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Today’s Takeaway

Bank of Canada ignores trade uncertainty, ups interest rates in response to growth

July 12, 2018
Category: Today's Takeaway

Noting the strength of Canada’s economy, the Bank of Canada raised the benchmark interest rate to its highest level in nine years, despite Trump’s trade hit being larger than forecast and Trump’s plan to impose more tariffs on China. In other headlines:

  • Ontario has imposed penalties in the fraud case involving Sino-Forest Corp.
  • CN Rail plans to spend in Ontario to meet the demand to move wood products
  • Window, door, homebuilder and lumber dealers urge more talks in softwood dispute
  • The perfect storm of tariff and labor woes may hit Arizona’s booming housing market

In Forestry and Climate news: US incentives encourage home building in harm’s way; Vermont’s red spruce is rebounding from acid rain; Canada’s changing climate is getting hard to ignore; and California meets its greenhouse gas reduction targets ahead of schedule.

Finally, the western toadlet migration is underway in BC. The distance—a two-minute walk for humans—is fraught with dangers.

–Kelly McCloskey, tree Frog Editor

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Special Feature

Evans Lake Forest Education Society seeks architect to create new camp dining hall

Evans Lake Forest Education Society
July 12, 2018
Category: Special Feature
Region: Canada, Canada West
The Evans Lake Forest Education Society requires the services from qualified professional firm to provide full architectural, cost estimating and professional engineering services for the replacement of the Dining Hall located at Evans Lake Forest Education Centre, Squamish, BC. The project includes schematic design and feasibility, project costing, and preparation of construction drawings. As well, the selected Respondent will be required to provide tendering support and construction administration services in support of this project.  Evans Lake has been operating as a camp and outdoor education facility since 1960. The Centre is located 15 kilometres North of Squamish, BC on a picturesque mountain lake. Surrounded by forest, the Centre offers a feeling of wilderness seclusion while featuring all your basic amenities, accommodations and full catering. We are a not for profit charity, with the mandate to provide outdoor & forest education opportunities for children and youth.

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Business & Politics

Bank of Canada boosts benchmark rate to nearly nine-year high of 1.5%, says trade hit likely to be bigger than earlier forecast

By Barrie McKenna
The Globe and Mail
July 11, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada

The Bank of Canada is continuing to ratchet up interest rates in spite of the worsening tariff showdown between the United States and its main trading partners. The central bank increased its benchmark interest rate to 1.5 per cent from 1.25 per cent on Wednesday – a widely expected fourth hike in the past 12 months. …Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz made a strong case for pushing rates even higher in the months ahead. Even with the trade uncertainty, he insisted the economy is “in a good place,” with companies running at full tilt and inflation close to the bank’s two per cent target. …“Monetary policy by itself could not undo the long-term damage to jobs and income that could result from rising protectionism,” he added. …So far, the United States has imposed tariffs on newsprint, softwood lumber, steel and aluminum – representing 4.1 per cent of Canadian exports.›

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Bank of Canada raises rates as Poloz’s tale of recovery from Great Recession finally starts coming true

By Kevin Carmichael
The National Post
July 11, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada

Stephen Poloz

Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz’s tale about how the economy would recover from the Great Recession is finally coming true. The central bank ignored Donald Trump’s trade vandalism and raised its benchmark interest rate a quarter point to 1.5 per cent on July 11. It did so mostly because of an unexpected jump in business investment and exports this year. …Canada is also on Trump’s hit list. The central bank now reckons the combination of U.S. duties on Canadian lumber, newsprint, aluminum, and steel — and the chilling effect of trade uncertainty on investment — will subtract two thirds of a per cent from gross domestic product by 2020, an increase from its previous estimate in April. That’s the equivalent of about $12 billion, so it’s not nothing. But the bigger story… is that most companies are responding to their order books rather than the headlines in the business pages.

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First Digital Version of Madison’s Lumber Reporter Officially Launches on Forest2Market’s SilvaStat360

By Forest2Market
Cision Newswire
July 11, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

VANCOUVER, British Columbia and CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Madison’s Lumber Reporter and Forest2Market have officially launched the redesigned, digital version of Madison’s Weekly Lumber Reporter. Madison’sNorth American lumber price reporting service is now exclusively available via SilvaStat360, Forest2Market’s online business intelligence platform. The Madison’s / Forest2Market partnership combines Madison’s lumber price data and market insights with Forest2Market’s SilvaStat360 cloud-based interactive delivery platform. Madison’s Lumber Reporter subscribers now have fingertip access to historic and current lumber price data that is updated weekly and available on a 24/7/365 basis. Kéta Kosman, Publisher of the Reporter, said, “As the North American lumber industry continues to evolve amid the uncertainty associated with global trade policy, operators need access to the most reliable datasets and analytics available to the market.

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Blue Wolf Capital Closes Sale of Suwannee Lumber Company and Caddo River Forest Products to Conifex Timber Inc.

By Blue Wolf Capital Partners
Business Wire
July 10, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

NEW YORK — Today, Blue Wolf Capital Partners, a New York-based private equity firm, announced the completion of the sale of Suwannee Lumber Company and Caddo River Forest Products to Conifex Timber Inc., a publicly-traded lumber and sustainable forestry company operating in British Columbia, Canada. A portion of Blue Wolf’s proceeds will be in the form of Conifex stock, and Blue Wolf will receive representation on Conifex’s board. The closing of the transaction represents a significant milestone for Suwannee and Caddo, each of which Blue Wolf acquired and invested in after the companies struggled in the wake of the financial crisis. Now that the two businesses are part of Conifex, a larger and more diversified forest products company, they are even better positioned for growth and long term success. …“We are pleased to welcome Suwannee and Caddo into the Conifex family,” said Ken Shields, President and CEO at Conifex. 

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Former forests minister Rich Coleman to testify in court battle

By Haley Woodin
Business in Vancouver
July 10, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Rich Coleman

A BC Supreme Court judge has ordered that former forests and range minister Rich Coleman be examined under oath about his knowledge of events at the centre of a multimillion-dollar, multi-year legal battle between TimberWest Forest Corp. and former contractor Ted LeRoy Trucking. Plaintiffs Ted and Rebecca LeRoy are suing TimberWest and several of its former executives over what they claim was a conspiracy to bankrupt TLT and terminate their logging contracts so that TimberWest could subdivide that work among smaller operators and ultimately reduce its timber-harvesting costs. …In a separate but related lawsuit between TimberWest and Munns Lumber Ltd., a judge ruled that TimberWest had breached its contractual obligation to negotiate in good faith when it terminated two five-year contracts with Munns after the companies failed to agree on logging rates. 

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High lumber prices mask long-term concerns for BC forest sector

By Nelson Bennett
Business in Vancouver
July 11, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

It’s estimated that about 140 communities in B.C. depend on forestry. …It is a sector that is generally doing well right now, thanks to record high lumber prices in the U.S. But it’s an industry is that is becoming increasingly anxious about its longer-term prospects. U.S. duties on imported softwood lumber represent just one of a host of challenges facing the Canadian forestry industry, and not necessarily the one that concerns the industry most. …The oil and gas sector in Canada has been ringing alarm bells that regulatory uncertainty and inertia in Canada has triggered flight of capital. The forestry industry is now echoing those concerns. …Resource industries of all stripes in Canada are facing three major challenges, Derek Nighbor, CEO of FPAC said: uncertainties in international trade, eroding tax competiveness with the U.S. and regulatory delays and uncertainties at the federal and provincial levels. 

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CN Rail spending a bundle in Ontario

Northern Ontario Business
July 11, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

Canadian National Railway announced July 11 it’s spending $315 million on its 2,500-mile rail network in Ontario. Northwestern Ontario will see some of that investment with Sioux Lookout being the location for a new train passing siding on CN’s transcontinental corridor between Winnipeg and Toronto. Capital is earmarked for intermodal rail yard expansions to move containers into and out of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, specifically at CN’s Brampton Intermodal Terminal. …CN is purchasing 350 new box cars and 350 new lumber cars from National Steel Car in Hamilton to meet the demand to move wood products and has 1,000 high-cube grain hopper cars on order over the next two years to replace its aging equipment.

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Life and times of a small-town paper

By John Demont
The Chronicle Herald
July 10, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

Liverpool, Nova Scotia — An entrepreneur I knew used to say that there’s nothing sadder than a business closing. But he had never been inside a shuttered newspaper, where if the mournful ghosts of the past linger anywhere, they linger there. On Monday, it was just Stephen Bowers and I wandering around in the bowels of 171 Main St. in Liverpool, back where the printing presses once rumbled, where reporters two-fingered stories about fires, car accidents and county fairs, where the linotype operators worked their hot lead alchemy in the days when the Queens County Advance was laid out in such a manner. Small community newspapers are closing all over the place in these print media-challenged days. Twelve days ago the Advance, which printed its first edition in 1878, printed its last.

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Industry Groups Urge More Talks in Softwood Lumber Dispute

The Door & Window Market Magazine
July 11, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States

The recent focus of international trade disputes has been on aluminum and steel tariffs, which are affecting the door and window industry. However, another long-simmering trade controversy, the softwood lumber dispute between the U.S. and Canada, is taking a toll on residential construction as the housing market continues to shake off the effects of the Great Recession. …Both the Window and Door Manufacturers Association and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) have urged the U.S. and Canada to negotiate an end to the softwood lumber dispute, which has boosted the cost of housing, as well as the price of moulding and millwork products. …NLBMDA is exploring next steps, including building support for a Senate letter asking the administration to return to the negotiating table with Canada. 

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US to impose tariffs on $200bn of Chinese imports

By Sam Fleming, Joe Rennison and Lucy Hornby
The Financial Times
July 11, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, International

Donald Trump

Donald Trump kicked off the process of imposing tariffs on a further $200bn of imports from China, as the trade war between the two economic powers rapidly escalated, posing a challenge to US corporations. The president has told the US trade representative Robert Lighthizer to begin preparations for levies of 10 per cent, the administration said, as it set out a list of products that could be targeted. The list takes aim at multinationals that source materials and components from China including automotive parts, food ingredients and construction. …After the announcement, China-focused stocks led a broad sell-off in Asia-Pacific equities and the renminbi slid. …New categories targeted include… Construction materials including stone, flooring, tiling, lumber, paint and carpeting.

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Is A Perfect Storm Headed For Arizona’s Booming Real Estate Industry?

By Paige Phelps
KJZZ Phoenix, Arizona
July 11, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US West

Phoenix-area home buyers know all too well that a hot housing market isn’t guaranteed to be a permanent fixture. While job numbers and housing starts are currently skyrocketing, there are signs a perfect storm is brewing. …The Trump administration’s tariffs have put Canadian lumber, aluminum and steel in the line of fire — all materials vital to the construction industry. …Add to that sweeping enforcement of immigration policy and a lack of skilled workers — it’s taken its toll. Belfiore said lack of able bodies on the job site has been a top concern for years — and that’s not just for new homes, but remodeling older ones, too. …So in terms of builders, are they worried about manpower? Or are they worried about tariffs? “I think they’re worried about both” Tamboer said. 

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Norbord and HBI Open First Trades Training Program in Houston and Graduate First Norbord-Funded Class in Tampa

By Norbord Inc.
Cision Newswire
July 11, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

TORONTO – Norbord Inc. and HBI joined Mayor Sylvester Turner to officially open the first construction trades training program in Houston, Texas. In a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the HBI Acres Homes Program, Mayor Turner celebrated the beginning of a 12-week training program at no cost to students. The first 14 students have begun preparing for careers in the construction trades to address the labor shortage in the industry and rebuilding in Houston post-Hurricane Harvey. In response to both issues, Norbord made a donation last year to support programs in both Houston, Texas and Tampa, Florida. The first Norbord-funded class in Tampa graduated its first 13 students late last month. “Our partnership with HBI, which was based on our award-winning Thank-a-Framer campaign, has been a tremendous success” said Norbord’s Vice President, North American Marketing and Product Management, Ross Commerford.

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State Wants To Grow Hardwoods Industry

By Rebecca Thiele
WFYI Indianapolis
July 10, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

Indiana exports a lot of wood to other countries, but it wants to make more wood products — like cabinets and doors. The state is working on a strategy to grow the hardwoods industry. Connie Neininger is the director of economic development for the Indiana State Department of Agriculture. She says Indiana is number one in wood office furniture production, but companies like that are facing a lot of competition from industries overseas. Meanwhile, Neininger says foreign demand for raw lumber is increasing. …Director of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources’ forestry division, John Seifert, says the recession took it’s toll on the hardwoods industry and the state hopes to bring some of those businesses back. Seifert says the strategy is unlikely to lead to more logging in the state. 

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Tariffs on Canadian lumber creating both positive and negative impacts in Mississippi

By Courtney Ann Jackson
Mississippi News Now
July 10, 2018
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

JACKSON, MS — Tariffs are a hot topic right now. But the tariff on Canadian lumber being sold into the U.S. is slightly different than some of the others you’ve been hearing about. Mississippi’s sawmills are busier than they were this time last year. “They were challenged and struggling,” explained David Livingston, executive director of the Mississippi Loggers Association. “…And the prices were so suppressed competing against the Canadian lumber coming in that there was no way for it to grow and become as strong as it once was.” The Mississippi Loggers Association said the tariffs on Canadian lumber have made prices more competitive and increased the demand. More people are buying American lumber, and the price hit an all time high in June. “If the tariffs keep us in a position to keep Canada on an even playing field with us, then that’s where we need to stay,” added Livingston.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Two Sides releases new “Print and Paper Myths and Facts” booklet for North America

Two Sides
July 12, 2018
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, United States

One of Two Sides’ key resources, the Print and Paper Myths and Facts booklet, has been updated with recent facts and references from the U.S. and Canada. Version 4 of the booklet includes six Myths and Facts related to the key environmental and social features of print and paper such as sustainable forest management, carbon footprint, electronic communications, recycling and more. Two Sides member companies can personalize and co-brand the booklet to describe their organization and approach to sustainability and the environment.

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Growing Innovation

By Darryl Hood
Canadian Architect
July 10, 2018
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada

The 2015 change in the Ontario Building Code that permits wood structures up to six storeys and the resulting surge in the construction of these buildings, seems to indicate that there is considerable support for larger wood structures in Ontario, but for practitioners wanting to pursue a wood structure taller than six storeys, there has been very limited practical support. Mass timber products, for example, are not specifically defined as a distinct material in the current Ontario Building Code. …Fortunately, things have now changed. …Since the 2006 version of the Ontario Building Code came into effect, architects in Ontario have been freed from the compliance constraints of a single acceptable solution (prescriptive path). …The recently released Ontario’s Tall Wood Building Reference… is making it easier for project teams to consider a mass timber structure for tall buildings.

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Study Finds Flexible Structural Sheathing Under-designed, Unsafe and Unreliable

APA – The Engineered Wood Association
July 10, 2018
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States

A new report finds that manufacturers of flexible structural sheathing overstate their lateral load resistance values by as much as 42 percent. In a study by three independent laboratories—Clemson University, University of Oklahoma and APA – The Engineered Wood Association—five flexible structural sheathing materials available in the marketplace were tested for their wind and seismic lateral load (shear wall) performance. APA published the results in a new Product Advisory: Performance of Flexible Structural Sheathing. …“Design values published by each product manufacturer are in place to provide safety and reliability to building designs,” said Dr. BJ Yeh, P.E., APA Director of Technical Services. “Therefore, the designers, building officials and consumers are expecting product performance to comply with the published design values.”

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Montana Made: Big Timberworks

By Chet Layman
KRTV Montana
July 10, 2018
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

Gallatin Gateway, Montana — From log home builder to an employee-owned business, Big Timberworks has found a way to succeed, even after its founder passed away. In 1983, Merle Adams and his partner decided they no longer wanted to build log buildings – they wanted something better. They chose timber frame building. “It’s been around for thousands of years,” said Hudson Hart, Co-CEO Big Timberworks Inc. “Timber frames can stand for thousands of years, and when you travel parts of the world you see that (in the) big roof systems of castles and what not.” …“Big Timberworks was actually the first company in this area that started bringing in old wood,” said Hart. “The old wood I’m talking about is what we refer to as commercial salvage Douglas fir.

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Chicago Approves First Use of CLT, Don’t Expect High-Rises Anytime Soon

By Jeff Yoders
ENR Midwest
July 10, 2018
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 gave local building officials the jitters about the use of structural wood in commercial buildings. But a recent installation of cross-laminated timber decking in a one-story McDonald’s may mark a new era, at least for low-rise mass timber. Although the 19,000-sq-ft McDonald’s marks the first use of CLT in a Chicago building, officials say they are not about to allow tall mass timber buildings any time soon. Though there has been some fire testing on structural mass timber, “we’re not there yet” in terms of allowing tall mass timber buildings, says John Javorka, chief fire prevention engineer with the Chicago Fire Dept. and Bureau of Fire Prevention. …CLT manufactured with existing and improved adhesives was tested and demonstrated a satisfactory, non-fire-regrowth performance…. Chicago still wants more testing

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War on plastic waste boosts Composite Prime sales

Builders Merchants Journal
July 12, 2018
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

Composite Prime says demand for its decking and fencing ranges made from the latest composite technology has soared as consumers shun plastic. The company’s  HD Deck Dual and HD Deck XS products combine Forest Stewardship Council FSC 100% certified hardwood timber from well managed, sustainable sources and recycled plastics, seen as a crucial consideration in the current global campaign to reduce plastic waste. …We recycle the equivalent of 280 plastic milk bottles, or 3,000 plastic bottle caps per square metre of decking. …Consumers are increasingly switching to composite materials instead of plastic and as global challenges around plastic waste and the ability to plant forests to meet future timber demands increase, composite provides a sustainable and genuine alternative to timber.

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Forestry

Conservationists struggle to save western toadlets making perilous migration in Chilliwack

By Larry Pynn
The Vancouver Sun
July 11, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

It is one of the greatest, if tiniest, terrestrial migrations in North America, an estimated 100,000 western toadlets making their annual, overland trek from the pond of their birth in Chilliwack, across a farm pasture, and into a bordering forest. The distance is only a two-minute walk for humans. But for the brown toadlets — about the size of your thumbnail — the journey is fraught with dangers. There is the unknown number of invasive bullfrogs lurking in the pond, the field grasses rustling with predatory garter snakes, and, worst of all, the fast-moving motor vehicles on two lanes of asphalt in their path. …To improve the odds, in 2015, conservationists created a tunnel under Elk View Road in the Ryder Lake area, and put up 350 metres of black plastic fencing. …In addition to motor vehicles, threats include logging, pollution, fungal disease, and climate change.

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B.C.’s environmental assessment process seeks public feedback

BC Local News
July 11, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

George Heyman

From now until July 30, British Columbians will have the unique opportunity to shape the future of how major environmental projects are assessed in B.C., according to a news release issued by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. British Columbians are encourage to provide feedback on recommended changes to B.C.’s environmental assessment (EA) process, which is focused on enhancing public confidence and meaningful participation and discourse and advancing reconciliation with First Nations, while protecting the environment while providing clear pathways to sustainable projects. These key outcomes, per information provided in the news release, are the direct result of three months of engagement and discussion with the newly formed Environmental Assessment Advisory Committee. …“Revitalizing the EA process will help advance reconciliation with First Nations and strengthen our ability to meet our climate targets,” said B.C. Green Party spokesperson Sonia Furstenau.

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Powell River Logger Sports profile: Verjall Ham

By Andy Rice
The Powell River Peak
July 9, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Verjall Ham

Powell River Logger Sports begins on Friday, July 13, at Loggers Memorial Bowl. Competitions at the Willingdon Beach venue continue through Sunday, July 15. …In the case of Verjall Ham, a passion for Logger Sports was born out of necessity. Growing up on a rural island meant that firewood was needed for heat during the winter, and it was Ham’s job to venture into the woods to collect it. Although he now keeps busy by day as an industrial instrument mechanic at Catalyst Paper Corporation, an auxiliary firefighter with Powell River Fire Rescue and a firefighter with Malaspina Fire Department, he still looks forward to swinging an axe or climbing a tree any chance he gets. 

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First Fundamentals of Forestry Students Graduate

By Hanna Petersen
North Island Gazette
July 10, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The first class to go through the Fundamentals of Forestry – Harvesting Practices program in Woss has officially graduated. The 12 students, dressed in their best work gear, attended the special graduation ceremony on July 6 in the Woss Community Centre. The ceremony not only acknowledged the success of the students but also the success of the first year of the program… The Fundamentals of Forestry Program, which ran for 16 weeks, is based on competencies identifies by the BC Forestry Safety Council and developed with VIU to teach both employability skills and safe work practices. …VIU has also received funding from the Ministry of Advanced Skills Education and Training to work with a number of institutions to adapt the program for different areas around the province.

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Comment: Our rainforests need action urgently

By Jens Wieting, Sierra Club B.C.
Victoria Times Colonist
July 11, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Jens Wieting

Remember the story of the boiling frog? A frog placed in cold water and brought to a boil slowly will not perceive the danger until it’s too late. …The liquidation of B.C.’s spectacular, endangered old-growth rainforests and their mosaic of species follows the same pattern, at least to those who are willing to see it. …Unfortunately, a year into taking power, Forest Minister Doug Donaldson appears in denial about how little old-growth is left across most parts of the province. He believes there is still time to wait and deal with this crisis at a later date. This is wrong. Most of the remaining areas are now so small and fragmented that they can no longer support the web of life as we know it. …Two hundred twenty-three experts have studied what is happening in B.C. and the science is clear. Business as usual will result in ecological, cultural and economic disaster.

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Species at risk: A troubling precedent for the Canadian economy

By the Montreal Economic Institute
Cision Newswire
July 10, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

MONTREAL – The newspaper headlines this morning take note of a Federal Court ruling that gives the federal government complete latitude to block development projects in order to protect at-risk species. Such a decision establishes a troubling precedent. We tend to forget, but the Species at Risk Act requires that the socioeconomic effect on communities must also be considered in the implementation of habitat protection measures. “This decision could have negative consequences for the Canadian economy, including for regions that depend on the forest,” says Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy Analyst at the MEI. “The same logic could for example lead to a moratorium on forestry activity in boreal caribou habitat, despite the extravagant economic cost.” … “This basically amounts to saying that for each caribou saved, we would sacrifice 72 jobs and $9 million in economic development, with no guaranteed results.”

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Will Incoming Environmental Protection Agency Boss Andrew Wheeler Destroy The Restoration Economy?

By Steve Zwick
Forest Trends
July 11, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

US Environmental Protection Agency boss Scott Pruitt may be gone, but his replacement, Andrew Wheeler is just as friendly to the coal sector as Pruitt was – and just as unfriendly to the $25 billion “restoration economy” that directly employs 126,000 people and supports 95,000 other jobs. …The restoration economy evolved slowly over the past 40 years as states …realized it was often more efficient to restore natural systems that protect coasts and manage water than it was to build substitutes from concrete and steel. The city of New York, for example, has long saved money on water filtration costs by paying farmers in the Catskills to restore natural grasses that absorb farm runoff, while the city of Denver is funneling water utility fees into forests that store and filter water. Here are 10 things you need to know to understand the restoration economy:

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A true wildfire ‘fix’: End bad incentives that nudge people into harm’s way

By Tate Watkins, the Property and Environment Research Center
The Hill
July 11, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

…Since January, 3.2 million acres have burned nationwide, well above the 10-year average of 2.6 million acres by this time of year. And as more acres have burned, the costs of fighting fires have gone up as well. …Congress’ answer to the fire challenge came in the spring, when it passed what was widely praised as a “wildfire fix” in its omnibus spending bill. Effective in 2020, the legislative change will end the practice of “fire borrowing,” or the Forest Service’s penchant to raid its non-fire accounts to pay for firefighting.  While changes like that one could free up funds for the agency to use on much-needed forest management, Americans’ wildfire problem has as much to do with behavior as funding. …The Swiss Re report noted that since 1990, 60 percent of new homes have been built in the fire-prone “wildland-urban interface,” the areas where housing is close to forests and other vegetation.

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Herbicide may have killed other trees in central Oregon

The Associated Press in the Idaho Statesman
July 10, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

BEND, ORE. A weed-killer that killed thousands of ponderosa pines near Sisters has been linked to the deaths of other trees outside the Sunriver resort community and possibly across Oregon. An investigation spurred by the incident in Sisters found that the active ingredient in the product known as Perspective may have killed dozens of ponderosa pines outside Sunriver and other trees in central Oregon, said Dale Mitchell, an Oregon Department of Agriculture program manager. …The active ingredient in Perspective, aminocyclopyrachlor, has been linked to deaths of thousands of spruce and pines trees outside of Oregon, according to The New York Times. The Oregon Department of Agriculture has notified the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of the situation. …The county has discontinued its use of Perspective, Doty said.

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New forestry scheme allows trainees to earn while they learn

By Annette Lambly
Stuff.co.nz
July 12, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: International

A new forestry training scheme which will enable youth to earn while they learn has been launched in Northland.  The scheme could be the answer to the shortage of forestry workers and youth unemployment in Northland. Associate Minister of Forestry Meka Whaitiri formally launched Tupu Ake, which could be replicated in other parts of Northland last Friday. This innovative project sees industry, training providers and iwi coming together to provide a new pathway into trades training. Tupu Ake aims to improve training and increase the number of youth in the forestry industry where currently there is a shortage of skilled workers. …Led by Forest Protection Services  the programme offers 15-24 year-olds keen on working in the forestry industry the chance to gain tertiary qualifications, life skills, and, at the end of the 12 month programme full time employment. 

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Recognising outstanding contributions to NZ forestry

By The New Zealand Institute of Forestry
Scoop Independent News
July 12, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: International

The NZ Institute of Forestry recognised the contribution of two of its outstanding leaders at its Annual Awards Dinner in Nelson last night. Peter Clark of Rotorua received the NZIF Forester of the Year award. The award recognises an Institute member who has made an outstanding contribution to either the forestry profession, or the forestry sector over the last 12 months. The award recognises leadership, excellence and personal integrity, particularly where this demonstrates the character and strength of the forestry profession, and it is one of the highest accolades the Institute can bestow. …Russell Dale (also of Rotorua) was awarded the Kirk Horn and medal. The Kirk Horn Flask is the most historically valuable award in all New Zealand science. The NZ Institute of Forestry awards the Kirk Horn every second year, to recognise outstanding contributions in the field of forestry in New Zealand.

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Sweden’s Electric Robo-Truck Is Made for Life in the Forest

By Jack Stewart
WIRED
July 12, 2018
Category: Forestry
Region: International

IF A TREE falls in a forest and there’s nobody around, does the truck that comes in to pick it up make a noise? Not much of one, if it’s the latest offering from Swedish startup Einride, an all-electric autonomous semi looking to carve out a niche in an increasingly crowded (but not yet entirely real) market. The new truck, unveiled today at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK, is the T-log. Like on the T-pod, the truck Einride unveiled last year, there’s no cab or engine, just a skinny, sculpted, white slab up front. At the back are upright supports to hold the logs in place. Company engineers have beefed up the suspension and strengthened the chassis to cope with the heavier load and rougher forest roads that a logging truck will see. For a utility vehicle, it manages to look adorable.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Canada in 2030: What on Earth is happening?

By Isabella O’Malley
The Weather Network
July 11, 2018
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

Fatal heat waves, invasive alien species, shrinking forests, and struggling farmers – the reality of a changing climate in Canada is becoming harder to ignore, and the United Nations has stated that it is the biggest systematic threat to humanity. In Water, Fire, Earth, Air – a four-part series – we will look at how climate change will affect different regions in Canada by categorizing the regions by element to provide a unique and comprehensive understanding of how Canadian life could change, assuming our carbon dioxide emissions continue along a business as usual scenario. …Warming temperatures will upset the balance of forests, farms, and insects. Persistent high temperatures will alter soils and cause the top layer to become dry and susceptible to erosion by strong winds. Without moist soils vegetation will dry out and decay, which could increase flood risk

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California meets greenhouse gas reduction goal years early

By Christopher Weber
The Associated Press
July 11, 2018
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US West

LOS ANGELES — California greenhouse gas emissions fell below 1990 levels, meeting an early target years ahead of schedule and putting the state well on its way toward reaching long-term goals to fight climate change, officials said Wednesday. The California Air Resources Board announced pollution levels were down 13 percent since their 2004 peak — as the economy grew 26 percent since that year. …The decrease is partly a result of California’s increased use of renewable power, the board said. Solar electricity generation from rooftop arrays and power plants jumped 33 percent in 2016, according to the new data. …California has a head start toward reaching the 2030 target because of its tailpipe emissions standards, which have exceed federal minimums for years, Jackson said.

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Health & Safety

Wind drops tree on ute killing one near Bulls, as workers pack up to leave

By Laurel Stowell
New Zealand Herald
July 12, 2018
Category: Health & Safety
Region: International

A tree which fell on a work vehicle, killing one person and injuring others, was bowled over by a sudden squall of wind as contractors were about to leave. The accident happened about 2.15pm on Monday at a rural property in Pukehou Rd, near the Rangitīkei town of Bulls. Fire and Emergency staff were needed to remove people from the vehicle. …”The crew had decided to knock off for the day because of the weather risk and were in the ute, or loading the ute when a nasty squall came through and blew a tree down on them,” he said. He said people might assume someone was dropping trees in a dangerous manner in the forestry operation, and said that wasn’t the case. “I have spoken to the boss [of the contracting team]. He is a very safety conscious operator and he has taken this very hard.”

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Forest Fires

Nibinamik First Nation-area fire doubles in size

The Thunder Bay News Watch
July 11, 2018
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada East

DRYDEN, Ont. — The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry reports that two lightning-caused forest fires near the Nibinamik First Nation continue to expand. The community, however, is under no immediate threat. The larger of the fires burned 3,000 more hectares between Monday afternoon and Tuesday afternoon, reaching a size of 6,600 hectares. …The fire is now burning 30 kilometres northeast of Nibinamik, and is still moving in a direction away from the community. …There are currently 53 active fires in the MNRF’s Northwest Region, but 43 of these are either under observation, being held or under control.

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Firefighters battle more than 200 forest fires so far this season

By Elizabeth Fraser
CBC News
July 11, 2018
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada East

After more than 200 forest fires this year, New Brunswick’s fire prevention officer is hoping for rain and cooler temperatures to slow things down. Since April, fire crews have put out 208 fires across the province, including two fires earlier this week. A lighting strike ignited a blaze south of Mount Carleton Provincial Park that grew to three hectares, according to the Department of Energy and Resource Development spokesman.  The other fire, in Bantalor, about 35 kilometres west of Chipman, reached five hectares Monday. …”The drought has basically been building all spring,” Roger Collett said. “We’re getting there. It’s not terrible yet.” New Brunswick has sent a contingent of 42 firefighters, including 15 students, to Quebec to help fight large forest fires in the Baie Comeau area, more than 400 kilometres northeast of Quebec City.  They joined the more than 600  firefighters from across Canada and the northeastern United States.

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Thousands of hectares are burning out of control in parts of Ontario

By Pat Winsa
The Toronto Star
July 10, 2018
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada East

A massive swath of the province outside of North Bay continues to burn after lightning from storms triggered fires that are raging out of control due to high winds. At least 3,000 hectares are in flames in the North Bay district, which stretches from north of North Bay to Temagami. Further to the north, another 12,000 hectares are burning in Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park. Numerous other fires are being held or brought under control while still others, in less populated areas, are being monitored — part of a trend in the province that already has seen 537 fires this year, compared to the 10-year annual average (360).

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