Daily Archives: June 18, 2019

Today’s Takeaway

West Fraser to close Chasm mill, reduce shifts at 100 Mile House

June 18, 2019
Category: Today's Takeaway

BC’s lumber industry takes another hit with the announcement that West Fraser will permanently close its Chasm mill and reduce shifts at 100 Mile House. In related news: 

  • ‘Like a kick to the stomach’ (Clinton Mayor Susan Swan)
  • West Fraser’s annual allowable cut reduced by 36 per cent (Diane Nicholls)
  • Trouble in BC’s woods means trouble for the BC economy (Jock Finlayson)
  • Closure of Canfor’s Vavenby sawmill deals blow to Domtar’s chip supply
  • MLAs Clovechok and Davies say province must do something—anything.

In other news: Canadians and Americans say wood is the most environmentally friendly material; Ontario’s first wood fuel facility opens; ENGO’s target biomass energy in the US Southeast; and BC’s logging leftovers benefit wildlife habitat.

Finally, the tree said to inspire Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax has died.

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor

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Froggy Foibles

Tree said to inspire Dr. Seuss’ ‘The Lorax’ dies. Who will speak for the trees?

By Sonja Haller
USA Today
June 17, 2019
Category: Froggy Foibles
Region: United States, US West

As he sat in his mountaintop La Jolla, California, home, spinning lyrical children’s tales like “The Cat in the Hat” and “Green Eggs and Ham,” Ted Geisel — who we all know as Dr. Seuss — spied the droopy, yet noble Monterrey Cypress tree.  Now, the tree that locals say inspired “The Lorax” is gone forever, and why it’s gone is a mystery, Tim Graham, a spokesman for the San Diego Parks and Recreation Department.  The lone Cypress in Ellen Browning Scripps Park in La Jolla fell over last week and died. “The city is still trying to determine the cause and the Monterrey Cypress was estimated to be between 80 and 100 years old,” Graham said. …The California coast Monterey Cypress can live up to 2,000 years, and this particular park tree sparked the 1971 story of the Once-ler who mows down all the Truffula trees threatening the creatures who depend on them.

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Business & Politics

B.C.’s lumber industry takes another hit as Chasm mill set to close

By David Carrigg
The Province
June 17, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

B.C.’s lumber industry has been struck another blow with the announcement that West Fraser would permanently close its Chasm mill and eliminate the third shift from its 100 Mile House mill. This will result in a total loss of 210 jobs — 176 in Chasm … and the rest at 100 Mile House — to take effect sometime between July and September. Ray Ferris, president West Fraser, said the decision to close Chasm and reduce shifts at 100 Mile House was due to a lack of supply, high saw-log costs and price declines for processed lumber. “This decision is the result of well-documented timber supply constraints owing to B.C.’s devastating mountain pine beetle infestation, recent record wildfires, price declines in lumber markets and high saw-log costs,” Ferris said in a prepared statement. Ferris also attributed blame to “reduced harvesting levels set by the Chief Forester of B.C.” that meant there was insufficient timber supply to support the Chasm and 100 Mile House operations.

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B.C. must act to help forest industry, communities weather the storm

By Dan Davies, MLA for Peace River North
The Alaska Highway News
June 17, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Dan Davies

It’s difficult to read personal messages from people impacted by last Thursday’s announcement that operations at the Peace Valley OSB Mill will be shut down, leaving 190 out-of-work for the foreseeable future. Later that day, Canfor announced a five-week shut-down at its Taylor pulp mill. …The pain didn’t stop this week as West Fraser announced the closure of its sawmill in Chasm on Monday with additional shift cuts at 100 Mile House. …Premier Horgan insists these shutdowns have been expected. If so, why hasn’t government done anything to help stem the flow of job loss across B.C.? The province has to do something – anything – to help the industry get through the storm. The forest industry says it is a combination of low fibre supply coupled with the highest production costs in North America that is costing us so dearly in B.C.

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Closure of Vavenby sawmill deals blow to Domtar Kamloops chip supply

By James Peters
CFJC Today Kamloops
June 17, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

KAMLOOPS — Officials with Domtar say the crisis hitting B.C. Interior sawmills will have an impact on the Kamloops pulp mill, but there is no cause for elevated concern. Domtar spokesperson Bonny Skene says the recently-announced closure of the Canfor Vavenby sawmill will deliver a hit to the Kamloops pulp mill’s chip supply. “The Vavenby sawmill represented just over 10 per cent of the Kamloops pulp mill’s fibre supply,” said Skene. “So that is an important source of fibre and we’re certainly working to find alternatives.” …Of greater concern for Domtar is a proposed transfer of tenure from Canfor to Interfor for a reported $60 million. B.C. Forests Minister Doug Donaldson would need to approve that transfer. Skene says that could impact the surplus chips Domtar can bring to its Kamloops mill.

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‘Like a kick to the stomach’: West Fraser closing 1 B.C. mill, cutting shifts at another

CBC News
June 17, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Susan Swan

Another B.C. lumber company is closing one of its mills and cutting shifts at another. Quesnel-based West Fraser will permanently close its Chasm lumber mill and eliminate the third shift from its 100 Mile House mill in the third quarter of 2019, the company announced Monday. …Susan Swan, mayor of the village of Clinton, says West Fraser’s cutbacks will have a massive impact on her community. Clinton is about 20 kilometres southwest of Chasm. Of the 650 people who live there, 100 work at the mill, Swan said. “It was like a kick to the stomach,” Swan said of hearing the news. “With the mill closures happening around us I was hoping we would be missed. But I wasn’t completely surprised by it.” Swan said West Fraser will soon be meeting with council, and she says she will be asking the company what they will be doing for workers and their families who will be affected.

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Clovechok seeks action from Premier Horgan to help BC’s lumber industry

By Wylie Henderson
Radio B-104
June 14, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Columbia River-Revelstoke MLA Doug Clovechok and the BC Liberal caucus have sent a letter to Premier John Horgan urging him to address the ongoing lumber industry crisis in the province. The call to action follows recent news that Canfor will be temporarily curtailing operations at most of it’s BC mills. He says Horgan’s government promised to help BC’s ailing lumber industry when they took office in 2017, and have failed to deliver. Clovechok says he would like to see the federal government step in to help the thousands of employees in the province’s lumber sector. “There might be federal means to support these families that have lost their jobs,” says Clovechok. “It’s millions of dollars that’s coming out of the economy, and of course hundreds of jobs. The feds need to step up to this as well, and the Province needs to engage the federal government to do that.”

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South Okanagan fire in mop up mode at Greenwood Forest Products

By Kristi Patton
Keremeos Review
June 17, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Penticton Deputy Fire Chief Chris Forster said firefighters are now in mop up stage at Greenwood Forest Products afterresponding early this morning. “We were called in because the alarm bells were ringing and there was either smoke or fire at Greenwood Forest Products.When we got on scene the building was fully charged with smoke, that could be seen from the middle of the building and thenorth roof,” said Forster. Fire sprinklers were activated and extinguished most of the fire. Forster said there were loud pop’s that were heard, but he believes it came from the tires of forklift popping.

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Fortress Receives Multi-Year Moratorium on Investissment Québec Loan

By Fortress Global Enterprises Inc.
Cision Newswire
June 17, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER – Fortress Global Enterprises Inc. is pleased to announce that it has been granted a multi-year moratorium on upcoming principal and interest payments by Investissement Québec under IQ’s outstanding loan. Fortress has received, without penalty, a postponement of approximately $45 million in principal and interest payments under the IQ Loan from June 30, 2019 to December 31, 2021. Interest payments during this period will be deferred and capitalized and the maturity date of the IQ Loan has been extended by five years to December 31, 2031. The principal amount of the IQ Loan, including capitalized interest, is to be repaid in quarterly instalments beginning on March 31, 2022. IQ has also agreed to extend the moratorium and the term for an additional 24 months and subordinate its security in favour of third party lenders in the event that Fortress obtains new financing, subject to certain limitations.

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West Fraser Announces Additional Permanent Production Reductions in British Columbia

West Fraser Timber
Cision Newswire
June 17, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER — West Fraser announced its intention to permanently close its Chasm lumber mill and eliminate the third shift from its 100 Mile House lumber mill, both to occur during the third quarter of 2019. …Ray Ferris, President and Chief Operating Officer. …”This decision is… the result of well-documented timber supply constraints owing to B.C.’s devastating Mountain Pine Beetle infestation, recent record wildfires, price declines in lumber markets and high saw log costs,” stated Ferris. “As a result of reduced harvesting levels set by the Chief Forester of B.C., there is insufficient timber supply to support the current lumber production capacity of the lumber mills in these locations. …These production curtailments and closures are expected to impact approximately 176 employees at Chasm and approximately 34 employees at 100 Mile House. …In 2018 and 2019, West Fraser will implement total temporary and permanent capacity curtailments of approximately 125 million and 614 million board feet respectively.

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West Fraser expands production curtailments

Canadian Press in Prince George Citizen
June 17, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER, B.C. — West Fraser is expanding its production cuts due to supply constraints resulting from infestations, wildfires, prices declines and log cost increases.  The Vancouver-based company says it will permanently close its Chasm lumber mill and eliminate the third shift from its 100 Mile House lumber mill, both in the third quarter. The moves are expected to impact about 210 workers, including 176 at Chasm as production is reduced by about 314 million board feet. Curtailments will cut 125 million and 614 million board feet of production in 2018 and 2019. West Fraser president Ray Ferris says it will try to mitigate the effects with opportunities for employees to relocate to other company locations. He says the reduced harvesting levels set by the province’s chief forester have resulted in insufficient timber supply to support current production.

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Trouble in B.C.’s woods means trouble for the province’s economy

By Jock Finlayson EVP, Business Council of British Columbia & Ken Peacock, council’s chief economist
Business in Vancouver
June 18, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Jock Finlayson & Ken Peacock

Battered and bleeding, the B.C. lumber industry has seen better days. Today, it is grappling with tough market conditions, a diminished domestic timber supply (along with rising fibre costs), U.S. softwood import tariffs and a lack of provincial government interest in doing much to improve the competitive environment. That is worrisome. Forestry – of which lumber production is the largest component – is a high-wage industry that remains the mainstay of regional economies across the province, particularly outside of the Lower Mainland and Greater Victoria. The activities across all segments of forestry combined account for billions of dollars of B.C.’s economic output (GDP), provide direct employment for more than 50,000 British Columbians, and pay $4 billion a year in taxes, royalties and fees to various levels of government. Tens of thousands of additional B.C. jobs also depend on forestry because of the industry’s extensive linkages with other sectors of the economy.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

New research reveals a love for paper and print – but environmental education is needed

Two Sides
June 18, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, United States

CHICAGO, IL — The results of a new survey commissioned by Two Sides reveal a telling insight into the public’s perceptions and attitudes towards print and paper. …Out of 6 choices, Americans and Canadians rank urban development (first), construction (second) and pulp and paper (third) as having the most impact on global deforestation.  Agriculture was ranked as having the least impact. However, agriculture is the top cause of global deforestation. …When it comes to paper purchasing behavior, 70% of Americans and Canadians believe it is important to use paper products from sustainably managed forests. However, only 22-27% pay attention to forest certification labels when purchasing paper. Out of 8 common materials and products, wood is considered the most environmentally friendly material, followed by paper and glass. Plastic and electronic devices are considered the least environmentally friendly.

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Say goodbye to utility bills with a so-called ‘passive house’

By Ross McLaughlin
CTV News
June 17, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

He’s a man with a famous name and now James Dean is a celebrity in his neighborhood. …Dean lives in a newly constructed house. …It’s called a passive house. And the B.C. government is committed to making all new homes this way by 2032. …The home is made with cross laminated timber, or CLT, that has similar structural properties to concrete but is made entirely of wood. …The outside walls are nearly 17 inches thick with 6 inches of mineral wool insulation on either side of a 4½ inch Douglas fir CLT. “This is reducing the amount of heating we need by 90 per cent,” explained Dean. …His house has now been certified by EnerGuide as producing more energy than it uses and producing no green house gases on an annual basis.

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‘A very different type of space’: How traditional school design is changing

By Matt Bungard
Sydney Morning Herald
June 16, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

…one primary school in Sydney’s inner-west is helping to change the way school design is approached. Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Primary School in North Strathfield won its category in the 2019 Learning Environments Australasia Awards for Excellence in Education Facility Design, three years after the first stage of their project claimed the same prize. …The design …featured cross-laminated timber. The use of engineered timber is prevalent in Europe and North America, but it is still a relatively new concept to the Australian construction industry. “It’s a very different type of space to traditional schools. We had a big focus on using timber and natural materials,” he said. …”We’ve seen an evolution [working] in a box … then the pendulum swung in completely the other direction, but it was just as inflexible,” she said. “…in recent years is a swing back a little bit, where it’s about … having flexible spaces.”

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Forestry

Forests of Opportunity – 2019 SFI Annual Conference

Sustainable Forestry Initiative
June 18, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, United States
SFI envisions a world that values and benefits from sustainably managed forests. The SFI Annual Conference brings together thought leaders and influencers to learn about the opportunities that forests provide — from helping consumers identify sustainably sourced products, to conservation benefits on certified lands, to economic opportunities for local communities, to how students can become forest stewards. Attendees from the forest sector will have the opportunity to engage with each other and learn about SFI’s four pillars of interconnected activity: Standards, Conservation, Community, and Education. The diverse range of attendees includes conservation and community partners, Indigenous leaders, environmental educators, and engaged forest product customers across the U.S. and Canada. Register today and come to the 2019 SFI Annual Conference, Forests of Opportunity. 

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Tree Farm Licence 52 gets new cut level

By Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development
Government of British Columbia
June 17, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The new allowable annual cut (AAC) for West Fraser’s Tree Farm Licence 52 near Quesnel is 592,500 cubic metres, Diane Nicholls, chief forester, has announced. This new cut level is a 36% reduction from the current cut of 918,014 cubic metres set in 2011, and reflects the end of mountain pine beetle salvage operations in the area. The annual average harvest level between 2010 and 2018 was 589,000 cubic metres per year. The new cut level includes a partition that attributes 22,500 cubic metres of the AAC to deciduous trees in the tree farm licence (TFL). The deciduous timber will provide logs for West Fraser’s two pulp mills in Quesnel. “After reviewing all relevant factors on timber and non-timber resources, and taking into consideration First Nations’ interests in TFL 52, I am satisfied that the new AAC will ease the transition to a lower mid-term timber supply and allow more time for local and regional economies to adjust,” said Nicholls.

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Sustainble economy flourishing in Haida Gwaii and Great Bear Rainforest thanks to First Nations investments

By Jenna Cocullo
The Northern View
June 16, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

First Nations in the Great Bear Rainforest and Haida Gwaii have created a flourishing economy that “links a healthy environment with the prosperity and well-being of their communities,” according to a report released by Coast Funds earlier this month. Coast Funds is a finance organization led by Indigenous peoples. From 2008-2018 funding from the group has led to more than $286 million in new investments in the region. “First Nations are building on a long tradition of stewarding their territories for the benefit of current and future generations,” says Brodie Guy, executive director of Coast Funds. “The benefits are substantial, and together we are demonstrating that conservation finance led by Indigenous people is the key to protecting the world’s most precious ecosystems, such as the Great Bear Rainforest and Haida Gwaii.”

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Leftovers from logging and wildfires can benefit wildlife habitats, says UBC researcher

By Cory Correia
CBC News
June 18, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

A UBC biology professor says forest management practices in B.C. should consider the benefits of leaving wood debris from forest harvesting, insect outbreaks, and wildfires due to its potential to speed forest regeneration and improve wildlife habitat and biodiversity. For nearly a dozen years, professor emeritus in biology and forestry Tom Sullivan says he’s been investigating piles of wood debris around south-central B.C. and its effect on wildlife. …Sullivan says the clearcut harvesting can drive away small mammals that inhabit the forest floor, such as red-backed voles, which can take up to 50 years to reappear in the forests. Along with other researchers, Sullivan studied the effect that large piles of woody debris in clearcut sites would have on the mouse-like voles, and found that the debris enhanced the abundance, reproduction, and survival of the red-backed voles. 

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North Cowichan councillor wants more regional control of B.C.’s forests

By Robert Barron
Cowichan Valley Citizen
June 17, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Rob Douglas

Rob Douglas wants to see the management of B.C.’ s forests decentralized and managed at the regional level. Douglas, a councillor in the Municipality of North Cowichan, made a notice of motion Wednesday for council to discuss the issue at the next council meeting on June 19 and to consider whether to send the recommendation to the Union of B.C. Municipalities for its consideration. He said the forest industry in British Columbia has been on a steady decline in recent decades, with regular mill closures, thousands of jobs lost, and once thriving forestry communities experiencing severe economic decline that is, in part, due to government policies that removed the rules that tied timber harvest to processing at local mills and facilitated an unprecedented growth in raw log exports.

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How a flock of sheep protects one B.C. First Nation’s land

By Emilee Gilpin
National Observer
June 17, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Did you know sheep can protect vulnerable tree seedlings better than chemical sprays? The Saulteau First Nation sure does. Last year, the B.C. band invested in 300 sheep and teamed up with two shepherds experienced in sheep veg-management to reduce the use of toxic chemicals in their territory. Vegetation management is an important reforestation activity in that it involves preventing wild plants from stealing sunlight needed by young tree seedlings. The seedlings are planted in most new forest sites established in areas that have been logged or affected by wildfire, insects and disease. Toxic chemical sprays are one form of vegetation management, but there are non-chemical options available and growing in B.C. …Sheep-based vegetation management is one of many positive ways their people resist the violent implications of oil and gas, mining and forestry companies. 

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West Fraser’s annual allowable cut near Quesnel reduced by 36 per cent

The Quesnel Cariboo Observer
June 17, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The province’s chief forester has announced the new allowable annual cut (AAC) for West Fraser’s Tree Farm Licence 52 near Quesnel is 592,500 cubic metres. This new cut level, which came into effect June 17, is a 36-per-cent reduction from the current cut of 918,014 cubic metres set in 2011, and reflects the end of mountain pine beetle salvage operations in the area, according to a news release from the Ministry of Forests. …“After reviewing all relevant factors on timber and non-timber resources, and taking into consideration First Nations’ interests in TFL 52, I am satisfied that the new AAC will ease the transition to a lower mid-term timber supply and allow more time for local and regional economies to adjust,” chief forester Diane Nicholls said. …The TFL includes the communities of Wells and Barkerville.

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Mosaic Forest Management Expands Progressive Aboriginal Relations Certification, Creates Indigenous Language Revitalization Fund

BY Mosaic Forest Management
Cision Newswire
June 17, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

NANAIMO, BC – Mosaic Forest Management Corp., timberlands manager for TimberWest and Island Timberlands, is pleased to announce the successful expansion of bronze-level Progressive Aboriginal Relations (PAR) certification across all Mosaic-managed lands. TimberWest was the first forestry company in British Columbia to achieve PAR certification, and extending this certification to Island Timberlands-owned lands was a key commitment when the companies affiliated land management as Mosaic Forest Management in November 2018.  PAR certification is a program of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business that evaluates performance and impact in key areas important to indigenous communities.  Supported by independent third-party verification, certification under PAR signals that Mosaic Forest Management is a committed partner with the policies, systems, and resources dedicated to achieving positive outcomes in our indigenous relationships.

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Groups sue over Lincoln-area forest project

By Tom Kuglin
Helena Independent Record
June 17, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Saying that the public was unduly excluded from weighing in, two environmental watchdog groups filed a lawsuit Monday over a U.S. Forest Service project near Lincoln.Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Native Ecosystems Council filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Missoula challenging the Willow Creek Vegetation Project. The groups contend the Forest Service did not complete required analysis or allow adequate public input of the project under the National Environmental Policy Act, did not consider cumulative impacts of the project, and did not weigh impacts to potential future wilderness designations in the area.The Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest late last month approved logging and prescribed burning on about 2,100 acres in the Willow Creek-Dalton Mountain area about 5 miles southwest of Lincoln.

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Maple Syrup Production Up Despite Shorter Season

By Lisa Rathke
Associated Press in CBS Boston
June 17, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

MONTPELIER, Vt. — U.S. maple syrup production increased slightly this year, even though the sap-collecting season was shorter than last year’s, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The country produced 4.2 million gallons (16 million liters) of the pancake topper, up 1% from 2018. Vermont, the country’s leading producer, made more than 2 million gallons (7.6 million liters). …The maple season requires warm days and nights below freezing for the sap to flow in maple trees. The sap is then boiled into syrup. This year’s season lasted an average of 30 days in the syrup-producing states, compared with 42 days in 2018, the USDA said. In Vermont, the season started later than in recent years, worrying some producers that it would be too short. But the state ended up producing more syrup than in 2018. It also had 330,000 more taps in trees this year for a total of 6 million taps that helped to draw more sap.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Ontario’s first wood fuel facility for processing and storing wood chips now operating

Canadian Biomass Magazine
June 17, 2019
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada East

People, businesses and communities across Canada looking for cheaper, more reliable and environmentally friendly heating options should be taking a closer look at wood fuel, says a national supplier of wood heating systems. Biothermic, an Ontario-based company with two locations supplying modern wood heating systems across Canada, has built Ontario’s first wood fuel facility for processing and storing wood chips – a major step forward in helping make low-carbon, low-cost energy a reality in Canada. By offering customers year-round access to wood chips, the company is making it even easier to use wood as a heat source, save money and boost their local economies – even more so for remote and rural communities outside of natural gas service areas that pay a premium to ship in oil or propane.

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Investigation Shows Forests Destroyed to Supply Biomass

Natural Resource Defense Council
June 18, 2019
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US East

WASHINGTON – A new investigation exposes how valuable forests and ecosystems in the U.S. Southeast face devastation from demand for “biomass” energy. The recent photographic evidence gathered by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Dogwood Alliance, and the Southern Environmental Law Center documents the ecological destruction of biomass sourced from clear-cut forests to supply Enviva, the world’s largest wood-pellet producer. Millions of tons of Enviva’s pellets are burned in power plants to produce electricity abroad – primarily in the UK and other countries in Europe, and, increasingly, Japan. Burning wood for electricity accelerates climate change, destroys forests and increases emissions of dangerous air pollutants.

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Forest Fires

Crews working to control wildfire near Port Alberni, B.C.

CBC News
June 16, 2019
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

Provincial fire crews are working to control a new wildfire near Port Alberni, on Vancouver Island. Smoke is visible in the area as the fire burns in the logging slash at the the west end of Sproat Lake. Two initial attack crews are on scene as well as a contract crew and two helicopters, according to fire information officer Dorthe Jakobsen. The fire was discovered Sunday around 9:30 a.m. and is listed as half a hectare in size. According to the B.C. Wildfire online map, the suspected cause is human activity.  “The precipitation has not been in the large amounts we would like to see, so we are in drought conditions,” said Jakobsen. “We are asking people to be diligent as always in our forests.”

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Forest fire burning near Pickle Lake now under control: MNRF

CBC News
June 18, 2019
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada East

A forest fire burning near the northern Ontario town of Pickle Lake is now listed as being under control, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry said. Sioux Lookout 8 broke out on June 6, and while it didn’t prompt an evacuation of Pickle Lake, nor a state of emergency, the fire was burning only a few kilometres from the town. But the MNRF changed the status of the fire on Monday, fire information officer Shayne McCool said. “That fire’s now listed as under control, at 824 hectares,” McCool said. “So that’s good news for that fire.” McCool said a larger fire burning near Pikangikum First Nation is also under control, at just 3,800 hectares. The Pikangikum fire, known as Red Lake 14, did cause the evacuation of the remote, fly-in community, however, residents have since been cleared to return home.

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The Woodbury Fire continues to blaze uncontained

Payson Roundup
June 17, 2019
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US West

Firefighters continue to battle the Woodbury Fire, currently at 36,490 acres, zero percent contained. The Woodbury Fire is human caused and started June 8 five miles NW of Superior, AZ. Firefighters continue a strategic response to address areas of concern on the most active portions of the fire. This requires implementing a variety of firefighting tactics commensurate with steep, rugged terrain, wilderness values and extreme fire behavior. Firefighter and public safety is our first priority. West of the fire lies the Sonoran Desert which is a valued ecosystem and firefighters will continue work to slow the fire’s spread to the west. On the north end of the fire, values at risk include private property and infrastructure including highways, roads, powerlines and structures. This is also a popular recreation area for visitors. To address concerns related to public and firefighter safety, some closures are in effect. 

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