The looming Canadian border agent strike could disrupt supply chains across North America. In other Business news: local BC union representatives react to Canfor’s closures; Twin Rivers Paper is fined for fisheries offence in New Brunswick; Corner Brook rejects Kruger’s plan to log near the city’s water supply; and West Fraser releases its sustainability report. Meanwhile: wooden high rises gain popularity; and the Paris Olympic Village features a mass-timber office building.
In Forestry/Climate news: a new report on the Boreal’s northward shift; Bjorn Lomborg says ‘the science’ doesn’t tell us what fighting climate change costs; the Narwhal on what is being done to survive wildfires; California battles a wind-driven wildfire east of San Francisco; a report on the rising cost of fire fighting in Arizona; and with the wildfire season upon us—here’s what the European Union is doing.
Finally, a new initiative calls on British Columbians to Stand Up For Forestry.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
A strike looms for more than 9,000 workers at the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA ), which could disrupt supply chains across North America. The work stoppage for customs and immigration agents could occur as early as Thursday after the recent release of a federal Public Interest Commission report, which sgave the workers the legal right to strike. …Mediation sessions between the union and federal officials are scheduled to begin Monday. CBSA personnel represented by the PSAC and CIU voted 96% earlier in May for taking the strike. …Workers have been without a contract for over two years, union officials said. …Mike Burkhart, vice president for Canada at C.H. Robinson, said the biggest impact would be to truck freight moving into Canada. …For cross-border operators, the potential CBSA strike is another headache on top of a potential strike by railway workers at CPKC, who recently voted for a work stoppage action.
VANCOUVER, B.C. — West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. released its 2023 Sustainability Report. The report highlights the Company’s sustainability performance across a variety of environmental, social, and governance goals. “We have the privilege of delivering renewable building products for the world,” said Sean McLaren, President and CEO, West Fraser. “I am proud of the work we have done to date and the level of commitment shown across our whole organization toward achieving our sustainability goals, but we have more work to do. In 2024, we will make additional investments to help improve our emissions profile; enter into joint stewardship arrangements with some First Nations; and adjust our strategies as necessary to ensure we remain on the path to becoming a sustainability leader,” said McLaren.
EDMUNDSTON, NB – …On 
Some people may think it was a miracle that the Interfor sawmill at Adams Lake survived the firestorm on August 18, 2023. In reality, the mill is operational today because of foresight, much hard work and many thousands of gallons of water. The effort to protect the mill began in 2017 when a lightning strike ignited a fire on the hillside above the mill, which an Interfor team managed to extinguish with shovels, “piss” cans, pumps and hoses that had to be dragged by hand to the fire. After the 2017 fire, the forestry staff realized how vulnerable the mill was and they began to plan how best to create fire breaks that could protect them during the next fire. Through a carefully thought-out combination of small clearcuts, thinning and the opening of old roads, the fuel was significantly reduced on the hillside forest above the mill. 
Assumptions that tropical forest canopies protect from the effects of climate change are unfounded, say researchers. Crucial strongholds for biodiversity are under threat as temperatures are rising in tropical forests, the world’s most diverse terrestrial ecosystems, a new study reveals. It has been long assumed that the forest subcanopy and understorey – where direct sunlight is reduced – would be insulated from the worst climate change impacts by the shielding effect of the forest canopy. A new study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, used a microclimate model to examine temperatures beneath the rainforest canopy across the global tropics. This showed that between 2005 and 2019, most of the world’s undisturbed tropical forests experienced climate conditions at least partially outside the range of historic conditions. Many areas had transitioned to almost entirely new temperature averages.
