Resolute shareholders voted in favour of Paper Excellence’s offer, which when complete will make them a subsidiary of Domtar. In other Company news: Paper Excellence secures creditor protection for Northern Pulp; and Boise Cascade; Clearwater Paper and Louisiana Pacific report positive Q3 earnings. Meanwhile: Canada’s GDP is up; US homebuilders are pulling back; softwood trade is down; and pellet prices rise.
In Forestry news: BC’s allowable cut called ‘out of wack‘; Alberta’s new ministry raises alarms; Pennsylvania signs stewardship agreement; Brazil’s election may reduce deforestation; Norway to pay Indonesia to protect forests; Ireland urges forest certification; and four EU countries defend their industries.
Finally, an insider’s look at life as a female BC logging truck driver.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
Resolute Forest Products shareholders gave their approval to the $2.7 billion acquisition offer from Paper Excellence Group on Monday during a virtual meeting. The majority of shareholders supported the transaction, according to a preliminary report. The level of support has not yet been disclosed. The transaction is conditional on regulatory approval. The transaction would make Paper Excellence a major player in the Quebec forest industry. Resolute Forest Products would become a subsidiary of the Domtar Group, which also became part of the B.C. company last year. When the transaction was announced, Resolute Forest Products president and CEO Rémi G. Lalonde said that the acquisition of the Montreal-based company by Paper Excellence was good news for Quebec. He pointed out that the company would have access to more financial resources. …The agreement provides for a feasibility study to convert the mill to a packaging paper production facility.
Homebuilders say 2023 is going to bring an even sharper downturn in the market, as high interest rates scare away buyers. Housing starts for single-family homes dropped nearly 19% year over year in September, according to the U.S. Census. Building permits, which are an indicator of future construction, fell 17%. “It is definitely a hard landing for housing,” said one homebuilder in the Denver area. …Sheryl Palmer, CEO of Arizona-based homebuilder Taylor Morrison, which just reported strong earnings for its third quarter, said entry-level buyers are clearly struggling. But she also admitted that higher-end buyers are not flooding in the door either anymore.
Prospective buyers in the third quarter of 2022 are more likely to have higher levels of income and education than earlier in the year. This helps explain why affordability expectations have improved. In the third quarter of 2022, 69% of buyers could only afford a minority of homes for sale in their markets, a much lower share than in the first (81%) or second (77%) quarters of the year. Conversely, the share able to afford at least half the homes available rose to 31%, up from 19% and 23% in the first two quarters of the year. Affordability expectations between the second and third quarters of 2022 improved in all regions. 
FutureMetrics published a new 
IROQUOIS FALLS — The Iroquois Falls Community Forest Committee (IFCFC) has expressed full support of the legal action recently taken by three Treaty 9 First Nations against the Ontario Government’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry for promoting what they consider to be aggressive and unsustainable forestry practices. “The IFCFC shares their concerns about clear-cuts and the use of the controversial herbicide, glyphosate, to kill off leafy trees and other flora that the industry believes compete with their preferred tree species at the expense of wildlife,” Tom Vockeroth, co-chair of the IFCFC, said in a statement. Chapleau Cree, Missanabie and Brunswick House First Nations have jointly launched legal action against the province claiming by allowing forestry practices such as aerial spraying of pesticides including using the herbicide glyphosate, the government has broken the Treaty 9 promise allowing First Nations to continue “their way of life and livelihoods”
IRELAND — Minister Pippa Hackett, received a study from COFORD on voluntary private forest certification in Ireland. …The study establishes that fewer than 6% of private forests in Ireland are certified and provides a series of recommendations to help increase certification. Welcoming the publication the Minister said: “This study on voluntary certification clearly outlines the importance of increasing the area of certified forest in Ireland. While state forests have been certified since 2001 the extent of certification in the private sector remains too low and can be a barrier to market access for those owners. …The two main certification bodies that currently operate in Ireland are the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for the endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC).
This year, Norway will pay Indonesia $56 million for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. Both countries struck a new climate deal in September, in which Norway will provide support for Indonesia’s bid to curb deforestation and forest degradation, with the aim that Indonesia’s forests will turn into a carbon sink by 2030. Norway was supposed to pay the $56 million in 2020 under its previous climate agreement with Indonesia, but the Nordic country failed to pay, resulting in Indonesia terminating the original agreement.
Immune cells that normally protect against inflammation and infections can be altered by wildfire smoke to promote inflammation. A long list of diseases are associated with inflammation. Studies have shown that healthy individuals and those with pre-existing conditions are affected by the very small PM2.5 particles produced by wildfire smoke. Below are excerpts from an article written by Tori Rodriguez first published in Pulmonology Advisor. It covers the effects of smoke on humans and suggests what could be done to mitigate the potential damage. One idea is for fire and local officials when considering evacuation guidelines to plan for not only the dangers of flames, but also the effects of smoke.