Daily News for June 26, 2020

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Today’s Takeaway

Softwood Lumber Board generates 10.5% more incremental demand in Q1

June 26, 2020
Category: Today's Takeaway

The Softwood Lumber Board generated 420 MBF of incremental demand in Q1, as well as providing intel on what the ‘next normal‘ could look like post-COVID. In other Business news: New Hampshire industry lumbers on; BC based Mosaic and Conifex restart operations; Northern Pulp’s creditor protection creates reopening uncertainty; Georgia Pacific amends wood supply agreement with CatchMark; and COFI’s Susan Yurkovich comments on Mackenzie’s struggles as the BC town makes plans for another forest rally. 

In other news: wildlife biologists defend BC’s controversial moose cow-calf hunt; more coverage on NRDC’s contested report linking US toilet-paper makers with Canada’s boreal forests; forestry careers get a boost in Quesnel, BC and Georgia; and the city of Salem named Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation.

Finally, the who, what, when and why of dust hazard analysis. 

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor

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Business & Politics

Mosaic Forest Management Announces Operations Restart

Mosaic Forest Management
June 24, 2020
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada

Nanaimo, BC   ̶  With improved market conditions, Mosaic is resuming operations with the priority being on a safe return to normal levels of operations with due consideration to provincial health guidelines related to COVID-19. Weather permitting, most of our contractors’ 2,000 workers will be returning to work in the coming weeks across our operations and logs will start to flow to local mills, supporting thousands more jobs. Market conditions will be monitored going forward and adjustments to our operations will be made accordingly. More information on the effect of current federal log pricing and trade policies on private forest land operations can be found at the following link News and Views.

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Softwood Lumber Board Programs Push Forward, Adapt During COVID-19 Pandemic

Softwood Lumber Board
June 25, 2020
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

The Board of Directors of the Softwood Lumber Board (SLB) convened by Zoom in May to review quarterly results and learn how the SLB and its programs are responding to rapidly changing business environments as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The SLB got off to a strong start in 2020, with its funded programs generating 420 million board feet of incremental demand in the first quarter, a 10.5% year-over-year increase. With the onset of COVID-19, the SLB and its programs worked quickly and successfully to convert program offerings to remote formats wherever possible to keep everyone safe. Commensurate with these programming shifts and the assumption that this year’s assessed volume will be approximately 20% lower than originally forecast, the SLB and its funded programs have made budget reductions that aim to sustain programs and ensure that resources are on hand to ramp up as conditions improve. 

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“This isn’t about big or small companies,”: Council of Forest Industries President on Mackenzie struggles

By Brendan Pawliw
My Prince George Now
June 25, 2020
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Susan Yurkovich

The President of the Council of Forest Industries has reacted to the second major indefinite curtailment the District of Mackenzie has faced in a year. …This is the second such closure to occur after Canfor closed the doors of its facility indefinitely in 2019. Susan Yurkovich told MyPGNow.com they need to make sure the province has reliable access to reasonably priced fibre. “Unfortunately what you are seeing now is that BC is taking a disproportionate amount of downtime, much more than in previous market downturns and that is creating real troubles not only for our industry but for the workers and communities that depend on our sector.” Yurkovich stated making the industry more cost-effective is the best solution. …“If we cannot compete, nobody will make the investment that will allow us to support and sustain workers and communities like Mackenzie. That has to be understood, it’s not about big or small,” added Yurkovich.

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‘This is just the beginning’: Another forestry rally planned for Mackenzie

By Greg Fry
CKPG Today
June 25, 2020
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

MACKENZIE — Fresh on the heels of a rally on Tuesday, Mackenzie residents are getting set to hit the streets again to protest cutbacks in the forestry sector. On Monday, the Facebook group ‘Stop the Logs,’ has organized another rally in front of the Ministry of Forests building in Mackenzie at 9 a.m.(June 29). “The purpose is to make some noise and draw attention to the crisis Mackenzie is under right now,” says Rebecca Gagnon. That crisis was sparked by the closure of Canfor’s sawmill last summer, the curtailment at Conifex’s sawmill earlier this spring and the indefinite curtailment of Mackenzie Pulp announced earlier this month. …Gagnon says the loss of Mackenzie Pulp and Canfor has left a hole in the community. …she says the government needs to bring back appurtenancy – which required companies harvesting timber from public land to harvest it at local mills.

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British Columbia’s largest raw log exporters make pitch to deregulate

By Ben Parfitt
Policy Note – Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
June 25, 2020
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Ben Parfitt

Federal government would do well to resist call by Mosaic Forest Management, before opportunities to process wood in province are further compromised. British Columbia’s forest industry was in trouble long before anyone had heard the name of the virus now seared into our brains. Months before COVID-19 appeared, forest companies had curtailed operations in response to declining prices and escalating costs. One of the earliest companies to shut down was Mosaic Forest Management, a company that coordinates logging and marketing efforts for Island Timberlands and TimberWest. The two companies export, by far, more raw, unprocessed logs from the province than any of their competitors—roughly half of all the logs shipped from BC to out-of-country buyers. 

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Powell River mill owner named among Canada’s 50 best corporate citizens

By Catalyst Paper
The Powell River Peak
June 25, 2020
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Paper Excellence Canada today announced that Catalyst Paper Corporation (wholly owned by Paper Excellence), has been voted among Canada’s best 50 corporate citizens by Corporate Knights. According to a media release from Paper Excellence Canada, this is the 13th time Catalyst Paper, which operates pulp and paper facilities in Crofton, Port Alberni and Powell River, has achieved the Best 50 Award with Corporate Knights. Graham Kissack, Paper Excellence vice president of communications and health and safety, stated the Best 50 Award is judged using 21 key performance indicators that relate to the organization’s raw resource use, emissions profile, innovation, women in key positions, safety performance, and percentage of revenue from clean sources. “We’re extremely proud to be part of this group of leading Canadian companies demonstrating that sustainable business practices can be both profitable, while offering long term stability and protection of our ecosystems,” stated Kissack.

Read the Catalyst Press Release here

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Conifex Mackenzie sawmill to resume operation

The Prince George Citizen
June 25, 2020
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Kristen Gammel

Lumber producer Conifex says it will resume operating its Mackenzie sawmill on July 6, ending a three-month curtailment. The sawmill will run on a two-shift, five day per week basis. The sawmill has been on curtailment since April 6, affecting about 160 workers. Conifex’s bioenergy operation continued to run. “It was always our plan to restart,” corporate services vice president Kristen Gammel said in an interview. “Lumber prices are starting to get better, the housing starts for the U.S. are projected to get better, all of that is starting to align for us.” The company’s summer logging program is also starting up, Gammel also noted. The development comes as a glimmer of good news for the community of 3,700 people 186 kilometres north of Prince George.

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Gold mining puts Dubreuilville on the comeback trail

By Ian Ross
Northern Ontario Business
June 25, 2020
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

Pat Dubreuil

Pat Dubreuil wants to restore the entrepreneurial spirit to Dubreuilville. …Dubreuil, a local developer, tourism operator and unabashed community promoter, wants to economically diversify Dubreuilville beyond just being a bedroom community for the mining industry and a seasonal snowmobiling and off-roading destination. “I want to go back to the roots of Dubreuilville,” said Dubreuil, vice-president of community and First Nation engagement with Manitou Gold…”Don’t get me wrong, mining is great, but it’s not Dubreuilville. It’s not our heritage or history.” The sawmill complex built and expanded by the legendary Dubreuil Brothers during the 1960s and 1970s had fallen into disrepair and is being dismantled by a Québec contractor. …He’s enamoured with a heat-treated wood product made by New Brunswick’s ThermalWood Canada. 

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Northern Pulp’s creditor protection leaves air of uncertainty in Pictou County

By Adam MacInnis
The Chronicle Herald
June 25, 2020
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

ABERCROMBIE, N.S. — A week after Northern Pulp was granted creditor protection, there remains an air of uncertainty in Pictou County about whether the pulp mill will ever reopen. “I would have to say, it makes things look like it’s very much less likely that they’ll open up,” said Pictou County Chamber of Commerce chair Blair van Veld. While not a full bankruptcy, creditor protection often involves restructuring and trying to sell assets, he said. “When we hear these bits and pieces it just amps up the stress level,” said Pictou East MLA and PC Leader Tim Houston, although he cautions against jumping to conclusions. “Sometimes companies take steps just to protect the asset base while they’re planning and preparing for what’s next. Northern Pulp said they wanted to press pause on the timeline,” he said, adding he suspects there’s a lot of internal planning for the future right now at the company.

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New Hampshire forest-products industry lumbers on amid COVID, other challenges

By Meghan Foley
The Keene Sentinel
June 25, 2020
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the forest-products industry in New Hampshire was facing some challenges. For example, biomass plants, which use wood chips, sawdust and other timber debris to produce energy, were struggling to remain financially viable, and exports of United States lumber to China were being hit with tariffs. However, things were looking up for spring 2020, according to an article in the Timber Crier, a trade publication from the N.H. Timberland Owners Association. Pulp markets were strong, prices for some sawlog species were increasing, Chinese tariffs had been lifted on certain hardwood species, and some softwood markets were on the upswing. …it’s not doom and gloom for all sectors of the industry …people stuck at home have provided boosts in some areas, including the softwood timber market that feeds home-improvement projects. 

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CatchMark’s Triple T Joint Venture and Georgia-Pacific Amend Wood Supply Agreement

By CatchMark Timber Trust
Cision Newswire
June 24, 2020
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

ATLANTA — CatchMark Timber Trust announced that its Triple T joint venture has amended its wood supply agreement with Georgia-Pacific intended to achieve market-based pricing on timber sales. CatchMark invests in 1.1 million acres of prime East Texas timberlands through Triple T. …Under the amended supply agreement, Triple T will be able to… sell timber to other third parties, and expand its ability to sell large timberland parcels to third party buyers. The supply agreement between Triple T and Georgia-Pacific has also been extended by two years from 2029 to 2031, with optimized harvest volume obligations to enhance and preserve long-term asset value.  For these amendments to the agreement, Triple T paid Georgia-Pacific $145 million. 

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Grants aim to develop new markets for Northern Forest wood

Vermont Biz
June 25, 2020
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

VERMONT – The Future Forest Economy Initiative awarded three grants that will drive a $1.7-million investment in the region’s forest economy, seeking to diversify markets for wood and wood products from the Northern Forest region. … The $847,840 in grant funds will go to the Town of Ashland Maine to expand markets for structural round timber, a mass-timber building product; to a wood heat marketing consortium aiming to increase demand for wood heating fuels by 50 percent in the region; and to the Burlington (VT) Electric Department for design and pre-engineering to advance a wood-fired district heating system to serve the University of Vermont Medical Center. Grant recipients and other sources are matching the grant funds with $852,053, bringing the total investment in new wood uses and marketing to $1,699,893.

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Finance & Economics

It’s a Topsy-Turvy World. What Can We Expect Next?

By Craig Webb, President, Webb Analytics
The Softwood Lumber Board
June 25, 2020
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

All of Craig Webb’s predictions in a single gulp:

  • The “Next Normal” will include more telework, health worries
  • Infrastructure and economic gaps will retard potential changes
  • Single-family construction will fare better than multi-family complexes
  • Average home sizes will at least stabilize
  • Growth in starter homes will be hurt more than custom homes
  • Too many parts of the economy are hurting for there to be a quick recovery
  • Keep an eye on shaky banks, impoverished state and local governments

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Dealers report another week of steady to strong sales

FEA – Forest Economic Advisors
June 25, 2020
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

Dealers are reporting another week of steady to strong sales. Some dealers are anticipating that their sales might be a bit slower next week, as builders take a few days off to celebrate the 4th of July holiday. Others are expecting it to be business as usual, as builders try to make up for earlier COVID-19 lost time. …Dealers are reporting mills are quoting production for the late July and early to mid-August and prices continue to move higher on both lumber and panels. Dealers noted that both mills and pressure treaters are shipping behind schedule. 

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International wood fiber prices decline

The American Journal of Transportation
June 26, 2020
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: International

Wood fiber costs fell for many hardwood pulp-producing countries worldwide in the 1Q/20. The biggest declines were seen in the US South, Russia, and Latin America, where hardwood pulplog prices were down between 5 and 10 percent from the 4Q/19. …The Softwood Fiber Price Index also declined last year. …In the 1Q/20, the Index was 5.6% lower than in the same quarter in 2019. The biggest price declines came in Central Europe, Latin America, and Oceania, while on the contrary there were actually small increases in prices for softwood fiber in the US South, Eastern Canada, and Sweden. Pulpmills in Austria, Germany, and France have seen their wood fiber costs decline quite substantially in the past year.

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Forestry

NRDC reports little progress toward sustainable fiber sourcing in toilet paper as pandemic shakes up demand

By Emma Cosgrove
Supply Chain Dive
June 25, 2020
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, United States

Due to the pandemic, the fiber sourcing market is getting a shake-up. In the first half of 2020, tissue demand has shifted from commercial to consumer markets as communal spaces like shopping malls offices and airports have been either closed or dipped drastically below capacity and consumers spend more time at home. Commercial products more often contain recycled or alternative fibers due to a lower expectation of softness, which comes from virgin fiber. Consumer products, as NRDC found, often contain 100% virgin fiber. … At the heart of NRDC’s discontent with the paper products industry is a fundamental disagreement about the sustainability of cutting trees for commercial purposes. The organization purports that cutting trees in the Boreal Forest in Canada to make wood pulp for paper products endangers animal life, infringes on Indigenous Peoples and negatively contributes to climate change.

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U.S. toilet-paper makers get failing grade from environmental group for using fibre from old-growth Canadian forests

By Ellen Wulfhorst
The Globe and Mail
June 25, 2020
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, United States

Top U.S. makers of toilet paper got failing marks on Wednesday from a leading U.S. environmental group that criticized them for using fibre from Canada’s old-growth forests – trees considered key to limiting climate change. Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark and Georgia-Pacific rely on virgin forest fibre to make their tissue products rather than using recycled alternatives … The companies’ single-use tissue products, including toilet paper, are typically made from wood pulp, mostly obtained by logging in Canada’s old-growth northern, or boreal, forests, the NRDC said in a report. The giant boreal forest that stretches across northern North America plays a crucial role in combating climate change because it absorbs and stores carbon dioxide, a major contributor to planetary heating, the report noted. “Tissue manufacturers need to acknowledge the facts and take full responsibility for the role they play in fuelling climate change and forest destruction,” the NRDC wrote.

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Numbers of large wild Atlantic salmon dipped to near historic lows in 2019

By Michael Tutton
The Canadian Press in the Prince George Citizen
June 25, 2020
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

HALIFAX — A group advocating for the conservation of wild Atlantic salmon says the number of adult salmon returning to North America rivers fell to near historic lows last year. The Atlantic Salmon Federation’s annual “State of Wild Atlantic Salmon Report” released today indicates returns for large salmon were the third lowest in the past five decades. The federation says there has been a “continuing downward trend that threatens the sustainability of the species.” The group’s scientists estimate 103,900 large salmon returned to the 86 rivers studied in 2019, down from estimates of about 131,800 the year before. … The federation says that throughout North America, freshwater habitat has been degraded by dams, industrial forestry, large-scale agriculture and invasive species, making rivers less resilient to climate change.

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Quesnel prepares to train forestry workers of the future

By George Henderson
My Cariboo Now
June 25, 2020
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Bob Simpson

The City of Quesnel is seeking approximately two million dollars in funding to become a training centre of excellence for the kind of forestry that companies will be doing in the future. Mayor Bob Simpson says the new harvesting regimes will require almost a forest technician behind the joy stick of this new equipment… Simpson says they feel it will appeal to the younger generation who are not out doing large clearcuts, as he says they will actually be doing some pretty interesting, innovative and thought provoking work on a regular basis on some pretty interesting pieces of equipment. …He says they are working in partnership with the college, West Fraser, and other major licensees and contractors. Simpson says he is confident that they will be successful in getting the funding, and he says the plan is to start in September.

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Controversial moose cow-calf hunt done in name of caribou, government says

By Mark Nielsen
The Prince George Citizen
June 25, 2020
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Limited entry hunting of moose cows and calves is drawing fire from two Central B.C. [Liberal] MLAs John Rustad and Donna Barnett. …However, Jennifer Jennifer Psyllakis, the director of the wildlife and habitat branch in the Ministry of Forests… said the hunt is only being carried out… where their numbers overlap with endangered caribou herds as part of what Psyllakis said is a complex relationship between the two species and their common predators. Wildlife biologists contend that areas that have been logged generate the type of habitat that attract moose. Predators, notably wolves, follow and in the process encroach on the safe havens caribou use to avoid their attackers. …While culling wolves would seem to be the obvious solution, it’s expensive and has drawn flack from environmental groups. Instead, scientists have suggested a complementary strategy of keeping moose populations under control through hunting of their cows and calves in areas where there are caribou.

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Anti-pesticide organization appeals to Powell River city council

By Paul Galinski
The Powell River Peak
June 25, 2020
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Sheryl McCumsey

City of Powell River Council has been asked to write correspondence to regulatory agencies regarding pesticide application by Western Forest Products in the Powell River region. At the June 24 city council meeting, Sheryl McCumsey, speaking on behalf of Pesticide Free Powell River, said the organization believes the use of herbicides in forests needs to stop. …McCumsey said if Western Forests is using so little pesticide, her organization asks two things: why not just stop using it then? Why not just let the trees grow or manually gird them? …McCumsey said pesticides are not tools, they are poisons, which they do not consent to. “They destroy perfectly good trees and upset diversity,” said McCumsey. “We cannot increase our fire risk by using them.”

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Forest Enhancement Society of BC project updates from around the province

Forest Enhancement Society of BC
June 25, 2020
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The work to enhance and protect our forests is of great interest to you which is why we’ve created this monthly update. The June 2020 updates from our Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC) team shines a spotlight on some of the work being accomplished by FESBC-funded partners province-wide. $9.2 Million Funding Announcement: together with the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, FESBC is collaborating with the Foundation to highlight a series of good news stories across the province to celebrate the 180 projects receiving HCTF funding – many co-funded by FESBC. Read more below. We have some additional exciting stories coming out soon which will be sharing great news on forestry-related projects in our province contributing to the positive social, economic, and environmental impacts.

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Forest activity ban relaxed as fire risk falls

CBC News
June 25, 2020
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

The risk of forest fires in New Brunswick has fallen “significantly” since last Friday, but there are still several burning and restrictions on activity in the woods will continue through the weekend, says the minister of natural resources and energy development. There are nine fires burning in the province, according to the provincial government’s latest fire activity report — one in the Edmundston area, two in the Bathurst area and six in the Miramichi area. All of them are under control. …The Crown land activity ban was relaxed Thursday to allow forestry and recreational travel outside of the highest risk hours. …Compliance with the order has been very good, said the minister, and there’s been “very little” pushback from anyone, including the forestry industry.

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Forest fires started by ‘machine tracks’ prompt calls for temporary ban on logging

By Emma Smith and Phlis McGregor
CBC News
June 25, 2020
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Some Nova Scotians are calling for a ban on logging during hot, dry weather after it was revealed that machinery in the woods caused two forest fires that spanned more than a hundred hectares in Kings County last month. Nova Scotia’s Department of Environment determined a 13-hectare fire in McGee Lake and a 120-hectare fire near Springfield were started in late May by “metal machine tracks creating sparks on rocky terrain.” The department didn’t respond to questions about what machine made those tracks and what kind of work was being done, however logging machines such as feller bunchers and forwarders could create those kind of tracks. …Bev Wigney, who runs the Facebook group Annapolis Royal and Area Environment and Ecology wants Nova Scotia to follow the lead of New Brunswick, which last week closed all Crown land, except provincial parks, to recreational and industrial activity, including forestry. 

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Asian longhorned beetle declared eradicated in the cities of Mississauga and Toronto

By Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Government of Canada
June 25, 2020
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Marie-Claude Bibeau, with the Minister of Natural Resources, Seamus O’Regan, announced today that the Asian longhorned beetle (ALHB) has been eradicated from the cities of Mississauga and Toronto in the province of Ontario. This was the only known population of ALHB in Canada. ALHB is a highly destructive wood-boring pest of maples and other hardwood trees including poplar, birch and willow. It has the potential to devastate Canada’s hardwood and maple syrup industries. The ALHB was discovered in the cities of Mississauga and Toronto in August 2013, after previously having been eradicated… To prevent the spread, CFIA established a regulated area within the cities of Mississauga and Toronto that restricted the movement of nursery stock, trees, lumber, wood, and wood products, including all firewood unless given prior authorization.

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Federal court blocks timber sale in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest

Associated Press in Anchorage Daily News
June 25, 2020
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

JUNEAU — A federal judge has blocked what would have been the largest timber sale in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest in decades. Wednesday’s ruling ends the U.S. Forest Service’s plan to open 37.5 square miles of old-growth forest on Prince of Wales Island to commercial logging, CoastAlaska reported. The ruling by Judge Sharon L. Gleason also stops road construction for the planned 15-year project. Conservationists had already successfully blocked the federal government’s attempt to clear large amounts of timber for sale without identifying specific areas where logging would have occurred. Gleason allowed the forest service to argue in favor of correcting deficiencies in its review and moving forward without throwing out the entire project, but ultimately ruled against the agency.

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Salem named Tree City USA

The Wicked Local – Salem
June 25, 2020
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

The city of Salem was named a 2019 Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation, in honor of the city’s commitment to effective urban tree management. Salem achieved Tree City USA recognition by meeting the program’s four requirements: a tree board or department, a tree care ordinance, an annual community forestry budget of at least $2 per capita and an Arbor Day observance and proclamation. “Over the past several years Salem’s commitment to our public trees has grown substantially,” said Mayor Kim Driscoll. …The Arbor Day Foundation recently launched the Time for Trees initiative, with the unprecedented goal of planting 100 million trees in forests and communities and inspiring 5 million tree planters by 2022. 

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“Make That Paper” – a new forestry game for teaching employability skills

By Mary Anne Lane
Georgia Public Broadcasting
June 25, 2020
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Make That Paper: Careers in Forestry, a new game from Georgia Public Broadcasting in collaboration with the Georgia Forestry Foundation, is a scenario-based game that teaches students about working forests and real-world forestry jobs by simulating workplace scenarios and testing forestry industry knowledge through a fun and quirky email inbox interface. In the game, students take on the role of a manager in three different forestry industry career tracks. A branching conversation system with humorous and content-rich dialogue simulates face-to-face interviews that teach players how to present your best foot (hoof? paw?) forward and begin an exciting career in the forestry industry. Student objectives include maintaining sustainable, efficient, and successful management of the forest and production of forest products, and using best practices when hiring and managing staff.

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Old-growth forests get reprieve from forestry

By Peter Hannam
Sydney Morning Herald
June 25, 2020
Category: Forestry
Region: International

AUSTRALIA – The Berejiklian government has suspended plans to remap old-growth coastal state forests after last summer’s bushfires burnt large swathes of woodlands including almost half the remnant primary forests of the north-east. The mapping was to have been used to identify sections of forest that might have been used for logging. The Natural Resources Commission announced the suspension on Thursday, noting bushfires had scorched more than 5 million hectares of NSW. Of the 890,000 hectares of native state forest burnt, more than 100,000 hectares of that was old growth. Environment Minister Matt Kean told the Herald…, “It’s a common-sense approach, especially following in the wake of the bushfires, that we protect and preserve our old-growth forests.” The commission said that where the forest canopy had been burnt, remote-sensing technology “cannot be accurately applied”. “Our assessment found that over 45 per cent of mapped old growth in North Coast state forests experienced full or partial canopy burn in the 2019-20 fires,” it said.

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Health & Safety

The who, what, when and why of Dust Hazard Analysis

By Jeremy Slaunwhite
Canadian Biomass
June 25, 2020
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada

Many industrial facilities handle combustible particulate material, which pose fire and explosion hazards. Managing combustible dust hazards is critical to ensure the safety of the plant personnel and operations. In order to effectively manage combustible dust hazards, they must first be identified and understood. A dust hazard analysis (DHA) is a systematic review and assessment of a process and/or facility led by someone with knowledge and experience in understanding and identifying combustible dust hazards. A DHA is a tool to help plant managers and operators address and manage hazards that may not have been otherwise obvious. It is also a documented record of awareness that places a diligence and duty on the plant manager/owner to address the hazards.

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