The provincial government has put in a request for help from other provinces as firefighters struggle to get B.C.’s wildfires under control. B.C. has already spent more than $80 million on firefighting efforts so far this year, blowing through a planned $63-million budget, Forests Minister Steve Thomson told reporters Monday morning. “We’re at a critical…
Domtar’s Dryden Mill is launching new technology to expand markets for its pulp production. The company’s $4-million investment will launch a first-of-its-kind commercial-scale manufacturing facility for new grades of northern bleached softwood kraft pulp. Beyond producing its traditional writing and specialty-grade papers, tissues and paper towels, Domtar hopes to expand pulp sales into value-added products…
There were at least 21 fires that started in British Columbia on Sunday. There were 36 Saturday. There were 32 Friday. There are 178 burning right now. A haze blankets the majority of people in B.C., as winds bring smoke from fires in Pemberton to people in Vancouver and Victoria. The Metro Vancouver Air Quality Health Index…
NASA satellites are keeping a close watch on the massive wildfires burning in southern British Columbia. A satellite captured today’s space view of the South Coast of the province: a massive thick blanket of wildfire smoke covers much of the Lower Mainland, the Strait of Georgia, the southern half of Vancouver Island and parts of…
J.D. Irving Limited’s partnership with Natural Resources Canada’s Canadian Forest Service has led to the commercial development of advanced tree breeding, field testing and seedling production techniques. “Our project will be the first large-scale seedling facility in Canada that incorporates both the somatic embryogenesis process of naturally occurring superior trees from various locations across Atlantic…
The military has been called in to help care for 7,900 people from a northern Saskatchewan community that includes the province’s largest First Nation, as a rash of wildfires prompts a massive evacuation. Up to 5,000 of the evacuees will be taken hundreds of kilometres away to a refuge in Cold Lake, Alta., staffed by…
A forecast for lower temperatures and slower wind speeds may aid firefighters battling an out-of control wildfire near North Tallcree First Nation. Northern Alberta forest fires near High Level are a top priority this weekend, the minister of municipal affairs said Friday. On Thursday evening 200 people were evacuated from the small community about 100…
A steady rebound in U.S. housing activity over the next two years will spell much better times for North American lumber producers and lessen their reliance on the big Chinese market, says Montreal-based institutional investment manager Addenda Capital Inc. The lumber industry, with annual sales of $20 billion U.S., has become “surprisingly healthy” after facing…
Haze from forest fires blanketed much of the Sunshine Coast and the Lower Mainland on Sunday morning. Ash can be seen on vehicles in areas of the city, including Kitsilano. The shishalh Nation in Sechelt reported this weekend that there have been big increases in respiratory distress calls to emergency services due to smoke. The…
Pity the lowly wood pallet. Nobody thinks about it. But it does so much work. Most merchandise in supermarkets and big box stores is shipped on wood pallets. There are roughly two billion wood pallets circulating in the U.S. But now, the wood pallet is under attack. What’s wrong with them? Well, for starters, tons end up in landfills….