Region Archives: Canada West

Special Feature

Mirax Group to Acquire Lyle Forest Products in Chilliwack, BC

By Parm Binning, VP Business Development
Mirax Group
January 24, 2023
Category: Special Feature
Region: Canada, Canada West

Mirax Group announced today that it has reached an agreement to acquire Lyle Forest Products (Lyle) located in Chilliwack, BC.  Established in 1972, Lyle Forest Products is a premier value-added lumber facility dealing with Pacific Coast Hemlock and Western Red Cedar. For the past 50 years Lyle has been producing only the highest quality of paneling, moulding’s, S4S finishing boards, and engineered wood products. …This acquisition is one step closer for Mirax Group to become a more vertically integrated forest company in British Columbia. With the addition of Lyle to our family of companies, this is consistent with our value-added business model to further enhance and diversify investment locally in BC and produce high quality finished products ready to be shipped globally. The new operation will be run as Lyle Specialty Forest Products Ltd., where our sister-company Jazz Forest Products will be the sole distributor for Lyle products. 

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Business & Politics

Forests minister defends government stance on value-added access to timber

By Ted Clarke
The Prince George Citizen
January 26, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Bruce Ralston

B.C. Forests Minister Bruce Ralston is defending his government’s plan to allocate 10 per cent of BC Timber Sales fibre available for auction to the value-added forestry sector. Ralston’s plan and how it relates to secondary wood manufacturers was criticized by Prince George businessman John Brink, who said the new program won’t be enough to attract new investment and prevent some value-added companies from going out of business. “We take exception to the comments,” said Ralston, “The 10% dedicated fibre supply for the new program is just a starting point. Government is committed to ensuring additional volume for BC Timber Sales. …Ralston announced the province intends to set aside 600,000 cubic-metres of Crown land timber. …Brink said B.C. companies in the secondary forest industry should have access to six million cubic metres.

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Canfor closure of Chetwynd mill ‘a kick in the gut’

By Matt Preprost
Powell River Peak
January 26, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Mike Bernier

Canfor is closing another set of mills in northern B.C., this time in Chetwynd and Houston. …Peace River South MLA Mike Bernier called the news “devastating.” “Anytime you have an announcement like this it’s heartbreaking for the families that are affected,” said Bernier, also the Opposition critic for forestry. “For a community like Chetwynd, this is a huge loss to the community.” …Bernier says Canfor still has a business case to operate the Houston mill, which he says was designed and built to deal with the pine beetle epidemic. But companies across the province, including in the Peace region, are struggling to secure long-term tenures for fibre supply, he said. He blamed the provincial government for being reactionary in its response to the mounting pressures in B.C’s forestry sector, despite what he says is still an abundance of supply in the province.

Additional coverage in Alaska Highway News, by Mike Bernier: NDP lack leadership needed for B.C. forestry

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Port Alice pulp mill is demolished after 104 years

By Curtis Blandy
Victoria Buzz
January 26, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

PORT ALICE, BC — North Vancouver Island’s Port Alice was founded as a municipality because of its pulp mill. The mill was owned and operated in the early days by Whalen Pulp and Paper Mills of Vancouver — a family business endeavour by the brothers Whalen. Construction began on the mill in 1917 and it produced its first pulp just one year later in 1918. …The mill had a full life up until it was closed permanently in 2015, with 97 years of operation under its belt. Five years after its closure, residents were shocked to find out that Neucel Specialty Cellulose — the latest owner of the mill who’d purchased the operation in 2005 — successfully filed for bankruptcy. When Neucel bought the mill, it had already been in a state of bankruptcy a year prior to their purchase of the operation.

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Creating good jobs for strong rural communities

By Doug Routley, Parliamentary Secretary of Forests
CFJC Today Kamloops
January 25, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Doug Routley

As the Parliamentary Secretary for Forests and MLA for Nanaimo-North Cowichan, I’m committed to making sure people have strong communities to call home, with good-paying jobs and public services that families can count on. As someone who has worked in forestry, I know personally how vital the sector is for our province. …Last week, we introduced the BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund, which is part of our plan to create more good-paying jobs, build stronger, more resilient forestry communities and create new economic opportunities through innovative, value-added manufacturing. The provincial government is investing $90 million dollars to drive clean growth in rural, remote and Indigenous communities by supporting industrial and manufacturing projects. …The fund also builds on the $185 million we announced in 2022 to support forestry workers, industry, communities and First Nations that may be affected by deferrals of old-growth logging.

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The time has come for Canfor

By Merlin Nichols, past Mayor of Chetwynd
Alaska Highway News
January 26, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Merlin Nichols

When I was Mayor of Chetwynd the crisis that has come home to roost was clearly seen in the ominous silences with which our efforts to avert the crisis were met in Victoria. …we predicted mill closures with devastating effects on the community if the policies the government of the day appeared to be taking were put into effect. …With the closure now announced, it will do us no good to point fingers and cast blame, though blame, if any, primarily rests with political authority. …The assurance by CANFOR’s CEO that the closure was not based on a shortage of fiber, but rather on the difficulty of obtaining permits to harvest, should be the starting point. And from there we go on to chart a workable solution. …Finally, Victoria must play a key role in the negotiations, and without delay, if this operation and this community is to be salvaged. 

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MLA John Rustad calls for strong response following Houston mill closure announcement

By Rod Link
Terrace Standard
January 26, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

John Rustad

The provincial government and Canfor both have a responsibility to the workers when the company closes its Houston sawmill, says John Rustad, Independent MLA for Nechako Lakes. Rustad … doesn’t question the need for a new mill …but says he thought Canfor would have kept the current mill working while the replacement was underway. …What needs to be in place is a program whereby Canfor tops up financial assistance provided by both the provincial and federal governments, Rustad said. Worker support is one of three items Rustad said he’ll be fighting for… Rustad’s third item concerns financial support for the District of Houston which will lose a major part of its property tax revenue when the mill closes down….“I don’t want to see any logs leaving the community. I think the province is going to have to have some very tough conversations with Canfor,” he continued.

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Canfor mill closures cast doubt on future of forestry

By Aaron McArthur
Global News
January 26, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

The closure of two mills, in Chetwynd and Houston, is not just a blow for local communities, but the sector as a whole.

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Canfor restructuring BC operations to create a more sustainable footprint

Canfor Corporation
January 25, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

To better align manufacturing capacity in British Columbia with the available long-term fibre supply, Canfor Corporation is restructuring its B.C. operations by permanently closing its Chetwynd sawmill and pellet plant and temporarily closing its Houston sawmill for an extended period to facilitate a major redevelopment on the site. The Company intends to build a new, modern, globally competitive manufacturing facility that employs state of the art technology to produce high value products from the sustainable timber supply in the region. Project planning, scoping, preliminary engineering and budgeting are underway.  …“We are making these difficult but necessary decisions to create a more sustainable operating footprint in B.C. Our goal is to match our mill capacity with the economically available fibre for harvest to enhance our ability to compete and to operate throughout the market cycles,” said Don Kayne, President and CEO. “…we are putting in place a comprehensive set of support mechanisms to help minimize the impacts of this transition.”

Additional coverage by the Ministry of Forests: Minister Ralston’s statement on Canfor’s restructuring

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On The Brink with David Elstone (View from the Stump)

By John Brink
On the Brink Podcast
January 25, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

David Elstone, RPF, is a professional forester and a highly-regarded industry expert with over 25 years of experience within the forest sector. Recently David has served as Executive Director of the Truck Loggers Association (TLA), advocating on behalf of the British Columbia forest industry’s supply chain. David’s company – Spar Tree Group – aims to support the decision-making processes of the many and varied supplier and service providers that form the supply chain for the forest industry. David’s VIEW FROM THE STUMP NEWSLETTER is a highly popular and respected resource, offering timely and thoughtful analysis, editorial views, as well as various information pertaining to the BC forest industry, conveniently summarized all in one document, published 8x per year.

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Canfor shuts down operations BC, cutting about 400 jobs

By Andrew Kurjata
CBC News
January 25, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Canfor has announced the permanent closure of its Chetwynd, B.C. operations, as well as a temporary closure of its Houston sawmill. The company said shutting its Chetwynd sawmill and pellet plant is part of what it calls a restructuring of operations in the province, while the temporary closure of its sawmill in Houston is part of a restructuring focused on manufacturing. Though the company did not say how many jobs would be cut, the union representing workers at both locations estimated at least 400 people would be out of a job. Bromley said 120 people work at the Chetwynd sawmill, about 300 kilometres northeast of Prince George, while 280 are employed in Houston, about 300 kilometres west of the same city. Jobs will also be cut at the Chetwynd pellet plant. …Canfor says it will wind down both Chetwynd and Houston operations sometime this spring, removing approximately 750 million board feet of annual production capacity.

Additional coverage in the Vancouver Sun by David Carrigg: Canfor closes Chetwynd sawmill and pellet plant

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Canfor Restructuring BC Operations

By Paul Quinn, RBC Analyst
RBC Capital Markets
January 25, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Taking more capacity out of BC. While Canfor has been proactive in shutting sawmills to balance its log demand to the declining log supply over the last decade, the company announced more closures. …The company plans an orderly wind-down of operations that will conclude in early Q223. The closures will remove approximately 750 mmfbm of annual production capacity, which we estimate represents ~11% of the company’s total capacity. …Canfor’s closure in Chetwynd is likely good news to West Fraser (which has a mill in the District), but this may be short-lived, as the BC government is expected to add further restrictions on the harvesting landbase to protect Woodland Caribou. The economic viability of Canfor’s Fort St. John sawmill was impacted last week by the Province government’s agreement with the Blueberry River First Nations. We suspect that by closing its Chetwynd sawmill, the company can transfer a portion of its wood supply to Fort St. John.

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New forestry program will expand manufacturing, create jobs

By Ministry of Forests
Government of British Columbia
January 24, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Wood product manufacturers throughout the province will benefit from a new program to provide dedicated access to timber and accelerate the growth of value-added manufacturing, supporting innovation and creating jobs. For the first time, small and medium-sized secondary manufacturers will have a dedicated fibre supply under a new licensing program. The BC Timber Sales (BCTS) Value-Added Manufacturing Program will be open to facilities producing high-value products, such as mass timber, plywood, veneer, panelling and flooring. “Our government’s vision is to build a stronger, more resilient forestry industry through more value-added manufacturing,” said Bruce Ralston, Minister of Forests. “British Columbians expect that we get the most value from our forests and create more jobs for every tree harvested. That’s why we are taking action to ensure innovative, secondary manufacturers have access to the timber they need to invest and grow their operations.”

Related coverage in CBC News: BC announces more forestry supports

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BC value-added wood manufacturers to get bigger cut of the cut

By Nelson Bennett
Business in Vancouver
January 24, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Bruce Ralston & Brenda Bailey

Wood manufacturers in BC that have little or no Crown tenure will get increased access to logs through BC Timber Sales. Forests Minister Bruce Ralston announced a new program – the BC Timber Sales (BCTS) Value-Added Manufacturing Program – that will set aside 10% of BC Timber sales for qualifying businesses. It will not be open to conventional lumber producers. Only higher value-added manufacturers will qualify….The announcement was made at Coastland Wood Industries, which makes veneer in Nanaimo. The company has no tenure of its own. …Ralston noted that five large forestry companies in B.C. own 50% of the Crown tenure. Ralston said the new program will start with 10% of BC Timber Sales, but that it’s expected that will eventually expand. “There is going to be significant investment in high value wood manufacturing in the coming decade,” said Jake Power of PowerWood.

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Some feared the Gitanyow’s plan would hurt forestry. But land is protected — and industry is thriving

By Matt Simmons
The Narwhal
January 24, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Set against a backdrop of tree-clad mountains, the Kitwanga sawmill yard bustles with activity. Flatbed trucks are loaded with lumber, yellow backhoes scoop towering piles of wood chips and forklifts chime rhythmic warnings while reversing around the rutted tracks.  …,More than half of the trees processed in Kitwanga are harvested on Gitanyow lax’yip (territory) through a partnership with Hereditary Chiefs.  …. …The Gitanyow land-use plan is an example of Indigenous and settler governments working together in a way that reflects the principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, one that is capturing the attention of nations across the country. Underpinning every aspect of the plan and how it plays out on the land is the concept of Gwelx ye’enst — the rights and responsibilities to sustainably pass on the land from one generation to the next.

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West Fraser cautiously stable after curtailments

Burns Lake Lakes District News
January 25, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

With Canfor announcing the shutdown of a pulp line at one of its Prince George factories … communities that depend on the forest sector have been reacting with fearful caution. …West Fraser, too, announced the full closure of their Perry Sawmill in northeast Florida near Tallahassee. …Local residents …wonder what West Fraser has in store for the B.C. Central Interior. The company has eight operations in Quesnel, the town in which was founded. …West Fraser’s senior vice-president of government and corporate relations, James Gorman, told Black Press that we were living in “challenging times in British Columbia’s forest sector. Despite an abundance of trees in the province… constraints have severely reduced the available timber supply.” Adding, “government initiatives along with naturally occurring phenomenon have the potential to further impact fiber supply. It has never been more important for industry, governments, and First Nations to work together to support forest dependent communities and advance reconciliation objectives.”

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Downtime extended at Tolko mills in North Okanagan, Cariboo

By Roger Knox
The Vernon Morning Star
January 23, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

VERNON, BC — Tolko Industries announced that downtime at its Soda Creek and Armstrong Lumber divisions will continue through the month of February. “We do not make these decisions lightly,” says Troy Connolly, VP of Solid Wood. …These temporary curtailments will reduce production by approximately 35 million board feet of stud lumber. …“While we strive to ensure consistency and stability for all of our operations, the upward cost pressures in the province combined with the notable decline in lumber demand make the decision necessary.” …As an additional update on Tolko facilities, operations will resume this week at White Valley and Armstrong Plywood Divisions. These locations were forced to take downtime due to a December 28 substation fire, which caused an ongoing power outage at Armstrong Plywood and Armstrong Lumber. Temporary repairs to the substation are complete, and teams are working through the process of restarting.

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Government money can’t solve BC forest industry woes

By Keith Baldrey
Global News in the North Shore News
January 23, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Premier David Eby made three announcements dealing with the struggling forest industry. Trying to get that industry back on its feet in a timely manner seems akin to pushing a very large boulder up an incredibly steep hill. The forestry sector has been in decline for decades. …The biggest problem right now is the lack of fibre ― or timber ― supply that is forecast to further decline for the rest of this decade. The timber supply was ravaged by the mountain pine beetle infestation that began in 2001. …The initiatives announced by Eby will help parts of the industry but will likely have little impact on the overall health of the sector. …There are more bad times ahead. The deferred logging of 2.6 million hectares of old-growth timber. …Add the volatility of lumber prices and the ever-present threat of U.S. countervailing duties, and the future continues to seem uncertain for what was once B.C.’s number one industry. 

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Fire delays Houston Canfor mill re-opening

By Rod Link
Terrace Standard
January 23, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Investigators are still determining the cause of an early morning Jan. 22 fire at Houston’s Canfor sawmill which severely damaged an interior control room. The blaze has further set back a full re-opening of the mill which has been closed for five weeks. Houston Volunteer Fire Department chief Jim Daigneault said firefighters were called out just before 1 a.m. and that three engines responded with 17 department members. “We were on scene for five hours. It was a challenge to make sure it was totally out,” he said of the fire in and around the computer equipment in the trimmer room. “The fire had gotten into a couple of walls and the electrical room floor had been compromised by the fire,” Daigneault added. …The mill, as with Canfor’s other sawmills in B.C., was closed for three weeks in December with the company citing weak markets and high log costs as reasons.

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Sinclar announces temporary curtailments at lumber operations

CKPG News Prince George
January 23, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

PRINCE GEORGE — Sinclar has announced temporary production curtailments at its lumber operations at Apollo Forest Products in Fort St. James, Lakeland Mills in Prince George, and Nechako Lumber Co. in Vanderhoof. The company says they will last two weeks, starting January 30. “There are factors outside of our control that are having a detrimental impact on our business,” said Sinclar President Greg Stewart. “Regrettably, it is necessary to curtail our lumber operations at this time.” Weak market conditions and constraints on an economical fibre supply are having a significant negative impact across the B.C. forest industry. “Sinclar remains committed to the long-term sustainability of our operations, while continuing to support our employees, local First Nations, and communities,” said Stewart. The Premium Pellet operation will continue to run, and Lakeland will continue to provide heat to the Prince George Downtown Renewable Energy System operations at this time.”

Related coverage in Woodworking Network: And another BC sawmill curtails production

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Prince George Pulp mill closure precipitated by chip shortages, dwindling pulp log supplies

By Ted Clarke
Prince George Citizen
January 21, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Rob Schuetz

As a forest industry consultant, Rob Schuetz has been crunching numbers watching timber supplies fall and for many months and the math he’s been doing has been ringing alarm bells.  The president of Prince George-based Industrial Forestry Service Ltd., has watched anxiously as residual chip supplies have steadily fallen and the availability of pulp logs needed by local pulp mills to make up the difference has also plunged. Without fibre, pulp mills can’t operate and like many others connected to the industry Schuetz was not at all surprised when Canfor announced last week it intends to permanently close the pulp line at Prince George Pulp and Paper mill.  “It always made sense that one of the pulp mills would shut down,” said Schuetz. “We always knew that a complete shutdown of one of the mills would probably happen within the next couple years. ”

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B.C. forest industry unclear on government’s vision — and what it means for timber value and supply

By Derrick Penner
Vancouver Sun
January 20, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Jake Power

The Power Wood specialty sawmill in Agassiz has navigated turbulence in B.C.’s forest industry without layoffs to date among its 53 workers, but CEO Jake Power isn’t so sure about the future.  “It’s been OK,” Power said. “The last … eight or nine months, the market’s been strong enough that we’ve been able to just kind of buy our way into supply” of its raw materials.  …”At the moment, we’re a little bit nervous about growing our staff,” Power said. “Because we’re in a growth phase, I guess you could say … that we’re pausing hiring in a phase where we should be hiring more.”  …The bigger problem for industry, however, is the short-term uncertainty raised by government’s promise to transform land-use management in ways that will prioritize the ecosystem values of forests over just timber values, and what that will mean for timber supplies.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Wii Gyemsiga Siwilaawksat Student Building, Coast Mountain College

naturally:wood
January 1, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

Timber technology and tradition unite in Coast Mountain College’s Wii Gyemsiga Siwilaawksat Student Housing. The project features BC-sourced western red cedar cladding, a Douglas-fir glue-laminated timber (glulam) pin-wheel structure, modular light-frame wood construction, Indigenous art installations and a novel signage and wayfinding program that embraces Sm’algyax—the local First Nations language where the building resides. The Wii Gyemsiga Siwilaawksat Student Housing design embraced an indigenized approach and included broad stakeholder input throughout to provide students with a safe, inclusive living space reflective of local Indigenous culture. The project features BC-sourced western red cedar cladding, a Douglas-fir glue-laminated timber (glulam) pin-wheel structure and modular light-frame wood construction. The three-storey modular light-frame building replaces 40-year-old-student housing and provides 108 student beds, two hotel suites, an elder suite, six shared kitchens, two collaboration areas, a computer lab, an esports room, a maker space and bike storage.

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Forestry

Visual Quality in the Salisbury Creek Area

BC Forest Practices Board
January 26, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

A Kaslo resident filed a complaint with the Forest Practices Board about Cooper Creek Cedar Ltd.’s (CCC) harvesting in the Salisbury Creek area south of Argenta. The complainant believes that CCC’s harvesting is inconsistent with the visual quality objective (VQO). The complainant believes that Cooper Creek Cedar Ltd.’s (CCC) harvesting is inconsistent with the visual quality objective (VQO). Did CCC comply with FRPA when it planned and logged? Board investigators completed a visual impact assessment (VIA) of the harvested area from three significant public viewpoints that CCC had identified in the VIA.

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We Wai Kai Chief frustrated over land transfer delays

By Marc Kitteringham
The Campbell River Mirror
January 26, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

CAMPBELL RIVER, BC — The We Wai Kai First Nation is frustrated with the lack of progress in an agreed-upon land transfer from the Province of B.C. In 2019, the We Wai Kai First Nation signed an incremental treaty agreement with the province to allow the transfer to them of 3,000 hectares of forest. “It was meant to give us some of our land back, but also give us some economic benefits as well,” said We Wai Kai Chief Ronnie Chickite. …Chickite says the land was to be used for a selective logging operation that could have brought in millions in revenue for the First Nation that is seeing growing membership. “We missed out in the biggest forest value or market probably in history in the last couple years as everything was skyrocketing and record prices,” he said. “We’re not even able to harvest our cut allowance that we were we’re going to do.”

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New conservancy protects rare ecosystems in Incomappleux Valley

By the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy
Government of British Columbia
January 25, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Known for its rich wildlife habitat and old-growth forests, the Incomappleux Valley is a biologically unique place in B.C. that will now be preserved by the Province. Located in the remote wilderness southeast of Revelstoke, the new Incomappleux Conservancy spans more than 58,000 hectares and is part of B.C.’s rare inland temperate rainforest where some old-growth cedar and hemlock trees are estimated to be four metres (13 feet) in diameter and more than 1,000 years old. The forest supports more than 250 lichen species, including some that are new to science, and provides habitat for grizzly and black bears, as well as a variety of endangered fungal and plant species. “Protecting our wild spaces for generations to come is one of the most important things we are doing to create a healthier future,” said Premier David Eby.

Additional coverage in CBC by Canadian Press: B.C. valley of ancient trees, rare animals preserved in deal with forest firmThe partnership to protect the Incomappleux Valley east of Revelstoke, B.C., involves Interfor Corp. giving up 75,000 hectares of its forest tenure.

Black Press in Victoria News by Zach Delaney and Josh Piercey: ‘We owe it to our children’: 75,000 hectares of old growth forest conserved east of RevelstokeThe inland temperate rainforest has been assessed as a red listed ecosystem on the brink of ecosystem collapse.

The Narwhal, by Sarah Cox: ‘Rarest of the rare’: B.C’s newest conservancy protects globally imperilled rainforest

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B.C. forest industry, government can’t even do replanting right

By James Steidle, Stop the Spray
Prince George Citizen
January 25, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

James Steidle

One of the lasting legacies of the forest industry in Prince George won’t be jobs and community. It will be the vast landscapes of monocrop pine plantations, many sprayed with glyphosate to remove any tree or shrub with a fire-resistant, ungulate-feeding leaf on it. …we didn’t plant only pine.  We also planted Douglas fir and spruce. But many didn’t take. Once we sprayed out the birch and aspen we gave the upper hand to the pine. …You may have heard we plant seven species of conifer, but there is no requirement to do so.  The requirement is a “free growing” conifer plantation, and pine is the cheapest, quickest, and most reliable way to get there. …We’ve been defrauding our forests, our moose, our tourism, hunters and ranchers, for a shallow mindset of short-term greed that is delivering not even the jobs that were promised us today.

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MLA backs effort to expand community forest

By Rod Link
Huston Today
January 25, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

John Rustad

The provincial government should provide the District of Houston-owned Dungate Community Forest with more wood, says John Rustad, independent MLA for Nechako-Lakes. Community forests such as Dungate not only provide local control over wood they also bring a measure of economic stability, said Rustad. “There’s tremendous value for that revenue to stay in the communities,” he said of income from community forests. …Dungate has spent years seeking additional wood from the provincial government, saying it can offer value not only in logging but in enhancing outdoor recreational opportunities. The province has, however, rebuffed the Dungate proposal, repeatedly said all of the timber available within the area has already been spoken for. …One of the key ingredients to reviving the industry is reducing the cost to companies arising from government policies and taxation, Rustad continued. …Rustad also said the province has to eliminate the complexity, time and cost companies now bear in obtaining cutting permits.

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Prince George business leader rips B.C. government over value-added wood decision

By Ted Clarke
Prince George Citizen
January 25, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

John Brink is angry about the B.C. government’s decision to allocate 10 per cent of B.C.’s annual allowable cut to the value-added forest sector. The owner of Brink Forest Products says the allocation should be 10 times the 600,000 cubic metres the province intends to reserve for secondary manufacturers. “If it is 600,000 cubic metres annually that is nothing, that is not even the size of a regular sawmill,” Brink said. “That means the government has said, ‘We don’t want value-added manufacturing.’ If you do not have reasonable expectation of access to fibre, why would anybody invest in value-added manufacturing?” B.C. Timber Sales controls between six million and eight million cubic metres of timber, which represents about 20 per cent of the annual allowable cut, and Brink says all of that should be made available to value-added bidders. He predicts the restricted timber supply available will cripple value-added businesses and deter investment in B.C.

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BC Pulp and Paper Coalition ecstatic over quick action on fire-damaged fibre plan

By Caden Fanshaw
CKPG Today
January 25, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

PRINCE GEORGE – As forestry operations across the province struggle to obtain adequate fibre to keep the gears turning on sawmills and pulp and paper mills, changes are being made. After calls from Joe Nemeth, Manager at the BC Pulp and Paper Coalition to fund a fire-damaged fibre recovery program, the province has sprung into action. The $50 million program will be administered by the Forest Enhancement Society of BC, targeted at salvaging fire-damaged stands across the province. Nemeth said this will aid pulp mills to keep the doors open for years to come, with big benefits especially in Southern BC where forest fires have burnt across landscapes in recent years. Northern BC will also see some benefit to the program. “This is a major positive step towards resolving the single biggest issue the B.C. forest sector is currently facing: lack of economic fibre.

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2022 year in review and 2023 outlook with Chris Duncan, national leader of forestry and forest products services at MNP

CFI Podcast with Jennifer Ellson
Soundcloud
January 1, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

In 2022, Canada’s forest industry was influenced by a combination of factors – inflation, extreme weather conditions, labour shortage, and technological advances. There are numerous lessons for businesses to learn from these events. Chris Duncan, National Leader of MNP’s Forestry and Forest Product Services, talks through the impact of 2022 forestry trends in this episode of the CFI podcast. He also discusses the industry outlook for 2023 and opportunities your company should be aware of.

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When ‘historic’ wasn’t an exaggeration

By Vaughn Palmer
Vancouver Sun
January 23, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Judy Desjarlais and David Eby

VICTORIA — Premier David Eby declared it a historic day last week when he signed the settlement of a court battle with the Blueberry River First Nations. “What a historic moment,” agreed Chief Judy Desjarlais, elected chief of the First Nation. “Historic — that’s a word that gets thrown around a lot,” observed Indigenous Relations Minister Murray Rankin, who joined them at the signing ceremony in Prince George Wednesday. …B.C. Supreme Court Justice Emily Burke found B.C. had trampled Blueberry’s treaty rights to hunt, fish and trap by permitting widespread natural gas drilling and timber harvesting within the nation’s traditional territory. She ordered B.C. to cease and desist, then suspended the order for six months to provide the province with time to negotiate a preliminary agreement respecting treaty rights. …The province has agreed to pay compensation to tenure holders for the removal of 350,000 cubic metres of harvestable timber from the land base in the region.

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Extinction Rebellion roadblock organizer pleads guilty to mischief charges

By Bob Mackin
Vancouver is Awesome
January 24, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Almost a year after forming a company to organize illegal roadblocks, a leader of three climate change protest brands pleaded guilty to five mischief charges Monday in Vancouver Provincial Court. Muhammad Zain Ul-Haq, a student from Pakistan, was scheduled to go on trial for mischief related to the July 24, 2021 Extinction Rebellion (ER) protest that blocked the Burrard Bridge in Vancouver. He pleaded guilty to that incident and for blocking [multiple streets]. Haq’s next court date is Feb. 9 for a pre-sentence report. …In an Instagram video shot outside the North Fraser Pretrial Centre after his release, Haq joked about spending his time in jail watching Seinfeld reruns. He also suggested Prime Minister Justin Trudeau be tried and sentenced for crimes against humanity.

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MP Terry Duguid Launches Program to Plant Over 71,000 Trees in Winnipeg With Mayor Gillingham

By Natural Resources Canada
Cision Newswire
January 25, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

WINNIPEG, MBCanada has committed to planting two billion trees across the country. From the Assiniboine Forest to Bunn’s Creek Parkway, Winnipeg is home to urban forests, winding riverbanks and large open green spaces. Terry Duguid, Member of Parliament for Winnipeg South and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, on behalf of the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources, joined Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham to launch the Home Grown tree planting grant program. Supported by a federal investment of more than $7 million over five years, this program will plant over 71,000 trees across Winnipeg and contribute to Canada’s collective effort to plant two billion trees. The Home Grown tree planting grant program will lead to reduced climate-warming emissions, increase forest tree cover, and expand and improve habitat covers along riverbanks. …These efforts will also combat erosion, sedimentation and pollutants in the area.

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Restore logging in forest reserve

Letter by Glen Ridgway, North Cowichan
Lake Cowichan Gazette
January 23, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

In a recent letter critical of the history of the forest reserve, the writer made reference to remarks by our new tall premier. The impact attributed to the remarks and their significance on the Municipal Forest Reserve was the equivalent to the Sermon on the Mount to Christians, the Gettysburg Address to Americans, of Churchill’s “We will fight them on the Beaches” to the Allied nations. So I checked and what I found was run of the mill “we must do better” with our forests. No stop logging and make your money with carbon credits as I had anticipated. And then a few weeks later the tall premier shows up in the middle of North Cowichan with $20 million to employ people using the products of logging, not selling carbon credits. No municipal person in sight… Contact our municipal council and tell them to join Canada and B.C. in a responsible economic use of our forest. 

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Watchdog ‘exploring options’ to address systemic issues raised about RCMP unit in B.C.

By Brett Forester
CBC News
January 23, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The RCMP’s federal watchdog agency is weighing its options after receiving nearly 500 formal complaints about a unit tasked with policing resistance to major resource extraction projects in British Columbia. More than 100 grievances accepted for investigation contain allegations of excessive force, illegal tactics, unprofessional behaviour, racism, discrimination and charter violations by the force’s Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG). …The watchdog receives complaints, refers them to the Mounties for investigation, then reviews those investigations if complainants aren’t satisfied. …Chief Supt. John Brewer, the Mountie in charge of the C-IRG… suggested the misconduct allegations often come from activists upset about being arrested or citizens who find the use of force, authorized by court-ordered injunctions, unpleasant. …Brewer’s C-IRG deployed to Fairy Creek in 2021 to enforce an injunction prohibiting protesters from blockading old-growth logging operations. 

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How can forestry companies claim sustainability while clearcutting old-growth and second-growth forests?

Letter by Save Our Forests Team – Comox Valley
Comox Valley Record
January 23, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

In a December 2022 … Canadian environmental groups and Ecojustice levelled a greenwashing case against the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI). The complaint alleges SFI’s claims of sustainability are “false and misleading” because it has “no rules requiring that logging meet prescribed sustainability criteria nor any on-the-ground assessment to confirm sustainability.” The complaint asserts that industry claims of “sustainability” are “greenwashing” because SFI only certifies a process, and logging companies are not evaluated to ensure that the outcome of their operations is sustainable. …In B.C., SFI-certified Mosaic Forest Management claims to be operating at a higher and better environmental standard than legally required …we call on Mosaic to be honest about the “sustainability” of their logging practices, whatever certification they have. Show us the results, especially as they relate to the forests adjacent to Strathcona Park/Ramparts Creek/Mount Washington.

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Logging is imminent in an area home to a threatened bison herd in northern Alberta

By Drew Anderson
The Narwhal
January 23, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

A unique wood bison herd near Wood Buffalo National Park in northern Alberta is on the verge of being wiped out. The herd, one of only two naturally established disease-free herds in Alberta, has as few as nine bison remaining. With logging set to begin in the area imminently, community members are concerned it will have dire consequences. Federally, wood bison are considered a threatened species, but the Wabasca herd is stuck in a sort of regulatory limbo as the federal and provincial governments work to identify its critical habitat — a step that would bring protections through the Species At Risk Act. …Logging is now set to start on the southwest edge of the Wabasca range, an area that trapper Johnson Alook and members of ShagowAskee say will impact critical bison habitat, but which the B.C.-based logging company Tolko — and the provincial government — say is outside their range and won’t affect the herd.

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Ministry of Forests discuss logging closures

By Marius Auer
The Merritt Herald
January 24, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

As mill closures drag on in Merritt, and become permanent in other parts of the province, those in the forestry industry are urging the provincial government to intervene and support the industry. Access to timber is a concern for a number of forestry companies… Aspen Planers’ Merritt operations have been temporarily halted since December 2022 due to a lack of approved cutting permits and access to timber, with no end in sight. Vaagen Fibre in Midway, B.C. has also indefinitely shut down… …a lack of access to timber supply, along with an opaque and unnecessarily complicated permitting process for cutting new logs, continue to strangle local operations in the Nicola Valley. …the Ministry said that most applications for cutting permits are granted within a reasonable timeframe. They were not able to provide clarification on Aspen Planers’ permits in particular, but added that recent data for the district overall shows most permits are issued quickly.

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Health & Safety

WorkSafeBC is seeking participants for Young Worker Dialogue Session

Council of Construction Associations
January 25, 2023
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada, Canada West

As you may know, WorkSafeBC regularly engages with young workers, and the employers who hire them, to ensure these workers’ voices are heard when it comes to workplace health and safety. WorkSafeBC seeks feedback from young workers in order to better understand their attitudes and motivations around workplace health and safety and to ensure important safety messages resonate with this target group. WorkSafeBC is recruiting young workers aged 18–24 to participate in an online dialogue session. The session will gather feedback from participants on WorkSafeBC’s current outreach and engagement initiatives and solicit their ideas on new ways WorkSafeBC can connect with young workers on workplace health and safety. Recruitment is happening in January 2023, and the online dialogue session will take place in February 2023. Selected participants will receive a $150 honorarium for participating in and completing a two-hour online dialogue session.

Young Worker Online Dialogue Session Application

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