U.S. lumber manufactures want restrictions on Canadian lumber so they can make more profits. American home owners and industries involved in building houses want fair lumber prices which include Canadian lumber. An article in the Globe and Mail this fall is already out of date because of some recent events but does a good job…
Canadian beavers are wreaking havoc in an unexpected location: a swath of forest in South America. Some 200,000 dam-building creatures are creating harmful floods that threaten Patagonian forests and nearby lakes that cover parts of Chile and Argentina. In 1946, 25 pairs of beavers were brought to the Chilean and Argentinian archipelago of Tierra del…
William Angus and Thomas Logan chose Windsor, Que., as the site of Canada’s first wood-based pulp mill in 1864. Today, with more than 150 years of continuous operation, the site now known as Domtar’s Windsor mill is the city’s largest employer. Advances in technology and sustainable forestry over the past 152 years have dramatically changed…
As president-elect Donald Trump begins to shape his trade agenda, there are concerns about the effect on the Canadian economy, in particular because of our reliance on trade with the United States. However, there may be opportunities, too, and Canada must take full advantage where it can. This is particularly true when it comes to…
The New Brunswick-based firm issued a press release Jan. 11 to say they will be making 8,600 hires for all of their operations across Canada and the U.S. The total number of projected hires is down by about 1,600 from the previous three-year period. From 2014 to 2016 JDI hired 10,233 across their operations; 4043…
A new study has found that trees worldwide develop thicker bark when they live in fire-prone areas. The findings suggest that bark thickness could help predict which forests and savannas will survive a warmer climate in which wildfires are expected to increase in frequency. Trees in regions where fire is common, such as savannas and…
The B.C. Liberals put up a brave front last week when the Americans issued a preliminary finding of guilt against Canadian lumber imports for harming U.S. producers. “These are allegations that, time after time, have been proven false,” declared the statement Friday from Forests Minister Steve Thomson in response to the unfavourable ruling from the…
Changing climates and climate-induced insect outbreaks are on the rise and they can lead to drought and forest destruction. This threatens both forests and the communities that depend on the forest industry. Genome BC is supporting a $5.7 million research project co-lead by the University of British Columbia (UBC)’s Dr. Yousry El-Kassaby that aims to…
It’s déjà vu all over again in Middle Musquodoboit as former wood pellet plant operator Scotia Atlantic Biomass Company’s assets go up for grabs. The Vancouver-based Viridis Energy subsidiary is in receivership. “There are booms and busts and sometimes the weak don’t survive,” Sean MacNeil, a senior manager with Halifax-based receiver Grant Thornton, said in…
A judge has handed down significant fines and bans for destructive logging on Haida Gwaii earlier this decade. Gwaii Wood Products Ltd., Howe Sound Forest Products Ltd., and I. Crosby Contracting Ltd. were taken to court by the federal government over allegations of environmentally destructive logging practices over a four month period in 2010. A…