Daily News for June 24, 2020

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Today’s Takeaway

US loggers and truckers seek COVID-19 relief package

June 24, 2020
Category: Today's Takeaway

Maine and North Carolina loggers and truckers seek federal relief package to help with COVID-19 impacts. In other Business news: Mackenzie BC mayor says people are nervous and mad; the future of Ontario’s Fort Frances paper mill may lie in cannabis; US tariff concerns increase as election nears; and a range of housing commentary by Madison’s, NAHB, CNBC and Business in Vancouver.

In other news: BC welcomes support for mass timber construction; NAWLA launches lumber industry careers campaign; injunctions thwart Australian loggers (again), and ENGOs urge end to UK biomass subsidies. 

Finally, move over Smokey, says a moose with no name.

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor

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Froggy Foibles

Move over Smokey says a moose with no name (yet)

The Juneau Empire
June 24, 2020
Category: Froggy Foibles
Region: United States, US West

There’s a new face for a statewide fire-prevention campaign, but that face —a cartoon moose — doesn’t yet have a name. The Division of Forestry is holding a contest to name the new “Take Time to Learn Before You Burn” moose, DNR announced Tuesday. The Legislature in 2018 passed a bill that updated the penalties for burning offense committed on state, municipal and privately owned land. The statutes took effect last June, and DOF developed the campaign to target the division’s goal to reduce human-caused fires by 10% annually, according to a news release from DNR. …A winner will be announced Oct. 1.

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Only You… can design my bumper sticker

The Suwannee Democrat
June 24, 2020
Category: Froggy Foibles
Region: United States, US East

LAKE CITY — Anybody can design a new Smokey Bear bumper sticker. The Florida Forest Service is hosting a bumper sticker design contest through Sept. 30 featuring Smokey Bear, urging artists to use their skills to send a message to their community about preventing devastating wildfires. The winning bumper sticker, along with the top 90 submissions, will be used as a collage in a Florida Forest Service calendar. The calendar will also include information about wildfire prevention week, special individual wildfire days, and Smokey Bear’s birthday.

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Business & Politics

New campaign boosts lumber industry careers

By Karl Forth
The Woodworking Network
June 23, 2020
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

The new Keep Up campaign aims to help the general public, educators, students and soon-to-be graduates learn more about the promising career opportunities lumber offers and how the industry is one of our greatest tools to combat climate change. With the new campaign, the North American Wholesale Lumber Association is focusing on an industry that provides competitive benefits and salaries, diverse opportunities, innovation, and an effective way to contribute to a healthier planet. …Keep Up highlights innovation, sustainability and diversity within the sector, painting a picture that goes beyond outdated stereotypes.

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How new American tariffs on Canadian aluminum could backfire

By Janyce McGregor and Alexander Panetta
CBC News
June 24, 2020
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada

If the Trump administration buys the argument that Canadian aluminum exports have surged and slaps a 10 per cent tariff back on products imported from Canada, the move could end up hurting Americans instead, warns the association representing Canada’s aluminum producers. …Followers of Canada’s long-running battle with the U.S. softwood lumber industry have seen this drama play out before. As with softwood, the U.S. needs imported aluminum to meet its domestic demand. …Why does this lobbying work? Well, there’s an election coming in November. …In the new North American trade agreement that takes effect July 1, the Trump administration specifically negotiated requirements for the automotive industry to use more North American steel and aluminum. …”These bandits would tax their own military to buy the votes of morons in an election year,” Volpe said, referring to the wide use of Canadian aluminum in U.S. defence procurement.

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“People are nervous, but they are mad,”: Mackenzie Mayor on Paper Excellence curtailment

By Brendan Pawliw
My Prince George Now
June 23, 2020
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Mackenzie hosted a rally Tuesday in support of the forestry sector that’s been decimated. Earlier this month, the Paper Excellence Mill announced an indefinite curtailment. Mayor Joan Atkinson [said] the company was put in a tough spot after the Canfor mill shut down last summer. …“Paper Excellence has been chipping whole pulp logs, pulp mills are not economically viable if they have to chip whole pulp logs.” …“People are very nervous but people are also very mad because we have mills here with a robust fibre supply and our mills are sitting idle and logs are being shipped out of the community while our forest workers are unemployed.” …“Government has to step up to the plate and make some tough decisions and take back force from the large companies because right now large corporations are in control of the forest industry in BC.”

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Port Alice wants performance bond from next pulp mill owner

By Zoe Ducklow
The Vancouver Island Free Daily
June 23, 2020
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Like many resource towns, Port Alice has seen its fair share of booms and busts riding its pulp mill. But when the last owner left millions of dollars worth of hazardous clean-up, plus outstanding municipal tax bills, Mayor Kevin Cameron was fed up. “If a company comes in, we want to see a contractual performance bond. If you say you’re going to do this or that, you do it or you’ll forgo your performance bond monies,” Cameron said. Back in 2011 when Neucel was bought by a foreign-owned company and reopened [they] promised millions in renovations and expansions, but less than 10 years later, the company disappeared leaving behind millions of dollars in unpaid bills, and vats of dangerous chemicals. …Cameron is determined that next time it needs to be different. And there is potential for a next time, he said. Groups have expressed interest in the site.

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FPAC among most active on federal lobbying scene in May

By Marco Vigliotti
iPolitics
June 23, 2020
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

Derek Nighbor

…May, disclosures from the office of the commissioner of lobbying show. …The Forest Products Association of Canada, an industry advocacy body, was the third most active group on the federal lobbying circuit in May, recording 21 reports. FPAC president and CEO Derek Nighbor told iPolitics that his group’s advocacy efforts over the past month were focused on government support programs, sustainability, how the forestry industry can support the COVID-19 economic recovery — especially in communities where the sector is a huge player — and the ongoing pressures on supply and demand caused by the pandemic. Specifically, he said he raised with federal officials how the Large Employer Emergency Financing Facility, known by its acronym LEEFF, doesn’t work for the sector, arguing that the interest rates for the loans offered by the program are “too high,” especially when considering the current low-rate environment.

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Fort Frances mill equipment sale set for August

By Gary Rinne
Northern Ontario Business
June 23, 2020
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

Riversedge Developments has hired an international appraisal and auction company to sell the machinery and equipment at the Fort Frances paper mill. This will pave the way for potential demolition. …A partial list of the equipment includes three paper machines, a complete pulp mill… and a wastewater treatment facility. Riversedge acquired the mill from Resolute in July 2019. The company’s asset manager in Fort Frances, Mitch Lepage, said Riversedge is still working on plans for the property once the machinery is removed from the buildings, and is not ready yet to make a public announcement. …Lepage said “we’re working diligently on what that could be, but nothing is formalized at the moment that I can divulge.” Riversedge announced in August 2019 that it was exploring the establishment of a large-scale cannabis production facility on the mill site.

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Federal COVID-19 relief package for logging, trucking companies deserves support

By Dana Doran, Professional Logging Contractors of Maine
The Press Herald
June 23, 2020
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States

Maine logging and forest trucking contractors have joined a national effort seeking federal relief for their industry at a time when COVID-19 and its economic impacts are threatening the survival of the companies on which the entire U.S. forest economy depends. In order to sustain the supply chain, the 34 member associations of the national American Loggers Council have coalesced around a proposal that would provide direct federal assistance to both professional timber harvesting businesses and log trucking businesses. …Under this proposal, $2.5 billion would be reserved for contractors that harvested and/or delivered wood to various mills across the country in 2019 to apply for low-interest loans or grants through the U.S. Department of Agriculture to assist them with their ability to continue business operations for the next 12 months while their markets attempt to recover.

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North Carolina logging association director: Industry needs help to weather COVID-19 impacts

By Ewell Smith, executive director of the Carolina Loggers Association
The Fayetteville Observer
June 23, 2020
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

The Carolina Loggers Association has joined the national effort seeking a $2.5 billion federal relief package for loggers and log trucking companies due to COVID-19. Rural communities across the U.S. are feeling the substantial economic impacts and we need assistance. In short, America’s loggers harvest the wood the mills depend on. That supply chain is brittle and critical to keeping this country’s $300 billion wood economy from stalling. Consumers depend on the products made from wood, like toilet paper, boxes, sanitized wipes and medical supplies. It’s urgent we keep these items in stock at local retail stores. …Our relief request to Congress to support our loggers and log trucking companies is the first in history. That’s despite other sectors like farming and fishing receiving support for decades. …We’re calling on Congress to invest in the loggers [to] ensure that this country’s $300 billion wood economy keeps progressing… Without the loggers, that stops.

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Norbord looks to Highland rail lines as plant expansion progresses in Scotland

By Michelle Henderson
The Press and Journal
June 23, 2020
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

SCOTLAND—Bosses at Norbord are looking to the Highlands’ rail lines to support the expansion of its plant near Inverness. The Canadian firm is investing more than £125 million in the Morayhill plant, safeguarding 130 workers and 300 further Highland jobs, mainly in forestry. It is the world’s largest producer of oriented strand board (OSB), which is used in construction and furniture manufacturing as a replacement for plywood. Site improvements are due to get underway in the coming months following approval by Highland councillors of a plan to increase the height of two towers at the Moray Firth site. …A Network Rail spokesman said: “We are committed to encouraging more businesses to transport their products by rail and we are working with Norbord and the rail freight industry to explore options at this location.”

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Finance & Economics

Most softwood lumber prices moderate while plywood prices’ surge

By Madison’s Lumber Reporter
Wood Business – Canadian Forest Industries
June 24, 2020
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

Sales of plywood in the Eastern Canadian market went bananas last week and its possible that’s just the beginning of a real price surge. Demand for OSB meanwhile was a snoozefest by comparison. …For the week ending June 19, 2020, prices of standard construction framing dimension softwood lumber items waffled; as some improved, others fell, and yet others stayed flat. For its part, benchmark item WSPF 2×4 #2&Btr KD popped to US$394 mfbm, from US$378 the week before. The price for this benchmark lumber commodity was up +$22, or +6 per cent from one month ago.

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B.C. housing starts reclaim some lost ground

By Bryan You
Business in Vancouver
June 24, 2020
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, Canada West

B.C. housing starts regained some lost ground in May following a sharp April pullback, but the trend continued to decline amid the COVID-19 economic downturn. Urban starts in the province reached a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 36,156 units in May, up 30% from April’s 27,690 units. That said, monthly starts were down 33% year over year. Despite record-high annual starts, fewer pre-sale transactions had already contributed to a downward trend since mid-2019. COVID-19 has amplified this downshift as demand falters, developers adjust and construction companies make operational changes to ensure workplace safety.

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US homebuilders see strongest May sales in over a decade, but they have a big problem

By Diana Olick
CNBC News
June 23, 2020
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

Sales of newly built homes jumped far more than expected, up nearly 13% annually, according to the U.S. Census. After slowing dramatically in March, as the coronavirus shut down the economy, they posted the strongest May pace since 2007, a recovery that surprised even the builders themselves. But housing starts were not nearly as strong, and builders are struggling to meet this new demand. …While sales of newly built, single-family homes were nearly 13% higher annually, single-family housing starts in May were close to 18% lower annually, and building permits, an indicator of future construction, were down about 10%.

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Virus Impacts: Home Building Shifts to Less Population Dense Areas

By Litic Murali
NAHB – Eye on Housing
June 23, 2020
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

The first quarter of 2020 witnessed a shift in home building towards less population-dense housing markets in the United States, a trend which was greatly hastened by the onset of COVID-19. While most states issued statewide stay-at-home orders with exemption for construction, some of the hardest-hit states had no exemptions for construction when the pandemic first hit. …As expected, some of the states which had the highest population-adjusted, COVID-19-associated deaths, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut also feature relatively lower permit numbers. At the same time, these states also have a larger share of multifamily markets than other states.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

B.C. government focused on mass timber industry to meet CleanBC goals

By Zoe Ducklow
BC Local News
June 24, 2020
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

Ravi Kahlon

A move by the province to promote the use of mass timber in new buildings is being lauded by one B.C.-based manufacturer. Last week, the provincial government appointed a ministry of forests representative to promote the expansion of mass timber use in B.C. buildings. He will work with local governments, the construction industry and mass timber producers to develop the market. …Structurlam CEO Hardy Wentzel said the government has been committed to mass timber for more than 10 years, so this latest announcement is a natural continuation of that work. On top of being made from a renewable resource, mass timber buildings can be constructed up to 25 per cent faster than those using steel and concrete, according to Wentzel. …To truly be sustainable as the provincial government and others claim, the product should be harvested, manufactured and built in B.C., Wentzel said. Structurlam buys B.C. lumber, but some other manufacturers import wood.

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B.C. wood industry welcomes provincial support for mass timber construction

By Russell Hixson
Journal of Commerce
June 24, 2020
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

B.C. wood builders and product manufacturers are applauding the province’s push to grow its mass timber industry. Recently, government officials appointed Ravi Kahlon… to work with stakeholders to build new markets for mass timber products. “It is very significant anytime that you get an impetus from government to help promote and support a nascent industry,” said Hardy Wentzel, CEO of Structurlam. “It really says that government is fully on board and behind this, which the B.C. government always has been.” …Wentzel said Structurlam has altered day-to-day business during the pandemic to ensure workers are safe and can follow provincial guidelines but are continuing to produce wood products. …While the province has opened the door for wood structures by doing things like altering the building code, Wentzel said one of the main barriers to mass timber construction is fear. 

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The Past, Present, Future of the Tissue & Towel Industry

By Travis Durkee
Forests2Market Blog
June 24, 2020
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States

Toilet paper supply and demand has charged to the forefront of the pulp and paper industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. …Now that the initial surges seem to be over, we’re able to look at how recent consumer habits have altered the industry and look ahead. Fisher International’s Bruce Janda… “toilet paper has a history of being hoarded when there’s rumors of a shortage. …We’ve seen a big shift as people producing those large, industrial-sized rolls for businesses selling their products to create more inventory on the shelves. But that’s mostly behind us. …We should also see change in demand for certain formats such as dispenser napkins, which will likely go down, and hand towels, which will see movement as more people get out of the house and head back to work.”

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Forestry

Canadian Youth to Benefit From BioTalent Canada’s Green Economy Wage Subsidy

By BioTalent Canada™
Business Wire
June 23, 2020
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

OTTAWA–BioTalent Canada announced today the extension of its green jobs wage subsidy program. The Science and Technology Internship Program—Green Jobs, funded by the Government of Canada’s Youth Employment and Skills Strategy, helps Canadian youth start careers within Canada’s green economy. This includes organizations in energy, forestry, earth sciences, and minerals and metals. “This wage subsidy helps infuse young talent into Canada’s natural resources sector,” says Rob Henderson, President and CEO of BioTalent Canada. “The benefits are two-fold. Companies with an eye towards innovation can access funds to deepen its talent pool and young talented Canadians start their careers in an emerging industry.” …The Honourable Seamus O’Regan, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources said, “we are creating green jobs for young Canadian workers to help ensure our natural resource sectors remain a source of opportunity.”

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Government of Canada supports Indigenous led conservation efforts

By Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Government of Canada
June 23, 2020
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

OTTAWA – Collaboration with Indigenous communities from coast to coast to coast is key to understanding, learning and putting to action how best to protect our environment. In recognition of Indigenous History Month, the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard, the Honourable Bernadette Jordan, reminds us of the hard the work being implemented under the Indigenous Habitat Participation Program. This $50 million, five-year initiative (2019-2023) provides Indigenous organizations with funding to support collaboration, planning, conservation, protection, monitoring and data collection as it relates to fish and fish habitat.

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Newfoundland and Labrador determined to nip this pest in the bud

The Telegram
June 23, 2020
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

The provincial government says up to 40,000 hectares of forested area on the Great Northern Peninsula will be subject to aerial spraying this summer in an attempt at early intervention control of the spruce budworm. The area will be treated with Btk (bacillus thuringiensis), a biological control agent commonly used in forest pest management, which has been approved for operational use by the Health Canada. A news release from Department of Fisheries and Land Resources says the program is designed to help prevent future outbreaks of the destructive insect and reduce the need for full treatment programs in the coming years. 

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Readers respond: We should buy more timber land

Letter by Travis Williams, executive director of Willamette Riverkeeper
The Oregonian
June 23, 2020
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Travis Williams

Many of us who grew up in Oregon have witnessed the decimation of our forests and watersheds over the years and their conversion from functioning forests to “tree plantations.” The recent Oregonian/OPB/ProPublica investigative report (“Big money bought the forests. Small timber communities are paying the price,”), shed new light on a major ecological and economic problem in Oregon. It is embarrassing how much has been given away to private timber interests in recent decades. Such companies continue to seek to buy private lands. …We need an aggressive conservation-minded effort to buy these lands for higher ecological purposes. This should include lands in good ecological condition and degraded areas that can be restored over time.

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Timber from unsustainable logging allegedly being sold in EU as ethical

By Fiona Harvey
The Guardian
June 23, 2020
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Laws to protect biodiversity in Ukrainian forests are failing to prevent environmentally unsustainable logging that is harming wildlife, and the resulting timber is being sold to EU consumers as ethical and sustainable, a green campaign group has alleged. Trees are being felled during silent periods, when forests are supposed to be left intact so that birds and other wildlife can nest and reproduce, according to an investigation by the environmental charity Earthsight. Loggers appear to be taking advantage of loopholes that allow for “sanitary felling” during the silent periods …Some of the wood allegedly felled during silent periods is going to companies that supply the Swedish furniture maker Ikea, according to Earthsight. …The harvesting company rejected claims that it had contravened the rules set by the Forest Stewardship Council “VGSM LLC highly values the FSC standards and cooperation with its foreign partners. Therefore, we never violate their requirements.”

Click here to read the FSC Statement on Earthsight Report 2020

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Injunction again stops VicForests logging

By Miki Perkins
The Sidney Morning Herald
June 24, 2020
Category: Forestry
Region: International

AUSTRALIA — Victoria’s government logging agency, VicForests, has again had a legal injunction halt its operations, after the Supreme Court heard allegations it had breached logging regulations in 14 coupes in the Central Highlands. This new court action… from crowdfunded community environmental groups. Last month it lost a landmark court case when the Federal Court found it had unlawfully logged areas of critically endangered possum habitat. At least 65 Victorian logging coupes are currently subject to legal challenges, the Supreme Court heard on Wednesday. Barrister Jonathan Korman, acting for Kinglake Friends of the Forest, told the court VicForests intended to destroy the 20-metre-wide vegetation buffer in 10 logging coupes, in contravention of logging regulations. …“The loss of the buffer is a serious loss of amenity to users of the forest … and causes an eyesore for generations to come.” 

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

UK’s environmental groups urge policymakers to end biomass subsidies

Power Technology
June 23, 2020
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Environmental advocacy groups in the UK have launched a campaign to end government biomass subsidies. The ‘Cut Carbon Not Forests’ campaign urges policy-makers to reform the system. The campaign led by Biofuelwatch, Dogwood Alliance, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Southern Environmental Law Center has urged the government to redirect subsidies towards renewable energy sources such as solar and wind. Biofuelwatch co-director Almuth Ernsting said: “The climate emergency requires us to build a genuinely clean-energy economy and end wasteful subsidies for dirty biomass energy. “Cutting down trees, shipping them from forests overseas and burning them in power plants was never compatible with the need to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees; that’s even clearer today. It’s long past time to redirect this aid to genuine climate solutions like wind and solar energy.”

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Forest Fires

Crews continue to battle Chute-des-Passes wildfire as dozens of forest fires burn across Quebec

By Spencer Van Dyk
CBC News
June 23, 2020
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada East

The Chute-des-Passes forest fire, still burning out of control, has reached the chalet that’s been in Steve Ratthé’s family for 27 years, and he doesn’t know whether the chalet is still standing. According to Quebec’s forest fire prevention agency, SOPFEU, by midday Tuesday, the fire raging north of Lac Saint-Jean in the Saguenay region was burning over about 62,000 hectares — or an area the size of the island of Montreal, plus about half of Laval. Ratthé has been closely monitoring SOPFEU’s fire maps to keep an eye on his chalet, which stood right across the lake from the fire. “Every five minutes there is a change on the maps,” Ratthé told Radio-Canada. “Until we see it, we won’t know.” He left the chalet June 14 and doesn’t know what he will find once he’s allowed to return.

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Five new forest fires burning in the northeast region of Ontario

Sudbury.com
June 23, 2020
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada East

SUDBURY, Ontario — There were five new forest fires confirmed in the northeast region by late afternoon on June 22, said the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. Sudbury 23 is being held at one hectare. It is located approximately one kilometre south of route 637. Sudbury 24 measures two hectares and is located east of Big Lynx Lake. Sudbury 25 and Sudbury 26 are in close proximity to one another at 0.2 and 0.3 of a hectare respectively. They are approximately four km east of Garson-Coniston road. …The fire hazard is mostly high to extreme in areas south of Timmins in the region, with the exception of the areas west of Elliot Lake.

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