The Pacific Northwest had many fires last year. For some, forest fires conjure images of trees completely vaporized by fire. But crown fires often move through a forest fairly rapidly, consuming tree needles and fine branches and leaving charred snags. Chopping into those trees often reveals sound wood. Salvage sales can be set up in…
With the Canadian dollar hovering below $0.70 U.S., Canada’s forestry industry is getting some much needed help, but storm clouds could be on the way. The Canada-U.S. Softwood Lumber Agreement, which kept trade peace between the two countries, expired last October, and U.S. timber producers have already been fighting against its renewal. Industry analyst Naomi…
In September 2008, when thousands of riled-up Republicans filed into the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn., for the party’s national convention, the upcoming election wasn’t the only thing on their minds. Oil had soared to US$145 a barrel just months earlier, and though crude had begun to fall fast—a harbinger of the Great…
Avatar, the future-fantasy blockbuster that beat Titanic as all-time Hollywood box office champ, has finally been unseated by the latest Star Wars space opera. I watched Avatar on TV over the holidays for the first time since its 2009 release, and was able to see past the bombastic special effects to examine it for what it is, an anti-capitalist propaganda film….
Forwarders and harvesters are among the common giants in the woods around any commercial logging operation, but one Upper Peninsula man – though practicing on a smaller scale – has help from a whole different type of giant: his Belgian draft horses. Horse-powered logging is something John Boyd, of Hermansville, has been doing off and…
American Wood Council says the International Code Council (ICC) Board of Directors approval of the formation of a Tall Wood Ad Hoc Committee. The committee will be made up of stakeholders, code officials and other interested parties. The committee will study tall wood construction and may develop code changes to be submitted for the 2021…
Choose To Save Lives – Actively Participate in a Safety Culture Plans are well underway for the 2016 Interior Safety Conference. Building on the success of the Northern BC Forest Safety Conference, the forest industry is working to build a similar event in the BC’s Interior. This event is being held in partnership with the…
In the course of researching a forthcoming commentary on Canada’s trade policy for the good folks over at the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP), I stumbled upon a surprising and encouraging bit of data. I grouped Statistics Canada’s series on exports and imports by broad commodity grouping (CANSIM Table 228-8059) into three categories: four…
When Darren Hudson first purchased land in Barrington, the seven-time logrolling champion lumberjack had a vision. “I wanted to pass on the skillset that I possess,” said Hudson in a Jan. 5 interview. That vision has grown into the Lumberjack AXEperience camp – a celebration of the history and heritage of the lumber industry in…
Less than six weeks after announcing its closure, a family-owned local timber company has purchased a Boyle sawmill from an Edmonton timber company for more than $30.6 million, plus working capital. However, the mill is still scheduled to be shut down this year. The deal between Northland Forest Products, located 16 kilometres north of Fort…