Headlining the forest fire news, the Amazon continues to burn and G7 leaders have offered significant financial assistance but Brazil’s president rejected their offer. However, an atmospheric scientist says Amazon fires won’t deplete the planet’s oxygen, points to oceans as the lungs of the earth. Will these fires change how regulators view the business of carbon offsets?
Closer to home, Arizona sees “Chip and Ship” as a way to protect from forest fires and Oregon learns to live with fire to improve forest health.
Interfor CEO Duncan Davies says these are challenging times, and if it were up to him, he’d work forever.
Finally, how did you celebrate National Toilet Paper Day? NRDC asks you to ‘wipe-right’!
Sandy McKellar, Tree Frog Editor
Interfor’s long-time 
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VANCOUVER – Canfor Corporation announced additional operating curtailments which will reduce production capacity by 75 million board feet between September 3rd and the end of the year. Its Houston, Polar, Prince George and Fort St. John sawmills will be curtailed the week of September 3rd. In addition, Canfor’s Plateau and Houston mills will transition to a four-day work week in September, which will remain in effect until market and economic conditions support a return to the full operating schedule of five days per week. …These curtailments are in addition to all previously announced capacity reductions.
400 workers are off the job as three mills closed in the northern BC town of Mackenzie: that is nearly 10% of the community’s population. …As the unemployed workforce leaves town in search for jobs, other businesses and workers are also struggling. Last Thursday, a rally was organized to draw attention to what many are calling a crisis in this small community. UFCW 1518 Executive Board member Nan Fredericks was one the organizers of the #MackenzieMatters rally, which had nearly 1,000 people marching in solidarity. …UFCW 1518 stands in solidarity with the community of Mackenzie during this difficult time. Our union represents about 50 workers at the Mackenzie Co-op, who also see themselves are affected by these closures. …“When workers lose their jobs, we hurt entire families, businesses and communities,” said President Kim Novak. “An initiative like the #MackenzieMatters campaign is what the labour movement is about: coming together to fight for fairness.”
Catalyst plans to begin pumping water over the weir on Cowichan Lake as extreme drought grips the region. Brian Houle, environmental manager for Catalyst Crofton said the water level in the river is continuing its downward trend. …“The lake level will continue to slowly decline as a function of our dry weather and due to the sustained 4.5 CMS flow leaving the lake. …Catalyst’s Crofton pulp mill, which depends on water from the Cowichan River to run its operations, has been planning to begin pumping water over its weir for weeks if the region didn’t get sufficient rain. …Water levels in Cowichan Lake are expected to drop by as much as 20 inches and that could uncover unexpected navigational hazards in the lake.
SARNIA, ON
ABBEVILLE, Alabama – Tuesday, state and local officials celebrated the grand opening of the Abbeville sawmill. …Gov. Kay Ivey was on hand for the occasion and toured the facility. …The project, which has an investment to-date of more than $40 million, already employs 65 people. …Over the next year, the company plans to expand to 115 employees and double the number of trucks it gets per day.
French President Emmanuel Macron said G7 countries would release $22m (£18m). However, President Jair Bolsonaro said Mr Macron’s plan of an “alliance” to “save” the Amazon treated Brazil “as if we were a colony or no man’s land”. …The funding pledge was announced as the leaders of the G7 – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US – continue to meet in Biarritz, France. Mr Macron said the funds would be made available “immediately” – primarily to pay for more fire-fighting planes – and that France would also “offer concrete support with military in the region within the next few hours”. However, Mr Bolsonaro – who has been engaged in a public row with Mr Macron in recent weeks – accused the French leader of launching “unreasonable and gratuitous attacks against the Amazon region”, and “hiding his intentions behind the idea of an ‘alliance’ of G7 countries”.
New construction techniques promise changes to the development industry, but materials interests should not be afraid. When it comes to building mid-rise, multi-family residential buildings, there’s a new kid in town. Wood-frame construction is already shaking up the development industry, prompting people behind the traditional ways of doing things to warn against embracing the new construction technique just yet. Is wood the new super-material that will take the purpose-built rental apartment industry into the future? Or are we unwise to throw out the old ways with the bathwater? …Around the year 2000, new construction techniques and new lumber products started to make wood a useful construction material in larger buildings. …The concrete and steel industries, fearing the loss of market share, have fired back, questioning the wisdom of changing the building codes, and questioning the safety and environmental sensitivity of wood as a construction material for mid-rise buildings.
The B.C. government and Tahltan Nation have signed a land-use plan that advances reconciliation and embraces the Klappan Valley’s significant social, cultural, environmental and economic values. …A ceremonial signing and celebration has cemented the Klappan Plan, which guides where resource management activities can occur in the area and protects the Sacred Headwaters — the headwaters of the Skeena, Nass and Stikine rivers — from industrial development for a minimum of 20 years. …“The Klappan Plan is a tangible milestone in B.C.’s reconciliation discussions with the Tahltan and delivers on our commitment to reach land-use solutions through a collaborative process,” said Scott Fraser, Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation. “This is a milestone that will make a real difference for Tahltan Nation and benefit the entire region.”
Woodlot Licences are part of a little industry that makes a big difference on BC’s forest stewardship landscape. Most people don’t know what a Woodlot Licence is, let alone that there are more than 850 of them covering nearly 600,000 hectares of forests in British Columbia. In fact, there’s probably a woodlot in your backyard. They’re managed, productive, working forests on publicly-owned (Crown) land. They share borders with urban centres, rural subdivisions, sensitive ecosystems and traffic corridors. They’re highly visible, play host to a diverse range of species – both flora and fauna – and they’re under the care of BC’s woodlotters. Many people think “forestry” is a commercial venture for big companies like Western Forest Products and Canfor, and it is. The vast majority of BC’s forests are managed by large license holders that log timber for sawmills, value-added production and pellet plants, both locally and overseas.
