A concerned Premier Kathleen Wynne is sending government scientists to Grassy Narrows to investigate a report of a potentially dangerous mercury dumping site on land near the First Nation community. Her comments Tuesday came after a Star investigation found the province had ignored startling information from retired labourer Kas Glowacki, who reported that 40 years…
Business in Vancouver’s 2016 list of the top 100 public companies in B.C. reveals the stellar year enjoyed by the province’s forestry companies in 2015. Each of the 11 companies on the list that generated sales from producing lumber, pulp, paper or finished wood products saw an increase in revenue in 2015 compared with the previous year….
The pressure on businesses to fold in the face of environmental scare campaigns can be enormous. But in federal court in Georgia, Canada’s Resolute Forest Products is suing Greenpeace for defamation, racketeering, conspiracy and other alleged offenses. In March we told you about a separate defamation lawsuit filed by Resolute that is currently winding its…
Allegations are mounting that Cantimber Biotech’s operations are producing negative health effects for Port Alberni residents. Stacey Gaiga, who lives in the neighbourhood above the facility, said that she and her neighbours are coming down sick as a result of Cantimber’s emissions. “If you look at all of the evidence, we’ve got a neighbourhood with…
Canada is listing nine B.C. species under the Species at Risk Act for the first time, ranging from a fly found in the South Okanagan to a lichen found in older forests within the Rocky Mountain Trench. The federal decision follows the recommendations of a national group of scientific experts, theCommittee on the Status of Endangered…
Canadian wildfire prevention teams are constantly looking for new and innovative ways to manage wildfires with limited budgets. One speaker during the panel sessions at the International Bioenergy Conference and Exhibition in Prince George, B.C. put forth an interesting strategy that also has the potential to provide an economic stimulus for the region while servicing…
Community leaders are not as optimistic as they once were about the coastal forest industry, and most feel the industry is in worse shape now than it was just over a decade ago. Not surprisingly, mayors are concerned about job loss and the economic impact on coastal towns and cities. These are just a few…
Quesnel Mayor Bob Simpson is questioning the commitment that Canfor has to rehabilitate the land it gave to West Fraser in a license transfer a few years ago. Simpson was told at this week`s Joint Planning Committee meeting that while West Fraser got the timber, Canfor maintained the accrued obligation. He fears that Quesnel is…
Climate change is expected to have a dramatic impact on ecosystems across the world, creating winners and losers: Some species are likely to survive in a warming climate, and some simply won’t. A new study in Science examined more than 26,000 trees across an area the size of Spain (583,000 square kilometers) and found that…
Re: Ontario’s bold but somewhat vague climate-change plan, June 10 Ontario’s bold but somewhat vague climate-change plan, June 10 Thomas Walkom wrote that trees are an antidote to climate change “only if the trees aren’t cut down for lumber or pulp.” But study after study has shown that harvesting a mature tree after it has…