Focusing on grade lumber and high quality production, former employees purchase and restart Virginia sawmill. New owners explain the process of reopening an idle facility. When a sawmill that had been run by International Paper (IP) sat empty in Isle of Wight County, Virginia after being shut down in the summer of 2009, several men…
Management believes that gradual recovery in the U.S. housing market as well as timber supply shortage in Canada will boost demand for Weyerhaeuser’s Timberlands and Wood Products segments in 2015. Housing starts are expected to be approximately 1.1 million. Also, the company remains committed toward rewarding its shareholders through dividend payments and share buybacks. In…
Though there has been more forest fire activity so far this year than in 2014, it hasn’t been above average. So far in 2015, there have been 286 forest fires in the province which have burnt more than 28,000 hectares. The 10-year provincial average for the first three months of the forest fire season is…
Resolute Forest Products has received a one-year extension to secure confirmation from an independent auditor that it is using responsible forestry management practices in an area of Quebec’s Lac-St-Jean region. The Quebec-based company’s says the auditor, the Rainforest Alliance which suspected its certification in late 2013, has accepted a joint request for an extension from…
With wildfires threatening towns and villages across northern Saskatchewan, the mayor of La Loche is criticizing the provincial government for not fighting them more aggressively. There have been more than 520 forest fires so far this year, about three times as many the same time last year. They have forced more 5,000 people to leave their homes due to heavy smoke and the proximity…
The Alberta government is warning that the weather is pushing the threat of wildfires in forested areas to extreme levels. The problem is continued hot, dry conditions and expected winds of up to 50 km/h. The province said Thursday wildfires that start under these conditions can grow very large, very quickly and are very difficult to put out….
The city of Prince George is calling on the province to release 800 million dollars in funding that was promised to communities across BC impacted by Pine Beetles. While a significant amount of money has been recieved, council says it is drying up when it is needed most. “Through our Omineca Beetle Action Coalition, we’ve…
With fast-track approval by the U.S. Congress, President Obama moves ahead with one of his most important initiatives of this second term: the negotiation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). For Canada, a successful conclusion of the TPP will mean access to markets with 792 million people and $28.2 trillion in GDP, 40 per cent of…
A first-of-its-kind commercial-scale manufacturing facility for new grades of northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) pulp is planned for Domtar’s mill in Dryden, Ont. The project has received $2 million from the IFIT program, and is described as “modified softwood pulp fibre for high-performance composites.” Domtar will develop and commercialize a portfolio of new, premium-value grades…
How important are natural resources to the Quebec economy? Does developing our mines, forests and hydroelectric power lead to greater prosperity? Or should we turn instead to a knowledge-based economy rather than betting on the hewing of wood and drawing of water? Those are some of the questions raised by the second in a series…