Despite economic growth, US greenhouse gas emissions declined nearly 2% in 2023. In related news: researchers study the carbon potential of bio-based products, prefab buildings have proven climate advantages; forestry byproducts that can be turned into biochemicals; and carbon capture and storage gets a boost with CO2-binding microbes.
In other news: BC’s snow-pack is 44% below normal on heels of drought; the government of BC is transferring forest land to Vancouver Island First Nation; the two perspectives on the US plan to protect old-growth forests; Verso’s Duluth paper mill has a new owner; Terrace Bay mill workers say they were blindsided; West Fraser’s Maxville mill closure impacts 79 workers; and Australian hardwood producers look to imports to offset native forest logging ban.
Finally, how olive wood waste can be repurposed into durable auto parts.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
West Fraser notified the state Jan. 9 it will shut down and clean up its Maxville sawmill plant, eliminating 79 jobs. The termination date is March 19 but the effective closure is Jan. 19. West Fraser notified the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity through a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification notice. West Fraser said the employees were provided 60 days’ notice of the date of termination and that the closure is permanent. It said it will shut down and clean up the site over the next two months “due to business justifications.”…“High fiber costs at Maxville and the current low-price commodity environment have impaired the ability of both mills to profitably operate. The closure of Maxville and the indefinite curtailment of the Huttig sawmill better aligns our U.S. lumber capacity with demand,” said the West Fraser news release on its website.
UK – Latest statistics from Timber Development UK (TDUK) show 2023 import volumes catching up on the previous year. The gap between the cumulative annual volume of timber and panel imports into the UK during the first 10 months of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022 has narrowed further, according to the TDUK’s report. TDUK Timber Statistics Industry Facts & Figures, January 2024, shows the deficit at around 123,000m3, down from 184,000m3 at the time of the previous report. …The countries most responsible for the increase are Sweden, which upped its volumes by 17% over the 10-month period, and Finland, which boosted its volumes to the UK by 8%. However, the value of softwood imports in January-October 2023 was 25% lower year-on-year. Hardwood imports were down by 22.7%, with cumulative volume for January-October 2023 at 390,000m3.
Two grants from the Province for the First Nations Emergency Services Society (FNESS) will help support emergency management and land stewardship, as well as disaster- and climate-risk resilience in communities throughout B.C. “We are committed to working with First Nations partners to create stronger and more resilient forests and communities,” said Bruce Ralston, Minister of Forests. “These grants build on the incredible work already being done by First Nations communities and will help grow capacity for Nation-led wildfire and emergency management in the future.” A $5-million grant from the Ministry of Forests will go toward a broad range of fire-stewardship programs at the local level. …In addition, the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness has provided $960,000 to FNESS to help advance the Province’s collective understanding of disaster and climate risk throughout B.C. to support community resilience, planning and decision-making.
Greenville, S.C. – Two separate tracts, jointly known as the Little River Thickety Creek tract, encompassing over 440 acres of bottomland hardwood forest situated along the Little River and Uwharrie National Forest in Montgomery County, North Carolina, have been permanently protected, thanks in part to a grant provided by the Enviva Forest Conservation Fund (EFCF), which enabled Three Rivers Land Trust to acquire a conservation easement on the property and safeguard these tracts, including a variety of habitats. …Currently, the site hosts habitat for two threatened species: the Carolina redhorse, and Villosa delumbis, a mussel species also known as the Eastern Creekshell. This stretch of the Little River is classified as the Yadkin/Upper Little River Aquatic Habitat natural area with a very high rating as determined by the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program.
The American chestnut was affected by a fungus introduced to the United States from East Asia in the 1900s known now as chestnut blight. …Researchers from various institutions have sought to introduce a blight-tolerant version of the tree, including the SUNY College of Environmental Science (ESF). In 2015, after decades of research, the college began developing the transgenic Darling line, named after early supporter Herb Darling. …According to The American Chestnut Foundation the goal of the Darling line of trees “was to confer blight tolerance by inserting a gene from wheat called oxalate oxidase.” …But in December, The American Chestnut Foundation announced it would no longer support the transgenic line developed by 
BLOOMINGTON, Minnesota — The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is tightening requirements imposed on the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources when the state wants to cut trees in wildlife management areas. The federal agency is essentially asking the state to prove that any logging on WMAs has wildlife management as its primary purpose at each logging site and not simply cutting trees for the state’s timber industry. The feds say they will withhold money for each proposed project until the state proves the wildlife purpose. The new requirements are just the latest twist in an ongoing saga over how much, where and why timber should be cut on the state’s 1,440 public wildlife management areas, at least those that have trees. …The debate impacts a relatively small amount of the state’s share of timber. 
