Fort McMurray is taking steps to prevent another catastrophic forest fire by extinguishing a fire threat in the heart of the the city. The wildfire hazard, the Birchwood Trails, has been described as a“tinder box” waiting to go up in flames. Birchwood Trails is a network of more than 130 kilometres of maintained trails sandwiched…
The Toronto Wood Solutions Fair is the premier event in Canada dedicated to wood design and construction. This one-day educational event, presented by Ontario Wood WORKS! and the Canadian Wood Council, showcases wood uses in commercial, institutional, industrial and multi-unit residential construction through a trade show and seminars. Intended for architects, engineers and other design/build professionals, the Wood Solutions Fair is…
The province will no longer provide food and shelter for specialized firefighters based in Salmon Arm, and that has Mayor Nancy Cooper concerned for the future of local firefighting. The Ministry of Forest, Lands and Natural Resource Operations confirmed it will stop providing catering services for Rapattack firefighters in Jan. 2017 and housing in 2018….
It’s not every day Boundary residents are recognized province wide for their outstanding work. But to hear the Davidsons talk, you’d think their names were chosen out of a hat for the prestigious provincial award for woodlot management. Bob and Dan Davidson, Rock Creek residents who manage a ranch and a substantial woodlot, were recognized…
The Takla First Nation is taking B.C. Timber Sales to court, alleging the band was not property consulted before it gave a Vanderhoof-based logging contractor the go-ahead to carry out operations on its traditional territory. According to a petition filed Monday in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, BCTS granted DNT Contracting Ltd. a licence in…
The infrastructure wish lists of post-secondary institutions in Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie are being fulfilled after the federal and provincial governments went on a funding tear. Confederation College and a First Nations training institute received a combined $20.76 million in federal and provincial funding for construction of a new campus building and for…
This week, the legal safety net was removed from the Canada-U.S. Softwood Lumber Agreement, but it is mostly business as usual so far for area lumber production. The trade pact ran past its actual due date more than a year ago, but there was a one-year provisional carry-on of the deal and once that passed…
B.C.’s forest products industry may not have the economic heft it had 25 years ago, but it remains the lifeblood of many small communities in the Interior and on the North Coast. So the expiry on Wednesday of a standstill agreement that had effectively extended the 2006 Canada-U.S. Softwood Lumber Accord, which officially ended last…
The provincial government has identified a potential buyer for the Tolko Industries kraft paper mill in The Pas and approved a new regulation aimed at helping secure the deal. Tolko announced in August it planned to close the mill by Dec. 2, throwing more than 300 people out of work. Tolko confirmed last month it…
The government of Manitoba has approved a regulation at the request of both Tolko Industries and a potential purchaser of the kraft paper mill in The Pas, Premier Brian Palliser said on Friday. Tolko Industries, the largest employer in The Pas, announced in August that it would be closing the mill in early December, putting 332 people out of work….