Region Archives: US East

Business & Politics

Robbins Lumber’s Hancock County mill may not stay a mill after selling to contractor

By Laurie Schreiber
Maine Biz
June 4, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

WALTHAM, Maine — Two months after putting its 100-acre mill complex in Hancock up for sale, Robbins Lumber has sold it to Elliott Jordan & Sons, a general contractor, for the list price of $2.5 million. The buyer doesn’t necessarily plan to use it as a mill. “We see it as a site that probably has more value being developed over a number of years,” Duane Jordan. Waltham is about 20 miles from the Hancock site; both are in Hancock County. The company, one of the top three Eastern white pine producers in New England, acquired the Hancock sawmill and a Sanford facility from Pleasant River Lumber Co. in 2023. Company President Jim Robbins previously said, shortly after the company bought the Hancock plant, it experienced a major failure of a specialized machine responsible for 60% of the plant’s production. 

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Maine-made wood fiber insulation is reviving the old Madison paper mill

By Don Carrigan
News Center Maine
May 30, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

MADISON, Maine — The machines are humming again at the old paper mill in Madison. …But unlike the days of giant paper machines, there are no harsh chemicals in use, no smell permeating the mill, and seemingly little leftover waste. Instead, TimberHP is producing building insulation, made from wood chips. Matt O’Malia, one of the co-founders and Josh Henry began working on the project eight years ago, looking for what they consider a better way to insulate buildings, with a product that is renewable, recyclable, and what they see as carbon-negative. And one where the raw materials come from Maine and are processed into the finished product here as well. O’Malia, an architect who specializes in energy-efficient buildings, and Henry, a chemist, teamed up to develop a building insulation alternative to foam, fiberglass, and mineral wool—the most commonly used materials. They found it in Europe.

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Paper Excellence Canada and the province of Nova Scotia reach a settlement

Paper Excellence Canada
May 23, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, US East

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — Paper Excellence Canada announced that it has reached a settlement with the Province of Nova Scotia that acknowledges plans to reopen Northern Pulp in Pictou will not proceed and provides for a review process… to determine whether a new, modern mill in Nova Scotia is viable. The agreement also provides for the settlement of outstanding litigation and loans between the two parties and fully addresses the pensions of former mill employees. The settlement agreement is subject to approval by the Supreme Court of BC. Central to the settlement agreement is the creation by the Northern Pulp group and the Province of Nova Scotia of a review process that will explore the feasibility of a new mill in Liverpool, Nova Scotia. …Other highlights include: the Pictou site to be maintained for potential logistics operations; …former employee pensions will be fully funded; …and withdrawal of litigation and settlement of debts.

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Irving Sawmills Division Invests $30 million to Open Ashland, Maine Sawmill

J.D. Irving, Limited
May 21, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

ASHLAND, Maine — J.D. Irving, Limited Sawmills Division announced that it will invest $30 million in a new state-of-the-art Softwood sawmill at Ashland (Nashville Plantation), Maine. During the construction phase, the new facility will employ up to 50 people at peak. Once the mill is operating, 60 permanent jobs will be created. Biomass boilers, dry kilns, and a planer mill will also be part of the investment. Construction will begin shortly, pending favorable permitting; and the new mill is expected to open in late Spring of 2014. The lumber produced at this new facility will be certified under the Forest Stewardship Council or the Sustainable Forestry Initiative programs. …The round wood log supply for the new sawmill will be procured from the company’s Maine freehold woodlands as well as other woodlot and timberland owners in the state. The company has reached an agreement with the United Steel Workers Union (USW) to certify the site.

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Matthew Holt named dean of Clemson’s College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences

By Office of the Provost
Clemson College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences
May 22, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

VIRGINIA — Clemson University has named Matthew T. “Matt” Holt dean of the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences (CAFLS). Currently head and professor of Virginia Tech’s Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Holt begins his new position on September 1, 2024. Holt is a highly regarded agricultural economist and a leading expert in applied econometric methods. Throughout his career, he has worked to develop and apply modern econometric tools to problems related to agricultural market and price analysis and production and price risk management. His recent work explores the linkages between climate anomalies and the markets for agricultural and natural resource products. …In 2009, Holt was named a Fellow of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, the highest honor this professional association can bestow on its members. …Holt joined Virginia Tech as a professor and department head in 2017. 

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MasterBrand acquires Supreme Cabinetry Brands for $520 million

By Larry Adams
The Woodworking Network
May 21, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

BEACHWOOD, Ohio —  MasterBrand, through its subsidiary MasterBrand Cabinets, has agreed to acquire Supreme Cabinetry Brands from GHK Capital Partners for $520 million in cash. The sale’s closing is expected to be completed during the third quarter of 2024, subject to customary closing conditions and other regulatory approvals. MasterBrand, which in 2024 entered its second year as a stand-alone company after divesting from Fortune Brands in December 2022, is the nation’s largest cabinet company. Howard Lake, Minnesota-based Supreme Cabinetry had sales of $253 million. …According to MasterBrand, the acquisition is expected to deliver annual cost synergies of $28 million by the end of year three. These will come from areas including procurement, facility optimization, and overhead expenses. In addition to the cost synergies, MasterBrand anticipates commercial synergies across the companies’ complementary channels and product lines.

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‘It’s devastating.’ U.P. paper mill will not get $1B upgrade

By Rose White
Michigan Live
May 21, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

A Swedish paper manufacturer is not moving forward with a $1 billion plan to upgrade a struggling Upper Peninsula paper mill. Billerud announced that it will no longer be converting the Escanaba Mill from producing paper to making an advanced paper product known as cartonboard. This comes after Michigan awarded Billerud a $200 million grant last year. …The company will now shift toward producing packaging materials in North America with a “moderate investment level.” Ivar Vatne, Billerud CEO, says “the investment level remains a massive challenge,”  and “I can say that the investment level needed is much, much higher versus our ongoing projections.” Billerud planned to retool the 112-year-old paper mill to make a stiff multi-ply product for packaging cosmetics, healthcare, beverages and candy products as demand for paper pulp drops. …The Michigan Economic Development Corp. is working to terminate the state’s grant agreement with Billerud.

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Three Weyerhaeuser employees taken to hospital after fire at wood plant

By Jodi Miesen
9and10news
May 17, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

CRAWFORD COUNTY, Michigan — Beaver Creek Township Fire Department is investigating a fire that injured three wood processing employees on Thursday. Firefighters got the call around 12:15 p.m. from the Weyerhaeuser wood processing plant. They say Weyerhaeuser was already doing fire suppression on a silo with their own fire brigade when fire crews arrived. The silo collects sawdust. Three employees were burnt while inspecting a hatch on a piece of equipment when the fire flared up, according to firefighters. The injuries were not reported to be life-threatening. Those employees were treated on scene before being transported to the hospital. The fire remains under investigation, with no cause identified at this time. The Grayling, Camp Grayling and Frederic Township Fire Departments all assisted.

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Maine wood products companies get $1.6 million in federal grants

By Kelley Bouchard
The Press Herald
May 15, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

Brian SouersThree Maine wood products companies will share $1.6 million in federal grants to support innovation and continued production in the state’s forest industries. The funding is from the Wood Innovations and Community Wood Grant Program of the U.S. Forest Service, which is investing $74 million in 171 projects nationwide, Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, said.  Treeline, a company based in Chester, will receive $1 million for its Penobscot River Treatment Facility to produce thermally modified wood products. Godfrey Forest Products will get $300,000 to help produce oriented strand board, at its mill in Jay. Tanbark in Saco will receive $300,000 to help expand its capabilities to replace plastic packaging with molded wood fiber. “These federal grants support rural economies while investing in forward-thinking, sustainable practices (and) help Maine loggers and forest product producers adapt to ever-changing industries, climate (impacts) and markets,” Pingree said.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Researchers led by UMass Amherst solve 2,000-year-old mystery of the shipworm

By Daegan Miller
University of Massachusetts Amherst
June 5, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

They bedeviled ancient Greek navies and helped shipwreck Christopher Columbus… but until now, scientists have been unable to pinpoint exactly how shipworms—a family of mollusks—are able to cause such damage. A team of researchers, jointly led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of Plymouth, along with collaborators from the University of Maine and UMass Chan Medical School, have discovered that a population of symbiotic microbes, living in an overlooked sub-organ of the gut called the “typhlosole,” have the ability to secrete the enzymes needed to digest lignin—the toughest part of wood. …Not only does this research help to solve a longstanding mystery, but the findings may also have important practical application. Biotech companies are searching for new enzymes that can digest recalcitrant substrates more efficiently than current bio-industrial processes allow, and new sources of enzymes that can open the structure of biomass residues are very important in growing this field.

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Maine wood-fiber insulation company is expanding its distribution across North America

By Christopher Burns
Bangor Daily News
June 4, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

A Maine manufacturer has inked a deal to expand the distribution of its wood-fiber insulation across North America. TimberHP announced recently that it signed a deal with CertainTeed Inc., a subsidiary of the French multinational firm Saint-Gobain. “It is a huge vote of confidence in our technology and our team at TimberHP to partner with a brand as innovative and impactful as CertainTeed,” said Joshua Henry, chief executive officer of TimberHP, which he founded with Matthew O’Malia. …TimberHP, a subsidiary of Belfast-based GO Labs, is the first U.S. company to manufacture wood-fiber insulation, a construction product long popular in Europe. …TimberHP began producing blown-in insulation last summer and is rolling out board and batten-type insulation this year. The Finance Authority of Maine and Maine Rural Development Authority recently awarded TimberHP $1 million in loans to support an expansion.

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Georgia Forestry Foundation Seeks Applications for Statewide Mass Timber Accelerator

By Georgia Forestry Foundation
Cision PRWeb
June 3, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

FORSYTH, Georgia — The Georgia Forestry Foundation (GFF), in partnership with the USDA Forest Service and the Softwood Lumber Board, recently announced that it is accepting applications for the Georgia Mass Timber Accelerator. …Up to six (6) selected teams will be awarded a $25,000 grant and a suite of expert technical assistance to support the advancement of the project, including: design and planning, carbon assessment and cost-benefit analysis. The Accelerator will support the growth of sustainable development in Georgia by increasing utilization and awareness of mass timber—an innovative building material that both stores carbon and reduces GHG emissions by 60 percent when compared to traditional building materials, according to analysis from Oregon State University. … Selected projects will receive technical assistance from staff experts from WoodWorks, a nationally renowned non-profit committed to the advancement of sustainable materials and construction efficiency.

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Southern Forest Products Association’s Lumber Shorts

Southern Forest Products Association
May 28, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

In this edition of Lumber Shorts, the SFPA 

  • Celebrates New Members
  • Executive Director Eric Gee talks strategy, celebrates Forest Products EXPO 2025
  • Funding secured to promote Southern Pine in Egypt and the Caribbean
  • Industry News
  • Summary of the Dubai WoodShow

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Three mass timber architecture innovations

By Tom Chung, Auburn University Professor
Building Design + Construction
May 22, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

AUBURN, Arkansas — Looking back at the past 10 years in mass timber design—since our firm’s first mass timber building, the John W. Olver Design Building at the University of Massachusetts Amherst—it is evident that as a building material mass timber and especially cross laminated timber (CLT) has come a long way. Since the landmark project kicked off a decade ago, more than a thousand mass timber buildings have been planned and hundreds have been realized as built projects. A quick look at WoodWork’s Wood Innovation Network proves this point of exponential acceleration. …As mass timber evolves, our firm is finding an increasing variety of mass timber solutions. Here are three primary examples: 1. The rise of mass timber-steel hybrid structures… 2. Novel connections reduce the need for steel reinforcement for mass timber buildings. 3. Teams are leveraging the two-way span capability of mass timber floor panels.

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USDA Regional Agricultural Promotion Program funding to help expand Southern Yellow Pine promotion efforts in Caribbean, Egypt

Southern Pine
May 22, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East, International

The Southern Forest Products Association has received approval for $1.24 million in funding over five years from the USDA Foreign Agriculture Service’s Regional Agricultural Promotion Program (RAPP). The USDA announced the funding May 21 for the $1.2 billion program launched in 2023 to support market development activities to expand exports, address trade barriers, and showcase American agricultural products in new and diverse markets. “The RAPP program allows SFPA to complement established promotional efforts that educate trade and consumers about the benefits of Southern Yellow Pine (SYP) lumber in two important markets: Egypt and the Caribbean,” said SFPA Executive Director Eric Gee. “RAPP’s five-year award will expand efforts to lay a firm foundation of knowledge about SYP in Egypt and provide a long-term strategy of consistency and presence in the Caribbean region, where sustainably grown SYP from the United States is desired for its strength and quality.”

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Minnesota Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program advances in budget bill

By Marissa Hefferman
Resource Recycling
May 20, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

Minnesota is poised to be the fifth U.S. state to pass extended producer responsibility for packaging after adding the program language into the 2024 Environment and Natural Resources Budget, which is now on the governor’s desk. …An Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee press release noted that the “EPR provisions are a major step forward in dealing with solid waste by ensuring that packaging producers are responsible for the waste they create and are incentivized to increase recycled content.” …State Rep. Sydney Jordan said… “The burden of managing this ever-growing deluge of packaging waste currently falls on local governments – and taxpayers. Today’s bill takes steps to ensure the producers pay their fair share.” …The American Forest and Paper Association opposed the bill, as it has opposed EPR in other states, due to the potential for paper to subsidize the cost of recycling plastic.

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Charlotte’s new multifamily mid-rise will feature exposed mass timber

By Peter Fabris
Building Design + Construction
May 17, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — Construction recently kicked off for Oxbow, a mass timber multifamily community in Charlotte’s The Mill District. The $97.8 million project, consisting of 389 rental units and 14,300 sf of commercial space, sits on 4.3 acres that formerly housed four commercial buildings. …The structure will be composed of a two-story concrete podium housing below-grade parking, topped with a five-story hybrid structure of stick frame with cross laminated timber slab. About 50% of the structure will feature exposed mass timber ceilings using Austrian Spruce timber. …The project is seeking a silver rating by the National Green Building Standard, the only green building rating system for homes and apartments approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). …“The project is complex due to its hybrid structure and the site’s tight conditions,” says Kevin Smith, vice president, division manager of Swinerton’s Carolinas Division. 

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Forestry

Michigan’s 10 invasive insects

By Scott Nunn
Big Rapids Pioneer
June 3, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Bugs that are not native to Michigan pose a serious threat to the natural resources in the state. The include: 

  • The Asian longhorned beetle is a severe threat to numerous tree species, including poplars and maples, which are among the most abundant in Michigan.
  • The Balsam Woolly Adelgid is among two adelgid which threaten Michigan trees, specifically fir trees. 
  • The Emerald Ash Borer invasion has resulted in the death of tens of millions of ash trees in the state, and was behind one of the state’s biggest campaigns to stop the relocation of firewood to stop the spread.
  • The Hemlock Woolly Adelgid is a tiny sap-sucking bug that destroys the needles, shoots, and branches of hemlock trees, resulting in death.
  • The Mountain Pine Beetle is a destructive bark beetle that can infest most pine tree species and cause tree death.

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Pennsylvania SFI Implementation Committee wins award for collaborating to advance conservation and outreach

Sustainable Forestry Initiative
June 4, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Atlanta, Georgia — The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) is pleased to announce the winner of the SFI Implementation Committee Achievement Award at the 2024 SFI Annual Conference. The Pennsylvania SFI Implementation Committee (SIC) has been selected as this year’s award winner for effectively leveraging technical knowledge and outreach platforms to increase the uptake of sustainable forest management practices. Their leadership in providing expert technical guidance has profoundly influenced sustainable forestry practices across the state and throughout the SFI network.

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How the Hoosier National Forest can help on climate change

By Dex Conaway, Indiana Forest Alliance and Tom Zeller, forest activist
The Herald-Times
June 5, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

The cause of climate change is excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Forests can play an important role in removing carbon dioxide from the air, as they transform it into tree trunks, roots, and leaves. Much of the Hoosier National Forest has been accumulating carbon for more than 80 years. Since forest activists convinced the U.S. Forest Service to reduce the amount of timber harvesting in 1990, the Forest Service estimates the amount of carbon stored in the Hoosier has increased more than 40%. …Allowing forests to mature allows them to absorb and store more carbon dioxide. When trees are harvested, some of the carbon remains locked away in the form of wood products such as lumber in houses. However, the process of timbering releases about 10-25% of the carbon from a stand back to the atmosphere. The Forest Service’s plan for logging … mature forest in the Hoosier National Forest will release much of its long-stored carbon.

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South Carolina loggers struggle as mill closures create wood surplus and economic woes

By Andrew James
WDPE News
May 30, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

GEORGETOWN COUNTY, South Carolina — This past year was historic for South Carolina timber harvesters, albeit for all the wrong reasons. A clear example of this in Georgetown County… Donnie Lambert and his team at Leo Lambert Logging were steady at work clearing and trimming their pine tree harvest. With one text message, production either stops or shifts. “It changes daily and hourly, really,” said Lambert pointing to messages from International Paper or WestRock in Florence saying orders are all filled. ….The shutdown of the mills, it’s the ripple effect,” said Crad Jaynes with the SC Timber Producer’s Association. “With the closing of West Rock and North Charleston, Pactiv Evergreen’s mill in Canton, North Carolina. Sonoco Products Company in Hartsville changing to 100% recycled material to make their products and not take raw wood fiber.

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University of Minnesota students find ‘eco-friendly’ way to kill Japanese beetles

By Alex Shhith
Star Tribune in Phys.org
May 29, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Aditya Prabhu, a University of Minnesota computer engineering student, spent his youth defending his family peach tree from Japanese beetles that would strip the tree of its foliage. …Prabhu wondered if there was an easier way to get rid of the beetles, while he was taking an entrepreneurship class this year. As he researched, he learned about pheromone traps that attracted Japanese beetles. But he also discovered that many of those traps can fill fast, leaving the remaining insects free to wreak havoc. He, along with fellow student James Duquette, a finance major, designed a circular-shaped, double-netted trap with pheromones to attract Japanese beetles. When the insects step onto the net, covered with a type of insecticide, they become immobilized and fall into another net that catches them. …Prabhu and Duquette will test their models at vineyards across Minnesota, partnering with farmers looking for more eco-friendly and cost-effective ways to manage the pests.

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Logging in our state is part of our history and culture

Letter by Steve Tradewell
Conway Daily Sun
May 24, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Another frivolous lawsuit from environmentalists. A Vermont activist group is suing the White Mountain USFS over logging projects. New Hampshire has a very long history of logging, and it brings numerous jobs to the region. The USFS has done a very fine job managing the forest and logging for many decades without issue. … Their suit mentions an endangered bat. Years back, I held a seat on a local school board, any town that adjoins the National Forest receives money from the logging operations. One year, I was told by the Forest Service supervisor that there was not going to be any money because of an environmental group’s lawsuit. He told me that they were investigating the charge that deceased endangered bats were brought in from Vermont and planted in the White Mountain National Forest. …Let’s hope the bats that claim this time are New Hampshire bats. The forest service goes to great lengths to protect the forest and ensure that loggers play by the rules. 

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The fight to save America’s iconic tree has become a civil war

By Kate Morgan
The Intelligencer
May 27, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

NEW YORK — For the past two decades, Sara Fern Fitzsimmons has raised seedlings of the American chestnut in research orchards along the Eastern Seaboard, keeping them fed and hydrated and charting their growth. At the turn of the 20th century, the “redwoods of the East” dominated forests with their towering trunks, accounting for an estimated one in every four trees from southern Maine to northern Florida. They fueled a major timber industry, and their nuts were a vital source of food for both livestock and countless families. As one historian wrote, the tree “was possibly the single most important natural resource of the Appalachians.” …A breakthrough in genetic engineering was intended to bring them back and transform the science of species restoration while potentially netting its inventors millions of dollars and wide acclaim. Instead, a mix-up in the lab has sparked a veritable civil war in the niche conservation community.

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Pittack Logging named 2024 Minnesota Logger of the Year

Business North
May 23, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Rick Horton, Scott Pittack and Joe Pittack

Pittack Logging of Bovey has been named the 2024 Minnesota Logger of the Year by the Minnesota Sustainable Forestry Initiative Implementation Committee. The award was presented to Scott and Joe Pittack at the Minnesota Logger Education Program workshop held in Virginia. The Logger of the Year Award recognizes outstanding independent logging contractor performance with the purpose of honoring Minnesota’s competent professional independent logging contractors. The formal nomination clearly demonstrates that Pittack Logging is recognized by their peers for professionalism, commitment to sustainable forestry, using best business management practices, trade organization involvement, fostering excellent landowner and forester relationships, and for their exceptional community outreach activities.

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North Carolina enviros ask Biden to stop logging of old-growth trees, protect mature ones

By Lisa Sorg
NC Newsline
May 21, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Seventeen North Carolina environmental groups have sent a letter to President Biden asking that his administration “enact the strongest possible protections for mature and old-growth trees and forests on federal lands,” as one weapon against climate change. The letter addresses three U.S. Forest Service timber sales in the southwestern part of the state, in the Nantahala National and Pisgah forests: The 795-acre Buck Project, in Clay County, includes cutting 150 acres of trees more than 100 years old and 375 acres of mature cove forests, according to federal records and Environment North Carolina. An estimated 60% of the 317 acres of forested area targeted for logging in the Southside Project in Macon and Swain counties is more than 100 years old, according to the Chattanooga Conservancy. And at least two stands of timber are existing old growth, with trees near or over 200 years old. 

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Gov. Jared Polis signs bills to reintroduce wolverines in Colorado, boost wildfire mitigation

My Marissa Ventrelli
Colorado Politics
May 20, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Gov. Jared Polis Polis traveled across the Western Slope on Monday to sign several bills, ranging from issues like highway safety, wildfire mitigation and species conservation. Polis signed Senate Bill 171, which facilitates the reintroduction of wolverines to Colorado Colorado Parks and Wildlife will introduce 30 female and 15 male wolverines over a three-year period in hopes of boosting the species’ population, as only about 300 wolverines remain in the contiguous United States. . …At Colorado Fire Rescue Station #64 in New Castle, he signed House Bills 1006 and 1024. Bill 1006 creates a rural grant navigator program through the Colorado State Forest Service, providing funding to non-government organizations that assist rural communities in applying for state or federal wildfire mitigation and preparedness grants. Starting in 2026, the Forest Service will be required to report on the program’s progress to the Colorado General Assembly every two years. The bill appropriates $200,000 from the general fund to implement the program. 

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Group Files Lawsuit to Challenge Logging in White Mountain National Forest

By Vermont Law and Graduate School
In Depth New Hampshire
May 20, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

CONCORD, New Hampshire — Vermont Law and Graduate School’s Environmental Advocacy Clinic filed suit today in the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire on behalf of forest protection group Standing Trees. The suit challenges commercial logging projects recently approved by the United States Forest Service in the White Mountain National Forest, in Piermont and Gorham, New Hampshire. The challenged projects — known as the Tarleton and Peabody West Integrated Resource Projects — include nearly 3,000 acres of commercial logging and more than 11 miles of permanent road construction in two irreplaceable landscapes traversed by the Appalachian Trail and enjoyed by thousands of visitors each year. …“The Forest Service has displayed zero interest in collaborating with the public to improve either one of these reckless logging projects,” Zack Porter, executive director of Standing Trees, said.

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Drought and dead trees are increasing Minnesota’s wildfire risk. A firefighter shortage will make it worse.

Kirsten Swanson
KSTP Eyewitness News
May 16, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

WLY, Minnesota – Dry, tall grass crunches underneath the boots of more than a dozen students, who are dressed in firefighting gear. The Wildland Fire Control and Management class at Minnesota North College’s Vermilion campus is setting fire to a five-acre field outside of Ely. It’s the second prescribed burn the class has performed this spring. …While dry conditions and dead, diseased trees are putting some of the state’s most treasured lands at risk, officials say a nationwide shortage of wildland firefighters could mean fewer resources dedicated to Minnesota to put them out. …The Forest Service acknowledges it’s struggling to hire firefighters all over the country. In early April, the agency said it had only signed on 76% of its total goal of crews for the summer.

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Interagency approach proves successful for Kentucky wildfire prevention

By the Forest Service
US Department of Agriculture
May 15, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

KENTUCKY—After decades of challenging fire seasons, the Daniel Boone National Forest in eastern Kentucky is beginning to see a decline wildfire incidents. This can be attributed to the Daniel Boone National Forest Law Enforcement and Investigations team’s proactive, interagency approach to reducing human-caused wildfire. Over 98% of wildfires in Kentucky are human-caused and nearly 60% can be directly attributed to arson. …In 2016, the forest law enforcement team began conducting interagency fire investigation training with the Kentucky Division of Forestry and the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources resulting in a skilled law enforcement team. …Eight years later, Daniel Boone National Forest law enforcement officers serve as trusted resources for incident reports and are supported in their wildfire investigations in communities where they were previously opposed. As communities engage with law enforcement … human-caused wildfires continue to decline, are being successfully prosecuted in court and restitution funds are returning to impacted areas.  

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Aftermath of northern Michigan timber embezzlement case

By Alli Baxter
UpNorthLive
May 9, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

CRAWFORD COUNTY, Michigan — In March, the Michigan Attorney General’s Office said Norman Kasubowski ran two timber harvesting companies. Kasubowski was charged with embezzlement for intentionally underreporting harvests and lying to land owners to avoid paying them what their timber was worth. …It’s been almost a decade since Kasubowski came to Edith Nelson’s property. They had an agreement to do a select cut of the 160 acres. In 2017, Kasubowski started harvesting timber and told her some of the costs were more than he expected. So they agreed to a trade: he could harvest some cedar trees to cover the extra costs. Edith said he took the cedars and the other trees behind. When Kasubowski didn’t pay Edith what she was really owed or remove the trees, she and others took legal action. After an investigation by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office, Kasubowski took a plea deal for embezzlement.

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Vermont logging company fined for wetland and water quality impacts

Vermont Business Magazine
May 9, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

The Agency of Natural Resources Departments of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Forests, Parks, and Recreation (FPR) announced that Thomson Timber Harvesting and Trucking was fined $32,550 for violating the Vermont Wetland Rules and failing to follow Acceptable Management Practices (AMPs) for Maintaining Water Quality on Logging Jobs in Vermont. …AMPs for Maintaining Water Quality on Logging Jobs in Vermont are designed to protect water quality and ensure that loggers are in compliance. …Agency staff observed several discharges caused by the failure to properly install stream crossings, construct waterbars, smooth ruts, and seed and mulch exposed soils. Agency staff also observed alterations to wetland and vernal pool habitat and hydrology from excessive brush and rutting. Thompson Timber completed remediation of the sites in the summer of 2021 with the help of Agency oversight.

In related coverage: Logger Matt McAllister has seen nearly everything that can go wrong.

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AI assess forest damage after hurricanes

By Meredith Bauer, University of Florida
Farm Progress
May 14, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

With Hurricane Preparedness Week kicking off today, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researchers are preparing for hurricane season with state-of-the-art monitoring equipment that will help them determine how extensively forests are damaged during individual hurricanes. …Getting an accurate assessment for how much timber is damaged by hurricanes is essential for environmental management decisions, salvaging logging operations, tree farms’ insurance estimates and climate change studies, but so far, it’s been a vexing puzzle. …These data help them know which areas were most affected and need help immediately, as well as which would benefit from specialized action at a later time – such as where to do salvage logging operations. …Additional data are collected with ground-based lidar scanners attached to all-terrain vehicles and a backpack apparatus to make high-resolution 3D maps of the forest.

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With recent storms and heavy rain, loggers say working conditions have never been more difficult

By Nicole Ogrysko
Maine Public
May 9, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Loggers said their operating conditions have never been more difficult, with recent storms, heavy rain and mild conditions over the last 18 months. A recent survey found that 50 Maine harvesters and haulers lost at least $2.6 million in income from the Dec. 18 storm. And Dana Doran, director of Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast, said most Maine loggers worked just four weeks this winter. “Most of them had to shut down by the last week of February for the winter, so it’s just been a rollercoaster of a ride for all of them, starting with that Dec. 18 storm, but really going back to the winter of 2022-2023, because we never had frozen ground then, either,” he said. Doran compared the last 18 months to mud season, where the ground was too soft and saturated, and loggers couldn’t access the land they needed to harvest. When snow did fall this winter, it melted quickly.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Renewable bioenergy plant holds grand opening in Dothan

By Sarah Williamson and Mackenzie Foster
WTVY News 4
June 4, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US East

DOTHAN, Ala. – A site dedicated to sustainable and renewable bioenergy has made its home in Dothan, Alabama. A partnership between Rex Lumber and Brian Fehr Group led to the grand opening of Peak Renewable BioEnergy. Peak Renewables BioEnergy is a Canadian company that says it is dedicated to harnessing the power of renewable resources and sustainable practices to reduce its carbon footprint and ensure a sustainable, clean energy future. To achieve its goal, Peak Renewables manufactures fibrous utility wood pellets as an economical substitute for coal. The Dothan plant receives wood shavings from Rex Lumber plants in Alabama and Florida, then those shavings become wood pellets. After being created at the Dothan plant, the pellets are shipped to Europe. “This is just an expansion of [that] process and allows us to take our by-products and further use them in an environmental way”, said Caroline Dauzat, an owner of Rex Lumber.

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Health & Safety

American Wood Council Releases New Construction Fire Inspection App

By the American Wood Council
Cision PRWeb
June 4, 2024
Category: Health & Safety
Region: United States, US East

LEESBURG, Va. — The American Wood Council (AWC) has released a new app to help make construction site fire safety inspections more accessible and safe. The Construction Fire Safety Checklist, or CFS Checklist, contains a daily fire inspection checklist that meets the requirements of the 2021 International Fire Code and allows site safety directors to complete the checklist as they walk through their daily inspection. The app’s development is the result of feedback AWC and the Construction Fire Safety Coalition (CFSC) received from the fire service, building inspectors, site safety directors, developers and construction managers across the nation. The checklist allows inspectors to reduce the frequency and severity of construction fires through a code compliant questionnaire that identifies potential site safety risks. …Once completed, the report can be exported as a PDF to be saved and shared with the relevant fire and building officials.

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Eyes on the Road: Combatting Distracted Driving in the Lumber Industry

By Mike Zdrojewski, Pennsylvania Lumbermens Mutual Insurance Company
LBM Journal
May 29, 2024
Category: Health & Safety
Region: United States, US East

Muti-tasking is near impossible, with only about 2.5% of people able to do so effectively according to a University of Utah study. Still, so many of us, while driving, are tempted to skip through songs, read a text or reach for something. In honor of Distracted Driving Awareness Month, now is a perfect time to see what more your lumber and building material business can do to curb distracted driving within your fleet. In 2022, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported a staggering 3,308 people died in distracted driving accidents. While such statistics do exist, incidents often go under-reported but it’s likely a more extensive problem than anyone realizes. …A great place for lumber dealers and operators to begin or strengthen their protocols against distracted driving is by speaking with an insurance professional who understands distracted driving risks as well as the lumber industry. 

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Researchers look into community health impact of wood pellet production in rural Mississippi

By Danny McArthur
MPB News
May 15, 2024
Category: Health & Safety
Region: United States, US East

MISSISSIPPI — Burning wood pellets for fuel can help power energy and heating systems, and proponents of the practice say it’s cheaper than other fuel sources and low in moisture and ash content, meaning the wood pellets should burn cleanly. But researchers from Brown University in Rhode Island and Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi, are examining if these wood pellet plants are harming the health of residents in the surrounding communities. …The study found that Mendenhall had less air pollution and less noise pollution than Gloster did. Erica Walker, at the Brown University School of Public Health, said the early findings are limited, and the universities plan to study Gloster long term. …“The strength of this is that we are beginning to actually put real data to the question of whether or not wood pellet manufacturing is harmful to the communities who live nearby,” Walker said.

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Forest Fires

Crews still battling wildfire near Isabella

By John Myers
The Duluth News Tribune
May 16, 2024
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US East

ISABELLA — An intentional fire set by Superior National Forest crews to reduce fuels for future forest fires has grown into a wildfire across 265 acres but was being slowed Thursday by light rain, cooler temperatures, higher humidity and firefighting crews. The fire started Wednesday as an intentional prescribed burn near Fish Fry Lake in Lake County, just north of Minnesota Highway 1  in the Superior National Forest. It grew out of control Wednesday afternoon in gusty winds. As of noon Thursday, the fire had burned 265 acres. The original fire was intended at about 60 acres. …The Fry fire was one of several planned and already conducted this spring across the forest to reduce areas that have a heavy buildup of dead and drying trees that would be ripe for a future wildfire, such as areas hit by wind storms or infested with the spruce budworm insect.

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Forest History & Archives

IXL Museum reveals lumber town’s past

By Terri Castelaz
The Iron Mountain Daily News
May 31, 2024
Category: Forest History & Archives
Region: United States, US East

HERMANSVILLE, Michigan — Inside Hermansville’s IXL Historical Museum, a fascinating story of the once-booming lumber company town is told through its exhibits. The first floor of the 1881-82 Wisconsin Land & Lumber Co. building that was dedicated to the administration staff houses artifacts that are 99% original, with the office equipment still the way Dr. G.W. Earle left it. “When you enter the main floor, it looks like they closed the doors on a Friday night and didn’t return,” Board President Marilyn Popp said. Popp noted the desks are still in a neat and working order, complete with handwritten ledgers and sale orders that appear as if an entry has just been completed. The hardwood flooring business was big for such a small area, Popp said. Every piece of flooring was stamped with the letters “IXL” inside a circle, which stood for “I excel,” to reflect on quality products.

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