Daily Archives: June 14, 2019

Today’s Takeaway

Lumber rallies as curtailments spread to OSB and pulp production

June 14, 2019
Category: Today's Takeaway

Good news: lumber futures are on pace for their biggest weekly gain in decades as mill curtailments take hold. Bad news: Western Forest Products is axing a graveyard shift in Chamainus; Louisiana Pacific is closing its Fort St. John OSB mill; Canfor is reducing pulp production in Taylor, BC; Teal Jones is logging less on Vancouver Island; and ATCO says it’s day-to-day in Fruitvale, BC. Speaking up are: BC’s Minister Donaldson; Liberals Clovechok, Rustad and Davies; and columnists Mike Smyth and Rob Shaw.

In Forestry news: pine beetle troubles in BC; ash beetle treatments in New Brunswick; and biotech support for the American Chestnut. Elsewhere: more on the USFS logging rule changes; Oregon’s Forest Practices Act; and efforts to protect Canada’s Wood Buffalo National Park.

Finally; the true story of BC’s Hope-Princeton gallows

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor

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Froggy Foibles

The true story of the Hope-Princeton Gallows

By Brian Wilson, Okanagan Archive Trust Society
Pentiction Western News
June 13, 2019
Category: Froggy Foibles
Region: Canada, Canada West

There is confusion about the history the big fire and of this sign. Here’s the true story. The “Big Burn” was first reported on August 8th, 1945 by a Canadian Pacific Airline pilot who saw it from his flight path. …The story of the cigarette is not altogether true. Actually, the true cause of the fire was a slash burn that got away from workers building the Hope-Princeton Highway. Because of the rough terrain between the Allison hill and the Skagit Bluffs, it was not until August 11th that 140 men were able to reach the centre of the fire zone. …August 26th during a long rain storm [the fire] was declared “out”. By then the fire had devastated 5,920 acres of prime timber. …The gallows wasn’t erected until well after the Hope-Princeton was officially opened in 1949. …When capital punishment ended in Canada in 1962, the gallows became inappropriate and was taken down.

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Business & Politics

Modest Tariff Impacts To Worsen If Trade War Continues

By Jeffrey Schulze
Forbes Magazine
June 13, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

With trade wars front and center – and the S&P 500 falling 5% off its recent high – many investors are questioning what the impacts will be on the global economy and financial markets. As trade tensions increase, global economic growth expectations often fall. Aggregate demand slows, and in turn, investors anticipate less demand for raw materials. This led prices of some commodities to recently tumble: copper, lumber, chemicals, steel and even crude oil. Yet the economic impacts of higher tariffs have been fairly muted, a sub-1% drag to GDP. In this fluid situation, our view is the most recently announced tariffs do not represent the endgame. …When consumers feel the pinch, their confidence and spending usually suffer. This could drive GDP back down to its 2-2.5% trend.

 

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Louisiana Pacific to shut down Peace Valley OSB

The Alaska Highway News
June 13, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Louisiana Pacific will indefinitely shut down operations at the Peace Valley OSB mill in Fort St. John. The shut down is indefinite, putting 190 workers out of work. Company officials were in town Thursday to deliver the news to employees. “Despite efforts by our Peace Valley team to reduce costs over the past several months, this decision is necessary to support the optimization of our OSB business in challenging market conditions,” said Jason Ringblom, LP Executive Vice President for OSB, in a statement. “Declining housing starts, high wood costs and associated cost pressures require us to take this action that aligns with our performance driven strategy.” …”The action that LP is taking now is driven by poor market conditions and not a reflection on our team,” Morrison said.

 

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Lumber heads for best rally in 24 years on mill curtailments

By Ashley Robinson
Bloomberg News
June 14, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Lumber futures are one pace for their biggest weekly gain since 1995 as Canadian mill curtailments are finally bringing into sight the end of overproduction that boosted building-company profit. …“This is a good sign,” Joshua Zaret, a senior analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, said in a telephone interview. “When you start to see capacity closures, it means you’re probably not that far away from the bottom of the pricing cycle.” Lumber jumped by as much as the exchange maximum of US$19, or 5.4 per cent, to US$373.80 per 1,000 board feet Thursday on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Rolling most-active futures are up about 18 per cent this week, on pace for the biggest such advance since June 1995. …Canfor shares are up about 15 per cent this week amid the announced production cuts. The stock is still down almost 40 per cent in 2019.

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USW shows generosity despite tough times

By Jamie Polmateer
Clearwater Times
June 14, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

The recent announcement regarding the closure of Canfor’s Vavenby mill hasn’t dampened the generosity of its employees, as shown by a recent donation made by the United Steel Workers Local 1-417 to a youth sports team. Canfor employees held a meeting and barbecue at the Clearwater Elks Hall on Sunday to discuss the difficult situation, but before getting down to business, presented a cheque for $500 to the Clearwater Secondary School’s girls soccer team. “The crew has already donated about $200 to support the soccer team going to provincials and we wanted to do more,” said Marty Gibbons, president of USW Local 1-417. …“It’s generous when they’re all working and employed, but it’s humbling when they’re giving $500 when things are so incredibly challenging for that group right now,” Darren Coates, principal of CSS said.

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Fruitvale mill affected by downturn in lumber market

By Sheri Regnier
The Trail Times
June 13, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

A family-run mill, and key West Kootenay employer, has rode out many storms in 60+ years of operations in Fruitvale. So this latest downturn in the lumber industry across British Columbia – due to poor market conditions, disastrous wildfires, and ongoing insect infestations – is one more challenge that ATCO Wood Products is prepared to face through progressive planning. “At ATCO Wood Products, we are not immune to these phenomenons,” Chief Executive Officer Scott Weatherford told the Trail Times. “We are evaluating market conditions day by day, and charting a new path weekly to weather these challenges.” As a producer of softwood veneer for the plywood industry, ATCO supplies a small, niche product to a market that is also presently in an economic downswing.

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Graveyard shift being axed at Chemainus sawmill

By Don Dodger
The Ladysmith Chemainus Chronicle
June 13, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

The graveyard shift at Western Forest Products’ Chemainus sawmill is being eliminated until further notice at the conclusion of work Friday, June 14. The move comes just as the current contract of United Steelworkers Local 1-1937 is due to expire Saturday, June 15. …“With regard to the Chemainus sawmill, we are reducing operating levels from 120 hours per week to 80 hours per week for an indefinite period, beginning June 17,” added Khunkhun. …“The temporary production curtailments are necessary due to challenging market conditions,” noted Don Demens, WFP President and CEO. “The challenge of weak markets is compounded by the disproportionate impacts of softwood lumber duties on high value products, including Western Red Cedar.” …Negotiations toward a new contract with the union are ongoing while the potential for a strike looms.

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In The House podcast: B.C.’s forestry sector facing major meltdown

By Mike Smyth and Rob Shaw
The Vancouver Sun
June 13, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Special guest Shane Woodford, CHNL Radio News Director, joins Mike Smyth and Rob Shaw discuss whether falling gas prices leads to less pressure on Premier John Horgan, the crisis in the forestry sector on the ground in the interior, and a report card of sorts on the cabinet and NDP government two years into its mandate.

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Minister of Forests says reason for Peace Valley closure is not due to impacts of Bill-22

By Scott Brooks
Energetic City
June 13, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – Employees were given the notice on Thursday morning that the Peace Valley OSB Plant will be closing this summer. While the opposition is putting the blame on the new Forest Amendment Act, Bill-22, Minister of Forests, Doug Donaldson, says this is not the case for the closure of Peace Valley. “There’s no proposal that’s come to me or no announcement by the company with the intention to sell this tenure that they have. So, I don’t see any impact of Bill-22 on this particular indefinite closure.” According to Donaldson, the reason for this closure is due to changes in the market and the environment, particularly the effects of the pine beetle invasion. Donaldson says his Ministry knew that the constriction on fibre supply was coming and that the Government has taken steps to address the issue in the last 22 months.

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Port Alberni-based program helps bridge business generation gap

By Mike Youds
The Alberni Valley News
June 13, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Slowly but surely, there’s a grey tsunami bearing down on Main Street. No cause for panic, but the entrepreneurs of the post-war generation are clearing out their desks… in smaller centres such as Port Alberni. …Eight years ago, Community Futures — a non-profit mandated to support small business, entrepreneurs and economic development — set its focus on the issue. …Scott Lemkay called on Venture Connect when he wanted to become a minor partner in Sitka Silviculture. The company, currently relocating to Port Alberni from Cumberland, contracts with Island Timberlands (now Mosaic) for silviculture services. Lemkay needed advice and the reassurance of a partnership contract to proceed, services received from Venture Connect. “They definitely got me along the right path,” he said.

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Teal Jones shuts down second-growth harvesting in Honeymoon Bay

By Robert Barron
BC Local News
June 13, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Teal Jones forest company has shut down its second-growth logging operations in Honeymoon Bay, impacting dozens of local contract loggers. The Surrey-based company blamed the indefinite shut down on high stumpage rates, which are what the province charges companies to harvest timber on Crown land. Teal Jones CFO Haniff Karmally said stumpage fees are currently well in excess of what would be an economic rate for a second-growth harvesting operation focused on providing logs for domestic saw mills. “These high rates are incurring significant losses for the company, at a time of weak markets for lumber, shakes and shingles in Canada, the U.S. and abroad,” he said. …The impact of the harvesting shut down will result in immediate reductions in logging employment among contractors in Honeymoon Bay, as well as lost mill time and employment at Teal Jones’s mills in Surrey.

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Canfor Pulp Temporarily Curtailing Taylor BCTMP Mill

Canfor Pulp Products Inc.
Cision Newswire
June 13, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER — Canfor Pulp Products Inc. announced today it will be temporarily curtailing operations at its BCTMP mill in Taylor, British Columbia from June 29 through August 5, 2019, due to a combination of weaker market conditions and short-term fibre constraints resulting from industry-wide sawmill curtailments in the BC Interior. The curtailment will reduce Canfor Pulp’s production output by approximately 25,000 tonnes of BCTMP. Canfor Pulp has three northern bleached softwood kraft pulp mills, one BCTMP mill, and one kraft paper mill in BC.

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Government must at least try to act on forestry issues, MLA Clovechok says

By Carolyn Grant
The Kimberly Daily Bulletin
June 13, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Doug Clovechok

Columbia River Revelstoke MLA Doug Clovechok says the situation with the forest industry is dire and government must step up and do something, or at least try to do something. …Clovechok says he doesn’t lay the blame for the current crisis at the feet of the NDP government, but he does expect them to try to address it. “You can’t lay this at the feet of the government. When you look at the entire situation, it’s a perfect storm. …The government didn’t create this but John Horgan is saying there’s nothing they can do.” Clovechok believes there are a number of things the province can do to begin addressing the problems in the forestry industry. He says the province should be reaching out to the federal government.

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MLA Davies slams NDP for forestry inaction after Fort St. John mill closure

By Matt Preprost
The Alaska Highway News
June 13, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

The pending shutdown of the Peace Valley OSB mill in Fort St. John is the latest blow to B.C.’s struggling forestry sector, the Opposition BC Liberals say. Louisiana Pacific announced the closure of the mill to employees Thursday. The bad economic news follows on the heels of announcements this week that Norbord will indefinitely curtail its OSB mill in 100 Mile House, and that Canfor will curtail operations at all but one of its sawmills in B.C.  “This latest shutdown will put at least 190 workers out of work and will affect hundreds of additional indirect jobs. My community simply can’t afford this loss,” said Peace River North MLA Dan Davies said in a statement. …Work will reportedly continue at the mill until the August 9 shut down. Employees will be paid through until early September, and then receive a severance package, sources say.

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B.C. Liberals call for tax relief for struggling forest industry

By Tom Fletcher
BC Local News
June 13, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

John Rustad

Opposition politicians are calling on B.C. Premier John Horgan to reduce the tax load on forest companies as they deal with log shortages, slumping lumber prices and continued import duties from the United States. B.C. Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson and forests critic John Rustad… are calling on the B.C. government to reduce stumpage and carbon tax on forest companies, their logging contractors and other businesses that depend on the forest industry “until market conditions stabilize.” Their suggestions include creating a fund for communities hit by the recent closures and curtailments, to put laid-off employees to work on wildfire prevention projects. Fuel load from decades of forest fire suppression has been a factor in recent record fire seasons.

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Sault moulding producer acquired by Brampton company

Northern Ontario Business
June 13, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

Weston Wood Solutions has acquired Fibrestick Manufacturing of Sault Ste. Marie. Fibrestick manufactures products for the residential and commercial construction industry out of medium-density fibreboard (MDF), including mouldings, doorjambs and other components. The company sources its raw material from the nearby Arauco Flakeboard plant. Helmed by Ryan Connolly since 2006, Fibrestick has prided itself on customer service. In 2018, the company was named to the 2018 Growth 500 list, a compendium of the country’s fastest-growing companies, published by Maclean’s magazine and CanadianBusiness.com. “As proud Canadians, we are delighted to work with the team in Sault Ste. Marie to build upon their successes, and provide additional local employment opportunities,” Weston president Alan Lechem said in a news release.

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Forbes names 84 Lumber among Best Large Employers

LBM Journal
June 13, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

EIGHTY FOUR, Penn. — 84 Lumber has been named to Forbes’ list of America’s Best Large Employers of 2019. The privately held building materials supplier ranks among 500 organizations, and was also listed on Forbes’ Best Midsize Employers list in 2016 and 2017. “We’re honored to once again be recognized by Forbes as a top employer in the United States,” said Maggie Hardy Knox, president of 84 Lumber. “This achievement further proves 84’s commitment to hard work, long-standing values, and employee satisfaction. I always say that I’m blessed with the best team, and I stand by that.”

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Boise Cascade Investing $17.5M In South Carolina Expansion

Business Facilities Magazine
June 13, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

Boise Cascade will expand its existing operations in Chester County, South Carolina. The engineered wood products and plywood maker and building products distributor is investing an additional $17.5 million in the facility in a series of upgrade projects. “South Carolina is strategically located to reach our East Coast and southern markets,” said Executive Vice President Mike Brown. …In 2013, Boise Cascade acquired Chester Wood Products, a softwood plywood facility. …In 2015, the company invested $23.5 million in a series of improvements to the facility, resulting in more efficient production capabilities and dozens of additional jobs. In total, the Boise, ID-based company now has more than 295 full-time employees at its Chester County location.

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Sweden softwood lumber exports to Egypt soar 68.2% and to China fall 34.5% in first quarter

Lesprom Network
June 14, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International
Sweden increased softwood lumber exports to Egypt by 68.2% y-o-y in first quarter 2019 to 365.6 thousand m3, export value jumped 46.2% to $62.9 million, according to Statistics Sweden. Exports to China declined 34.5% to 163.4 thousand m3 with export value was down 40.0% to $34.5 million. Softwood lumber exports to Netherland from Sweden dropped 18.8% to 218.1 thousand m3 with export value decreased 18.4% to $61.4 million. Exports from Swede n to UK expanded 1.95% to 680.3 thousand m3, export value was up 10.6% to $194.7 million.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Hemp-based wood startup ready to enter market, but US-China trade war stands in the way

By Esteban Fernandez
The Hemp Industry Daily
June 14, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, International

Count Greg Wilson among those who believe hemp could bring a new business opportunity to an old industry. …Wilson had an idea when the 2014 Farm Bill opened opportunities to grow hemp in the United States: …The result was a material he calls HempWood. …After years of research and development, his business is ready to start production – though America’s trade uncertainty with China has delayed his start. …Fibonacci has since set up shop in Murray, Kentucky, where the company has an 11,000-square-foot building and plans to begin production this summer. …Though the company has a stockpile of hemp fibers, Fibonacci is still awaiting the delivery of an industrial wood press from China. …However, wood made from hemp is far from receiving widespread adoption, said John Dupra… an expert in the hardwood flooring space.

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Wood wins: Constructing Australia’s largest engineered-timber office building

Create Magazine
June 14, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

One Brisbane high-rise is showing why timber is making a comeback as a building material. Timber has long been used in Australia for residential construction. But its use in high-rise buildings is relatively new, and many myths about it abound: that timber buildings require more maintenance, aren’t fire resistant and are at risk from termites. One high-rise building in Brisbane — 25 King Street — is busting those myths, while also earning the label of being Australia’s tallest and largest engineered-timber office building. …One of the main challenges of the project was getting the balance right between the different materials, since timber couldn’t be used in all areas. …“Consideration of column and beam layouts allow a minimum number of large penetrations, and therefore reduce the cost of the structure,” Lillywhite said.

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Forestry

UN says Canada’s plan to rescue Wood Buffalo National Park not enough

The Canadian Press in the Victoria Times Colonist
June 13, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, International

The status of Canada’s largest park as a World Heritage Site remains wobbly after a United Nations body expressed grave doubts about a federal plan to rescue it. “Considerably more effort will be needed to reverse the negative trends at a time when climate change combined with upstream industrial developments and resource extraction are intensifying,” says a draft decision on Wood Buffalo National Park from UNESCO, which manages the UN’s list of World Heritage Sites. …Parks Canada said it “recognizes the outstanding universal value of Canada’s 19 UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is committed to their ongoing protection.” Wood Buffalo, which straddles the Alberta-Northwest Territories boundary, is one of the world’s largest freshwater deltas and is the breeding ground for millions of migratory birds from four continental flyways.

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Finning brings first Caterpillar Operator Challenge to Canada

By Finning Canada
Cision Newswire
June 14, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

EDMONTON – Finning Canada …is getting geared up to find the best equipment operator in Canada. For the first time ever, Canada will be a part of the Caterpillar® Global Operator Challenge. …”Finning is excited about taking part in this global competition that will challenge our Canadian operators to find out if they have what it takes to take on the best in the world and bring home the title of world’s best operator,” says Darren Riley, VP Corporate Accounts, Finning Canada. Finning is hosting four events in June in Saskatoon, Kamloops, Surrey and Edmonton. The operators will be put to the test in four challenges in a Cat micro excavator, compact track loader, mini excavator and wheel loader that will test the operator’s skills and dexterity. …The top three champions … win an all-expenses paid trip to compete at the Regional Caterpillar Operator Challenge in Clayton, North Carolina, USA

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Cross-Canada bike ride for green jobs rolls into Edmonton

By Laine Mitchell
CTV News Edmonton
June 13, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

A group of cyclists sped into Edmonton Thursday for a green cause. Members of Project Learning Tree Canada’s Green Ride for Green Jobs gathered at the Alberta Legislature to tout the summer program. “This journey is an amazing opportunity to connect with youth and employers, and the road ahead will bring many more of their stories to life,” said Zac Wagman, the Green Jobs manager at PLT Canada. “The Green Ride has been a valuable way for PLT Canada to connect to communities and people working on outdoors. The diversity of people and careers that I am learning about excites me about the opportunities available for youth exploring a career in the great outdoors.” …He is completing the trek on a high-performance wooden bike, part of the message of using forests to inspire and educate.

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Protecting small mammals after logging near Golden

By Keri Sculland
The Golden Star
June 13, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Tom Sullivan

A team of biologists are keeping an eye on small mammals in cut blocks around Golden and four other sites in the province. What they’re looking for is the impact of logging on small mammal habitats. …Tom Sullivan is a small mammal biologist with UBC who has been working with silviculture forester Scott King at Louisiana-Pacific Corp. on a site just east of Golden. He and his team have preserved slash piles, and have set live traps to see if these piles are used as a habitat by small creatures. …Rather than burning up the piles and discarding them, the piles are acting as a “marten hotel,” or a mouse mansion. …These small mammals are critical to the environment. …Creating the habitats and corridors between cut blocks has helped to keep the animals in the ecosystem.

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Volunteers needed for grizzly bear research in southeast B.C.

BC Local News
June 13, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Elk Valley residents can explore the outdoors for a good cause by taking part in grizzly bear research. The South Rockies Grizzly Bear Project (SRGBP) is a B.C. government-led study that aims to quantify and understand the population dynamics of grizzly bears in southeastern British Columbia. About 50 volunteers took part in the project last year, collecting more than 2500 bear hair samples from rub trees, which are wrapped with barbed wire. …This year, SRGBP Project Coordinator Emma van Tussenbroek hopes to recruit even more volunteers. “The South Rockies Grizzly Bear Project is a great project for the community to be involved with as volunteer efforts are helping contribute to grizzly bear research in the Elk Valley,” she said. “This project allows for exploring different trails in the area, is family friendly and can be done while hiking, biking, horse riding or riding ATVs.”

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‘It’s not bearable’: London homeowners on the return of Gypsy moths

By Sofia Rodriquez
CBC News
June 13, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Byron residents are faced … gypsy moth caterpillars taking over their properties. For Michelle Pace, this is her second encounter with these larvae that tend to defoliate their host tree and cause residents countless headaches. Jill-Anne Spence, London’s manager of urban forestry…said the easily identifiable insects … are common in Ontario. [They] thrive in certain tree species such as oak, birch, poplar and maple trees… “It’s not bearable. We can’t go outside. If you go outside, you either have caterpillars on you or you’re hit with caterpillar feces that are falling from the trees,” she said. … “I’d like to see the city step up and do an aerial spay. It’s obviously a huge problem that is just coming to fruition with everyone coming out now and letting everyone know that they have the same problem as I do,” Pace said.

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Early insecticide treatment best way to save ash trees from beetle, expert says

By Elizabeth Fraser
CBC News
June 13, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Trees that aren’t inoculated with pesticide will be as good as gone once an invasive beetle arrives in Fredericton, a Mississauga city official says. The emerald ash borer, an invasive beetle that has destroyed millions of ash trees in parts of North America, was detected in Edmundston last year. Jessica Wiley, manager of forestry for the City of Mississauga, spoke at a committee meeting in Fredericton on Thursday. She said officials in New Brunswick’s capital need to be ready for the tiny insect. “It really isn’t stoppable as long as there’s a viable food source,” she said. “You guys have beautiful ash trees, and I would highly recommend, if you want to preserve them, now is the time to get some sort of plan together.”  The emerald ash borer was identified in Mississauga in 2008, and the city’s plan to inoculate wasn’t approved until 2012.

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Tree biotech and the American chestnut

By Rachel Smolker and Anne Petermann
The Ecologist
June 13, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

The American chestnut tree was attacked by the fungal pathogen (Cryphonectria parasitica) about a century ago, driving it to functional extinction. Now, scientists at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry claim to have created, through biotechnology, a resistant American chestnut variety. They aim to petition the required regulatory agencies for deregulation of their genetically engineered chestnut in the near future, with the stated goal of “restoring” the species to nature. If it is deregulated, the GE chestnut would be the first GE forest tree species to be planted out in forests with the deliberate intention of spreading freely. Monitoring or reversing their spread, once released, would likely be impossible. …The American chestnut … was once a dominant species along the eastern USA and into Canada.  Prolific nuts provided food, and fodder for livestock. The wood is rot resistant, easy to work with …was prized by the timber industry.  

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Forest Service plan would make it easier to log national forests

By Gregory Wallace, CNN
NBC News
June 13, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

Federal officials are proposing major shifts to the way land management decisions are made — changes that would make it easier to log national forests. The US Forest Service is proposing to expand the types and scope of work that can be completed without an environmental review. The agency says those are time consuming and the rule “reduces redundancy” when it undertakes projects similar to those it has studied before and make the agency more nimble when mitigating threats such as catastrophic wildfires and addressing “the worsening conditions” on national forests.  Environmental groups, however, say the rules will box the public out of important decisions that can be improved with community input. …The American Forest and Paper Association… believes the proposal will make the Forest Service more efficient.

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Who’s Following The Forest Practices Act? Oregon Can’t Say For Sure.

By Tony Schick
Oregon Public Broadcasting
June 14, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

On Feb. 26, 2019, Oregon State Forester Peter Daugherty sat in front of lawmakers during a budget hearing and reported his agency’s sterling compliance rate with the laws that govern private logging. “The audit showed an overall rule level compliance rate of 98%,” Daugherty told them. Others aren’t so sure about that. “We don’t know if it’s 98, 99 or 50,” said Brenda McComb, a retired Oregon State University professor who serves on the board overseeing Daugherty’s agency, the Department of Forestry. McComb, fellow forestry board member Cindy Deacon Williams and two consultants separately hired by environmental advocates are arguing the department’s work is riddled with biases and analytical flaws. …The effectiveness of Oregon’s Forest Practices Act is at the center of contentious debates about private logging. Thousands of timber harvests take place in Oregon every year, on vast corporate forests and small family-owned woodlots.

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‘Prepared to continue’: Protests escalate at Rainbow Ridge logging

By Sonia Waraich
Eureka Times Standard
June 13, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Protests continued to intensify at Rainbow Ridge today as more activists flocked to the area, putting their bodies in the paths of logging equipment and occupying the Humboldt Redwood Company’s Scotia offices for 30 minutes. Though no arrests have been made … a woman who calls herself “Rook” continued today to sit in a tree to protect it from being cut down, while another man U-bolted himself by the neck to a cattle crossing in order to block access to the forest. Nine other people rallied at Monument’s Gate… One of the activists spoke with John Andersen, the company’s director of forest policy and registered professional forester, and demanded an end to the logging as well as an end to reported harassment being faced by the tree-sitter. …protesters said attempts to remove the tree-sitter are underway by a private security firm…, hired by Humboldt Redwood Company to patrol the area.

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Papua New Guinea and Solomons governments call for changes to forestry

The Pacific Media Center
June 14, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Both the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea governments have signalled changes to make their forestry industries more sustainable. The Papua New Guinea government will be putting a stop to the issuance of all new logging licences to foreign companies. Forestry Minister Solan Mirisim who resigned as Defence Minister under the O’Neill led government, said licenses will only be issued to landowning companies. …He said that more needs to be done to ensure the forestry industry is sustainable. …Deforestation is rife in Papua New Guinea, with 640,000 hectares of forest felled in the last three years. Much of the logging is illegal, prompting conflict between offending companies and indigenous landowners.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Scotland meets tree planting target for first time

By Kevin Keane
BBC News
June 13, 2019
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

The Scottish government has met its annual tree planting targets for the first time. About 11,200 hectares of new planting was undertaken last year, a significant increase on 2017. Aforestation is seen as an important tool in tackling climate change but planting rates up until now have been low. Ministers plan to increase the target further in 2024, from 10,000 to 15,000 hectares. Increasing forest cover allows the trees to absorb more carbon dioxide, one of the greenhouse gases responsible for global warming. The majority of the planting has been carried out by private companies with about 1,000 hectares coming from the government’s new agency Forestry and Land Scotland.

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