Wildfires and drought continue to plague BC, Europe and Argentina. In related news: wildfires impact home insurance coverage in the US West; test balloons are used to monitor large fires; California looks to inmates to augment fire crews; a Quebecer breaks the world record for tree planting; and Europe’s drought could have a long afterlife.
In Business news: forest companies adjust to address labour shortages; and China’s material ban spurs growth in US recycled paper mills. In Wood Product news: BC’s Forest Minister is keynoting the 19th Annual Global Buyers Mission; BC still has just two wooden high-rises; New Zealand’s onshore wood processing plan could be a game changer; and medieval carpenters are rebuilding the Notre Dame Cathedral.
Finally, Balsam fir needles can kill ticks that cause Lyme disease.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
In the five years since China disrupted the global flow of recyclable materials with its National Sword policy, the U.S. has seen investments in new or upgraded infrastructure worth hundreds of millions of tons in capacity. Yet debate continues over the extent to which that country’s scrap import policies influenced the domestic recycling infrastructure investment wave. …The policy, which officially took effect in 2018, banned the import of 24 scrap materials into China (including mixed paper and mixed plastics). …The Northeast Recycling Council noted that some expansions already had been planned prior to National Sword because of growing box demand as e-commerce sales surged — a trend that further accelerated during the pandemic — but also said China’s material bans spurred additional domestic capacity increases. NERC’s 
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During heated debate over the Broadway Plan, Vancouver city council responded with a concerted effort to pave the way for more mass-timber highrises. But despite years of talk about such structures, only two have been built in B.C. . …Brock Commons, a student residence, was the world’s highest contemporary wood highrise when it was completed in 2017 to many awards. …But that was five years ago. Such towers remain rare, despite so-called “cross-laminated timber” technology being around for a couple of decades. …Given the radically lower carbon advantages of wood, why are so few highrises made of this sustainable material? Wood is a fifth the weight of concrete, which reduces the energy used for its transportation and cuts the need for massive foundations. …Some are psychological. Some are technical. The mass-timber industry says both concerns can be overcome.
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shishalh Nation, BC – On Wednesday, August 10, 2022, shishalh Nation (shishalh) and Interfor Corporation (Interfor) took another critical step in advancing their economic relationship and supporting the economic vision of the shishalh Nation. In 2017, shishalh and Interfor fundamentally transformed their work together through a new Relationship Agreement which set out a path for shared decision-making and economic development. Shishalh Nation also set the goal of furthering economic development through the forest sector and being the largest forestry tenure holder. Shishalh made this goal clear, and we began the work of transforming our relationship in light of this goal. Today, we are deepening our relationship and making a drastic step in achieving shishalh’s desires through the purchase of 100,000m3 of annual volume from Interfor. The purchase is being supported through funds provided by the Province of British Columbia through the Foundation Agreement.
While large swaths of reddened and dead evergreens still remain, the culprit has called off its charge across Jasper National Park. The mountain pine beetle whose appetite felled innumerable conifers is now back in its dormancy. This leaves cleaning up the aftermath and building the forests back up as the major task at hand. “The beetle itself, as far as we’re able to determine, has largely run its course in Jasper,” said Dave Argument, resource conservation officer with Parks Canada, citing the role that a few recent colder winters have played. A good cold snap needed to occur at the right time of winter when the beetle larvae are at the right stage of their life cycle. The last few winters have been really good to us, Argument explained, in terms of offering those extreme cold weather conditions that really knocked the overwintering beetle populations.
Europe has been burning. As a brutal drought and record-breaking heat gripped the continent this summer, crops withered and forest fires raged. Thunderstorms have been cooling things off but are not expected to end the drought. …The apocalyptic weather is not without precedent, as the reemergence of centuries-old “hunger stones” in the continent’s river beds attest. …Historical episodes of meteorological mayhem have sown chaos, fueling everything from social unrest to pandemics. Consider the drought that hit central Europe in AD 69. …”What was arguably the worst “megadrought” of the past millennium played out the following century in the summer of 1540. Rivers, springs and wells dried up. …One French chronicler noted that throughout the continent, forest fires erupted, much as they have now. A Swiss account from late July 1540 reported that it was “unbearably hot [with] everybody complaining of water shortages. Forests were burning everywhere around.”
After two years hiatus due to the pandemic, this free conference is back with forestry-related safety topics focussing around this year’s theme – Lead the Way | Resiliency, Opportunity, Engagement. The full-day, in-person conference includes refreshments and lunch for conference attendees and features a variety of speakers as well as a trade show with targeted safety products and services. This year’s keynotes speakers include former NHL goaltender, Corey Hirsch, leadership expert Hall of Fame speaker, Michelle Ray and “Brain-guy” Terry Small, master teacher and Canada’s leading learning skills specialist. When: Saturday, October 29, 2022. Where: Vancouver Island Conference Centre, Nanaimo, BC. Please consider sponsoring this year’s conference. 
MADRID — A wildfire burning out of control in Spain’s eastern province of Valencia has become one of the country’s biggest fires this year, and 35 aircraft were deployed to fight it as the blaze entered its fifth day, authorities said Friday. The wildfire has already scorched more than 19,000 hectares (47,000 acres) along a 137-kilometer (85-mile) perimeter. Efforts to bring it under control Thursday failed and strong winds have made the fire “very aggressive,” the Valencian regional government said. In neighboring Portugal, the government on Friday announced a nationwide three-day state of alert beginning Sunday. Portugal is in the grip of a severe drought and has also seen devastating wildfires this summer. The measure, which grants authorities special, temporary powers such as barring people from woodlands, is a response to forecasts of inland temps above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) beginning Sunday in what could be the country’s third heat wave this summer.