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Today’s Takeaway

Canada launches legal challenge after U.S. hikes duties on softwood imports

The Tree Frog Forestry News
September 10, 2024
Category: Today's Takeaway

Canada launches legal challenge after US hikes duties on softwood lumber imports. In related news: Canfor transfers Mackenzie TSA to McLeod Lake Indian Band and Tsay Keh Dene Nation; Russian targets India as new wood export market amid sanctions; and the Wood Pellet Association of Canada (WPAC) kicks off its annual conference in Victoria next week. 

In Forestry news: a federal decree to protect caribou could cost Quebec $900 million; BC may increase species at risk to protect critical habitat; forestry takes centre stage at Union of BC Municipalities conference; ENGOs sue Montana to block logging in Bitterroot National Forest; and new research says surface temperatures are warmer for 50 years after wildfires. Meanwhile, wildfire updates from British Columbia, Oregon, California and Brazil.

Finally, as some of you know, Sandy and I (Kelly) are in Ireland this week, while Heidi and Suzi are holding down the fort in BC! The demands of holiday schedules will change tomorrow through next Monday such that we won’t be producing the typically summary Takeaway, and so our email out to subscribers will simply direct you to our website where you can see the full list of daily coverage! 

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor

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Reuters takes on FSC and SFI, claims Canada is logging its climate fighting forests

The Tree Frog Forestry News
September 9, 2024
Category: Today's Takeaway

Reuters takes on FSC and SFI, claims Canada is logging its climate fighting forests. In related news: an ex-BC constable says the BC forestry policing service has been hobbled; ENGOs and industry reach a new consensus on the US Northwest Forest Plan; Washington’s managed forests are critical to forest reliance; and California needs a lot more forest seed.

In Business news: First Nation Chief Colleen Erickson opines on Canfor’s mill closures, as the future of their tenure is questioned, BC announces retraining grants for mill workers; Port Alberni seeks dismissal of San Group lawsuit; LL Flooring stays alive (in part); and the Guardian on why the UK’s biggest carbon emitter (Drax) receives green subsidies.

Finally, the Line Fire in Southern California doubles in size, forcing thousands to evacuate.

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Canfor mill closures spur calls for government action

The Tree Frog Forestry News
September 6, 2024
Category: Today's Takeaway

Canfor mill closures spur calls for government action. They include:

In other Business news: Tolko curtails logging to get inventories in line; Jasper’s wildfire will cost insurers $880 million; and CN Rail loses appeal of BC wildfire penalty.

In other news: FPAC responds to ENGO report of forest carbon emissions; BC’s forest watchdog releases report on Quadra Island old-growth; Oregon targets forest for wildfire reform; and understanding carbon-water tradeoffs in the Pacific Northwest.

Finally, four aged and scarred reformers ruminate over the future of BC’s forested lands.

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor

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Canfor to close two BC sawmills, reduce production in US South

The Tree Frog Forestry News
September 5, 2024
Category: Today's Takeaway

Canfor plans to close of its Plateau and Fort St. John, BC sawmills and reduce production in US South operations. In related news: BC’s forest minister, union and BC mayor respond to Canfor’s news; Ontario revokes Terrace Bay pulp mill fine; and Timberlab announces Millersburg, Oregon as new CLT plant site. In Wood Product/GHG reduction news: a conference at the University of Victoria, and report by the BC Council of Forest Industries.

In Forestry/Wildfire news: Torchlight’s Jamie Stephen says CBC story on logging emissions makes no sense; Port Alberni to host inaugural Indigenous Forestry Conference; American Forests awards $25 million in  community grants; and wildfire updates from OregonCalifornia and Brazil.

Finally, a new online map by Heritage BC tells the story of BC’s industrial heritage.

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor

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UBC startup invents wood-based filter that destroys “forever chemicals”

The Tree Frog Forestry News
September 4, 2024
Category: Today's Takeaway

A University of BC startup invented a wood-based filtration system that captures and neutralizes “forever chemicals“. In other Business news: US railways reach tentative agreement, as experts debate Canada’s move to end its rail shutdown; and Nova Scotia’s exempt status said to exacerbate lumber duties on other provinces. Meanwhile: Domtar is recognized by the Tennessee Recycling Coalition; US homebuilders raise housing as an election issue; Canada is set to reduce interest rates; and the latest from FSC Canada.

In Forestry/Wildfire news: Canada’s 2023 wildfire season overwhelmed the federal emergency centre; Joe Nemeth says fuel management is the answer to BC’s wildfire challenge; Nature Canada wants logging emissions to be tracked; Oregon wildfires beget new evacuations; and the Southern pine beetle is threatening Alabama’s forest economy.

Finally, Western Forest Products hosts Global Buyers Mission delegates on eve of Whistler event.

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor

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Business & Politics

B.C. presents strong, unified front in Washington softwood hearings

By Ministry of Forests
The Province of BC
September 13, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Senior representatives from the British Columbia Lumber Trade Council (BCLTC) and officials from the Government of BC met in Washington, D.C., this week for four days of critical hearings for the long-standing softwood lumber dispute. “America’s softwood lumber duties are unfair in every measure,” said Bruce Ralston, Minister of Forests.  Premier Eby and I also recently urged the federal government to elevate the softwood lumber dispute to the highest-level priority.” From Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, until Friday, Sept.13, 2024, the first Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) dispute settlement panel heard arguments from all parties regarding the countervailing duty determination for the first administrative review. …Kurt Niquidet, president, BC Lumber and Trade Council said “The appeal process is an essential part of CUSMA that needs to occur in a timely fashion to ensure fair trade with our most important trading partner. Delays in the process have made it increasingly difficult for companies across Canada.

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Canfor mill closures leave B.C. communities eyeing difficult transitions

By Derrick Penner
The Vancouver Sun
September 5, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada

Vanderhoof Mayor Kevin Moutray has watched the deteriorating conditions of B.C.’s forest industry gather, but it was still a shock to learn that Canfor will shutter its mill in his town of 4,500. …He added Vanderhoof is now pinning its hopes on the transition plans that Canfor and the B.C. government committed to to diversify its economy. …Canfor’s Plateau mill in Vanderhoof and its Fort St. John operation… become the second and third sawmills that Canfor has closed this year and the fourth since the start of 2023. Canfor, working with the United Steelworkers will set up transition offices in both communities to work on “an employee adjustment plan,” according to Mina Laudan. …With the closures, however, United Steelworkers representative Jeff Bromley said opportunities within the company will be slimmer. …“By the end of the year, they’re going to have no other mills in the north. …He’s pushing government to take away some of the timber harvesting rights that Canfor still holds.

In Related Coverage:

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Canfor to close sawmills in Vanderhoof and Fort St. John, B.C.

CBC News
September 4, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Canfor announced Wednesday it would close its sawmills in Vanderhoof and Fort St. John, B.C., by the end of the year. …Canfor blamed the mill closures on “increasing regulatory complexity, high operating costs and the inability to reliably access economically viable timber.” …Fort St. John Mayor Lilia Hansen said the city was “deeply shocked and saddened” by Canfor’s announcement. “This news is a significant hit to our community and the families directly affected,” she said. Brian O’Rourke, the president of United Steelworkers Local 1-2017 in Prince George, B.C., said the job losses would hit hard for Vanderhoof and Fort St. John. …O’Rourke pointed a finger for the continued mill closures at the BC government. “We had a forestry summit a number of months ago in Victoria where three of the largest unions came together, and we pointed out to the government all of the faults and things they needed to do,” the president said. “And since that time, it’s been crickets.”

Related coverage:

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Canfor to Reduce Production at Southern US Operations

Canfor Corporation
September 4, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

VANCOUVER, BC — Due to persistent weak lumber markets, Canfor Corporation announced it will reduce production at its southern US operations. Canfor will indefinitely curtail one shift at its Darlington facility in South Carolina, and reduce operating hours at its Estill, South Carolina and Moultrie, Georgia locations. The company will also implement curtailments across other southern US operations to better align with market demand. These changes will reduce lumber production by approximately 215 million board feet on an annualized basis. “The changes we are making today will better align production capacity in our US operations with current market conditions,” said Lee Goodloe, President, Canfor Southern Pine. “We regret the impact these changes will have on our employees and their families.” The Company will continue to evaluate conditions on an ongoing basis and adjust operating rates to align with market demand. 

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Canfor Announces Closure of Plateau and Fort St. John Sawmills in Northern BC

Canfor Corporation
September 4, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

VANCOUVER, BC — Canfor announced the closure of its Plateau and Fort St. John operations located in northern BC. These closures will impact approximately 500 employees and will remove 670 mbf of production capacity. Don Kayne, CEO said “Our company has proudly operated in BC for more than 85 years. …We have always been prepared to manage through challenging times and market fluctuations, recognizing the cyclical nature of our business. However, increasing regulatory complexity, high operating costs and the inability to reliably access economically viable timber to support our manufacturing facilities has resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars of losses in our BC operations… exacerbated by increases in the punitive US tariffs. …Continuing to operate under these conditions would put additional operations at risk. …The wind down of operations is expected to be complete by the end of the year. With the dramatic reduction in available timber supply, we will explore opportunities to divest some of our northern BC tenure, which may help support other BC forest companies facing the same significant challenges in accessing economic fibre.”

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Ottawa’s move to end rail shutdown prompts debate over workers’ rights

By Christopher Reynolds
The Canadian Press in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix
September 3, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada

Workers’ rights are once again under the microscope after the recent massive railway work stoppage was abruptly halted when the federal government intervened less than 17 hours after the shutdown began. Ottawa’s decision to step in, particularly after Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon repeatedly stressed the benefits of deals hashed out at the negotiating table, has critics questioning whether such moves pose a threat to employees’ bargaining power — while defenders emphasize intervention for the sake of businesses and workers alike. “It’s hard to remember a decision that was more in the interest of Canadian workers,” the minister said that day. …Some academics, labour advocates and politicians saw things differently, viewing the minister’s action as a breach rather than a boon. Margot Young, a law professor at the University of British Columbia, said the decision undermines employees’ collective bargaining rights and reduces companies’ motivation to negotiate in good faith.

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OSB mill construction set to begin in Prince Albert in 2025; One Sky Forest Products timber allocation increased

By Nigel Maxwell
Prince Albert NOW
September 12, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Scott Moe

PRINCE ALBERT, Saskatchewan — The stage has been set for an oriented strand board mill to begin construction in Prince Albert. Premier Scott Moe announced Thursday that the province has allocated nearly 1.2 million cubic metres of timber to One Sky Forest Products. “This allocation positions the industry to meet that growth target, working with Indigenous businesses and creating jobs for northern residents, further protecting and promoting Saskatchewan,” said Moe. One Sky was formed in 2020 by Montreal Lake Business Ventures, Meadow Lake Tribal Council, Big River First Nation and Tatanka Oyate Holdings, who brought in Peak Renewables – a BC forest products company – as an industry shareholder. …The OSB plant, which was originally announced in 2021, will share a site with the Paper Excellence pulp mill. …Construction on the $400 million plant is anticipated to begin in 2025 and open in 2027. It’s expected to create an estimated 800 direct and indirect jobs.

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Kruger announces $32m investment in Kamloops to make next-generation specialty pulps

Kruger Inc.
September 12, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

KAMLOOPS, BC — Kruger Inc. announced today a $32.4 million investment at its Kamloops Pulp Mill to implement innovative technology to diversify its product portfolio and expand into fast growing markets. In addition to improving Kruger Kamloops’ competitiveness, performance, and environmental footprint, this initiative will contribute to securing 340 jobs at the Mill, as well as 1,000 indirect jobs in BC …The governments of Canada and BC are contributing $5 million each to this project. …Kruger Kamloops’ new pulp washing system will enhance the plant’s effectiveness and significantly reduce inorganic material and talc in the finished product. The process will also result in a notable reduction in bleaching chemical usage. …Slated for completion in 2026, the project will enable Kruger Kamloops to ramp up production of ultra-clean pulp from 43,000 MT in its first year up to more than 115,000 MT annually in its third year and beyond.

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BC has retraining grants available for mill workers losing their jobs

By Ted Clarke
The Prince George Citizen
September 6, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

The impact of the pending Canfor sawmill closures in Vanderhoof and Fort St. John is just starting to be felt and the trickle-down effect on the economy in those communities will no doubt worsen once those permanent closures happen. Brenda Bailey, BC’s minister of jobs, says there’s nothing that will soften the blow for the affected workers but the province is doing what it can to set up retraining programs and will help them find work. “It’s horrific news,” Bailey said. …The peripheral effects are so significant. I know this decision by Canfor is a really hard one to hear. A big factor is the increase from the States in terms of softwood lumber and the tariff increase last month. …“Canfor has made these decisions not only in British Columbia but also in some of their mills down in the States as well.”

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City of Port Alberni asks that San Group lawsuit be dismissed

By Carla Wilson
The Times Colonist
September 7, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

The City of Port Alberni is denying that it defamed the San Group forestry company and is asking that a lawsuit launched by the company be dismissed. The city asked the Supreme Court of B.C. last month to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the company claiming an overnight search of its remanufacturing plant by local officials harmed its reputation. No allegations have been proven in court and no court dates have been set. In the city’s version of facts filed this week, it said the media published public complaints regarding the living conditions of temporary foreign workers on premises owned by the San Group. …In its response to the San Group’s claim, the city denies it is liable. San Group has rejected suggestions that it was mistreating its temporary foreign workers.

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Canfor’s Announcement Is A Premonition Of Something Way Worse

By David Elstone, Managing Director
The Spar Tree Group
September 6, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

While the BC Interior timber harvest in 2024 has been trending upwards, current levels are just too low and costs are too high to continue operating these northern interior mills. The BC government is focused on the immediate response to workers and communities, but it needs to be thinking about where this “foundational industry” is heading. …Since the NDP came to power in 2017, some 30 sawmills have been impacted, representing an estimated reduction of 35% of BC’s sawmilling capacity. …As big of an impact that Canfor’s announcement represents, it is actually just the canary in the coal mine. …In addition [to cost and fibre troubles] Canfor said punitive US tariffs “are expected to double again next year.” …BC can’t negotiate an international trade agreement by itself, but it can certainly change course on the regulatory and cost fronts.  …If the BC forest sector’s resiliency is not improved by this time next year and  duties indeed double, the likely impact will make Canfor’s closures look like a minor issue.

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Environment ministry revoked penalties for Terrace Bay pulp mill

By Gary Rinne
Superior North News
September 4, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

TERRACE BAY, Ontario — The owner of the shuttered pulp mill at Terrace Bay is off the hook for nearly $100,000 in penalties because government bureaucrats made a mistake in charging the company for releasing contaminants. Details of the case came to light in a decision released last month by the Ontario Land Tribunal. On March 1, 2024, about two months after AV Terrace Bay idled its equipment, the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) issued an order comprised of six penalties totalling $97,000. The order described six contraventions of provincial environmental regulations, and alleged that total reduced sulphur emissions into the air had exceeded prescribed limits. AV Terrace Bay filed an appeal with the Ontario Land Tribunal. …”The MECP concluded that the environmental penalties were not available for the discharges at issue and there was no legal authority for the EP order,” the tribunal noted.

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Norfolk Southern and BNSF reach tentative agreements with additional labor unions

Freight Waves
August 30, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States

ATLANTA – Norfolk Southern and BNSF Railway have reached tentative five-year contract agreements with additional unions four months before the opening round of national collective bargaining. The Norfolk Southern agreements with five unions, coming on the heels of four tentative agreements announced last week, cover approximately 55% of the railroad’s unionized workforce. The most recent agreements, which NS reached in partnership with BNSF Railway and are subject to ratification, include the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers and Blacksmiths and the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers. Norfolk Southern also separately reached tentative agreements with the American Train Dispatchers Association, the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division, and the SMART-TD Yardmasters. …The tentative agreements provide a 3.5% average wage increase per year over the next five years.

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Roseburg Announces the Appointments of Tony Hamill as Chief Operations Officer

Rosboro Lumber
September 10, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US West

SPRINGFIELD, Oregon — Roseburg announced the appointments of Tony Hamill as Chief Operations Officer and Vivek Karuppuswamy as Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Labor. Joining Roseburg later this month, Hamill and Karuppuswamy bring a combined 50 years of operations and HR expertise to Roseburg’s leadership team as the company moves forward with its ambitious capital projects program and new product lines. …As COO, Hamill will coordinate strategy and execution among Roseburg’s manufacturing, sales and marketing, SIOP (Sales, Inventory, and Operations Planning), and engineering teams while enhancing skillsets across the organization that are key to supporting increasingly advanced manufacturing technologies.

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Jasper wildfire will cost insurers more than $880 million: insurance bureau

The Canadian Press in Bloomberg
August 28, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, US West

EDMONTON — The Insurance Bureau of Canada says the wildfire that tore through Jasper is the second-most expensive one in Alberta’s history for insured losses. It says initial estimates suggest more than $880 million in insured damage was caused by the fire. The 2016 wildfire in Fort McMurray, Alberta resulted in inflation-adjusted insured losses of $4.4 billion and was the costliest natural disaster in Canadian history. About 25,000 people were forced to flee Jasper National Park and the town on July 22. …More than 350 buildings in Jasper were destroyed, representing a third of its structures.

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International Paper Makes Leadership Announcement

By International Paper
PR Newswire
September 10, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

Andy Silvernail

MEMPHIS, Tennessee — International Paper announced that its board of directors elected Andy Silvernail as Chairman of the International Paper Board of Directors in addition to his role as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective October 1, 2024. Mark Sutton, who has continued to serve in the role of Chairman of the Board since retiring as CEO in May, will retire from the Board on September 30, 2024. International Paper Lead Director Chris Connor said, “I’d like to thank Mark for his many years of service to IP and for his leadership as Chairman and CEO. …We are pleased that Andy is taking on the role of Chairman of the Board. In just four months with IP, he is off to a terrific start and has the team aligned on implementing our strategy.”

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The company formerly known as Lumber Liquidators is going out of business

By Jordan Valinsky
CNN Business
September 4, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

NEW YORK — LL Flooring, formerly known as Lumber Liquidators, is going out of business after the bankrupt company failed to find a buyer to rescue the 30-year-old retailer. As a result, LL Flooring will liquidate. Sales at its remaining 200 stores will begin on September 6, setting in motion an “orderly wind-down of operations” that will be completed in about 12 weeks. Roughly 2,000 workers will lose their jobs. LL Flooring started out as Lumber Liquidators about three decades ago as a company that bought and sold excess inventory. The company expanded, and currently sells about 500 varieties of hard-surface floors. LL Flooring had more than 400 locations at its peak in 2018. The company, which filed for Chapter 11 just three weeks ago, started closing 94 locations and began searching for a buyer. …However, in a new statement, the company said those “discussions have not resulted in an offer.

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Finance & Economics

Total value of building permits in Canada surged 22% to $12.4 billion in July

Statistics Canada
September 12, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada

Month over month, the total value of building permits in Canada surged 22.1% to $12.4 billion in July, rebounding from two consecutive monthly declines. Both the residential and non-residential sectors expanded in July. On a constant dollar basis (2017=100), the total value of building permits in July was up 22.9% compared with the previous month, while it rose 3.4% year over year. …The total monthly value of residential permits increased 16.7% to $7.6 billion in July. The gains were driven by the multi-unit component (+29.3%; +$1.1 billion), while single-family construction intentions saw a modest decline (-1.9%; -$50.3 million). In July, the value of permits issued in the multi-unit component (+29.3%) increased substantially to $5.0 billion, its second-highest monthly level on record after an all-time high of $5.9 billion in April.

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Bank of Canada set to announce third consecutive interest rate cut today

The Canadian Press in CP24
September 4, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada

The Bank of Canada will announce its interest rate decision this morning as forecasters expect it to deliver another quarter-point rate cut. Encouraged by slowing inflation, the central bank has lowered its policy rate at its last two meetings. Its key interest rate currently stands at 4.5% cent and governor Tiff Macklem has signalled the bank will continue to cut interest rates, so long as inflation continues to ease. High interest rates have helped reduce price pressures this year, bringing Canada’s inflation rate down to 2.5% in July. Last week, Statistics Canada data showed the Canadian economy grew at a 2.1% annualized pace in the second quarter, topping expectations from economists and the central bank. 

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US Inflation Continued to Slow, Setting Stage for Rate Cuts

By Fan-Yu Kuo
NAHB – Eye on Housing
September 11, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

Inflation eased further in August, reaching a new 3-year low despite persistent elevated housing costs. This inflation report is seen as the final key piece of data before the Fed’s meeting next week. The headline reading provides another dovish signal for future monetary policy, after recent signs of weakness in job reports. Although shelter costs have been trending downward since peaking in early 2023, they continue to exert significant upward pressure on inflation, contributing over 70% of the total 12-month increase in core inflation. As consistent disinflation and a cooling labor market bring the economy into better balance, the Fed is likely to further solidify behind the case for rate cuts, which could help ease some pressure on the housing market.

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US Construction Labor Market is Cooling

By Robert Dietz
NAHB – Eye on Housing
September 4, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

Due to slowing home construction and elevated interest rates, the count of open construction sector jobs continued to decline in July, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. However, this shift lower is also consistent with a cooler overall labor market, which is a positive sign for future inflation readings and the interest rate outlook. In July, after revisions, the number of open jobs for the overall economy decreased slightly from 7.91 million to 7.67 million. This is notably smaller than the 8.81 million estimate reported a year ago. Previous NAHB analysis indicated that this number had to fall below 8 million on a sustained basis for the Federal Reserve to feel more comfortable about labor market conditions and their potential impacts on inflation. With estimates now measurably below 8 million, interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve are at hand.

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Why the housing affordability crisis should be priority No. 1 this election season

By Carl Harris, NAHB Chairman
Seattle Agent Magazine
September 2, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

While the economy, immigration and abortion continue to grab major headlines, politicians should understand that the biggest concern for most Americans in this election season is the housing affordability crisis. And for good reason — Housing is by far the largest single expense for American households, and rising costs are putting the nation in an untenable situation. A 2024 report by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies found that a record-high 22.4 million households are paying more than 30% of their income on rent, and, among those renters, more than 12 million are paying more than half their income on housing, also an all-time high. …The Biden administration should eliminate tariffs on Canadian lumber imports that act as a tax on American homebuyers and oppose restrictive, costly and mandatory national energy code proposals that will raise housing costs while providing little energy savings to consumers.

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Southern Yellow Pine traders anticipate narrow trading range through 2024

By Peter Malliris
RISI Fastmarkets
September 12, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States, US East

Southern Pine lumber has traded in a historically narrow range this year, and traders anticipate that trend to persist through the balance of 2024. A widespread perception that price volatility will remain minimal through the fourth quarter has governed conservative trading strategies throughout the distribution pipeline this summer. …Many note that demand in the South could strengthen as the fall building season approaches and cooler weather allows builders to expand job site activity to lengthier workdays. …However, few traders anticipate demand gaining any appreciable ground on supplies in the months ahead, even if consumption shows a seasonal hike. …The Southern Pine Composite is on pace through August to post the lowest annual average since 2015. 

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Some cool thinking needed after Vancouver wood-frame construction site fire

By Peter Caulfield
Journal of Commerce
September 9, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER , BC — On Aug. 6, a fire broke out at a six-storey wood-frame rental apartment building under construction in Vancouver. In addition to totally destroying the building, the blaze ignited nine smaller fires on nearby properties, and toppled an onsite construction crane. …Apart from the material damage and inconvenience, the fire has had other, unexpected consequences. “Anecdotal evidence suggests that some people have made a mental connection between the Dunbar fire, the recent wildfires in Western Canada and global warming,” says Vancouver developer Michael Geller.” Western Canada online publication made the erroneous claim the building under construction was mass timber, not wood-frame. Both stories pointed a finger at climate change as partly responsible for the conflagration. …The incendiary tone of the stories notwithstanding, they raise the question of the relative combustibility of wood-frame and mass timber construction buildings.

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Vancouver School Board’s latest addition marks first completed school built entirely of prefabricated CLT

By Canadian Architect
September 6, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER, BC — wək̓ʷan̓əs tə syaqʷəm Elementary School is the Vancouver School Board’s first completed school to be constructed entirely of prefabricated CLT panels. …The school is part of a Vancouver School Board pilot project to assess the possibilities of mass timber for future schools and was designed by hcma architecture + design. …The school features tons of natural light and extensive use of wood, and the interior has a fundamental, grounded quality, which is complemented by views across the site and beyond to the city and Coast Mountains. A key design goal was to expose as much CLT as possible within the school. Its appearance aims to unify all the interior spaces, including classrooms, hallways, the library, multipurpose rooms, and gymnasium.

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Surrey building celebrates a first for mass timber construction, on rise in B.C.

By Tom Zillich
The North Delta Reporter
September 3, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

A summer “topping off” event celebrated a construction milestone for Surrey’s first mass timber housing development, with more such projects planned and on the way. On July 23 a crane lifted a final panel of CLT into place atop one of two six-storey buildings constructed by Adera Development Corporation at the corner of 132 Street and 105 Avenue, across from Kwantlen Park Secondary. …In April, the B.C. government announced updates to the provincial building code to allow the use of mass timber in taller buildings (up to 18 storeys for residential and office buildings), as well as schools, libraries and retail, “so they can be built faster and more sustainably.” Then in June, the release of a national Mass Timber Roadmap was hailed in Ottawa. …Adera has found that mass timber is not more expensive than concrete as a building material, Bingham added.

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Forestry

‘Sustainable’ logging operations are clear-cutting Canada’s climate fighting forests

By Chris Kirkhan, Grant Smith and Jessica Dinapoli
Reuters
September 7, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

With its vast expanses of forest, Canada has the most “certified” sustainable timber operations of any nation, according to the nonprofit organizations that attest to the environmental soundness of logging practices. …Today, they put their leafy seals of approval on toilet paper, two-by-fours and other wood and paper goods to assure eco-conscious consumers and investors they were responsibly produced. Yet research shows Canadian forests have seen some of the world’s largest declines in ecologically critical primary and old-growth woodlands over the last two decades, even as sustainability-certification programs grew to include nearly all of Canada’s logging. To track destruction of older woodlands in these certified zones, Reuters analyzed forestry data in Ontario, a major logging province. The analysis found that about 30% of the certified boreal forests harvested from 2016 to 2020 were at least 100 years old. That resulted in the loss of 377 square miles of these older forests.

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Tolko’s contract loggers in Southern Interior return to work

By Chelsey Mutter
Castanet
September 5, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

After weeks of what one community advocate calls “stringing contractors along,” contract loggers for Tolko will return to work Monday. Angie Clowry is an advocate from a former logging family. Tolko director of communications Kyle Happy confirmed Southern Interior scales have been closed since July 22 to get inventories in line and manage log quality, cost and market risks. …“These decisions are not taken lightly; however, are necessary to sustain our business for the future,” said Happy. Tolko will be taking deliveries on Sept. 9. …Clowry says contract loggers are frustrated over how the situation was handled by Tolko. “I realize they’re a business and they’re forecasting, but they also have to remember that this is money that is super important to all these families. …Tolko also confirmed that contractors in the Cariboo region remain shut down as inventory levels are high.

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City backs Kitsumkalum forest licence transfer bid

By Rod Link
The Terrace Standard
September 4, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The City of Terrace is backing a bid by the Kitsumkalum First Nation to have three logging tenures tied to Skeena Sawmills transferred to its control. Although Kitsumkalum purchased the licences as part of the deal it struck to take the closed Skeena Sawmills out of bankruptcy this spring, control must now be formally transferred by the provincial government. That could take as long as six months and Kitsumkalum is now working through the necessary steps, Kitsumkalum deputy chief councillor Troy Sam told city councillors Aug. 22. “We’re in it for the long haul,” Sam told council. …He said there won’t be a resumption of operations anytime soon as Kitsumkalum continues to work on a business plan. But Kitsumkalum does want to start logging as soon as it can to raise the money to put an eventual business plan in place.

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Port Alberni prepares to host inaugural Indigenous Forestry Conference

By Elena Rardon
The Alberni Valley News
September 4, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Robert Dennis Sr.

Port Alberni will be hosting Indigenous leaders, forestry professionals and policymakers from across the province for the first-ever Indigenous Forestry Conference. The inaugural event will take place Sept. 10 and 11, 2024. The event aims to optimize Indigenous participation in the forest economy by uniting leaders, forestry professionals and policymakers to discuss key issues and showcase successful Indigenous-led conservation initiatives. By highlighting both the successes and challenges faced by Indigenous communities, the conference aims to chart a course towards more inclusive and sustainable forestry management. Wahmeesh (Ken Watts), the elected Chief Councillor for Port Alberni’s Tseshaht First Nation… will be one of the event speakers, along with Dennis and Dallas Smith, the president of Nanwakolas Council in northern Vancouver Island. …There will also be some discussions on how traditional Indigenous knowledge can be merged with modern forestry practices.

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Will we learn from our wildfire history?

By Joe Nemeth, BC Pulp and Paper Coalition
The Province
August 29, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

BRITISH COLUMBIA — It’s as regular as it depressing. Every summer Canada suffers from major wildfires. …After a 10-week wildfire season in 2017, former BC Forests minister George Abbott filed a 108-recommendation report outlining steps the province could take to reduce wildfire risk. …These reports and others highlight challenges between levels of government, better training of firefighters, updated technology and equipment — and “fuel management.” …Canada — and BC — are pretty good at fighting wildfires, but we aren’t very good at minimizing their size, spread and duration. That’s where “fuel management” comes in. …Want an example of how big a difference fuel management can make? Look to Finland, a country that in latitude, geography and tree species is comparable with the B.C. Interior. …And guess what, the “fuel” — the brush and hazard trees thinned out through this common sense practice — is directed to Finnish pulp and paper mills to keep them running and competitive.

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Ontario Superior Court rejects $5-million claim in forest management dispute

By Bernise Carolino
The Law Times
September 4, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

The Superior Court of Justice of Ontario dismissed a $5-million claim brought against the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) and ordered the plaintiff to pay the Crown $35,000 in costs. This case involved forestry operations performed by the MNRF’s subcontractor in July 2009 in the Lac Seul Forest in Echo Township, Ontario. …The subcontractor trespassed on the plaintiff’s property, which pushed debris and small trees onto his land. …A handwritten but unsigned document dated Aug. 6, 2009 proposed a settlement including restoration work by the subcontractor. …In November 2009, the plaintiff and others formed the Eco Bio-Regional Wilderness Council, which aimed to influence the management of forests in Echo Township. The plaintiff made claims on the council’s behalf. In 2016, the court determined that the plaintiff lacked the standing to bring these claims on the council’s behalf, including any public interest claims against the MNRF.

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Ashfield event in Ashfield to explore ‘Forests as Climate Solutions’

By Madison Schofield
The Greenfield Recorder
September 3, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

ASHFIELD, Massachusetts — The town Energy Committee, Citizen’s Climate Lobby and the First Congregational Church of Ashfield are inviting the community to talk about trees, why they are important and what can be done to protect them. “Forests as Climate Solutions: Proforestation, Land Conservation and Climate Smart Forestry Practices,” a presentation with climate scientists and forestry specialists, is set for Saturday, September 14. …The talk will include four experts. William Moomaw, professor emeritus at Tufts University’s Fletcher School will detail how forests are good for the environment. Dicken Crane, Woodlands Partnership of Northwest Massachusetts board chair, will discuss how forests can be safely cut to support other human endeavors. Sally Loomis, Hilltown Land Trust executive director, will share different options for landowners. And Mary Wigmore of Wigmore Forest Resource Management will speak about forestry and landscaping methods.

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Forestry Australia says Queensland Government have jumped gun on Greater Glider Forest Park

By Forestry Australia
Australia Rural and Regional News
September 4, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Forestry Australia is disappointed the Miles Labor Government is jumping the gun in declaring a Greater Glider Forest Park. Forestry Australia’s Acting President Dr Bill Jackson said while Forestry Australia supports conserving threatened species and habitats, the new commitment has been made without consultation, sound evidence or the application of good governance principles. The comments come in the wake of Environment Minister Leanne Linard announcing 54,000 hectares of greater glider habitat in South East Queensland state forest will be transitioned to a new natural capital tenure. “The Queensland Sustainable Timber Industry Framework was established two months ago to provide government advice and it is due to run until the middle of 2025,” Dr Jackson said. …“The assumption that harvesting timber from native forests is necessarily harmful to biodiversity is not correct and there is indeed strong evidence that forests need to be managed actively.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Why ‘the UK’s biggest carbon emitter’ receives billions in green subsidies

By Jillian Ambrose
The Guardian UK
September 9, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

LONDON — The cooling towers of the giant Drax power station loom over rural North Yorkshire as a reminder of Britain’s grimy past – and as a beacon of its efforts to create a net zero economy by 2050. The power plant was once one of the largest coal-burners in Europe, and a lightning rod for campaigners against fossil fuels in the UK’s electricity system. Today, its owners claim to be the UK’s largest renewable energy power plant – burning 7m tonnes of biomass pellets a year. But this power plant’s green revolution is not without its sceptics. Green groups and climate scientists insist Drax remains the largest single source of carbon emissions in the UK, and that its FTSE 250 owners should not have been allowed to claim billions of pounds in renewable energy subsidies. …The battle between the two camps has reignited as the government prepares to decide whether to extend a subsidy scheme.

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