Blog Archives

Today’s Takeaway

Global Wood Summit kicks off with dire near-term forecast

The Tree Frog Forestry News
October 30, 2024
Category: Today's Takeaway

The Global Wood Summit kicked-off in Vancouver yesterday with forecasts of log and lumber woes. In related news: the world is running out of low-cost logs, and when will China start buying lumber again. Meanwhile: the US economy achieves its “soft landing” goal; UPM reports positive Q3, 2024 earnings; and Kelowna approves Tolko mill redevelopment plan.

In Forestry/Climate news: US Forest Service partners to conserve private forestlands; Oregon launches prescribed fire liability program; action against forest biomass subsidies gains momentum at COP16; six EU countries pledge money for biodiversity protection; and the new threat to Brazil’s forests—chemicals.

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor

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Froggy Foibles

Scientists discover oldest ever giant tadpole fossil in Argentina

By The Associated Press
The Guardian
October 30, 2024
Category: Froggy Foibles
Region: International

Scientists have discovered the oldest-known fossil of a giant tadpole that wriggled around over 160m years ago. The new fossil, found in Argentina, surpasses the previous ancient record holder by about 20m years. Imprinted in a slab of sandstone are parts of the tadpole’s skull and backbone, along with impressions of its eyes and nerves… Researchers know frogs were hopping around as far back as 217m years ago. But exactly how and when they evolved to begin as tadpoles remains unclear. This new discovery adds some clarity to that timeline. At about 6in (16cm ) long, the tadpole is a younger version of an extinct giant frog. The results were published on Wednesday in the journal Nature.

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Business & Politics

Kemira to close its manufacturing site in Vancouver, Canada

By Mikko Pohjala
Kemira Oyi
October 30, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada West, International

Kemira Images

Kemira plans to consolidate some Pulp & Paper chemical production in North America, resulting in the closure of a manufacturing site in Vancouver, Canada. The Vancouver site produces process and functional chemicals for the Pulp & Paper segment. The planned consolidation is expected to impact approximately five employees. It’s expected that production at the site will end during the first half of 2025 and will move to Kemira’s Washougal, Washington site, where Kemira already produces process and functional chemicals. The intended move is expected to streamline operational efficiency in Kemira’s North American operations in response to changing market conditions. The consolidation is not related to the planned changes to Kemira’s new operating model and organization structure announced during Q3 2024.

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Finance & Economics

Sluggish housing starts point to big challenges for B.C.

By Jamin Makan
Business in Vancouver
October 29, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, Canada West

As a tight provincial election reveals a deeply divided electorate, the pace of new home construction is stagnant, pointing to significant challenges, and choices, ahead for the next B.C. government. Despite promises and assurances by the previous BC NDP government, experts say housing supply growth hasn’t ramped up. Many factors, including interest rates, inflation, land costs, development cost charges, construction costs, population growth, bank financing and municipal permitting challenges have combined to create a particularly challenging environment. “What strikes me is, we are now on target to start the same number of homes in 2024 that we started in 2019, for all the talk about getting new home construction underway,” said Ken Peacock, chief economist with Business Council of British Columbia (BCBC).

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A Few Things Lumber Tells Us About the World

By Pierre Lemieux
Econlib
November 3, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: International

Economic history is ongoing. We get a scent of all that in Paul Kiernan’s “Logging Is a Way of Life in Appalachia. It’s Hanging on by a Thread,” in the October 29, 2024 issue of the Wall Street Journal. Hardwoods (oak, hickory, maple, walnut, and cherry) were, with furs, among the first exports of the American colonies. They have had many uses, from flooring and cabinetry to pulpwood for manufacturing paper and airplane propellers. More efficient substitutes have been developed… “Efficient” means what consumers choose given their preferences, incomes, and the relative prices of substitutes… Given all these factors, fewer workers are required in the lumber industry, composed of sawmill workers, loggers, and truckers. Logging as a way of life in Appalachia has been threatened for some time.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Moving mass timber into mainstream: Experts discuss construction hurdles

By Don Proctor
Journal of Commerce
November 1, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada

Scott Cameron

Hurdles that mass timber faces to becoming part of mainstream construction were top of mind at a panel session at Summit 2024, a conference hosted by WoodWorks in Toronto recently. At issue for developers is a lack of data to determine how much a mass timber building can rent or sell for, said Annabelle Hamilton, technical manager of planning and development with WoodWorks BC. Mass timber can be a “risky environment” for developers and the revenue unknowns add a layer of uncertainty, the panellist told the audience at the summit held at George Brown College’s Waterfront Campus. Adding risk are cost premiums over conventional construction which can stem from higher consultancy fees for mass timber, she said. “We are in a pretty difficult climate from uncertainty on the revenue and the cost side.”

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Fukushima’s ‘nuclear’ timber used in one of the largest wood structures on earth

By Larry Adams
Woodworking Network
October 30, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

The Grand Ring, a symbol of the World Expo 2025 scheduled to take place in Osaka, Japan, next year, will be one of the largest wooden structures on earth. Much of the material going into this massive construction comes from lumber harvested in coastal Fukushima Prefecture, hit hard by the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster. Another large portion of the wood is locally constructed Glulam mass timber products. The Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition announced in August 2024, that the wooden structure of the Grand Ring was completed with the installation of the Sky Walk ramps, connecting the entire 2km circumference into one complete ring… Timber used: (Domestic) Japanese cedar and Japanese cypress; (Foreign) Scots Pine

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MDF recycling set to launch on an industrial scale

By Larry Adams
Woodworking Network
October 29, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

Backed by a €20 million investment, Unilin is set to start recycling MDF on an industrial scale at its site in Bazeilles, France. Unilin plans to make this innovative service available to the entire sector via Unilin Technologies. For the production of its MDF and HDF boards, Unilin Group, a global supplier of panels and building supplies, uses recovered and recycled wood. Until 2021, it was technically impossible to recycle the 100 million cubic feet of medium density fiberboard (MDF) and high density fiberboard (HDF) boards manufactured worldwide each year, but Unilin has developed a steam explosion technology to reclaim the wood fiber from these boards in an economically viable manner and reuse them for the production of high-quality fiberboards on an industrial scale.

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Action against forest biomass subsidies gains momentum at COP16

By Justin Catanoso
Mongabay
October 29, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

For years, at annual United Nations climate summits, forest advocates eager to draw critical attention to the scientifically dubious benefits of burning forest biomass to make energy were ignored, and their recommendations never added to official UN agendas for discussion or a vote. But here at the UN Biodiversity summit, known as COP16, forest campaigners have attained some traction as national representatives — dedicated to addressing biodiversity loss and global deforestation — hear about how wood pellet production and biomass burning are tied intrinsically to both problems. A coalition of 200 civil society groups in 60 countries, held a series of events  to highlight research and evidence of environmental harm caused by harvesting trees for wood-pellet manufacture, and the burning of those pellets in former coal-fired power plants.

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Forestry

WWF-Canada launches ‘Mission Restoration’ to put nature on a path to recovery in Canada

By World Wildlife Fund Canada
Cision Newswire
October 29, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

Megan Leslie

WWF-Canada launched “Mission Restoration” at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity’s Conference of the Parties (COP16) today — a collaborative initiative toward helping to reach Canada’s restoration goals under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). Mission Restoration aims to bring together organizations that are committed to restoring essential ecosystems, providing valuable insights into how restoration actions are adding up throughout Canada, inspiring others to join the effort to bring nature back and helping to raise awareness of the benefits to nature, communities and climate that restoration brings… The restoration of damaged ecosystems in Canada is critical to reversing the loss of biodiversity, supporting the rights and priorities of First Nations, Inuit and Métis, and maximizing ecosystem carbon sequestration to fight climate change.

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Canadian Tree Nursery Association reports over 5.3 billion seedlings needed to begin wildfire restoration

By Don Huff
Canadian Tree Nursery Association
October 24, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

The Canadian Tree Nursery Association/Canadian Forest Nursery Association are sending up flares Canada needs to plant billions of new seedlings to begin making a dent in forests devastated by wildfires over the last two years. The associations estimate planting 5.3 billion seedlings would begin to restore only 15% of forests destroyed in 2023 and 2024… The associations said the urgent need for forest restoration post wildfire is worsened by provincial budget cuts, such as British Columbia’s plans to plant 58 million fewer trees in 2025 than in 2024. “The Federal government’s commendable 2 Billion Tree (2BT) planting initiative, announced in 2020 was made before the recent significant wildfires,” said Rob Keen, Executive Director. “It is now obvious the 2BT planting target and execution mechanisms are insufficient to address the catastrophic losses of 2023 and 2024. 

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Over 1,800 Hectares of Prime Habitat Conserved for BC’s Iconic Wildlife

By BC Parks Foundation
BC Parks Foundation
October 29, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

In a major step forward for wildlife conservation, over 1,800 hectares of critical habitat for iconic species such as Grizzly Bears, Moose, and Woodland Caribou in Northern British Columbia have been protected forever… The project strategically expands existing conservation areas, preserving pristine wilderness, maintaining vital wildlife corridors, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. A balanced approach ensures that as Northern BC grows, it does so in harmony with its rich natural heritage, benefiting both wildlife and local communities… BC Parks Foundation is currently working on the management plans for these properties, and they are not open to the public.

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Kelowna city council give resounding support for Tolko Mill redevelopment vision

By Wayne Moore
Castanet
October 29, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Kelowna city councillors couldn’t wait to offer their glowing endorsement of the new vision for redevelopment of the former Tolko sawmill site in the city’s north end. This is in contrast to the previous plan which was harshly criticized by Coun. Loyal Wooldridge as being “underwhelming.” He was highly critical of what he called a lack of public open space, saying much of what was presented was a “legislative requirement for riparian areas.”… Mark Marshall, representing Holar Development said the site will feature its own sense of “character and place.” …“At the main entrance off of Ellis we propose to retain some of the original weight station that is there today, gates and heritage items, all structures that make reference to the industrial history of the site.”

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Impact study questioned by environmental group

By Nelson Sergerie
The Gaspe Spec
November 3, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Environnement vert plus has raised concerns about the credibility of a study that claims the caribou pilot project could result in significant job losses and an economic downturn of $23 million in Haute-Gaspésie… On the forestry aspect, Mr. Bergeron [Spokesperson] emphasizes that the plan to recover 5,000 hectares of forest damaged by a windfall last December is misleading.  “What science tells us is that it is not in our interest to come and disturb a habitat that has been naturally disturbed. When we read what is said about forest fires, we are going to recover the wood, we are affecting the soil, we are creating entry routes for predators… It is not a good idea. This proposal must be studied more rigorously,” believes Mr. Bergeron. 

The response by the Regroupement des MRC de la Gaspésie [who commissioned the study] is available here:
Caribou pilot project: 1,000 jobs at risk in Haute-Gaspésie according to study

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Canadians Unite In a Fight to Save an Ancient Tree Older Than the Country Itself

By Penelope Wilson
The Hearty Soul
October 30, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Citizens in Toronto, Ontario, Canada are fighting to save a 300-year-old Northern Red Oak tree from being cut down by the owner of its host property. Homeowner Ali Simaga agreed to a deal with the Toronto City Council to sell the property to the city for conservation purposes. The tree dates back to some of the earliest French explorers who settled in Ontario. Standing at a stunning 79 feet (24 meters), the beautiful piece of history and nature is one of the oldest trees in the city. This special oak bears a powerful sentimental heritage from Canadians – It was an important landmark that safely guided thousands of native travelers. According to historian Madeleine McDowell, the tree’s current location was formerly the Humber Valley trail used by Indigenous Canadians and European traders.

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Fredericton adopts plan for keeping its urban forest healthy

By Sam Farley
CBC News
October 29, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

After 18 months of work by a consultant, the City of Fredericton can now estimate how many trees it has in its urban core: 19,288. On Monday night, city council adopted a strategy for managing the urban forest on municipal land after commissioning Stantec Consulting in 2022 to come up with a 25-year management plan… “Fredericton is a leader in urban forestry with one of the most impressive and well-managed urban forests in Canada,” the report said… The consultant found that 44 per cent of urban Fredericton has tree canopy cover, while rural areas have almost 70 per cent cover… Stantec recommended increasing annual tree planting to 750 to 1,000 trees.

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Forest therapy for wildfire survivors

By Rebecca Randall
High Country News
November 1, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

Chico, California, resident Jessie Raeder dug her fingers into the dirt. Before she arrived, she’d been in a “state of clenching,” she said, but this forest therapy walk in the Butte Creek Ecological Reserve left her feeling calmer. The sessions were intended to support locals like Raeder, who live in areas that have burned in wildfires. The guide invited her and the other participants to feel nearby textures — perhaps the roughness of bark, wet grass, or the smoothness of a rock. Raeder held dirt in her hands and noted its earthy aroma. “For me, it was definitely a familiar and welcome smell of childhood,” she said. “These sessions were very soothing and grounding and left me feeling refreshed and enlivened.”

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US Forest Service partners with states to conserve private forestlands as part of Investing in America agenda

USDA Forest Service
October 29, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Forest Service announced an investment of more than $265 million to conserve nearly 335,000 acres of ecologically and economically significant forestlands across the nation, in partnership with states across the country, thanks to funding from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. The Forest Service will fund 21 projects in 17 states to conserve working forests that support rural economies. In 2024 alone, the Forest Service has invested nearly $420 million to conserve more than 500,000 acres through the Forest Legacy Program and since 2021, has invested more than $758 million in 123 projects… Since it was created in 1990, the Forest Legacy Program has conserved approximately 3.1 million acres of forestlands in fifty states and three territories.

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2024 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree goes to Washington

USDA Forest Service
October 28, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

The 2024 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree hails from the Alaska Region of the Forest Service. An annual symbol of hope and celebration, the tree offers an opportunity to showcase Alaska’s majestic landscape, unique culture, rich traditions, diverse ecosystems and abundant resources. The tree symbolizes Alaskans’ connection to the lands they call home. Previously, the only other U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree to come from Alaska was sent from the Chugach National Forest in 2015. This year, the tree will come from the Tongass National Forest—America’s largest national forest… The U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, known as the “People’s Tree,” adorns the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol and has been selected each year since 1970 from a different national forest.

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Our forest bill is due

By Evan Burks
USDA US Forest Service
November 1, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

The western U.S. has a debt to pay, one that has been piling up interest for over a hundred years. “If there’s an accumulation of fuel, it’s due for a fire. It’s a fire debt,” said Danny Whatley, U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service. “If you don’t pay it this year, it’s due next year. And if you forego, it’s just a bigger debt every year you put it off.” Western forests want to burn. Decades of federal fire suppression policies aimed at extinguishing all blazes have allowed forests to grow dangerously dense creating conditions for wildfires to get out of control. Many of the estimated 99 million people living near overgrown forests are now coming to accept this wildfire paradox – that more fire is how they make payment and save the place they love.

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The world’s oldest tree? Genetic analysis traces evolution of iconic Pando forest

By Helena Kudiabor
Nature
November 1, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

DNA samples from one of the world’s largest and oldest plants — a quaking aspen tree (Populus tremuloides) in Utah called Pando — have helped researchers to determine its age and revealed clues about its evolutionary history. By sequencing hundreds of samples from the tree, researchers confirmed that Pando is between 16,000 and 80,000 years old, verifying previous suggestions that it is among the oldest organisms on Earth. They were also able to track patterns of genetic variation spread throughout the tree that offer clues about how it has adapted and evolved over the course of its lifetime. The findings were posted on the bioRxiv preprint server on 24 October.The work has not yet been peer reviewed.

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Can Fungi Save This Endangered Hawaiian Tree?

By Shi En Kim
The Smithsonian Magazine
October 30, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Nicole Hynson normally gets roped in to help when all else fails. The conservation biologist from the University of Hawaii is involved in bringing back all kinds of critically endangered plants from the brink of extinction. Unfortunately, she’s kept busy in her home state, Hawaii, which is also known as the extinction capital of the world. Her latest conservation target is a flowering tree that’s fighting a losing battle in the wild: the Gardenia brighamii, or, as it’s known among some local communities, the na’u. The na’u is one of three gardenia species endemic to the archipelago. The na’u’s crowning glory is its fragrant flower, a pearly blossom that was once frequently woven into traditional floral wreaths called leis.

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Prescribed fires help manage forests in the Northwest

Bu Johanna Bejarano
Northwest Public Broadcasting
October 29, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Trucks line an unpaved road about 50 minutes up Robinette Mountain Road near Dayton, Washington. Crews are ready to burn over 37 acres at the Rainwater Wildlife Area. As wildfire season winds down, crews around Washington and Oregon perform prescribed fires. Lindsay Chiono is a wildlife habitat ecologist with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. During this burn, she’s also the firing boss. That means she’s guiding the lighters — the people setting the fire. “We’ve tried to burn this unit for three years in a row. Just a few weeks ago was summer, and high fire hazard. So it’s a small window up this high elevation,” she said. Chiono and 22 members from tribal, governmental and private organizations performed the prescribed fire on the tribe’s lands in late September.

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‘Unacceptable’: Colorado’s federal lawmakers respond to U.S. Forest Service seasonal hiring freeze

By Ryan Spencer
The Summit Daily
October 29, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Michael Bennet

The Colorado congressional delegation in Washington, D.C., is calling on the U.S. Forest Service to continue partnerships with Rocky Mountain communities amid the agency’s hiring freeze on seasonal employees. Colorado Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper as well as Joe Neguse and Brittany Pettersen penned a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary. In particular, the letter takes issue with the Forest Service applying the hiring freeze not only to positions funded through the federal budget but also to positions supported by local funding… “We are deeply concerned by the Forest Service’s announcement about the agency’s budget shortfall and subsequent hiring freeze of all non-firefighting, temporary seasonal employees,” the letter states. “Colorado’s forests are some of the most visited in the nation and serve as critical infrastructure for Colorado.”

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Scientists discover 385 million-year-old forest hidden near New York

By Rebecca Shavit
The Brighter Side of News
October 31, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

In 2009, while examining an old quarry, Charles Ver Straeten, the curator of sedimentary rocks at the New York State Museum, noticed something unusual. He was scouting the area with colleagues, planning a potential field trip. Although paleobotanists have explored the former highway department property since the 1960s, something different caught Ver Straeten’s attention. His trained eye spotted wandering gutters in the stone—features typically found in marine rocks. But this land, even during the Middle Devonian period, was never submerged under the sea. As Ver Straeten traced eleven of the lines, they all converged at a single point. It was then that he realized these lines were the roots of an ancient, massive tree, dating back to a time when forests were still a novel feature on Earth.

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‘Haunted ghost forest’ studied in new research

By Doyle Rice
USA Today
October 31, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Just in time for Halloween, federal scientists this week announced new research into so-called “ghost forests,” spooky tracts of dead trees common along the Eastern Seaboard. According to NOAA, they are “the watery remains of a once verdant woodland.” The new research suggests the deathly landscapes are home to tiny organisms that play a fascinating role in climate change. Here’s how they form: As the globe warms and sea level rises, more and more saltwater encroaches on the land, according to an online fact sheet from NOAA’s Ocean Service. “Along the world’s coasts and estuaries, invading seawater advances and overtakes the fresh water that trees rely upon for sustenance. The salty water slowly poisons living trees, leaving a haunted ghost forest of dead and dying timber.”

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Virginia to offer disaster loans in Helene’s wake to small ag and forestry businesses

By Matt Busse
Cardinal News
October 30, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Virginia officials on Tuesday announced that low-interest loans will be available to small agriculture and forestry businesses in certain localities impacted by the remnants of Hurricane Helene… “Virginia’s farmers and forestry professionals are the backbone of our economy, and their resilience has always been a testament to the strength of our Commonwealth,” Youngkin said. “Through the Agricultural Disaster Microloan Program, we’re ensuring that these vital industries have the resources they need to rebuild. This program is a crucial step in our ongoing efforts to restore and revitalize the communities hardest hit by Hurricane Helene.”

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Using advances in AI to combat illegal timber trade

By Naren Ramakrishnan and Thomas L. Phillips
The Washington Post
October 31, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Nathan Self

When you read headlines about the war in Ukraine, you probably don’t think about the illegal international timber trade. There are, to be certain, bigger and more universal concerns. But a huge economic story is unfolding under the cover of the invasion that researchers at Virginia Tech are using AI to help fight… The fallout from Russia’s war in Ukraine continues to drastically alter the global trade of wood and forest products, and has direct impacts on forests, forest conservation efforts and illegal timber harvesting and illicit trade… Despite the bans, Russian timber is still making its way into markets with active sanctions or bans on direct imports from Russia.

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The New Threat to Brazil’s Forests: Chemicals

By Jack Nicas and Flavia Milhorance
The New York Times
October 29, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Brazil’s satellites did not detect anything alarming. Yet down on the ground, the trees were dying. Slowly but surely, a stretch of protected forest the size of New York City was drying out… When Brazilian authorities responded to anonymous complaints about the destruction last year, they found troves of empty herbicide containers… The land was owned by Claudecy Oliveira Lemes, a rancher who has supplied some of the world’s biggest meatpackers… What separates Mr. Lemes from the thousands of other loggers and ranchers who have razed stretches of the Amazon and other forests across Brazil is that he employed what the authorities say is a dangerous new technique: chemical deforestation. In other words, he used chemicals, instead of chain saws, to clear the forest.

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Once our primary forests are gone, they’re gone forever

By Lara Williams
Times Leader
October 29, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: International

At the 2021 United Nations Climate Conference in Glasgow, 145 nations made a pledge to halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030. Almost three years later, the call for transformative action is ringing hollow… Overall, the world is 45% off its deforestation targets, and, in a frustrating twist, forest-loss levels have risen above a 2018-2020 baseline since the pledge… Efforts to eliminate deforestation from supply chains have largely been voluntary corporate commitments. While these pledges have steered the conversation and helped the development of traceable supply chains, it’s clear that they aren’t enough to deliver results at a sufficient pace. That’s why policy experts and forest advocates alike have been pushing for demand-side regulation — essentially a ban on the import of deforestation-linked goods — in consumer countries for years.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Cowichan Valley Regional District launches new website to help people combat the impacts of climate change

By Citizen Staff
Cowichan Valley Citizen
October 28, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD) has launched a new website for residents to use as a tool to combat the impacts of climate change. Formerly known as the New Normal, www.CowichanAdapts.ca is an important resource for residents to access information about climate change, a global issue that is impacting B.C. communities at a local level… The CVRD and climate adaptation partners have developed a regional climate adaptation strategy which includes local solutions to help residents prepare. The climate-change adaptation strategy and implementation framework focus on activities that the CVRD and its partner will undertake to improve built infrastructure, enhance health and emergency preparedness systems, enable green economic growth, and preserve local biodiversity.

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Kruger To Implement A Demonstration Project For Carbon Capture And Reuse at it’s Wayagamack Mill

By Kruger Inc
Cision Newswire
November 1, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada East

Kruger Inc. announced today a $23.75 million investment in an innovative demonstration project for carbon capture and reuse at its Wayagamack Mill in Trois-Rivières…The promising technology has already proven successful at the laboratory scale and will be tested for the first time in an industrial setting at the Kruger Wayagamack Pulp and Paper Mill. Among its many groundbreaking features is the use of a cutting-edge absorption fluid, molten borate salt, which can withstand extremely high temperatures, up to 600°C. This crucial distinction allows for the direct integration of the capture system into a steam boiler. In addition to being more efficient and cost effective than other carbon capture methods, Mantel’s technology is also energy efficient and sustainable.

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BluSky Carbon Signs Master Services Agreement with Scotia BioChar

By BlueSky Carbon
BlueSky Carbon News
October 25, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada East

BluSky Carbon Inc., an innovative entry into the carbon removal clean technology sector is pleased to announce it has entered into a master services agreement with Scotia BioChar Inc. pursuant to which Scotia may, from time to time, issue statements of work for provision by the Company of manufacturing equipment and/or professional consulting services relating to the production of biochar. Scotia BioChar is headquartered in Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada and aims to become a producer of high-quality biochar from waste wood biomass found in central Nova Scotia. Several regional biomass sources are available, including the approximately 20 million tonnes of trees blown down during Hurricane Fiona (2022).

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Banking on Oregon Forests: Carbon markets could offer middle road in divide over forest management

By Alex Baumhardt
The Oregon Capital Chronicle
October 29, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US West

When the Astoria City Council got the results of a forest inventory in the Bear Creek Watershed about a decade ago, councilors learned the city was in possession of far more valuable trees, and timber, than they had realized. In light of the news, some members of the council in northwest Oregon wanted to boost timber harvests and revenue for city services and infrastructure. The 3,700-acres of forests that protect the city’s main drinking water source have been logged semi-regularly for decades, sending millions of dollars to the city budget over the years. But other members of the council, concerned the watershed had been too heavily logged in the past, wanted the newfound bounty to be protected for the future. 

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Scientists may have solved the mystery behind a top climate threat

By Shannon Osaka
The Washington Post
November 4, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Almost two decades ago, the atmosphere’s levels of methane — a dangerous greenhouse gas that is over 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in the short term — started to climb. And climb. Methane concentrations, which had been stable for years, soared by 5 or 6 parts per billion every year from 2007 onward. Then, in 2020, the growth rate nearly doubled. Scientists were baffled — and concerned. Methane is the big question mark hanging over the world’s climate estimates; although it breaks down in the atmosphere much faster than fossil fuels, it is so powerful that higher than expected methane levels could shift the world toward much higher temperatures. But now, a study sheds light on what’s driving record methane emissions. The culprits, scientists believe, are microbes…

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Drax will keep raising carbon emission levels until 2050s, study says

Bu Jillian Ambrose
The Guardian
November 4, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Drax will keep raising the levels of carbon emissions in the atmosphere until the 2050s despite using carbon capture technology, according to scientific research. The large power plant in North Yorkshire is a significant generator of electricity for the UK but has faced repeated criticism of its business model of burning wood pellets sourced from forests in the US and Canada. The new study found that the intensive forest management needed to source 7m tonnes of wood pellets to burn as fuel every year would erode the carbon stored in the ecosystems of these pine forests for at least 25 years… “The results demonstrate that the CCS technology itself is less important than the impact of wood pellet sourcing on forest carbon stocks and flows,” the study said.

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Politicians not ambitious enough to save nature, say scientists

By Helen Briggs
BBC
November 2, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Scientists say there has been an alarming lack of progress in saving nature as the UN biodiversity summit, COP 16, draws to a close. The scale of political ambition has not risen to the challenge of reducing the destruction of nature that costs the economy billions, said one leading expert… We are stuck in a “vicious cycle where economic woes reduce political focus on the environment” while the destruction of nature costs the economy billions, said Tom Oliver, professor of biodiversity at the University of Reading… Commenting on the talks, the renowned scientist, Dr Jane Goodall, said our future is “ultimately doomed” if we don’t address biodiversity loss.

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Air New Zealand and LanzaJet Unveil Study on Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) from Woody Waste, Aiming to Boost Fuel Security and Economic Growth

Travel and Tour World
October 30, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Air New Zealand, in collaboration with LanzaJet, has announced promising initial findings from a joint feasibility study investigating the use of woody waste and low-value wood products to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in New Zealand. Unveiled with support from the New Zealand Government, Scion, Z Energy, and WoodBeca, this project could set a new benchmark in aviation sustainability by tapping into New Zealand’s renewable resources to locally produce an alternative to fossil-based jet fuel. The study’s results highlight the potential for SAF production to meet up to 25% of New Zealand’s domestic aviation fuel demand, fostering economic growth, job creation, and enhanced fuel resilience.

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Australia developing voluntary emissions standards for agriculture, fisheries and forestry

By Aliana zulaika Yeong
S&P Global
October 28, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Australia’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment, and Water is developing voluntary greenhouse gas accounting standards for agriculture, fisheries, and forestry sectors as farmers face higher pressure from supply chains and the finance sector to provide accurate GHG emissions data. The government’s obligatory climate-related financial disclosures, traceability requirement for market access, as well as the employment of science-based emissions reduction targets are some of the factors driving this demand. These reporting standards aim to enhance the accuracy and consistency of accounting methods and tools, fine tune GHG accounting at the farm level for greater market access and further mitigation action support, and finally reduce the reporting burden on farmers and landowners by giving them reliable tools to understand their emissions.

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Health & Safety

Perspectives on Forest Operations Safety

By John J. Garland et al.
NIOSH Science Blog
October 29, 2024
Category: Health & Safety
Region: United States

Forest operations, which include logging and other forestry activities (e.g., planting, thinning, fuels reduction, and wildland fire fighting), are a vital component of forest management. It is also one of the most dangerous places to work in the United States (U.S.). In 2022, there were 54 fatalities to logging workers. The work-related fatality rate for logging workers is 100.7 per 100,000 FTE which is more than 27 times higher than the rate for all occupations at 3.7 per 100,000 FTE. There have been many improvements over time that have contributed to improved safety for logging workers. Improved safety regulations and enforcement in many states, combined with improvements in chainsaw technology and personal protective equipment, along with advancements in synthetic ropes and worker location technology have all helped in keeping logging workers safer.

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