Daily Archives: September 26, 2019

Today’s Takeaway

Two Frogs in the midst of a logging truck convoy!

September 26, 2019
Category: Today's Takeaway

Yesterday, the Tree Frog Forestry News team was in Vancouver to meet with forest sector exhibitors at the Union of BC Municipalities convention trade show. But, we weren’t the only ones heading to the Vancouver Convention Centre—within an hour of our arrival, more than 200 logging trucks converged on the downtown core.

Kelly and I were two of hundreds of people who flocked to the foot of Burrard Street to catch a glimpse of the convoy. Surrounded by a waving and cheering crowd, where voices competed with a symphony of truck horns, I couldn’t help but be emotionally moved by the experience. I was in the concrete jungle of Vancouver and all around me, people were eagerly showing their support for these rural contractors and their plight.

After reporting stories of the growing controversy for weeks, to see first hand the passion that drove these truckers from BC’s interior was powerful and impressive. You can see from the headlines in today’s news that the convoy was greeted with cheers and support through every town along their route. It’s easy sometimes to loose sight of the human factor in this world of digital news—yesterday was a bittersweet reminder that behind every story are real people. We were proud to stand in support of this important sector. 

Sandy McKellar, Tree Frog Editor

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Special Feature

Convoy aims to shine light on B.C.’s struggling forestry sector

By Dara Hill
Merritt Herald
September 25, 2019
Category: Special Feature
Region: Canada, Canada West

Merritt was rumbling with excitement on the morning of Sept. 25, as an estimated 200 logging trucks took off for Vancouver to demand government action on B.C. struggling forestry sector. “We respectfully demand the B.C. and federal government engage in immediate action to rectify this dire and quickly deteriorating situation that sees the largest employment sector in British Columbia in dire straights,” a news release from the event organizers reads. …The project, dubbed the BC Logging Convoy, came together thanks to the hard work of local forestry professionals. “At over 63 years in business, we are the longest running logging company in Merritt B.C., and this is the worst crisis we have ever,” wrote Frank Etchart, owner of Nadina Logging, in a news release. “I care deeply about my town and my employees, and I feel it is my duty to protect my family and theirs.”
[This story has some great pictures]

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Logging Trucks arrive at Vancouver Convention Centre

By Sandy McKellar
Tree Frog Forestry News
September 25, 2019
Category: Special Feature
Region: Canada, Canada West

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Protest convoy of up to 200 logging trucks rolls into downtown Vancouver

By Simon Little and Sean Boynton
Global News
September 25, 2019
Category: Special Feature
Region: Canada, Canada West

As many as 200 logging trucks came rumbling through downtown Vancouver Wednesday, bringing the plight of B.C.’s embattled forestry sector to provincial leaders. Government MLAs and the province’s mayors are gathered at the Vancouver Convention Centre for the annual Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) convention. Convoy co-organizer Frank Etchart, who owns Nadina Logging Ltd., told Global News action to address mill closures and curtailments in the province is needed immediately. …The convoy was met by hundreds of onlookers, some of them cheering and applauding the truckers. Others held signs voicing support for the forestry industry, reading “forestry feeds my family.” …“The mills can’t afford to bring the wood out of the bush because the stumpage is too high. So it’s going to sit there until the stumpage rate comes down and they can afford to bring it in,” Williams Lake Mayor Walt Cobb said. 
[This story has excellent video coverage]

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70 trucks and counting: B.C. loggers en route to Vancouver to protest job losses

By Ashley Wadhwani
Terrace Standard
September 25, 2019
Category: Special Feature
Region: Canada, Canada West

It was an early-morning start for dozens of B.C. Interior loggers heading from Prince George to Vancouver to make noise over job losses in the province’s once-booming forest industry. The initial convoy left Prince George at 2 a.m. Wednesday, stopping through Williams Lake at 5 a.m. As the group heads to the Vancouver Convention Centre, up to 200 logging trucks are expected to join along the route. About 100 trucks from the north, including Prince George, Quesnel, Williams Lake and 100 Mile House, were seen on the roads in 100 Mile, receiving honks of support and more trucks as they travel through rural communities impacted by mill curtailments and closures. …It’s no doubt that the recent hits to the forest sector will be top of mind for mayors [attending the UBCM convention] in the Interior who have seen first-hand the job losses felt by their community members. READ MORE

Additional coverage:

100 Mile Free Press: Northern loggers help drive home forest industry job loss with Rally to Vancouver

The Northern View‘It’s hurting everybody’: B.C. family shows support for logging truck convoy

BC Local News: Aldergrove residents show their support for B.C. loggers convoy

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Logging truck convoy protests job losses

By David Zura
News 1130
September 25, 2019
Category: Special Feature
Region: Canada, Canada West

Honking horns and demanding action — logging truck drivers have gathered outside the Vancouver Convention Centre to demand help for B.C.’s forest industry. David Zura reports.

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Logging-truck protest convoy driven by plea for help in B.C. small towns

Bt Derrick Penner
Vancouver Sun
September 25, 2019
Category: Special Feature
Region: Canada, Canada West

When log-haul contractor Levi Brownscombe left his home in Hixon, 60 kilometres south of Prince George, at 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday, there were already logging trucks on the road driving south to join the protest convoy headed to Downtown Vancouver. …supporters showing up at the side of the road holding ‘We Love Loggers’ signs cheered them on. From the rallying point in Merritt, the convoy culminated in a boisterous procession of logging trucks rumbling in a circuit past the Vancouver Convention Centre… “We’re not here for a handout,” McKinnon said. “I want to make that perfectly clear, we’re here to secure jobs in the forest industry.” Loggers are looking for changes to B.C.’s stumpage system that he believes the province can make. …Stumpage rates are calculated quarterly, using a formula that reflects market prices for lumber, which is important because of the Canada-U.S. softwood lumber dispute.

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Business & Politics

Teal-Jones Group to invest $31.75M in two Virginia lumber mills

Augusta Free Press
September 25, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Tom and Dick Jones

British Columbia-based Teal-Jones Group is investing a total of $31.75 million to expand sawmill and dry kiln operations at two recently acquired lumber mills in Virginia. At Pine Products Inc. in Henry County, the company will invest $21 million and create 67 new jobs and at Potomac Supply, LLC in Westmoreland County, the company will invest $10.75 million and create 59 new jobs. …The company is committing to source 100 percent of its net new timber purchases from the Commonwealth, which over the next four years is expected to top $100 million. “This major investment by Teal-Jones Group in Virginia’s forestry industry is evidence of the world-class workforce, critical infrastructure, and abundant natural resources that make our Commonwealth the best place for business,” said Gov. Ralph Northam. …Teal-Jones Group is the largest privately held forest products company operating on the West Coast of Canada. The family-owned company, operates eight mills in Canada, as well as mills in Antlers, Oklahoma, and Suma, Washington. 

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U.S.-China trade war hurting Canada’s largest railway, says CN executive

by Christopher Reynolds
The Canadian Press in the Chronicle Journal
September 25, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

MONTREAL – A slumping global economy and the U.S.-China trade war are hurting freight volumes and revenue, says Canadian National Railway Co.’s chief financial officer. “Our volumes are much weaker than expected. This is not a CN phenomenon, this is an industry phenomenon,” Ghislain Houle told a CIBC investor conference in Montreal. …The increasingly rocky relations between China and the U.S. have seen the White House levy tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of Chinese products, with Beijing targeting more than 5,000 American goods in retaliation. “People think that if these tariffs remain that now companies will start pushing those tariffs to the consumer and that could impact consumption,” Houle said. …Disappointing lumber, coal and crude volumes have dented revenues, Houle said, citing high stumpage fees in B.C., low commodity prices and oil production curtailment in Alberta, respectively.

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Canadian company to invest $21 million in Martinsville sawmill, create 67 jobs

By Samantha Smith
WSLS 10
September 25, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

MARTINSVILLE, VIRGINIA. – A Canadian-based company announced that it will invest $21 million in a Martinsville sawmill, creating more than 60 jobs. The Teal-Jones Group is investing in Pine Products, LLC, a local sawmill in Martinsville that the Teal-Jones Group bought in 2018. The investment will reportedly create 67 new jobs, more than doubling the company’s current total number of employees. …Pine Products makes lumber from Southern Yellow Pine. The company’s goal is to expand the facility and increase production by adding a new kiln in late 2020 or early 2021. …Virginia successfully competed with Oklahoma and Washington for the projects, which will include new equipment and updates to the facilities, according to Gov. Ralph Northam’s office. …The Teal-Jones Group is also making a multimillion dollar investment in another sawmill it owns in Westmoreland County in Virginia.

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B.C. government offers support for logging communities but says they need ‘to bend and change’

By Justin McElroy
CBC News
September 25, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Selina Robinson

On a day where hundreds of logging trucks drove across B.C. to protest the loss of jobs in the forest industry, the provincial government said some change in their work was inevitable.  …during her address to the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM), Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Selina Robinson acknowledged to mayors and councillors from across B.C. the “challenges many of your communities are facing due to the mill closures” and said the province would continue to rely on the forest industry. But she also made no apologies for the government’s strategy on the forestry file, highlighting new announcements this week around the expansion of wood frame construction around the province. …The logging trucks were aiming to arrive at the annual UBCM conference, where municipal and provincial delegates are meeting all week. …some cabinet ministers could hear the blaring horns as they went about previously scheduled town halls with delegates

    

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Local governments not sidelined in Indigenous talks, B.C. minister says

By Tom Fletcher
BC Local News
September 25, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

A sweeping plan to expand caribou habitat at the expense of struggling local economies turned into the top issue for B.C. local governments gathered for their convention this week, and Forests Minister Doug Donaldson has taken steps to reassure them. After Premier John Horgan put new restrictions in northeast B.C. on hold … Donaldson told Black Press last week that additional protected areas in the Cariboo and Kootenay regions won’t be necessary to protect dwindling caribou herds. And going into the annual Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in Vancouver this week, Donaldson said the province’s plan to proceed with new legislation to formalize Indigenous rights on land use doesn’t mean the needs of local governments are downgraded. …A resolution calling on the province to maintain “principles of mutual respect, consultation and cooperation” with local governments passed with little discussion Wednesday, after being endorsed by the UBCM executive as their top selection for the 2019 convention.

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Province probes reported second mercury dump near Dryden mill

The Thunder Bay News Watch
September 24, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

DRYDEN, Ont. — The Ministry of the Environment is investigating new information about potential historic barrels of mercury waste buried on the Domtar mill property at Dryden. A ministry spokesperson says it recently received the tip. …”Ministry staff met with the individual who raised these concerns to investigate the claim and confirm the details of the allegation,” Andrew Buttigieg said. Buttigieg said the ministry, along with this person and Domtar representatives, conducted a field assessment of the alleged location of the dump, but found no visual indications of a historic excavation or environmental impacts. He said further research is required. The dump site reported recently is not on the same part of the mill property where soil samples taken in the fall of 2017 showed elevated mercury concentrations.

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‘It’s a Crisis’; Lumber Mills Slash Jobs as Trade War Cuts Deep

By Austen Hufford
The Wall Street Journal
September 26, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States

The big bet that U.S. hardwood lumber companies placed on China over the past two decades is collapsing. China was a savior of sorts for the industry after the financial crisis last decade. Customers there kept buying oak and ash boards in large quantities, while construction and furniture production fell in the U.S. Now, after Beijing placed retaliatory tariffs of up to 25% on imports of lumber and other U.S. wood products, exports of hardwood lumber to China have fallen 40% this year. The lower demand pushed U.S. hardwood lumber prices down 20% in August from a year earlier and prompted companies to seek government assistance. A slowing Chinese economy also has reduced demand. “It’s a crisis the likes of which we just never had to deal with before,” said Matthew Gutchess, president of Gutchess Lumber Co. in Cortland, N.Y. “The demand elsewhere is just not absorbing what China is dropping.”

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Oregon Forestry Department’s slow debt collection causes financial crisis

By Ted Sickinger
The Oregonian
September 25, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US West

The Oregon Department of Forestry has failed to collect nearly $100 million it is owed for wildfire costs dating back as far as 2015, creating a cash flow crunch that is undermining core operations and forcing its leaders into a financial shell game to pay the bills. In June, agency leaders restructured a $50 million line of credit with the Oregon Treasury to avoid default. Then they borrowed $18 million from the Department of Administrative Services to cover two months of payroll costs – loans they’re required to “repay” in coming months but will immediately renew to keep cash on hand. Meanwhile, the agency has been forced to drain internal cash reserves that support other departments, tapping one fund that is supposed to support state forests for $27 million and another for private forest landowners for $15 million. Those funds must be repaid, too, and officials acknowledge that their temporary subsidization of fire costs is hampering work in other areas.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

BC local governments recognized for leadership in wood design and building at 2019 Union of BC Municipalities Convention

Canadian Wood Council for Wood WORKS! BC
Cision Newswire
September 25, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER — Leadership in structural and architectural wood use by local governments was recognized today at the Union of BC Municipalities Convention in Vancouver, as Wood WORKS! BC announced the winners of the 2019 Community Recognition Awards. The province-wide awards are presented annually to local governments that have been exemplary advocates for wood. This is demonstrated through the specification of wood in a community project or through visionary initiatives that work toward building a community culture of wood. The 2019 recipients are: Lower Mainland Local Government Association: City of Langley for the Timms Community Centre; Association of Kootenay; the Boundary Local Governments: The Village of Nakusp for Spicer’s Garden Pergola; and North Central Local Government Association: Village of Granisle for the Granisle Shoreside Gazebos.

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Old timber mill getting new life as wood products campus

Plumas News
September 25, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

After almost 30 years, new life is coming to the old timber mill site in Crescent Mills. The Sierra Institute for Community and Environment (Sierra Institute) is redeveloping the site in order to create a wood products campus to address “declining forest health, increasing risk of catastrophic wildfire, and poor socioeconomic conditions within a community which historically had a strong timber industry presence,” said Sierra Institute’s landscape stewardship apprentice Danielle Berry. …After numerous site assessments, as well as consultation with the Environmental Protection Agency and other specialists, the Sierra Institute has been able to develop a strategic plan that ensures the site is successfully remediated prior to the development of the wood products campus, according to Berry. Once completed, the Indian Valley Wood Products Campus will consist of a variety of businesses that generate value-added products out of small-diameter trees and other woody biomass.

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The latest central Ohio apartment feature: wood framing

By Jim Walker
The Columbus Dispatch
September 25, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

Code changes and cost issues are leading developers to frame mid-rise apartment buildings with wood instead of steel and concrete. Throughout town, apartment complexes up to six or even seven stories are framed with wood. While Ohio code limits wood buildings to 85 feet in height, developers elsewhere are looking to frame far taller buildings with wood. Many of those apartment buildings going up in central Ohio are adding a new feature to multifamily living: wood construction. A change in building codes allows apartments built largely of wood to rise six or seven stories high, compared to the more traditional three or four stories. “It’s the norm now,” said Amit Ghosh, the chief building official with the city of Columbus. …“Wood is renewable as opposed to concrete and steel,” Oakley said. “It’s also easier to achieve good sound ratings between floors with a wood structure. With a four-inch concrete floor, every footstep will translate.”

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This company wants to disrupt the $90B paper industry with books made of stone

By Elizabeth Segran
Fast Company
September 25, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

Karst notebooks look like those of any other luxury paper brand… But while the $90.6 billion worldwide stationery industry relies largely on wood pulp, the Sydney-based startup creates notebooks that are made largely from stones that are mixed with a small quantity of resin, a type of plastic. …the pages are also waterproof and tear-resistant. They are also fully recyclable, biodegradable, and carbon neutral, manufactured through a process in which stone—otherwise known as calcium carbonate—is ground up. In this state, stone is actually a very malleable and versatile material. It is commonly used in toothpaste, makeup, and pharmaceuticals. …As consumers become increasingly aware of climate change and the destruction of the planet, Karst’s founders believe that they’re eager to find more sustainable alternatives to the products they use every day.

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Forestry

NSF International and Soil Association Team Up to Offer SFI® and FSC® Forestry Certifications

By NSF International
Global Newswire
September 24, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, United States

ANN ARBOR, Michigan — NSF International subsidiary NSF Certification and Soil Association Certification Forestry, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Soil Association, announced an agreement to offer certification to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI) and Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC) responsible forest management standards. “With this agreement, NSF and the Soil Association will be able to provide these important forest management standards at the same time through a single process,” said Stacey Mack, Program Manager of Sustainability at NSF International. …The collaboration enables organizations to certify to a full suite of forestry certifications with all-in-one project management and a single point of contact, streamlining processes and making communications more effective. 

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Keeping Campers Safe: Wildfire Risk Reduction at Agur Lake Camp

Forest Enhancement Society of BC
September 23, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

SUMMERLAND, BC: Agur Lake Camp, near Summerland, is B.C.’s only fully accessible campground for people with disabilities and their families and caregivers. The camp provides an oasis for rest and rejuvenation from the challenges of living with an illness or disability. Recently, the Forest Enhancement Society of B.C. (FESBC) funded a wildfire risk reduction project which resulted in the removal of fuel from over six hectares of land, a project critically important to the infrastructure of the camp itself. …In 2015, the BC Wildfire Management Branch identified that the Camp was in the wildland urban interface and  categorized the area as a high to extreme fire threat. … Janice Mallory, Agur Lake Camp Society board president said, “through the FESBC-funded projects, we were able to extend the safe area out as far as possible away from the camp and keep it safer for the campers and the camp itself.”

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Shuswap projects left with uncertain future after rural dividend funding suspended

BC Local News
September 25, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

In an effort to prop up the province’s struggling forestry sector, the B.C. government suspended its rural dividend program, leaving some Shuswap groups which had been counting on the funding in a tight spot. …Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson issued a statement on Sept. 24 calling on the B.C. government to reinstate the fund immediately. Shuswap MLA Greg Kyllo called drawing from a fund meant to help rural communities diversify their economies ‘mean spirited.’ …He said projects such as Salmon Arm’s Innovation Centre, which was assisted by rural dividend funding, will benefit the community for generations. “To cannibalize that program and to take away the opportunity for other communities to access funds for programs like the Innovation Centre at the very time we’re trying to diversify local economies, it seems like robbing Peter to pay Paul to me,” Kyllo added.

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Beetle survey, treatment in region to cost $100,000

By Blair McBride
The Interior News
September 25, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

A noted increase in the volume of timber killed by spruce beetles in the region comes as government forestry officials prepare for their annual beetle surveys and treatment projects. The volume killed in the Nadina Natural Resource District increased by about 24,000 cubic metres between 2017 and 2018 compared to the previous survey, Ministry of Forests (FLNRORD) spokesperson Dawn Makarowski told Lakes District News. The Nadina District comprises an area from just west of Endako to southeast of Smithers, and from around Fort Babine in the north to Tesla Lake in the south. FLNRORD is seeking tenders on BC Bid for the beetle project, which in total is estimated to cost about $100,000, Makarowski said. The surveying portion of the project will consist of aerial and ground monitoring of spruce bark beetle, mountain pine beetle and Douglas Fir bark beetle. For the treatment portion, infested timber will be cut down and burned.

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Province taking steps to prevent deadly deer disease in B.C.

By Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development
Government of British Columbia
September 25, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Province has implemented a mandatory sampling program requiring hunters to submit heads from deer harvested in specific wildlife management units in the Kootenay region. From Sept. 1, 2019, to Nov. 30, 2019, hunters are required to submit the heads of mule deer and white-tailed deer harvested in specific wildlife management units along the southern B.C. border in the Kootenay region. An interactive map and drop-off locations may be found online: www.gov.bc.ca/chronicwastingdisease.ca This is because Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) has discovered nine animals with chronic wasting disease 60 kilometres south of the B.C. border. Montana FWP has confirmed nine white-tailed deer in Libby, Mont., have been infected with the disease. This is the first time chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been detected west of the Rocky Mountains. The discovery raises concerns about infected deer making their way into B.C., as Libby is within the range of deer movements between B.C. and Montana.

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County celebrates opening of new forestry education centre

By Carey Moran
104.1 The Dock (iHeartRadio)
September 25, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Warden George Cornell was joined by fellow County Councillors, staff and area forestry partners on Tuesday, September 24, 2019 to unveil Simcoe County Museum’s latest attraction – The Red Pine House: Forestry Education Centre. The new building aligns with the County’s #Green&Growing forestry program and pays tribute to the region’s deep-rooted forestry history. The Education Centre features an exploration area for children ages 3-9, where children can learn about different elements of Simcoe County Forests, and provides information on the life of a tree – from seed to harvesting. The Centre also includes historic artifacts such as a tree planter, seed board and double bitted axe, among other pieces. Interpretive panels depict the chronological history of the forests of Simcoe County, beginning with the Indigenous use of the land, European settlement and the exploitation of the forests in the 1800’s and early 1900’s, and the subsequent conservation efforts led by the County and area partners.

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The future of forestry in Ontario

By Colleen Rmaniuk
Northern Ontario Business
September 24, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

According to Jamie Lim, CEO of the Ontario Forest Industries Association, the forestry sector in Ontario needs to do better. …The event, Northern Ontario’s Innovative Ecosystem, organized by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC), sought to discuss innovation and economic growth in the North. Canada’s forestry industry has been fundamental in the country’s history, economy and culture. More recently, the industry has gained prominence in the conversation about environmental sustainability and climate change. “In forestry, we like to say that innovation is in our nature,” said Lim. ..The Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) is on the same page. On Sept. 16, they launched their new Forestry for the Future campaign to raise awareness about the issues facing Canada’s forestry workers and communities ahead of the federal election. 

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Why I support Trump’s proposal to lift restrictions in the Tongass

By Lisa Murkowski, Alaska Senator
The Washington Post
September 25, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

Lisa Murkowski

News that President Trump might seek to exempt Alaska’s Tongass National Forest from the Clinton-era “roadless rule,” opening up more of the region to potential development, has met with the typical alarm. So it’s time to set the record straight and explain why every statewide elected official in Alaska supports an exemption from the regulation. …Located in southeast Alaska, it is an archipelago and comprises more than 80 percent of the regional land base. It is overwhelmingly road-free, unlogged, rich in wildlife and, despite what you might have read, will remain so even if exempted from the roadless rule. …The one-size-fits-all roadless rule is an unnecessary layer of paralyzing regulation that should never have been applied to Alaska. …It will allow Alaskans to create needed opportunities for a sustainable year-round economy, while still being good stewards of our lands and waters.

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17 states sue feds over Endangered Species Act rules

Associated Press in Herald and News
September 25, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

SEATTLE — Seventeen states sued the Trump administration Wednesday to block rules weakening the Endangered Species Act, saying the changes would make it tougher to protect wildlife even in the midst of a global extinction crisis. The lawsuit, in federal court in San Francisco, follows a similar challenge filed last month by several environmental groups, including the Humane Society and the Sierra Club. The new rules begin taking effect Thursday. They for the first time allow officials to consider how much it would cost to save a species. They also remove blanket protections for animals newly listed as threatened and make it easier for creatures to be removed from the protected list. “It’s a death by a thousand cuts for the Endangered Species Act,” said Democratic Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, announcing the lawsuit in a Seattle news conference.

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Oregon woman is top female forester

By Jennifer Hoff
KOIN.com
September 25, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Heidi Leib

PORTLAND, Ore. — In an industry long dominated by men, one Oregon woman stands out amid a veritable forest of peers. Heidi Leib is one of just two female logging contract coordinators in the entire Northwest. She’s currently working on a site in the Tillamook Forest. “I buy logs for the mill and I also hire contractors, road builders, loggers to cut the timber and make sure we’re able to remove it without ruining the resources,” Leib said. …Her friend, Mark Schroeder, nominated her for Women Crush Wednesday, writing Leib is “one of the most impressive foresters I know. She put herself through school, found a job based on her own merit and is rapidly breaking barriers.” Leib is also working to improve the industry as one of three women on the Oregon Logging Conference Board of Directors.

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Merkel promises €500m to revitalise German forests

By Phillip Oltermann
The Guardian
September 25, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Angela Merkel’s government has promised more than half a billion euros to revitalise the country’s crisis-hit forests in the fight against climate change. A third of Germany’s landmass is covered in woodland… But a combination of storms, drought, forest fires and aggressively spreading bark beetle plagues have so far this year destroyed swathes of German forest equivalent to more than 250,000 football fields, forcing the government to convene an emergency “forest summit”, held on Wednesday in Berlin. …Germany’s federal government has announced making available €547m over the next four years to remove dead trees and plant new ones, with state contributions boosting the emergency fund to €800m. …Representatives of the forestry industry have already warned the funds won’t be enough to replace lost forests.

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Trees can help tackle climate change so think globally and plant locally

By Stuart Goodall, CEO of Confor: promoting forestry and wood
The Scotsman
September 26, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Stuart Goodall

It’s great news that Glasgow is to host a UN climate summit at the end of 2020. It’s also very fitting – Scotland passed world-leading climate legislation a decade ago and in April… Since then, Scotland has smashed its tree planting target for the first time and the Scottish Government has raised its target to 12,000 hectares for the coming year. …Scotland has the opportunity to showcase how tree planting and using more wood can play a very significant role in delivering zero carbon emissions. …The facts are that modern forestry is built on small and large woodlands, with a mixture of species. Productive trees must be part of that to make the day-to-day products we all use, including embedding carbon in the timber frames of new homes. We must also reduce our reliance on timber imports and stop exporting our forest footprint. Those who claim to care for our environment really need to think about that.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Picketers block entrance to Ministry of Environment in support of Global Climate Strike

By Kendra Crighton
Saanich News
September 24, 2019
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada West

Access to the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy building was blocked Tuesday morning by a group of about 50 picketers, aiming to emphasize the connection between the forest and the climate crisis. Activists are asking Minister George Heyman to … take bold actions in order to pressure cabinet to include the following as key parts of the governments’ climate action strategy; phase out industrial logging of old-growth forests, a transition of control of the forest economy from large corporate tenure-holders to local communities and economic reconciliation that respects Indigenous law, sovereignty and land stewardship practices. Torrence Coste, with the Wilderness Committee, points out the most effective effort … is simply leaving fossil fuels in the ground. “Old growth forests in particular are our best weapon and out sturdiest shield,” he says, cut off by the honks of passing cars — an indication of solidarity with the picketers.

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Aerosols from coniferous forests no longer cool the climate as much

By Lund University
Phys.org
September 25, 2019
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Emissions of greenhouse gases have a warming effect on the climate, whereas small airborne particles in the atmosphere, aerosols, act as a cooling mechanism. That is the received wisdom in any case. However, new research from Lund University in Sweden can now show that the tiniest aerosols are increasing at the expense of the normal sized and slightly larger aerosols—and it is only the latter that have a cooling effect. …Some are harmful to our health, while others reflect sunlight. One of the important natural sources of aerosols is the fragrant terpenes from coniferous forests. …Through chemical reactions with the ozone in the atmosphere, the terpenes are transformed into highly oxygenated organic molecules which stick to aerosol particles that are already in the air. …However, the new study shows that this “coniferous forest effect” has diminished due to industrialization.

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Open Letter: An urgent need to put forests on the global agenda

By Marc Palahí (Director EFI), Robert Nasi (Director General CIFOR) and Tony Simons (Director General ICRAF)
Center for International Forestry Research
September 26, 2019
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Climate change has reached a tipping point, becoming a climate crisis that is having a domino effect on many of our world’s forests. It is now crucial for global leaders to come together and hold an Earth Forest Summit. We need to discuss the future of our forests and agree on their governance and actions for the benefit of people and our planet. The benefits of our forests transcend national boundaries, our strategies and actions should too transcend them. It is an ironic reverse of evolution to consider that when trees first emerged 380 million years ago the world was 10oC hotter and CO2 concentrations were 10 times what they are today. Forests made our planet more habitable, and their destruction will make it distinctly uninhabitable for humans and much other terrestrial life. …The world’s forests are the largest terrestrial carbon sink we have. 

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Health & Safety

Investigators probe Campbell River helicopter crash

By Alanna Kelly
CTV News
September 25, 2019
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada, Canada West

Ed Wilcox

Investigators continue to probe a helicopter crash in Campbell River that claimed the life of a pilot on Tuesday. …Ed Wilcock, the owner of E&B Helicopters, was the sole person on the helicopter when it crashed at about 11:25 a.m. Wilcock was well known and had decades of flying experience on Vancouver Island. A former co-owner of E&B Helicopters remembered his friend and partner as “very focused and very driven.” “Anybody in the community already knows him,” Alder told CTV News on Tuesday. “He’s done a lot for this community. He’s going to be missed, big time.” …Wilcock was given a lifetime-achievement-in-safety award by the BC Forest Safety Council in 2017, citing his “understanding and appreciation of workers’ safety in the forestry industry.”

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Forest Fires

The big picture of the Amazon fires

By Julianna Santos, University of Melbourne
Phys.org
September 26, 2019
Category: Forest Fires
Region: International

…But the fires in the Amazon rainforest this year are different. Thousands of fires are continuing to ravage the rainforest in Brazil in the most intense blazes for almost a decade. The Amazon is the largest rainforest area remaining on Earth. It is home to unique wildlife and ecosystems, and plays an important role in carbon storage and global climate. But why is the Amazon is burning? What’s the relationship between these fires and the political situation in Brazil? And what are the local and global implications of these fires? …The fires in the Amazon are a result of the combination of three main factors: deforestation, farming and climate change. Research from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) shows an 88 percent increase in deforestation in June 2019 in comparison with the same period last year. …And there is hope. …There just needs to be political will, and a fair political system, behind it.

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