Daily News for November 19, 2024

Today’s Takeaway

Weyerhaeuser to invest $500M in Arkansas TimberStrand mill

The Tree Frog Forestry News
November 19, 2024
Category: Today's Takeaway

Weyerhaeuser plans to expand its engineered wood production with new Arkansas mill. In other Business news: West Fraser invests in Northern Alberta Institute of Technology; Japan launches a new biomass power plant; BC premier Eby announces his new cabinet; BC’s opposition leader Rustad is sworn in; the BC Truck Loggers’ Bob Brash is stepping down; and APA appoints Eric Gu VP of Technical Services.

In Forestry/Climate news: Trudeau defends his carbon levy; Biden touts his climate legacy; Denmark plans to convert farmland to forests; a new study says California wildfires are becoming more severe; and Maine fears a spruce budworm outbreak. Meanwhile: Oregon, Washington and BC leaders meet on housing; Vancouver looks to standardize six-storey wood construction; US homebuilders’ confidence is up despite drop in housing starts; Ontario homebuilders are seeing red until 2026; and Canada’s inflation is up.

Finally, Colorado researchers study wildfire smoke impact on firefighter sperm count.

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor

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Business & Politics

BC Truck Loggers Association announces the departure of Executive Director, Bob Brash

By The TLA executive
BC Truck Loggers Association
November 18, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

It is with mixed emotions that the TLA Board of Directors announces Executive Director Bob Brash will be departing the TLA as of March 2025. On behalf of the board and TLA members, we would like to thank Bob for his 5 years of unwavering commitment to the TLA, its board of directors, great staff, and over 400 members. His tireless work advocating for the entire BC forest industry and contractor community has been truly inspiring. …Bob’s steady hand has been instrumental in uniting the forest industry and lobbying against the imposed changes on the industry. Bob fostered many positive relationships at all levels of government as well as other associations and leaders in the forest industry. Bob’s 45+ years of forestry knowledge and experience has been invaluable to the TLA. Please join us in thanking Bob for his passion and leadership to the TLA previously as a former board of directors member followed by 5 years as an excellent executive director, and for his many contributions to the forest industry. We are grateful for your service and hard work and wish you all the best in your future.

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John Rustad officially sworn in as Nechako Lakes MLA and leader of the opposition party

By Binny Paul
Burns Lake Lakes District News
November 15, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

John Rustad

John Rustad, leader of the Conservative Party of B.C. and now His Majesty’s Official Leader of the Opposition, was officially sworn in as the MLA for the Nechako Lakes riding on Nov. 12 in Victoria, following his election on Oct. 19. …Looking ahead, Rustad acknowledged the challenge of balancing his new role as leader of the opposition with his responsibilities to his riding. …He acknowledged the heightened expectations from voters in Northern B.C., particularly regarding economic development, support for the resource sector, and improving connectivity. …On the economic front, Rustad highlighted the challenges facing B.C.’s forestry sector, noting that the province has lost two-thirds of its forestry industry under the current government. Rustad committed to advancing legislation to support resource industries and stimulate economic growth in Northern B.C.

In related coverage: Rustad discusses priorities for northern B.C. following re-election

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Dix out as health minister as Eby introduces a drastically reshaped B.C. NDP cabinet

By Dirk Meissner
The Canadian Press in Victoria Times Colonist
November 18, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Premier David Eby has unveiled a drastically revamped British Columbia cabinet at Government House that features a mix of new and familiar faces drawn from an NDP caucus greatly reduced in last month’s narrow election win. …Newly elected MLAs also feature in the cabinet, with former broadcaster Randene Neill becoming minister of land, water and resource management… Among the senior cabinet ministers who kept their jobs were Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon… Brittny Anderson, who won in Kootenay-Central, helps fulfil that goal, becoming minister of state for local government and rural communities. …The legislature’s youngest MLA, Ravi Parmar, meanwhile, enters cabinet as forests minister.

BC Govt Press Release: New cabinet ready to deliver on the priorities of British Columbians
 

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APA – The Engineered Wood Association Welcomes New Vice President of Technical Services

APA — The Engineered Wood Association
November 18, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

Eric Gu

APA – The Engineered Wood Association is pleased to announce the appointment of Eric Gu as vice president of its Technical Service Division, succeeding BJ Yeh, who announced his planned retirement for February 2025 earlier this year. Eric holds a master’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh and received his PhD in civil engineering from Clemson University. He is a licensed Professional Engineer and LEED Green Associate. Previously serving as the PNW Regional Director at WoodWorks, Eric was instrumental in leading educational initiatives and providing technical support for architects, engineers, developers, builders and product manufacturers, with a focus on light-frame and mass timber construction. …In his new role, Eric will oversee lab operations at APA’s 42,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art research center, workplace safety, standards development, and product certification within the Technical Services Division.

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Weyerhaeuser Company announces plan to build new facility in south Arkansas

By Weyerhaeuser Company
Globe Newswire
November 18, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas — Weyerhaeuser Company has announced an estimated $500 million investment to build a new, state-of-the-art TimberStrand facility near Monticello and Warren, Arkansas. This investment is expected to create 200 high-quality jobs in the south Arkansas region. “This investment and jobs are pivotal for towns like Monticello and Warren,” said Governor Sanders. “Between Weyerhaeuser’s announcement and University of Arkansas at Monticello’s Forest Research Center expansion, we’re growing that portion of the state and investing in Arkansas’ forestry industry for generations to come.” The new facility will expand Weyerhaeuser’s engineered wood products capacity, adding approximately 10 million cubic feet of annual production capacity. Using southern yellow pine as the primary feedstock, Weyerhaeuser will manufacture TimberStrand®, a laminated strand lumber, at the Arkansas facility and will use a biomass-fueled cogeneration system to fully supply the plant’s electrical needs.

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Finance & Economics

Canada’s inflation rate jumps back to 2%, likely curbing large rate-cut bets

By Ismail Shakil and Dale Smith
Reuters in CTV News
November 19, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada

OTTAWA – Canada’s annual inflation rate accelerated more than expected to 2% in October as gas prices fell less than the previous month, data showed on Tuesday, shrinking market bets for a bigger rate cut next month. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast the inflation rate would speed up to 1.9% from 1.6% in September. In August, the annual rate was 2%. It was the first pick-up in the annual inflation rate since May. The central bank forecasts consumer price inflation to be 2.5% this year and 2.2% next year. …This was the last inflation data to be released ahead of the Bank of Canada’s interest rate announcement on Dec. 11, and currency markets now see around a 28% chance of a 50 basis point rate cut, down from 37% before the CPI data release.

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Homebuilders forecast ‘grim outlook’ for residential construction in 2025

Ontario Construction
November 18, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, Canada East

ONTARIO — Housing starts over the next few years will likely weaken and the already-dire supply shortage could get even worse, the Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON) is warning. A new report shows employment in new residential construction sector “will probably fall quite a lot” in the years ahead. The report provides an overview of the housing market and develops forecasts covering 2024 to 2028 for Ontario, as well as municipalities in the Census Metropolitan Areas of Toronto, Hamilton and Oshawa. …“The findings of this report are particularly worrisome for builders as they point to a weakening residential construction market at the very time we need to build more housing,” said RESCON president Richard Lyall. …The report paints two scenarios. In both, a further weakening of employment and new housing starts continues well into 2025, followed by a slow recovery of the economy and housing activity during 2026 to 2028.

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US single-family housing starts tumble in October

By Lucia Mutikani
Reuters in Yahoo! Finance
November 19, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

WASHINGTON – US single-family homebuilding tumbled in October as Hurricanes Helene and Milton depressed activity in the South and permits rose slightly, suggesting that a rebound was likely to be muted by higher mortgage rates. Single-family housing starts, which account for the bulk of homebuilding, plunged 6.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 970,000 units last month, the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said on Tuesday. Data for September was revised higher to show homebuilding rising to a rate of 1.042 million units from the previously reported pace of 1.027 million units. Single-family starts dropped 10.2% in the South. Permits for future construction of single-family housing gained 0.5% to a rate of 968,000 units. …Mortgage rates initially fell as the Federal Reserve started cutting interest rates in September. They have, however, erased that decline on strong economic data and concerns that Trump’s policies could reignite inflation.

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US Builder Confidence Moves Higher as Election Uncertainty is Lifted

By Robert Dietz
The NAHB Eye on Housing
November 18, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

Builder sentiment improved for the third straight month, and builders expect market conditions will continue to improve with Republicans winning control of the White House and Congress. Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes was 46 in November, up three points from October, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. Future sales expectations posted a notable increase in the November reading of builder sentiment. …All three HMI sub-indices were up in November. The index charting current sales conditions rose two points to 49, the component measuring sales expectations in the next six months increased seven points to 64 and the gauge charting traffic of prospective buyers posted a three-point gain to 32.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Metro Vancouver eyes standardized six-storey wood apartments

By John Mackie
Vancouver Sun
November 18, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

When you think of new construction in Metro Vancouver, you think of concrete towers with glass facades. A Metro Vancouver report on rental housing is considering a different approach: Making it easier to build six-storey apartment buildings out of wood. The report’s name is a mouthful, “Streamlining the Delivery of Rental Housing Through Pre-Approved Plans and Off-Site Construction.” But it has a simple goal: making rental housing cheaper to build. Concrete buildings typically cost 20 to 24 per cent more to build than wooden ones. So the report, which will probably go to Metro in January, calls for low-rise wood frame buildings. The report also wants to make it easier to build. “We’re collaborating with B.C. Housing on (ways) to essentially speed up the delivery of six-story rental wood frame apartments,” said Michael Epp, director of housing, planning and development at Metro Vancouver.

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Top Oregon, Washington, B.C. leaders converge in Portland to plot supercharged housing strategy

By Shane Kavanaugh
Oregon Live
November 18, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada West, US West

PORTLAND — A bevy of top political, business and academic leaders across the Pacific Northwest will convene in Portland this week to promote efforts that they hope will dramatically accelerate housing creation in the region. Organizers of the Cascadia Innovation Corridor initiative estimate that Oregon, Washington and British Columbia currently face a combined housing shortage of up to 1 million units over the next two decades. The group’s annual conference seeks to establish a set of regional strategies aimed at closing that gap. Those include everything from permitting consolidation to increased financial incentives for developers and emerging technology that can help slash bureaucratic red tape. …Conference participants will also be able to tour a production facility for mass timber. The Oregon timber industry and political leadership have touted mass timber for years as an opportunity to revive the fortunes of rural communities around the state with homegrown building materials. 

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The Wood Innovation Group presents Tolerances + Templates

The Wood Innovation Group
November 19, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

Peter Brown from Toolpath Design will be giving a talk and demonstration on the integration of CNC cutting with traditional woodworking techniques. His presentation will explore how woodworkers can use CNC-made templates and inlays to bring a new level of precision and detail to their projects. By incorporating computer-controlled machinery, Peter will show how CNC technology can complement traditional craftsmanship, enabling intricate designs that would be challenging to achieve by hand alone. Attendees will gain insights into how CNC tools can be seamlessly integrated into detailed work without losing the artistry and personal touch that define handcrafted wood projects. After the talk and demo, participants are invited to join Peter at a nearby pub, where the conversation can continue informally, offering a great chance to discuss ideas and network with others from the wood community. November 20th, 5:30 – 7:30 | Toolpath Design, 562 David St, Victoria, Free | Food + Drinks

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US Army tests CLT shelter to withstand one-in-250-year earthquake

By Larry Adams
The Woodworking Network
November 18, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States

The U.S. Army tested a cross-laminated timber (CLT) shelter made using thermally modified Coastal Western Hemlock. In the seismic testing in Champaign, Illinois, the shelter reportedly withstood shaking that simulated a 1-250-year earthquake. The testing by the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, in collaboration with the Composite Recycling Technology Center and Washington State University, looked at Advanced Cross-Laminated Timber made from Western Hemlock, a highly economical and accessible timber species that grows prolifically across the Pacific Northwest. The seismic test, as seen in the video below from ABC News, “validated the new types of connectors that the team designed, making sure that occupants inside would be safe during something significant, as we saw, which is equivalent to a 250–500-year event,” said Dr Peter Stynoski, a research civil engineer at the ERDC.

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RMP Global Brings Recycled Plastic Noise Walls to North America, Pioneering a Greener Infrastructure Solution

By RMP Global
Cision Newswire
November 19, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

HONEY BROOK, Pa. — RMP Global introduces its revolutionary Recycled Plastic Noise Walls to the North American market, setting a new standard for sustainable infrastructure. Already in use internationally, these innovative noise walls offer powerful noise reduction and tackle the global plastic waste crisis by repurposing plastic that would otherwise pollute ecosystems and crowd landfills. …Traditionally, noise barriers have been built with materials like concrete, steel, or masonry, which effectively block sound but contribute little to resolving environmental challenges. RMP Global’s Recycled Plastic Noise Walls, however, utilize plastic waste… This approach not only ensures high-quality, long-lasting noise barriers but also diverts a substantial volume of plastic waste from the environment.

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Forestry

West Fraser invests in Northern Alberta Institute of Technology

By Shawna Greer
Northern Alberta Institute of Technology
November 18, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

When Northern Alberta Institute of Technology instructor Rodger DeChamplain first arrived at the Kidney Lake camp as a student in the fall of 1990, it was a rustic learning environment. Students dug trenches to keep their food cool and away from critters, because of the lack of electricity at the site for refrigerators. Thanks to a significant investment from West Fraser through the Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta, those are now a thing of the past. This summer, the camp, located 50 kilometres northwest of Whitecourt, underwent significant changes. Forest Technology students arrived in September to find modular lodging units, including 14 four-room bunkhouses, three classrooms and a food storage building. …Before the rebuild, students had to live in close quarters, with up to four people per cabin. Now, students now have their own 100-square-foot room, complete with a washroom and shower. …[Dean Dr. Agatha Ojimelukewe] hopes this change will help broaden interest in the program. 

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California wildfires have become more severe, killing more trees, UC Irvine researchers find

University of California, Irvine
November 18, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Irvine, California — The severity of California’s wildfires has rapidly increased over the last several decades as a result of human-driven climate change, resulting in accelerated tree losses during more intense wildfires, a study from University of California, Irvine and the University of Utah reveals. “As California’s climate has become warmer and drier, the severity of the average wildfire increased by 30 percent between the 1980s and 2010s,” said Jon Wang, a professor at the University of Utah. This means that for every acre of forest scorched by fire, the damages to tree canopy are considerably higher than what they were several decades ago. …The team wanted to find out how much of the rising tree cover loss in California is due to increases in total area burned, how much of the loss is due to increasing wildfire severity and how much is due to fire moving into new areas with denser forests. 

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State Treasury Rejects Oregon Department of Forestry’s Request for $60 Million Loan

By Nigel Jaquiss
Willamette Week
November 18, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

OREGON — The state’s in-house banker looked at the repayment promise that the Oregon Department of Forestry offered in exchange for a $60 million loan and said, “No.” …The ODF approached the treasury for a loan last month after a record-setting wildfire season left the agency with a stack of unpaid invoices. It is often the case that the department, which leads the state’s response to wildfires, hires contractors to do the work, then bills the federal agencies that own the land where many fires occur. This year’s fire season, which saw nearly 2 million acres burn, cost $133 million—more than twice the previous high and far more than the agency budgeted. …Treasury officials worried about the ODF’s reliance on future funding from the Legislature… as one legislature cannot obligate a subsequent legislature. …Forestry spokeswoman Joy Krawczyk says her agency will now ask lawmakers for the money instead.

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One timber sale canceled, two approved

By Emma Maple
Peninsula Daily News
November 19, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

PORT ANGELES — Tree advocates have been partially successful in postponing the logging of forests owned by the state Department of Natural Resources and located within the Elwha watershed region, and they plan to continue their efforts until they achieve full success. At the November Board of Natural Resources (BNR) meeting, Hilary Franz, state commissioner of public lands and chair of the board, placed a pause on the Elwha Watershed “Alley Cat” timber sale. Franz said she pulled the sale from the agenda due to a conversation she had with Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe chairwoman Frances Charles and the desire to have “government-to-government consideration.” Despite advocacy efforts that included a petition with more than 300 signatures and a letter-writing campaign that generated more than 6,165 letters, the six-person BNR approved two other Elwha watershed sales, “Tree Well” and “Parched.” Individuals against those sales said that the “legacy forests” were the “old growth forests of tomorrow.”

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Forest Service releases proposal to update its 30-year-old plans for Northwest’s federal forests

By Zach Urness
Salem Statesman Journal in the Yachats News
November 18, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

The U.S. Forest Service has released its long-awaited proposal to update the landmark Northwest Forest Plan, but many groups said they were unsure of its future with a new administration coming to power in 2025. The document, years in the making, lays out four alternatives for future management of national forests in Washington, Oregon and California by updating a 1994 law crafted by the Clinton administration. The 630,000-acre Siuslaw National Forest along the central Oregon coast would be heavily affected by any decisions laid out in a final plan. A 120-day public comment period begins now, which the agency says will help shape a final plan. “Much has changed in society and science since the Northwest Forest Plan was created nearly 30 years ago,” said Jacque Buchanan, regional forester for the Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Region. “We’re amending the plan to address today’s challenges [honoring the] original goals, while enhancing wildfire resilience.”

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Budworms ravaged Maine’s forests for years. They’re starting to come back

By Penelope
The Portland Press Herald in Yahoo!news
November 18, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

A spruce budworm outbreak has plagued Maine’s northern borders for nearly two decades, with the tree-killing moths making sporadic incursions from Quebec but never reaching numbers that suggest a repeat of the outbreak that ravaged the state a half-century ago. This summer, though, state entomologist Michael Parisio surveyed the northwestern woods of Aroostook County by plane. A 3,000-acre hot spot of partially denuded spruce-fir forest suggested the once-a-generation outbreak everyone had feared might have begun. …”We’ve had a few scares here and there, but 3,000 acres, that’s significant damage,” Parisio said. “All evidence suggests it will persist and expand. We knew it would get here eventually, but knowing doesn’t make what’s going to happen any easier.” University of Maine modeling shows that more than 178,000 acres are on the verge of defoliation. …The last outbreak lasted from 1967 to 1993, covering 136 million acres across eastern Canada and Maine.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Trudeau touts embattled carbon levy to global audience, says it faces misinformation

By Dylan Robertson
Canadian Press in the Victoria Times Colonist
November 18, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

RIO DE JANEIRO — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is defending his embattled carbon-pricing program on the world stage, and he argues that misinformation is threatening environmental progress. Trudeau arrived today in Brazil for the G20 leaders summit, and addressed a conference held by the anti-poverty group Global Citizen. He touted Canada’s consumer carbon levy, arguing it is among the world’s strongest but “an easy political target” in Canada. Trudeau acknowledged pushback to the policy, but he said it is being fuelled by what he called propaganda and misinformation that affordability is in contrast with fighting climate change. …Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has vowed to cancel the policy, pushing for a “carbon-tax election” to bring down the cost of living.

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Remarks by President Biden in Statement to Press | Manaus, Brazil

By President Joe Biden
The White House
November 17, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, International

Joe Biden

…I am proud to announce, first, the United States Development Finance Corporation will mobilize hundreds of millions of dollars in partnership with a Brazilian company to reforest the Amazon. Second, we’re launching a Brazil Restoration and Bioeconomy Finance Coalition to mobilize at least $10 billion by 2030 to restore and protect 20,000 square miles of land. And, third, I’m announcing an additional $50 million to the Amazon Fund that’s already — we’ve giv- — already given $50 million. Fourth, we’ll provide the funding to help launch President Lula’s important new initiative, the Tropical Forest Forever Fund. …The fight against climate change has been a defining cause of my presidency.

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Japan’s Enshu Forest starts 7MW biomass power plant

By Takeshi Maeda
Argus Media
November 18, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Japan’s Enshu Forest Energy started commercial operations at its 7.1MW biomass-fired power plant in Fukuroi city of Shizuoka prefecture on 16 November. The Enshu plant will burn 90,000t/yr of wood chips made from unused forest materials and gathered mainly from Shizuoka prefecture. It can generate around 53GWh/yr of electricity, which will be sold under the country’s feed-in tariff (FiT) scheme for 20 years. The plant was initially scheduled to come on line in December, but started two weeks earlier as Enshu Forest Energy, the operating company, completed its safety check and test runs earlier than expected.

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Denmark will plant 1 billion trees and convert 10% of farmland into forest

By
The Associated Press
November 18, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Danish lawmakers on Monday agreed on a deal to plant 1 billion trees and convert 10% of farmland into forest and natural habitats over the next two decades in an effort to reduce fertilizer usage. The government called the agreement “the biggest change to the Danish landscape in over 100 years.” “The Danish nature will change in a way we have not seen since the wetlands were drained in 1864,” said Jeppe Bruus, head of Denmark’s Green Tripartite Ministry, created to implement a green deal reached in June among farmers, the industry, the labor unions and environmental groups. …Danish forests would grow on an additional 250,000 hectares (618,000 acres), and another 140,000 hectares (346,000 acres), which are currently cultivated on climate-damaging low-lying soils, must be converted to nature. Currently, 14.6% of land is covered by forests.

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Health & Safety

Does wildfire smoke exposure affect male firefighter reproductive health?

Safety and Health Magazine
November 18, 2024
Category: Health & Safety
Region: United States, US West

Fort Collins, CO — A team of researchers from Colorado State University is recruiting 100 active male wildland firefighters for a two-year study of the reproductive health effects of wildfire smoke. Lead researcher Luke Montrose, an assistant professor in CSU’s Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, previously found a link between wildfire smoke exposure and altered sperm in mice. For the new study, the researchers will examine semen samples taken from participants before, during and after the wildfire season to look at sperm count, motility and evidence of epigenetic changes. In addition, the team plans to produce targeted messaging on reproductive health for workers in the wildland firefighting field. Such messaging has “historically been generic and needs to improve,” researcher Ashley Anderson, associate professor in CSU’s Department of Journalism and Media Communication, said in a press release.

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Forest Fires

Wildfire near Lakewood Country Club burns 33 acres of land

By Matt Trapani and Naomi Yané
Long Island News 12
November 18, 2024
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US East

Crews with the New Jersey Forest Fire Service are fighting a wildfire in Ocean County. Officials say that the fire is near Pine Park and the Lakewood Country Club in Lakewood. As of Monday evening, the fire is impacting 33 acres of land and is 20% contained. Officials say that no buildings are in danger because of this fire. They previously stated that six buildings were threatened. No evacuation orders have been given. …The fire comes as New Jersey experiences a record-breaking dry spell. There is currently a drought warning in effect. Officials say that New Jersey is in a Stage 3 fire restriction because of drought conditions. According to the state Forest Fire Service, crews have responded to over 500 wildfires since October. They say that this is over a 1,300% increase in wildfires over the same time last year.

Additional coverage of New Jersey fires: Big Rusty Wildfire burns in Burlington County, multiple roads closed

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