association
June 6, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Premier Doug Ford and Honourable John Yakabuski, Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, attended the Ontario Forest Industries Association (OFIA) Board of Directors meeting in Toronto for a roundtable discussion on creating responsible growth, prosperity and business certainty for Ontario’s forest sector through the Government’s ProvincialForestry Strategy. Premier Ford stated, “I strongly believe that the forest industry is the best steward of our environment. …our government wants to create an environment for the sector, and the communities that depend on it, to prosper and thrive. Today, we have the opportunity to make a change for the better, to unleash the full potential of Ontario’s forest sector and give our future generations something to be proud of. That is why our government is committed to developing a provincial forestry Strategy that will help make Ontario’s forest sector open for business.”

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Woodlots near Fort St. John pass audit

By Matt Preprost
The Alaska Highway News
June 5, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Four woodlots recently audited by the Forest Practices Board meet legal and regulatory rules for forest practices and planning, the province said Wednesday. The board audited woodlots W1780, W1781, W1950, and W0604, located along Highway 97, northwest of Fort St. John. …”Two of these woodlots suffered major timber losses due to wildfire, which significantly affected their operations,” Kevin Kriese, chair of the Forest Practices Board, said in a news release.  “The woodlot owners were able to effectively manage these challenges and still meet the requirements of legislation for their activities.” Woodlots 1780 and 1781 were both affected by the Beatton Airport Road fire in 2016 and saw extensive salvage harvesting to recover burned timber, the province said. 

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1 Billion Acres At Risk For Catastrophic Wildfires, U.S. Forest Service Warns

By Kirk Siegler
Oregon Public Broadcasting
June 5, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

Vicki Christiansen

The chief of the U.S. Forest Service is warning a billion acres of land across America are at risk of catastrophic wildfires like last fall’s deadly Camp Fire that destroyed most of Paradise, Calif. Heading into the summer, with smoke already drifting into the Northwest from wildfires in Alberta, Canada, the agency’s chief Vicki Christiansen said wildfires are now a year-round phenomenon. She pointed to the hazardous conditions in forests that result from a history of suppression of wildfires, rampant home development in high-risk places and the changing climate. Christiansen’s agency is… trying to prioritize treatments such as thinning, brush clearing and prescribed burning on 80 million acres of its own land, mostly in the West. (Her billion acre estimate includes land across multiple federal, state and local jurisdictions as well as private land.)

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The Women Behind the Trees

By Jerry Rohde
The North Coast Journal
June 6, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Book Review — On Nov. 10, 1924, the Pacific Lumber Co. began secretly logging its timberland near the mouth of the South Fork Eel River. …Laura Mahan, president of the Women’s Save the Redwoods League of Humboldt County… alerted the Eureka newspapers. …The logging ceased. Permanently. Seven years and several million dollars later, the Bull Creek and Dyerville flats became a part of Humboldt Redwoods State Park, the largest tract of old growth redwoods to be found anywhere on the planet. Credit for protecting the flats usually focuses on the San Francisco-based Save the Redwoods League. …Now, however, comes another side of the story, told with detail and passion by Laura and James Wasserman. (Full disclosure: I advised the Wassermans regarding research for their book.) …As the book’s subtitle indicates, these women were “the unsung heroines of the 1920s.

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Bring back our Seattle summers — invest in forest health

By the Editorial Board
The Seattle Times
June 5, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

The idea Seattle summer’s “new normal” will be marked by choking haze from wildfires must be resisted, not grimly accepted. Our annual plague of wildfires requires thoughtful investment in fire prevention to slow the rise of out-of-control forest blazes. …At last, the Legislature has attempted to stem this worsening trend by making the largest budget allocation for wildfire combat in state history. …Still, even these drastic investments fall short of what is required. …Governments across the American and Canadian west must invest in forest-fire prevention and firefighting on a scale commensurate with the magnitude of this crisis. Worsening climate change has made woodlands from British Columbia and Alberta to California a regionwide problem that only unprecedented coordination can solve. Here in Washington… the current system of negotiating wildfire-relief funding every budget cycle hinders the capacity to enact long-range improvement. 

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Column about forest ecology misses the mark

Letter by Chuck Miller
Helena Independent Record
June 5, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

I take exception to most of George Wuerthner’s views about logging and forest ecology. He states that the driving force behind wildfires is not “fuels,” but extreme weather stemming from climate change. Certainly the weather has a lot to do with it, but if you have excess fuels, sooner or later you are going to have a fire. It’s been my observation in this area that game habitat is greatly enhanced by logging. (The Forest Service certainly does overdo roadbuilding, but that’s another issue.) If his goal is to sequester carbon in our forests, I believe he is off the mark. We need to manage our forests properly, and utilize what we can from them — but wisely. Locking them up is not the answer. It’s okay for Montana to be a tourist destination, but some of us need to make our livings in other ways, without tripping over wolves, bears and buffalo. [End]

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Environmental groups challenge Bridger Mountains logging project

By Brett French
Helena Independent Record
June 5, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Two environmental groups filed suit in a Missoula federal court on Monday challenging a proposed logging project in the Bridger Mountains next to two popular winter recreation areas. The Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Native Ecosystems Council claim the Forest Service failed to analyze the significance of woodlands next to lands that could qualify for wilderness designation in a bill currently before Congress. “The Bridger Roadless area would be designated as Wilderness under the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act (NREPA),” said Mike Garrity, executive director of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies, in an email. “NREPA recognizes the Bridger Mountains as an important wildlife corridor and this project calls for 2,296 acres of commercial logging including 667 acres of clearcutting, 87 acres of ‘group selection’ and 1,542 acres of intermediate logging.”

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Ghost forests are sprouting up along the Atlantic Coast

By Ula Chrobak
Popular Science
June 5, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

In the Arctic, rapidly melting ice is the surest sign of climate change. …On Mid-Atlantic and Gulf Coast shores, though, the loudest example of the impacts of warming temperatures are the stands of dead trees known as ghost forests. …Much of the Mid-Atlantic and Gulf Coast areas threatened by sea level rise are private, rural lands made up of forests and farms. As saltwater seeps into the forest soils, the trees die of thirst because their roots cannot take up water with high salt content. …As the leaves and needles fall off these dying trees, a community of salt-tolerant marsh plants moves in. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, coastal wetlands are some of the most valuable ecosystems. These plants filter out pollutants and excess nutrients in the waters that flow into them.

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World-first robotic logging truck scalers designed and built in Tauranga

By Sandra Conchie
New Zealand Herald
June 6, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: International

The world’s first two automated logging truck scalers, commissioned by Mount Maunganui-based ISO Limited, are now scanning logs at Port of Tauranga. The Robotic Scaling Machines (RSM) give a faster, safer and more accurate measure of logs on the trucks and trailers than the manual process. Tauranga-based agritech company Robotics Plus designed and built the automatic logging truck scaler using materials from several local suppliers. Robotics Plus co-founder Steve Saunders said he and his staff worked with ISO, which came up with the concept in 2017, and came up with a final prototype in just 12 months. …The technology was now being rolled out across the country, starting with two scalers at the Port of Napier, then Gisborne and at Marsden Pt next year. …”The robotic scaler measuring process eliminates exposure to hazards and moves those people into a safer environment,” he said.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

New York’s working forests help offset climate change

By John Bartow, Empire State Forest Products Association
The Times Union
June 5, 2019
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US East

NEW YORK — With Washington paralyzed by partisan gridlock, states are tackling climate change head-on. New York is poised to lead. …The state Assembly is currently considering the Climate & Community Protection Act. By indiscriminately mandating zero emissions, the CCPA will be the final nail in the coffin for what’s left of many industries upstate, including the forestry sector. Every wood products manufacturing facility will be regulated out of existence. …Working forests are sustainably managed to provide a steady supply of renewable material: wood. …The CCPA would manipulate the economy to strip forest land of its economic value. …Though it sounds counterintuitive, the more wood products we use, the more protected our working forests are from conversion. …The environmental reality is that working forests are the most powerful carbon capture technology we have.

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Bioenergy could help meet net-zero goal and fill nuclear gap

By David Blackman
Utility Week
June 5, 2019
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

An increase in “sustainably sourced” bioenergy can plug the looming nuclear generation gap and meet two-thirds of the projected shortfall of the fifth carbon budget, according to a new report by the Renewable Energy Association (REA). A combination of biomass and biofuels produced from wood, crops and food wastes can provide an additional 60TWh of heat and 57TWh of power, more than the level required to close the impending 72TWh gap in low carbon electricity that is expected to be created by the closure of the UK’s ageing fleet of nuclear power stations. The report, entitled Bioenergy in the UK – vision to 2032 and beyond, finds that the UK could almost triple the use of bioenergy as a source of heat. …The report has been published as part of an industry-led review of bioenergy ‘s potential and the policies needed to maximise this by 2032, which AMP Clean Energy has contributed to.

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Health & Safety

Safety Check: Wood Dust Rules Need to Be on Your Radar Screen

By Jary Winstead
Pallet Enterprise
June 5, 2019
Category: Health & Safety
Region: United States

Wood Dust: Safety expert, Jary Winstead explores specific policies and considerations for pallet lumber and pallet facilities related to wood dust. From respiratory hazards to combustible dust issues, these insights can help you ensure safety and compliance. These insights can help you ensure safety and compliance. The hazards of dust accumulation in the workplace have been a safety and health concern for many years. There have been many production facility explosions and fires that were directly related to dust accumulation, causing serious injuries and loss of life, not to mention property losses. With recent citations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), it has now become a hot issue in the pallet industry. The two major safety concerns involving dust accumulation in the workplace are employee health and safety concerns from dust exposure and fire and explosion hazards from combustible dusts.

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Forest Fires

Wildfire near Canada/U.S. border reaches 47 hectares, out of control

By Phil McLachlan
The Parksville Qualicum Beach News
June 5, 2019
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

The BC Wildfire Service is responding to a 47-hectare wildfire about 24 kilometres southwest of Baynes Lake and approximately two kilometres north of the B.C. – United States border. It is located at 55 km Linklater Forest Service Road. As of 4:50 p.m. Wednesday the fire was classified as out of control. According to the BC Wildfire Service, the fire is not threatening communities or structures; however, smoke is highly visible from Highway 93, Baynes Lake, Newgate, Jaffray and surrounding communities. …Including this fire, there are a total of eight wildfires burning in the Southeast Fire Centre, however the 55KM Linklater FSR is the only one that is burning an area of over one hectare.

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Rickford details Pikangikum response

By Ryan Forbes
Kenora Online
June 5, 2019
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada East

Just over half of Pikangikum First Nation community members are still in their homes as they continue to deal with a raging forest fire. As of yesterday, over 2,000 of 3,800 community members have been evacuated to other northwestern and Northern Ontario communities. The fire is now listed at 3,835 hectares, and is not under control. A total of 16, four-person fire ranger crews and two local sustained attack crews are assigned to the fire, along with an incident management team. Crews are continuing to work on the west and north flanks of the fire nearest to the community. Staff are also continuing with value protection efforts with sprinklers on homes and buildings. Air quality advisories have been issued due to the heavy smoke in the area. 

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