The virtual Global Buyers Mission attracted 660 buyers and sellers of wood products, 85% of the usual in-person event. In other association news: the BC Forest Professionals’ AGM starts tomorrow; and the Southern Forest Products’ Tami Kessler is retiring after 45 years. Meanwhile: BC resources are said to pave the road to recovery; Western Forest Products has a new collective agreement; PotlatchDeltic reports positive Q4 and 2020 results; Rambler Wood Products announces new Virginia facility; and Weston Forest has a new VP sales.
In Forestry/Climate news: COP26 to focus on worldwide forest protection; US scientists confirm 2020 tied the record for hottest year; BC conservationists argue the climate impact of clearcuts; and BC allocates monies to increase wood fibre use.
Finally, from a groundhog in Pennsylvania, prepare for six more weeks of winter!
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
Last May, BC Wood CEO Brian Hawrysh was forced to postpone the 17th annual Global Buyers Mission (GBM) at Whistler BC due to Covid-19. …However, demand for this one-of-a-kind networking event for buyers and sellers of value-added wood products remained strong and the BC Wood staff were determined to create a workable alternative to the in-person event.
The Association of BC Forest Professional’s 
The U.S. Census Bureau announced the following value put in place construction statistics for December 2020. Total construction spending during December 2020 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,490.4 billion, 1.0 percent above the revised November estimate of $1,475.6 billion. The December figure is 5.7 percent above the December 2019 estimate of $1,410.3 billion. …Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,137.6 billion, 1.2 percent above the revised November estimate of $1,124.4 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $691.0 billion in December, 3.1 percent above the revised November estimate of $670.1 billion. Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $446.6 billion in December, 1.7 percent below the revised November estimate of $454.4 billion.
The Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC) has allocated $3 million in new grants throughout the province to support jobs in the forestry sector and increase the use of wood fibre that otherwise would be burned as slash. “This new funding is part of the government’s $1.5-billion economic recovery plan, which reflects our ongoing commitment to help British Columbians deal with challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Katrine Conroy, Minister of Forests. “The grants will support local jobs and help make better use of wood debris left behind after timber harvesting.” The latest round of funding supports 15 different projects in different regions of the province, with individual grant amounts ranging from $6,000 to $663,748. The projects will allow about 250,000 cubic metres of post-harvest waste wood to be used in the production of pulp, wood pellets, electricity and compost for soil remediation. 
A team from Indiana University, West Virginia University, the University of Virginia and the University of Warwick are looking into how tree species impact ecosystems – beneath the soil, as well as in the general forest. …“There’s been a shift in our thinking over the past decade about what controls soil carbon storage,” said Richard Phillips, professor of biology and co-author on both studies. “We used to think that slow decaying leaf detritus was the main driver of soil carbon storage, but we now know that fast-decaying compounds released by roots may be what causes soil carbon to persist.” …In two studies, the team reported that forest stands dominated by trees that associate with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi differ from stands are dominated by trees that associate with ectomycorrhizal fungi in terms of how they store and retain carbon and nitrogen.
