As it prepares to usher in new requirements, the group that audits the ecofriendliness of forestry companies is signalling that there is flexibility in the way the controversial motion behind those new standards will be implemented. “We’ll never go back to the old standards … but there is a flexibility in how it will be…
The boost Canadian lumber exports are getting from the falling loonie is certain to bring out protectionist forces in the U.S. lumber lobby, says the CEO of Quebec-based forestry company Tembec. “I think that they’re watching the Canadian dollar drop, particularly in lumber, and they’re saying, ‘This isn’t fair,’” CEO James Lopez said Thursday before…
The City of Dryden lost its appeal to have Domtar pay $7.9 million in unpaid taxes. An Ontario Superior Court has turned down the northwestern Ontario municipality’s request for the local mill to pay taxes and assessment from 2009 to 2012. The original Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) assessed value for these years was $52…
After almost 20 years of environmental protests, conflict and negotiation, the B.C. government and coastal First Nations are poised to ratify a sweeping land-use order for the Great Bear Rainforest aimed at protecting 70% of the area’s old-growth trees. The Great Bear land-use order is expected to be signed by the B.C. government and First…
Paper Excellence offers a non-update in response to Mayor Greg Dionne’s State of the City Address. Don’t hold your breath for the Prince Albert Pulp Mill to re-open, Mayor Greg Dionne said during Thursday’s State of the City Address. “If the pulp mill opens, it will be six to eight years out,” he estimated, noting…
Erickson Incorporated, a leading global provider of aviation services, has renewed a contract with Canadian aerial heavy lift company Helifor Canada (Helifor), a subsidiary of Columbia Helicopters, to continue providing aerial timber harvesting services in British Columbia and western Canada. The contract is the fifth renewal with Helifor and provides for year-round services with one…
In the snowy woods of northern New England and other forested parts of the country, the lumberjack is an endangered species. As high-tech machinery replaces chain saws, which themselves replaced the axe, a generations-old way of life is disappearing, one that historically saw fathers pass on to their sons their love and knowledge of the…
In light of the global stock market turmoil, the deep dive of the Canadian dollar and the ongoing commodities sell-off, what is the outlook for B.C.’s forest sector? On fundamentals, softwood lumber prices – in U.S. dollars – should not be as low as they are today. B.C.’s northern kraft pulp prices are weak because…
The Canadian dollar’s nosedive has disrupted North American lumber markets to the point that Canada is expected to face currency-induced pressure to make concessions in the next softwood lumber agreement with the United States. Henry Spelter, a leading analyst at the U.S. consulting firm Forest Economic Advisors, said the effect of currency changes is likely…
It could be weeks, if not months, before investigators and the public know exactly what happened at a New Westminster lumber yard where two people were killed in a workplace incident. Two men, reported be to in their 60s, were killed after being crushed by a load of lumber at the United Gateway Logistics Inc….