The weather and idle-cottagers (re: Covid-19) are blamed for the bad start to Quebec’s wildfire season. In related news: conditions spark surge in Northern Ontario; Arizona faces extreme danger; Oregon’s fire season is in effect state-wide; Brazil sees worst June in 13 years; Arctic wildfires cause spike in carbon emissions; and a look back at the sawmill fire that changed Vancouver forever.
In other news: Greenpeace supports FSC Canada; Mosaic says log exports needed to maintain domestic supply; Domtar blames weather for Kamloops’ pulp mill odours; Roseburg mill fire put-out in Missoula; Skeena Sawmills inks deal to secure fibre; and FPAC endorses federal innovation funding but only as a ‘first step‘ to recovery.
Finally, Ivanka Trump joins the American Forestry Conference speakers list.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
The federal government announced renewed funding for Investment in Forest Industry Transformation (IFIT) program and the Indigenous Forestry Initiative (IFI) to accelerate innovation and Indigenous-led economic development in Canada’s forest sector. Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) welcomes these programs, but cautions that if the federal government is serious about attracting more investment in Canadian forestry, leveraging the power of this renewable resource to lower GHG emissions, and creating more family-supporting jobs in rural and northern Canada, it must also commit to working closer with provinces and local communities to avoid regulatory duplication and provide greater certainty for forestry workers across the country. …“In the spirit of partnership and maintaining our world-leading reputation for sustainable forest management, we need a related commitment on the part of Ottawa to avoid layering on duplicative requirements and costs at a time when we are working so hard to lift out of this,” concluded FPACs Derek Nighbor.
The ability for B.C.’s private forest-land owners to export logs is crucial for the maintaining of supplies to domestic mill production – which is why it is vital to the entire sector for Ottawa to temporarily allow more log exports, officials with Mosaic Forest Management said. The topic re-emerged on the forefront of the national policy debate surrounding the pricing model for logs produced in B.C. after a coalition of unions, environmental groups and mill operators sent a letter to Ottawa earlier this month asking the feds to reject Mosaic’s proposal to temporarily lift log-export limits. But Domenico Iannidinardo, vice president of forest & logistics and chief forester at Mosaic, said such opposition is ill-thought-out because exported logs – sold at international log pricing typically 25-30% higher than domestic pricing – are a vital part of what makes the economic model work overall.
Occupational Health and Safety is investigating the death of a 23-year-old tree planter Thursday in northern Alberta. The woman was working in a remote area along Highway 58, about 40 kilometres west of High Level, when she was fatally injured, RCMP said in a news release. Police were called to the scene around 5 p.m. They found nothing to indicate the woman’s death was suspicious. An autopsy will be conducted in Edmonton, RCMP said. A spokesperson for OHS said investigators will examine the circumstances of the woman’s death. High Level is about 730 kilometres north of Edmonton. [END]
