Region Archives: United States

Business & Politics

Builders FirstSource Releases 2023 Corporate Social Responsibility Report

Builders FirstSource Inc.
Businesswire
May 24, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

IRVING, Texas — Builders FirstSource, the nation’s largest supplier of building products, announced that it has published its 2023 Corporate Social Responsibility report, highlighting advancements in environmental, social, and governance across the Company in 2022. The report offers an overview of the initiatives and programs the Company has implemented to improve transparency and sustainability. Highlights include: Established Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions baselines. The Company intends to set short-, medium-, and long-term reduction targets for Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions no later than 2025; >90% of the Company’s wood is from Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) or Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified vendors; and >1.3 million trees saved in 2022 through the use of Builders FirstSource manufactured framing components versus traditional framing methods.

Read More

Interfor Appoints Nicolle Butcher to its Board of Directors

Interfor Corporation
May 19, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Nicole Butcher

Interfor Corporation announced the appointment of Nicolle Butcher of Toronto, Ontario as an independent director of the Company, effective May 19, 2023. Ms. Butcher is the Chief Operating Officer of Ontario Power Generation, where she has held a wide range of roles with increasing responsibility over the past 22 years. …Ms. Butcher was named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women and named Women of the Year by WIRE (Women in Renewable Energy) and APPRO (Association of Power Producers of Ontario). She holds an MBA from McGill University, is a Chartered Business Valuator, and has earned an ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. Ms. Butcher’s appointment increases the number of Interfor directors to 11 and the percentage of women directors to 27%. 

Read More

B.C. eyes opportunities in Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement as part of revamped trade strategy

By Nelson Bennett
Business in Vancouver
May 24, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Canada and Mexico have been part of a North American free trade agreement for three decades… yet the amount of trade B.C. does with Mexico is paltry compared to the trade it does with Asia. In 2021, B.C. exported a mere $107 million worth of commodities to Mexico – much of that pulp and paper products. …As the U.S. moves to decouple from China and re-shore some of its industries, Mexico is well positioned to become America’s manufacturing branch plant, owing to its proximity to the U.S., its inclusion in the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) and Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and its low-cost but highly skilled workforce. …Mexico could become a market for B.C. lumber and other wood products, and the recent acquisition of the Kansas City Railway by Canadian Pacific to create a new North American railway could help facilitate those kinds of exports.

Read More

American Forest & Paper Association appoints VP of government affairs

The American Forest & Paper Association
May 23, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States

Julie Landry

The Washington-based American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) has named Julie Landry as vice president of government affairs effective immediately. Landry will lead the paper and wood products industry’s legislative agenda and drive advocacy efforts before Congress, the White House as well as state governments. …Landry joined AF&PA in 2011 as manager of government affairs and has worked on energy, environment, water and forestry initiatives for the organization. Previously, she worked for the National Association of Convenience Stores, lobbying on a variety of issues including food safety, taxes and energy. …AF&PA also has promoted Laura Pickard to senior director, government affairs and international trade, and Abby Sztein to senior director, government affairs.

Read More

US Commerce determines that GreenFirst is the successor-in-interest of Rayonier AM

By the International Trade Administration
The US Department of Commerce
May 22, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States

The U.S. Department of Commerce preliminarily determines that GreenFirst Forest Products is the successor-in-interest to Rayonier A.M. Canada and, accordingly, that subject merchandise produced and/or exported by GreenFirst QC should be assigned the cash deposit rate established for subject merchandise produced and/or exported by RYAM for purposes of the antidumping duty order on certain softwood lumber products (softwood lumber) from Canada. …Record evidence submitted by GreenFirst indicates that, based on the totality of the circumstances under Commerce’s successor-in-interest criteria, GreenFirst QC operates as materially the same business entity as RYAM with respect to the production and sale of subject merchandise….In addition, we preliminarily find that GreenFirst’s production facilities, supplier relationships, and customer base with regard to the subject merchandise are substantially the same as RYAM’s before GreenFirst’s acquisition of RYAM’s lumber assets.

Read More

Drax selects Houston, Texas as headquarters for bioenergy carbon capture business

Drax Group Inc.
May 24, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US West

Drax announced it will establish its North American headquarters for Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) in Houston, Texas. The new office will serve as the hub for Drax’s team focused on bringing BECCS projects to fruition throughout the United States and Canada. “With the growing global demand for high-quality carbon removals, Houston was a natural fit for our BECCS headquarters as it is the energy capital of the world with a proven, highly skilled workforce that will be needed to lead the world’s clean energy transition,” said Drax CEO Will Gardiner. “Additionally, the U.S. Gulf Coast has emerged as a major hub for carbon capture and sequestration investment and technology, a key component of the company’s plans to expand clean electric generation from renewable resources.” BECCS is the only technology that can deliver reliable, dispatchable renewable power while permanently removing millions of tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Read More

Domtar hosts ribbon-cutting, announces Food City partnership

By Allison Winters
Kingsport Times News
May 25, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

KINGSPORT, TN — Domtar employees got to see the fruits of their labor for the past two years pay off on Wednesday at the converted Kingsport Mill’s ribbon- cutting ceremony. Referred to as Project Smoky, Domtar worked to turn their freesheet paper machine into a containerboard machine, which would become the second-largest 100% recycled containerboard machine in North America. “The Kingsport Mill is blazing a trail as Domtar’s first 100 percent recycled containerboard facility,” said Steve Henry, Domtar executive vice president and chief operating officer. “We’re building on our 175-year legacy as a fiber innovator by entering the packaging business. It’s a large and growing market, and we’re very excited by the customer response we’ve received.”

Read More

Family-owned Robbins Lumber acquires two sawmills

Robbins Lumber, Inc.
May 25, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

SEARSMONT, Maine – Robbins Lumber, announced the acquisition of two sawmills, expanding the company’s footprint from two locations to four locations. The sawmills in Hancock and Sanford, previously owned by Pleasant River Lumber, will retain all 74 employees between the two locations. The company says the acquisition will allow them to build upon its brand of Eastern White Pine production, which the company already produces in its existing locations in Searsmont and East Baldwin. …Robbins Lumber is co-owned by Catherine, and her siblings Jim and Alden Robbins. They are the fifth generation of the family to own and manage the operation, which has been in business for more than 140 years. …With the addition of the Hancock and Sanford locations, Robbins Lumber now employs 250 people throughout its four locations.

Read More

Mill closure looms large in discussion of challenges facing Western North Carolina forests

By Holly Kays
The Smoky Mountain News
May 24, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

ASHVILLE, North Carolina — The familiar challenges of climate change, invasive pests and development pressure peppered the conversation during a May 18 panel discussion on the issues facing forests in Western North Carolina — but the impending closure of Canton’s century-old paper mill dominated it. …The discussion came at a critical time for forestry in Western North Carolina. In February, the Forest Service adopted a new management plan for the million-acre Pisgah-Nantahala National Forest, concluding a decade-long process. The document will likely guide management decisions for the next 20 years. A month later, Pactiv-Evergreen announced plans to close Canton’s 115-year-old paper mill, a decision that will have a critical impact on regional demand for timber in the years ahead. …A crowd of about 150 people attended the event, which was held at New Belgium Brewing in Asheville, representing a cross-section of conservation and forestry organizations.

Read More

Finance & Economics

US real GDP increased 1.3% in the first quarter of 2023

US Bureau of Economic Analysis
May 25, 2023
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 1.3% in the first quarter of 2023, according to the “second” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the fourth quarter, real GDP increased 2.6%. The GDP estimate released is based on more complete source data than were available for the “advance” estimate issued last month. In the advance estimate, the increase in real GDP was 1.1%. …The increase in real GDP reflected increases in consumer spending, exports, federal government spending, state and local government spending, and nonresidential fixed investment that were partly offset by decreases in private inventory investment and residential fixed investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.

Read More

New Single-Family Home Size Trending Lower

By Robert Dietz
NAHB – Eye on Housing
May 22, 2023
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

An expected impact of the virus crisis is a need for more residential space, as people use homes for more purposes including work. Home size correspondingly increased in 2021 as interest rates reached historic lows. However, as interest rates increased in 2022, and housing affordability worsened, the demand for home size has trended lower. According to first quarter 2023 data from the Census  and NAHB analysis, median single-family square floor area registered at 2,261 square feet. Average (mean) square footage for new single-family homes stood at 2,469 square feet. Since Great Recession lows (and on a one-year moving average basis), the average size of a new single-family home is now 4% higher at 2,486 square feet, while the median size is 7% higher at 2,262 square feet.

Read More

Lowe’s cuts full-year sales forecast, as spending on do-it-yourself projects weakens

By Melissa Repko
CNBC News
May 23, 2023
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

Lowe’s cut its full-year outlook Tuesday, as lumber prices fell and do-it-yourself customers bought fewer items. The home improvement retailer’s lowered its forecast even as it beat Wall Street’s revenue and earnings expectations for the fiscal first quarter. CEO Marvin Ellison said lumber deflation, unfavorable weather and lower spending by DIY customers hurt quarterly sales. He said the company expects “a pullback in discretionary consumer spending over the near term.” …Here’s what the company reported for the three-month period ended May 5: Revenue: $22.35 billion vs. $21.6 billion expected; Net income for the three-month period was $2.26 billion, compared with $2.33 billion. …Lowe’s competitor, Home Depot, posted a rare revenue miss with its quarterly report last week. …Like Lowe’s, Home Depot also chalked up lower sales to colder and wetter weather in the western U.S. and falling lumber prices.

Read More

Timber Producers Expecting Stronger Demand for Lumber, California Farm Bureau Reports

By Christine Souza
Sierra Sun Times
May 22, 2023
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States, US West

Timber and forest products sector leaders and market analysts say warmer temperatures mean a return to a more typical seasonal demand as construction and home improvement projects resume after the winter slowdown. They say the timber market should fare reasonably well this year, despite rising interest rates affecting new home purchases. Lumber market analyst Rocky Goodnow, of Forest Economic Advisors, said… “We’re starting to see positive signs for demand in housing starts, and we continue to see strong numbers on the repair and remodeling side.” Goodnow said he expects the U.S. economy to enter a recession in late 2023. But he said the timber sector may be able to withstand a potential downturn. …After three years of drought and devastating wildfires, Steven Brink, California Forestry Association vice president of public resources, said snow and rain this winter is positive for improved forest health.

Read More

Southern Yellow Pine Lumber Prices Steady as Housing, Manufacturing Improves

Forests2Market Blog
May 24, 2023
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States, US East

SYP lumber prices have held somewhat steady across 2023 thus far. Price variance is far below the meteoric rises and falls of 2022 and 2021. Some slowing down of contraction within housing and manufacturing has likely played a role in this steadier-paced pricing. …Overall, we forecast total starts in 2023 to fluctuate to a -14.4% average relative to 2022. 2024 numbers will hit a +4.7% increase from 2023, and January-April 2025 levels will keep rising to +10.8% YTD from the year prior. Manufacturing construction is slowing down… the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) monthly sentiment survey of U.S. manufacturers reflected slower erosion in the sector during April. …In the forest products sector, numbers came down rather mixed:

  • Pulp, Paper & Allied Products +3.5% year-over-year (no change)
  • Lumber & Wood Products -0.5% (-18.3% year-over-year)
  • Softwood Lumber: -0.9% (‑49.3% year-over-year)
  • Wood Fiber: +1.1% (-0.7% year-over-year)

Read More

Wood, Paper & Green Building

Innovative construction is getting codes to match

By Leah Draffen
Builder Online
May 25, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States

In the realm of off-site and modular construction, knowledge of building codes and standards can understandably be confusing. How does an inspector confirm proper compliance when completed modules arrive on-site? What’s inside those walls or panels? That’s where the International Code Council (ICC) steps in, creating clear guidelines for the bustling and hopeful building sector. “Codes are not scary things that keep us in the past,” says Ryan Colker, ICC vice president of innovation. …Colker identifies emerging issues in the industry as well as how new construction technologies can modernize building regulations. He also works on solutions in energy efficiency, sustainability, and decarbonization—all which mesh closely with off-site and modular construction. Currently, Colker is seeing many new products in the sustainability front, including bio-based materials and a greater shift toward off-site construction to overcome labor shortages by limiting workforce needs.

Read More

Wood vs. plastic: Which pallets are more sustainable?

By Katie Pyzyk
Supply Chain Dive
May 26, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States

Suppliers of wood and plastic pallets both heavily promote their respective sustainability attributes, raising the question whether only one can claim top honors. …Peerless Research Group’s 2022 Pallet Market Evaluation, its 12th annual study, showed that 95% of responding companies use wood pallets and about one-third use plastic. …More pallet companies are marketing their products’ sustainability, regardless of substrate, in alignment with the increased attention to ESG practices. …Penn State’s Judd Michael has worked with Chuck Ray on pallet research studies. A 2020 study on which Ray was the primary author examined the life-cycle assessments of treated wood and plastic pallets used by the grocery industry, noting environmental impacts from emissions and resources consumed. The researchers looked at nine impact categories, including non-renewable energy use, ozone layer depletion, aquatic ecotoxicity and terrestrial ecotoxicity. …The study concluded that wood pallets had a slight edge on plastic in terms of sustainability, namely the overall carbon footprint. 

Read More

Federal Aviation Administration selects innovative design for greener airport control towers across U.S.

The Construction Specifier
May 23, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has selected a visually striking, sustainable design for new air traffic control towers, to replace the existing outdated towers at more than 100 municipal and regional airports across the U.S. The design by Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) of New York meets key sustainability requirements and can adjust to the tower height to meet each airport’s traffic and sightline requirements, while reducing construction and operational costs. According to the firm, it has developed a new generation of air traffic control towers with an adaptable and sustainable design. Inspired by the Chinese American architect, I.M. Pei’s iconic mid-century towers… The new air traffic control towers are designed to accommodate different structural systems, ranging from 19.2 to 36.3 m (63 to 119 ft), and utilize a combination of precast concrete and sustainable cross-laminated timber (CLT) for floors and walls. 

Read More

Western Washington University breaks ground on carbon neutral academic building

By Elizabeth Troutman
Whatcom News
May 25, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

Western Washington University in Bellingham has broken ground on a nearly $74 million electrical engineering and computer science building, the first carbon neutral academic facility in the region. Kaiser Borsari Hall is a “smart building” meant to exceed LEED standards for energy use, carbon, and other environmental indicators. …“The design of Kaiser Borsari Hall is a watershed moment for Washington state public facilities as the first all mass timber, zero-energy, and carbon neutral building on a university campus,” Anthony Gianopoulos at Perkins&Will, which designed the facility, said. The building will join a handful of other carbon neutral academic buildings in the nation. …Solar panels on the roof will generate all the 54,000-square-foot, four-story building’s electrical power, while local, sustainably harvested wood will be incorporated as part of the design to reduce the facility’s carbon footprint.

Read More

19-storey plywood tower nears completion in Oakland

By David Rogers
Global Construction Review
May 24, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

After just seven months on site, work is nearly finished on a high-rise apartment building in Oakland, California that the developer calls the “tallest beamless mass plywood panel structure in the world”. The 19-storey tower in downtown Oakland will have 222 flats, a fifth of which will be affordable. The 1510 Webster Street project was developed and designed by Oakland-based oWOW, with assistance from Californian design firm DCI Engineers. oWOW is using what it calls “a unique mass-timber construction system” that allows it to “build high-quality housing in less time and at lower costs than our competitors”. It has already built three projects in the San Francisco Bay area, and has 600 more in construction or in the pipeline. The design began about a year-and-a-half ago, ground was broken in October 2022, and construction is expected to top out by the end of June.

Read More

SouthPark fire: New details, concerns emerge over type of construction used in apartments

By Gordon Rago
The Charlotte Observer
May 26, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — As investigators work to uncover the cause of last week’s deadly construction fire in SouthPark, new details are emerging about the type of construction used at the site. The 239-unit luxury apartment building had a wood-frame construction, an increasingly common style over the past decade. …Two construction workers died and 15 others had to be rescued. …While international building codes adopted by North Carolina allow for wood-frame buildings, some fire science experts worry about the style’s prevalence. …Glenn Corbett, at John Jay College in New York… said “The more wood on a project, the harder it is for firefighters to put flames out because the framing contributes to the fire. …Other experts expressed confidence in the safety of wood-frame buildings when complete, saying wood is not the enemy. They pointed, though, to the need for more early-warning notification systems to workers and first responders when fires start in buildings that are under construction.

Read More

An apartment high-rise planned for downtown Milwaukee is getting bigger–again.

By Tom Daykin
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
May 24, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

An apartment high-rise planned for downtown Milwaukee is getting bigger − marking the second time its developers have expanded their proposal. The Edison was initially planned as a 15-story building with around 200 units overlooking the Milwaukee River at 1005 N. Edison St. Revised plans filed with the city in February called for a 28-story high-rise with 296 apartments. Now, The Edison’s developer, Madison-based The Neutral Project LLC, is planning a 32-story tower with around 350 apartments, said Nate Helbach, the firm’s managing partner. …The Edison would use an unusual construction technique known as mass timber, or cross-laminated timber. That process uses layers of wood pressed together to create columns, beams and other building frame components. Apartments, offices and other buildings made from timber provide a lower carbon footprint than conventional construction. They also can create a more attractive atmosphere, featuring exposed wood interiors.

Read More

Michigan State University to co-lead workshop on climate solutions through biobased products

By Kelly Kussmaul and Lauren Noel
Michigan State University
May 16, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

EAST LANSING, Michigan. – Researchers and leaders of government and industry from Finland, Michigan, Maine, Washington and other states will gather in Helsinki, Finland, on May 26, for a unique set of workshops focused on biobased forestry products. Attendees from across the United States and Europe will advance climate change solutions by considering the unique ways in which the full cycle of forestry products can facilitate carbon storage and the displacement of greenhouse gas emissions. …“This is an excellent opportunity for us to discuss and plan submission of collaborative proposals to the European Union or federal agencies in the U.S., or to form and lead industry-funded consortia,” said Mojgan Nejad, at Michigan State University. “I am very excited to facilitate a session on lignin valorization that will allow me to collaborate closely with world-renowned lignin scientists.”

Read More

Forestry

Stressed soil microbial communities bolster tree resilience to changing climates

By the American Association for the Advancement of Science
EurekAlert!
May 25, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

Soil microbiota transplanted from more stressful environmental conditions – drought or excessive heat or cold, for example – can enhance tree tolerance to changing climates, researchers report. The findings suggest that management of soil microbiota, especially during forest restorations, could be a valuable strategy for increasing forest resilience to climate change. Climate change is forcing many species outside of their evolved range of environmental tolerances, forcing them to acclimate, adapt, or migrate to avoid extinction. For long-lived trees, neither adaptation nor migration may happen fast enough to keep up the pace of climate change. However, research shows that diverse assemblages of microbes that live on and around plants, including mycorrhizal fungi in the soil surrounding their roots, can enhance plant tolerance to environmental stress. And since microbial taxa are likely to adapt faster than their host and disperse farther, microbial associations may offer an alternative, underappreciated source of plant community resistance to climate change.

Read More

Firefighters call for improved fire shelters as wildfire seasons get hotter, longer and more dangerous

KTVB 7
May 25, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

The current shelter, carried by all wildland firefighters, was designed by the U.S. Forest Service in 2002.

Read More

‘We’re going to need so many seedlings’ for reforestation push

By Alex Brown
Helena Independent Record
May 25, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Tree Cover Loss

Over the next few years, state tree nurseries across the country will build new greenhouses, expand irrigation systems, upgrade seeding equipment and bring on staff. They’re hoping to turn millions of new federal dollars into millions of new seedlings — part of a collaborative effort to reforest landscapes threatened by climate change. “We’re going to need so many seedlings,” Homer Wilkes, undersecretary for natural resources and environment at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, told Stateline. “Helping states get where they need to be is going to be cheaper and more efficient and is going to meet our goals and needs faster, than if the Forest Service tried to build these nurseries ourselves.” Earlier this year, the department announced $10 million to support reforestation work, funded by the infrastructure law that passed in 2021. That law will provide more money for states in the years to come, as well as for federal nursery programs.

Read More

How global warming and a wet winter may impact the U.S. wildfire season

By Evan Bush
NBC News
May 24, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Wildfire season in most parts of the western United States could be delayed this summer with heavy snow still covering many mountain ranges, national fire forecasters say. Still, the risk of damaging wildfires continues to trend upward as the climate warms, one factor making it more difficult to predict how the season will shake out. Forecasters and fire ecology experts said changes to fire behavior make it challenging to predict conditions in the late summer and the early fall. Fire seasons are growing longer. Hotter temperatures zap fuels of their moisture faster. And more people are living near the wilderness — and potentially, in harm’s way. …The National Interagency Fire Center is predicting above-normal fire activity in parts of the Pacific Northwest, including eastern Oregon and central Washington, in July and August. Elsewhere in the West, forecasters are predicting normal or below-normal fire activity for those months.

Read More

Seattle City Council passes new tree ordinance

By Hannah Weinberger
Crosscut
May 23, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

The Seattle City Council voted Tuesday afternoon to pass an updated version of a city ordinance regulating trees on private property, which had not been adjusted since 2009. The legislation will fully overhaul the ordinance for the first time since the section of code protecting trees was adopted in 2001, years before the climate and housing crises came to dominate both city discourse and priorities. Seattleites have since become aware of the many benefits trees provide, from cooling to improving people’s health and general well-being. The city is losing trees faster than it is replanting them, and is thousands of housing units short to meet the demand of a growing population. …But the Urban Forestry Commission and tree advocates worry that the legislation so long in the making was rushed through the voting process. 

Additional coverage in the Seattle City Council Blog: Seattle City Council Passes Stronger Tree Protection Ordinance That Protects Ten Times as Many Trees While Increasing Housing Stock

Read More

How a drought affects trees depends on what’s been holding them back

By Harrison Tasoff, University of California
Phys.Org
May 22, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Droughts can be good for trees; certain trees, that is.  Contrary to expectation, sometimes a record-breaking drought can increase tree growth. Why and where this happens is the subject of a new paper in Global Change Biology.  A team of scientists led by Joan Dudney at UC Santa Barbara examined the drought response of endangered whitebark pine over the past century. They found that in cold, harsh environments—often at high altitudes and latitudes—drought can actually benefit the trees by extending the growing season. This research provides insights into where the threats from extreme drought will be greatest, and how different species and ecosystems will respond to climate change. …The authors found a pronounced shift in growth during times of drought when the average maximum temperature was roughly 8.4° Celsius (47.1° Fahrenheit) between October and May. 

Read More

California fire season predicted to be shorter and less intense

By Natalie Hanson
Courthouse News Service
May 22, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — After years of massive, destructive wildfires, California and much of the American West may see a shorter and more manageable wildfire season thanks to an extraordinarily wet winter. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the state has only just begun to see a historic snowpack melt into streams and rivers, and the flows could be high for many weeks. The agency’s Southern California coordination center reported in a briefing Monday that most of California has seen below normal temperatures since Oct. 1. These conditions have helped about 68% of the state exit drought conditions within three months — a feat that would have required two or three wet years otherwise. …The wet winter and lingering snowpack may also translate to fewer wildfires. 

Read More

Drones give a clear view of frog habitat

By Elizabeth Munding
US Department of Agriculture
May 19, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Picture an IMAX-style aerial film of a high-elevation wetland complex boasting every shade of green, from lime to emerald to olive, amid its vast landscape. Behind this image is Forest Service hydrologist Kyle Wright, his feet firmly on the ground, operating an unmanned aerial system or “drone” over this portion of Big Marsh in Oregon’s Little Deschutes River Basin. Landscape restoration has a new aerial view thanks to this scientific tool. Drones, which have been used traditionally on fire management projects, are now telling important resource stories to help scientists inform other kinds of projects, from stream restoration to timber management. …Central to the project’s purpose has been focus on one of the smaller marsh creatures—the Oregon spotted frog. The reddish-brown frog with black spots requires wetland habitats with a variety of water depths to support all its life stages. The aquatic frog is rarely found more than 6 feet from water.

Read More

West Virginia company drops bid to build logging pesticide facility amid fierce opposition

By John Raby
Associated Press in the Huron Daily Tribune
May 25, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A West Virginia logging company hoping to build a toxic-spewing facility … has withdrawn an application for an air permit following vehement opposition from residents, regulators said Thursday. The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) said it received a formal notice from Allegheny Wood Products. The company cited “a further review of our business needs” as the reason for the application’s withdrawal. The company wanted to construct a fumigation facility in the Hardy County community of Baker to treat logs before they are shipped overseas. The DEP had said it tentatively planned to issue the air permit that would let the facility emit up to nearly 10 tons of the pesticide methyl bromide into the atmosphere each year. …A final decision on the permit was supposed to happen after the public comment period ended May 12. Now, in light of the company’s withdrawal, no further action will be taken on the application. 

Read More

Loss of paper mill is a loss for forests, too

By Andy Tait, EcoForesters
The Mountaineer
May 23, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

CANTON, North Carolina — The closing of the paper mill in Canton is a major loss for its 1,100 employees and a shock to the area’s economy. The ripple effects also make it very bad news for sustainable forestry in the mountains. …While historically some of the supply chain demands necessary to support these industries negatively impacted overall forest health, the paper mill’s use of only low-grade and small-diameter wood created opportunities for sustainable and beneficial forest management. …A sustainable timber harvest usually has to remove lower quality trees to let in enough sun so that a young stand of new trees can grow vigorously and compete in good conditions to develop into a healthy future forest. With no market for low quality trees, these less well adapted trees will now be left even more frequently and will become our future forests.

Read More

Invasive, tree-killing hemlock woolly adelgid found in Ann Arbor; 1st confirmed spot on east side of state

By Amber Ainsworth
Fox 2 Detroit
May 23, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

©️Bartlett Tree Experts

Hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA), invasive pests that kill trees, has been found in Ann Arbor – the first confirmed detection on the east side of Michigan. It was discovered at Nichols Arboretum and confirmed by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) on May 9. “Our team of invasive species specialists is currently working with the arboretum to determine an appropriate treatment and response plan,” said Mike Philip, MDARD’s Pesticide and Plant Pest Management Division Director. “There isn’t a way to determine how long hemlock woolly adelgid has been there or how it got there, but it’s possible HWA has been there for a number of years.” Washtenaw County is the seventh county to have a verified discovery. …The insects do not move far on their own, but they can be blown by the wind or hitch a ride on humans and animals.  

Read More

Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Experts see climate change fingerprint in worsening heat waves and fires

By Diana Leonard
The Washington Post
May 18, 2023
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, United States

An all-too-familiar scene is playing out in western Canada, this week: forests in flames amid extreme heat while hazardous smoke engulfs cities downwind of the fires. Similar scenes have unfolded in Australia, California, the Pacific Northwest, Europe and China. As both heat waves and wildfires worsen, recent research is tying these extremes ever more strongly to climate change. …“This is a concerning situation given there is so much fire on the landscape already,” said Michael Flannigan, a professor of wildland fire at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia.  …As heat-driven fires continue to become real-world disasters, there is more evidence pointing to the fuel behind them. A study published Tuesday in the journal Environmental Research Letters… found that nearly 40% of the total forest area burned in the western US and Canada between 1986 and 2021 can be attributed to emissions from fossil fuel producers and cement manufacturers. 

Read More

Financial downturn at Enviva could mean trouble for biomass energy

By Justin Catanoso
Mongabay
May 25, 2023
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

Enviva harvests trees to manufacture millions of tons of wood pellets annually in the U.S. Southeast to supply the biomass energy demands of nations in the EU, U.K., Japan and South Korea. But a host of operational, legal and public relations problems have led to greater-than-expected revenue losses and a drastic fall in stock price. These concerns raise questions as to whether Enviva can double its projected pellet production from 6 million metric tons annually today to 13 million metric tons by 2027 to meet its contract obligations. Enviva says its problems pose only short-term setbacks. While it isn’t possible to connect Enviva’s stock decline, or the company’s downgrading by a top credit ratings agency, with any specific cause, some analysts say that investors may be getting educated as to the financial risk they could face if the EU or other large-scale biomass users eliminate their subsidies to the industry.

Read More

UK power group Drax in US push to take advantage of green tax credits

By Rachel Millard
The Financial Times
May 23, 2023
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, International

UK power generation business Drax is planning a big push into the US, lured by President Joe Biden’s green energy tax incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act.  Will Gardiner, chief executive, said the tax breaks were the “icing on the cake” as he set out plans to spend $4bn building two new power plants in the southern US, with the potential for more to follow. The new plants are part of Drax’s strategy to become a leader in “negative emissions”, which can be sold in the form of credits to other companies looking to offset their emissions. …Gardiner said the country was attractive for its new power plants because of the proximity of biomass supplies and carbon dioxide storage sites. The commercial case for the plants in the US has also been boosted by tax credits under the IRA, worth $85 per tonne of carbon dioxide stored.

Read More

Climate Change Gets Blame For Forest Fires, Evidence Suggests Management, Weather Patterns Have More Impact

By Kevin Killough
Cowboy State Daily
May 25, 2023
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US West

The forest fires in Alberta, Canada, have blanketed Wyoming under a layer of haze. And the adage is proving true — where there’s smoke, there’s the media talking about climate change. Throughout this extensive coverage of the Canadian wildfires there has been no mention that, according to the Canadian National Fire Database, the number of wildfires in Canada are down.  …Jim Steele, an ecologist who served as director of San Francisco State University’s Sierra Nevada field campus, is skeptical of connecting climate change to any trend in forest fires. “I do not feel the media is educating us about the science that affects fires. They’re just trying to push a catastrophe narrative that’s been going on way too long,” Steele told Cowboy State Daily. Steele’s book, “Landscapes & Cycles: An Environmentalist’s Journey to Climate Skepticism,” discusses his work at the Sierra Nevada Field Campus, where he monitored wildlife populations.

Read More

Mosses are fuzzy, squishy warriors in the fight against climate change

By Sheri McWhirter
Michigan Live
May 24, 2023
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US East

Mosses play a crucial role in fighting climate change, new research shows. Researchers learned that through photosynthesis, mosses sequester around 6.43 billion metric tons more carbon into the soil than what is stored in bare patches of soil without any plants. That calculates to six times the annual global carbon emissions caused by worldwide changes in land use, such as deforestation, urbanization, and mining. The study published in Nature Geoscience and was led by a dryland ecologist in Australia and an ecosystem ecologist in Spain. One of the scientists who co-authored the recent study was forest ecologist Peter Reich, director of the Institute for Global Change Biology at University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability. …The study found that moss-covered soil not only enhances carbon storage in soil, but also accelerates rates of organic decomposition and leads to fewer cases of soil-borne plant pathogens.

Read More

Health & Safety

Smoke from Canadian fires is pouring into the US and could linger for days

By Melissa Alonso
CNN
May 21, 2023
Category: Health & Safety
Region: United States

Smoke from wildfires in Canada is moving into parts of the central US and could linger in the days ahead, health and weather officials warned Thursday. Air quality alerts have been posted as of early Friday across several states, including Nebraska, Washington, Montana and Wisconsin, with a special weather statement about air quality in Wyoming. The heaviest smoke concentrations should shift further east into the Midwest later in the day, affecting major metro areas including Chicago, Indianapolis and St. Louis. …In Nebraska, “Canadian wildfire smoke is going to move through the area today through tomorrow morning, resulting in potentially dangerous air quality and poor visibility across eastern Nebraska and Iowa. Limit outdoor activities if possible when the air quality is poor!” the National Weather Service in Omaha tweeted Thursday.

Read More

Innovations in Fire & Explosion Protection

By Keith Loria
Biomass Magazine
May 18, 2023
Category: Health & Safety
Region: United States

Improvements and innovations in fire and explosion protection have come at a steady pace in recent years. Pellet Mill Magazine spoke with five experts about the latest innovative products: Jeramy Slaunwhite for Rembe; David Grandaw for IEP Technologies; Allen Wagoner of FLAMEX; Jason Krbec for CV Technology; and Eric Peterson of Fagus GreCon.

  • Slaunwhite: The development and refinement of flame-arresting technology has provided feasible explosion protection.
  • Krbec: The most significant innovation is the more cost-effective and advanced design isolation systems, specifically explosion. isolation systems for the inlet lines to dust collectors and also the clean air exhaust return lines from dust collectors. 
  • Grandaw: The electromechanical suppressor used for active explosion suppression and isolation systems. 
  • Peterson: As everything gets a little more technically advanced, having things become more intelligent and smarter on their own.
  • Wagoner: We introduced the FLAMEX Spark Detection and Extinguishing System in 1977.

Read More