Softwood lumber prices surged 11% last week as dealers reported strong sales and US consumer confidence rose for the second straight month. In other Business news: CN Rail plans to expand and upgrade its BC network; Northern Pulp secured a loan to keep the lights on; no buyers yet for the bankrupt Kenora Forest Products operation; Empire Recycled Fiber plans to build a new mill in Pennsylvania; and Deere has a new worldwide president of forestry and construction.
In Forestry news: NRDC disparages FPAC’s response to their tissue exposé, as well as SFI’s proposed standards revision; a white-tailed deer invasion threatens Alberta caribou; Ontario’s Gypsy moth outbreak dates back to an 1869 silkworm breeding experiment; and in the fight against prostate cancer—extract (and drink) cork tree bark.
Finally, to our readers North and South: a belated happy Canada Day, and an early happy Independence Day.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
OTTAWA, ON – Canada’s forest sector remains a vital source of jobs for Canadians, providing economic, social and environmental benefits. The sector is leading in innovation through clean technologies, building on a strong foundation that includes a robust, world-class sustainable forest management system. The Honourable Seamus O’Regan, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, today announced that the government is launching calls for proposals for the following programs: The Investments in Forest Industry Transformation (IFIT) program to invest almost $83 million to bridge the gap between new product development and commercialization and ensure a more competitive and resilient forest sector, and The Indigenous Forestry Initiative (IFI), to invest almost $13 million to support Indigenous participation in forestry-related opportunities, businesses, careers and governance.
Terrace, BC – Skeena Sawmills has entered into fibre supply agreements with each of Kitselas Forestry Limited Parentship (KFLP), a wholly-owned enterprise of the Kitselas First Nation, and Kalum Ventures Ltd. (KVL), a First Nations company fully owned and operated for the benefit of Kitsumkalum Band members. Each agreement provides for Skeena to purchase approximately 45,000 cubic metres of fibre annually from KFLP- and KVL-held tenures. Under the terms of the three year agreements, harvesting operations will be conducted by KFLP and KVL within their tenure areas, with fibre delivered to and processed at Skeena’s sawmill in Terrace, BC. The agreements include the option for a two-year renewal, at the discretion of the Parties. “This agreement provides KFLP with a stable local customer and will support our goals of growing economic opportunities for Kitselas First Nation members and achieving our stewardship and resource objectives for our tenures,” said KFLP Operations Manager Richard Seymour.
A $125 million recycled paper pulp mill in Pennsylvania will source more than 500,000 tons per year of mixed paper and OCC. The facility will ship its product to China. … The facility will be looking to bring in 505,000 tons per year of recovered fiber from nearby regions … The mill’s output will be 440,000 tons per year of recycled paper pulp, which paper manufacturers will use as a raw material. The mill will use “state-of-the-art” processing technology to produce and dry the pulp to 10% moisture content. Then, the material will be wrapped, baled and exported to China. The recycled pulp mill will fill a market void left in the wake of China’s National Sword import restrictions. Recovered fiber has become far more difficult to ship into China due to the policy actions, but pulp made from recovered fiber does not face the same import scrutiny.
The Central Public Works Department ended a ban in place since 1993 on the use of timber in its construction projects, saying that the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) had asked for the ban to be lifted in order to boost the economy, generate jobs and encourage farmers to plant more trees. “Removing the ban will create demand for wood-based industries that would spur the local economy…” The CPWD memo said that wood was a versatile material and the “life cycle economic cost of timber is also often much lower” in comparison to other construction materials. …Capture and storage of atmospheric carbon in growing forests and timber would help in addressing climate change, the CPWD said …“Therefore, it has been decided to remove the ban on use of timber in construction and to promote its use in construction of buildings/habitat development,” it said.
Building three million new homes and turning the UK into a zero-carbon economy is a contradiction says tax and advisory firm Blick Rothenberg, joining a chorus of criticism to Boris Johnson’s ‘Build, Build, Build’ exhortation earlier this week. In response to the Prime Minister’s announcement on Tuesday, Alex Altmann a partner at the firm, said: “Reforming the planning system and investing in house building are welcome and long-overdue initiatives, but they must be accompanied by a green revolution in the UK’s construction industry.” “The property sector is one of the biggest carbon emitters in the UK. …“Construction sectors in Germany, Austria and North America have been leading the green revolution for many years and have successfully transformed the industry by using more sustainable materials, like cross-laminated timber or glulam wood products, which act as carbon-sinks as opposed to carbon-emitters in buildings”.
More schools in the world are becoming digitalized, but there are still places in the world that heavily depend on the wooden pencil for adequate learning. There are also those artists, draftsmen, businessmen and architects that prefer to jot down their ideas and draw designs, the traditional way. The production of wooden pencils takes a toll on the world’s forests, with 82,000 trees cut down each year to make 2 billion traditional wooden pencils, as each tree yields about 170,000 pencils. However, until something that is equally convenient is invented, wooden pencils will continue to be used by kids learning to write, and by others – out of easy availability. …A large percentage of cedar wood designated to pencil-making for distribution around the world is grown in Sweden and South Africa. …The one upside to traditional pencils, is that they are natural, almost 100% biodegradable, and relatively cheap.
…SFI’s standards, when leveraged with our three other pillars of work – conservation, community and education – provide practical, scalable solutions for markets and communities working to leverage this growing commitment to a sustainable planet. …A regular, transparent process for revision of the SFI Standards is a critical part of SFI’s commitment to continual improvement. By leveraging expertise across our network through focused engagement, and by including open comment periods, SFI creates standards that are grounded in science, include diverse perspectives, and benefit consumers, communities and ultimately forests across the U.S. and Canada. …On October 23, 2019, SFI officially launched the start of the SFI 2022 Standards Revision with a 30-day public comment period and a two-hour facilitated workshop at the SFI Annual Conference. This first comment period kicked off a two-year process which will conclude with a suite of new SFI standards and rules for release by January 2022.
Forest Products Association of Canada announced its 2020 Green Dream Bloggers – winners of its annual summer internships contest. The national Green Dream Bloggers program provides students working in the forest products sector with an opportunity to promote their work experiences over the course of the summer. “Despite COVID-19, our team was happy to see such great interest in the program again this year from both forestry companies and summer interns,” said FPAC President Derek Nighbor. …This year’s winners are:
JAKARTA – Indonesia’s third-largest province declared a state of emergency from Wednesday after identifying more than 700 fires, as the Southeast Asian nation braces for its annual fire season. The declaration comes as Indonesia scales back protection for some of the world’s most important tropical forests. The team that identifies fires and helps put them out has seen its budget halved due to the economic impact of the coronavirus, an environment ministry official told Reuters last month. The province of Central Kalimantan said the state of emergency will run until Sept. 28. The level of emergency is at the first ‘alert’ stage which calls for increased patrols and early extinguishing efforts.