A contested report by US lobby group NRDC claims working from home exacerbates the US tissue manufacturer’s ‘tree-to-toilet pipeline‘, which is devastating Canada’s boreal forests. Meanwhile: Wildsight takes aim at BC’s ancient forests; an Alberta-Pacific report supports maintenance of FSC certification; and forests’s climate change role is double sided.
In Business news: Mosaic Forest Management is back in business; more on the Mackenzie BC rally as Conifex is set to recommence operations; Ponderay Newsprint shuts down in NW Washington; Södra to increase pulp capacity in Sweden; Skeena Sawmills signs new labour agreement; and a coalition of groups lobbies Ottawa to leave log exports alone.
Finally, the world’s tallest ‘hybrid timber’ tower is coming to Sydney, Australia.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
Vancouver, BC – Conifex Timber announced at its annual general and special meeting of shareholders held on June 22, 2020, all management nominees were elected as directors of the Company. …In addition, Conifex plans to recommence operations following its temporary curtailment at its Mackenzie, British Columbia sawmill on July 6, 2020 on a two-shift, five day per week basis.
Terrace, BC – Skeena Sawmills and United Steelworkers Local 1-1937 have signed a new, fourand- a-half year labour agreement, following five months of negotiation which concluded in a successful ratification vote on May 19, 2020. The new agreement, which is retroactive to January 1, 2020 and extends until June 30, 2024, aligns Skeena’s wages and benefits with other industry agreements and also includes unique provisions recognizing the cultural needs of Indigenous employees. “This agreement provides the labour certainty Skeena needs as we continue to plan for expansion and upgrading of our sawmill,” said Skeena President Roger Keery. “The negotiation process was respectful and productive, reflecting our strong working relationship with the USW, and we appreciate the negotiating team’s commitment to reaching an agreement that meets the needs of their members and our company.”
Wood fiber costs fell for many hardwood pulp-producing countries worldwide in the 1Q/20. The biggest declines (in US dollar terms) 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. In the US South, hardwood prices fell for the second consecutive quarter in the 1Q/20 after having reached an all-time high in the 2Q/19. The relatively steep decline took prices in the US South down to their lowest levels in almost three years. The major driver of declining pulplog prices was the reduction in log demand from regional papermills towards the end of the quarter as the result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The use of cross-laminated timber is expanding around the world, popularised by its many environmental benefits. The material sequesters carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during the growth of its timber feedstock, compared to its counterpart concrete—which is said to account for between 4 per cent and 8 per cent of the world’s CO2 emissions. Mass timber can act as an alternative to steel and concrete, using prefabricated construction methods to deliver projects that would not be possible using conventional building approaches.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, Canada’s forest products industry has been hard at work delivering urgently needed, critical products that are helping Canadians and Americans weather this unprecedented crisis. Despite the value placed on our products, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a U.S.-based lobby group, has chosen this time to release a report critical of Canada’s forest sector. Regrettably, this report misrepresents our industry and makes numerous false claims and accusations. It states, for example, that toilet paper production is putting the boreal forests at risk. In reality, forest products from Canada’s boreal region can be counted among the most responsibly made in the world.
Through cooperation with conservation groups like the Forest Enhancement Society of BC, the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation is able to support conservation organizations like the Bulkley Valley Centre for Natural Resources Research and Management in their efforts to restore endangered whitebark pine ecosystems in the Skeena region. As western Canada’s first officially endangered tree species, the whitebark pine, and the ecosystems they support, are of critical importance to high elevation grizzly bears, birds and other wildlife species that rely on their oil-rich seeds for energy in cold climates. Sybille Haeussler, an adjunct professor at the University of Northern BC and project lead, is hopeful that the 25,000 seedlings currently being grown in a local nursery will contribute to ongoing efforts that see the restoration and persistence of whitebark pine ecosystems across their northeastern range.
EDMONTON, AB
UBC’s Faculty of Forestry, alongside seven universities and key partners on wildfire management from across the country, will be co-leading a newly announced Strategic Research Network on Wildland Fire that will advance wildland fire science in Canada and train 100 future teachers, managers and researchers, including 30 undergraduate, 35 Masters, and 20 Doctoral students, and 15 Post-doctoral researchers and technicians. The Honourable Seamus O’Regan, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, recently announced an investment of $5 million that will be used to develop the network to be hosted by the Canadian Partnership for Wildland Fire Science, a fire-science hub based out of the University of Alberta. The funding, from the Public Safety Canada’s Emergency Management Strategy, will be delivered by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. …Now, more than ever before, we must transform fire management and to strengthen Canadian resilience to wildland fire.
