Despite 10 years of committing itself to safe practices, WorkSafeBC says the B.C. forest industry still harbours a culture that accepts risk as part of the job. The additional cost of safety is still an issue between contractors and licensees, and workers still feel they can be blacklisted for refusing to do work that they…
Representives of the extractive industries that drive Northwestern Ontario’s economy believe the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement will bring them prosperity. The TPPA deal signed in Atlanta on Sunday will lock Canada into a free trade area of 12 countries on both shores of the Pacific Ocean. Together, they encompass two-fifths of the entire global economy. Forest…
On July 24, faller Jeremy Tanaka was working on northern Vancouver Island when he was struck and killed by a falling hemlock tree. The tree had been accidentally uprooted by a piece of heavy equipment, striking the unsuspecting faller and killing him. The tragedy of Tanaka’s death is that he was killed in an operation…
A British-based manufacturing company is considering switching its B.C. tree-planting program from farmland to areas deforested by fire or pine beetles. Reckitt Benckiser Group plc added another three farms to its B.C. land holdings over the summer, prompting an accusation in the legislature that it was breaking its promise to suspend planting trees on farmland….
There are about 150 employees at Canfor-Vavenby and their payroll is close to $20 million per year, according to division manager Steve Planeta. Overall, the division brings in nearly $100 million per year to the local economy, he said. Those statistics were among the information passed along during a public tour of the sawmill facility held Sept….
The provincial government is pitching in some funding towards forestry training for 24 students enrolled at a program at the College of the Rockies. Roughly $700,000 was funnelled into the Community and Employer Partnerships program, which will give the students both classroom and field experience in the forestry sector. The students will learn about tree…
Innovation in the forest industry is the focus of a conference at the University of Northern British Columbia this week. It includes the participation of researchers, industry, and government leaders. “The goal is to get the conversations going between industry and research and government to some extent about where can we take forest research to…
Scientists are warning that intense wildfires in the northernmost areas of North America are changing the composition of the tundra ecosystem, degrading permafrost and contributing to a northward migration of trees, all of which have serious implications for the future of the climate. Warming air masses resulting from climate change create the conditions for intense…
While drones are often associated with government and military, several industries recognise the benefits of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology and are turning to drones for a competitive advantage. Thus, since the summer of 2014 a team of FPInnovations researchers has been conducting tests across Canada to study the potential uses of drones and validate those…
A broad-cross section of Canadian businesses – from cattle ranchers and grain exporters to small-scale manufacturers – applauded Canada’s signing of the Trans Pacific Partnership, a monumental trade deal that will open up new export opportunities in a number of fast-growing markets along the Pacific Rim. The deal – signed Monday following negotiations that stretched…