News in timber

During the World Leaders Summit’s Forest Day Session at COP26 on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, the United States launched the Forest Investors Club. The Forest Investor Club is a network of leading public and private financial institutions and other investors who aim to unlock and scale up investments that support climate-aligned outcomes in the land sector.

Chinook Forest Partners announced on Friday (10-29-21) that they had finalized the purchase of 50,747 acres of timberland in northwest Washington from Hampton Lumber and Family Forests. The acreage purchased by Chinook was originally part of Hampton’s 145,000-acre timberland purchase from Weyerhaeuser, which was completed earlier this year.

The British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations announced their proposed old growth deferral based on the advice and recommendations of the Old Growth Technical Advisory Panel (TAP) established in 2021. According to a statement, from the Huuay-aht First Nations, deferrals within their traditional territory will not be implemented without further review by the first nations.

The U.S. wildfire season continues to burn into November. Last Friday (10-29-21), the National Interagency Fire Center reported there are wildfire fighters deployed trying to contain 6 large wildfires burning on over 336,400 acres nationally. Three new large fires were reported on Friday — two in Texas and one in Colorado.

The Canadian press is reporting (11-2-21) that the British Columbia Provincial Government was expected to discuss today the next steps it will take on old-growth logging in the province. Forests Minister Katrine Conroy was scheduled to release the findings of an independent advisory panel established in June to help the province identify at-risk old-growth ecosystems and prioritize them for deferral from logging.

Oregon’s Gov. Kate Brown’s office announced on Saturday (10-30-21) that, after a year of negotiations, an agreement has been reached to overhaul the management of 10 million acres of private forestland in Oregon. The new plan will boost protection for vulnerable fish and wildlife while at the same time shielding the timber industry’s ability to log.

On Wednesday (10-20-21), Katrine Conroy, British Columbia’s Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development Minster, introduced a bill to amend the Forest and Range Practices Act, saying it would “reshape” forest management in the province. Conroy told the legislature that the proposed changes align forestry legislation with the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act passed in late 2019 and introduce “new tools to establish resilient forests.”

In a joint announcement on Monday (10-18-21), The Westervelt Company and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), a global investment group, announced the acquisition of more than 76,000 acres (307 km2) of high-quality pine timberland and the creation of a new strategic partnership that will focus on sustainable timberland management.

As the wildfire season slowly comes to an end, The National Interagency Fire Center reported today (10-19-21) that there are 5,600 wildfire fighters deployed nationally trying to contain 18 large wildfires that are burning on over 2,253,764 acres. No new large fires were being reported as of today.