Blog Archives

Today’s Takeaway

US interest rates cut expected as housing starts and builder sentiment rise

The Tree Frog Forestry News
September 18, 2024
Category: Today's Takeaway

The US Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates today as housing starts and builder sentiment tick up. In other Business news: the BC Union of BC Municipalities conference focuses on forestry, as forestry unions seek action to protect jobs; the Grassy Narrow’s First Nation pans the Dryden pulp and paper mill; Georgia regulators approve Georgia Power’s biomass energy plan; Woodland Biofuels announced $1.35B biofuel plant at the Port of South Louisiana; and Weyerhaeuser announced a new partnership with The Nature Conservancy.

In other news: BC First Nation foresees economic benefits of tenure purchase; why caribou conservation in BC is challenging; the US’s misleadingly named ‘Fix Our Forests Act‘; and Norway says elevated radiation levels due to forest fire near Chernobyl. Meanwhile: COFI’s Linda Coady awarded King Charles III Coronation Medal.

Finally, Arkansas’ Dean MacKeith credited with mass timber’s progress, as Anthony Timberlands Center ‘tops out’.

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor

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The vast stakes of a healthy Canadian forest sector

Tree Frog Forestry News
September 17, 2024
Category: Today's Takeaway

The Forest Products Association of Canada released a 13-part exposé on the importance of a healthy Canadian forest sector. In related news: a BC Council of Forest Industries report on its supply chain and community benefits; and Drax’s contribution to Canada’s economy. In other Business news: Washington governor Inslee fights repeal of cap-and-trade law; production of Madill logging equipment is back in Prince George, BC; and the Softwood Lumber Board has six new board members.

In Forestry news: Alberta works to mitigate the fungus threat to bats; Whistler, BC is unlikely to change its fuel-thinning policy; Washington ENGOs want to curb old-growth logging; the BC Forest Practice Board will audit Canfor’s Cranbrook forest operations; Ireland’s Glenveagh National Park is rewilding its degraded lands, and wildfire updates from Arizona, Portugal, Peru and Brazil.

Finally, BC’s Garry Merkel and Jennifer Gunter were honoured with the King Charles III Coronation Medal.

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor

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Business & Politics

Increased wood supply ups odds of success for One Sky Forest Product’s new OSB mill

By Susan NcNeil
Prince Albert NOW
September 18, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

PRINCE ALBERT, Saskatchewan — One of the biggest benefits of OSB mills is their ability to take remnant wood from other operations and make a building product out of it. That is certainly one of the attractions for the Meadow Lake Tribal Council’s investment division, which is part of One Sky Forest Products, and recently announced plans for construction of a new mill outside of Prince Albert in 2025. …The plan for an OSB mill near Prince Albert was first floated publicly in 2021 as the province of Saskatchewan promised 845,000 cubic meters of supply for an OSB mill. Originally, the OSB plant was supposed to share resources with the long-closed pulp mill site, which was also supposed to open. The pulp mill is not feasible, Paper Excellence confirmed last week, but that might have actually helped improve the odds of success for the OSB plant.

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BC forestry unions come together to “fight for our future” at Union of BC Municipalities

By United Steelworkers
Cision Newswire
September 17, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER, BC – British Columbia’s forestry workers will take part in the Union of B.C. Municipalities conference as part of a campaign to strengthen and secure good paying jobs in the industry. …Unifor Western Regional Director Gavin McGarrigle said, “We invite municipal leadership to be a part of the solution.” Since 2001, the industry has seen a staggering 45% drop in employment, translating to lost livelihoods for nearly 35,000 workers. Last year alone, the forestry sector saw the loss of 3,750 jobs. Earlier this year, three unions representing the majority of forestry workers (Unifor, United Steelworkers, and the Public and Private Workers of Canada)… co-published a research paper that reviewed the history of the sector, the real human cost of policy failures, and outlines comprehensive fixes for B.C. forestry. …The City of Kamloops submitted a motion for debate greater support for the forestry industry.

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Production begins at Madill logging equipment in Prince George, BC

The Prince George Daily News
September 16, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

DC Equipment, a manufacturer of logging and forestry equipment, is relaunching production of Madill logging equipment in Prince George. The company held an open house at its new manufacturing facility in Prince George. “We are excited to bring Madill manufacturing back to its roots in BC and restart production of this iconic brand, which is recognized across the global forestry and logging industry,” said Dale Ewers, Managing Director. “The new facility will have the capacity to support firsthand the B.C. logging community and customers across North America.” The Prince George manufacturing facility, will create a total of 20 direct and indirect jobs. In its first year of operation, it is scheduled to deliver 12 machines and then building up to double production over the next 12 months. The first machines to be produced will be the Madill 3000 log loader. …DC Equipment acquired the Madill brand in July 2023.

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New report finds Drax Contributes $1 Billion to Canadian Economy

By Drax Group
Cision Newswire
September 16, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER, BC — A new economic analysis by MNP, one of Canada’s leading research firms, has found that Drax Group contributed $1 billion towards the Canadian economy and supported more than 3,000 jobs in 2023. The study measured the economic impact of Drax’s Canadian operations, which includes 10 pellet plants across BC and Alberta, producing sustainable biomass wood pellets to generate renewable power in the UK and Asia. …The report also showed Drax’s commitment to sourcing from local suppliers by purchasing nearly 75% of its goods and services from those based within the respective province of their operations, which further supports local jobs and economies. Of the purchases made from suppliers outside of the province, over 90% are from Canadian businesses said Liezl van Wyk, Drax’s VP of Northern Operations. …”Our research demonstrates the economic impact that Drax Group has made,” said Susan Mowbray, Partner at MNP.

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BC Council of Forest Industries releases study on supply chain and community benefits of the forest sector

BC Council of Forest Industries
September 16, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER, BC – A new economic study by COFI highlights the vital role of British Columbia’s forestry industry, as it touches so many communities across the province. In 2022, the forestry industry engaged over 9,970 suppliers and vendors across BC, resulting in $6.6 billion in expenditures on goods and services. …“This study demonstrates that when BC’s forest industry is performing well, it benefits communities throughout the province. Without a healthy forest economy, thousands of businesses are impacted,” said Kurt Niquidet at COFI. …“However, the industry faces significant challenges that threaten its stability and growth. These include greater regulatory complexity, higher costs, and uncertainty over access to the land base.” In 2022, BC’s forest industry: spent $326 million on supply chain expenditures with Indigenous-affiliated vendors; has an average spend of $662,000 per vendor, had $1.2 billion of expenditures on logistics and transportation, and had $23.2 million of total community investments (from 2020 to 2022). [The Executive Summary of the report can be found here. The full report is here.]

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New Brunswick blocks details of cancelled airplane purchases used to fight the spruce budworm

By Jacques Poitras
CBC News
September 17, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

The New Brunswick government has rejected recommendations from the province’s ombud to disclose secret information from a provincially owned company about cancelling a contract to buy new airplanes. Steven Hansen, CEO of Forest Protection, wrote in January 2023 to an assistant deputy minister and to Jason Limongelli, a J.D. Irving VP, that he was “disappointed” by something he had learned that morning from the Department of Natural Resources and Energy. What exactly disappointed him was redacted from emails obtained by CBC News. …Forest Protection, which is co-owned by the province and several large forestry companies, was established in 1952 to spray the province’s forests to fight spruce budworm. …Pelletier’s investigation noted that Forest Protection has been “treated as though it were a Crown corporation by the province” for decades… but the company doesn’t meet the definition of a “public body” under provincial law.

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The presidential debate; Softwood lumber duties; Texas defies office development slump

The Daily Commercial News
September 16, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States

This week the U.S. Spotlight by ConstructConnect’s Daily Commercial News features a recap of the highly anticipated U.S. presidential debate; Canada launches legal challenges pertaining to U.S. softwood lumber duty increases; the Grand Canyon’s main waterline is finally getting a major fix; and we look at how Dallas-Fort Worth is defying the national office development slump. Three of the stories covered include:

  1. Harris-Trump US presidential debate offers different visions for America’s future
  2. Canada launches legal challenges of U.S. softwood lumber duty increases
  3. Dallas-Fort Worth defies national office development slump

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Future Of 75 Jobs At Auckland Pulp Mill In The Balance

By First Union
Scoop Independent News
September 16, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

NEW ZEALAND — A week after 230 workers heard the news of job losses due to the closure of the WPI sawmill and pulp mill in the Ruapehu District, another 75 pulp workers at the Oji pulp mill in Penrose are awaiting the announcement of their fate at 8.00 am on Wednesday 18 September. Oji Fibre Solutions announced to its Penrose staff last month that it was considering closure and entered into a 4 week consultation period with the workforce and their unions, FIRST and E tū, followed by a 2 week decision period. “On behalf of our members, the unions… made a comprehensive submission that concluded with the call for the mill to remain open,” said Justin Wallace, FIRST Union organiser for the Oji Penrose Mill. “This mill is different from every other pulp mill in the country. Its feedstock is not wood, but recycled cardboard and paper.”

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New Zealand eliminates $190 million in trade barriers to boost the economy

Todd McClay, Minister for Trade and Agriculture
Beehive.govt.nz
September 15, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

Todd McClay

NEW ZEALAND — The Government has successfully removed trade barriers affecting nearly $190 million worth of exports to help grow the economy, Minister for Trade and Agriculture Todd McClay announced. “In the past year, we have resolved 14 Non Tariff Barriers (NTBs), returning significant value to kiwi exporters,” Mr McClay says. ….“Boosting the export value of farming, forestry, horticulture and wine production are vital to our economy, as we oppose distortionary agricultural subsidies through the WTO to enhance global food security. NTBs resolved include… Restored log exports to India following changes to NZ’s fumigation practices. “New Zealand exported $96.3 billion worth of goods and services in 2023. Over the next 12 months we will continue our focus on reducing NTBs including around costly EU deforestation regulations, Canadian dairy import restrictions, $300m of cosmetics exports to China and restrictions on structural timber exports to Australia.”

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Finance & Economics

Canadian housing starts fell 22% in August

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
September 17, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada

OTTAWA — The six-month trend in housing starts decreased 2.9% from 255,794 units in July to 248,480 units in August. The trend measure is a six-month moving average of the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of total housing starts for all areas in Canada. The total monthly SAAR of housing starts for all areas in Canada decreased 22% in August (217,405 units) compared to July (279,804 units), according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). …”Growth in actual year-to-date housing starts has been driven by both higher multi-unit and single-detached units in Alberta, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. By contrast, year-to-date starts in Ontario and British Columbia have decreased across all housing types” said Bob Dugan, CMHC’s Chief Economist.

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Canada’s inflation cools to 2% in August, the smallest gain since early 2021

By Prompt Mukherjee
CTV News
September 17, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada

Tiff Macklem

OTTAWA – Canada’s annual inflation rate reached the central bank’s target in August at it cooled to 2%, its lowest level since February 2021, data showed on Tuesday. The closely watched core price measures also cooled to their lowest level in 40 months while month-on-month consumer prices deflated by 0.2%, Statistics Canada said. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast the CPI to cool to 2.1% from 2.5% in July on an annual basis, and expected it to be unchanged on a monthly basis. The Canadian dollar weakened on the news, dipping 0.2% to $1.1361 to the U.S. dollar, or 73.45 U.S. cents. …Shelter costs, which accounts for close to 30% of the CPI basket, rose by 5.2% in August, from 5.7% in July, primarily led by rents which rose by 8.9% from 8.5% in July.

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US Inflation Continues to Decrease, Predictions About the Fed’s Response

By Ang Kar Yong
FX Empire
September 17, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

The Federal Reserve (Fed), the US central bank, will be in the spotlight on Wednesday, 18 September at 6:00 p.m. UTC, as they announce their latest interest rate decision. The Fed has kept its federal funds rate (FFR) unchanged for over a year. It last raised its base rate in July 2023, citing inflationary pressures. In the current environment of lower inflation and increased concerns about the labour market, reducing the interest rate is possible. According to Reuters, most economists expect the Fed to cut the key rate by at least 25 basis points (bps). Octa analysts believe that the stock market may perceive a 25 bps reduction in the interest rate negatively, and they are clearly expecting a more significant decline. Octa analysts do not expect an interest rate change of more than 25 bps at the upcoming meeting but believe that a rate cut of 50 bps is possible.

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US Housing Starts Increase to Fastest Pace Since April

By Michael Sasso
BNN Bloomberg
September 18, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

US housing starts bounced back in August after tumbling a month earlier, illustrating uneven residential construction as builders weigh inventory levels against brighter demand prospects tied to falling borrowing costs. Beginning home construction increased 9.6% last month to a 1.36 million annualized rate, the fastest since April, according to government figures released Wednesday. The median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 1.32 million rate. The report showed overall building permits, a gauge of future construction, rose 5% to a 1.48 million annualized rate, while single-family authorizations increased to a four-month high. New construction of single-family homes increased nearly 16% to an annualized 992,000 pace, the first monthly advance since February. Starts of multifamily projects declined for the first time since May. Builders are awaiting a sustained pickup in demand to help work down an inventory of unsold homes that’s hovering near the highest level since 2008.

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US Single-Family Permits Up in July 2024

By Danushka Nanayakkara-Skillington
NAHB – Eye on Housing
September 16, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

Over the first seven months of 2024, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 599,308. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is an increase of 13.7% over the July 2023 level of 527,158. Year-to-date ending in July, single-family permits were up in all four regions. The range of permit increases spanned 18.2% in the West to 9.8% in the Northeast. The Midwest was up by 14.5% and the South was up by 12.4% in single-family permits during this time. For multifamily permits, three out of the four regions posted declines. The Northeast, driven by New York was the only region to post an increase and was up by 32.0%. Meanwhile, the West posted a decline of 31.2%, the South declined by 22.7%, and the Midwest declined by 9.3%.

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Builder Sentiment Edges Higher as Rates Fall but Affordability Challenges Persist

By Robert Dietz
NAHB – Eye on Housing
September 17, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

With mortgage rates declining by more than one-half of a percentage point from early August through mid-September, per Freddie Mac, builder sentiment edged higher this month even as builders continue to grapple with rising costs. Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes was 41 in September, up two points from a reading of 39 in August, according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). This breaks a string of four consecutive monthly declines. Due to lower interest rates, builders now have a positive view for future new home sales for the first time since May 2024. …All three HMI indices were up in September. The index charting current sales conditions rose one point to 45, the component measuring sales expectations in the next six months increased four points to 53 and the gauge charting traffic of prospective buyers posted a two-point gain to 27.

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Forestry

More of northeast B.C. burned in 2023, 2024 than previous 60 years combined

By Lauren Collins
Victoria News
September 18, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

A BC Wildfire Service official says wildfires the Prince George Fire Centre in 2023 and 2024 burned 10% of the land base, which is more than what was burned in the previous 60 years combined. Neal McLoughlin with BC Wildfire, said last week the province has had record-setting wildfire seasons both this year and last, but a huge proportion of the areas burned are in B.C.’s northeast corner. …BC  has six fire centres, and Prince George is by far the largest at 33.6 million hectares. …”Seventy-five per cent of the total area burned in 2024 was due to fire in Prince George and last year was higher at 80 per cent.” As of Sept. 18, more than 1.05 million hectares burned in 2024. In 2023, 2.84 million hectares burned in BC. “If we subtracted away our Prince George Fire Centre and just looked at the rest of the province, it is fairly, actually normal in terms of area burned.”

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Canada and British Columbia Invest in Wildfire Resilience

By Natural Resources Canada
Cision Newswire
September 18, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

VICTORIA, BC — Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, with Bruce Ralston, BC’s Minister of Forests, announced a joint investment of $950,122 through the Government of Canada’s Resilient Communities through FireSmart (RCF) Program. …This joint investment through the RCF Program will further support B.C.’s efforts to prepare its residents and communities for wildfires and reduce risks before they occur through the continued adoption and implementation of FireSmart initiatives in B.C. The funding will support FireSmart BC in increasing the province’s resource capacity to manage wildfire risks and provide training to wildfire practitioners. The funding will also support the development and implementation of educational programs in schools that teach students how to make homes and communities more resilient to wildfires and increase province-wide FireSmart awareness through media campaigns, encouraging British Columbians to take proactive action to reduce the negative impacts of wildfires.

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Research shows FireSmart principles worked to save homes during 2023 West Kelowna wildfire

By Kristen Holliday
Castanet
September 18, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER, BC — West Kelowna Fire Chief Jason Brolund… attended the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in Vancouver as part of a panel presenting post-fire research that took place in areas devastated by the McDougall Creek blaze that devastated West Kelowna in the summer of 2023. BC Wildfire Service’s Hannah Swift, FireSmart program lead, said the project… enlisted FPInnovations to undertake the research. Greg Baxter, senior researcher for FPInnovations, said the research team wanted to find out how structures ignited, where they ignited, and how the fire spread into the structure. …Baxter said high winds drove embers to ignite structures — not the head of the wildfire itself. “The main factors contributing to ignition is the flammable materials within one and a half meters of the structure,” he said, noting cedars were a common factor. …Aside from vegetation, other contributing factors included vehicles, all-terrain vehicles and wood piles sitting against a house.

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Why caribou conservation in BC is tricky business

By Renée Rochefort
The Ubyssey
September 16, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Dr. Clayton Lamb, a wildlife scientist and postdoctoral fellow at UBCO, is researching the decline in population and caribou conservation efforts. …Ideal caribou habitat is vast, intact and has low predator density. According to Lamb, in BC, that is becoming increasingly hard to find. …The logging industry is the principal force of change as it modifies the landscape and creates forestry roads. However, these actions don’t have a direct impact on the caribou. Rather, Lamb they create conditions that allow predation of the caribou by facilitating the entry of moose and deer to the area….followed by wolves. …We’re applying a bunch of emergency recovery actions,” said Lamb. The interim efforts are successful with the population of Southern Mountain caribou rising by 1500 individuals or 60% over the past 10 to 20 years. Yet, many of the current conservation methods are not sustainable in the long run.

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Bats are under threat from a deadly fungus. Here’s how Alberta aims to mitigate the losses

By Wallis Snowdon
CBC News
September 16, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Alberta is forging ahead with efforts to protect bats… the little brown myotis and northern myotis are under threat due to white-nose syndrome, a disease that has killed millions of bats in North America. Three years after the fungus that causes the disease was first detected in Alberta, the government published a draft recovery plan that aims to minimize losses and help the species eventually rebound. …A small number of bats have shown a natural resistance to the fungus. The hope is that those survivors can eventually rebuild the population, Wilkinson said. …Kennedy Halvorson with the Alberta Wilderness Association, said the recovery plan should include more enforceable limits on industry. The association has called for stricter limits on pesticide use to bolster insect populations that bats rely on for food, and for binding restrictions on the forestry sector to better safeguard bat habitats.

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Misleading B.C. wildfire narratives hurting tourism

Ellen Walker-Matthews
Business in Vancouver
September 14, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA) is appealing to the media and the public to be thoughtful about the language used to talk about forest fires. Let’s be clear: Public safety is always first and foremost. …However, we are concerned about the growing narrative that references summer as “wildfire season,” the consistent description of weather and heat as extreme and severe, and the trend to catastrophize every new update. Such language, without context or nuance, paints the summer season with an alarmist brush. …It has a huge and irreparable impact on all sectors of the tourism industry. We know that all aspects of the economy can be negatively impacted as a result of forest fires, but we have learned the hard way that tourism businesses can be dramatically affected when B.C. forest fires are misrepresented in the media.

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Blake Moynes spearheads campaign to help save Ontario’s Caribou

By Jordyn Read
The Weather Network
September 18, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Blake Moynes

ONTARIO — Blake Moynes, a television personality and passionate wildlife conservationist, has teamed up with the David Suzuki Foundation to address the alarming habitat loss impacting caribou populations in northern Ontario. …Through this partnership, Moynes is focused on bringing attention to the dire state of northern Ontario’s caribou, stressing the urgent need for action to preserve their shrinking habitat. “To keep it as simple as possible? Caribou populations are significantly declining right now due to habitat destruction, due to forestry, mining, and the exploitation of resources that’s essentially been mismanaged here in Canada. So caribou are declining, fading away here in Ontario, but in other places in Canada as well,” Moynes added. Moynes and the David Suzuki Foundation point to habitat destruction and the creation of logging roads as major contributors to the decline in caribou numbers, which have disrupted natural predator-prey dynamics. 

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Transforming environmental science and forest management with remote sensing

By Raya Soltani
University of Waterloo
September 17, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Michael Wulder

Michael Wulder is a visionary senior research scientist at the Canadian Forest Service of Natural Resources Canada. He earned his BES in Geography from the University of Calgary, followed by an MES (1996) and a PhD in Geography at the University of Waterloo in 1998. Under the guidance of the esteemed Dr. Ellsworth LeDrew, Michael developed and validated statistical algorithms for remote sensing techniques in Forestry. …With over 400 peer-reviewed publications garnering over 50,000 citations and accolades such as the Canadian Remote Sensing Society’s Gold Medal and induction into the Order of Canada, Michael’s impact resonates globally. …Today, Michael is reshaping how we perceive, manage, and protect our natural landscapes. His groundbreaking use of LiDAR and satellite imagery has revolutionized our understanding of forest dynamics, enabling precise assessments of ecological health and sustainable resource management practices.

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The misleadingly named ‘Fix Our Forests Act’ would do anything but

By David Super, professor at Georgetown Law
The Hill
September 17, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

A legitimately serious problem in this country is the increasing frequency and severity of wildfires. Climate change has helped dry out forests so that many fires now spread rapidly. Misguided forest management practices also have played a role: by rapidly extinguishing relatively benign natural fires that periodically thin out the underbrush, and by clear-cutting fire-resistant old-growth forests, we have set the stage for the far more destructive fires we see today Unfortunately, some in Congress are proposing responses that would only make the wildfire crisis worse. In particular, H.R. 8790, the misleadingly titled “Fix Our Forests Act,” would pave the way for even more ill-informed and counterproductive mismanagement of our forests. …The “Fix Our Forests Act,” however, effectively rejects environmental review altogether across hundreds of thousands of acres. We need to be much smarter than the meat-cleaver approach. Part of the answer is to adequately fund, staff and train Forest Service personnel.

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Is state cutting down its ‘legacy’? Conservationists want to curb the logging of old-growth trees

By Nick Engelfried
The Columbian
September 16, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

WASHINGTON STATE — Sherwood State Forest in Washington’s Mason County escaped the industrial clear-cutting that transformed much of the Northwest last century. …Last year, those islands of protected forest shrank even further as Washington’s Department of Natural Resources auctioned off rights to log almost 160 acres of Sherwood Forest, located about 40 miles southwest of Seattle. …This story is hardly unique. Throughout Western Washington, pockets of state forestlands that were logged in the early 1900s have regrown into ecosystems that sequester tons of carbon and serve as valuable wildlife habitat. …These regrown forests also represent a potential bonanza for timber companies, however, and they don’t benefit from protections given to most old growth on state lands. …A paper published last year by the independent research nonprofit Resources for the Future found mature forests sequester more carbon than younger trees do.

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Norway says elevated radiation levels due to forest fire near Chornobyl

Reuters
September 18, 2024
Category: Forestry, Forest Fires
Region: International

OSLO — Norway said on Wednesday that elevated levels of radioactive caesium (Cs-137) it had detected near the Arctic border with Russia were likely due to a forest fire near Chornobyl in Ukraine, the site of the world’s worst nuclear accident. The Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (DSA) said in a statement on Tuesday that it had measured “very low” levels of radioactive caesium at Svanhovd and Viksjoefjell near the Arctic border with Russia. The authority detected elevated levels of radioactive caesium at Svanhovd from Sept. 9-16 and at Viksjoefjell from Sept. 5-12, but the levels didn’t pose a risk to humans or the environment, it added. …”This time it is most likely that the forest fire around Chornobyl is to blame.” …On April 26, 1986, Reactor No. Four of the Soviet Union’s Chornobyl nuclear power plant… released large amounts of radiation into the atmosphere.

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Ireland’s Glenveagh National Park rewilding sets a new benchmark

By Padraid Fogarty
The Irish Examiner
September 15, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: International

In 2001, Glenveagh National Park in County Donegal was the scene for the most ambitious nature restoration projects ever to have taken place in Ireland. The release of golden eagles which had been driven to extinction a century before. …It quickly became apparent that the landscape had become so degraded that it could not support sufficient prey for the birds. …Earlier this year, Minister of State for Nature, Malcom Noonan, launched “one of the most ambitious nature restoration projects in the history of the State”. …Tree planting will remain part of the plan and a dedicated nursery has been established on site to grow oaks and birches as well some of the rarer species, such as yew, juniper and aspen, as well as introducing Scots pine from seedlings in the Burren in Clare, which is the only truly native stand of this tree known in Ireland. [to access the full story an Irish Examiner subscription is required]

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Experts estimate modest drop in 2023 emissions, with big differences across sectors

By Canadian Climate Institute
Cision Newswire
September 19, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

OTTAWA — The latest Early Estimate of National Emissions from the Canadian Climate Institute shows a modest improvement in national emissions in 2023, with a drop of about 1% from 2022 levels. Progress was uneven across sectors, with electricity showing large drops in emissions while oil and gas emissions rose. The independent estimate finds Canada’s emissions now sit at 8 per cent below 2005 levels, the baseline year for Canada’s 2030 emissions target of a 40 to 45% reduction. Strong economic growth in 2023 pushed emissions up by 8.6 Mt CO2e from the previous year. However, the impact of climate policy and changing markets, including accelerating clean energy technology deployment, succeeded in reducing emissions by 14.2 Mt, resulting in an overall net decrease of 5.6 Mt. At a sectoral level, oil and gas continued a long-standing trend of steadily rising emissions… emissions from the electricity sector continued to drop, and… buildings saw a drop in emissions (-5.6 per cent; -4.9 Mt).

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Weyerhaeuser and The Nature Conservancy Announce Joint Effort on the Power of Forests to Fight Climate Change

By Weyerhaeuser Company
PR Newswire
September 17, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

SEATTLE — Weyerhaeuser and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) announced a multiyear collaboration to further the scientific understanding of how forests and forest products contribute to climate mitigation. …TNC pioneered research quantifying nature’s full ability to absorb and store carbon and provide a scalable and readily available opportunity to mitigate climate change. These natural climate solutions can help protect, better manage and restore forests to reduce or absorb 11 billion metric tons of GHGs per year. Over 1 billion metric tons of that potential could come from improved management of working forests. …Over the next several years, Weyerhaeuser and TNC will collaborate on forest research; implement standards and frameworks for greenhouse gas accounting; support the development of improved carbon project methodologies; and help shape strategies that accelerate the adoption of climate-smart forestry practices worldwide.

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Inslee fights repeal of his signature cap-and-trade law

By Melissa Santos
Axios Seattle
September 16, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US West

Jae Inslee

WASHINGTON STATE — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is spending his final months in office fighting to preserve one of his signature policies: a carbon-pricing law known as the Climate Commitment Act. Initiative 2117, if approved by Washington voters in November, would repeal the statewide cap-and-trade law that took effect last year, eliminating billions of dollars for clean energy projects and programs to combat climate change. …”This initiative — this defective, deceptive, dangerous initiative — only guarantees one thing, and that’s more pollution,” Inslee said at a July press conference promoting energy rebates. ….Inslee — who has made climate change a central focus of his career, including when he ran for president — spent years pushing state lawmakers to pass a carbon tax or cap-and-trade policy. …Supporters of repealing the law say it has driven up the cost of gas and made living in Washington less affordable.

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Georgia Power looks to International Papar’s Port Wentworth facility for energy from burning biomass

By John Deem
Savannah Now
September 19, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US East

Georgia Power plans to tap one of the Savannah area’s industrial stalwarts for enough energy to serve the equivalent of more than 3,000 homes for a decade. State regulators approved the utility’s request to buy additional electricity generated by the burning of so-called biomass, including from International Paper’s Port Wentworth Mill. International Paper will supply Georgia Power with 4.6 megawatts of power for a period of 10 years. …International Paper says it generates 70% of power used at its mills by burning “bark and biomass residuals” rather than fossil fuels like natural gas and oil. The deal with Georgia Power will “allow us to make additional energy with upgrades to existing equipment at the (Port Wentworth) mill,” International Paper spokeswoman Kristie Inman said. …The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has embraced that notion in its reporting on greenhouse gas emissions from the nation’s largest polluters by discounting biomass-related carbon releases. 

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State regulators approve Georgia Power’s pricey biomass energy plan

By Meris Lutz
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
September 17, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US East

GEORGIA — State regulators on the Public Service Commission on Tuesday approved a Georgia Power plan to source more energy from burning wood known as “biomass,” despite criticism from consumer advocates about its relatively hefty price tag. An independent evaluator found the trio of contracts for which the monopoly utility was seeking approval would cost customers two to three times more than other sources of energy. The biomass proposal had been opposed by environmental and consumer advocates, who said it would cost Georgia Power customers billions of extra dollars on top of already-approved rate hikes. …In hearings about the biomass proposal over the past few weeks, regulators acknowledged the high cost for Georgia Power customers, but said they were motivated by a desire to give an economic boost to rural parts of the state that rely on the timber industry. The vote Tuesday was 4-1 in favor.

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Proposed $1.35 Billion Investment in Southeast Louisiana Would Establish the World’s Largest Carbon Negative Renewable Natural Gas / Ultra-Green Hydrogen Facility

By Woodland Biofuels Inc.
Cision Newswire
September 17, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US East

RESERVE, Louisiana — Woodland Biofuels announced a planned $1.35 billion investment at the Port of South Louisiana to establish the world’s largest carbon negative renewable natural gas plant / hydrogen facility. Phase 1 is the largest carbon negative renewable natural gas facility globally. Phase 2 is the world’s largest carbon negative hydrogen plant. The Toronto-based company will utilize waste biomass to produce sustainable biofuel used in transportation, heating and electricity generation. In Phase 1 the company expects to create approximately 500 construction jobs and 110 permanent jobs. Louisiana Economic Development estimates that the project will result in 259 indirect new jobs for a total of 869 jobs, 369 of which are permanent. The new facility will be located at the Globalplex multimodal facility at the Port of South Louisiana. The company expects to remove hundreds of thousands of tons of carbon dioxide annually and store it safely underground. …Commercial operations for the first phase are projected to start in 2028.

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The Rise and Fall of Enviva, a Green-Energy Superstar

By Ryan Dezember
The Wall Street Journal
September 10, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US East

EPES, Alabama —When Enviva began construction here on the world’s largest wood-pellet plant, it had contracts worth more than $20 billion to supply overseas power plants with an alternative to coal. The company’s shares were near an all-time high. That was two years ago. The Epes facility is still under construction, but Enviva is in bankruptcy court. Demand hasn’t been an issue. …Enviva’s problem is that it promised buyers more pellets than it could make, and for cheaper than it ended up costing to produce them. …Power producers from Germany to Japan are counting on shipments from Enviva to keep their customers’ lights on, as well as to meet renewable-energy mandates. Enviva has continued to operate while it sheds debt and reworks long-term deals with customers. …The plant in Epes is scheduled to open next year. Another plant, planned for Bond, Miss., is on hold. [to access the full story a WSJ subscription is required]

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Health & Safety

BC arbitrator upholds Western Forest Product’s decision to order a post-incident drug and alcohol test

By Jeffrey Smith
The Canadian HR Reporter
September 17, 2024
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada, Canada West

Jeffrey Smith

The arbitrator concluded that the Western Forest Product’s decision to order a post-incident drug and alcohol test was justified and reasonable under the circumstances, citing the potential safety risks involved and the absence of external factors explaining the accident. The grievance was dismissed. …“Post-incident drug and alcohol testing is part of the investigation process. An employer doesn’t have to complete its investigation before deciding to engage in post-incident testing, but at the same time it has to balance any decision made with the privacy and dignity interests of the employee – it has to have enough information to justify that intrusion.” …The worker was employed as a heavy-duty mechanic since 2011 with Western Forest Products, a Vancouver-based lumber company. [to access the full story a HR Reporter subscription is required]

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Forest Fires

Norway says elevated radiation levels due to forest fire near Chornobyl

Reuters
September 18, 2024
Category: Forestry, Forest Fires
Region: International

OSLO — Norway said on Wednesday that elevated levels of radioactive caesium (Cs-137) it had detected near the Arctic border with Russia were likely due to a forest fire near Chornobyl in Ukraine, the site of the world’s worst nuclear accident. The Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (DSA) said in a statement on Tuesday that it had measured “very low” levels of radioactive caesium at Svanhovd and Viksjoefjell near the Arctic border with Russia. The authority detected elevated levels of radioactive caesium at Svanhovd from Sept. 9-16 and at Viksjoefjell from Sept. 5-12, but the levels didn’t pose a risk to humans or the environment, it added. …”This time it is most likely that the forest fire around Chornobyl is to blame.” …On April 26, 1986, Reactor No. Four of the Soviet Union’s Chornobyl nuclear power plant… released large amounts of radiation into the atmosphere.

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Thousands of firefighters battle ‘raging’ wildfires across Portugal

By Jack Burgess
BBC News
September 16, 2024
Category: Forest Fires
Region: International

PORTUGAL — More than 5,000 firefighters have been tackling wildfires that Portugal’s Prime Minister has said are “raging across the country”. Louis Montenegro named one firefighter who had died of “a sudden illness” while battling a blaze in Oliveira de Azeméis as João Silva. Temperatures in Portugal exceeded 30C (86F) over the weekend and are expected to remain elevated for days. At least two people have died due to the fires, according to local media reports. Portuguese authorities say there is the highest possible risk of wildfires breaking out across many central and northern regions of the country through to Wednesday – with the threat remaining “very high” until Friday. Ten thousand hectares (37 sq miles) have already been burned between Porto and Aveiro in the north, the Portuguese news agency Lusa said. As of 23:00 BST, there were 128 active wildfires across the country.

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Forest History & Archives

‘History is being lost’: 100-year-old wooden trestle will be demolished in Cowichan

By Skye Ryan
Chek TV News
September 17, 2024
Category: Forest History & Archives
Region: Canada, Canada West

COWICHAN, BC — A piece of Vancouver Island history is poised for demolition, ending a wooden trestle’s over century-long run in the Cowichan Valley. The Holt Creek Trestle is a popular, towering bridge that connects the Cowichan Valley trail. …The historic wooden railway bridge that the Cowichan woman and tens of thousands walk over each year is about to be removed. The 102-year-old wooden railway trestle is slated for demolition, and trail-clearing work to make way for the heavy machinery has already begun. According to the Ministry of Transportation, a structural review of the trestle was completed in 2017 and revealed it was already nearing the end of its lifespan. The province has decided to replace it rather than continuously repair and maintain it. However, the province is not disclosing the cost of restoration, and Pynn says the historical value alone should make that worth exploring.

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New archaeology at abandoned Oregon town reveals hidden lives of Black logging families

by Arya Surowidjojo
Oregon Public Broadcasting
September 17, 2024
Category: Forest History & Archives
Region: United States, US West

OREGON — Over 100 years ago, a Missouri-based lumber company built what became known as Maxville, a segregated logging town in northeastern Oregon. Archaeologists have just discovered artifacts from the town’s lost Black neighborhood. Archaeologist Sophia Tribelhorn holds in her hand pieces of charred animal bones, decorated glass and a Levi Strauss workwear rivet… the rediscovery of Black history at Maxville: a former timber company town near Wallowa in northeastern Oregon. …The Missouri-based Bowman-Hicks Lumber Company set up the town in 1923, bringing in skilled loggers from the American South. About 40 to 60 Black people would eventually come to live and work in Maxville as part of a total population of approximately 400 people. Those lives, however, were segregated along typical early-20th-century color lines. …After the Bowman-Hicks Lumber Company closed Maxville in 1933, a severe winter storm in 1946 caused most of the remaining town structures to collapse. The exact location of where the Black families lived was lost.

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