Ontario has launched a five-year plan to turn waste wood into energy; invests $15 million in Wawa OSB plant. In other Business news: BC allocates funds to alleviate caribou plan fallout; lumber slides as inflation hits DIY market; Finnish forest exports rise 16%, and EU sanctions curb imports of Russian wood.
In other news: Alberta’s Mike Flannigan is developing a fire prediction model; Colorado receives federal funding for wildfire mitigation; Fairy Creek protesters suspected of blocking culverts again; and old-growth uncertainty in BC’s Slocan Valley. Meanwhile: wooden skyscrapers are on the rise; and durable wood products in a changing climate.
Finally, the American marten can serve as an “umbrella species” for 11 Maine mammals.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
The fifth round of sanctions adopted by the EU on Friday over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine includes import bans on wood, cement, fertilisers, seafood and liquor. The latest sanctions will effectively stop all Russian wood exports to Finland and other EU countries. “This will in effect end the last remaining import possibilities,” said Timo Tolonen, at Finnish Forest Industries. Finnish firms had, however, been reducing their reliance on Russian wood imports before the sanctions hit. In 2021, Russian wood imports accounted for a tenth of the Finnish forest industry’s raw material needs. Tolonen said Finnish forest product companies were already looking to substitute Russian wood before the war broke out. Finnish companies are turning their gaze to domestic timber felled in the process of forest thinning, according to Tolonen, who added that forestry firms are also considering Baltic wood imports.
Guests at a new 20-story hotel and cultural center in Skellefteå in northeastern Sweden, don’t have to step outside to feel immersed in the natural world. The building is made almost entirely of spruce and pine harvested from nearby woodlands. …The complex is part of an emerging trend as architects, developers and builders turn to mass timber. The number of multistory mass-timber buildings being built in the U.S. rose 50% between July 2020 and December 2021 to more than 1,300 structures, according to WoodWorks. …Even more ambitious projects may appear: A Japanese timber company has proposed a 70-story wood building for Tokyo. …To meet the demand for mass timber, 18 manufacturing plants have been built in the U.S. and Canada since 2014. The global market for mass timber was estimated at $956 million in 2020 and is expected to grow at an annual rate of 13.6% from 2021 to 2028. [to access the full story a WSJ subscription is required]
When will mass timber buildings be coming in the City of Delta? That remains to be seen following Delta North MLA Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation… proudly announcing the Mass Timber Action Plan, as well as funding for four new mass timber housing and infrastructure projects. The Mass Timber Action Plan shows that B.C. could have as many as 10 new mass-timber manufacturers by 2035. …The government already invited municipalities, including the City of Delta, to sign on as mass timber construction early adopters in the Provincial … Mass Timber Early Adopter Initiative. In 2020, Delta council agreed to sign an expression of interest …A Delta staff report last year noted Delta Fire and Emergency Services would support design elements that utilize passive fire protection, active fire detection and suppression techniques equal to or better than the B.C. Building Code. …An application for a mass timber building in Delta has yet to be submitted.
COLORADO — Superior Board of Trustees appeared to be supportive of adopting fire-resistant measures into the building code so a large portion of the town could be rebuilt to more resilient standards. …As the town looks toward rebuilding hundreds of structures that were destroyed in the Marshall Fire, the Board has asked for guidance. The Community Wildfire Planning Center observed that many homes that were destroyed or damaged had several things in common, including combustible decks, combustible materials being stored around the homes (think pergolas, planter boxes), fences that were within 5 feet and attached to homes, and landscaping that was highly flammable. They recommended to the board that homes be rebuilt using fire-resistant roofing materials, ignition resistant decks, and with landscaping made of plants that are less likely to ignite.
Re: “B.C. defers cutting big swaths of old‑growth,” April 2. Les Leyne reports that the Council of Forest Industries says that old-growth deferrals will result in the closure of “a dozen sawmills at a cost of up to 18,000 jobs.” If COFI is worried about mill closures, they should be pressing the NDP government to halt raw log exports and send these logs to B.C. mills. In 2019, 5.1 million cubic metres of raw logs were exported. COFI should also be pressing the government to stop exporting cants. …I have contacted the ministry to find out how many cants are exported each year, and … as one wrote: “We don’t collect data on cants.” From my perspective, this is one way to hide these logs as timber and not the raw logs that they are.
The B.C. government is allocating $10 million of federal funding to help create jobs and diversify the economies of communities in the Mackenzie and Peace regions.The Intergovernmental Partnership Agreement for the Conservation of the Central Group of the Southern Mountain Caribou (Partnership Agreement) was signed in February 2020 and includes commitments to help caribou populations recover and protect more than 700,000 hectares of important caribou habitat in northeastern B.C. …As part of the Partnership Agreement process, the federal government provided $10 million to the B.C. government to help create jobs and alleviate potential impacts in the Peace Region, especially within 100 kilometres of the communities of Mackenzie, Chetwynd and Tumbler Ridge. The fund will grow these local economies while showcasing the province’s natural treasures.
LYONS, Colo. – As part of the Biden-Harris Administrations Rural Infrastructure Tour, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced $131 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law investments to begin work on the USDA Forest Service’s 10-year wildfire strategy: Confronting the Wildfire Crisis: A Strategy for Protecting Communities and Improving Resilience in America’s Forests. The initial investment in 10 landscapes in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona will lead to about 208,000 acres of wildfire risk reduction treatments. …“Thanks to the investments made in President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, USDA is taking the next step in reducing wildfire risk, especially in western states where communities, infrastructure and resources are at the most risk,” said Secretary Vilsack. …In Colorado, $18 million of these initial funds will be used to treat up to 10,000 acres across the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and the Pike-San Isabel National Forests. 
The Ontario government has launched a five-year plan to bolster the province’s forestry industry by expanding biomass projects that turn waste wood into energy or useful products. The