As winter nears and European energy prices rise, concerns build over wood pellet availability, logging and whole-tree sourcing. In other Business news: there is limited hope for resolution to the Canada-US softwood spat; Ontario forced to raise its carbon price; and two more freight rail unions reach tentative agreements. In Market news: Southern timber prices plummet; and how the pandemic has shifted where US homes are built.
In Forestry news: early announcements on National Forest Week; fours species of Quebec trees are said to be at risk; and how older forests can buffer the effects of climate change on birds. Meanwhile: a new book probes the turmoil in Maines logging industry; while another celebrates BC loggers who save an old-growth forest.
Finally, can you afford to hoard? Toilet paper costs are spiralling.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
A year after losing its court battle over the federal carbon tax at Canada’s supreme court, the Ford government appears to have capitulated and is raising the price of carbon for industrial polluters under its own emissions program. A regulatory proposal amending Ontario’s emissions performance standards shows the price per tonne of carbon from industrial emitters will balloon from the current $40 per tonne to $65 in 2024 and spiking at $170 in 2031. The changes will mean Ontario will apply the same carbon pricing that Premier Doug Ford spent years lamenting, ensuring that the province is in line with federal regulations while maintaining some control over carbon pricing in the industrial sector. …Sectors impacted by the regulation include cement, chemicals, electrical generation and pulp facilities.
Two more railroad unions have reached tentative labor agreements with the U.S. freight railroads right before Labor Day weekend. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and the American Train Dispatchers Association (ATDA) both said the labor agreements are based on recommendations from the Presidential Emergency Board (PEB), a three-person independent committee appointed by President Joe Biden that sought to come up with ways that the unions and railroads could settle their differences. The two unions represent about 6,000 freight rail employees, according to the National Carriers’ Conference Committee (NCCC), the group representing the Class I railroads in the contract negotiations. So far, five of the 12 railroad unions have reached a tentative agreement, representing a total of more than 21,000 employees, according to the NCCC. …Altogether, the unions that have reached agreements represent roughly 15% of the over 140,000 employees at the bargaining table. 
Who would have thought? It turns out hoarding toilet paper in the early days of the pandemic was a wise financial decision. If your bathroom cupboard is still stockpiled with rolls, you don’t have to feel ashamed anymore. The toilet paper shortage of 2020 was an early warning sign of the large supply-chain disruptions that the global economy was about to suffer. Now wholesale tissue paper prices are surging to an all-time high — a new crisis that indicates inflationary pressures are still building up. The toilet-paper industry is a microcosm of the much larger, energy-intensive manufacturing sector, where production costs are continuing to skyrocket in line with soaring wholesale energy prices. It’s the same issue across European industrial commodities — from glass, ceramics and synthetic fibres to aluminum, cement, fertilizer and dozens of other daily-life goods. …As is true for many manufacturers, the core of the problem for toilet paper is the cost of energy.
Each year National Forest Week (NFW) is celebrated across Canada by many individuals and diverse governmental and non governmental organizations. During NFW, Canadians are invited to learn more about Canada’s forest heritage and to raise awareness about this valuable and renewable resource. Forests are fundamental to our economy, culture, traditions and history – and to our future. Communities, families and individuals depend on forests for their livelihood and way of life.
At Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries Inc. (Al-Pac), we understand the value of being a good neighbor and have a strong tradition of supporting communities within our Forest Management Agreement area and our mill site. …Al-Pac invests in initiatives that focus on education, culture, environment, and health and wellness. These funding priorities reflect our commitment to being actively engaged in the development of sustainable communities where we live and operate. In 2011, we introduced our Community Enhancement Program (CEP). The program supports small-scale projects that include, but are not limited to: small scale non-profit facility upgrades, expansion and development projects within a 100 km radius of our Mill Site and communities within our Forest Management Agreement (FMA) area. Since 2011, the CEP provides a grant of up to $25,000 to two qualified non-profit organizations each year. Applications for October close September 15.
Protect native species, eliminate invasive trees and plant more that belong here. Those are three tips that conservationists would like to see followed to halt the decline or even extinction of tree species across the globe. Malin Rivers is head of conservation prioritization at the Botanic Gardens Conservation International, which runs the Global Tree Assessment project and produced a paper warning about the risk of massive tree extinction. In Quebec, Rivers and her team assessed 78 species of trees and found that four of them are at risk: White ash; Eastern hemlock; Butternut; and American elm. …Invasive trees are common in Quebec as well. The Norway Maple, for example, was introduced to North America in the 1700s. Tree Canada says the Norway Maple can prevent native tree seedlings (sugar maple and red oak) from establishing, and its leaves release toxins that affect soil fungi and microbes.
As gas and electricity prices skyrocket, many households in Europe are turning to firewood as an alternative heating source this winter. But the surge in demand and supply cuts from Russia are pushing up prices and causing shortages, threatening to leave the most vulnerable, who are often reliant on wood-burning, out in the cold this winter. “When talking about wood for energy, most EU member states are experiencing shortages and pellet prices have multiplied by around 2.5 times in countries like Germany and Belgium,” a Bioenergy Europe spokesperson said. Moreover, the increase in energy prices has led many EU citizens to turn to this energy source, according to the trade association. …There is an ongoing debate about the sustainability of wood-based energy. Bioenergy Europe argues that it is a renewable energy source… however, ENGOs warn about the impact of carbon emissions released by producing energy from biomass. 
Burning wood was
B.C. wildfire crews will be in a “tight crunch” tonight and Tuesday to bring in heavy equipment and establish guard lines to help stifle the Battleship Mountain wildfire near Hudson’s Hope. “We’re ramping things up to begin to really start going at this thing over the next number of days,” said incident commander Scott Rennick said. The Battleship fire is now at an estimated 11,949 hectares, or about 120 square kilometres in size, roughly five times the size of the city of Fort St. John. …There are now 25 firefighters assigned to the blaze, who have access to the area over the W.A.C. Bennett dam, which can’t take heavy equipment. Sixteen helicopters are assigned to the broader Battleship complex of six fires burning in the region, with bucketing operations at the sides of Battleship Mountain ongoing to “buy time” until the heavy equipment arrives, Rennick said.