Ingka Group, which owns retail giant Ikea, has purchased 5500 hectares of Otago, New Zealand farmland that it plans to plant into forest. In August, the Overseas Investment Office approved the purchase of Wisp Hill buy the Ingka Group.
News in timber
Hurricane Ida Hits the Louisiana Timber Industry
Unlike with Katrina, during Ida a lot of small, scattered trees as well as big ones went down. “Anything 15 years and up that was on commercial forest land that was planted and thinned before Ida hit, those stands have been pretty much totally devastated.”
British Columbia Ends Provincial State of Emergency for Wildfires
The B.C. wildfire season came one step closer to coming to an ending with the province’s announcement on Tuesday evening (9-14-21) that it was lifting the provincial state of emergency. The state of emergency, which was put in place on July 20, 2021, came into effect to co-ordinate the response to one of the worst wildfire seasons on record.
B.C. Ministry of Forests Releases Strategic Review Entitled “A New Future for Old Forests”
British Columbia’s Ministry of Forests on Saturday (9-11-21) released the government mandated old growth strategic review, entitled “A New Future for Old Forests.” It was written by two retired foresters, Garry Merkel and Al Gorley, who spent months touring the province talking to stakeholders about how the trees, some more than 1,000 years old, should be logged and protected.
Two More Saskatchewan Mills Receive Province Timber Allocations
The forestry industry in Saskatchewan received additional good news on Friday (9-10-21), with the announcement that two more timber mills will be receiving timber allocations from the province. These latest allocations come at the end of a week that saw two mills in Prince Albert receive timber allocations as well.
81 Large Wildfires Continue to Burn in the Western US — Only 1 Currently Listed as Contained
The National Interagency Fire Center reported today (9-13-21) that there are 81 large fires or complexes currently burning in the West and Minnesota. As of today, the total number acres actively burning are at 3,150,696. Fires listed as contained are now down to 1.
Dunkley Lumber Company to Expand Production at Carrot River, Saskatchewan Sawmill
Dunkley Lumber Company, a privately owned Canadian forestry company with three sawmills in western Canada, has announced a $100 million (C$) expansion at their Carrot River, Saskatchewan sawmill facility. The expansion is expected to create 240 new direct and indirect jobs through growth in lumber sales and exports.
Proposed Prince Albert, Saskatchewan Timber Mill Receives Province Timber Allocation
A proposed timber mill in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada that is expected to create 700 new jobs in the area moved one step closer to becoming a reality when One Sky Forest Products OSB received its timber allocation from the province. The province did not say how much it was allocating but said the majority of the timber would be from the province…
Idaho Department of Lands Sells 21.6 Million Board Feet of Timber Damaged in Cougar Rock Fire
The Idaho Department of Lands (IDL) today (9-9-21) sold at public auction, to the highest bidder, more than 21.6 million board feet of timber damaged in the Cougar Rock Complex Fire. The Cougar Rock Complex Fire began on July 7 and consumed more than 8,100 acres.
Improving B.C. Weather Conditions Help Firefighters in Battling Over 200 Wildfires
Thus far in British Columbia’s wildfire season, a total of 1,578 blazes have been recorded. Of that number, 891 of them were believed to have sparked by lightning, while 518 were considered human-caused. The remaining 169 fires are of unknown cause. Some 866,814 hectares of land has been scorched by wildfire so far this year.