Daily Archives: July 11, 2019

Today’s Takeaway

BC moves to reduce log exports by increasing fees

July 11, 2019
Category: Today's Takeaway

BC will punitively increase the surcharge on logs for export—initially for BC Timber Sales only—in an attempt to increase fibre availability to local mills. In other Business news: Canada’s premiers want feds to redouble efforts on softwood trade; the NY Times speaks to how US lumber companies are faring post-duties; and unions up the pressure on Western Forest Products.

On BC mill curtailments: Fort St. John, North Thompson and Prince George leaders look to minimize the impacts; Interfor seeks support for Canfor timber transfer; and add Powell River paper mill to the downtime list. Elsewhere: the BC Forest Practices Board on proposed amendments to forest practices; and an Ontario group that helps you track forest fire smoke

Finally, despite help from Saskatchewan and Thunder Bay, Ontario’s evacuation plans put on hold. 

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor

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Business & Politics

Premiers Focused on Expanding International Trade and Relationships

By Canada’s Premiers
Cision Newswire
July 10, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada

SASKATOON – …Canada and US have one of the largest bilateral trading partnerships in the world. In 2018, bilateral trade between Canada and the U.S. exceeded C$742 billion. …Premiers expressed concern over the growing use of protectionist measures by the US. …Premiers discussed the current impasse with regard to the WTOs dispute settlement mechanism. …The proper resolution of disputes is central to the interests of Canadian provinces and territories, especially in the areas of softwood lumber. Additionally, Premiers discussed the ongoing softwood lumber dispute with the U.S.  Tariffs on Canadian softwood. …The urgency of getting a durable solution to this problem has been heightened over the past year as lumber prices have fallen dramatically. …Premiers call upon the federal government to redouble diplomatic efforts in Washington to get to a fair negotiated settlement to the dispute while protecting those provinces with current exclusions.  

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These Companies Wanted Tariffs. How Are They Faring Now?

By Peter Eavis
The New York Times in MSN Money
July 11, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

The early winners in President Trump’s trade wars are finding that victory can be bittersweet. Unlike many American corporations, companies in industries like steel, aluminum, lumber and home appliances asked Mr. Trump to raise tariffs. These businesses… had long complained of unfair foreign competition. …Executives who support the Trump administration’s tariffs say they now have the confidence to expand. …One such business is Westervelt, based in Tuscaloosa, Ala., which plans to spend $190 million to build a lumber mill in Thomasville, Ala. Joe Patton said the company had decided to invest in the mill, because the administration imposed duties on Canadian lumber in 2017. …His company is not alone. Other lumber businesses are expanding across the Southern pine lands. …Mr. Patton said he still expected Westervelt’s lumber business to prosper over the next five to 10 years. But the decline in lumber prices will eat into profit margins. 

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Funding to Support Indigenous Participation in the new Impact Assessment System

By The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency
Government of Canada
July 10, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada

The Government of Canada’s new rules for assessing major projects will ensure that good projects get built while protecting our environment and communities, creating economic opportunities for Canadians, and ensuring that Indigenous rights are respected. Indigenous peoples are key partners in project assessments. That’s why the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Catherine McKenna, today announced funding through the new Indigenous Capacity Support Program. The funding will help Indigenous peoples, communities and organizations develop skills to better participate in the new impact assessment process. This funding, provided outside the context of specific project reviews, is intended to support better informed and more meaningful engagement and leadership of Indigenous peoples in consultations on project assessments and regional and strategic initiatives.

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Government taking steps to increase fibre supply to mills, reduce log exports

By Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development
Government of British Columbia
July 10, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Government of B.C. is taking the first step toward ensuring that more B.C. logs are processed in B.C., creating jobs for British Columbians by applying a new, targeted fee-in-lieu of manufacturing for exported logs harvested from a coastal BC Timber Sales licence. …“This change will give B.C. mills more opportunity to get the fibre they need,” said Doug Donaldson, Minister of Forests. The fee-in-lieu is one of the changes that came out of the Coast revitalization initiative government launched last year, with the aim of transforming the Coast’s seminal forest sector. …While log exports will likely continue in areas that are remote and difficult for forest companies to access, the change will allow continued timber harvesting in coastal forests that have low-grade timber, so that forest communities facing economic challenges can maintain jobs in the harvesting sector and provide fibre to local mills. …Companies will still have to demonstrate that stands are uneconomical to qualify.

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Western and United Steelworkers Fighting over Saltwater Logs

By Kyle Christensen
My Cowichan Valley Now
July 10, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

United Steelworkers… have been off the job for a little more than a week and if this is a sign of things to come, it could be a long strike. Western Forest Products wanted the union to extend the strike notice by 144 hours, so the company could move its logs from salt to fresh water, as those logs were “imminently perishable.” Union President Brian Butler called this application “frivolous,” adding that the logs can last in saltwater for many many months”. The union said that if the Labour Relations Board allowed this application, it would give the company an unfair advantage. The LRB Vice-Chair dismissed the application, allowing the strike to go ahead on July 1.

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Mayor for new working group

By Cheryl Jahn
CKPG Today
July 10, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

PRINCE GEORGE – The Intercon pulp mill is set to start one month of curtailments on Friday, while Northwood will do the same in mid-August. Those curtailments are the result of, amongst other things, curtailments in those sawmills that provide chips to the pulp mills. All of the curtailments around the region prompted the Mayor of Prince George to invite Mayors and Regional District Directors from those communities within the North Central Local Government Association to a meeting with the Council of Forest Industries, government and industry. “Because it has such a drastic impact on the entire region. Really, 100 Mile House to Haida Gwaii, north to the border, it was really important for me to bring these folks together so we could sit together in a room and have a conversation about where we’re going,” he explains.

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United Steelworkers Welcomes ‘Hot Edict’ of Western Forest Products

The United Steelworkers
Cision Newswire
July 10, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

BURNABY, BC – The United Steelworkers (USW) is welcoming the announcement of a “hot edict” of Western Forest Products (WFP) by the BC Federation of Labour. Over 2,600 Steelworkers employed by WFP on Vancouver Island are on strike to save their pensions, seniority rights and long-term disability from being cut by the company. …WFP has decided to attack its own employees with attempts to introduce a two-tier pay system for new employees, elimination of the current pension plan. …The announcement of a “hot edict” is a significant escalation in this employer-initiated dispute. It means that all of the affiliated unions of the BC Federation of Labour will no longer handle any of WFP’s wood products. Most significantly, the refusal of maritime union workers from touching WFP’s raw log supply and finished products means that millions of the company’s products will lay dormant.

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B.C. to begin increasing coastal log export charges

By Tom Fletcher
BC Local News
July 10, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Doug Donaldson

The B.C. government’s new coastal log export policy starts to take effect at the end of July, imposing a new fee structure for logs intended to keep more of them in the province for milling. The new fees are to be calculated on a case-by-case basis, depending on the harvest cost and value of the timber in each cutblock, Forests Minister Doug Donaldson said Wednesday. The system applies first to new B.C. Timber Sales harvests on the coast, expanding to other coastal timber harvesting in December 2019. …The changes remove an export exemption for western red cedar, a sought-after commodity that commands high prices in Japan and other overseas markets. Under the new system, cedar logs could only be exported for a cultural use, such as a totem pole or a Japanese or Korean temple.

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Powell River paper mill to undergo curtailment later this month

By Paul Galinski
The Powell River Peak
July 10, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Catalyst Powell River has announced a temporary 17-day curtailment of its paper operations in Powell River. …Krista Cuddy, the Paper Excellence mill’s interim general manager, said she regrets to announce that paper machines 10 and 11 will be curtailed, beginning Saturday, July 20, through to Tuesday, August 6. …The curtailment is a result of continued weakness in the market and a tight fibre supply in the province, Cuddy stated. …The bulletin indicated that the company will meet with the unions over the next few days to discuss the impact to the crews during the curtailment period.

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Province takes starting step to crimp log exports from B.C. coast

By Derrick Penner
The Vancouver Sun
July 10, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

The province… will curb log exports from B.C.’s coast by about 15 per cent over the next couple of years. Forest Minister Doug Donaldson said that while the measure might seem modest, it “is not the end goal, but a step in the direction we want to take,” in a transition for the timber industry on the coast. …Premier John Horgan’s NDP government… will punitively increase the surcharge it puts on logs for export. …However, the increase in fees will only apply to logs made available through B.C. Timber Sales auctions, which account for about 20 per cent of overall timber harvests. …In the extreme, it will rise to 50 per cent of the Vancouver log-market from the existing level of 10 per cent. …However, there is concern… that the increased surcharge will make logging too expensive in some instances, which would cost jobs, said David Elstone, of the Truck Loggers Association.

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Supports offered to those affected by Vavenby mill closure

By Jaime Polmateer
The North Thompson Star/Journal
July 10, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Myles Burns

Community members had a chance to hear about supports offered to help ease the impact of Canfor’s Vavenby mill closure at a town hall meeting early this week and were encouraged to find out what help they may be eligible for. Myles Bruns, regional economic manager for the Ministry of Forests, is part of a community transition team, and insisted residents voice concerns so the ministry can try and figure out the best way to carry the community through the tough situation following the layoffs of more than 170 local employees. …Bruns said the economic development piece is trying to help the community bounce back. …He stressed that workers and contractors who are now out of work should register with WorkBC as soon as possible.

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Vavenby closure will help Adams Lake mill in Shuswap stay alive

By Martha Wickett
The Salmon Arm Observer
July 10, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Brad Bennett

The demise of Canfor’s Vavenby sawmill near Clearwater is giving new life to the Adams Lake sawmill. This was part of the message that Brad Bennett, woodlands manager with Interfor’s Adams Lake division, brought to Salmon Arm council on July 8. Bennett came to ask for council’s support of Interfor’s bid to take over the Canfor timber rights. New legislation requires a public interest test on any tenure, he explained. Bennett has also visited the Village of Chase council, where the highest number of Adams Lake employees live, and received support there for the plan. …Bennett explained the mountain pine beetle killed much of the log supply in the early 2000s. …Bennett says with the additional timber supply from Canfor, “we become whole again.” …He said the Adams Lake Division employs roughly 235 non-union hourly employees and another 250 employees contracted.

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Fort St. John forestry roundtable looks for solutions in wake of curtailments

The Alaska Highway News
July 10, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

The City of Fort St. John is looking to move workers from Peace Valley OSB to the Site C dam, and ensure governments, health agencies, and banks are providing them with supports as the mill shuts down indefinitely later this summer. Mayor Lori Ackerman called the indefinite curtailment of the OSB plant, coupled with a summer curtailment at the Taylor pulp mill, an “economic emergency” at a forestry roundtable held with business leaders in the city last week. City council, along with their counterparts in Taylor, have been assigned tasks to help minimize the impacts of the shutdowns on workers and the local economy, Ackerman said. Those tasks range from mental health to education, finance to housing, to working to ensure future jobs in forestry. …Forestry employs more than 7,000 people in the Northeast. Transitioning any workers to the Site C dam would only be temporary, Ackerman said.

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Kimberly-Clark Issues Annual Report on Sustainability

By Kimberly Clark
Cision Newswire
July 10, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

DALLAS — Kimberly-Clark today published its 2018 Global Sustainability Report, highlighting the ways in which the company is impacting the world through its Sustainability 2022 strategy to create social, environmental and business value. “We are three years into our ambitious Sustainability 2022 program, and I’m inspired by the impact we’ve made. Through our brand-led programs like Toilets Change Lives and No Baby Unhugged, and our leadership in creating the Alliance for Period Supplies, we’re taking action on critical issues around the world,” said Mike Hsu, Chief Executive Officer, Kimberly-Clark. “We’ve achieved some big goals, but we know that new challenges to the environment are emerging and consumers’ expectations are shifting. We must continue to leverage our legacy of innovation to come up with new solutions to meet these needs,” added Hsu.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Emerging mid- and high-rise timber-construction projects worldwide

WoodRise 2019
July 11, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada East

Join us at Woodrise 2019 where industry professionals will address many aspects of tall wood-building construction and present flagship projects that contribute to make wood a material that is increasingly used in high-rise buildings. In our first plenary session 5 speakers will examine worldrise timber-construction projects. In recent years, there has been an ever-increasing number of large-scale projects worldwide where wood has demonstrated its ability to meet the requirements of high-rise construction. Developers and professionals from many countries have taken up the challenge of using wood to construct buildings that reach unprecedented heights. This plenary session will be hosted by Eric Karsh, co-founder of Equilibrium Consulting, a firm recognized worldwide for its innovative wood designs.

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Boilers and beams

By Lawrence Cosentino
Lansing City Pulse
July 10, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

This summer, truckloads of titanic timbers from Canada are rumbling across Michigan State University to be assembled into a unique structure …when it’s finished in the fall of 2020. …two sprawling additions are now going up to the north and south. …The new wings are made largely of “mass timber,” …strong enough to bear the weight of the building and pretty enough to be left exposed. There are currently no mills that make mass timber in Michigan, so the slabs are being hauled from Canada. But the U.S. Forest Service and MSU’s Forestry Department are tracking the STEM project closely, with an eye toward developing a mass-timber market in Michigan. …“Growing trees sustainably, using all of the harvested wood and incorporating it into a long-term structure, extends the carbon and climate benefits of forests,” Forestry Department Chairman Rich Kobe said. Building from steel and concrete emits carbon dioxide, while mass timber sequesters the carbon in the wood.

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A timber observation tower with a vertical forest is proposed for Zagreb

By Lucy Wang
inhabit
July 10, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

Istanbul-based design studio SUPERSPACE has proposed a new landmark for Croatia’s capital of Zagreb that combines an architecturally striking observation tower with a vertical forest in the heart of the city. Dubbed Ascension, the timber structure would serve as a “new gate” between the historic parts of the city and the post-war areas. If built, the tower would be the 10th tallest building in all of Zagreb and one of the tallest wooden structures in Europe. …The Ascension tower features three main parts: a white and convex outer “shell” that symbolizes the revitalization of the new city; a timber-lined inner “shell” that symbolizes the identity of the old city; and a vertical forest of trees planted on multiple levels of the high-rise to create a visual link to Zagreb’s forested landscape. 

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Forestry

Public Consultation on Amendments to FRPA: Forest Practices Board’s Submission to Government

BC Forest Practices Board
July 11, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Dear Minister Donaldson:

Re: Public Engagement on Amendments to the Forest and Range Practices Act

As part of government’s public consultation on proposed amendments to FRPA, the Forest Practices Board is pleased to submit our comments on the need for modernized planning under FRPA. The Board is recommending that government adopt a tactical forest planning process to direct forestry operations on Crown land, as described in a special report that was published today and is available on our website. …The process recommended by the Board would take broad objectives from land use plans and translate them into a plan for achieving the desired future forest on a specific area of land. The Board suggests the process must be inclusive of Indigenous peoples, stakeholders and the public, integrate all forest values, be place based and forward looking, be embedded in the forest management system and include monitoring and continuous improvement over time.

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B.C. puts $3.3 million into forestry training

By JOC News Service
Journal of Commerce
July 11, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The province of British Columbia will fund $3.3 million towards training and work experience in the forestry sector. Stillwater Consulting will deliver the training on the government’s behalf in Cranbrook, Kamloops and Nanaimo, B.C. with students able to earn 11 different certifications including basic chainsaw operator, silviculture surveyor certification and occupational first aid – level 3. The program also includes a three-week job placement with local forestry employers. …“Stillwater Consulting’s Advanced Forestry Skills Training Program is completely unique in B.C.’s forest industry. It’s practical, it’s hands on and most importantly, it sets graduates up with the skills they need for immediate success once they join the working world. When our new employees come to us with these skills already, it saves us a lot of training time on our end,” Nupqu Development Corporation senior project manager Tim LaRade said.

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Managing forests with mountain bikers in mind

By Blair McBride
BC Local News
July 10, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Frank Varga

…managing a forest with a recreation aim …requires a lot of careful planning, balancing of values and hard work. “A working forest is an area where we manage for all the social and environmental and economic values. In this area our intent is to manage for the recreational values,” said Frank Varga, General Manager of the Burns Lake Community Forest (BLCF), during a public tour near Kager Lake on June 26. That area – including Boer Mountain – is part the BLCF’s Kager Recreation Area Polygon (forestry management unit) and comprises about 2,849 hectares. Of that, the project area proposed for activities is 1,300 ha and 174 ha was slated for harvesting. The purpose of the project was to reduce the fire hazards in the area where one of the main users is the Burns Lake Mountain Biking Association (BLMBA) and to start the process of protecting infrastructure on Boer Mountain, including the valuable radio tower.

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Shortage of workers, cancellation of program all challenges to local forestry industry

96.1 Renfrew Today
July 10, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Rob Keen

There’s a staffing crisis in the forest industry. That was the gist of a presentation to Renfrew County Council by the CEO of Forests Ontario, Rob Keen. Keen says they need to encourage youth and high school students to learn more about the forest industry, so even if they don’t end up working in that field, they see the benefits it provides. He adds seven per cent of the population, or 6,900 people in Renfrew County are employed by the industry. Keen told county council there’s a staffing crisis in the forest industry and with the cancellation of the 50 Million Trees program, nurseries won’t be planting and stocking trees for 4-years down the road.

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Harnessing big data and machine learning to forecast wildfires in the western U.S.

By Renee Cho, Columbia University
Phys.org
July 11, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

…Park Williams, a Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory associate research professor and a 2016 Center for Climate and Life Fellow, studies climatology, drought, and wildfires. …His goal is to create a tool to help scientists understand why wildfires in Western U.S. states have changed over the last century, ways they may evolve in the future, and how humans can most effectively respond to them. Williams will compile observations of tens of thousands of fires over the last 30 to 40 years and where they burned across the Western U.S. He’ll relate these to climate data sets of where people live, and what vegetation grows where. The end product will be a computer program that can project how these variables affect the probability of large fires and that will attempt to simulate how vegetation responds to fire. 

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Lightning-caused fire that burned 5,200 acres near Yellowstone benefited forest

By Brett French
The Billings Gazette
July 11, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

GALLATIN CANYON — Last year, it appeared as though the idyllic landscape now carpeted in lush grass, wildflowers, and pine trees would be scorched by the Bacon Rind fire. Ignited by a lightning strike…Fire staff from the Custer Gallatin National Forest and Yellowstone National Park chose to manage the fire for ecological benefits and not to suppress it based on several criteria: it started in a wilderness area; fuel and soil conditions weren’t dangerously dry; computer modeling showed favorable conditions for a low-intensity fire; and fire has long been a natural part of the area’s ecosystem. …Fire ecologist Todd Erdody, of the Custer Gallatin National Forest, pointed out places where vegetation was already growing back… good for animals like deer and elk. Woodpeckers also move into recently burned forests.

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Washington DNR chief Hilary Franz has put firefighting front and center; she’s also eyeing a run for governor

By David Gutman
The Seattle Times
July 11, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Hilary Franz

RAINIER, Thurston County — They came from Skykomish and Port Ludlow, Everett and Longview, local fire districts and the U.S. Forest Service, the state Department of Natural Resources and the National Guard. In all, about 440 firefighters from more than 50 departments and agencies came for a 10-day academy to learn the basics of fighting wildfires. …“It really is about making sure everyone has adequate and critical training and building that coordinated team so we’re more collaborative and communicating before fire season starts,” said state Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz, who runs DNR. Franz… An environmental lawyer is considering a run for governor in 2020. …But while Franz looks to overhaul the state’s approach to fighting fires, her flagship proposal to secure a permanent funding source for firefighting fizzled in Olympia.

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Lawsuit Challenges Trump Administration’s OK of California Logging That Will Destroy Big Trees, Condor Roosting Sites

Center for Biological Diversity
July 10, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

LOS ANGELES― Conservation groups sued the Trump administration today to halt a logging project in a roadless area of Los Padres National Forest that would destroy prime habitat for endangered California condors. Because of the project’s remote location, it also would fail to protect communities from wildfires as federal officials have claimed. Today’s lawsuit… says the U.S. Forest Service violated federal law by approving the removal of large-diameter trees along 12 miles of Tecuya Ridge in the San Emigdio Mountains, including in the rugged Antimony Roadless Area. Under federal law, logging in roadless areas is limited to small trees. “There is simply no place for commercial logging in California condor country,” said Bryant Baker, conservation director for Los Padres ForestWatch. “It’s highly concerning that the Forest Service would push this project through without a full environmental review and in spite of widespread opposition from local communities.”

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Health & Safety

Research group tracks movement of forest fire smoke

By Martha Dillman
CBC News
July 11, 2019
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada

Forest fires burning in northern Ontario are prompting heavy smoke throughout the region. Some communities have had special air quality statements issued by Environment Canada. Now, you can see how the smoke is moving and where it is expected to move next. Fire Smoke Canada is posting the information on its website.  Christopher Rodell, a research assistant at UBC says they get their data from a NASA satellite. “We get heat signatures from that and these heat signatures determine how smoke will rise based off of numerical weather prediction models we have created,” he said. “It’s an ongoing research project. We are trying to emulate how smoke plumes, a byproduct of wildfires disperses across North America.”

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Environment Canada issues air quality advisory in wake of forest fires

Timmins Today
July 10, 2019
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada, Canada East

High levels of air pollution due to smoke from forest fires will continue tonight for a large part of Northern Ontario. Smoke plumes are moving over the region from several forest fires located in the Sandy Lake – Pikangikum region. There are also additional smaller fires in Northeastern Ontario. Air quality may deteriorate if the smoke descends to ground level. If you or those in your care are exposed to wildfire smoke, consider taking extra precautions to reduce your exposure. Wildfire smoke is a constantly-changing mixture of particles and gasses which includes many chemicals that can harm your health. 

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Forest Fires

Saskatchewan to host up to 2,000 wildfire evacuees from northern Ontario

By Emerald Bensadoun
Canadian Press in Timmins Today
July 10, 2019
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada

The Saskatchewan government has agreed to host up to 2,000 people who have been forced from their homes by wildfires in northern Ontario. The Ontario government says more than 20 communities in the province have been affected by the fires, including residents of Pikangikum First Nation. Earlier Wednesday, the chief of the Indigenous community said evacuation by land and water had been put on hold because of a lack of places to send her people. Premier Doug Ford said emergency response personnel are working closely with the Ontario Provincial Police and other agencies to fight the fires and ensure people can evacuate safely. Ford said he asked Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe for help. …The evacuation of the First Nation was expected to resume on Thursday, as crews battled a fire burning about six kilometres to the southwest. 

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Pikangikum First Nation evacuation plan paused due to lack of host communities: chief

By Emerald Bensadoun
Canadian Press in Global News
July 10, 2019
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

Evacuation by land and water of an Indigenous community threatened by a forest fire in northern Ontario has been put on hold because of a lack of places to send the residents, its chief said on Wednesday. The evacuation of Pikangikum First Nation was now expected to resume on Thursday, as crews battled a fire burning about six kilometres to the southwest. The Ontario government said it was reaching out to mayors across the province to ask them to host rest of Pikangikum’s 3,800 residents. …Smoke inhalation was a serious issue on Tuesday, prompting Environment Canada to issue a special air quality alert, but Hoppe said some of the smoke had lifted, making it easier to airlift residents out of Pikangikum. Hoppe said Thunder Bay was hosting 600 evacuees in hotels, and was looking at the logistics of taking in more _ regardless of whether Pikangikum can find other hosts.

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City’s evacuation hosting ‘stretched beyond capacity

By Matt Vis
The Thunder Bay News Watch
July 10, 2019
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada East

THUNDER BAY – With fierce forest fires forcing an evacuation of Pikangikum First Nation for the second time this year, up to 400 people from the community are expected to make their way to Thunder Bay through provincially coordinated evacuation efforts. Thunder Bay will start receiving evacuees, with 200 people expected to arrive on Wednesday. Increased capacity will allow the city to host an additional 100 starting on Friday with a further 100 people expected to be able to be accommodated next week. …The latest wildfire – Red Lake 39 – has grown to 50,000 hectares and is burning six kilometres southwest of the community. Smoke from the blaze forced the evacuation of vulnerable community members last week before a full evacuation began on Monday.

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Restricted travel in Red Lake area

By Ryan Forbes
Dryden Now
July 10, 2019
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada East

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry has imposed access and travel restrictions in the Red Lake area, due to public safety hazards as a result of many active forest fires in the area. There are currently 19 active forest fires in the region, including a 92,648 hectare fire near Keewaywin, a 40,439 hectare fire near Pikangikum, and a 31,762 hectare fire near Nungesser Lake. Unless authorized by a travel permit issued by the Red Lake District office of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, no person shall enter into the identified areas, and all persons must immediately evacuate said area. All travel and use of Nungesser road, Morins road, Coli road, Sidace road, Bandit road, Rita lake road, North road, Caribou road, and Pikangikum all weather road is prohibited. All travel and use of Golden road, Silver road, Zinc road, Copper road, Tall pines road, and Waz road is prohibited.

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