News in timber

According to a leader of the Bigstone Cree Nation, just as lumber prices hit record highs, a drive to increase Alberta’s forest harvest is allowing members of a northern First Nation to become resource owners, as well as timber-gathering contractors.

The British Columbia provincial government on Tuesday (6-1-21) released a paper that lays out far-ranging “policy intentions”, including diversifying the ownership of forest tenures, or harvesting rights, and establishing a framework of compensation in the event those rights are redistributed. The series of B.C. goals and an initial yearlong timeline will work towards modernizing the province’s regulation of the forest sector.

Last year’s wildfire season in the western U.S. set new records for damage and destruction. This year’s wildfire season is shaping up to be potentially worse. According to scientists, the soil is at record dry levels for this time of year — so is the vegetation that can fuel wildfires.

According to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), more than 120 wildfires have already been reported in Idaho in 2021 and we are just approaching the official start of wildfire season. Fire management chief, Josh Harvey, with the Idaho Department of Lands (IDL) is worried, saying “We’re definitely below our level of moisture that should be sitting in the ground right now.”

In his capacity as president of the National Association of State Foresters (NASF), Arkansas State Forester Joe Fox testified at a hearing before the U.S. Senate’s Agriculture Committee titled: “Federal, State, and Private Forestlands: Opportunities for Addressing Climate Change.” In his testimony, Fox warned lawmakers that without “significant investments,” the nation’s timberlands are at risk.

Freiburg scientist Sylvie Berthelot and her team of researchers from the Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources and the Faculty of Biology are studying the importance of tree diversity on bark beetle infestation. They are investigating whether the composition of tree species affects bark beetle feeding behavior.

Seaton Forest Products, located near Smithers, B.C. at the foot of Seaton Mountain, has been quietly building a niche market for itself. Owned by Andy Thompson, the mill cuts dry Grade 4 wood into cants, using wood that would have typically been left in the bush or burned.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of the Interior are gearing up for what they expect to be one of the most intense wildfire years in recent history. In a press call on Thursday (5-13-21), Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said, “May is wildfire awareness month, but these days, it seems as if the fire season is the entire year.”

The first major revision in 50 years to Alberta’s Forest Act went into effect on May 1, 2021. The results of the passage of Bill 40 should result in less red tape, provide greater flexibility in harvesting operations, and maintain existing forest management practices.

Multnomah County circuit court judge Jerry Hodson last Friday (4-30-21) rejected a request by seven environmental groups for an injunction to halt post-fire logging in the Santiam Canyon, the result of last year’s Labor Day fires. In his decision, Judge Hodson found the lawsuit filed by the conservation groups last month was unlikely to prevail in court and ruled that Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) could move forward with its plan to harvest and remove hazardous trees on the 3,000 acres of fire-burned Santiam State Forest.