Daily Archives: April 25, 2018

Today’s Takeaway

Mass timber to make its debut on Vancouver Island

April 25, 2018
Category: Today's Takeaway

Just over a month away, the Canadian Bioeconomy Conference and Exhibition (the largest event of its kind in Canada) is showcasing an impressive list of presenters and exhibitors. The BC Community Forest Association is hosting their 2018 AGM at the site of BC’s first community forest – Burns Lake; and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative says “Forests are the Answer” – find out why at their annual conference in Colorado. 

Headline highlights:

–Sandy McKellar, Tree Frog Editor

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Special Feature

Look who’s attending Canada’s largest bioeconomy conference in Prince George

The Canadian Bioeconomy Conference and Exhibition
April 25, 2018
Category: Special Feature
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Canadian Bioeconomy Conference and Exhibition—formerly the International Bioenergy Conference and Exhibition—is only six weeks away. Held every two years in Prince George, BC, the conference is the largest and longest running event of its kind in Canada. …The bioenergy industry in Canada has grown and matured since the conference was founded in 2004. The conference’s board of directors felt it was important that the event reflect the diversification in the use of woody biomass across the full value chain of bioproducts. Program highlights include: a community energy workshop, wood products safety summit, industry-leading speakers program and an inside look at Canada’s larges pellet operations. Here are just a few of the organizations already confirmed to attend.

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Business & Politics

Mackenzie Pulp Mill pays consequences after 2014 incidents

By Matt Fetinko
MY PG NOW
April 24, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Mackenzie Pulp Mill Corporation has been fined $900,000.  This comes following two instances in 2014 that saw the mill’s treatment system overwhelmed, causing toxic effluent exceedance in Williston Lake where the mill sits. “Beyond the fine which was agreed to [April 19th, 2018], the company was also ordered to complete an independent audit of its operations at the mill, paying particular attention to the effluent that comes from the mill,” explains Environmental Enforcement Directorate Regional Director Marko Goluza. …The payout will not be going to waste, so to speak. Goluza says it will help out with a specific cause in the province. “The $900,000 core penalty will be directed to the Environmental Damages Fund and, in this case, it was actually flagged to be used for conservation of fish and fish habitat in the Omineca region of British Columbia specifically.”

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Canfor Pulp Products Inc. Announces First Quarter 2018 Results and Quarterly Dividend

Cision Newswire
April 24, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER – Canfor Pulp Products Inc. today reported first quarter 2018 results and quarterly dividend. The Company reported operating income of $85.1 million for the first quarter of 2018, an increase of $18.3 million from the $66.8 million reported in the fourth quarter of 2017 as the benefit of near-record high US-dollar pricing for Northern Bleached Softwood Kraft pulp and improved productivity in the latter part of the quarter more than offset challenges presented by severe winter weather in Western Canada earlier in the period, and the effects of major transportation disruptions to all the Company’s operations through the quarter.

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Canfor Reports Results for First Quarter of 2018

By Canfor Corporation
Cision Newswire
April 24, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER – Canfor Corporation today reported first quarter 2018 results.  The Company reported operating income of $203.8 million for the first quarter of 2018, down $10.4 million from reported operating income of $214.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2017, as lower operating earnings for the lumber segment were offset in part by record-high operating earnings for the pulp and paper segment.  Reported results in the first quarter of 2018 include a net duty expense of $34.9 million, at a combined effective countervailing duty (CVD) and anti-dumping duty (ADD) rate of 14.34%.  This compares to a net duty recovery of $23.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2017 reflecting the year-to-date true-up of preliminary CVD and ADD rates to current rates following final determinations announced by the US Department of Commerce and US International Trade Commission.

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Lumber producers add their voice to concerns over potential CP Rail strike

By Tom Vernon
Global News
April 24, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Alberta’s forestry sector, already facing challenges from softwood tariffs imposed by the United States and the growing threat of the mountain pine beetle, fears a labour disruption at CP Rail could make a tough situation even worse. “We have a challenge in getting rail cars at the moment — the rail system in Canada is maxed out,” said Paul Whittaker, the CEO of the Alberta Forest Products Association. Lumber producers have been hit by the same backlog of rail cars as the agriculture sector, leading to large stockpiles at sawmills and lost profits. “Only about half the number of rail cars we are seeking are arriving at the mills,” Whittaker said. A potential strike was averted over the weekend after the federal government ordered CP Rail’s two main unions to vote on the company’s final contract offer. The unions are urging their members to reject the deal.

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West Fraser lumber appoints new CEO

By Robert Dalheim
Woodworking Network
April 24, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West
VANCOUVER, B.C. Canadian lumber giant West Fraser has appointed Ray Ferris, the company’s executive VP and chief operating officer, as its new CEO – effective when current CEO Ted Seraphim retires at the end of 2019. “This is an important step in the implementation of our CEO succession plan. Ray has worked closely with Ted for many years and has demonstrated tremendous leadership in executing our operating and capital plans,” Hank Ketcham, chairman of West Fraser’s board of directors said. “His leadership, experience and proven commitment to people, safety, operational excellence and maintaining our culture will continue to drive our company forward. I know that I speak on behalf of all our employees in saying how pleased we are that Ray will be our next CEO,” Seraphim added. 

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Skeena Sawmills modernization delayed due to building condition

By Jackie Lieuwen
Terrace Standard
April 24, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

The $10-million Skeena Sawmills canter line upgrade has been delayed due to the poor condition of a number of old sawmill buildings, exposed during last winter’s periods of heavy snowfall. Operations vice president Roger Keery said the mill is re-engineering its plans and has structural upgrades in mind for the existing sawmill building, which will take place before the mill moves forward with its modernization. “We had some problems with old buildings over the winter,” said Keery. “With the snow we had, some of the weaknesses in our older buildings became obvious. Our original plan was to use the existing buildings, but we are rethinking that now.” Engineers from McElhanney Consulting Services are meeting with Keery to look at re-engineering the project — deciding how to proceed.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Esquimalt council green-lights first mass-timber building on Vancouver Island

By Kristyn Anthony
Victoria News
April 24, 2018
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

Esquimalt has approved rezoning to allow for the Island’s first mass-timber building to be constructed in the municipality, overlooking CFB Esquimalt. The 12-storey, 83-unit prefabricated Corvette Landing project is targeted to be built on three properties along Admirals Road and Constance Avenue, north of Astle Street. “This is an innovative project that is going to serve to really bring focus to Esquimalt as a municipality that does innovative and exciting things,” said project manager Troy Grant of Standing Stone Developments. A former Canadian Armed Forces member, Grant chose the location adjacent to CFB Esquimalt because of the diverse demographic of the Township and its desire to keep military families living there. “Esquimalt has a housing crisis just like everybody else,” he said. “And, Esquimalt has an aging population, but it’s also got a growing young population.”

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Forestry

Forests are the answer

Sustainable Forestry Initiative
April 25, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, United States

When it comes to providing supply chain assurances, producing conservation outcomes, and supporting education and community engagement – Forests are the Answer. The 2018 SFI Annual Conference will engage you in a discussion focused on why Forests are the Answer to so many of our conservation, community, and supply chain challenges. The SFI Annual Conference brings together thought leaders and influencers: forest sector representatives, conservation and community partners, and Indigenous leaders as well as some of the most engaged forest product customers in North America.

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Northern Gateway Public Schools board gets presentation on caribou plan

By Taryn Brandell
Whitecourt Star
April 23, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Whitecourt Town Coun. Ray Hilts attended Northern Gateway’s school board meeting on April 17 to discuss the Caribou Range Plan and its potential negative effect on the school system. Hilts is not only councillor in Whitecourt, but an activist for the forest industry and founder of Alberta Forest Alliance. He explained how important the forest industry is to the province of Alberta for not only the construction of buildings, but also for the hundreds of employment opportunities to residents within rural communities. He added that the Government of Alberta has good regulatory controls and good forest management compared to other provinces. “We don’t go cut trees down for the sake of cutting trees,” said Hilts. “We have a marketplace demand and that’s provincial, that’s Canadian, that’s global for wood products.”

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Province partnering with Yellowhead County to combat mountain pine beetle

RD News Now
April 24, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The mountain pine beetle threatens six million hectares of Alberta’s pine forest and affects the activities of more than half of the major forest companies operating in the province. In order to protect Alberta’s crucial forestry industry, the province is providing Yellowhead County with $150,000 for the control, suppression and eradication of mountain pine beetle on municipal and private lands. “Our best chance to combat the mountain pine beetle infestation is if our government partners with local municipalities on aggressive and proactive detection and control programs.  This funding will help us work with the Town of Hinton to do that.” Oneil Carlier, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry said “This grant will help the residents of Yellowhead County control trees on their land that have been infested with the mountain pine beetle. By each of us doing our part, we can slow the spread of the beetle as it moves easterly.”

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Industry looks to limit impact on migratory birds

By Amy von Stackelberg
Alaska Highway News
April 24, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Migratory bird counts in Canada’s boreal forests continue to drop, but industry is taking on efforts to limit their impact on the declines being seen in Northeast B.C. …The Breeding Bird Survey has been done Canada-wide along the same routes each year since 1966. It sees researchers or volunteers stop at selected points to look and listen for three minutes, then record the number of birds of each species. …In the Peace, industry is the primary threat to the boreal forest migrating birds depend on, Mark Phinney, a Dawson Creek forester at Encana said. Though cutlines regenerate relatively quickly, “oil and gas development will not be put back to its natural state for decades,” he said. …For its part, Encana takes a stepwise approach, and uses habitat models for 15 selected species. …He compared Encana’s measures to a BC Council of Forest Industries management tool, which delays logging until nesting is complete…

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Forest resiliency focus moving forward in the Cariboo Chilcotin

By Monica Lamb-Yorski
Williams Lake Tribune
April 24, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Rodger Stewart

Creating resilient forests while recovering and rebuilding from last year’s wildfires is a challenge Rodger Stewart will face in his new position as director of regional initiatives for the ministry of forests in the Cariboo Chilcotin region. Stewart says the plan is for the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNRO) to work with First Nations governments, communities, the forest sector, landholders and stakeholders to rebuild the forest estate and enhance forest resiliency. “Having communities directly involved in the recovery of the landscape and their forests could be the silver lining in what was once a dark cloud of smoke,” Stewart said. Earlier this month, Forest Enhancement Society of B.C. (FESBC) announced it is investing $134 million and that $99 million of that amount was going into the Cariboo Chilcotin.

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Water Quality Best Management Practices: What Can be Learned from the Forest Sector

By Kathryn Fernholz
Dovetail Partners
April 12, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

Kathryn Fernholz

Declining water quality is a pressing environmental challenge and a landscape scale issue, affecting public and private landowners and many aspects of society. The need to protect water resources has prompted both government and individual involvement in finding solutions. …The use of Best Management Practices (BMP) and other strategies have been shown to mitigate water quality impacts from land use activities and can help to ensure healthy water systems. …This report includes information and lessons learned from the forest sector, where BMPs for water quality protection are widely used on private and public lands and have been effective in reducing and mitigating impacts associated with forest management activities.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Sicamous takes a look at wood-waste energy

By Jim Elliot
BC Local News
April 24, 2018
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada West

Sicamous is looking into using wood waste to heat buildings and maybe even generate electricity. At their meeting on April 11, the Sicamous council adopted a bioenergy opportunity report and directed district staff to look into federal funding through the clean energy for remote and rural communities program. …Wood heating pellets and other sources would be an affordable fuel source that the report says are plentiful in the area due to the active forestry operations in the region. Three bulk suppliers of heating pellets located within 100 kilometres of Sicamous are identified in the report: Tolko Industry Ltd. in Kamloops, Pinnacle Pellet’s Armstrong facility and the Adams Lake sawmill. It acknowledged there may be other smaller suppliers as well.

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Benefits of wood heating discussed at Senate hearing

By Erin Voegele
Biomass Magazine
April 24, 2018
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US East

Robert Venables

Wood energy was among the topics discussed during an April 19 hearing held by the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources that examined rural energy challenges and opportunities. Robert Venables, executive director of Southeast Conference, discussed the use of wood heating in Alaska during his testimony. Southeast Conference is a federally recognized economic development district for southeast Alaska. The organization aims to develop strong economies, healthy communities and a quality environment in southeast Alaska. “Our vision for southeast Alaska is to reduce, to the maximum extent possible, the use of imported diesel as a primary fuel source for the generation of electricity, space heat and transportation,” Venables explained in his written testimony.

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