Premier Brad Wall has put a price tag on fighting this season’s wildfires: $100 million — so far. Speaking after Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s visit to the Saskatchewan legislative building on Friday, Wall said the province will apply to the federal government for monetary assistance to offset that cost. Wall also took Harper’s visit as…
In what could be one of the worst wildfire seasons in history, scientists at the Pacific Forestry Centre in Victoria are trying to find a way to forecast forest fires. Researchers are developing a model that they hope will predict where forest fires will occur up to two weeks before they happen. “We know the conditions…
Two are in Sudbury, two in Chapleau, and one is in Timmins As of the early afternoon Saturday, five new fires have been confirmed in the Northeast region in the last 24 hours, says a news release from the Ministry of Natural Resources. “Two of these are in Chapleau, two are in Sudbury and the…
Howe Sound Pulp and Paper is cutting about 180 employees – more than a third of its workforce – and permanently shutting down its paper production operations, parent company Paper Excellence announced Thursday. The closure is effective immediately. The cuts affect about 140 unionized workers and 40 salaried staff at the Port Mellon mill, the…
Vancouver Island University is expected to use $1 million from the federal government to enhance hands-on training for trades students. The university will use the Western Diversification Program money to purchase equipment for a mobile forestry skills training program. It is expected to benefit students associated with the forest industry, including hand fallers, logging truck…
Equities researchers at Scotiabank reduced their priceobjective on shares of Canfor Pulp Products from C$17.50 to C$16.50 in a research report issued on Thursday,Market Beat reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Scotiabank’s price target points to a potential upside of 15.79% from the stock’s previous close. Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock….
Dan Thompson has been tramping through burned out forest throughout the Northwest Territories this summer, looking for clues into the ecological impact of the fires that burned nearly 34,000 square kilometres last summer. “We have good numbers about the area, from last year, and now we’re trying to put together what we call a map of severity,”…
When the government of B.C. agreed in 2006 to protect the Great Bear Rainforest, it won widespread praise and the Gift to the Earth award from the World Wildlife Fund. The deal covered more than six million hectares of rugged coastal terrain that sweeps from near the north end of Vancouver Island to the Alaska…
The Ministry of Forests Land and Natural Resource Operations’ enforcement staff should consider attaching stiffer penalties to administrative actions against companies that violate regulations, the forest-industry watchdog says. It also suggested that the Ministry of Forests publish its determinations to make them more of a deterrent. The B.C. Forest Practices Board highlighted the findings of…
A complaint about logging of old forest on Sonora Island on B.C.’s South Coast has highlighted the importance of following the spirit and intent of ecosystem-based management (EBM). Residents of Sonora Island complained that TimberWest Forest Corp. was logging old-growth forest and rare and endangered plant communities in the Great Bear Rainforest. While TimberWest was…