Greg Baker has seen the future of concrete block and it’s light — half the weight with double the bang for the buck over traditional block. The Kitchener, Ont.-area former renovation contractor turned entrepreneur has been steadily building a new business plan over the last two years around a cellular concrete mix to make dry-stack…
“Which tree would you like to be?” That is the question being asked by Italian designers Anna Citelli and Raoul Bretzel, who have created a coffin allowing people to be buried in egg-shaped capsules attached to the roots of trees. Citelli and Bretzel, see the new coffin as an alternative to most typical burials, which…
Jagdev Dhaliwal of Williams Lake has emerged B.C.’s top lumber grader for 2016 in the 48th annual B.C. lumber grading championship held in Kelowna on May 28. Dhaliwal works at Tolko’s Lakeview division. Coming in a close second was Kamaldip Sandhu of Tolko’s Soda Cr. Division, also in Williams Lake. Each year top lumber graders…
It stands at a little more than 70 metres high, 14 metres taller than the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Experts believe it may have been around even longer than the world-famous Italian landmark, which began to take shape nearly 850 years ago. Big Lonely Doug looms over a clearcut hillside in the Gordon River Valley, surrounded…
A forester with expertise in wildfire and fuel management says Nelson sits between seven and 10 onthe provincial government’s 10-point scale that measures wildfire threat to communities. “Nelson is a fairly high risk area,” says Bruce Blackwell, who is working for a local governmentpartnership on a new wildfire management plan for the Nelson area. “Fort…
The Fort McMurray wildfire was most likely man-made, says Chad Morrison, senior manager of Alberta wildfire investigations. The exact reason it ignited is still under investigation, with the final report due in one month, Morrison says. No doubt the larger debate about origins of the fire will rage much longer. As soon as the wildfire burned…
T he Council of Forest Industries (COFI) today announced the winners of the 48th BC Lumber Grading Championship held in Kelowna on May 28, 2016 where top lumber graders from around the province gathered to demonstrate their skills. This year’s winners include: • Brian Marsh of Comact, Prince George, scored the highest practical mark in…
A few days ago Mike Flannigan travelled to Fort McMurray as part a special scientific research team studying the raging wildfire. He got a bird’s eye view from above and a close look at the ruins on the ground. With smoke still smouldering in the forests, not many people had come back, and yet nature…
Biomass inventory, supply-chain logistics, standards and technological applications, emerging markets, technical and regulatory hurdles were highlights of two bio-economy workshops held recently in Thunder Bay. Hosted by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF), the take-home messages were positive and promising. The province has organic material from forest wood and agriculture residues that complements…
Cherryville residents hope a review will lead to changes within a government agency. The Forest Practices Board will examine the activities of the B.C. Timber Sales program in the Okanagan-Shuswap starting Monday. “I hope rural communities will have some influence on forest management in watersheds next to communities,” said Hank Cameron, Cherryville director. Cherryville has…