Canada’s Chrystia Freeland’s unexpected Valentine’s Day meeting with US trade czar Lighthizer was “just a bilateral check-in”. Readers will recall that “there was no love lost” the last time the two met. Elsewhere: Trump’s team drops a hint that NAFTA-end not imminent; and “it’s time for Canada to reveal its Plan B“. Apparently it has one.
In Forestry news: a hybrid mountain pine beetle is “poised to wreak havoc” in Jasper National Park; the BC auditor general says climate adaptation is needed; a “high amplitude mountain wave” of wind knocked over 100 gigantic trees in Olympic National Park; Science Magazine says vast bioenergy plantations could stave off climate change; and Borneo has lost 100,000 orangutans due to hunting and deforestation.
In other news: Unifor has selected Resolute as its target as labour negotiations for eastern pulp and paper get ready to commence.
Finally, a BC forester pitches his “tablet friendly” cruisers’ vest to the Dragons’ Den.
— Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
The federal government says it has a Plan B in case the North American Free Trade Agreement talks fail. Now is the time to reveal it. The talks themselves are mired in confusion. …Those thinking of investing in Canada want to know what kind of access they would have to the giant U.S. market should NAFTA talks fail. …All of which is to say that it’s time for Canada’s Plan B to be unveiled. Up to now, the government has refused to say. But there are some things it can build on. First, almost half of Canada’s exports to the U.S. are outside of NAFTA entirely. …Second, the WTO… performs some of the same functions as the North American trade pact. …Third, there are other markets for Canadian goods and services. 
MONTREAL
But scientists tell the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit that state and local emergency planners have been slow to support critical retrofits that could help save lives and property [from destructive wildfires]. …California’s building code sets strict guidelines requiring fire resistant materials for homes built within a wildfire hazard zone after 2008. …But older homes are not subject to the same standards, and neither are homes in neighborhoods that border a hazardous zone …QAI Laboratories in Rancho Cucamonga is one of a handful of labs approved by the California State Fire Marshall to certify fire resistant building materials. Lab technicians opened their doors for NBC Bay Area to show how quickly fire can penetrate the average home. …Cal Fire is currently in the process of redrawing the state’s wildfire hazard maps that determine which neighborhoods require fire resistant homes.
A hybrid mountain pine beetle is poised to wreak more havoc in the forests of Jasper National Park, warn University of Alberta researchers. Researchers Jasmine Janes and Stephen Trevoy uncovered the hybrid population as they traced the origin of the beetles in the park. “What we discovered is an eye of the storm where we see a sort of mixture of two genetic populations coming together in Jasper National Park,” Janes said in a news release. “The Jasper beetles have a different genetic signature from the ones in the Grande Prairie outbreak from 2009 and also different than the ones in the outbreak in British Columbia in 2005. …The mixture of an already adaptive species means increased genetic diversity, which may provide even more opportunity for the insects to adapt to and survive in different environmental conditions, said Janes.
During the early hours of Jan. 27 more than 100 gigantic old growth trees fell on the north shore of Lake Quinault. The resulting thud at about 1:30 a.m. was strong enough to register as a small earthquake, according to a seismic monitor at Quinault. …Officials from Olympic National Park knew some sort of wind event was the culprit but nearby weather stations reported only light breezes that night. …“The strong winds were not from UFOs, an angry Sasquatch, a microburst from convection, or some errant meteor,” Mass wrote. “An approaching front produced just the right conditions to produce a high amplitude mountain wave on the upstream ridge, which resulted in a strong rotor that produced powerful reverse flow.”
HALIFAX — Nova Scotia will require industrial facilities generating 50,000 tonnes or more of greenhouse gas emissions per year to report emissions under its proposed cap and trade regime, although key details such as the actual caps and their effect on consumers are yet to be released. Environment Minister Iain Rankin said Friday that regulations are being developed that would make participation mandatory for about 20 large industrial emitters including Nova Scotia Power, Northern Pulp, Lafarge, and large oil and gasoline companies such as ExxonMobil, Imperial and Irving. “The next round we will have our caps set in place,” said Rankin. “We have some discussions we have to do… but the important part of that is that they will be declining caps year over year.” …The province says its cap and trade program is slated to begin next January.
Workshops to cover truck rollover, load restraint risks and Chain of Responsibility issues. Safety workshops for forestry contractors will take place across Queensland, Tasmania, New South Wales and South Australia in coming months as part of a campaign hosted by the Australian Forestry Contractors Association (AFCA). AFCA general manager Stacey Gardiner tells ATN that the three-hour workshops …provide training on truck rollover, load restraint risks and Chain of Responsibility. The training modules, developed in consultation with engineering firm Engistics, are expected to be rolled out to more than 300 operators and loaders across the forestry supply chain. …”Industry participants have commented that this has allowed them to improve their understanding of Chain of Responsibility laws and hear about recent research and findings regarding key risks specific to industry, especially relating to load restraint,” she said.