The resignation of Chrystia Freeland adds to Canada’s political and economic uncertainty (as US tariffs loom). In related news: housing takes centre stage in Canada’s Fall Statement; and FPAC bemoans the lack of investment tax credits. In other Business news: COFI’s Linda Coady says BC needs action on existing NDP commitments; Weyerhaeuser is sued over pension plan transfer; BC’s Sunder Timber acquires Great Western Lumber; and ResourceWise’s five predictions for 2025.
In Forestry News: the US will combat demand-driven illegal deforestation; a new poll says Canadians back forestry protections; BC commits to reforestation despite declining harvest; Bruce Blackwell on BC’s Stanley Park forest management project; herbicides can change wildfire behaviour; shrubs can help recovery after fire; and the known unknowns of the climate crisis.
Finally, don’t miss tonight’s talk by Don Pigott on the “seedy business” of BC’s seed supply.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
Researchers filmed five tree frogs making hundreds of jumps in the lab onto poles of various diameters—ranging from dime-size to the width of a toilet paper roll. The amphibians made split-second adjustments depending on the pole’s diameter and how far off course they had veered. They either sailed past their targets before grabbing on with a sticky-padded hand or foot at the last moment, or belly-flopped heavily against the surface and embraced it… Force sensors under the poles showed that landing on vertical surfaces puts the least stress on the leaping frogs’ bodies. This raises the broader ecological question of whether sticky-footed animals prefer a vertical landing zone when one’s available, the team says.
The inventory destocking that occurred in virtually every industry in 2023 is coming to an end. Destocking occurred as supply chains normalized in a post-COVID world.
DUBLIN, Ireland —The housing affordability crisis that has frustrated young Americans for a decade has now taken hold in many big cities in Europe and beyond. The common threads: robust job growth, rising demand and not enough new development, causing rents and sales prices to rise faster than wages. Globally, homes are now less affordable than they were in the run-up to the 2008 housing crisis. …The resulting housing crunches are eroding living standards for poor and middle-class workers, intensifying wealth inequality and stoking political tensions. …In the 50 years through 2021, the countries with the sharpest rise in home prices around the world have been New Zealand, the U.K., Canada, Australia and Ireland. …Politicians in Canada, the U.K., Australia, Germany and South Korea are trying to boost construction by easing rules, including opening up undeveloped land for construction. National governments, though, are hamstrung by state and local rules that favor existing homeowners over renters, Hughes and Hilber said.
LEESBURG, VA. – The American Wood Council (AWC), International Code Council and WoodWorks have joined together to release an updated version of the free app to calculate maximum allowable heights and areas for buildings of various occupancy classifications and types of construction. The 
Silver Maple Aviation is a new entrant to the aviation infrastructure sector but has already left an indelible mark on the industry. “Silver Maple Construction’s roots are in very high-end, tricky residential and subcommercial projects, and is new to the aviation space,” said Sean Flynn, company president. …Silver Maple Aviation is known for its ingenuity and fortitude. A project that embodies the company’s tenacity is a 210-foot-long-by-170-foot-wide hangar that was built for a private flight department in New Hampshire. “The Concord hangar project is what I believe to be the largest wooden structure, period, on the east coast,” he said. “We were asked not necessarily to build a green hangar but to build a massive hangar very quickly. …we went down the mass timber hangar route, which at the time was about how quick we could get the materials, although I had already been studying up on mass timber in general.”
A call for international alignment on nature protection Canada and other wealthy countries for “double standards” in managing their forests, just as a new poll reveals most Canadians support stronger safeguards for nature at home. But that support may not be enough to sway their voting decisions… New polling data suggests most Canadians agree that stronger safeguards are needed at home—but opinions diverge when it comes to how platform and policy influence voting choices… 84% of respondents across the political spectrum agreed the government should take stronger action to protect forests and wildlife. About two-thirds, or 68%, said they would be reluctant to vote for a party that made no commitments to safeguard nature.
For decades, forestry companies in B.C. have used chemical herbicides like glyphosate to kill off plants that might compete with trees destined for timber. Trembling aspen, named for its almost heart-shaped leaves that seem to quiver in the wind, is often on the hit list. But after years of destructive wildfires that have wiped out whole neighbourhoods and sometimes whole towns, more and more people are questioning the wisdom of killing off this tree. Because when wildfires sweep across the landscape, aspen can help calm the flames… “Anytime we apply herbicides, we are changing potential fire behaviour,” wildland fire ecologist Robert Gray explains… in areas where aspen and other deciduous trees are killed, a natural fire break is lost too.
At its May 2024 meeting, WorkSafeBC’s Board of Directors approved amendments pertaining to Emergency Planning in Part 5 of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation. These amendments will come into effect on February 3, 2025. Part 5 of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation sets out the requirements for emergency planning relating to hazardous substances. On February 3, 2025, amendments to these requirements will come into effect, to provide additional clarity and to further reduce risk to workers and other people posed by emergencies involving hazardous substances. This resource provides an overview of the changes to help affected employers prepare for the new requirements. OHS Guidelines are also being developed to provide additional support for employers; these guidelines will be available on February 3.