Daily News for April 08, 2021

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Today’s Takeaway

Softwood duties should be ‘killed’ to help US home buyers: WSJ

April 8, 2021
Category: Today's Takeaway

The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board says Canada can be a safety-valve for US lumber shortages but backward-looking duties exacerbate the problem. In related news: Canada’s trade recovery relies on hewers of wood; BC’s forest industry impacts every region; and the Cariboo is number one for lumber. Meanwhile: Hancock Lumber expands in Maine; and the true story of New Zealand’s  wood supply crisis.

In Forestry/Climate news: Pinnacle Pellet’s claim of using residuals only is disputed; Teal-Jones responds to Fairy Creek controversy, as protesters served with injunction; new research on culturally-modified trees; and NRDC claims logging in Canada’s Boreal is unsustainable. Meanwhile: BC tree planters continue with covid precautions; while the US may be running out of seeds.

Finally, sustainable forests and a (new) final resting place for your loved ones. 

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor 

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Business & Politics

Why Are Home Prices Soaring? One reason is a tariff on Canadian lumber that Biden can kill.

By the Editorial Board
The Wall Street Journal
April 7, 2021
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Housing prices are climbing across the country, and the cause is more than soaring demand. One overlooked culprit is a lumber shortage made worse by a U.S. tariff on imports from Canada. [When] The U.S and Canada softwood lumber agreement… expired, U.S. lumber producers filed antidumping and countervailing duty complaints. They claim Canada unfairly subsidizes and dumps lumber in the U.S., though in cases taken to the World Trade Organization the U.S. has rarely won. The Trump Commerce Department imposed the tariff in 2017. …Canadian lumber can provide a safety-valve for supply amid U.S. shortages, but not since the tariff. The Commerce Department cut the levy…[but] Lumber buyers know Commerce can make a new finding of a higher duty, which would apply retroactively on Canadian lumber they have already imported. This backward-looking assignment of duties introduces enormous uncertainty. … How about killing this one to help American home buyers? [we respect the copyrights of the source publication – full access may require a subscription]

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How the often neglected hewers of wood and drawers of water are saving Canada some pain

By Kevin Carmichael
The Financial Post
April 7, 2021
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada

The hewers of wood and drawers of water who built Canada’s economy are no longer big employers, but the COVID-19 recession would have been a lot worse without them. Canada exported goods worth about $50 billion in February, exceeding pre-pandemic levels for the second consecutive month, according to data released by Statistics Canada on April 7. Non-energy commodities such as lumber and canola have been driving the trade recovery, picking up the slack left by bitumen miners and auto-parts makers. …If historic relationships hold, business investment should follow. And there is every reason to expect lots of demand. The International Monetary Fund this week predicted the global economy will grow six per cent in 2021 and 4.4 per cent in 2022, after contracting about three per cent last year. …Lumber currently represents about four per cent of Canada’s merchandise exports, up from about two per cent at the end of 2019.

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Cariboo and Nechako regions continue to be the back bone of BC lumber production

By Brendan Pawliw
My Prince George Now
April 7, 2021
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Cariboo, which includes Prince George, is the number one lumber-producing region in the province. That equates to about 29% of BC’s production capacity according to the Council of Forest Industries 2019 economic impact study. PG Mayor, Lyn Hall told MyPGNow.com the sector continues to be the backbone of the city. “The sector has been around for as long as the city has been around and it really was the impetus for Prince George to become what it is today.” The area is currently home to 21 lumber mills, seven pulp, and paper mills as well as several other facilities – 14% of jobs are forest-industry related. …Meanwhile, the Nechako region, which includes Vanderhoof, is home to eleven lumber mills and five pellet plants. Mayor Gerry Thiessen stated the industry has been the backbone of the community for the better part of eight decades.

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Pinnacle Obtains Final Order of the Court Approving Arrangement with Drax Group

Pinnacle Renewable Energy Inc.
April 7, 2021
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER, BC – Pinnacle Renewable Energy Inc. today announced that the Company obtained a final order from the Supreme Court of British Columbia approving the previously announced plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act, pursuant to which Drax Group plc through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Drax Canadian Holdings Inc., will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Company for C$11.30 in cash per Share. All of the conditions to the completion of the Arrangement have now been satisfied or waived, excluding any conditions that, by their terms, cannot be satisfied or waived until the effective date of the Arrangement. Completion of the Arrangement is expected to occur on April 13, 2021.

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Forest industry has big economic impact for BC, supports a better quality of life for British Columbians

By BC Council of Forest Industries
The Alaska Highway News
April 7, 2021
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

A new economic study released today by the BC Council of Forest industries shows that B.C.’s forest industry continues to generate significant economic activity in every region of the province. “This study demonstrates again that B.C.’s forest products sector is an important part of the provincial economy, putting paychecks in people’s pockets, helping small businesses pay their bills and supporting a good quality of life for British Columbians,” said Susan Yurkovich, CEO, BC Council of Forest Industries. …The study – Contributing to a Better B.C.: 2019 Forest Industry Economic Impact Study – confirmed that, in 2019, the provincial forest sector supported more than 100,000 jobs, generated over $13 billion in GDP and nearly $8.5 billion in wages, salaries, and benefits. The industry contributed over $4 billion in government revenue to support health, education and other important social services. Additionally, the study found that between 2009 and 2019, forest industry companies invested about $14 billion in their B.C. operations.

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Lumber shortage contributing to soaring prices, delays for Utah homebuyers

By Daniel Woodruff
KUTV.com
April 7, 2021
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US West

All week, 2News has been shining a light on Utah’s wild housing market and the record prices buyers are seeing right now. One significant factor in rising housing costs is a shortage of materials, particularly lumber. “We have never seen it this bad,” said Jaren Davis with the Salt Lake Home Builders Association. “We’re up $24,000 on average per home.” Davis said when COVID-19 hit, lumber mills stopped producing as much. But with construction pressing ahead, the supply quickly dwindled. “That’s put a tremendous demand on lumber prices,” said Davis. …Regarding lumber, Davis said he is optimistic things will start improving this summer as more supply is predicted to come into the market. He also said home builders associations on the local and national level are advocating for relief in this area.

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Hancock Lumber buys central Maine lumber yard

The Bangor Daily News
April 7, 2021
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

Kevin Hancock

Two long-standing family businesses are joining forces with Hancock Lumber’s announcement of their plans to acquire Lapointe Lumber, a fourth-generation independent building materials supplier that’s operated in the Augusta and Gardiner markets since 1947. Established in 1848, Hancock Lumber is a seventh-generation, integrated forest products company who is passionate about its people-first and values driven culture. “Hancock Lumber is excited to be uniting with the employees, customers, suppliers, and communities served by Lapointe Lumber,” said CEO, Kevin Hancock. …Being in the lumber business for nearly 175 years… the Lapointe acquisition represents a unique and well-timed opportunity for Hancock to extend its market into Augusta, Gardiner and the surrounding capital district communities. Hancock opened a new lumberyard and kitchen design showroom in Saco last August and became Maine’s first retailer to own their own roof and floor truss manufacturing facility. [Move coverage in Mainebiz and the LBM Journal.]

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A Diverse Group of Leaders Come Together to Form Women’s Forest Congress Advisory Council

By Women’s Forest Congress
Cision Newswire
April 7, 2021
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

WASHINGTON — A group of visionary, practical, and supportive women has come together to help shape the Women’s Forest Congress. Advisory Council members serve as advisors to the Steering Committee, advocate for the Congress’s broader work, and ensure equal representation from diverse backgrounds, organizations, and views. The Advisory Council brings unique knowledge, skills, and wisdom to augment the Steering Committee, with the goal of building out the Women’s Forest Congress. The Advisory Council also provides another way to be intentional about the direction of the Women’s Forest Congress, making room for more voices and perspectives in a different leadership capacity. While the Steering Committee retains decision-making authority, the Advisory Council provides information, recommendations, and advice for future courses of action. …The Women’s Forest Congress is a forum to develop strategies and solutions for forests through a female lens.

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Understanding New Zealand’s wood supply crisis

By Julien Leys, New Zealand Building Industry Federation
Stuff.co.nz
April 8, 2021
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

The recent crisis around the shortage of structural wood has highlighted several vulnerabilities in New Zealand’s building supply chain. The irony of apparently running out of wood goes beyond just the unfortunate timing only days after the Government’s major housing announcement to build more homes. Rather it also highlights New Zealand’s lack of national investment in wood manufacturing capacity combined with record levels of domestic demand as well as a boom of log exports never seen before. It is now the ‘excuse du jour’ to point most problems to Covid-driven instability. …The true story is far more complicated and multifactorial  than just blaming the pandemic. …The supply of wood to meet New Zealand’s domestic demand has been under immense pressure since 2019 / 2020 based on rising demand and log prices.

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Finance & Economics

Uneven lumber market as customers seek alternative items

By Keta Kosman
Madison’s Lumber Reporter
April 7, 2021
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

It was an uneven lumber market for the week ending March 26 as print prices came in “all over the place”; some up, some down, and many flat. …Buyers were definitely more cautious but their low field inventories and the perpetually undersupplied market forced them back to the table frequently for small volume deals. Again staying flat from the previous week, in the week ending Mar. 26, 2021, the price of benchmark softwood lumber commodity item Western S-P-F KD 2×4 #2&Btr remained level at US$1,040 mfbm. …Compared to the price one-year-ago, of US$356 mfbm, for the week ending March 26 benchmark softwood lumber item Western S-P-F KD 2×4 #2&Btr was again selling for US$1,040 mfbm which is +684, or +192% more.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

8 mass timber demonstration projects announced

naturally:wood
April 7, 2021
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

Mass timber demonstration projects grow BC’s expertise and advance wood construction, all the while boosting local economies and the province’s competitive advantage. BC’s design practitioners, developers, construction contractors, provincial and municipal code, permitting and approval agencies will benefit from the lessons learned from these building projects and resulting research. 2150 Keith Drive  | First Nations Health Authority Metro Vancouver Office  | Bellevue and 22nd  | District of Saanich Fire Station #2 Redevelopment  | Main and Cordova (MAC)  | Prototype  | The Exchange | 837 Beatty Street Rehabilitation and Addition  |  

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Mass timber investments to change face of B.C. construction

By Ministry of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation
Government of British Columbia
April 7, 2021
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Province is providing funding for 12 mass timber demonstration and research projects and has established a new advisory council to accelerate the adoption of mass timber building systems, as part of the Province’s economic recovery. “As we work to put the pandemic behind us, we will continue making strategic investments that position B.C. to come back stronger on the other side,” said Premier John Horgan. “Mass timber is good for forestry-dependent communities, workers and the environment – because it adds value rather than just volume. That’s why growing the sector is key to building a strong and sustainable economic recovery that reaches everyone.” The $4.2-million investment in mass timber demonstration projects and research will help urban planners and developers adopt mass timber building systems by supporting the incremental or first-time costs of design development, research, permitting and construction activities. …This announcement is part of B.C.’s $10-billion COVID-19 response

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New Mass Timber Office Building Coming to Downtown Vancouver

By Natural Resources Canada
Cision Newswire
April 7, 2021
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER — Terry Beech, MP for Burnaby North–Seymour, on behalf of the Honourable Seamus O’Regan Jr., Minister of Natural Resources, announced a $900,000 investment to support the design and construction of oN5, a four-storey mass timber office building, to become the new home of Equilibrium Consulting. Named for its location… oN5 will be a smart growth infill building that will demonstrate what is possible in mass timber construction. oN5 will be the first office building in Canada constructed using high-performance cross-laminated timber panels. The project will showcase the potential for mass timber. …oN5 will incorporate several sustainable building technologies — most notably, the use of mass timber and strategies based on Passive House principles, making oN5 energy-efficient, comfortable, affordable and ecological at the same time. Funding for the project is provided through NRCan’s Green Construction Through Wood Program.

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Province kicks in $500,000 for Saanich fire hall, to be built with mass timber

By Andrew Duffy
The Times Colonist
April 7, 2021
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

The provincial government will spend $4.2 million to help fund 12 mass timber demonstration and research projects around B.C. — including Saanich’s new fire hall. The grants include $500,000 for the redevelopment of Saanich Fire Station No. 2, which will demonstrate how mass timber can be used in a post-disaster building designed to withstand emergencies. That project will replace the existing one-storey, 3,800-square-foot building with a two-storey, 23,580-square-foot building featuring a steel and timber post and beam system. …The investment is part of the province’s post-COVID economic recovery plan. “Diversifying our forest sector is a key part of our government’s plan to create and support jobs in every region of the province,” said Forests Minister Katrine Conroy. A new mass timber advisory council has been established to help establish the province as a leader in the production and use of mass timber.

Additional coverage by Tom Fletcher – B.C. funds 12 mass-timber research and development projects

Urban YVR – 21-storey Vancouver mass timber rental tower announced

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Forestry

New Report Shows Toll of Unsustainable Logging in the Boreal

By Courtenay Lewis
NRDC Blog
April 7, 2021
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

Canada’s boreal forest is the world’s largest intact forest, but industrial logging operations are chipping away at it, undermining its role in stabilizing the global climate and as a refuge for many of North America’s iconic species. At the global scale, Canada has ranked third behind Russia and Brazil in intact forest landscape loss. A new report by NRDC, By A Thousand Cuts: How Powerful Companies’ Wood Sourcing is Degrading Canada’s Boreal Forest, reveals what that means on the ground. This report finds that global wood and pulp suppliers operating in Canada’s boreal forest are failing to implement critical social and environmental safeguards, putting the rights of Indigenous communities, threatened species, and a critical carbon storehouse at risk. The report focused on Aditya Birla, Domtar, and Resolute Forest Products, key pulp suppliers to the United States that export significant volumes of tissue pulp and other forest products.

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Tree planters to continue using COVID caution

BC Local News
April 7, 2021
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The tree planting season will start this year post-Spring and the tree planters in Burns Lake are planning to continue following the COVID precautions they took last year. This year, roughly 300 million trees are to be planted all across the province. Shaemus Hughes of Waterside Ventures told Lakes District News that Waterside Ventures will be planting roughly 3 million this spring. However, the COVID restrictions will continue to remain in place. Just like last year, the company will require each planter to self isolate for 14 days prior to the season start. …Lasse Lutick of Hybrid 17 also said that the company would be following all the COVID precautions. “We will be following similar protocols to last year until case numbers go down significantly. Last year B.C. saw 5,000 planters work an entire season with zero cases of COVID and our goal is the same this year,” he said.

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New research identifies ancient culturally-modified trees, and with them the future of forest management

Raincoast Conservation Foundation
April 7, 2021
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

After practising sustainable forest management for millennia, the Kitasoo/Xai’xais Nation has looked to its ancient cedar trees to help guide the future of its forests stewardship. Reporting in the peer-reviewed journal, FACETS, the Kitasoo/Xai’xais Stewardship Authority and academic colleagues from the University of Victoria and the Raincoast Conservation Foundation reveal how recent surveys identified hundreds of previously undocumented cultural modified trees (CMTs), which comprised key data in creating a spatial model to predict the occurrence of CMT ‘hotspots’ over ~1,200 km2. CMTs are trees that bear evidence of past use by Indigenous peoples. Commonly, western red cedar trees – now of extraordinary commercial value – were harvested or utilized. Uniquely, and unless canoes or wood for other large structures were sought, Indigenous People would extract material from a live tree without needing to cut it down. 

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Proposed logging road in pristine Fraser headwaters mobilizes campaign for land use review

By Fran Yanor
Toronto Star
April 8, 2021
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

A proposed logging road through a pristine Robson Valley watershed that hosts endangered chinook salmon, acts as a wildlife corridor, and feeds the Fraser River headwaters, has reignited a longstanding campaign by local residents to get the entire Raush River area protected from development. The Raush is a wildlife corridor between Wells Gray Park and the upper Fraser River, an intact valley, and the biggest, intact tributary to the Fraser that’s not protected, said Roy Howard of Fraser Headwaters Alliance … Currently, two isolated patches of the Raush are Protected Areas, totalling 6,667 hectares of the 101,000-hectare watershed. “There’s never been logging,” Howard said. “It’s definitely old growth in the valley bottoms. …” But that may soon change. Maps … show a proposal by Prince George-based Carrier Lumber to build roads through one of the protected areas to access unprotected forests further into the watershed.

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Teal-Jones addresses Fairy Creek logging controversy

By Brendan Strain
CTV News Vancouver Island
April 7, 2021
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Forestry company Teal-Jones is speaking out on the dispute between the company and activists who are protesting old-growth logging near Port Renfrew. Fairy Creek sits within tree farm licence 46, which was established back in 1955. With Teal-Jones planning to begin logging in the valley, protesters have set up blockades in the area. “Over 70 per cent of the province’s old-growth is protected,” said Jack Gardner, log broker and custom cutter with Teal-Jones. “… we believe in a balanced approach to a working forest.” The company … only has access to a small portion of the Fairy Creek old-growth forest area, and of that, it currently only plans to log a fraction… “Fairy Creek only makes up about 1,200 hectares, of which 200 hectares are available for logging for us,” said Gardner. “The rest is either unsuitable for logging or even protected.” Of the 200 hectares available for logging, Teal-Jones says it currently only plans to harvest 20 hectares.

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Tahltan land to be protected in partnership with conservation organizations, industry and Province

By Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy
Government of British Columbia
April 8, 2021
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

A new conservancy to protect the environment and wildlife on Tahltan territory has been created in an area of northwestern B.C., historically known as the Ice Mountain Lands, adjacent to Mount Edziza Provincial Park. The Tahltan Central Government, the Province, Skeena Resources Limited, the Nature Conservancy of Canada and BC Parks Foundation have worked in partnership to create the conservancy. “Mount Edziza and the surrounding area has always been sacred to the Tahltan Nation. The obsidian from this portion of our territory provided us with weaponry, tools and trading goods that ensured our Tahltan people could thrive for thousands of years,” said Chad Norman Day, President, Tahltan Central Government. “…I am so relieved and thrilled that Mount Edziza is better protected for our future generations.” The conservancy is the first step in the multi-year Tahltan Stewardship Initiative.

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Old-growth logging protesters at Fairy Creek served with injunction to remove blockades

CTV News Vancouver Island
April 6, 2021
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

VICTORIA — Demonstrators at old-growth logging blockades on Vancouver Island were served with an injunction to remove their blockades on Tuesday morning. The injunction was first granted to forestry company Teal-Jones on April 1 by the B.C. Supreme Court. Now, protestors at the blockades say that workers for the company have formally read the injunction to protesters at the encampments. …On Monday, Teal-Jones told CTV News that its logging operation in the Fairy Creek area, near Port Renfrew, had been “mischaracterized.” “In fact, most of the watershed is protected forest reserve or unstable terrain, and not available for harvesting,” said the company in a statement. …”It’s very important that we get back to work,” said Jack Gardner, a log broker and custom cutter for Teal-Jones. “This is supporting hundreds of jobs and also (is) providing the products that we all rely on,” he said.

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Amid the Green Funeral Movement, Scattering Ashes Ensures These Forests Remain Pristine Forever

By Andy Corbley
Good News Network
April 7, 2021
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

Across America, small parcels of forested land are being bought from private owners by a conservation group called Better Place Forests. With the intention of providing … the site of a loved one’s final resting place, the group is also ensuring that by law the forest will remain preserved forever. They own and maintain “memorial forest preserves” in Connecticut, Massachusetts, California, Arizona, Minnesota, and soon Illinois. These preserves feature heritage sugar maple stands, California redwoods, quaking aspen colonies, views out across the Pacific or the Twin Lakes … for just a few thousand dollars. …Every year the funeral industry consumes 20 million feet of hardwood, 64,500 tons of steel, 1.6 million tons of concrete, and 5 million gallons of embalming chemicals. …Better Place Forests fees include legal costs and customizable services either indoors or in the forest. the cremation techniques employed ensure the ashes are optimally and rapidly turned into nutrients, merging spirit and soil for eternity.

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Reforestation Is Great! But We’re Running Out of Seeds

WIRED
April 6, 2021
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

…Dean Swift is a seed collector. He takes the best cones and seeds he can find and sells them to nurseries. (Swift makes a point to mention that the squirrels don’t suffer because he never finds all the cones—and they have many other food sources.) This is the inception point for the United States’ reforestation efforts. …Over the past decade, interest in reforestation has soared. …But while there’s a huge focus on planting trees, there’s little on where those seedlings will come from. A study published in February in Frontiers in Forest and Global Change, authored by 17 environmental scientists, including ones from the Nature Conservancy, the USDA Forest Service, American Forests, and academic institutions, outlines that we are already short more than 2 billion seedlings per year—and that’s just to get halfway to meeting the reforesting potential of the lower 48 states.

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Death in the forest: The profound process of tree mortality

By Ethan Tapper
Milton Independent
April 7, 2021
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

To understand how to take care of forests, we first need to understand what they are and how they work. … [F]orests are complex, dynamic communities comprised of many different organisms and the processes that affect them. While forests function as systems in many ways, they are not utopias. Organisms compete with one other, parasitize each other, eat and destroy each other. Within forests, one of the incredible processes that make forests work – and one that we need to learn to accept – is tree death. … [which] provides opportunities for forests to become diverse and complex. Openings in the forest canopy are soon filled by “regeneration,” the abundant growth of young trees and plants. Over time, this cycle of death and regeneration creates forests with a rich mosaic of different sizes, ages and species of trees. Forests like this … store more carbon and are more resilient and adaptive in a changing climate.

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On the front lines: Elite N.J. Forest Fire Service charged with protecting life and land

By Nancy Parello
Jersey’s Best
April 7, 2021
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Forests carpet the Garden State, covering 42% of the land in the nation’s most densely populated state. And those woods burn. A lot. Luckily, New Jersey also is home to one of the oldest, most respected forest fire services in the country. The New Jersey Forest Fire Service has been battling blazes in the Garden State since 1906. Downe Township Fire Chief George Robertson whose township faced a wildfire last year that burned 1,500 acres, said “Without these guys, these fires would take off and the damage would be much worse. They really are second to none.’’ While the western states typically dominate the national news with frightening pictures of raging fires consuming forests, New Jersey has long battled wildfires, especially in the Pinelands, an area ripe with dried pine needles, sandy soil and large swaths of land — a wildfire trifecta.  

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Stacks of logs in pellet plant yards draws critics’ eyes

By Mark Nielsen
Prince George Citizen
April 7, 2021
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada West

The sight of pellet plants along Highway 16 West awash in “whole trees” is raising alarm bells for groups concerned the mills are using more than just wood waste to produce their product. Pellet plants are traditionally considered the go-to spot for material for which sawmills and pulp mills have no use. But photos of piles of logs at plants in Smithers, Burns Lake and Houston were released this week along with a report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives questioning whether the region’s timber supply is being put to its best use. … Nechako Lakes MLA and the B.C. Liberals’ forestry critic John Rustad said the piles have been a common sight as he has driven along Highway 16 and that unless things have changed since the NDP took power, the plants are relying exclusively on logs too dry or too defective to be processed by sawmills.

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Burning our way to a new climate?

By Ben Parfit
Policy Note – Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
April 7, 2021
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada West

As UK’s Drax makes play for BC’s wood pellet mills, questions grow about wood-fired electricity. …So, when it comes to finding enough wood, Drax has an intractable problem. Only 13 per cent of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland combined is forested …Drax says that once its takeover of Pinnacle is complete it will be the world’s largest producer of “sustainable biomass” power. It also says that using wood to create energy is part of a “virtuous cycle” that ultimately benefits “the forestry sector, rural communities and the environment.” All of which allegedly helps the UK and its EU neighbours get off “dirty” coal as part of a broader suite of objectives aimed at lowering greenhouse gas emissions. …New research by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, however, suggests that Drax’s claims are greenwashing. Whole trees… are being logged with the express purpose of turning trees into a product that is then burned. 

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Health & Safety

How to reduce falls risks on your jobsite

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd.
April 7, 2021
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada, Canada West

While you never eliminate the risk of falls on the jobsite, making prevention part of your construction culture will help to keep your crew safe as houses. …In order to instill a culture of safety on your jobsite, regular training and commitment on the part of leadership will help to show just how important safety is. Have rules and regulations that are clear to all crew members and enforce those rules—no exceptions. Fall protection gear and practices are required whenever you are working on an edge, a steep surface or at heights 6 feet and up. This includes working on the ground next to a hole or trench that has been excavated. It also applies where you are working on unstable or fragile surfaces, and near an opening in a floor or wall. According to OSHA regulations, fall protection gear is required whenever you are working 6 feet or more off the ground.

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