Mosaic Forest Management’s Rob Gough resigns for health reasons, Duncan Davies is appointed new CEO. In other headlines: JD Irving proposes $1.1 billion overhaul of its Saint John pulp mill; the Makah Tribe opens new sawmill in Noah Bay, Washington; McGill University researchers on biomass recycling with CO2 capture; and The Nature of Things on the dark side of toilet paper.
In Wildfire news: why Canada is riddled with them; Canada’s most at risk municipalities; BC’s snowpack is well below normals; significant damage has already been done; the NY Times on saving Banff National Park with logging; training firefighters to combat wildland urban interface areas; and the importance of mental health support for those impacted. Meanwhile: ENGO’s push back on BC’s old-growth claims, and US Senators want the feds to increase timber sales.
Finally, the Fraser Institute says Canada’s net zero targets are neither feasible nor realistic.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
Researchers at McGill University in Quebec, Canada are using pulp and paper manufacturing waste to facilitate carbon conversion to be able to make green products. Feeding pulp and paper into their process substantially lessens the energy that would otherwise be required, they say. “We are one of the first groups to combine biomass recycling or utilization with CO2 capture,” says Roger Lin, one of the researchers doing the work out of McGill, and a graduate student in chemical engineering. Lin and research partner Amirhossein Farzi are applying renewable electricity to convert the captured CO2, leaving behind a zero-carbon footprint. This process using green energy, which is in R&D elsewhere as well, is called electrochemical conversion. …“we try to substitute oxygen with a more valuable product – waste from the paper and pulp industry that can be converted to make value-added products in a more efficient and economical way,” he says.
It is critically important the Government takes immediate action to increase the use of timber instead of concrete in the construction of new buildings and promotes sustainable building methods, according to a new report. The Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) is also calling for the establishment of a high-level cross departmental task force to develop and expand all aspects of the timber industry as a substitute for carbon intensive concrete production. The report is an examination of how the industry and waste sectors are living up to their climate responsibilities and what they must do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. …Rapidly increasing the use of timber in all new buildings in Ireland and implementing modern methods of construction is key. …Modern methods of construction encourage products such as cross-laminated timber and timber frame that can replace concrete and steel in many applications …due to their strength and versatility.
Plants dropping most of their seeds together in one year, then taking years almost or completely off from seed production, is called “seed masting.” Drop enough seeds at once and some will survive the predators’ feast. Ecologists call this the “predator satiation hypothesis,” …Researchers in Canada published a 
A rise in zombie fires in Canada is having knock-on effects for the wildfire season. Researchers and fire services are racing to find ways to put out perennial fires. Even at -40C, smoke kept billowing from under the snow. …When the snow melted in early May, these smouldering fires, often called “zombie” fires, came to life again and began to feed on dry trees and brush. The plumes of smoke north of Fort Nelson became a conflagration of 700 sq km. The town is now caught in a horseshoe of fire: to the east, another zombie fire has burned an even larger area, while to the west, a new wildfire has encroached to within 2.5km of the community, damaging properties. … In western Canada, many of these fires went underground and smouldered until this spring, which fire services refer to as “overwintering” or “holdover” fires.
WASHINGTON, DC – Senate Western Caucus Chair Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and U.S. Senators John Barrasso (R-WY), John Thune (R-SD) and Mike Rounds (R-SD) sent a letter to U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore excoriating the Biden administration for its forest management policies in the Black Hills National Forest that are reducing the amount of trees available to harvest forcing saw mills to close and timber workers to lose their jobs. The senators request the Biden administration to open more of the Black Hills National Forest for timber harvesting and toss a lifeline to the Wyoming and South Dakota saw mills and workers who have seen their livelihoods threatened by the radical policies coming out of Washington. …While the timber industry faces its own unique market pressures, the recent layoffs are a direct result of reductions to the U.S. Forest Service’s timber sale program,” wrote the senators.
In the June edition of the BC Forest Safety Council News, you’ll find these articles and more:
