Region Archives: US East

Business & Politics

Teal Jones Group to reopen mills in Virginia, Oklahoma, and Mississippi on May 13

The Lesprom Network
May 11, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

Teal Jones announced it will reopen all of its mills in Virginia, Oklahoma, and Mississippi on May 13, 2024. The decision follows the company’s restructuring under the Canadian Companies Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), initiated on April 25, 2024, due to declining lumber prices and disputes over logging rights on Vancouver Island. Supported by $56 million from Wells Fargo, Teal-Jones Group is set to resume operations, ensuring job continuity across its locations. This restructuring does not impact its U.S. operations, specifically the Teal Jones Sawmill in Plain Dealing, Louisiana. Teal Jones-Plain Dealing, LLC, which manages the Plain Dealing Sawmill, remains independently funded and is not involved in the CCAA proceedings. Construction at the Plain Dealing Sawmill continues without disruption, with the facility anticipated to start production in summer 2024 and reach full capacity by fall. 

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RYAM Announces Sale of Softwood Duty Refund Rights for $39 Million

By Rayonier Advanced Materials
Business Wire
May 6, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

JACKSONVILLE, Florida — Rayonier Advanced Materials (RYAM) announced it has reached agreement regarding the sale to OCP Lumber of the Company’s entitlements to refunds, including all accrued interest, related to the duties imposed on softwood lumber exported by the Company from Canada into the United States during a specific period between 2017 and 2021. The sale price for the refund rights is $39 million with the opportunity for the Company to receive additional future sale proceeds contingent upon the timing and terms of the ultimate trade dispute outcome. Closing and funding is expected to take place within the next 30 days. …The Company previously owned six softwood lumber mills in Eastern Canada, and made duties deposits of $111 million to the US in connection with lumber exports into the between 2017 and 2021. At the time the Company sold these lumber assets in 2021, it retained the rights to the deposits.

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Canfor buying Resolute’s El Dorado lumber mill for $73 million

The Magnolia Reporter
May 2, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

Canfor is buying the Resolute El Dorado Inc. lumber manufacturing facility on the Junction City Highway in Union County, south of El Dorado. Canfor said the $73 million acquisition, including working capital, will create synergies and vertical integration opportunities given its fit with Canfor’s existing operations in Union County… and with an anticipated further $50 million in planned upgrades, production capacity is expected to increase to 175 million board feet per year. “The El Dorado mill is an important part of the regional forest ecosystem. Together with Canfor’s adjacent El Dorado Laminating Plant and nearby Urbana Plant, this acquisition aligns with our growth-focused strategy in areas with access to high-quality globally competitive timber supply,” said Lee Goodloe, president, Canfor Southern Pine. …The transaction is expected to close over the next several months and is subject to customary closing conditions. The lumber and decking mill produces 147 million board feet annually. It has 102 employees.

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Twin Rivers Paper sells Pine Bluff Arkansas based paper mill to American Kraft Paper Industries

Twin Rivers Paper Company
April 30, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

MADAWASDKA, Maine — Twin Rivers Paper Company, a producer of specialty paper products, announced the sale of its Pine Bluff, Arkansas unbleached kraft paper mill to American Kraft Paper Industries, an affiliate of American Industrial Acquisition Corporation (AIAC). Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Twin Rivers Paper acquired the Pine Bluff kraft paper manufacturing and distribution business from the Mondi Group in 2018. “The decision to sell the Pine Bluff mill furthers Twin Rivers’ strategy of prioritizing the growth of our core specialty papers business,” stated Tyler Rajeski, President of Twin Rivers Paper. “With AIAC’s founding principle of investing in the assets it acquires, we are confident the Pine Bluff business and its dedicated managers and employees will realize long-term success. 

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Domtar fined $64,650 for water permit violations

By Jeff Keeling
WJHL Tennessee
April 24, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

KINGSPORT, Tennessee — The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation has fined Domtar $64,650 for violating its water discharge permit multiple times in the months following startup of its new Kingsport recycled packaging facility. The company can avoid paying nearly $52,000 of the penalty if it submits an acceptable “corrective action plan” and meets milestones designed to ensure compliance. …TDEC staff began investigating “multiple complaints of a white slime in the stream” from outfalls into the South Fork Holston River as early as March 31, 2023. Domtar began operating its new plant Jan. 15, 2023. …Testing showed that “biochemical oxygen demand” levels exceeded permit effluent levels in February and March, 2023. East Tennessee State University biology professor Joe Bidwell said any impacts on “resident organisms” were probably mitigated by the type of water the effluent was entering. 

 

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Finance & Economics

LP Building Solutions reports Q1, 2024 net income of $108 million

By Louisiana Pacific Corporation
Business Wire
May 8, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States, US East

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Louisiana-Pacific, a manufacturer of building products, reported its financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2024. Highlights include: Siding net sales increased by 9% to $361 million; Oriented Strand Board (OSB) net sales increased by 65% to $313 million: Consolidated net sales increased by 24% to $724 million: Net income was $108 million, an increase of $85 million; and Adjusted EBITDA was $182 million, an increase of $116 million. “The first quarter saw robust demand for Siding and OSB, with increased volume,” said LP Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer Brad Southern. “While macro uncertainties remain, strong demand for SmartSide and Structural Solutions has continued in the second quarter. As such, we are increasing our second quarter and full-year outlook.”

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BlueLinx reports Q1, 2024 net income of $17 million

Bluelinx Holdings Inc.
May 3, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States, US East

ATLANTA — BlueLinx, a U.S. wholesale distributor of building products, reported financial results for the three months ended March 30, 2024. Highlights include: Net sales of $726 million; Net income of $17 million;  Adjusted net income of $19 million; and Adjusted EBITDA of $39 million, or 5.3% of net sales, which includes a net benefit of approximately $7 million related to import duties from prior periods. “We are off to a solid start to 2024, despite ongoing deflationary pressures associated with our specialty business and January weather conditions that adversely impacted volumes. We are pleased with the results for the quarter as volumes recovered and we maintained strong margins in specialty and structural products,” said Shyam Reddy, President, and CEO of BlueLinx.

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WestRock reports Q2, 2024 net income of $16 million

WestRock Company
May 2, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States, US East

ATLANTA — WestRock Company, a provider of sustainable paper and packaging solutions, announced results for its fiscal second quarter ended March 31, 2024. Second Quarter Highlights include: Net sales of $4.73 billion; Net income of $16 million, Adjusted Net Income of $101 million; net income included $81 million of restructuring and other costs, and Consumer Packaging Adjusted EBITDA margin increased 70 bps to 18.0%. …“We delivered strong results and made significant progress on our cost savings initiatives,” said David B. Sewell, CEO. …The decline in net sales compared to the second quarter of fiscal 2023 was driven primarily by a $229 million, or 8.7%, decrease in Corrugated Packaging segment sales, a $152 million, or 13.0%, decrease in Global Paper segment sales and a $152 million, or 12.0%, decrease in Consumer Packaging segment sales.

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UFP Industries reports Q1, 2024 net earnings of $121 million

By UFP Industries
Business Wire
April 30, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States, US East

GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan — UFP Industries announced first quarter 2024 results including net sales of $1.64 billion, net earnings attributable to controlling interests of $121 million. First Quarter 2024 Highlights include: Net sales of $1.64 billion decreased 10 percent due to a 9 percent decrease in selling prices and a 1% decrease in organic unit sales; New product sales of $124 million were 7.6% of total sales compared to 7.4% in the first quarter of 2023; Adjusted EBITDA1 of $181 million represents a decrease of 10 percent while adjusted EBITDA margin1 declined 10 basis points to 11%; and Net earnings attributable to controlling interests of $121 million represents a 4% decrease from last year and includes the favorable impact of a $9.7 million increase in an anticipated tax deduction.

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Kimberly-Clark reports Q1, 2024 net income of $61 million

Kimberly-Clark Corporation
April 23, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: US East

DALLAS — Kimberly-Clark reported first quarter 2024 results characterized by positive volume and mix gains. …First quarter sales of $5.1 billion were 1% lower than the prior-year period, including negative impacts of approximately 5% from foreign currency translation and approximately 1% from the divestiture of the Tissue and K-C Professional business in Brazil in June 2023. Organic sales were up 6 percent, driven by a 4% increase in price, 1 percent favorable product mix and a 1% increase in volume. Price-led gains reflected necessary pricing actions to address higher local costs in hyperinflationary economies, mainly in Argentina. …”We delivered an encouraging set of first quarter results as we embark on this next chapter of growth for Kimberly-Clark,” said Kimberly-Clark Chairman and CEO Mike Hsu.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Houston’s first mass-timber office building breaks ground

By Marissa Luck
The Houston Chronicle
May 10, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

HOUSTON, Texas — Construction on one of the first mass-timber office buildings in the Houston area launched Thursday in Cypress, offering a model for the real estate industry to rein in its greenhouse gas emissions. One Bridgeland Green, developed by The Woodlands-based Howard Hughes, will be built using engineered wood for structural components. The 49,000 square-foot, three-story building will open next year near the Grand Parkway in the Bridgeland master-planned community. Building any new structure generates greenhouse gases, but steel and concrete are particularly carbon intensive. Mass timber could reduce construction emissions by 14% to 31%, research suggests. …A handful of private developers have proposed mass-timber offices in Houston, but the Bridgeland project is the first to break ground. …“We see a significant reduction in embodied carbon throughout a project’s lifecycle compared to a steel or concrete building,” said Ryan Jones with Lake Flato, the design architect for the project.

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Why wonky building codes could be key in reducing state’s climate impact

By Dan Kraker
MPR News
May 8, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

DULUTH, Minnesota — Experts say changes in building codes, the obscure, wonky, highly-technical rules that govern how our homes and apartment buildings are designed and constructed, can play an outsized role in reducing the state’s greenhouse gas emissions — especially when multiplied over thousands of new homes, year after year. Simply by adopting the latest model energy code, the U.S. Department of Energy estimates that Minnesota could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 9 million metric tons, and save an estimated $1 billion in energy costs. …Advocates say stricter energy building codes can play a significant role in reducing emissions by requiring all builders to meet the same minimum efficiency standards. But some builders’ organizations worry the benefits of those efficiency upgrades may not be worth the up-front costs. …Rep. Larry Kraft, DFL-St. Louis Park, says stronger codes would require all builders to meet the same minimum efficiency standards.

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Weyerhaeuser Partners With Fay Jones School for Research Fellows Program

University of Arkansas
May 8, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

Weyerhaeuser has partnered with the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas for a new research fellows program that supports the development of innovative wood products and sustainable wood-based construction. The newly formed Weyerhaeuser Research Fellows Program includes two simultaneous applied research and design projects — one focused on prototyping a 3D-printed, wood-composite house, the other on engineering mass timber to support three common housing typologies important to rural communities. The two-year program expands on previous partnerships between Weyerhaeuser and the Fay Jones School and will run through 2025. It directly supports Weyerhaeuser’ 3 by 30 Sustainability Ambitions and work advancing a future where everyone has access to a quality, affordable and sustainable home. …“The support propels efforts with two emerging building material technologies, poised to address an unmet housing need in rural communities, while providing effective labor force development opportunities,” said John Folan, the professor who will lead the project.

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SMART Scholar and Mentor Research Revolutionizes the Department of Defense Standards for Cross-Laminated Timber

Defense Visual Info Distribution Service
May 6, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) scholar Juliet Swinea and her SMART mentor, Pete Stynoski, Ph.D., have joined forces to revolutionize Department of Defense (DoD) ballistic design standards. Swinea and Stynoski were awarded the SMART Scholar and Mentor of the Year (SMOTY) Award … for their groundbreaking research and collaboration evaluating the properties of western hemlock cross-laminated timber (CLT), a potential alternate construction material. Together, Swinea and Stynoski assess the performance of CLT and its resilience against ballistic impacts. CLT is a sustainable type of wood that could be very useful for making temporary housing quickly during military operations and disaster response. “Ms. Swinea’s research on CLT is contributing to the widespread use of this new class of construction materials in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the DoD, advancing our force protection mission,” said David W. Pittman of the U.S. Army Engineer and Research Development Center.

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Georgia’s first Georgia-grown mass timber building

By Larry Adams
The Woodworking Network
May 6, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

ATLANTA – Georgia’s first Georgia-grown mass timber building utilizing a regional supply chain has been completed. Jamestown, the firm behind Atlanta’s Ponce City Market, celebrated the completion of 619 Ponce. The building features a biophilic design and exposed southern yellow pine timber beams, and celebrates the use of Georgia’s vast forest resources to create a more sustainable built environment. “Georgia history is being made at 619 Ponce with the success of the state’s first locally sourced mass timber building,” said Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock. “With an over $40 billion annual impact and 140,000 jobs, it is no wonder Georgia is the number one forestry state in America. And this new mass timber structure reflects that might. As a member of the Senate Agriculture and Forestry Committee, I will remain a champion for Georgia’s forestry industry and ensure we support sustainable forest management, maintain our economic strength, and stimulate innovation in the industry.”

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A Practicing Engineer’s Approach to Wood-Framed Type III Construction

By Jared Hudson and Shaun Kreidel
Structure Magazine
April 30, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

Light frame wood construction is often a desired construction method for low-rise multifamily structures due to readily available labor and materials, speed of construction, sustainability, and relatively low construction costs. A Type V construction classification as defined by the International Building Code (IBC) is commonplace for these structures; however, this construction type is limited to four stories of stacking wood construction. A Type III construction classification allows conventional wood-framed structures to include an additional level, bringing the allowable height to five stories above grade. …This construction type may be attractive to developers looking to maximize the occupiable square footage of a defined footprint while taking advantage of the many benefits that come with light-frame wood construction. …The structural designer must consider many factors when pressing the limits of conventional wood framing to new heights to ensure appropriate fire-resistance ratings, structural performance, and constructability. 

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48forty Solutions Leads the Industry With SFI-certified Recycled Pallets, Setting a New Standard in Sustainability

48forty
April 30, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

HOUSTON — 48forty Solutions is now certified to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Chain-of-Custody Standard, making it the first company producing recycled pallets to achieve this certification. 48forty Solutions is one of the largest pallet management services companies in North America and this certification underscores the company’s commitment to environmental responsibility and sustainability. SFI certification ensures that all recycled pallets provided by 48forty Solutions are manufactured from recycled materials. SFI’s Chain-of-Custody Standard tracks certified forest content, non-certified forest content, and recycled forest content to the end product. “We are proud to lead the way as the first recycled pallet company in North America offering SFI-certified pallets,” said Mike Hachtman, CEO at 48forty Solutions. “This certification sets us apart in the industry and provides our customers peace of mind knowing that they are choosing pallets that are produced from recycled materials.”

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Swinerton Deploys Tech on $98M Mixed-Use Mass Timber Build Oxbow in Charlotte North Carolina

Yield Pro
April 29, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA — Concord, California-based Swinerton has started the construction of Oxbow, a $97.8 million, mixed-use commercial plus multifamily development with heavy mass timber elements in Charlotte, North Carolina. Swinerton is building the project for Space Craft, a Charlotte-based firm, in the city’s Mill District. This is the third time the companies have partnered, with its most recent project being Joinery in the same area. Once complete, Oxbow will contain six floors with nearly 14,300 square feet of commercial space. For residents, it holds 389 rentals that range from studio apartments to four-bedroom units. …The structure will also feature heavy mass timber use — plans call for a two-story concrete podium, which will house below-grade parking, topped with a five-story hybrid structure of stick frame with cross laminated timber slab from Swinerton’s mass timber subsidiary, Timberlab. Approximately 50% of the structure will feature exposed mass timber ceilings.

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New building made from Georgia-grown timber opens in Old Fourth Ward

By Drew Kann
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
April 25, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

Wrapped in gray paneling with ample windows, the exterior of the new four-story building … looks decidedly more modern than its hulking, brick neighbor, Ponce City Market. But inside, the rich wood floors and timber beams overhead reveal that this mixed-use property is like few others in metro Atlanta or the country. The building, known as 619 Ponce, was constructed entirely from timber grown in Georgia and manufactured by regional suppliers, using centuries-old techniques that are experiencing a revival as developers seek to reduce their environmental footprint. On Thursday, 619 Ponce officially opened its doors to the public in Atlanta’s bustling Old Fourth Ward neighborhood, just steps away from the Beltline. …The 619 Ponce building is made of mass timber, a catch-all term for a range of engineered wood materials with the strength to serve as a structure’s load-bearing bones, in place of the steel and concrete that are typically used in commercial buildings today.

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Forestry

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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2025 Forest Products EXPO Booth Sales Scheduled to Open May 14

The Southern Forest Products Association
May 10, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Exhibit space sales for the 38th Forest Products Machinery & Equipment Exposition (Forest Products EXPO 2025), presented by the Southern Forest Products Association, are scheduled to open Tuesday, May 14. The three-day biennial tradeshow, to be held August 6-8, 2025, will return to the Music City Center in Nashville and provide attendees with solutions for nearly every stage of manufacturing. Sponsored and conducted by SFPA every two years since 1950, EXPO includes many of the biggest names in the forestry industry. Exhibitors display everything from sawmill machinery to materials handling equipment, attracting key representatives from the nation’s largest wood and wood products manufacturers. From raw material handling to crane operations; metal detection and scanning technologies; log optimization, drying, grading, sorting, packaging, and distribution, customers new and old will be waiting to explore these solutions with you face to face.

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Emerald Ash Borer Detected In Washburn, Taylor Counties

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Dryden Wire
May 7, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Wisconsin — The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has detected the presence of emerald ash borer (EAB) for the first time in Washburn and Taylor counties. Burnett is now the only county without a detection since EAB was first discovered in Wisconsin in 2008. DNR staff members collected larvae samples in the town of Springbrook and the city of Medford. A USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service identifier confirmed these larvae as EAB. The detections will not result in regulatory changes because EAB was federally deregulated on Jan. 14, 2021, and Wisconsin rescinded its statewide quarantine effective July 1, 2023. EAB will continue to spread in northern Wisconsin, significantly impacting the state’s ash resource. This is a good time to review the DNR’s updated EAB webpage for information and resources on this invasive species and the EAB Silviculture Guidelines to understand ash management options.

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Conservation groups file third lawsuit in recent months against U.S. Forest Service

By Celeste Gracia
WUNC Public Radio
May 8, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

NORTH CAROLINA — Conservation groups argue flaws in the 2023 Nantahala-Pisgah Forest Plan will put endangered forest bats at risk, according to a recent lawsuit filed against the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests in western North Carolina provide habitat for four critically endangered bats: the northern long-eared bat, the Indiana bat, the Virginia big-eared bat, and the gray bat. The lawsuit argues that the Forest Service consulted with Fish and Wildlife Services because these bats were likely to be impacted by the Forest Plan. But that consultation was flawed and in violation of the Endangered Species Act. “The Act required the best scientific data available to inform the consultation. Instead, the Forest Service gave information it knew was inaccurate and incomplete,” according to the lawsuit. …The Forest Service now faces three lawsuits related to the Forest Plan.

 

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The tree’s truth: Once dominant, longleaf pines face the growing threat of climate change

By Veronica Nocera
WUFT North Central Florida
May 9, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Longleaf pine conservation is considered a key part of climate resilience for Florida and the Southeast. But when it comes to climate change, longleaf pines are not out of the woods. …The longleaf is an emblem of the Southeast, historically spanning close to 92 million acres from Virginia down through north and central Florida and eastern Texas. …But the legacy of the longleaf pine is also one of mutilation and mismanagement, as loggers axed millions of acres of trees to build the nation’s buildings, boats and bridges in the nineteenth century. Today, less than five percent of their original acreage remains. …Still, the biggest threat to the longleaf pine is dwindling opportunities for prescribed fire. …The longleaf pine is a tree built for and by fire. …Despite the odds, the future of the longleaf pine is a hopeful one — at least according to Steve Jack, executive director of east Texas’ Boggy Slough Conservation Area.

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American Loggers Council Executive Director looks at state of forest products industry

By RR Branstrom
The Daily Press
May 7, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

ESCANABA, Michigan — In recent years, the number of sawmills and pulp and paper mills in the United States has been rapidly diminishing. Shutdowns have hurt not only domestic loggers who provide timber for production, but also workers in other fields connected by the ripple effect — like packaging manufacturing and printing — when their employers have gone out of business or been forced to make cutbacks. …“When one mill closes, whether it’s in Wisconsin or Michigan or whatever, people think, ‘well, that’s terrible for that community, but at least it’s an isolated event,’” said American Loggers Council Executive Director Scott Dane. Except that it isn’t. Speaking at the recent Great Lakes Timber Professionals Association meeting, Dane continued to say that mills have been shutting down around the nation and that “we are experiencing challenges that we haven’t experienced in decades.”

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Embracing Forests for the Future at the 2024 Sustainable Forestry Initiative annual conference

By Nadine Brock, SFI
National Association of State Foresters
May 3, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Collaboration is critical to ensure the sustainability of our planet. People and organizations are seeking solutions that ensure our forests, through responsible management, make positive contributions to the long-term health of people and the planet. The 2024 Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Annual Conference, taking place in Atlanta, Georgia, from June 4-7, embraces this potential under the theme “Forests for the Future: Nature and Community Grown Solutions.” Join us in celebrating how far we’ve come in promoting sustainable forestry while setting a vision for creating an even better tomorrow through proactive forest stewardship today. From forestry professionals and government policymakers to Indigenous communities, conservationists, and researchers, everyone has a role to play in the future of our forests. …The agenda aligns with the top priorities of state forestry agencies, such as climate resiliency, biodiversity conservation, community engagement, and more.

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That big tree on your land could be a champion

By Elizabeth Walztoni
Bangor Daily News
May 2, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

If you know of a particularly large tree, it might be notable statewide. The Maine Forest Service keeps a registry of champion large trees across the state, and accepts resident nominations. The program was started in 1967 under then-state forester Austin Wilkins and currently lists more than 140 trees across 138 species. Every few years, an updated publication lists all the registry’s trees; the most recent is from 2020 and a new version should be released later this year. The registry is also an opportunity for public involvement and connection to trees, coordinator Jan Ames Santerre said. “Trees just capture people’s imagination when they attain large size,” she said. Pine, spruce, walnut, maple, oak, elm, birch and other large trees are well-represented, but the program also includes some plants that most often grow as shrubs, like shadbush and juniper.

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Longleaf pine comeback makes Mississippi forests more climate resilient

By Kala Nance
The Daily Mississippian
May 2, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Throughout the Southeast, foresters and activists are coming together to restore America’s longleaf pine forests. The Nature Conservancy reports that longleaf pines once dominated the coastal plain, covering more than 90 million acres. Now there are just 5.2 million acres. In Mississippi, more than two million longleaf pine seedlings have been planted in the past several years, according to the Natural Forest Foundation. This state-wide replanting has restored about 4,000 acres of natural habitat, stretching across the DeSoto, Bienville and Homochitto National Forests. Greene County timber company owner Dillon McInnis is part of the movement to restore the longleaf species to Mississippi’s landscape.

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Hoosier National Forest officials find no negative impacts with Houston South plan

By Karl Schneider
Indianapolis Star
April 29, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

A management project in Hoosier National Forest is moving forward after forestry officials found the proposed logging and controlled burns would have no significant impact on Lake Monroe, a drinking water source for more than 145,000 people. The U.S. Forestry Service’s Houston South management plan would allow about 4,300 acres of pine and hardwood trees to be harvested, as well as a prescribed fire regimen on 13,500 acres over about a decade, a move that some fear will cause sediment to move into the lake. Chris Thornton, district ranger of the Hoosier National Forest, said the Houston South plan would take measures to stop soil erosion from reaching the watershed. …The USFS says the management plan will revitalize forest health by reducing stressors. …The Indiana Forest Alliance, Monroe County Board of Commissioners, Hoosier Environmental Council and Friends of Lake Monroe filed a lawsuit in January 2023 claiming the project would degrade Lake Monroe’s water quality.

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North Carolina’s First-Ever High School Forestry Course to be Offered

By Andrew Stevens
Goldsboro Daily News
April 29, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

RALEIGH – The North Carolina Forestry Association (NCFA) has teamed up with the North Carolina Future Farmers of America Association (NC FFA) to create North Carolina’s first-ever high school forestry course with an industry-aligned credential: AN53 Natural Resources II-Forestry. Both organizations have collaborated with ForestryWorks to create the course, which will be implemented in high schools for the 2024-2025 school year. In North Carolina, there is a steady need for skilled forestry professionals due to ongoing forest management needs, forest products manufacturing, and conservation efforts. However, recent statistics show us that the overall forest workforce in the U.S. is aging, with 59% of the total forestry and logging labor force between the ages of 35-64 and only 12% between the ages of 16-24

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Spongy Moth Suppression Efforts in Pennsylvania

PennWatch
April 29, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn today announced the start of aerial spraying of state woodlands to combat spongy moth (Lymantria dispar dispar, formerly known as the gypsy moth) populations poised for spring outbreaks in many sections of Pennsylvania. “Suppression efforts are underway as the caterpillars emerged and begun feeding,” Dunn said. “Aerial suppression is needed to keep this invasive pest in check and protect our native forests from defoliation, with oaks being one of its favorite host. Keeping our forests healthy is of paramount importance, to protect all of the values our forests provide, including recreation, habitat, timber, clean air and clean water.” …In addition to DCNR’s spray program, the Pennsylvania Game Commission will also be conducting an aerial spray program in 2024 on approximately 124,000 acres of State Game Lands.

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US Department of Agriculture proposes project to improve forest health in Hoosier National Forest

By Joanie Dugan
Indiana Public Media
April 26, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

The USDA Forest Service is proposing a project it says will improve forest health at Houston South in the Hoosier National Forest. The project involves logging and prescribed burns in the northwest corner of Jackson County and the northeast corner of Lawrence County in the Brownstown Ranger District of the Hoosier National Forest. It seeks to improve the oak-hickory tree population, wildlife habitats, and reduce tree density in order to improve forest health. In a press release the USDA said “these actions are critical to the long-term well-being of the watershed as a whole and the wildlife that depend on the habitat within it.” It also said it’s “confident that the actions proposed…will not cause harm to our water sources, wildlife, or any other resource.”

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Forest service plans 7,000 acres of burning

By Marshall Helmberger
The Timberjay
April 24, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Minnesota — Fire crews on the Superior National Forest fire have begun their spring prescribed fire season and, weather permitting, they hope to burn just over 7,000 acres over the next several weeks within the two million acres of the national forest located outside the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (prescribed burns in the BWCAW are planned separately). Prescribed burning often has a narrow window of opportunity, as it is usually conducted in the spring and fall before green up and after green vegetation has died off, when vegetation is more combustible. While the forest has prescribed fire plans developed to burn up 7,059 acres, burning all planned acres depends on many factors such as weather and vegetation conditions, fire staff availability, and other considerations. Early spring drought has also reduced prescribed burning opportunities.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

My Turn: Modern wood heat not carbon bogeyman

Letter by Chris Egan, Massachusetts Forest Alliance
The Greenfield Recorder
May 1, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US East

Massachusetts — I’m writing in response to Katy Eiseman’s recent column, “Must stop subsidizing wood-fired energy”. We’re concerned that readers may have walked away with a misunderstanding of the issue. “Modern wood heat” is the only wood heat that is part of the state’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard and can earn Alternative Energy Credits. Modern wood heat comes from ultra-modern systems that replace your oil boiler or gas furnace, heat your entire home, and are fueled by pellets or wood chips that are bulk-delivered, not in bags. …Ms. Eiseman and her organization, the Partnership for Policy Integrity, are typically cagey when talking about the carbon impact of modern wood heat. …If you’re complaining about incentivizing pellet boilers because of air pollution and you have a 20-year-old oil boiler in your basement, you’re likely producing more (and more dangerous) particulates than your neighbor who switched to a pellet boiler.

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Health & Safety

Families of construction workers killed in Charlotte fire file lawsuits against companies involved in project

By Doug Coats
CBS 17
May 3, 2024
Category: Health & Safety
Region: United States, US East

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — The families of the two men killed in the SouthPark fire last May filed a lawsuit against the development and construction companies involved in the project. The wrongful death lawsuit was filed Thursday. In it, the estates of construction workers Demonte Sherrill and Reuben Holmes claim “willful and wanton disregard and violations” of the laws and requirements regarding fire prevention and fire safety on construction sites. The May 18, 2023, five-alarm fire took place on Liberty Row Drive. …Developer Mill Creek is accused of understanding that building “podium-style apartments” using primarily wood construction over a concrete podium were vulnerable to fire during construction, yet still proceeded using that approach. …The developers also are accused of not establishing a warning system to alert workers of a fire or another emergency. …There were reportedly fire sprinklers installed at the site, but… the system was not operational at the time of the fire. 

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Work safety advocates list Wisconsin lumber mill where teen died among ‘unsafe’ employers

By Erik Gunn
Wisconsin Examiner
April 25, 2024
Category: Health & Safety
Region: United States, US East

A northern Wisconsin wood processor where a 16-year-old died after an industrial accident in June 2023 was one of 12 employers listed for egregious workplace hazards by a national advocacy group Thursday. The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (COSH) put Florence Hardwoods on its 2024 “Dirty Dozen” list of “unsafe and reckless employers risking the lives of workers and communities.” The organization produces the list annually ahead of April 28, designated Workers Memorial Day by labor advocates to draw attention to workplace fatalities and injuries. The 2024 report includes the privately owned Florence County wood processing business along with the hospital chain Ascension, SpaceX, Tyson Foods and the ride-share companies Uber and Lyft, among other employers. “These are unsafe and reckless employers, risking the lives of workers and communities by failing to eliminate known, preventable hazards,” the report states.

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Forest History & Archives

Tom’s Logging Camp pays tribute to the lumberjacks of old

By Dave Anderson
Northern News Now
May 6, 2024
Category: Forest History & Archives
Region: United States, US East

DULUTH TOWNSHIP, Minnesota — By the 1880′s the 19th century lumber barons had clearcut their way from Maine to the Northland. Tom’s Logging Camp on Highway 61 is part tourist trap and tribute to the Swedish, Norwegian, and Finnish immigrants who filled the real logging camps of the past century. …A tour of Tom’s Logging Camp starts with a stop at horseshoeing stall. Everything in camp was either people or horse-powered. If the ground was soft, the horses leased for the winter from local farmers wore bog shoes. …After a long day in the cold woods, the loggers found rest in the bunkhouse where rookies got stuck with the bottom bunk. “They got the bottom bunk because it was not warm enough but the bedbugs would fall on you from the top bunk,” said Bill. Top dog in camp at the top of the pay scale was the head cook. He got 60 dollars a month.

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Shipwreck Society Discovers Ship that “Went Missing” 112 Years Ago – 14 Sailors Gone

The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum
May 1, 2024
Category: Forest History & Archives
Region: United States, US East

WHITEFISH POINT, Michigan – The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GLSHS) announced the discovery of the wooden steamship, Adella Shores, one of the many ships that “Went Missing” over the years in the vicinity of Whitefish Point. The Shores went to the bottom of Lake Superior with no survivors on May 1st, 1909. …All of that changed when GLSHS found the Adella Shores more than 40 miles northwest of Whitefish Point in over 650 feet of water. The Adella Shores had a storied career. Built in Gibraltar, Michigan in 1894 the 195-foot, 735-ton wooden steamer was owned by the Shores Lumber Company and named after the owner’s daughter, Adella. Adella’s sister, Bessie. …The Adella Shores had her share of trouble…she sank twice in fifteen years in shallow waters, later being refloated each time and put back into service. …The Adella Shores disappeared with all fourteen crew members. Some debris was found, but no bodies.

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