An environmental advocate says the wood pellet industry is damaging ecosystems in the United States and wants emerging jurisdictions like the Northwest Territories to proceed cautiously. Sasha Stashwick, a senior advocate with the National Resource Defense Council in New York City, said the international demand for wood pellets is growing dramatically, and weak regulations allowed clear-cutting in the southeast…
Simmering tensions between B.C. and Quebec, and between large and small Canadian lumber producers, will frame formal Canada-U. S. negotiations to take place here next week. The internal conflict adds to the challenge facing the Trudeau government as it tries to put together a unified approach against an adversary that has often tried to exploit…
Simmering tensions between B.C. and Quebec, and between large and small Canadian lumber producers, will frame formal Canada-U. S. negotiations to take place in Ottawa next week. The internal conflict adds to the challenge facing the Trudeau government as it tries to put together a unified approach against an adversary that has often tried to…
The life of an ancient colossus of the B.C. wilderness appears to be over. The Elaho Giant, a centuries-old Douglas fir growing in the Upper Elaho Valley, was caught in a wildfire last June. Although firefighters tried their best to save the famous tree, video shot this week shows a black, lifeless trunk and bare…
When the smoke cleared, unbelievably, there was good news. A $1.5-million stockpile of logs harvested over the winter and stored in a gravel pit north of Fort McMurray had caught fire but only about half of it was consumed before the flames burned themselves out. The stacks contained about 40,000 cubic metres, enough wood to…
The union representing 600 workers at Tembec’s operations in Temiscaming, Que., will fight announced layoffs taking effect June 20. Roger Gauthier, president of Unifor Local 233, said the cuts do not fall within the provisions of the collective agreement between Unifor and Tembec. “We were told the move was to reduce costs . . ….
The Town of Iroquois Falls has publicly released the purchase agreement they signed along with Resolute Forest Products and Riverside Developments to redevelop the former mill site into a multi-use industrial facility. But interested or concerned residents won’t be learning much more about the deal they didn’t already know because the vast majority of the…
A proposed wood pellet venture in Enterprise, Northwest Territories, has acquired land for its mill, bringing a six-year slog of development one step closer to reality. Aurora Wood Pellets Ltd. president Brad Mapes said the company purchased 320 hectares of land from the hamlet, or about four square kilometres. The site is about two kilometres…
The Municipality of North Cowichan has provided the B.C. Forest Discovery Centre with a $25,000 grant. The money, which will come from the municipality’s Forest Legacy Fund, will go towards the centre’s Shay Locomotive Project. Alf Carter, president of the B.C. Forest Museum Society, told council at Wednesday’s meeting the money will be used to…
Two-thirds of the way through the 100-day countdown set in March by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Barack Obama to agree on the parameters of a new bilateral softwood lumber deal, time is fast running out to reach an agreement before U.S. election fever overwhelms the negotiations. The Canadian lumber industry is still hoping…