Trudeau and Newsom agree to host a roundtable on forest resilience and wildfires. In related news: Canada and Sweden on forests as a carbon asset or liability. In Business news: a class-action lawsuit considered to halt old-growth road blockades; the ban on Russian wood pellets takes effect; fuel prices cripple BC’s trucking industry; and lumber prices’ wild ride is expected to ease.
In other news: Canada invests in biodiversity conservation; the US Forest Chief testifies to Congress; Secretary Vilsack showcases mass timber construction; and the US Fish & Wildlife proposes endangered species status for a bat. On the Safety front: US logging fatalities rose during Covid; June 6th was National Secure Your Load Day; and a close encounter of the bear kind.
Finally, APA’s new Trustees; West Fraser’s new Sales Director; and Weston Forest’s award.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
The trucking industry is in big trouble and high fuel prices are only part of the story. Steve Tosoff has been a trucker since 1989 and never in that 33 years has been so worried about what’s happening to one of the province’s most crucial essential services and he predicts dire consequences unless the government intervenes. …A perceived threat to oil supplies at the onset of Russia’s war in the Ukraine caused gas prices to jump by almost 60 cents per litre, with even higher costs expected this summer. …The trucking firm receives fuel surcharges of about $1,000 per load from its larger customers, which include Canfor and West Fraser Timber, but the surcharges are not enough to offset the huge spikes in fuel costs over the past three months. …It becomes even more of a challenge for truckers to turn a profit when adverse weather and natural disasters are thrown into the mix. 
From July 10, the Russian wood pellet exports to Europe, the main market for Russian companies, will be completely stopped. From this date, EU sanctions will come into effect, limiting the supply of wood products from Russia and Belarus. In 2021 the European Union accounted for 80% of Russian wood pellet exports, supplies amounted to 1.95 million tons and value amounted to $320 million. Russia also supplies small volumes of pellets to South Korea (7% of total exports), the UK (6%), and Japan (4.5%). …Difficulties in the supply of wood pellets from Russia to Europe began on April 8, 2022, when the Russian and Belarusian trade certificates FSC and SBP were withdrawn. …And from mid-July, Russian sawmills in the North-West of Russia, the main producers and suppliers of wood pellets to Europe, will be completely without a sales market. 
The recent drop in lumber prices is coming as no surprise to… Keta Kosman, owner of Madison’s Lumber Reporter… – indeed it’s a sign that things could be getting back to normal after some two years of major volatility. “Normally, at this time of year, prices would be getting softer because the large, volume buying by the home builders is already done and they already would’ve received the wood that they would need for their projects coming up,” Kosman said Tuesday. …Kosman believes that after roughly two years of extreme ups and downs, the market is easing toward a new “balance of supply and demand.” “When the drop slows, when prices start to fall by less, I start to think that it’s coming to where the new level is going to be,” Kosman said. 
International beauty packaging manufacturer and provider Quadpack and Aptar Beauty + Home, worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of beauty dispensing solutions, have jointly developed a refillable lipstick which pushes the boundaries of sustainability and sensory appeal in makeup packaging. The two companies have blended their respective expertise in wood and stick mechanisms to create a product that delivers a great consumer experience: the Iconic Woodacity lipstick. …The mechanism is contained in a monomaterial casing custom-designed and manufactured by Quadpack, made of 100% certified ash wood from sustainably-managed forests. Wood lends natural beauty and adds a sensory dimension to the pack. …The entire pack is made in Europe. The wooden container – with PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) or FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification on demand – is made at Quadpack’s wood factory in Catalonia, Spain, where a biomass plant converts production waste into energy.
TORONTO — Julie Dabrusin, Parliamentary Secretary, on behalf of the Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, announced that Canada will invest $11.3 million over three years from Canada’s Enhanced Nature Legacy to increase biodiversity conservation efforts in nineteen UNESCO biosphere reserves across Canada. These biosphere reserves range from Clayoquot Sound in British Columbia to Riding Mountain in Manitoba, Ontario’s Niagara Escarpment, the Manicouagan-Uapishka Biosphere Reserve in the Baie-Comeau region of Quebec, and New Brunswick’s Fundy Biosphere Reserve. Over the next three years, partners will work together to restore, maintain, and enhance biodiversity conservation in the buffer zones—the areas surrounding the core protected areas—of each biosphere reserve. This investment will help the biosphere reserves continue their conservation work, which could include biodiversity research, documentation, and land management practices.
The Province of BC and its partners are leading a review to ensure B.C’s Great Bear Rainforest remains preserved and protected while supporting sustainable forestry… to complete a five-year review of the implementation of ecosystem-based management (EBM) in the Great Bear Rainforest. EBM is a land and resource management approach that considers the interconnectedness of people, place and ecology. EBM seeks to find the balance between conservation and economic development in a way that supports local communities and the broader ecosystem. …The goal of the review is to identify and resolve issues and make improvements to the 2016 Great Bear Rainforest Land Use Order in order to achieve ecological and social goals. Technical work is complete and, in advance of decision-making, the Province is releasing proposed amendments for public comment. The engagement, which will be open for 60 days, will cover four key themes. …For more information 
This update follows the announcement shared in February 2022 regarding the commencement of phase one of a proposed two-phase multi-year learning process on genetic engineering (GE) in forestry outside of FSC-certified area. Genetic engineering remains unacceptable in FSC-certified forests and products and is only allowed in the FSC Policy for Association as a research project. The aim of the FSC GE learning process is for FSC and its members to gain sufficient and trusted knowledge on developments in genetic engineering in forestry. In February 2022 FSC issued a call for experts in four fields of expertise to join an Independent Panel of experts to assist FSC in developing a participation framework for developing research projects in learning about genetic engineering… FSC is happy to announce the composition of the independent panel of experts and looks forward to working together with them to increase its knowledge and understanding on developments in genetic engineering in forestry. 
…Since the beginning of my career in 1984, the National Park Service has led the industry in incorporating fire into land management planning. Wildfires release nutrients into the soil, promote seed germination, improve forest diversity and sustain critical habitats for wildlife. During my career as the chief of fire and aviation at Yosemite National Park, I witnessed how wildfires led to the flush of nutrients needed for the new growth of wildflowers; the sprouting of giant sequoia seedlings; and the inception and transformation of diverse wildlife habitats. These experiences allow me to understand the essential role of fire in maintaining healthy ecosystems — and appreciating our wildland firefighters. Despite their many benefits, wildfires remain dangerous and destructive events that climate change exacerbates. …When prescribed burns are combined with other fire-suppression techniques, they can decrease the severity of wildfires by up to 72 percent.
