Large swaths of red — meaning extreme risk — cover Alberta and Saskatchewan on the latest fire danger map from Natural Resources Canada. Many other areas are considered high or very high risk in the two Prairie provinces, where there’s been below average snowfall and above normal temperatures in much of Western Canada. Kerry Anderson, a…
Community Forests International has named a winner in its second annual backwoods cabin of the future contest. The Sackville-based organization asked people to design a cabin that will be built on its farm this summer. The contest drew entries from 62 designers and architects from 24 countries, but it was a German design firm that won the…
The Ontario Forest Industries Association (OFIA) supports the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) decision that would expand the Council’s definition of a certified source to match ASTM D7612-10. As a result of this decision, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, the Canadian Standards Association Sustainable Forest Management Standard and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification,…
Ten years after the Prince Albert pulp and paper mill shut down, a British Columbia-based company plans to reopen the mill by 2020. This month 10 years ago, Weyerhaeuser closed the Prince Albert Pulp Mill, costing 700 people their jobs. But after acquiring the old mill in 2011, Paper Excellence Canada told CBC News they…
With dry conditions and dozens of blazes already burning across Alberta, Premier Rachel Notley said Tuesday her government’s decision to slash the wildfire budget by $15 million this year won’t impact the province’s firefighting efforts. The province was criticized this week after its budget showed cuts to tanker contracts by $5.1 million and its base wildfire management budget by…
Looking for a new way to obtain fresh produce? This floating urban forest has your back.Swale, a barge topped with a forest of trees and edible plants, will be docking in Brooklyn, Governors Island and the Bronx this June. The 80 feet by 30 feet barge and collaborative floating food project will let people on…
The 2016 edition of the COFI Annual Convention lived up to the event’s long-standing reputation as the premier forest industry event in Western Canada. COFI’s number one goal is to help create the conditions for a thriving, sustainable, globally competitive forest industry. Presenters at this year’s convention provided lots of food for thought around how…
The BC government is speeding up its planning for wildfire season now that dozens of fires are already burning across the province. Almost 50 fires were started province-wide yesterday alone. Thirty-seven of the new fires started in the Prince George Fire Centre. Evacuation orders or alerts have been issued for several communities. Forests Minister Steve…
Northern Rockies Regional Municipality Community Development Officer Mike Gilbert has a message that will be going to Municipal Council later this week. He’s talking about last week’s meeting in Victoria with provincial officials on a proposal to re-establish a sustainable forest industry in the municipal district, eight years after the closure of the Canfor OSB…
But Greg Dionne, the mayor of Prince Albert, said the impact was startling for the entire region. “There was 700 jobs here. There was probably 1,400 jobs out on the field cutting the lumber, hauling the trees, truckers,” Dionne said. “People just don’t realize it wasn’t just 700 jobs — it was quite a few more” The loss…