Daily News for February 13, 2023

Today’s Takeaway

US home builders believe housing development may be excluded from Buy American standard

The Tree Frog Forestry News
February 13, 2023
Category: Today's Takeaway

US home builders believe housing development may be excluded from the new Buy American standard. In other Business news: Camden Timbers opens new sawmill in Arkansas;  Nova Scotia’s Port Hawkesbury Paper deal called balanced; Woodtone Industries fined for safety violation; Aspen Planers’ workers protest lack of permits; and production delays cited for Walmart’s cancellation of Structurlam contract.

In Forestry/Climate news: BC ENGO’s call for more forest protection; industry groups denounce Oregon’s forest plan; thinning forests won’t help the Great Salt Lake; scientists work to restore the whitebark pine; and a US Forest Service study links tree planting with mortality rates.

Finally, the many uses of charcoal—it’s a killer, a saviour and a trickster.

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor

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Froggy Foibles

The Right Chemistry: The many uses of charcoal

By Joe Schwarcz
Montreal Gazette
February 10, 2023
Category: Froggy Foibles
Region: Canada, Canada East

It’s a killer. It’s a saviour. It’s also a trickster. It’s one of the most important substances ever discovered. It’s charcoal! …around 4000 BC man discovered that when naturally occurring ores of copper, zinc and tin oxides are heated with charcoal, the carbon strips away the oxygen leaving the pure metal behind. …In the ninth century, a Chinese alchemist discovered that blending charcoal with saltpeter (potassium nitrate) and sulphur resulted in a mixture that would combust readily — “Gunpowder”. …Around 1500 BC, Egyptians used charcoal to eliminate bad smells from wounds. By 400 BC, Phoenicians were storing water in charred barrels on trading ships to improve its taste. …Later, it was determined that impregnation with chemicals such as zinc chloride or phosphoric acid prior to heating improved the adsorption properties. Today a variety of activated carbon products are available for use in various applications. …Inventive marketers have absorbed this information and have started to roll out various foods and beverages containing activated carbon with promises of “detoxing.”

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Business & Politics

Nova Scotia agreements aim for balance on ecological forestry, economy

By Tom Ayers
CBC News
February 10, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

The Nova Scotia government says renewed agreements with Port Hawkesbury Paper will be good for the forests — and the economy — and take significant steps toward implementation of the 2018 Lahey Report that called for a shift to ecological forestry.  Under the agreements, the province has reduced the amount of timber the company can take from Crown land, while increasing the amount it will pay for management of public and private forests.  Natural Resources and Renewables Minister Tory Rushton says the agreements strike a good balance.  … Port Hawkesbury Paper agrees with the changes, which have become necessary as the business model for forestry has changed in the province, said Geoff Clarke, the company’s manager of business development.  Under its forest utilization licence, the paper company can harvest up to 275,000 tonnes of timber annually from Crown lands, which is down from 400,000 tonnes.

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NAHB believes housing development may be excluded from Buy America standard

By David Logan
NAHB – Eye on Housing
February 10, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has proposed new standards to determine if construction materials for federally funded infrastructure projects are made in the USA.  The new guidance “sets standards to carry out the statutory requirement.” …Federally funded infrastructure projects include housing development that receives any federal support such as through the CDBG and HOME programs. The Build America, Buy America Act requires that OMB issue standards that define ‘‘all manufacturing processes’’ in the case of construction materials. …Among construction materials covered by the guidance are lumber, drywall, glass, and plastics. …A Federal awarding agency may issue a waiver to the application of the Buy America Preference. …OMB has provided only 30 days to comment on the new standard.  NAHB will submit comments as we believe that, under OMB’s proposal as written, virtually all housing development could be excluded from the standard. 

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Production Delays Caused Walmart to Cancel Structurlam Contract

By Marty Cook
Arkansas Business
February 13, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

Walmart canceled its exclusive contract with Structurlam Mass Timber Corp., a move that caused Structurlam to temporarily suspend operations at its $90 million Conway facility, because of production issues. …The Bentonville retailer had contracted with Structurlam, based in Penticton, BC, to provide 1.7 million cubic feet of mass timber to build Walmart’s expansive new headquarters complex. …But the massive order proved to be too much too soon for the plant, and Walmart canceled the contract in January. “It isn’t uncommon in manufacturing to have unexpected startup delays or issues,” said Cindi Marsiglio, Walmart’s senior VP. “We are still very much part of the mass timber partnership and growth, but nonetheless I need to get our campus [finished]. …Structurlam CEO Matthew Karmel said his company was in discussions with Walmart to resolve the production issues when the retailer announced the dissolution. Marsiglio said she would “direct the reason” for the production problems to Structurlam. [to access the full story an Arkansas Business subscription is required]

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Astara Capital Partners opens sawmill in Camden with plans to create 50-plus jobs

The Arkadelphian
February 10, 2023
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

CAMDEN, Arkansas — Astara Capital Partners, along with Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and other state and local officials, on Friday marked the opening of the Camden Timbers sawmill and celebrated the economic investment and job creation it will bring to Arkansas “Astara is proud to invest in American manufacturing companies, and today’s ceremony highlights the wonderful team at Camden Timbers and its special partnership with the state of Arkansas,” said Astara Managing Partner Michael Ranson. …Camden Timbers will create more than 50 jobs in the area. The company expects the sawmill to produce more than 50 million board feet of timbers and dimensional lumber through its sawmill, kiln, and planer operations. …“Our community welcomes Camden Timbers in restarting the former Victory Lumber mill,” said James Lee Silliman, executive director of the Ouachita Partnership for Economic Development.

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Finance & Economics

Canadian Investment in Building Construction Decreased 1.3% in December

Statistics Canada
February 13, 2023
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada

Investment in building construction decreased 1.3% to $20.2 billion in December. The residential sector declined 2.1% to $14.6 billion, while the non-residential sector was up 0.8% to $5.6 billion. Investment in residential building construction was down 2.1% to $14.6 billion in December. Investment in the construction of single-family homes continued to decline for the fifth consecutive month, down 0.5% to $7.8 billion. Alberta (-3.6%) played the largest role in the decline. Investment in multi-unit construction decreased 3.9% to $6.8 billion. Ontario posted its largest decline (-8.1%) since April 2020, early in the COVID-19 pandemic. …Investment in non-residential construction was up 0.8% to $5.6 billion in December. Ontario (+2.7%) accounted for most of the growth as it led the gains in each component.

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US hardwood lumber exports to Middle East and North Africa region up 11%

Trade Arabia
February 13, 2023
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States, International

The total exports of US hardwood lumber and veneer to the Middle East and North Africa region surged by  11% in 2022 to hit $107 million, said a report by American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) released ahead of a key industry event – Dubai WoodShow. To be held from March 7 to 9 at the Dubai International Exhibition and Convention Centre, the event will see AHEC host a large American Hardwood Pavilion with individual booths occupied by 14 US hardwood exporting companies as well as the Indiana State Department of Agriculture. The 14 companies participating in the pavilion are Allegheny Wood Products, Baillie Lumber, Boss Lumber, Cascade Hardwood, Cummings Lumber, Hardwoods of America, Kamps Hardwoods, Kennebec Lumber, Midwest Hardwood, Missouri Walnut, Nina Company, Oaks Unlimited, Penn-Sylvan International and Wheeland Lumber.

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Forestry

Canadian Forestry Innovation Awards Program Now Accepting Applications

Forest Products Association of Canada
February 13, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

The Chisholm Awards for Innovation in Forestry that recognizes youth leadership and innovation in the forest sector is now accepting applications. The program is administered by Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) and was introduced in 2022 to celebrate young researchers who are passionate about climate positive forestry and to showcase the consequential work they are doing to help Canada meet its lower carbon emissions goals. “The award showcases innovative solutions and pioneering research that has potential to make a real impact on the future of forestry,” said FPAC President and CEO Derek Nighbor. “Canada’s forest products sector is proud to have innovative minds working in and alongside our sector, and it’s important to recognize their work and achievements.” The program is open to Canadian students and young researchers who are developing game-changing innovations in the forest, at production facilities, along the supply chain, or via product innovation.

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Quesnel’s wildfire safety in need of workers

By Frank Peebles
Quesnel Cariboo Observer
February 11, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Preparing communities for potential wildfire is what the Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC) does, and the City of Quesnel is one of their leading partners. The work to mitigate the potential of fires in the forest interfacing with urban areas inevitably and necessarily means strategic harvesting in the bush around any municipality, which means careful and meaningful thought put to the uses of that wood and the ways it can be logged, maximizing value and safety. The current challenge slowing the process is a lack of people to do the next wave of protective forestry work. But if there’s a municipality that has shown an ability to address the wildfire interface concern, with boots on the ground following an intelligent plan, it is Quesnel, said FESBC. …Training is the foundation of it all, said Quesnel’s former mayor Bob Simpson, a member of the Forestry Worker Supports and Community Resilience Council. 

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Anti-Glyphosate Protestors Target BC Forestry Conference

By Cheryl Jahn
CKPG News
February 10, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

PRINCE GEORGE, BC – The Anti-Glyphosate Stop the Spray folks gathered outside the Conference where the BC Professional Foresters conference was wrapping up. “So we’re here trying to meet up with the Forests Minister for a discussion about the stocking standards and growing more diverse forests in our in our region,” explains James Steidle. “Because if you drive out of town in any direction, you’ll probably be stuck in the middle of a pine plantation. And it wasn’t all pine trees before. A lot of this wildlife need deciduous species.” Glyphosate is a chemical forest companies tend to spray on the coniferous plantations as a way of killing deciduous trees. …Unfortunately, the Minister offered up a video presentation instead.

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Aspen Planers employees, forestry workers stage protest in Merritt

By Chad Klassen
B100.ca
February 10, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

MERRITT, B.C. — Standing outside the Ministry of Forest building in Merritt, employees at Aspen Planers, logging truck drivers and others impacted by recent shutdowns are trying to get the province’s attention as the company waits for the B.C. government to sign off on cutting permits. …While the mill is currently operating, it’s been a difficult couple months for many of the protesters, who have come off a long period of not working. …“The only mill in town now and we still cannot get the permits approved,” he said. “We have 300,000 of cubic metres in permits waiting to be approved. …They have waited for six months to a year to approve those things.” …The mayor of Merritt Mike Goetz has heard no response from the province after several calls to the Forest Minister Bruce Ralston have gone unanswered.

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1 down, 168 to go: Environmentalists call for province to protect 30% of land by 2030

By Wolf Depner
Alberni Valley News
February 10, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Environmentalists are praising the creation of a new conservancy area near Revelstoke, but the provincial government needs to create 168 like it to meet its own protection goals of 30 per cent of its land base by 2030. The new Incomappleux Conservancy… can still be used for traditional Indigenous practices and some low-impact economic activities, but logging, mining and hydroelectric power generation are prohibited. …Charlotte Dawe, campaigner with the Wilderness Committee said the province is likely to meet its goals, if the government defers more logging, freezes mining and drilling permits in sensitive areas and places immediate moratoriums on activities in Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas. “One issue I foresee … is that government will only be interested in protecting areas where logging company buyout is possible,” said Dawe. “This could limit conservation opportunities and increase the cost.” Such a buyout happened when Interfor received an undisclosed sum for releasing 75,000 hectares from its forest tenure, Dawe said.

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Local logger disputes claims the forestry industry is unsustainable

Letter by Ken Cottini
Comox Valley Record
February 10, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

To the members of Save Our Forests: I and other workers logged these same areas many years ago and now they are backlogging the same areas again. To me, that is being sustainable. These same lands that now belong to Mosiac belonged to Crown Zellerback, later to be TimberWest – they have vast holdings in this area and are able to grow more cubic meters of wood per year than what they log. To me, that is being sustainable.  I know they do not employ the same amount of people as they did in the past, but most of the reductions are to do with technology and the ability to log more with fewer people. These companies have been able to employ a lot of people from the Comox Valley and Campbell River throughout the last 100 years or so.

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The association between tree planting and mortality

By Dino Grandoni
The Washington Post
February 12, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

It turns out the health gains of all that greenery add up. A recent study conducted in Portland, Ore., found that in neighborhoods where a nonprofit planted more trees, fewer people died. The paper, by researchers at the U.S. Forest Service, adds to a budding body of research into the health benefits of living around greenery. Its findings amount to a prescription for policymakers to plant more trees. “Urban trees are an essential part of our public health infrastructure, and they should be treated as such,” said Geoffrey Donovan, the Forest Service researcher who led the study published in the December issue of the journal Environment International. For three decades, the Portland nonprofit Friends of Trees planted nearly 50,000 oaks, dogwoods and other arboreal species around the city, giving Donovan and his colleagues granular data on how its canopy has changed over time.

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Scientists, land managers work to restore whitebark pine nationwide

By Helena Dore
The Bozeman Daily Chronicle
February 12, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

The Little Bear Seed Orchard on the Custer Gallatin National Forest is playing an important role in national efforts to restore whitebark pine. Employees there tend whitebark pine grafts. …Clay DeMastus, the site’s former manager, said they have a 7-acre seed orchard, a clone bank and two test plantations. The orchard was set up on a clearcut from the 1980s’, and the first whitebark pine grafts were planted there in 2013. Grafts at the orchard get selected and tested for their apparent genetic resistance to invasive white pine blister rust, which is caused by an Asian fungus. They are sourced from the Greater Yellowstone area, and they’re also screened for tolerance to cold weather and drought, DeMastus said. Land managers hope the orchard’s trees will produce cones, which contain the rust-resistant seeds that can be planted throughout the region. …They are working with others to study whitebark pine genetic resistance to the rust. 

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Timber groups, rural counties denounce Oregon state forests plan

By Zach Urness
The Register-Guard
February 10, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Timber groups and rural counties say an Oregon Department of Forestry plan for managing 600,000 acres of state forests needs to be overhauled amid concern about it leading to declining logging and revenue. The Oregon Forest Industries Council, a trade association representing forestland owners and forest products manufacturers, said ODF used inaccurate data in crafting its Forest Habitat Conservation Plan that will manage the state’s forests for the next 70 years. Their main concern was that ODF originally said its plan would allow the harvest of 250 million board feet of timber annually but has revised it to 173.5 million board feet for the next two years. Counties are worried that amount would stay in place over seven decades, reducing by $30 million revenue per biennium for ODF’s budget and more for counties that depend on it.

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Scientists say thinning forests won’t help the Great Salt Lake

By Leia Larsen
The Salt Lake Tribune
February 13, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Forest thinning is the latest fantastical idea floated to rescue the Great Salt Lake. But research published last year shows thinning trees in the watershed won’t help the lake refill. In some cases, it could make things worse. Even from a practical perspective, substantial mechanical thinning of Utah’s forests is nearly impossible. …The forests largely cover mountains with slopes too steep for the needed machinery. …The Uinta Mountains, however, had a natural thinning event more than a decade ago when bark beetles ravaged the national forest. …And even with all that thinning, the lake has continued to shrink. Studies published after the massive die-offs across Western forests show it didn’t lead to surges in stream flows. It ran counter to prevailing beliefs at the time. …“Most of the studies were done in wetter places,” Sara Goeking, a biological scientist with the U.S. Forest Service said.

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Montana can control its own wildfire destiny

By Kendall Cotton, CEO, Frontier Institute
Helena Independent Record
February 12, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Kendall Cotton

Montana has nearly nine million acres of forested land which is at very high or high wildfire risk. We all know what this means when late summer hits: a high probability of us all choking under smoke filled skies. Luckily, Montana leaders are well positioned to proactively tackle our wildfire crisis, even while the winter snow is still on the ground. In a new report authored by my organization the Frontier Institute, in partnership with Bozeman’s Property and Environment Research Center, we provide four strategies Montana can use to take our wildfire destiny into our own hands:  1. Actively manage forests with prescribed burns …2. Continue leveraging local forest management solutions ….3. Upgrade the Montana Fire Force …4. Lead a model mitigation certification program for homeowners

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Forestry association to host teachers conservation workshops

Lawrence County Press
February 12, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Mississippi Forestry Association will offer in-person teachers conservation workshops this summer. Workshops will be held at Best Western Premier/Lake Thoreau in Hattiesburg on June 4-9, Northeast Mississippi Community College in Booneville on June 18-23, and the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum in Jackson on June 27-29. Teachers conservation workshops are hands-on workshops with an emphasis on forests and other natural resources. Participants learn by demonstration and practical exercises how natural resources education can be integrated into the classroom. Workshop participants will go on field trips to sawmills, tree farms, and other natural resource sites. Participants will also be certified to use teaching materials of the nationally acclaimed environmental education curriculum, Project Learning Tree. Instructors include professionals from many of Mississippi’s forestry-related agencies, organizations, and companies.

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Endowment established at Auburn to honor local resident

The Andalusia Star News
February 11, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

The Solon and Martha Dixon Foundation has established the Doris Bass Tyler Endowed Scholarship at Auburn University for the purpose of providing scholarships in the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, or CFWE. As a dedicated employee of the Solon and Martha Dixon Foundation, Tyler has worked tirelessly during her life in support of Solon Dixon’s vision of educating future generations about the conservation of natural resources. With this gift, her career is recognized and celebrated through the financial support granted to CFWE students. “It is exciting to know that a scholarship bearing my name will continue to promote Mr. Solon Dixon’s vision for forestry education and the Foundation’s primary focus to fund forestry, forestry education and conservation programs,” said Tyler. 

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Australian forests face uncertain future as ‘desperation’ builds over major parties’ inaction over logging

By Lisa Cox and Tamsin Rose
The Guardian
February 12, 2023
Category: Forestry

AUSTRALIA — With no clear commitments, the gap between community expectations and actions of state MPs will be a major election flashpoint.  In early January, activist Susie Russell was arrested on a road that runs through the Bulga State Forest on the New South Wales mid-north coast.  She and about 30 protesters – NSW Greens upper house MP Sue Higginson among them – were there to support a young local woman who was sitting atop a tripod used to block trucks and logging crews from entering the forest.  …“When Forestry Corp started logging the Bulga State Forest in December, it was pretty much the last straw for our community,” she says.  …“We agreed we would do whatever we could do to save the forest,” she says.   “But it’s not just about our patch. It’s about the wider management of forests and what they’re managed for.”

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Franz and wood-products industry at odds over carbon bill

By Don Jenkins
Capital Press
February 10, 2023
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US West

Joe Nguyen & Hilary Franz

OLYMPIA — Washington Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz said Feb. 9 selling carbon credits can increase timber harvests, a claim challenged by the wood-products industry. Franz is asking the Legislature to give the Department of Natural Resources authority to treat carbon credits like timber or gravel — a valuable material that could be sold. Franz said carbon credits could fund replanting burned forests or buying timberland, increasing the volume of timber available to sawmills. “There is this (idea) that the only way we sell carbon is we take wood off the market. That is not the case,” she said. “Much of what we’re trying to do is actually have the ability to grow our wood-basket, grow our working-forest lands.”  Sierra Pacific Industries timber procurement manager Bill Turner told the Senate Environment and Energy Committee on Feb. 10 that Franz’s new proposal is so wide-open it also could lock-up timberland. 

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Health & Safety

Chilliwack wood product manufacturer fined $90,000 for ‘high-risk’ safety violations

By Paul Henderson
The Chilliwack Progress
February 10, 2023
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada, Canada West

A Chilliwack wood product manufacturer has been handed a hefty fine for a “repeated high-risk” safety violation. WorkSafeBC imposed a penalty of $88,348.85 to Woodtone Industries for repeated instances where an inspector observed a worker cleaning nozzles on a pressurized paint machine that was not locked out. “The firm failed to isolate and effectively control energy sources if the unexpected startup could cause injury,” according to a WorkSafeBC public posting about the fine. “This was a repeated and high-risk violation.” Woodtone makes exterior finishing products for the construction industry, and has been in operation for more than 30 years. They sell their products across North America. Their head office is on Aitken Road in Chilliwack.

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