Daily Archives: October 9, 2019

Today’s Takeaway

Wolf cull could be solution to caribou recovery: study

October 9, 2019
Category: Today's Takeaway

A report on caribou recovery in BC’s South Peace region—up 49% after four-year wolf cull—recommends program continuance until the herds are self-sustaining. In related news: a poor salmon run may be cause of emancipated grizzly in Knight Inlet; logging helps a threatened songbird in Michigan; wildfires cause massive fish loss in Colorado; and the Tussock moth heads north in BC.

In Business news: Vaughan Palmer pans Premier’s comment on Teal Jones; Quebec helps Thurso pulp mill restart; Huron Central Railway shutdown impacts EACOM; and Ontario invests in First Nation pellet plant study. Meanwhile, a campaign to combat biomass misinformation; and the Adamson, Freer and Griessel families receive BC Minister’s Awards for woodlot management.

Finally, the fall wildfire season challenges Colorado, set to start in South Carolina.

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor

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Business & Politics

Brickbats from premier instead of deserved accolades

By Vaughn Palmer
The Vancouver Sun
October 8, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

VICTORIA — Surrey-based Teal-Jones seems like the sort of homegrown forest company that should get accolades from Premier John Horgan. Horgan hates log exports. “We do not export logs ever,” says Dick Jones. The premier wants to add value to B.C. timber. Teal-Jones does a lot of that. …Decades after its founding, Teal remains a family-owned business. …“Despite unbelievable obstacles we have built Teal from a four-man shingle mill to over 1,000 workers in B.C.” …I mention all this by way of background… I’d written about the premier’s [UBCM] speech and made the obvious connection to Teal-Jones. First and foremost they disputed the insinuation that they were taking the profits from their B.C. operations and investing them south of the border. …What the company does do is takeover distressed operations in the U.S., make them profitable and bring some of that money back to Canada. …Whatever Horgan’s frustrations with the major forest companies, I can’t see any basis for him lashing out at an independent operator like Teal-Jones.

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Industrial accident at Castlegar’s Celgar pulp mill

By John Boivin
The Trail Times
October 8, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

…a weekend accident at the Mercer Celgar plant in Castlegar could affect the plant’s production. An official with the pulp mill says the chip dumper at the plant collapsed on Sunday. Mercer Celgar Castlegar spokeswoman Rose Leslie says no one was injured in the accident. “As per usual, anytime we have any sort of incident we have [Worksafe BC] on site,” Leslie told the Castlegar News. …the cause of the accident, the extent of the damage, or how long it might take to get the dumper back in operation…are part of the current investigation. The loss of the chip dumper could halt the ability for the plant to accept deliveries of wood chips for pulp production. …the Mercer Celgar plant is currently on a maintenance shutdown, so the full impact of the accident may not be known for some time. 

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Resolute Receives Stevie Award as One of the World’s Great Employers

Resolute Forest Products
October 9, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

Resolute’s efforts in creating a more inclusive and diverse workforce have garnered the company recognition as one of the world’s great employers. On September 20, Resolute won a bronze Stevie® Award for Great Employers in the Employer of the Year – Manufacturing category. The Awards program was established in 2016 to recognize the world’s best companies to work for and the human resource (HR) practices that help create and drive great workplaces. The judging panel highlighted Resolute’s achievements in addressing the attraction, retention and labor shortage challenges we are facing, as well as for creating a workforce that is more inclusive and diverse. …In 2018, the company redesigned its “Jobs Where You Grow” employer brand to better reflect our recruitment efforts in both Canada and the United States. 

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Manitoulin First Nation to develop industrial park, pellet plant

Northern Ontario Business
October 8, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

GEORGIAN BAY, ONTARIO — Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory on Manitoulin Island is kicking off development of a light industrial park with $1 million from the province. …The province also announced it’s providing $100,000 to the Wikwemikong Development Commission – the economic development branch of Wiikwemkoong – for an economic development plan to support a pellet manufacturing plant to be located in nearby Nairn Centre. The plan will help determine the feasibility of building a plant capable of producing 150,000 metric tonnes of pellets per year. The pellets will be used as an alternative heating source, a cleaner technology than fossil fuels that reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Wiiwemkoong Unceded Territory is located on the east end of Manitoulin Island, which itself is located in Lake Huron’s Georgian Bay.

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Huron Central Railway to shut down next year

By Rosalind Russell
My Algomamanitoulin Now
October 8, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

The Huron Central Railway, which provides rail services between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie is to be shut down, which could have major impact on three key businesses along the North Shore corridor. Louis Gravel, president of Genesee & Wyoming Canada Incorporated, which owns the rail spur, says they are not getting the financial support they need in maintaining the line. …He adds until then, they will continue to work with the governments of Ontario and Canada, should they be prepared to fulfill their commitments to keep the line going. Over the last few years, both levels of government have provided funding to keep it running, which is vital for operations at EACOM in Nairn Centre.

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Huron Central Railway on the ropes again

Northern Ontario Business
October 8, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

Freight service between Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury is again in jeopardy. Genesee & Wyoming Canada, the Montreal parent company of short-line railroader Huron Central Railway is threatening to discontinue operations in early 2020. The rail carrier insists it needs $40 million over five years to fix and maintain the track and infrastructure. …The Huron Central Railway hauls steel, forest products and chemicals for Algoma Steel in Sault Ste. Marie, Domtar in Espanola and EACOM in Nairn Centre. The railway employs about 40. …This is the third time in ten years that the company has warned it might drop service. …The Huron Central line is owned by CP Rail, which contracts Genesee & Wyoming Canada to feed regional freight onto its trans-Canada line at Sudbury. CP has shown no inclination in the past to invest in the track.

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Quebec loans $8M to restart Thurso pulp mill

By Giacomo Panico
CBC News
October 8, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

The Quebec government is lending the owner of the pulp mill in Thurso up to $8 million in an attempt to restart the shuttered plant, which employs more than 300. The loan comes one day after Fortress Global Enterprises announced the temporary closure of the mill, 50 kilometres east of Gatineau, Que., blaming the ongoing trade dispute between the USA. and China, as well as the declining price for the mill’s cellulose products. The loan is intended to give the Vancouver-based company some breathing room to find new investors and restart operations by a government-set target date of Nov. 30. The company said an estimated 273 of the mill’s 323 employees have been laid off, while the remaining 50 will maintain the mill’s equipment during the shutdown. At a news conference at the plant Tuesday morning, Minister of Economy and Innovation Pierre Fitzgibbon said the loan will help Fortress preserve its assets as it charts a new course for the mill.

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Forestry budget critical to health of industry, forests

Letter by Jeff Stant, Indiana Forest Alliance and Ray Moistner, Indiana Hardwood Lumbermen’s Association
Brown County Democrat
October 8, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

…the Indiana Hardwood Lumbermen’s Association and the Indiana Forest Alliance have disagreed and at times clashed over issues involving the management of our state forests. But recent joint meetings have revealed one very important area on which we can both agree and have pledged to work on together to find a solution that benefits all Hoosiers and our state’s forest resources. …Although our organizations may differ on priorities and management philosophies, our common concern is for the overall health and growth of our state’s public and private forest resources. Without at least the minimum level of sufficient assistance from our state’s forestry experts, private forestland owners will be unable to maintain this forest base, and we will see reductions in Indiana’s overall forest. These reductions will hurt the forest products industry… and Indiana’s quality of place, both critical to making Indiana a diverse and attractive option for our citizens and workforce. 

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Finance & Economics

Pace of housing starts slowed in September, CMHC reports

By CMHC
The Canadian Press in CBC News
October 8, 2019
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the pace of housing starts in September slowed compared with August.The agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate fell 2.5 per cent to 221,202 units in September compared with 226,871 in August. …The decrease came as the pace of urban starts fell 2.4 per cent to 208,503 units. Multiple-unit urban starts dipped 0.2 per cent to 159,742, while starts of single-detached urban homes fell 9.2 per cent to 48,761 units.

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Painful sawmill closures keep lumber supply-demand balance healthy

By Madison’s Lumber Reporter
Wood Business – Canadian Forest Industries
October 8, 2019
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

The stringent and painful sawmill closures and curtailments during this year have done well to keep a healthy supply-demand balance. While customers are somewhat reluctant, ongoing weekly purchases are allowing Canadian and US sawmills to prop up prices. As U.S. Thanksgiving approaches demand will lessen into year-end. …Compared to historical trend, last week’s WSPF 2×4 #2&Btr price is up +$14, or +3.4%, relative to the one-year rolling average price of U.S. $362 mfbm, and is down -$70, or -16%, relative to the two-year rolling average price of U.S. $446 mfbm.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Wood on our Skin

By Empa Materials Science and Technology
Newswire
October 8, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, International

Gilberto Siqueira

The idea of measuring parameters that are relevant for our health via the skin has already taken hold in medical diagnostics. Diabetics, for example, can painlessly determine their blood sugar level with a sensor instead of having to prick their fingers. Empa researchers, together with scientists from Canada, have now produced a novel flexible sensor that lies on the skin surface and is biocompatible because it is made of nanocellulose. A transparent foil made of wood. Nanocellulose is an inexpensive, renewable raw material, which can be obtained in form of crystals and fibers, for example from wood. …Researchers at Empa’s Cellulose & Wood Materials lab and Woo Soo Kim from the Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, Canada, are also focusing on another feature of nanocellulose: biocompatibility. Since the material is obtained from natural resources, it is particularly suitable for biomedical research.

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Donaldson promotes province’s wood products

By Marisca Bakker
The Interior News
October 9, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

Doug Donaldson

The Minister of Forests… spent a couple of days at a forestry conference advocating B.C.’s wood. Doug Donaldson also made the opening remarks at WoodRise in Quebec, last week. The international forum focuses on wood as an essential material to build mid-rise and tall buildings. There were more than 800 delegates from 20 different countries who attended. Donaldson said he spent time networking and promoting the province’s timber and the kind of materials available for producing tall wood buildings. “Part of the reason they are so passionate about it is because it is one of the tools towards addressing climate change… It fits well with our Clean BC strategy that we have as a government.” …The Province also recently adopted a 12-story wood construction building code which Donaldson says will encourage more value-added products.

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Forestry

Grizzly experts want research into emaciated bears photographed in Knight Inlet

By Nick Eagland
Vancouver Sun
October 8, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Grizzly experts disturbed by photos of emaciated bears in Knight Inlet are calling for research to determine why they are suffering. Photos of a sow and two cubs …raised alarms for some scientists, who said the bears were likely suffering due to an abysmal Pacific salmon return this year. …salmon are crucial to coastal grizzly bears’ diets. Longtime grizzly researchers say a salmon shortage is the most obvious explanation for why the bears in Hickers’ photos are suffering, but said there could be other factors. Dr. Ken Macquisten, a wildlife veterinarian and managing director for the Grouse Mountain wildlife refuge, said he was shocked by the photos. …“But multiple [affected] bears would tend to point to some common reason, and a lack of food would be top of the suspect list, in my mind,” said Macquisten, who is a director for the Grizzly Bear Foundation.

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Caribou numbers up 49 per cent after four-year wolf cull

By Randy Shore
The Province
October 8, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Intensive predator management could become an open-ended solution to caribou survival as industrial activity disrupts the landscape. The population of three mountain caribou herds in the South Peace region has risen by 49 per cent just four years into an experimental wolf cull program, according to a new analysis released by the provincial government. Based on those findings, the report concludes “it is highly recommended that wolf reduction continue to be implemented” until the herds are self-sustaining. The recovery of the South Peace population is also cited in a proposal for a two-year emergency predator reduction program to halt and reverse the decline of the Tweedsmuir-Entiako and Itcha-Ilgachuz herds in central B.C. east of Bella Coola, and the Hart Ranges herd near the Alberta border. …The B.C. Wildlife Federation is concerned.

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Open house planned as Surrey updates its tree protection bylaw

BC Local News
October 8, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Residents wanting to weigh in on changes they’d like to see in the City of Surrey’s Tree Protection Bylaw can attend an open house planned later this month. …The bylaw … is being reviewed after a request from city’s Environmental Sustainability Advisory Committee earlier this year. Councillor Steven Pettigrew, who chairs the committee, previously told the Now-Leader that the bylaw is “a bit out of date.” …The committee identified key recommendations for amendments, such as increasing the penalties for illegal tree removal; ensuring all fees and penalties collected under the tree protection bylaw are directed to the Green City Fund; additional incentives to retain trees through land development and on existing lots; and improve the visibility and display of tree-cutting permit notices. Another key recommendation, was to “evaluate the potential for a municipal nursery to allow for tree and plant salvage.”

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Adamson family woodlot receives minister’s award

By Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development
Government of British Columbia
October 8, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Mark and Pauline Adamson are being recognized by the Province through the Minister’s Award for Innovation and Excellence in Woodlot Management for the North and for being the top provincial performer. “Congratulations to the Adamsons on receiving this award,” said Doug Donaldson, Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development. “Over the years, they have shown significant commitment to reforestation and forest health, leadership in protecting caribou habitat, dedication to the local community and have educated local youth on the importance of personal responsibility in taking care of our forests.”

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Freer family woodlot receives minister’s award

By Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development
Government of British Columbia
October 8, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Freer family is being recognized by the Province through the Minister’s Award for Innovation and Excellence in Woodlot Management for the South. “Congratulations to Ross and Janice Freer and their family on receiving this award for innovation and excellence in woodlot management in the south area of the Province,” said Doug Donaldson, Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development. “Their commitment to forest health, reforestation, public education and promotion of manufactured British Columbia wood products supports the woodlot licence program’s core principles of sustainability, good stewardship, social licence and public trust.”

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Griessel family woodlot receives minister’s award

By Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development
Government of British Columbia
October 8, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Howie Griessel, his wife Shari and son Kevin are being recognized by the Province through the Minister’s Award for Innovation and Excellence in Woodlot Management for the Coast. “From implementing innovative approaches that protect neighbouring stands of harvest areas from windthrow, to leadership with area woodlots on timber pricing, marketing and forest health management, the Griessels have clearly shown their excellence in woodlot management,” said Doug Donaldson, Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development. “Howie’s focus on maximizing resources and minimizing waste from harvested areas also aligns with our Coast Forest Sector Revitalization Initiative. Congratulations on this very deserving award.”

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Tussock moth infestation in Cariboo is farthest north ever recorded in B.C.

Canadian Press in North Island Gazette
October 8, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

An insect infestation that has the ability to quickly kill healthy Douglas-fir trees is on the move in B.C., and the province says it’s been found farther north than ever before. A statement from the Ministry of Forests says an infestation of tussock moth has been found in trees in the western Cariboo, just south of the community of Alkali Lake. The pest, which during a severe infestation can kill a large Douglas-fir in just one to two years, is usually found in more southern parts of the province, such as Kamloops and the Okanagan. Tussock moth caterpillars feed on the needles of the Douglas-fir, stripping limbs, which appear scorched as they die, and trees weakened by the moth are more susceptible to beetle attacks.

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Public asked to help combat spread of Douglas-fir tussock moth

By Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development
Government of British Columbia
October 8, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Province is asking the public not to take firewood from the Wycotte Flat area due to an outbreak of Douglas fir tussock moth. Douglas-fir tussock moths can cause significant damage and mortality to Douglas-fir trees. In a severe infestation, trees can be killed in one to two years. Moth caterpillars can also pose a human health risk, as the hairs on the caterpillars’ bodies can cause allergic reactions. Wycotte Flat lies south of Alkali Lake and includes the Dog Creek Airport area. Tussock moths typically prefer more southern areas with lower elevations, such as Kamloops and the Okanagan. The Wycotte Flat outbreak is the furthest north the moth has been recorded. To limit further spread, the public is advised to avoid removing wood from the infested area. Tree limbs are particularly infectious, as they may contain eggs.

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Work continues on beech bark disease

By Sue Tiffin
Haliburton Echo
October 8, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Beech bark disease, a quick-spreading, highly destructive threat continues to be a challenge to manage throughout the county. In his report to county council, the county’s forest conservation bylaw officer James Rogers said landowners are taking different approaches to managing the problem. “Many landowners are actively removing beech trees that display signs of the disease to salvage the wood and reduce the hazards posed by the dying trees,” he wrote.  …Emerald ash borer is spreading in areas south of Haliburton County, but Rogers said he has yet to confirm any presence here. “It probably is here but we’re just not seeing the dead trees yet,” he said. …Asian longhorn beetle outbreaks in and around Toronto have been very vigorously treated by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. He advises the public, “if you ever do find that beetle it would be a very serious situation that would require immediate action.” 

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Future Forests + Jobs initiative combats biomass misinformation

By Future Forests + Jobs
Biomass Magazine
October 8, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

Future Forests + Jobs will launch today to advance a fact-based conversation around renewable wood energy and hold those who spread misinformation about the industry to account. For years, activist organizations… have waged a misinformation campaign against the wood biomass industry as well as the entire forest products sector. These efforts mislead the public about the integrated forest products industry—including timber and renewable wood energy—and its role as a necessary solution to mitigate global climate change. …Future Forests + Jobs will combat misinformation through a new website – FutureForestsAndJobs.com – as well as through media engagement and other grassroots activities. Future Forests + Jobs is supported by the U.S. Industrial Pellet Association, and will be led by Brian Rogers, who served as a senior staffer to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

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Open for Business: The Trump Revolution on America’s Public Lands

By Jim Robbins
Yale Environment 360
October 8, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

…The open effort in Congress to wrest public lands away from the federal government and transfer them to states or private owners may seem to have subsided. But it has simply gone underground. …The Trump administration is responsible for the largest reduction in protected public lands in history, a study finds… where the businesses seeking that freer hand are primarily the oil and gas extraction, logging, and mining industries. …The Trump administration is considering revisions to what is known as the Roadless Rule, a conservation initiative of the Clinton administration. Some 58 million acres of roadless land in the nation’s national forests, possibly eligible for wilderness designation someday. …But according to The Washington Post, Trump has instructed Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to write new roadless rules that would… allow logging, mining, and energy development.

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Once nearly extinct, songbird coming off endangered list thanks to logging

By John Flesher
The Associated Press in the Billings Gazette
October 8, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — The federal government said Tuesday it will remove the Kirtland’s warbler from its list of protected species, finding the small, yellow-bellied songbird had recovered more than half a century after being designated as endangered. …Biologists describe Kirtland’s warblers as among the most geographically limited birds in the continental U.S. They nest on the ground beneath young jack pines in northern Michigan, parts of Wisconsin and the Canadian province of Ontario. If the trees get too old or large, they’re no longer suitable. Wildfires historically swept through the region every few decades, burning down overgrown jack pines and popping open cones that produced new ones. But modern fire suppression disrupted the cycle, and warbler-friendly territory became perilously small. To enlarge it, agencies developed a system of logging overgrown pine stands and replanting new ones to imitate what nature previously did.

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Wildfire causes 80% fish loss in Colorado river, survey finds

CBC News
October 7, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

The fish in Colorado’s Animas River river have depleted about 80 per cent since last year due to the aftermath of a major wildfire, a new survey of the area has found. Toxic ash from the June 2018 blaze came down on waterways such as the Animas River and suffocated oxygen supply for the fish. “You’ve got this floating black ash and debris and chunks of charcoal … to add insult to injury, so to speak,” Jim White, Colorado Parks and Wildlife aquatic biologist, told As it Happens host Carol Off.  The ash spread was aggravated by the subsequent monsoon season from July to September 2018, which caused heavy rainfall and flooding, he said. While wildfires are common in Colorado, the 416 fire that raged through southwestern Colorado in June 2018 swept through approximately 219 square kilometres of mainly U.S. Forest Service land in the Hermosa Creek watershed, which include tributaries such as the Animas River, north of Durango.

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Timber industry an integral part of our local economy

By Nate Nehring – Snohomish County Council
North County Outlook
October 9, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Snohomish County Council

The timber industry has long been an integral part of our local economy and community in Snohomish County. The timber trust lands managed by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) were committed many years ago to support local infrastructure projects. Counties, schools, fire departments, and hospitals have all benefited from these harvests as they provide important funding for capital projects each year. But this funding is increasingly at risk as political pressure continues to stall timber sales in our region. …This is why the Washington State Association of Counties (WSAC) is teaming up with local districts to fund its own study on the economic impact of increased restrictions on timberlands. Local economies, including here in North Snohomish County, still rely on timber sales and harvests for local jobs. In addition, many local school and fire districts rely on the revenues from these sales to fund important education and public safety services. 

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New restoration approach could save White Mountains industry

By Peter Aleshire
Payson Roundup
October 8, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Brad Worsley

…the Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI) … might really work out well for the struggling wood products industry in the White Mountains. At least, Novo Power President Brad Worsley says he’s feeling optimistic the 28 megawatt biomass-burning power plant in Snowflake may stay in business, now that the Forest Service has released its request for proposals (RFP) on some 800,000 acres in dire need of thinning. …The wood products industry spawned by the decade-long White Mountain Stewardship Project accounts for hundreds of jobs in an area beset by unemployment and low growth rates. The shutdown of coal-fired power plants combined with the earlier shutdown of mills has thinned the job supply further. But if things go just right — the Forest Service’s new flexibility and emphasis on getting rid of the biomass Novo Power handles could prove an economic boon to the White Mountains.

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California power cutoff begin as wildfire risks rise

By Steve Gorman
Reuters
October 9, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Hundreds of thousands of California homes and businesses started to lose electric power early Wednesday as part of an unprecedented effort by Pacific Gas and Electric to prevent wildfires, the utility said. …State investigators determined in May that PG&E transmission lines had caused last year’s Camp Fire. That fire killed 85 people, making it the deadliest in California’s history. …Conditions before the fires were about the same then as they are now in the region. Gale-force winds are expected to last through midday Thursday, with gusts up to 70 miles per hour, PG&E said. Humidity is low, leaving the air extremely dry. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said “red-flag” warnings were posted across the entire state for what was shaping up to be the strongest wind so far this season.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Drink Coffee + Plant Trees to combat climate change

TreeEra and Good Earth Coffeehouse
Cision Newswire
October 9, 2019
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada West

CALGARY — Caffeinate to combat climate change! Good Earth Coffeehouse is excited to partner with TreeEra, a Canadian social enterprise that helps individuals and businesses reduce their carbon footprint by community-funding the planting of trees. With every bag of Good Earth coffee sold, a portion of the proceeds goes towards planting trees in Canada. Why plant trees? Trees have long been our greatest tool in the effort to capture carbon. …’Like the proverb says: ‘The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now’, says co-founder, Nan Eskenazi. …Good Earth’s new partnership shows Canadians that it’s never been easier to plant a tree – drink coffee!

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Forest Fires

Colorado wildfire declared top US wildfire priority

By Liz Henderson
Out There Colorado
October 8, 2019
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US West

The 6,100-acre Decker fire on Salida’s doorstep has been declared the nation’s top priority wildfire, putting it first in line for firefighting crews and aircraft. The wildfire, which started from a lightning strike Sept. 8, grew another 230 acres by Sunday morning and remains only 5% contained, according to a Rocky Mountain Incident Command news release. The fire is burning in the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness and has come within two miles of Salida, a city of about 5,200 people in Chaffee County. Along with the return of drought conditions after a wet spring and early summer, crews battled high winds Saturday. …Twenty three hand crews, 28 engines, three dozers, six helicopters, three aircraft and 10 water tenders — a total of 806 firefighters — were assigned to the fire by Sunday morning, according to wildfiretoday.com.

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Ahead of wildfire season, officials urge caution

By USDA Forest Service
The Sampson Independent
October 9, 2019
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US East

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA — As we enter the start of the fall wildfire season, the N.C. Forest Service and the USDA Forest Service urge visitors and North Carolinians to be cautious with campfires and when burning yard debris. This reminder coincides with National Fire Prevention Week, which runs Oct. 6-12. The fall wildfire season typically lasts from mid-October until mid-December, the time of year when people do a lot of yard work that may include burning leaves and yard debris. The leading cause of wildfires in North Carolina is debris burning.

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Wildfires destroy up to 30 homes in eastern Australia

By Tristan Lavalette
Associated Press in St. Louis Post-Dispatch
October 9, 2019
Category: Forest Fires
Region: International

PERTH, Australia — About 500 firefighters were battling out-of-control wildfires in eastern Australia that have destroyed up to 30 homes. More than 40 bushfires were burning across New South Wales state. Temperatures were cooler Wednesday after strong winds and stifling heat restricted firefighting efforts Tuesday. More than 100,000 hectares (380 square miles) have burned with the small village of Rappville, population 250, among the worst affected. About 50 people sheltered in a school overnight. NSW Rural Fire Service deputy commissioner Rob Rogers said some people had been taken to hospitals with minor burns and breathing difficulties. The number of injures wasn’t given, and the extent of the fire damage was still to be determined. “We’re just making sure we know what properties are damaged or lost, people are accounted for and making those areas as safe as we can so that people who haven’t lost their homes can return,” he said.

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