Region Archives: Canada West

Business & Politics

B.C. heading to Japan on lumber trade mission at time of sliding sales

By Derrick Penner
Vancouver Sun
November 6, 2022
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Katrine Conroy

Forest Minister Katrine Conroy is leading B.C. forest industry leaders on a trade mission to Japan, the first in-person sales trip since the COVID pandemic began. She hopes to bolster sales at a time when the province’s lumber exports have been falling and fears of a recession are rising. “Japan is a critically important export market for B.C.’s high-quality wood products,” Conroy said in a news release. It is typically the province’s third-largest market after the U.S. and China. B.C.’s 2022 exports to Japan, however, were down 25 per cent in volume through the end of September compared with the same period of 2021, and down 14 per cent to $623 million compared with $723 million from 2021, according to provincial trade figures. Overall, B.C.’s lumber exports to the end of September, the latest figures available, are down 10 per cent on volume and 15 per cent on value, $6.1 billion compared with $7.2 billion over the same months of 2021.

See BC Government press release here

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Taiga Building Products announces stronger Q3 sales due to higher commodity prices

By Taiga Building Products Ltd.
Cision Newswire
November 4, 2022
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

BURNABY, BC – Taiga Building Products Ltd. reported its financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022. Sales for the quarter ended September 30, 2022 were $533.1 million compared to $484.6 million over the same period last year. The increase in sales by $48.5 million or 10% was largely due to higher selling prices for commodity products. Gross margin for the quarter ended September 30, 2022 increased to $63.8 million from $7.6 million over the same period last year. In the 2021 comparative period commodity prices fell dramatically and the Company booked a $13.4 million inventory reserve due to the impact falling commodity prices had on its treated inventory values. Net earnings (loss) for the quarter ended September 30, 2022 increased to income of $18.6 million compared to a loss of ($5.2) million over the same period last year. This was primarily due to higher gross margin.

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Housing market gloom puts B.C. sawmills at risk of shutdowns

By Jen Skerritt
Bloomberg in the Vancouver Sun
November 3, 2022
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

A pall in North America’s housing market is slashing demand for lumber and threatening to shut down sawmills in BC. Lumber futures fell four per cent to $433 per 1,000 board feet in Chicago on Thursday, extending a slump to about 62% this year. The price is so low that it may result in sawmill closures in B.C., according to RBC’s Paul Quinn. “We are below the bottom, so B.C. producers are losing money,” Quinn said. “I suspect we will get a number of sawmill closures over the next year.” The move is a stark reversal from the all-time highs set in 2021 and comes as this year’s surge in borrowing costs has made homes too pricey for buyers. The U.S. Federal Reserve’s rate hike this week added to the gloom and Chair Jerome Powell said the housing market was ‘very overheated’ during the pandemic. Canadian producers West Fraser Timber and Canfor already announced reductions.

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New president takes reins at southern B.C. lumber association

By Interior Lumber Manufacturers Association
The Castlegar News
November 2, 2022
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Paul Rasmussen

The organization representing family-owned small and mid-sized forest products companies in the interior has a new president. The Interior Lumber Manufacturers’ Association (ILMA) has hired former Ministry of Forests executive Paul Rasmussen to lead the group, following the retirement of Dan Battistella. Rasmussen, who previously served as an Assistant Deputy Minister (south area operations) in the Ministry of Forests, has a long background in the forest sector. …“The ILMA members have a different relationship with their communities,” Rasmussen said. “They’re family-owned, multi-generational, and deeply rooted. The business isn’t just a business to them; it’s a sustainable way of life that can’t be packed-up and moved to new locale when times are tough.” …Ken Kalesnikoff, chair of the ILMA board, said… “Paul is the right fit for us at this time.”

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Ehattesaht Chinehkint Nation purchases majority interest in Strategic Natural Resource Consultants.

By Strategic Natural Resource Consultants Inc
LinkedIn
November 2, 2022
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Strategic is proud to share some exciting news! The Ehattesaht Chinehkint Nation has just purchased a majority interest in Strategic Natural Resource Consultants. Our staff here at Strategic are pleased that our long-term client has become a partner in our business. We know our new partners will bring a lot of new energy to the firm that will help us strengthen how we do business and our relationship with our clients. The Ehattesaht Chinehkint People use the term Hišukišcawak, which means, “All things are connected – Everything is one.” This could not be better aligned with Strategic, which has strived to be the preferred team to work with here in BC. Strategic is now uniquely structured as a majority Indigenous-owned and employee-owned natural resource service provider. We are happy about this new partnership and are looking forward to another 20 transformative years.

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Western Forest Products’ Port Alberni sawmill closure will continue for six months, unless market conditions change.

By Mary Griffin
Chek News
November 1, 2022
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Western Forest Products closed its Port Alberni sawmill for at least six months, putting more than 100 people out of work. While 15 people remain working at the company’s planer mill, the sawmill shut down last month. Glen Cheetham, business agent, United Steelworkers Union Local 1-1937, said… “There’s never a good time for these things.” …Western Forest Products operates six mills on Vancouver Island, but this is the only mill that is currently curtailed, with an opening to be determined sometime in the spring. The company… cited market conditions and a lack of supply as reasons for the closure. …This is not the first curtailment on the Island. Last month, Paper Excellence announced its paper mill operations at the Catalyst Crofton facility near Duncan are curtailed indefinitely. The company is blaming the closure on weak paper markets in China.

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Partnership wins 2022 Indigenous Business Award for Cariboo partnership

By Ruth Lloyd
The Williams Lake Tribune
October 28, 2022
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Percy Guichon and Danny Strobbe

A Williams Lake-based business Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation Ltd. has been recognized with a 2022 Indigenous Business Award. Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation Ltd. has been awarded Business Partnership of the Year by the BC Achievement Foundation. The business is a joint venture forestry company owned by the Tsideldel First Nation (Previously known as Redstone) and the Tl’etinqox (Previously known as Anaham) Government. “Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation is so pleased to be awarded with this honour,” noted Percy Guichon, Director of CCR and member of the Tsideldel First Nation. The partnership was formed in the spring of 2017, the joint venture was originally formed to address the 100,000 hectares of dead pine which were at the time still left in the Chilcotin region and to reduce wildfire risk and rehabilitate mountain pine beetle-damaged forests near Alexis Creek.

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Prince Albert pulp mill prepares for construction

By Lisa Risom
CTV News
October 28, 2022
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Demolition work is set to begin at the Prince Albert Pulp Mill, but the company said it was at least two years away from production. “We have awarded three contracts to perform some work around the mill associated with demolition,” project operations director … Carlo Dal Monte said. Paper Excellence has awarded $1.4 million dollars in contracts to three Prince Albert based contractors. …Paper Excellence submitted a revised environmental impact study to the government at the end of September. The Ministry of Environment has 30 days to review the document. …The company has also prepared an area east of the pulp mill for a proposed oriented strand board (OBS) manufacturing plant by One Sky Forest Products. Paper Excellence signed an agreement with One Sky Forest Products to subdivide their property… Paper Excellence and One Sky plan to share log storage areas, roads and a rail line.

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Deputy premier says forestry an industry in transition, but has ‘strong future’ on the Island

By Greg Sakaki
The Nanaimo News Bulletin
October 29, 2022
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Mike Farnworth

Mike Farnworth, B.C.’s deputy premier, was the final speaker at this week’s State of Vancouver Island Economic Summit in Nanaimo and said the province will continue working with industry to move from “high-volume to high-value production.” The just-released State of the Island Economic Report, prepared by the Vancouver Island Economic Alliance… calculated that the forest sector supported 9,200 jobs on Vancouver Island in 2021, with 59 per cent in forestry and logging, 23 per cent in pulp and paper manufacturing and 18 per cent in wood product manufacturing. …“Looking forward, limited fibre supply and slowdowns in production are expected to persist. There is also the potential for reductions in allowable annual cuts in some areas of Vancouver Island,” the report noted. “As a result, forest operations on Vancouver Island are expected to remain below 2021 levels.” Farnworth said part of forestry’s transition will be “growing B.C.’s forest bio-economy” and said many Vancouver Island companies are leading the way.

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Hampton Lumber donates $250,000 to Burns Lake Foundry project

The Prince George Daily News
October 27, 2022
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

BURNS LAKE, BC — The Burns Lake Foundry project has acquired a site and is moving into the design phase. Foundry centres have been opened across B.C. and act as sites for health, mental wellness and substance-use services for youth. The long-awaited news of a confirmed site for Foundry Burns Lake is now possible to announce for 686 McPhail Rd. across from Lakes District Secondary School. …Now that a site is secured, our next goal is to raise the $4.1 million needed to complete the build of Foundry Burns Lake. We are excited to announce we have received our first major donation from Hampton Lumber’s Babine Forest Products & Decker Lake Forest Products. Thanks to their generous donation of $250,000, we are able to prepare the site for construction to begin in 2023.

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Finance & Economics

Western Forest Products reports positive Q3, 2022 results

By Western Forest Products Inc.
Globe Newswire in the Financial Post
November 3, 2022
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Western Forest Products reported net income of $6.6 million and adjusted EBITDA of $17.3 million in the third quarter of 2022. Results reflect compressed margins on lower lumber production and shipments and $23.1 million of inventory provisions, partly offset by an $18.0 million export tax recovery. Net income in the third quarter of 2022 was $6.6 million as compared to net income of $38.6 million for the second quarter of 2022, and net income of $42.2 million in the third quarter of 2021. …Western’s third quarter adjusted EBITDA was $17.3 million, as compared to adjusted EBITDA of $66.2 million in the second quarter of 2022, and adjusted EBITDA of $66.3 million in the third quarter of 2021. “Our results on the quarter reflect challenging global market conditions, reduced lumber sales volumes and continued pressure on log costs and logistics,” said Steven Hofer, Western’s President and CEO.

 

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Doman Building Materials reports positive Q3, 2022 results

By Doman Building Materials Group Ltd.
The Market Screener
November 3, 2022
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER, BC — Doman Building Materials Group announced its third quarter 2022 financial results. Consolidated revenues increased by 19.0% to $744.1 million, compared to $625.3 million in 2021, largely due to the impact of construction materials pricing. …Gross margin dollars increased to $91.5 million, compared to $80.7 million in 2021. EBITDA for the third quarter amounted to $40.0 million, compared to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA of $33.2 million, and $34.5 million, respectively, during the same period in 2021. Net earnings for the three-month period ended September 30, 2022, were $11.6 million versus $7.7 million in the comparative period of 2021.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Climate Changed: How B.C. homebuilders and residents are adapting to a warming world

By Brenna Owen
Canadian Press in Vancouver Sun
November 6, 2022
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

The two-storey family home with a classic design and wooden cladding blends in with its neighbours, but its thick, insulated walls, airtightness, solar panels, heat pump and highly efficient windows make it a home built for a warming world. …The Net Zero home and others like it show that some consumers and builders are taking adaptation into their own hands with design and materials fit for a new climate, with the added benefit of boosting efficiency and cutting energy costs. But many existing properties, from single-family homes to condos in towering skyscrapers, will need upgrades to meet the challenge. A prolonged heat wave that sent temperature records tumbling across British Columbia in June 2021 underscored the importance of climate-resilient housing. …This year’s federal budget earmarked $150 million to develop a national green buildings strategy for both new and existing buildings to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and increase resilience to the effects of climate change.

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Construction work begins at Selkirk College new student housing project

The Boundary Sentinel
November 5, 2022
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

Politicians, community members and members of the public officially launched the new on-campus housing project at the Castlegar Campus of Selkirk College Friday afternoon. The $31.1-million project will allow almost 150 Selkirk College students at the Castlegar and Nelson Silver King campuses to look forward to new on-campus housing with construction underway on the new student housing buildings. …Both student housing buildings will be constructed with mass timber and modular wood materials, aligning with B.C.’s Wood First Initiative. Space on the main floors of each building will have fully accessible communal areas that include study spaces, kitchens, dining spaces, living and game rooms, and laundry facilities. …Aligned with the Province’s CleanBC plan, the buildings will be constructed using natural products. …Government is investing $29.1 million toward this $31.1-million project, with the remaining funding being contributed by the college and Columbia Basin Trust.

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UBC researchers combine science and robotics for wood, cellulose

By Peter Caulfield
Journal of Commerce
November 2, 2022
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

At the University of British Columbia, researchers are combining science and robotics to develop new and creative uses for wood and cellulose. UBC’s Centre for Advanced Wood Processing (CAWP) researchers are developing a bioproduct filament that can be used in the laser heads of 3D printers for additive manufacturing. “We have developed a 3D printing technology – a high-resolution computer-aided design and fabrication technology – that uses cellulose fibres to produce 3D objects,” said Feng Jiang assistant forestry professor and Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Functional Biomaterials. Jiang said 3D printing can create very complex, customized objects. “The technology has been used for such materials as polymers, metals, ceramics and cement,” he said. “However, its application to bio-based polymers, especially cellulose, has been limited.” One of the reasons for its limited use is that cellulose is hard to process.

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naturally:wood Top marks for timber: the endless possibilities of wood

naturally:wood
October 31, 2022
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

In this newsletter you’ll find:

  • Top marks for timber: the endless possibilities of wood: Wood use in BC Schools 2.0 What are the benefits of building schools with wood? How can we build educational facilities that are flexible, while supporting student well-being and learning? What role can biophilic design and mass timber play?
  • Timber Structure Modelling Guide Computer modelling to help designers understand building performance is growing. The Modelling Guide for Timber Structures guide was developed by FPInnovations
  • Podcast + Research: UBC Embodied Carbon Pilot Hear from UBC researcher Diana López on the multi-year UBC Embodied Carbon Pilot program.
  • Resources and case studies

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The Nancy Pauw Bridge, A Second Footbridge Over the Bow River

StructureCraft
October 27, 2022
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

BANFF, Alberta — The Nancy Pauw Bridge is set in the heart of Banff, spanning the Bow River to connect Central Park to the Banff Recreation Grounds. …Like its sister bridge downstream, the Nancy Pauw Bridge will be an 80m clear span over the Bow River. The structure is an extremely shallow, pure arch, created with stepped Glulam girders and weathering steel haunches. The bridge has been prefabricated and assembled into large segments, and was lifted into place from the shore in early May. …Gerald Epp of StructureCraft was invited to share with the attendees his joy in helping fulfill the vision, with the design and erection of this slender long span timber structure. This is the third pedestrian bridge that StructureCraft has designed and built for the Town of Banff following the Bow River Pedestrian Bridge and the Legacy Trail Footbridge in 2013.

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Forestry

New employment opportunities support forestry workers

By Ministry of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation
Government of British Columbia
November 6, 2022
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

More employment opportunities are underway for contractors and forestry workers throughout rural B.C. under the Province’s Forest Employment Program (FEP). “We know that changes and downturns can be hard on communities that rely on the forestry sector, and our government is there for them,” said Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation. “That’s why we’re funding important local projects in collaboration with rural communities and First Nations to help forestry workers seeking new opportunities in their local community.” From January until March 2022, the Government of B.C. provided $2 million for 41 FEP projects that are now complete or nearing completion. Projects included grading, brushing and improving forest service roads, including improving accessibility; environmental damage repairs; improving and building recreation sites and trails; and capacity-building projects.  

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Funding helps connect people to natural-resource sector careers

By Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction
Government of British Columbia
November 3, 2022
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

As many as 120 eligible people will receive training to prepare them for employment in wildfire and integrated natural resources fields in five regions around the province. This new provincial Community and Employer Partnerships project focuses on training for youth, youth at risk, immigrants, Indigenous people, and people who face barriers to employment. “We’re investing in natural-resource-sector training programs to help people access rewarding employment opportunities that can lead them toward a bright future,” said Nicholas Simons, Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction. “Participants who complete this training program will be able to build long-term careers from wildland firefighting to environmental monitoring.” The Province is providing more than $4 million to Stillwater Consulting Ltd. to deliver two intakes of its Wildfire and Integrated Natural Resources program in Nanaimo, Langley, Cranbrook, Kamloops and Prince George.

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B.C. says old-growth logging at historic low, but conservation group calls finding a ‘slap in the face’

By Todd Coyne
CTV News
November 3, 2022
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The British Columbia government says old-growth logging has fallen to historic lows in the province …But the Wilderness Committee conservation group says the government is failing to disclose data about where old-growth logging was deferred and where it continues. …The group says its own independent mapping and on-the-ground analysis over the past year has confirmed that logging continues in thousands of hectares of at-risk old-growth forests in the province. …The Wilderness Committee is calling on B.C.’s incoming premier to direct his government to provide maps or specific details about which old-growth forests have been protected. …The B.C. Forests Ministry responded Thursday, saying it would not disclose which old-growth areas are deferred or not deferred because doing so would breach confidential agreements with First Nations without their consent.

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Old-growth logging declines to record lows

By The Ministry of Forests
The Government of British Columbia
November 2, 2022
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

As the Province continues implementation of the Old Growth Strategic Review, the latest numbers released show old-growth logging in B.C. has decreased to the lowest level on record. Logging of old growth has declined by 42%, from an estimated 65,500 hectares in 2015 to 38,300 hectares in 2021. The area logged in 2021 represents 0.3% of the estimated 11.1 million hectares of old growth in the province. “Our vision for forestry is one where we better care for our most ancient and rarest forests, First Nations are full partners in sustainable forest management, and communities and workers benefit from secure, innovative jobs for generations to come,” said Katrine Conroy, Minister of Forests. “The latest numbers show that B.C. is on the right track as we work to develop and implement new long-term solutions for better managing, preserving and sharing the benefits of our forests.” …the Province is working toward a new Old Growth Strategic Action Plan to be developed in partnership with First Nations and completed by the end of 2023.

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Forest Enhancement Society of BC and the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation partnership

Forest Enhancement Society of BC
November 1, 2022
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

British Columbia – Since the inception of the Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC), the Society has partnered with the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation (HCTF) to achieve its goal to improve forest wildlife habitat. To date, a total of 105 projects have been co-funded throughout the province. Today, FESBC, in collaboration with HCTF has released an Accomplishments Update, highlighting nine of the 105 co-funded projects focused on maintaining and enhancing important wildlife and their habitats. …The nine projects highlighted in the Accomplishments Update include increasing Fisher habitat stewardship in the forest sector, invasive plant management on the winter ranges for Bighorn Sheep to increase the quality of grasslands, restoring whitebark pine ecosystems damaged by wildfire to improve habitat for bears, and more. …The funding for these co-funded projects comes from the Province of British Columbia and from conservation surcharges on hunting, fishing, and other licenses, court fines from wildlife violations, and public donations.

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B.C. says old-growth logging has reached record lows as critics call for greater transparency

CBC News
November 2, 2022
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The B.C. government says old-growth logging has reached record lows, but one conservationist is decrying a lack of transparency from the province. …Torrance Coste, a spokesperson for B.C.’s Wilderness Committee, is calling on the government for greater transparency. “It’s encouraging to hear that the overall rate of old-growth logging is falling; what’s needed is more information,” he said. “There’s really nothing in today’s announcement that underscores or highlights where old-growth logging is continuing, whether it’s still happening in the most at-risk old-growth forest, which is our concern.” …”While the overall rate, it looks like, is falling, which is good, there’s no indication that the best forests are being protected, or that planned logging in those at-risk, irreplaceable old growth is slowing down at all.” Spuzzum First Nation Chief James Hobart says he was glad to hear the numbers released by the province, but wants more details. 

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B.C. old-growth logging protesters denied bid to have cases heard together

By Todd Coyne
CTV Vancouver Island
November 2, 2022
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

A B.C. Supreme Court judge has denied an application from 121 old-growth logging protesters who were seeking to join their criminal contempt charges together for a single trial. All the protesters stand charged with criminal contempt of court for violating an injunction against interfering with logging operations in and around the Fairy Creek watershed on Vancouver Island. The protesters, including members of the Rainforest Flying Squad group, filed an application in July to have their cases heard in a single trial. Their aim was to establish for the court a complete picture of the ways in which they say the RCMP officers who enforced the injunction at Fairy Creek “exceeded the limits of reasonable and acceptable law enforcement,” thereby making the case that the charges against the protesters should be stayed due to a systemic abuse of process …instead, the court will proceed with 73 separate trials for the 121 accused, grouped by arrest date.

Additional coverage in the Victoria Times Colonist, by Keith Fraser: Judge rejects bid by Fairy Creek protesters for hearing on alleged RCMP misconduct

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Wildfire risk management work starting this month near Brother’s Creek in West Van

By Nick Laba
North Shore News
November 2, 2022
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

As rain cakes the ashes of West Vancouver’s largest wildfire of late, efforts to stump the risk of future fires for residents are getting underway. Work is scheduled to begin this month on a six-hectare section of second-growth forest, adjacent to the Brother’s Creek and Baden Powell trails. …the community wildfire protection plan designated this area as high risk of wildfire. …The district has consulted with local Indigenous communities on responsibly conducting forest management in this area. …Goals of the project include bolstering the BC Hydro right-of-way area as a so-called fuel break … and creating an anchor point for firefighting efforts on a potential blaze moving toward or away from homes in the Capilano watershed. A virtual information session on wildfire fuel management for residents is being held on Thursday from noon to 1 p.m., led by Bruce Blackwell of B.A. Blackwell and Associates Ltd. and West Vancouver Fire and Rescue.

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Some BC Old-Growth Review Findings Blocked by Forestry Execs

By Zoe Yunker
The Tyee
November 3, 2022
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

This time last year, the province was readying itself for a major policy announcement that consisted of a slate of deferrals Premier John Horgan promised would “fundamentally transform the way we manage our old-growth forests, lands and resources.” These deferrals were made, Horgan said, following recommendations from a 2021 report by the Old Growth Technical Advisory Panel. Behind the scenes, however, the province’s top forestry executives had actually been trying to block some of the panel’s findings. Internal communications released to The Tyee through access to information laws, as well as interviews with panel members, show the province attempted to limit the information about B.C.’s remaining old growth that would be shared with the public. …the advisory panel … unveiled how much old growth existed in the province before industrial forestry… But an email exchange The Tyee uncovered …shows B.C.’s then-chief forester, Diane Nicholls, didn’t want the historic number published.

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Community Forest and Elphinstone Logging Focus agree on EW24 plan after brief blockade

By Connie Jordison
Sunshine Coast Reporter
November 1, 2022
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Collaboration between the Sunshine Coast Community Forest (SCCF) and Elphinstone Logging Focus (ELF) has been agreed to, sparked by a brief ELF road blockades at cutblock EW 24 in ts’uḵw’um, on Oct. 27 and 28. “ELF and SCCF have agreed to put aside their differences and work collaboratively together on a monthly basis to discuss SCCF forest management. ELF represents a very important part of our community and our Community Forest is committed to work collaboratively with ELF to plan and deeply discuss what our future forests could look like and address our community needs now and into the future,” sand SCCF operations manager Warren Hansen. …Hansen noted that a key understanding in their agreement is that parties will conduct themselves “professionally.” “We thank ELF for their courage and trust that we can make the community forest something we can all be proud of,“ he wrote.

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Watch: An insider’s look at life as a B.C. logging truck driver

By Harry Linley
Glacier Media
October 31, 2022
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

“Driving a logging truck is probably one of hardest things you can do.” Roberts told Glacier Media there “are not as many women as I’d like to see in the industry;” only 3% of Canada’s trucking industry is female. She credits social media for allowing her to connect with other female truck drivers. That’s according to Kaylee Roberts, who hauls wood from Mackenzie to Prince George.

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How drones are replanting B.C.’s burned forests

By Stefan Labbé
Victoria Times Colonist
October 31, 2022
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Forests once sent their seeds fluttering through the air … but not like this. When the six rotors of these heavy-lift drones hum to life, they each propel over 1,500 seeds into an automated swarm that some hope marks the start of a revolution in tree planting. “Reforestation is arguably the best solution we have for pulling carbon out of the air,” said Bryce Jones, co-founder and CEO of Flash Forest, a Canadian drone tree-planting company with a growing footprint in British Columbia. “But there’s no technology. It’s literally people with bags and shovels. It’s been the same method for 100 years.” …Many drone-planting companies are only just emerging from a period of research and experimentation. …UBC researcher, Dr. John Innes says companies like Flash Forest and DroneSeed still need to demonstrate that seeds can achieve high enough success rates to make them a viable supplement to tree planting by hand. 

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Emails Reveal a Key Forestry Regulation Is ‘Out of Whack’

By Zoe Yunker
The Tyee
November 1, 2022
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

B.C.’s annual allowable cut sets out how many trees can be cut each year with the intent of sustaining the industry for years to come. But a legal loophole can allow companies to log beyond the limit for years with no repercussions. In an email chain uncovered through a freedom of information request, Diane Nicholls, the province’s former chief forester, acknowledged the problem. The province’s allowable cut is “sustainable at set levels,” she wrote. But the government’s “tenure allowances” which set forest company logging levels are “completely out of whack” with the annual allowable cut assessments, Nicholls wrote. …B.C.’s emerging harvest crash is linked to a phenomena called the “falldown effect,” says Ben Parfitt of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. …With substantial reduction of allowable cut limits on the horizon in order to adjust to the realities seen in B.C.’s forests, Parfitt added, government needs to act quickly to drop the allowable cut…

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Joining forestry and parks in one ministry sparks alarm in Alberta

By Doug Ferguson
The Western Producer
October 31, 2022
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) is raising an alarm about the Alberta government’s splitting of Environment and Parks into two new ministries, including one that contains forestry. Parks are meant to be areas that protect the environment while allowing people to enjoy nature through responsible recreation, said Chris Smith, conservation analyst for CPAWS Northern Alberta. However, Premier Danielle Smith has stated forestry is a major economic driver and a way to open up parks through things such as forestry backroads. “At this point, we’re just kind of waiting for some clarification as to the direction and mandate of these new ministries,” said Chris Smith. …The change affects all provincial parks, provincial recreation areas and wildland provincial parks, along with the Willmore Wilderness Park southwest of Grande Cache, Alta., said a statement by CPAWS Northern and Southern Alberta.

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Cheakamus Community Forest shares new harvesting plans at open house

By Alyssa Noel
Pique News Magazine
October 28, 2022
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Cheakamus Community Forest (CCF) added three new harvesting projects to its list for the remainder of the year into 2023. The moratorium on old-growth logging (>250 years old), however, will remain in place for the time being. “The community forest has deferred old-growth harvesting for 2021 and 2022,” said Simon Murray, the manager of the CCF. “The community forest timber supply analysis has been done to provide insight into the impact of this deferral. And excluding old-growth stands from harvest reduces the timber harvesting land base by a further 38 per cent, so quite considerable … So we’re still waiting from the government and First Nations to finalize their deferrals.”  To that end, harvesting will focus on trees that are between 80 and 249 years old until younger stands grow in. During the Q&A portion of the open house, however, Whistler ecologist Bob Brett raised questions about the ages of trees identified.

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Rutland Senior Secondary offers forestry career class

By Barry Gerding
The Kelowna Capital News
October 29, 2022
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Central Okanagan Public School is offering a program segway to a career in resource management in the forestry sector. The Rutland Senior Secondary (RSS) forestry class embraces a hands-on learning experience open to all Grade 11 and 12 students in the school district. It begins in the second semester of the school year for Grade 11 and extends into the Grade 12 fall semester. Participating students will spend more of their time learning a variety of forestry related career job skills throughout the Central Okanagan. Corbett explained the forestry program differs a bit from other school district career oriented programs because it exposes students to a variety of forestry-related career opportunities rather than focusing on one specific career option….He said those interested in the program can speak to their school councillors and be set up to job shadow a forest industry professional to gauge their interest in pursuing a career in the forestry profession.

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BC Forest Practices Board Successfully Appeals Inadequate Penalty for Illegal Timber Harvest

BC Forest Practices Board
October 28, 2022
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Forest Practices Board can appeal certain decisions made by government officials under the Forest and Range Practices Act or the Wildfire Act, such as determinations of noncompliance, penalties or approvals of plans for forestry or range operations. When deciding whether or not to appeal a determination, the Board takes any public requests to appeal into consideration. In 2021, the Board appealed a determination by a Ministry of Forests’ district manager who found a person had harvested and removed Crown timber without authorization. The person had a licence to salvage wood for shakes and shingles, but the wood they harvested was outside their licence boundary. Although the government’s compliance and enforcement staff provided the district manager with evidence that the unlawful harvesting occurred in 2017, 2018, and 2020, the district manager only focused on the 2020 contraventions and levied a penalty of $12,000.

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2022 BC Community Forest Conference and AGM Was A Great Success!

BC Community Forest Association
October 27, 2022
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Nearly 200 people made their way to Nakusp to participate in and celebrate the BCCFA’s 2022 Conference and AGM and 20th Anniversary. We extend our utmost gratitude to attendees who participated in the event. Thank you again to the Nakusp and Area Community Forest (NACFOR) for hosting and making it a celebration to remember. The  conference was a testament to what we have seen in our work over the past 20 years. There is no doubt that community forestry provides a vision for the future of forestry in our province that is innovative, forward-thinking, and inclusive of multiple values on the landscape and in communities. Community forestry takes heart, courage and hard work, and we are proud and humbled to be walking this path alongside all of our members and partners as we continue to move forward and to support the practice and expansion of sustainable community forest management in BC.

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Environmental groups call on federal government to protect endangered spotted owl in B.C.

By Tiffany Crawford
Vancouver Sun
October 26, 2022
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Mountain View Breeding Centre

Ecojustice and the Wilderness Committee are are calling on the federal government to protect endangered spotted owls and their habitat in B.C. Ecojustice said that the government has a legal responsibility to protect the species, which is in critical danger of becoming extinct because of commercial logging. In a petition to the federal government, the groups are asking for an emergency order that would protect endangered spotted owls and their habitat. “Spotted owls are in critical danger of becoming extinct in Canada, in large part, because the B.C. government has continued to approve commercial logging in areas that should have been set aside for the species’ recovery,” said Ecojustice. …The B.C. Ministry of Land Water, and Resource Stewardship says it is aware of the petition and are doing everything they can to to help spotted owls recover in B.C., including running the world’s only captive breeding and release program.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

New B.C. premier must take bold action to tackle the climate emergency

By Alan Andrews, Climate Director, Ecojustice Canada
Victoria Times Colonist
November 7, 2022
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada West

Alan Andrews

…After a hotly contested race to pick a new leader, the NDP disqualified Anjali Appadurai, who posed a significant challenge to the front runner candidate David Eby, who will succeed John Horgan as premier. …Eby has made more decisive action on climate a key plank of his 100-days plan, has said that he wants climate activists who supported Appadurai to stay in the party, and has promised to redirect fossil fuel subsidies to clean energy projects. But Eby faces an uphill battle to re-establish the NDP’s climate credibility, after Appadurai’s campaign drew unwelcome attention to myriad failures of leadership under his predecessor’s watch. At a minimum, he should ensure B.C. complies with its own climate law. …Eby must also commit to strengthening B.C.’s climate laws. In this respect, the government already has a head start with existing and workable climate legislation, unlike many other provinces in Canada.

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Canadian banks readying for carbon offsets to go big, even as doubts remain

Canadian Press in BC Local News
November 6, 2022
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada West

Banks know a growth market when they see it, and they’re increasingly seeing one in the buying, selling and generating of carbon offsets. …many companies rely on offsets to deliver on their net-zero promise. And while there’s still tremendous skepticism about their effectiveness, banks are positioning themselves as ready brokers. …But projects …have come under scrutiny. A British Columbia auditor-general report was highly critical of NCC’s Darkwoods project, finding that the forest would have been protected without the carbon offset payments. A key component of offsets is that only though money paid in would the carbon be trapped. It’s a widespread problem in forestry-based projects, trying to guess what might have otherwise been cut. There’s also the problem of trying to figure out once a forest is protected, whether a logging company just cut the same amount of wood elsewhere. 

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Indigenous leaders from B.C. take international stage for a climate policy pitch

By Brieanna Charlebois
The Canadian Press in Global News
November 5, 2022
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada West

SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt — First Nations leaders from British Columbia are taking their environment and climate policy pitch directly to the international stage at the United Nations climate COP27 conference in Africa in an attempt to set a tone for domestic climate policy. Leaders of the First Nations Climate Initiative, made up of four B.C. First Nations, say they will leverage their invitation to reiterate the climate action plan it presented to the provincial and federal governments in September. …The First Nations Climate Initiative was chosen by the federal government to join its delegation at the conference. It is scheduled to make a 45-minute presentation at the Canadian Pavilion on Tuesday that Alex Grzybowski, a facilitator for the First Nations Climate Initiative said will focus on three key areas: nature-based climate solutions, new energy systems and the importance of Indigenous leadership.

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Wood Pellet Association of Canada donates $2,000 to school in British Columbia

By Wood Pellet Association of Canada
Canadian Biomass Magazine
October 28, 2022
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada West

‘Na Aksa Gyilak’yoo School in Terrace, British Columbia, received a boost to its educational initiatives with a $2,000 contribution from the Wood Pellet Association of Canada, Skeena Bioenergy and the Prince Rupert Port Authority. The contribution recognizes the power of partnerships that exists between the Kitsumkalum Economic Development Group of Companies, Skeena Bioenergy and the Port of Prince Rupert. “The Kitsumkalum Peoples are a major part of the success of the entire wood pellet sector,” said Gordon Murray, executive director of the Wood Pellet Association of Canada. “By supporting the education goals of the community members, we are supporting everyone’s success.” The announcement was made at a luncheon hosted by the Kitsumkalum Economic Development Corporation Group of Companies. It was tied to the Association’s annual conference that started in Vancouver and then onto Prince Rupert and ending in Terrace with a tour of the Nation’s local forest operations and logistics park.

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