Hidden behind a wall of trees, the feller buncher — a type of harvester used in logging — cuts the bottoms off several pine trees, bundles them together and throws them on to a pile. Its operator makes quick work, bringing down a stand of trees in minutes. The skidder, another heavy logging vehicle, pulls the cut trees out of the downed forest. “While the…
No, no, no is the answer to the question raised by Peter Moreira (March 17): Can entrepreneurship ‘save’ Atlantic Canada? Only innovation, radical change in governance — a new spirit to bring new meaning to our existence — can do it. Peddling isn’t the answer. Atlantic Canada in my lifetime produced more leaders per capita…
A cutting-edge satellite-based alert system could help policymakers and conservationists put a dent in illegal logging by notifying users in real time of new bald patches in the world’s rainforests. The system, known as the Global Land Analysis and Discovery alert system, was developed by the Department of Geographical Sciences at the University of Maryland…
An outbreak of the spruce beetle in the Omineca region north of Prince George could be a harbinger of things to come if the conditions that brought it to the fore remain in place in the coming years, according to a University of Northern British Columbia professor. Like its cousin, the pine beetle, deep cold…
During his visit to the Montreal Wood Convention, Québec’s Minister of Forests, Wildlife and Parks, Laurent Lessard, announced that a Wood Innovation Forum will be held in Rivière-du-Loup on October 31, 2016. He invited all the forest products industry’s actors to attend this unique event. “The year 2016 is a transitional year for the forest industry”,…
Poland has approved large-scale logging in Europe’s last primeval woodland in a bid to combat a beetle infestation despite protests from scientists, ecologists and the European Union. The action in the Białowieża forest is intended to fight the spread of the spruce bark beetle. “We’re acting to curb the degradation of important habitats, to curb…
The flooring plant and sawmill at Kennebec Lumber Co. are bustling with activity on a weekday morning, as logs get measured and sliced into lumber and the boards are graded, stacked and prepared for shipping. Meanwhile, just up the road, construction is nearing completion on a new biobrick manufacturing facility that will turn sawdust from…
The mountain pine beetle continues to attack pine trees at an exponential rate in Jasper National Park and has the potential to overrun the park’s forests within the next few years. According to Parks Canada, just over 21,500 hectares of the park’s pine forests have now been colonized by the beetle, more than three times…
The United Steelworkers Local 1-85 has launched legal proceedings against Western Forest Products to fight for Franklin Division loggers who haven’t worked at all in 2016. However, WFP claims the problem stems from a rate dispute with a contractor, and that they have been working to get employees back to work in their mills. The…
From looking after a multi-million-dollar machine to helping his fellow human beings, John Mondoux is one of the hundreds of former Domtar workers who has reinvented his occupation since the mill closed. “It’s definitely a major change, from dealing with my job to make paper, to taking care of people — a big difference, absolutely,”…