Two rare, old-growth Acadian forests near Tusket and Pugwash will be spared the saw. The Natural Conservancy of Canada has announced that the two parcels, covering a total of 316 hectares, will be cared for and conserved. The TD Bank Group invested more than $5 million in a program to protect 16,432 hectares of urban…
A pulp mill near Hinton, Alta., is facing environmental charges after failing to report the leak of a chemical into the air two years ago, according to the province. West Fraser Mills Ltd. is charged with six counts under the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act and one count under the Dangerous Goods Transportation and Handling Act. The…
There’s some nervousness for Alberta’s forestry companies. But there’s also talk of new opportunity in China. The Softwood Lumber Agreement with the United States is about to close, and Alberta’s Minister of Economic Development and Trade sees reaching a deal as ‘very unlikely’. “It comes to a close in less than three weeks,” Deron Bilous…
An ambitious plan by the city and a private developer to create a low-carbon power plant for the downtown peninsula has received a definitive rejection from the B.C. Utilities Commission, which said it couldn’t support the idea of requiring customers to buy power from a monopoly. That puts the brakes on Creative Energy, a company…
The Conference Board of Canada warns that global economic growth is weakening, exacerbated by the uncertainties of the United Kingdom’s decision to quit the European Union and the coming presidential election in the United States and what its outcome might mean for trade agreements — softwood lumber, for example — both of which have the…
Forestry and lumber businesses make the cut for a prosperous industry during the current economic downturn. High Prairie Forest Products continues to thrive since the parent company West Fraser Timber Co. bought the former Buchanan Lumber in April 2014. “It hasn’t affected us too much,” says Lee Barton, general manager. “We’ve just been forging ahead…
There’s some nervousness for Alberta’s forestry companies. But there’s also talk of new opportunity in China. The Softwood Lumber Agreement with the United States is about to close, and Alberta’s Minister of Economic Development and Trade sees reaching a deal as ‘very unlikely’. “It comes to a close in less than three weeks,” Deron Bilous…
Researchers from UBC have helped discover a pattern of genes in two coniferous trees that help them to rapidly adapt to changing climates. Sally Aitken, professor of Forest and Conservation Sciences at UBC, co-authored the study that found the same set of 47 genes in the lodgepole pine and interior spruce that allowed each species…
The mayor of Merritt says he’s angry about Tolko Industries’ decision to close a sawmill that employs 200 people in his community. Neil Menard says the company had set up a meeting with city officials last week but cancelled it, and now he knows why. Tolko says the mill will be closing Dec. 16 because…
The planned closure of Tolko’s Merritt sawmill by the end of the year — throwing 200 workers out of a job — is the latest in 15 years of joblessness and permanent shutdowns in the Interior’s forest sector. Citing a lack of timber, Tolko Industries Ltd. announced this week it will close its Nicola Valley…