Daily Archives: February 2, 2018

Today’s Takeaway

Mixed signals on Groundhog Day although consensus is six more weeks of winter

February 2, 2018
Category: Today's Takeaway

The famed furry prognosticators provided mixed results today – Groundhog Day, with the majority leaning toward six more weeks of winter. Not to be outdone, it’s also World Wetlands Day, in honor of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands in 1971. 

Names in the news today include:

  • Richard Garneau (Resolute’s retiring CEO) urges Ottawa not to capitulate on softwood lumber
  • Ken Higginbotham (after 43 years in forestry) retires as Chair of the BC Forest Safety Council
  • Scott Fraser (BC MLA) is getting involved in Union Bay’s logging/water concerns
  • Coralee Oakes (BC Cariboo MLA) calls for action to stop the spruce beetle invasion
  • Doug Reed (Green Diamond CEO) says carbon pricing in Washington can provide solutions 

In other news: six BC university presidents are bidding to become Canada’s Digital Technology Supercluster; planning is underway in 100 Mile House Community Forest; and the Indiana Forestry Division received both SFI and FSC re-certifications.

— Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor

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Froggy Foibles

Groundhog Day 2018: Mixed signals and a near escape

CBC News
February 2, 2018
Category: Froggy Foibles
Region: Canada, United States

Groundhogs are mixed in their annual predictions about when spring will spring, with the consensus of some of the famed furry prognosticators so far leaning toward six more weeks of winter. …The Weather Network says that according to folklore, if a groundhog sees its shadow, it will return to its burrow, indicating six more weeks of winter. If it doesn’t go back into hiding, spring will arrive early. Nova Scotia’s Shubenacadie Sam  failed to see its shadow. But the most famous groundhog in the US — Pennsylvania’s Punxsutawney Phil — saw its shadow, meaning more cold and blustery weather. Ontario’s Wiarton Willie, the “king of perfect predictions,” as officials called him, announced six more weeks of winter.

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Business & Politics

Key to B.C.’s success is talent

Six University Presidents
The Vancouver Sun
February 1, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

British Columbia is poised for success. We enjoy low unemployment and Canada’s leading economic growth. Yet our greatest potential rests with our people. Nowhere is this more apparent than in B.C.’s high-tech sector. Expanding at twice the rate of the provincial economy — and growing faster than anywhere else in the country — the B.C. tech sector is an innovation engine. It employs more than 100,000 people in fields ranging from digital animation and gaming to life sciences, software development and clean tech. It is also transforming traditional industries such as mining, forestry, and oil and gas. …That trend is expected to continue as the industry grows — and the potential is immense. It’s why a group of B.C. post-secondary institutions is joining with industry in a bid to be Canada’s Digital Technology Supercluster, part of the federal government’s Innovation Superclusters Initiative.

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Resolute Tumbles 33% as Trucker Shortage Slows Operations

By Jen Skerritt
Bloomberg
February 1, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

For the world’s largest newsprint maker, there simply are not enough truck drivers to move its goods. A dearth of truckers in Canada is hindering shipments from Resolute Forest Products Inc.’s sawmills to its paper mills, outgoing Chief Executive Officer Richard Garneau said Thursday on an earnings conference call. The Montreal-based company slowed down production in December after the shortage and harsh winter conditions led to a lack of woodchips at its mills in Quebec. The company’s stock plunged as much as 33 percent in Toronto, the most since trading began in 2010. The paper maker reported earnings per share in the fourth quarter that missed the lowest analyst estimate. The company is now using oversized trailers for its loads and has introduced special hiring and training programs to attract workers, Garneau said.

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At work with Alison: Weyerhaeuser

By Alison Kaiser
WDTV News 5
February 1, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

BUCKHANNON, W.Va. – The company was founded in 1900 by Frederick Weyerhaeuser, who purchased 900,000 thousand acres of timberland in Tacoma, Washington. At the time, it was the largest private land transaction in American history. “We’re currently focused on wood products developments (our site is a manufacturing site for that), as well as timberlands holdings across the United States and Canada,” said the company’s HR manager, Josh Hamilton. …Over three hundred employees work at the plant, each with a different reason why they love their job. “I get to be a leader, and the responsibilities of the job, is probably what I like best,” said Strader. Matthew Evix, a safety coordinator at the plant, said, “We’re all kind of like a big family. They care about our safety and ensure that everyone goes home safe to their families every day.”

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Global pellet market outlook in 2018

By William Strauss and Seth Walker
Canadian Biomass
February 1, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International
Global pellet markets have increased significantly over the last decade, mostly because of demand from the industrial sector. While pellet heating markets make up a significant amount of global demand, this overview will focus on the industrial wood pellet sector. Chart 1 shows FutureMetrics’ forecast for heating pellet demand by country. Pellet heating markets have been challenged in recent years by low alternative heating fuel costs (oil and gas prices) and warmer than average winters in North America and Europe. FutureMetrics expects that a combination of higher oil prices and de-carbonization policies will return demand growth to trend in the 2020s. For the last several years, the industrial wood pellet sector was as large as the heating pellet sector, and is expected to become significantly larger over the next decade.

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Colliers launches specialist forestry sales operation in New Zealand

Timberbiz
February 1, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

Warwick Searle

Colliers International has launched a specialist forestry sales service headed by New Zealand forestry broker, Warwick Searle. The new business line expands and strengthens Colliers International’s established rural services offering, which includes nationwide rural, agribusiness and viticulture sales, valuation and advisory services. Mr Searle has transacted some of the biggest forestry deals in New Zealand, including the bulk of on-market forest sales in the last few years. He brings almost 10 years of rural sales experience to the role, much of that specialising in forest and forestry rights sales. …Searle said that Government policies around climate change and regional tree planting have “real potential” to have a positive impact on the forestry sector.

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Game changing $190m cross laminated timber production facility to create over 200 jobs in Burnie, Tasmania

Tasmanian Government
February 1, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

Will Hodgman

A new $190 million hardwood mill plant, creating 221 jobs, will be built at Burnie as a result of a decision taken by the Hodgman majority Liberal Government. “This will be an absolute game-changer for Tasmania’s North-West and North”, Premier Will Hodgman said. “The new facility will be Australia’s largest plantation-based hardwood mill and the first ever hardwood cross-laminated production plant. “This is an innovative project which will process Tasmanian plantation timber into high-value products. “We have worked closely with the Hermal Group to secure this exciting opportunity for Burnie. “In addition to the 221 new jobs at the plant, a further 160 jobs will be created during construction and thousands of indirect jobs in the forest industry, transport, engineering and construction.”

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Intricate Tokyo Restaurant Design Mimics A Forest With Caves

By Ivanha Paz
PSFK
February 2, 2018
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

The multilayered levels of the floor, made from laminated OSB panels, resemble contour lines

Nikunotoriko, a restaurant in Tokyo’s wealthy Roppongi district, offers diners a stunning visual experience with its cave-like dining rooms, trees and earth tones inspired by nature’s mystique. Designed by the architecture firm Ryoji Iedokoro, the yakiniku restaurant serves dishes centered around grilled meat. Nikunotoriko’s design goes beyond eye-catching aesthetics. “For this particular project, in addition to the visual aspect, the design places an important emphasis on the sense of touch and texture as well,” the architects write on their website. “As a result, the design for this yakiniku restaurant recreates the open yet comfortable feeling of a natural environment.”

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Forestry

BC Environment Has Suffered from a History of ‘Reliance’

By Stephanie Smith, President of the BCGEU
The Tyee
February 2, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Stephanie Smith, president of the BCGEU

Professional Reliance is a fancy word that means nothing to most people — precisely what was intended when the former BC Liberal government introduced this scheme more than a decade ago. But change the name to Industry Self-Regulation and people start paying attention. Up to now, environmental and industrial regulation in B.C. could be captured by a simple phrase: “let industry do it.” That’s been the guiding principle in environmental and natural resource regulation — corporations approving their own resource plans, while monitoring and certifying their own industrial activities. …The results from Professional Reliance are also shocking: Today, the number of forest industry inspections are less than one third of the number conducted before Professional Reliance. …The Forest Practices Board reports that 23 per cent of inspected resource roads in 2017 were structurally unsafe. Only 38 per cent met legal requirements. 

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Gypsy moth spraying coming to Rockland area of Campbell River this spring

By Mike Davies
BC Local News
February 2, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

…City council received notice from the provincial government at their last meeting that the area is on the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources and Rural Development’s list of gypsy moth spraying sites for 2018, with proposed treatments to occur over a three-week period in late April or early May. Campbell River is one of four communities on this year’s treatment list, which also includes North Surrey, Agassiz and Courtenay. The invasive European gypsy moth was first seen in B.C. in 1978, and, so far, it has failed to gain a solid footing here. Which is a good thing.

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Ken Higginbotham retires as Chair of the BC Forest Safety Council

BC Forest Safety Council
February 1, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Ken Higginbotham shared the news at the end of December 2017 that he had decided to retire as Chair of the BC Forest Safety Council and as facilitator for both the Coast Harvesting Advisory Group focused on coastal logging safety and the Manufacturing Advisory Group, focused on sawmill safety across the province. “I just passed my 72nd birthday and it seems like the right thing for me to do at this point after 43 years in forestry,” explained Ken who has been a force in forestry in both Alberta and BC for many years. “Before I sail into the sunset, though, I wanted to express my thanks for having had the chance to work with industry, WorkSafeBC and the provincial government over the past few years to help support better safety outcomes for all,” he said.

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Spruce beetle killing mid-term timber supply

By Ken Alexander
The Terrace Standard
February 1, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Coralee Oakes

Cariboo North MLA Coralee Oakes is very concerned about the current spread of spruce beetle in the Northern Interior. Noting she has been talking to several groups, including forestry and First Nations, the MLA says there is a significant fear the spruce beetle march is very much like the pine beetle invasion. British Columbia communities are still trying to recover from the damage that was caused by that little insect with the voracious appetite. “It has an epicentre right now, but they are studying it … we have to become more proactive. …“The spruce beetle [invasion must be stopped] because that’s hitting all of our mid-term timber supply.” …“We have to do more than just research it.

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Planning underway for community forest

By Max Winkelman
100 Mile House Free Press
February 1, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The 100 Mile House Community Forest

While they would like to do some work on the 100 Mile House Community Forest ridge above Centennial Park, they’re not entirely sure yet what that will look like, says Bill Hadden who’s with the Community Forest. They’re still in the planning phases and are working with the Ministry of Forests and the Ministry of Environment, he says, adding that they are hoping to have boots on the ground in May or June. He’s not sure that’s feasible. “Most of what we’re talking about doing hasn’t really been done before,” he says. “We’re going into uncharted areas.” …A lot of the ridge closest to 100 Mile House, however, is covered off as an Old Growth Management Area (OGMA), he says. “OGMAs are very difficult to do anything in.” 

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The Future of Wildfire in BC

Association of BC Forest Professionals
February 1, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

What can we learn from California? The summer of 2017 brought the worst wild fire season in BC history. It was the same story in California where the Golden State experienced five of its 20 most destructive wildland-urban interface fires in just one year. Is this the new normal? Join Scott Stephens, professor of fire science at the University California, Berkeley, for a free public lecture on the future of wild fire in BC and what we can learn from California’s experience. The lecture is presented in conjunction with the Association of BC Forest Professionals’ annual conference.

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BC provides additional salvage harvest guidance

By The Office of the Chief Forester
BCLocalNews
February 1, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

VICTORIA – In the wake of the unprecedented 2017 wildfire season, the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development is providing additional guidance to professional foresters and licensees to support salvage-harvest planning. …Forests (even burned ones) provide important values that need to be protected. The 26-page “Post-Natural Disturbance Forest Retention Guidance: 2017 Wildfires” document focuses on protecting important natural-resource values, such as wildlife habitat, water quality and soils. …The guidance document supplements existing regulatory requirements. The principles and advice outlined in the document are applicable to other large-scale disturbances (e.g., landslides, floods, avalanches, mountain pine beetle infestations). The destructive impacts of events like these warrant a focused approach to the recovery of affected areas.

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Fraser to meet with Union Bay Improvement District about drinking water protection

By James Wood
My Comox Valley Now
February 1, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

MLA Scott Fraser

UNION BAY, B.C- Scott Fraser is getting involved in the protection of Langley Lake. The body of water serves as the source of drinking water for the Union Bay Improvement District (UBID). Earlier in 2017, the district had been informed that Island Timberlands was planning on conducting logging within 20 metres of the lake’s southwest shoreline. The company owns the land around the lake, while the UBID owns the actual body of water. Trustees and residents have been publicly voicing opposition to the plan, and a letter-writing campaign had been undertaken for the area’s MLA, Scott Fraser. …“I will work with Island Timberlands on how they can ensure their logging doesn’t have a negative impact on the clean drinking water that hundreds of families rely on,” said Fraser.

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Outgoing Resolute CEO urges Ottawa not to ‘capitulate’ on softwood lumber

By Ross Marowits
The Canadian Press in The Globe and Mail
February 1, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Richard Garneau

A Canadian industry leader in the fight against U.S. softwood lumber duties who is retiring imminently is urging the government not to “capitulate” during what he expects will be a lengthy battle with the United States. “We believe in free trade,” Resolute Forest Products Inc. chief executive Richard Garneau said in an interview before he steps down Thursday afternoon. “We believe in having strong principles and never capitulate, even though you believe that (if) there is someone a lot bigger and stronger you have to defend your principles.” Garneau, 70, has been the strong voice of eastern Canadian lumber, pulp and paper producers. “I was certainly not happy when in 2006 we had to pay a ransom,” he said of the last softwood lumber deal.

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Quebec forestry brands acquired by Komatsu

Equipment Journal
February 1, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Komatsu has acquired two Quebec based forestry brands from Prenbec Equipment Inc. On Jan. 26, Komatsu President and CEO Tetsuji Ohashi signed the agreement to acquire the Quadco and Southstar  attachment operations from Prenbec. The deal excludes the forestry equipment businesses of Tanguay and Forespro delimbers. The acquisition will be made through a subsidiary of Komatsu in the United States and is expected to close this month, subject to completion of the closing conditions. Southstar manufactures harvesting heads and heads, as well as grapple processors. Quadco provides a variety of disc saw heads, shear heads, rotators and brushcutters.

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Indiana Division of Forestry receives two forest sustainability certifications

Greensburg Daily News
February 2, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry recently received sustainable-forest re-certifications from two third-party organizations: Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC) and Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (FSI). This means that, for the 11th year, the DNR Division of Forestry has passed the gold standard for third-party certification for sustainable forest management. Both North American and international certifying bodies evaluated the entire forest-management program, which included wildlife species, water quality, recreation, harvesting and overall diversity of the program. The audit reports can be found at dnr.IN.gov/forestry/7532.htm.

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Belarus forests face beetle ‘catastrophe’

BBC News
February 1, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: International

An onslaught of bark beetles is threatening to decimate the mighty pine forests of Belarus. The ravenous insects destroyed more than 5,000 hectares (12,355 acres) of woodland in Brest, the country’s westernmost region, last year alone – “almost the area of a small town”, says state TV’s ONT channel. Viktar Ambrazheichik, the forestry chief of Drahichyn district, told ONT he hasn’t seen anything like it in 30 years, and warned that the “problem is only just beginning”. Pinsk, Stolin and Luninyets districts are already affected, and the beetles are now spreading into Drahichyn.

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Celebrating World Wetlands Day with interactive wetlands map

Center for International Forestry Research
February 2, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: International

In honor of World Wetlands Day – which takes place every year on February 2 – explore the interactive Global Wetlands Map and its extensive collection of wetlands, histosols, or peaty soils, and their carbon stocks. Originally launched in 2016 to help identify the location of wetlands and how far they extend, the map comes from the Sustainable Wetlands Adaptation and Mitigation Program (SWAMP), a collaborative effort between the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the United States Forest Service. This comprehensive map is based on spatial models of long-term water excess after meeting atmospheric demand and overlaying geomorphological characteristics, which allowed the developers to locate water accumulation that develop wetlands. 

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Rural Washington Gets a Voice in Carbon-Pricing Legislation

Public News Service
February 2, 2018
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US West

Doug Reid

OLYMPIA, Wash. – The Washington state Senate is considering a bill outlined by Gov. Jay Inslee that would make polluters pay – and use the money to invest in clean jobs and keeping natural resources resilient. Senate Bill 6203 would tax carbon polluters, with the funds used to speed up the state’s transition to clean energy, and to invest in projects to manage water and forest resources. Doug Reed, president and owner of Green Diamond Resource Company, is convinced this legislation could spur the timber industry to work on solutions to the warming climate. “Really, if there’s incentive for landowners to store more carbon on the landscape, they’ll figure out ways to do that, and you see that happening,” says Reed. “People will at some point make the calculations – is the carbon that’s stored in these trees more valuable as sequestered carbon, or is it more valuable as a wood product?”

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