Enviva emerged from bankruptcy as a private company, with $1 billion less debt. In related news: San Group’s creditor protection hearings continue in a Vancouver court; Port Hawkesbury Paper says it shouldn’t have to pay for Nova Scotia Power’s bailout; and the Seattle Times urges caution on two new wood pellet plants. Meanwhile, Resource Work’s To-Do List for BC’s new Forest Minister; and Canada’s Green Party appoints a shadow forestry critic.
In Forestry/Climate news: the US is investing $265 million to save private forests from development; US Senator Lee introduces a Forest Service Accountability Act; Washington State researchers seek to identify illegally logged wood; and the EU recognizes carbon capture & storage in long-lasting wood products.
Finally, health and safety warnings over wood-burning stoves and fake Christmas trees.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
Exports from Finland’s forest industry reached Euro 3.16 billion in the third quarter of 2024, marking a 15% increase compared to the same period in 2023, according to the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke). Key contributors to the export value included paper (22%), cardboard (29%), pulp (21%), lumber (16%), and plywood (4%). …For the third quarter, total wood imports reached 1.37 million m3, 74% higher than in the corresponding period last year but down 1% from the second quarter of 2024. Of these imports, 68% were pulpwood, 21% were chips, and less than 2% were sawlogs. The wood product industry contributed Euro 0.76 billion in Q3 exports, reflecting an 18% year-on-year increase but a 16% decrease from Q2 2024. Lumber exports rose by 30% in value and 14% in volume compared to Q3 2023, while plywood exports increased by 9% in value and 19% in volume.
A group of UBC academics has compiled a list of ways to ensure this Christmas has as little effect on the environment as possible. …“Natural Christmas trees are more sustainable than artificial ones, which produce three times the emissions,” says Jiaying Zhao, associate professor in the department of psychology and the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability. She—also suggests renting potted Christmas trees. Johan Foster, a professor of chemical and biological engineering, says most fake Christmas trees contain polyvinyl chloride or PVC, which sheds microplastics indoors and is not good for children or pets. …Guangyu Wang, an associate professor in the faculty of forestry, suggests using a real Christmas tree and planting it in a biodegradable pot, which eliminates the environmental impacts of disposal, allows the tree to continue sequestering carbon and prevents methane emissions from trees decomposing in landfills.
The European Council has given the green light to the certification framework for carbon removals which includes carbon storage activities that capture & store carbon in long-lasting products for at least 35 years such as wood-based construction products. It is the first EU-level certification framework for permanent carbon removals, carbon farming and carbon storage in products. This voluntary framework will facilitate and encourage high-quality carbon removal and soil emission reduction activities in the EU, as a complement to sustained emission reductions. …Carbon removal activities will have to meet overarching criteria in order to be certified: they must bring about a quantified net carbon removal benefit, they must be additional, they must aim to ensure long-term storage of carbon while minimising the risk of carbon release and do no significant harm to the environment. In addition, activities eligible for certification will need to be independently verified by third-party certification bodies.
University of New Brunswick forestry professor Anthony Taylor began a research project to examine what was killing balsam fir trees favoured by many Canadians to decorate their homes at Christmas. …in a paper recently published in the journal “Frontiers in Forests and Global Change,” Taylor and his co-authors identify the cause of the die-off in western New Brunswick and eastern Maine as drought and high temperatures brought on by climate change. “Identifying the broad scale climate anomalies, such as a drought, associated with the reported sudden balsam fir mortality in 2018 could prove useful to determine the likelihood of future mortality in response to climate change,” the study says. Taylor said he was shocked by “that much” death of balsam firs. …Taylor said heat and drought have weakened balsam firs, making them more vulnerable to pests and diseases that they would otherwise be able to defend against. 
The U.S. government is investing $265 million in 17 states to save private forests from development, while improving rural economies, mitigating wildfire threats and reconnecting wildlife. The U.S. Forest Service recently announced the grants in its latest batch funded by the Forest Legacy Program. The October awards were made through Inflation Reduction Act funds. These new grants will help protect some 335,000 acres of vital forest lands in 21 projects. …“Landowners face many pressures to convert forests to other uses and this investment is key to keeping the economic, social, and ecological benefits that these forests provide,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Oct. 29 in press statement about the recent round of grants. …The total allocation for 2024 will amount to nearly $420 million in grants to 47 projects to save 500,000 acres of forest land. Over the last three decades since the program began, the federal government has saved 3.1 million forest acres in 479 completed projects.
KALISPELL, Mont. — The Flathead National Forest and the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation are working together to reduce wildfire risk through the Jackknife Project. The project is made possible by the Good Neighbor Authority, which allows the two agencies to plan and coordinate forest management projects. A Eureka company, Stoken Logging will harvest about 800 trees per acre and will leave about 100 to 250 trees per acre as part of a timber sale. The project spans over 1,000 acres on Good Creek Road and the harvest will allow residual trees to have more access to light water and nutrients. The reduction in trees will reduce the ability of wildfires to reach the top of trees, known as a crown fires.
SEATTLE — A pair of proposals to build wood pellet-manufacturing plants in Hoquiam and Longview would bring a growing but controversial global industry to Washington. Countries including the U.K. and Japan have subsidized the burning of such pellets to produce electricity. …But of concern is the industry’s operations elsewhere have revealed the use of whole logs, and even old growth forests in British Columbia, to manufacture them. …Drax and other wood pellet producers in the southeastern U.S. also vowed to use residual materials. But the Southern Environmental Law Center estimates that at least 100,000 acres of trees in the American south have been harvested for wood pellets. …The Times editorial board supports active management of working forestlands to improve their health, prevent wildfire and supply critical material for everything from utility poles to affordable housing. …But state leaders should be wary of these past examples. [to access the full story a Seattle Times subscription is required]
Wood burning stoves are now the UK’s biggest source of toxic particles in air pollution and could be giving you cancer, according to a new report. A third of all PM2.5 emissions now come from log and coal-burning fires in homes. PM2.5 particles are too small to be filtered out and studies suggest they enter the bloodstream and have been linked to serious heart disease and lung cancer. One analysis of 17 studies found breathing in PM2.5 particles increases the risk of dying from lung cancer by 11 per cent. One US study found using a wood-burning stove indoors increase the chance of women developing lung cancer by 43 per cent. Another US study found people who use their wood burner for more than 30 days a year increase their lung cancer risk 68 per cent.