Hurricane Milton strengthened to a Category 4 as Florida prepares for a Wednesday landfall. In Company news: JD Irving pans New Brunswick’s electricity rate proposal; San Group owes BC millions in stumpage; Rosoboro plans expansion in Springfield, Oregon; Drax launches virtual tour of Mississippi plant; and Paper Excellence supports communities impacted by hurricane Helene. Meanwhile: Ian Dunn opines on the unitended fallout of the softwood lumber dispute; and Kristen Hopewell bemoans the demise of the World Trade Organization.
In Forestry/BC Election news: David Elstone says the BC vote will be pivotal; the Greens say they would stop all old growth logging; and the Steelworkers see promise in the NDP platform but want more urgency. Meanwhile, in Health & Safety news: Washington state fines Georgia Pacific for employee death; New Zealand’s WorkSafe targets high-risk industries; and wildfires still threaten communities in Alberta; Utah and North Dakota.
Finally, no — the port strike did not cause a toilet paper shortage.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
VANCOUVER, BC — Western Forest Products says it is temporarily curtailing lumber production… from its B.C. sawmills by approximately 30 million board feet during the period from October to December of this year. The reduction will affect operating schedules at all B.C. WFP sawmill locations, including Ladysmith, Saltair, Cowichan Bay, Duke Point and Chemainus sawmills, impacting about 800 employees, said WFP’s Babita Khunkhun. The measures include temporary downtime during the last two weeks of December at those mills. …This comes on top of additional curtailments that took place earlier in the year, for a total reduction of approximately 90 million board feet, or about 10% of the company’s annual lumber capacity. Western Forest Products says the curtailments are due to a combination of market challenges, including weaker lumber demand and higher U.S. softwood lumber duty rates. Click here to read 
It is no overstatement that the outcome of the October 19th election will be hugely pivotal to the future of the province, especially given the dichotomy of the two main political parties with their views on the natural resources sector, including forestry. …A tight race offering different visions for the province means British Columbians will make a choice on the forest sector; continue with the NDP and have faith in their forest policy trajectory to reshape the forest industry or shift to the Conservatives, which will bring more change, albeit with intentions which seems to be more supportive of the forest industry. …
BRITISH COLUMBIA — The platform announcement from the BC NDP includes a range of promising initiatives that signal a commitment to the future of B.C.’s mining and forestry industries says the United Steelworkers union (USW). …Scott Lunny, USW Director for Western Canada… “We have been sounding the alarm for months, the forestry industry is still in crisis after nearly two decades of neglect from John Rustad’s previous B.C. Liberal government. While the platform offers promising solutions, the urgency of the situation cannot be overstated,” said Lunny. “Restricting log exports, stabilizing fibre supply, striving for more jobs per cubic metre of timber harvest and tying the trees to mills that employ British Columbians is the right direction, but will mean little if not swiftly backed by real action. The industry is hemorrhaging jobs and families and communities need to see changes on the ground – not just in policy.”
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON — U.S. dock workers and port operators reached a tentative deal that will immediately end a crippling three-day strike that has shut down shipping on the U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast, the two sides said Thursday. The tentative agreement is for a wage hike of around 62% over six years. …That would raise average wages to about $63 an hour from $39 an hour over the life of the contract. The union had been seeking a 77% raise while the employer group had previously raised its offer to nearly 50%. …The union and the port operators said in a statement that they would extend their master contract until Jan. 15, 2025 to return to the bargaining table to negotiate all outstanding issues. …Among key issues that remain unresolved is automation that workers say will lead to job losses. The port strike hit just as southeastern states were struggling for supplies following a deadly hurricane.
Not even two weeks after Hurricane Helene swamped the Florida coastline, Milton strengthened into a major hurricane that is headed toward the state. The system is threatening the densely populated Tampa metro area — which has a population of more than 3.3 million people — and is menacing the same stretch of coastline that was battered by Helene. Traffic was thick on Interstate 75 heading north on Tuesday as evacuees fled in advance of Milton. Crews were also hurrying to clear debris left by Helene. …According to the National Hurricane Center’s 
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida — Milton rapidly strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane Monday on a path toward Florida population centers including Tampa and Orlando, threatening a dangerous storm surge in Tampa Bay and setting the stage for potential mass evacuations less than two weeks after a catastrophic Hurricane Helene swamped the coastline. The storm is expected to stay at about its current strength for the next couple of days, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. Helene was also a Category 4 at landfall in northern Florida. Milton had maximum sustained winds of 150 mph over the southern Gulf of Mexico. Its center could make landfall Wednesday in the Tampa Bay area, and it could remain a hurricane as it moves across central Florida. …Forecasters warned of a possible 8- to 12-foot storm surge in Tampa Bay and said flash and river flooding could result from 5 to 10 inches of rain in mainland Florida and the Keys.
FORT MILL, South Carolina — Paper Excellence Group companies Domtar Corporation and Resolute Forest Products announced $100,000 in financial support to assist four local communities following the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene. Several communities where Paper Excellence Group operates facilities were in the path of the powerful storm, affecting employees and their loved ones. Company representatives worked in collaboration with community officials to identify four charitable organizations that provide direct aid to hurricane victims in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas. Additionally, Resolute Tissue is donating 10 pallets of tissue products for eastern Tennessee residents. Company employees in Fort Mill and Bennettsville, South Carolina, are organizing food and supply drives to support communities in western North Carolina and other areas. …When rebuilding begins, the company plans to donate several truckloads of lumber in the Cross City, Florida, area.
Southern Pine dimension mills have attempted to keep supplies more in line with sluggish lumber demand in recent months, but perceptions remain mixed whether it has ultimately been effective in tempering downward price pressure. Several mills reportedly curtailed production through the summer months without making public announcements to indicate cutbacks. Most of the measures were modest, often limited in scope to simply reducing shifts, according to sources. …Production curtailments by Western S-P-F mills have also contributed to rebalancing supplies and demand, as buyers in northern-tier markets who purchase both species have encountered dwindling availability. However, some SYP traders are unsure whether the quiet production cutbacks have had any true effect on the overall market. New mills in some producing zones came online in early summer and ramped up output.
After last year’s off-the-charts, record-breaking wildfire season in 2023, this year may have felt like a reprieve — at least in some parts of the country. But this past summer was still far above normal by several measures — and experts say what transpired holds clues for what’s to come as the climate changes, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels. …By the numbers, the 2024 wildfire season is on track to be the second-worst wildfire season in terms of area burned since 1995, with more than 5.3 million hectares burned so far. That trails far behind last year, when more than 15 million hectares burned. …In contrast with 2023, where much of the country had major wildfires, this year the bulk of them broke out in Western Canada. …About 70% of the total area burned was in British Columbia, Alberta, Northwest Territories and Saskatchewan, officials said in a briefing last week.
The European Union’s chief negotiator on a United Nations compact to reverse biodiversity loss denies postponement of anti-deforestation law undermines credibility just weeks ahead of crunch summit in Colombia. The European Commission’s proposal to delay implementation of the Deforestation Regulation will not undermine the EU’s position in upcoming UN biodiversity talks, its lead negotiator has claimed, saying the postponement was a recognition that further preparatory work with trading partners was needed. The 16th conference of parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity later this month will be the first since the landmark COP15 in Montreal two years ago that yielded an agreement to place 30% of land and sea under conservation status by 2030. Environmental groups were outraged when the EU yielded to pressure for a delay to the law, which requires proof that no forests were cleared in the production of a range of goods from coffee to beef and timber.
USDA is hard at work offering support for farmers impacted by Hurricane Helene. More than a week after its devastation, the agency is still working to grasp just how much has been lost. According to USDA Undersecretary Robert Bonnie, “We’re still assessing the size of the impacts to agriculture and forestry. We know they’re significant. We know there will be short-term impacts and we also know that the impacts on farmer livelihoods will last for potentially years.” With emotions running high, the stress of it all can be overwhelming. “Some of our own offices which were in nearby counties have been hit by the storm. The USDA family and other counties stepping up to triage in field farmer inquiries. …Senate Ag Chair Debbie Stabenow says that she is committed to getting farmers and ranchers the emergency assistance they need as soon as possible.
