Blog Archives

Business & Politics

Company with packaging factory in Hamilton wants to build $600M mill in Dayton area

By Cornelius Frolik
Journal-News
November 27, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

A European manufacturer of recycled paper for corrugated board, which already has a packaging factory in Hamilton, is exploring building a new paper mill in Dayton that could create more than 200 jobs. However, the city of Dayton does not permit paper or pulp manufacturing operations, and the project likely would need zoning code changes to move forward. Trotwood’s city manager, mayor and leaders with the city’s school district and the Trotwood Chamber of Commerce have already voiced opposition to the proposed project. They say it could produce odors and pollution and hurt the quality of life for residents, businesses and the schools. Saica Group — a Spain-based company — has submitted a zoning code text amendment application that asks the city of Dayton to modify its zoning regulations.

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Investment in Deadwood Innovations, Developers of a Breakthrough Lumber Upgrading Solution for the Forestry Industry

By Chrysalix Venture Capital staff
Global Newsire
December 3, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Chrysalix Venture Capital, a leading early-stage fund that specializes in transformational industrial innovation, is excited to announce an investment in Deadwood Innovations, developers of a solution to upgrade low-grade lumber, waste & underutilized species into high strength, durable & sustainable products in premium engineered wood markets… The investment will support the development of the first commercial-scale facility in Fort St. James, British Columbia, in partnership with the Nak’azdli Development Corporation. CEO John-Paul Wenger stated, “Partnering with Deadwood Innovations and Chrysalix enables us to demonstrate how investment, innovation, and collaboration can deliver meaningful economic reconciliation, diversify the forestry sector, and promote responsible forest management practices.”

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Finance & Economics

Vanderhoof Chamber meeting explores mill closure and impact on local businesses

By Binny Paul
Vanderhoof Omineca Express
November 26, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Vanderhoof’s Chamber of Commerce organized a meeting earlier in November, to address the challenges and opportunities facing the community following Canfor’s announcement on September 4 that it would close its mills in Vanderhoof and Fort St. John. The closures are expected to result in the loss of 500 direct jobs and a reduction of 670 million board feet of annual production capacity by the end of the year in these communities. Shelley Funk, manager of the Vanderhoof Chamber of Commerce, said the meeting was attended by a large turnout of local business owner and highlighted several concerns, including the potential for people to leave the community in search of work, a depressed housing market, and the lack of major workforce opportunities. “We’re expecting a 15 per cent hit to our businesses,” Funk said.

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Atlas Engineered Products Reports Third Quarter 2024 Financial and Operating Results

Atlas Engineered Products
November 25, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Nanaimo, British Columbia — Atlas Engineered Products is pleased to announce its financial and operating results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024. All amounts are presented in Canadian dollars.

  • Revenue of $16.5M, representing an increase of 15% year-over-year
  • Wall Panel revenue increased by 120% year-over-year
  • Engineered Wood Products revenue increased by 48% year-over-year
  • Adjusted EBITDA of $3.05M, representing an increase of 3% year-over-year, despite costs of $0.2M associated with automation and expansion of the sales team
  • Sales team has expanded by 63% year-to-date and expect to see significant contributions to revenue growth and profitability in 2025

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Homebuilding leaders are optimistic about Trump: Here’s why

By John McManus
The Builders Daily
November 22, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

The U.S. homebuilding industry faces a mix of optimism and concern as it looks ahead to the policy environment under president-elect Donald Trump’s administration. While the rhetoric around mass deportations of undocumented immigrants and steep tariffs on foreign goods presents real risks, many industry leaders believe the potential economic tailwinds of lower corporate taxes, deregulation, and a more favorable lending environment will outweigh these challenges. For homebuilders navigating a volatile housing market, the prevailing sentiment is that the opportunities to play offense in the next four years will outweigh the risks of playing defense… With strategies in place to adapt to changing conditions, many believe the next four years will be a time to play offense, leveraging economic tailwinds to expand operations and meet the nation’s housing needs.

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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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Mayor sees modular housing as a big part of Prince George’s future

By Colin Slark
Prince George Citizen
November 27, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

The mayor of Prince George is one of five municipal leaders to join a new task force aimed at streamlining the development and approval of modular homes as part of the effort to boost BC’s affordable housing supply. Modular BC, a non-profit advocacy group, announced the task force in Kelowna on Friday, Nov. 22. Modular homes are built in a factory-like setting rather than constructed on-site. The separate components, or modules, are then transported to the home’s site and assembled. “Municipalities across British Columbia are increasingly being called upon to deliver critical housing supply at prices people can afford,” said Modular BC spokesperson Paul Binotto in a release… According to Binotto, modular homes can be built in a couple of months instead of a year.

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America’s Biggest Apartment Owner Takes a Leap Into Modular Homes

By Rebecca Picciotto
The Wall Street Journal
December 2, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

Modular housing development has long been a fringe part of the U.S. market, primarily limited to lower-budget or emergency housing. Now, the country’s largest apartment operator is trying to change that… Proponents say this type of building can be completed faster using fewer workers and with materials that can be purchased at a bulk discount, which can reduce overall costs. Even so, modular remains only a small portion of the overall construction market, reflecting a number of challenges from the cost of transporting pieces to difficulties with financing and regulatory approval. But its use is steadily growing. With the construction workforce shrinking and costs rising, the efficiency gains of modular are gaining traction with mainstream developers. [A subscription to the Wall Street Journal is required to read this article.]

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Refining hardwood by bioluminescence: How to make wood glow

By Dr. Francis Schwarze and Dr. Giogia Giovanni
The Swiss Federal Council
November 28, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

Since more and more deciduous trees are being planted in Swiss forests, whose wood is often burned directly, innovative ideas for a cascade use are in high demand in order to utilize Swiss hardwood more sustainably. Empa researchers are therefore equipping wood with new functionalities. Their latest coup: wood that can glow in the dark… A team led by fungal researcher Francis Schwarze from Empa’s Cellulose & Wood Materials lab in St. Gallen is currently pursuing another idea for a new type of composite material based on hardwood: luminous wood. In addition to applications in technical fields, the luminous wood could be processed into designer furniture or jewelry.

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Notre Dame Cathedral is about to open again — thanks in part to this New Yorker

By Gavin Newsham
New York Post
November 25, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

Jackson DuBois

Jackson DuBois, a 49-year-old from Cooperstown, NY, spent three months in France last year working to rebuild the 850-year-old Notre Dame Cathedral, which was severely damaged by a fire in April 2019. After an estimated $767 million in repairs by skilled craftspeople from around the world, it is set to reopen to the public Dec. 8. “It’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever done,” DuBois told The Post of being part of the restoration. DuBois specializes in timber framing — a traditional building technique that was popular before the 20th century and involves using heavy pieces of timber… They were tasked with rebuilding the base of the Notre Dame spire, and adding profiles on all of the gothic tracery around the windows, including the trefoils, quadrafoils and balustrades.

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Forestry

Canadian fire chiefs say more resources needed as wildfire threat grows

By Mike Hager
The Globe and Mail
December 2, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

The sharing of firefighters, water bombers and other resources reached its breaking point this summer, when the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, which co-ordinates the transfer of personnel and equipment coast to coast, reported that demand for resources was “extreme.” Fire seasons are getting increasingly destructive, but 2023 was particularly bad. Canada used firefighters and equipment from the United States, as well as Australia, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, France, Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica, Brazil, South Africa and South Korea. More than 7,300 people were mobilized, more than double the previous record. The CAFC’s annual survey of its members, found 90 per cent of fire departments across the country were involved with responding to a wildfire in some capacity, but only half had the equipment necessary to “meet the needs for wildfire season.” [A subscription to the Globe and Mail is required to read this article.]

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How Harvesting Small Trees Could Create a Future for BC Forestry

By Zoe Yunker
The Tyee
November 28, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The problem isn’t a lack of trees — B.C. has billions of them. The problem is that many of B.C.’s forests are too young and feeble to log. Over 80 per cent of the province’s replanted trees are less than 40 years old — and most require around 80 to 120 years to be considered mature. They’ve also grown back even-aged and dense, often creating dark, dead zones for animals and other plants… Cutting down some trees now creates an immediate wood supply for a struggling forest industry, and it can reduce competition among the trees that remain, helping them grow bigger, more valuable wood for later… Thinning often requires weighing trade-offs, and a region-specific knowledge of how forests might react.

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BC Parks Foundation Donors Protect Old Growth Adjacent to ȽÁU,WELNEW / John Dean Park

By BC Parks Foundation
BC Parks Foundation
November 26, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

A 6 hectare parcel of land containing old-growth forest directly adjacent to ȽÁU,WELNEW / John Dean Park has been permanently protected by BC Parks Foundation. This safeguards one of the last remaining stands of old-growth Douglas fir and Garry oak on the Saanich Peninsula… In 1895, John Dean, a passionate naturalist, former mayor of Rossland, and dedicated civic activist, purchased 100 acres on ȽÁU,WELNEW. Inspired by the W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples’ stewardship, he donated 80 acres to the Province in 1921 to be used as parkland, leaving a legacy for all to enjoy… The foundation will work with First Nations, BC Parks and Friends of John Dean Park Society to discuss future management of the newly protected area. In the meantime, it will remain closed.

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Study finds Indigenous people in B.C. cultivated hazelnuts 7,000 years ago, challenging modern assumptions

By Jon Azpiri
CBC News
November 26, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Darren Bolton

The hazelnut tree has long been a part of the landscape in parts of British Columbia. A 19th-century settler gave the village of Hazelton in northern B.C.’s Skeena region its name because of the abundance of hazelnuts in the area.  A new study indicates Indigenous peoples in B.C. had been cultivating the beaked hazelnut for thousands of years, which researchers say challenges the notion that pre-colonial Indigenous people in northwestern B.C. were only hunter-gatherers.  The findings indicate hazelnuts had been transplanted and cultivated for at least 7,000 years by Gitxsan, Tsimshian, and Nisga’a peoples. The research emphasizes Indigenous peoples’ contributions to the creation and maintenance of the region’s ecosystems and “cuts through assumptions of B.C. and the Northwest Coast being wild and completely untouched.”

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Helicopter logging in Stanley Park

By TheBreaker staff
TheBreaker
November 25, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The latest phase of the $18 million Stanley Park logging operation lifted-off Nov. 19. Two helicopters from Black Tusk Helicopter Inc. are using the Prospect Point Picnic Area as a temporary landing and refuelling site. Their job is to pick-up logs felled on the cliffs above the Stanley Park Seawall, between Third Beach and Prospect Point… The Park Board said the logging is necessary due to the Hemlock looper moth infestation and wildfire fears. Contractor B.A. Blackwell and Associates estimated the pest affected 160,000 trees in the park. In the Stanley Park Preservation Society’s unsuccessful court bid to halt the logging, a lawyer for city hall said another 30 hectares will be logged this fall and winter. Watch a YouTube video here

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COLUMN: For the sake of Ontario’s forests, glyphosate use must be stopped

By Monika Rekola
Orilla Matters
December 2, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

The scientific evidence behind glyphosate’s dangers is overwhelming—and infuriating. Glyphosate doesn’t stop at the plants it’s meant to kill. It contaminates everything in its path, infiltrating the food chain and leaving behind a legacy of harm… Even if Ontario banned glyphosate tomorrow, the chemical’s impact would linger for years. It persists in the soil, where it continues to harm microorganisms and plants. The forests we love may take decades to recover, and some ecosystems may never fully return to their original state. This isn’t just a fight for today; it’s a fight for the future. Quebec has already banned glyphosate in forestry. European countries like Austria and Germany are phasing it out. These regions recognize that short-term convenience isn’t worth long-term destruction. So why is Ontario still clinging to outdated, harmful practices?

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It’s a good year to grow Christmas Trees

By Taylor Pace
Guelph Today
December 2, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

They’re tall, they’re rich in colour, and they’re ready for you to put your presents under. Christmas tree farms around southern Ontario are reporting great harvests this year, according to Shirley Brennan, executive director of the Canadian Christmas Tree Association and Christmas Tree Farmers of Ontario. That’s largely due to a year without heat domes, extreme flooding, or early frosts, which have been known to ruin harvests in the past.  “This year for us has been a good growing season,” said Alison McCrindle, who runs Chickadee Christmas Trees in Puslinch with her husband Joe Wareham. “We had really good precipitation in the spring and the summer. ”It’s a nice change from recent years, which she said were “just terrible” with extreme heat and dry weather.

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Ontario Takes Aim at Wildfire Risk and Hazardous Wells with New Legislation

By James Murray
NetNewsLedger
November 25, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

The Ontario government is introducing new legislation aimed at enhancing community safety and protecting the environment by addressing the risks associated with wildland fires and hazardous oil and gas wells. The proposed Resource Management and Safety Act would also streamline the land surveying process to support housing development and pave the way for carbon storage technology… “Our forestry sector is vitally important to Ontario, producing critical building materials, and managing and renewing Ontario’s forests, which can play an important role in reducing the risk of wildland fire,” said Kevin Holland, Minister of Forestry and Forest Products. “These new protections allow the province to help job creators build Ontario and provide better service for communities.”

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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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Federal forest managers are too tangled in their own bureaucracy to mitigate wildfires

By Madi Clark
Idaho Capital Sun
November 25, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

Federal forest managers seem to be tangled in their own hose reel as they attempt to manage escalating fire concerns. Inundated with too much federal land, overwhelmed with bureaucratic red tape, and heavily reliant on distant oversight federal forest managers are failing to adequately manage their wildfires. Idaho Congressman Russ Fulcher alongside U.S. Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch recently wrote to the U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore saying: “The scale and severity of these incidents can be attributed to inadequate federal preventative measures and delayed response times.”.. under-utilized and poorly managed forests define federal lands in the West, accompanied by the excessive and binding red tape for project initiation… Leaving federal forests to rot or burn is an economic waste and an even bigger environmental tragedy.

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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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U.S. government sues group that fenced off Colorado national forest land with barbed wire

By Lauren Penington
The Denver Post
November 27, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

A group that attempted to claim ownership of 1,460 acres of national forest land in Colorado by fencing it off with barbed wire last month is being sued by the United States government. According to court records, the government is suing Patrick Pipkin, Brian Hammon and all “unknown individuals” associated with the Free Land Holder Committee who helped fence off public land. Hammon told The Denver Post that Free Land Holders are members of The United States of America Republic. They do not acknowledge the U.S. government, nor the authority of the president, Congress, governors, sheriffs and other elected officials… “Public lands belong to all of us, not to any individual person or group,” acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado Matt Kirsch said in the release.

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State releases new plan to protect Joshua trees

By Alex Wigglesworth
Los Angeles Times
November 28, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

The Joshua tree is cherished for its distinctive silhouette and singular role as a linchpin of the Mojave Desert ecosystem. Yet the iconic succulent is losing suitable habitat at a brisk clip due to climate change, worsening wildfires and development, scientists and environmental advocates say. A new plan by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to ensure the Joshua tree’s survival calls for limiting development in certain areas, including those where the plant may be able to thrive in a future anticipated to be warmer and drier, even as other portions of its range become uninhabitable. The draft plan also calls on government agencies to develop strategies to mitigate and fight wildfires that threaten Joshua trees.

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Plan to kill thousands of barred owls raises question about removing one species to save another

By Elliot Almond
The Cascadia Daily News
November 23, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Oregon wildlife biologist Eric Forsman has been at the forefront of protecting the northern spotted owl for a half-century. His groundbreaking research on how logging Pacific Northwest forests impacted the raptor turned spotted owls into champions of the environmental movement. Despite his legacy, Forsman, 77, is among those questioning a plan by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to save the imperiled birds by sanctioning the potential killing of 450,000 barred owls in Washington, Oregon and California. Like in much of Western Washington, barred owls have become a predominant predator on the Whatcom County landscape, often seen perched atop trees in  Bellingham parks, neighborhoods or soaring over farm fields. Longtime local birders say they’ve never seen a spotted owl.

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A family Christmas tree farm lost thousands of trees in Helene. This one survived and went to the White House

By Kathryn Watson
CBS News
November 25, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Hurricane Helene wrought devastation on the Cartner’s Christmas Tree Farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, where the Cartner family has been growing trees for more than six decades.  The storm, which killed more than 100 people when it reached western North Carolina in late September, destroyed thousands of trees — but not all of them. First lady Jill Biden on Monday unveiled one of the surviving trees, a 20-foot Fraser fir, as this year’s White House Christmas tree. “The Cartner family lost thousands of trees in the storm, but this one remained standing,” the first lady said Monday, accompanied by grandson Beau Biden, Jr. “And they named it Treemendous for the extraordinary hope that it represents.” Read the White House Press Release here

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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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Sustainability is at the root of growth in Scotland’s forestry sector

By David Robinson, Investment and Business Development Director of Scottish Woodlands
The Herald Scotland
November 28, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Forestry in Scotland is a story of balance – between the economic benefits of commercial timber production and the critical need to protect biodiversity and the natural environment.  With forests covering nearly 19% of Scotland’s land area and plans to expand this further, it’s clear forestry is central to Scotland’s future.  However, we must find that balance –by adopting strategies that not only ensure future commercial timber production but also safeguard Scotland’s precious natural habitats and biodiversity. Scotland’s forestry sector is crucial to the rural economy, contributing over £1.1 billion annually and supporting more than 34,000 jobs. At the heart of this success is commercial timber production, which supplies essential materials for industries like construction, agriculture (predominantly fencing), logistics (pallets) and packaging.

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Government launches Tree Planting Taskforce to oversee planting of millions of trees across four nations

By Department of Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
GOV.UK
November 28, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: International

A new Tree Planting Taskforce has been launched today to oversee the planting of millions of trees across the United Kingdom. The Taskforce, chaired by the forestry ministers from the four nations, brought together representatives from key arm’s-length bodies and delivery partners from across the UK. Top of the agenda at the meeting was how to drive forward the UK’s tree planting in order to meet our collective net zero targets, as part of the Government’s critical mission to make the UK a clean and green energy superpower.   The UK has less tree cover than almost anywhere in Europe and more work is needed to close this gap…he announcement today comes after a commitment in the Budget to provide up to £400 million in England across the next two years (2024/5 and 2025/6) for tree planting and peatland restoration.

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Agribusiness-friendly states in Brazil try to undo forest protections

By Fabiano Maisonnave
The Toronto Star
November 27, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Several states in Brazil are trying to rid themselves of rainforest protections, bowing to pressure from cattle ranchers and soybean growers to cut down trees and expand agriculture. Their efforts run counter to those of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who returned to power last year and has made significant strides in curbing Amazon deforestation. They also threaten Brazil’s commitment to halt deforestation by 2030. Loss of forest is the country’s largest source of carbon emissions… Brazil is the world’s fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, with almost 3% of global emissions, according to Climate Watch. Almost half of Brazil’s carbon emissions come from deforestation. The Amazon is a vital climate regulator, contains the most biodiverse forest in the world plus one-fifth of the world´s freshwater.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

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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The Case for a New International Climate Policy: Where the U.S. Should Go Next on Climate

By Sagatom Saha and Lilly Lee
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
November 27, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

America’s current approach to international climate policy is worth interrogating in light of President-elect Donald Trump’s victory. President Joe Biden put unprecedented resources behind this multilateral diplomacy approach, beginning with the appointment of former secretary of state John Kerry as the inaugural special presidential envoy for climate… Trump likely will again withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement and possibly from the UN climate change framework governing it. Such a move would prevent the U.S. government from formally participating in the COP process, possibly making it difficult for future administrations to rejoin… The current U.S. approach to international climate action is not well optimized to meet a transformed world defined by industrial policy, intensified great power competition, and shifting views on globalization and supply chains.

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Protesters demand government end ‘green’ subsidies for Britain’s largest carbon emitter

By Elizabeth Short
Morning Star Online
December 2, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Protesters descended on Westminster today to demand that the government stop using taxpayers’ money to bankroll the destruction of forests. More than 100 environmental activists from groups including Axe Drax, Fossil Free London and Greenpeace gathered outside the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, calling for an end to the vast subsidies granted to the Drax biomass power plant. The North Yorkshire plant is Britain’s largest carbon emitter, yet receives almost £1.5 million a day for burning biomass wood chips, a fuel source that Drax claims is “carbon neutral.”… A report by climate think tank Ember found that, in 2023, Drax produced more emissions than four of some of the most polluting power plants in Britain combined.

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A landmark climate change case will open at the top U.N. court

By The Associated Press
The Associated Press in NPR
December 2, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

The top United Nations court will take up the largest case in its history, when it opens two weeks of hearings into what countries worldwide are legally required to do to combat climate change and help vulnerable nations fight its devastating impact. After years of lobbying by island nations who fear they could simply disappear under rising sea waters, the U.N. General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice last year for an opinion on “the obligations of States in respect of climate change.”… In the decade up to 2023, sea levels have risen by a global average of around 4.3 centimeters (1.7 inches), with parts of the Pacific rising higher still. The world has also warmed 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times because of the burning of fossil fuels.

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China is turning its largest desert into a forest: Here’s how

By India Today Environment Desk staff
India Today
November 28, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

China has achieved a significant milestone in its battle against desertification by completing a 3,046 km sand-blocking green belt around the Taklimakan Desert. This achievement, finalised on Thursday morning, is part of the world’s largest afforestation initiative aimed at combating desertification across northwest, north, and northeast China. The green belt is a crucial component of the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program (TSFP), which was launched in 1978 and is scheduled for completion in 2050. The program aims to create a protective barrier of trees to halt the encroachment of deserts and improve ecological conditions. Over the decades, it has expanded forest coverage in affected regions, enhancing biodiversity and stabilising soil. This ambitious project reflects China’s plan to address environmental challenges and promoting sustainable development.

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Western Kenya’s most important water-capturing forest is disappearing, satellites show

By Morgan Erickson-Davis
Mongabay
November 28, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Encompassing some 2,700 square kilometers, Mau Forest is considered the most important water catchment in western Kenya, providing water to millions of people. But recent satellite data reveal that Mau is continuing to lose its water-giving forest cover. Most of Mau Forest is encompassed by a complex of around a dozen protected areas. However, despite formal protections, Mau lost around 25% of its tree cover due to human pressure between 1984 and 2020, according to forest monitoring groups. Satellite data from Global Forest Watch show forest loss dropped dramatically in 2021 and 2022 before shooting back up in 2023. Preliminary GFW data and imagery indicate the Mau Forest has been experiencing another major bout of deforestation in 2024.

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Fossil fuel power generation hits record lows as UK says farewell to old king coal

By Kieran Wilson
Drax Press Release
November 28, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

The record low was followed by the symbolic end to coal-fired power generation in Britain with the closure of Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station, making the UK the first major economy to phase out coal power completely. Despite the UK leading the way in decarbonisation among the G7, the report shows that significant challenges remain in decarbonising the power sector, including the needs to phase out natural gas, invest in grid infrastructure, and address rising balancing costs. The findings have been released in the latest instalment of the quarterly Drax Electric Insights report. The publication is an independent report by academics from Imperial College London commissioned by Drax through Imperial Consultants.

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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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Health & Safety

Lawsuit claims Southern Oregon forestry companies failing foreign workers

By Justin Higginbottom
OPB News
December 2, 2024
Category: Health & Safety
Region: United States, US West

A lawsuit filed earlier this month by former forestry worker Joaquin Barraza-Cortes seeks over $42 million in damages from Ponderosa Reforestation, Ponderosa Timberland and Pine West Reforestation. The complaint accuses those Rogue Valley forestry companies, which hire foreign workers through the H-2B visa program, of a litany of safety violations including not providing proper training and protective equipment. In 2022, Barraza-Cortes was hired as a foreign seasonal worker for tree thinning work within the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. While using a chainsaw, without formal training according to the lawsuit, he was severely injured by a falling tree limb, resulting in a spinal cord injury. The complaint claims that Barraza-Cortes has since been unable to work or care for himself. Barraza-Cortes’ former employer, Ponderosa Timberland, declined to comment on the lawsuit.

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