Kalesnikoff announced plans to build a new mass timber facility in the West Kootenays, BC. In related news: JD Irving acquires Mill Services in Cobleskill, New York; workers lobby for restart of the shuttered Terrace Bay pulp mill; and the Steelworkers reach new deal with CN Rail. Meanwhile: the US trade czar opines on renewal of the North American trade pact; Brent Jang says natural gas is overtaking forestry in BC; and the latest market prognostications by ERA’s Kevin Mason.
In Forestry/Climate news: the US approved a new rule on GHG reporting by companies; a UK professor and climate scientist is sounding the alarm; Ontario braces for impacts of global warming; Minnesota experiments in forest assisted migration; Oregon is changing the rules governing logging; and a USDA feature on the origins of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
Finally, WorkSafeBC’s first aid changes, and safety challenges faced by women in construction.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
Mass timber continues to gain traction in the built environment, breaking records and providing new solutions as a renewable, low-carbon building material that helps meet biophilic and sustainable design goals. Explore a few examples of projects in which this innovative material has helped solve a bevy of design challenges, ranging from a record-setting 25-story residential hybrid timber tower in Milwaukee to a carbon-cutting mass timber student facility at Seattle’s University of Washington, and more. Get inspired and see what’s possible with this collection of innovative mass timber projects.
Tolko Industries is planning to remove bridges from 17 crossings located on forestry resource roads in the Quesnel and Williams Lake TSAs. Work is proposed for summer/fall of 2024 and will include deactivation of roads beyond the crossings. Tolko Industries Ltd is also planning to deactivate 2 road systems west of Williams Lake in the summer/fall of 2024. If any of the sites noted above are within your area of interest and you would like to discuss in more detail, please contact Jenna Swanson, Cariboo Woodlands, prior to May 10, 2024.
Everyone is welcome to a land-and-forest planning information session on March 13, 2024, in Port McNeill. The session will seek public input on two ongoing projects to support long-term forest health, climate adaptation, and a sustainable and secure forestry sector: The Gwa’ni Modernized Land Use Planning Project – an intergovernmental project between the ‘Namgis First Nation and the Province built with stakeholder and community engagement over the past two years to update land-use planning in the Nimpkish Valley; and Forest Landscape Plan and Forest Operations Plan for Tree Farm Licence (TFL) 37, in the Nimpkish Valley – jointly developed by Western Forest Products and ‘Namgis First Nation and supported by the Province, the plan proposes a consolidated approach to forest planning and management at the landscape level (e.g. timber supply area, TFL or large area-based forest tenure) and facilitates collaboration between government, First Nations and licensees, with input from interest groups, communities and the public. 
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday approved a rule that will require some public companies to report their greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks, after last-minute revisions that weakened the directive in the face of strong pushback from companies. The rule was one of the most anticipated in recent years from the nation’s top financial regulator, drawing more than 24,000 comments from companies, auditors, legislators and trade groups over a two-year process. It brings the U.S. closer to the European Union and California, which moved ahead earlier with corporate climate disclosure rules. …Since the SEC proposed a rule two years ago, experts had said it was likely to face litigation almost immediately. …The weakened rule doesn’t require companies to report some indirect emissions known as Scope 3. Those don’t come from a company or its operations, but happen along its supply chain or that result when a consumer uses a product, such as gasoline.
Are you frightened by climate change? …In the words of science writer and author David Wallace-Wells, “No matter how well informed you are, you are surely not alarmed enough.” …If the fracturing of our once stable climate doesn’t terrify you, then you don’t fully understand it. The reality is that, as far as we know, and in the natural course of events, our world has never — in its entire history — heated up as rapidly as it is doing now. Nor have greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere ever seen such a precipitous hike. …What’s happening to our world scares the hell out of me, but if I shout the brutal, unvarnished truth from the rooftops, will this really galvanize you and others into fighting for the planet and your children’s futures? Or will it leave you frozen like a rabbit in headlights, convinced that all is lost? It is an absolutely critical question.
In April 2023, WorkSafeBC’s Board of Directors approved amendments to Part 3 of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation, relating to the provision of occupational first aid. These amendments will take effect November 1, 2024, to give employers time to obtain any required first aid training and equipment necessitated by these changes. As part of our engagement plan for the upcoming Occupational First Aid regulatory changes, we’ve posted the 
