EU Forest campaigners plan to shift their campaign against woody biomass to individual EU nations. In related news: Elaine O’Neil opines on why forests and wood products are part of the climate solution; the Washington Post on flushing away Canada’s virgin forests; Bob Brash’s solution to BC’s hollow paradigm shift; and Washington tree farmers push back on stream buffers. Meanwhile: the Royal Bank of Canada creates a Climate Action Institute; and a German study shows insect decline in forests.
In Business news: Resolute’s Quebec cellulose plant nears completion; Taiga‘s Building Products’ Covid savior; ABC Supply completes US LBM Wallboard acquisition; and IKEA’s Russia factory sale is not reversible. On the Market front: US residential construction spending falls, US and Canadian material costs ease; and Random Lengths makes changes to its plywood and moulding price guides.
Finally, a sleep aid that proves how sleep-inducing Canada’s roads can be.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
Over the last few months, the BC forest sector has increasingly been the beneficiary of broad proclamations by many who work outside of the sector about an upcoming “paradigm shift” and “transformative future” in the management of BC’s forests. For some, these are apparently new and wise revelations worthy of our everlasting gratitude. The reality is that many of us have been around long enough to know that for decades, these terms have been bandied around repeatedly when each generation believes they have found the grand solution to the forestry issues of the day. These many decades have also seen the ebb and flow of the lobbying influence each faction in the debates can harness for their agendas dependent upon the government’s leanings in any particular election cycle. Today, many would say the pendulum is weighted towards environmental influences, while others will argue the industry’s influences were dominant in previous times. There is probably merit on both sides of the argument.
MOSCOW — Swedish furniture giant IKEA does not have an option to buy back its largest factory in Russia, the new owner said on Tuesday, closing a possible route back to the country should it wish to return one day. Invest Plus, a special purpose vehicle beneficially owned by Vadim Osipov, finalized a deal to buy IKEA’s plant in the city of Novgorod in late March. Osipov is CEO and co-owner of Slotex, a Russian producer of laminates and kitchen worktops. “The deal does not involve any buyback option,” Osipov said in a press conference on Tuesday, adding he could not disclose other terms of the deal. …Osipov said the factory should be fully operational again in three to six months, with some production to resume at the end of May.
A federal parliamentary committee has passed a motion to investigate the ownership structure and business relations of the B.C.-based forestry company Paper Excellence. The motion, passed in Ottawa Friday in an in-camera meeting of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources, called on Paper Excellence owner Jackson Wijaya and Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Francois-Philippe Champagne to testify before the committee. …The probe comes following a months-long journalistic investigation conducted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). That investigation revealed a nexus of links between Paper Excellence and Asia Pulp and Paper, a conglomerate environmental groups allege has been responsible for widespread deforestation, human rights abuses and conflicts with Indigenous communities. Both companies say they are independent of one another. …Paper Excellence said it…“welcomes the opportunity to answer questions from the committee”.
In November Premier David Eby promised “accelerated action” on implementing the Old Growth Strategic Review’s recommendations. I had high hopes the decades of overcutting primary forests were nearing their end. Just lip service? Well, the B.C. NDP commissioned it and has failed to act meaningfully 100+ days into his leadership and 2.5+ years into the Review’s recommended timeline. Weren’t old growth deferrals meaningful? Yes, mostly. Problem is, many indigenous nations were displeased about being asked after the fact, so the laying down of the plan was flawed before it started. …The ecosystems contained in the Walker, the Goat, Raush watersheds-each with at-risk species-should be protected. By pressuring the province and feds to immediately provide local indigenous nations and communities economic incentives to protect these valleys, we locals can at least lead here, providing some degree of certainty for the unborn generations to come. 
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…Once viewed as an overseas oddity, the bidet has exploded in popularity over the past three years. Retailers report sales leaping tenfold during the pandemic, and remaining strong. The vast majority of Americans still exclusively use toilet paper, though. …Bidets are now within reach of every American: Simple versions can be had for just $30. For the world’s northern forests, that’s great news. …Should you join these new converts? There are three reasons for taking the plunge: the environment, savings and performance. The main one is to reduce clear-cutting mature forests. Every year, Americans flush the equivalent of millions of trees down the toilet. Much of this toilet paper comes from trees logged in Canada’s species-rich boreal forests. …One day, we may come to see wiping our bums with extra-soft toilet paper from virgin forests as we do smoking cigarettes: mainly a good idea for the people who sell the products. [to access the full story a Washington Post subscription is required]
SEATTLE — Small logging farmers in Washington state are waging a battle with the state Forest Practices Board that controls logging on private land. It involves state regulations enforcing excessively large buffers that the farmers are required to maintain next to area streams. Buffers stabilize riverbanks, hold back sediment and farm chemicals, and protect fish and other animals. A parallel battle is taking place against efforts by Gov. Jay Inslee to impose new and similarly large mandatory buffers on agricultural farmland statewide. The Washington Farm Forestry Association, which represents thousands of small tree farmers and forestland owners, spent eight years building its case that well-managed 50- to 75-foot buffers, rather than the state required 90- to 200-foot buffers, will be just as effective at protecting fish and water, while allowing farmers access to more of their land for harvesting. …Landowners who don’t plant and maintain buffers would face fines of up to $10,000 per day. 
The Lolo National Forest is moving ahead with a logging, forest thinning and prescribed burning project west of Missoula after responding to environmental groups’ concerns. The Sawmill-Petty Project includes 5,321 acres of logging — including 1,342 of clear-cut — and 11,558 acres of thinning and prescribed burning, sometimes in combination, for a total of 16,879 acres of work. The work is scattered across a slew of individual units west of Missoula and south of Interstate 90, from the Corral Creek drainage southwest of Frenchtown, through Alberton and almost to Tarkio. The project area extends from I-90 and the Clark Fork River on the north, southward up the Sawmill and Petty Creek drainages, and up to the heights of South Fork Petty Creek drainage. …The decision Tuesday noted that the project was modified after objections from environmental groups concerned about the impacts of logging and road-building on wildlife, including the federally protected grizzly bear and bull trout. 
The final revisions to the European Union’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED) were reached March 30, with nearly all environmental activists, responding negatively. The policy revisions will continue allowing the burning of the world’s forests to make energy, with emissions from EU powerplant smokestacks not counted. Wood pellets will still be classified as renewable energy on par with zero-carbon wind and solar. While most forest advocates agree that the RED revisions made some small concessions to the environment, they say the biomass regulations… will allow the EU to subsidize wood pellets made from trees harvested in Europe, the U.S. and Canada. Enviva, the world’s largest wood pellet producer, wrote that it “welcomes the continued recognition of biomass as 100% renewable.” Forest advocates say they will now shift their campaign strategy against biomass burning from focusing on the EU as a whole to efforts made in individual European nations.