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Recent price behavior is just one more sign that the small and short lived ray of optimism was related to supply curtailments and seasonal demand. U.S. housing starts for May (seasonally adjusted annual rate) stood at 593 thousand, a fairly insignificant increase from May 2009 at 550 thousand. Having noted the above, our members remain strong and resilient and continue to operate in the face of challenges such as the Mountain Pine Beetle. We are encouraged by the focus of the Ministry of Forests and Range on competitiveness and the introduction on July 1 of revised timber pricing which will bring the interior into a fully functioning market based system. One last note—please have a great but safe summer.
John Allan |
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2010 Leadership in Safety Awards Get your 2010 award nominations in! It’s time to recognize the safety leaders in BC’s forest industry. The BC Forest Safety Council is seeking nominations for two annual awards. We’re looking for people that work in the forest industry and are known for their safety-first leadership approach to business success. In such a vast province with so many hard working people looking out for each other on the job, who do you feel deserves recognition? Who has contributed to a safer workplace? Who has led change for the better? Let us know by sending in your nomination today. This special award is presented to an individual who, through a long career in the forest industry has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to improving safety awareness, expanding safety knowledge, developing safety skills at ground level and building a lasting culture of safety among BC’s forest workers. This individual is known for being a “teacher” of safety, a trainer, a leader, an instructor, a mentor…someone who goes the extra mile to help others reach their safety and business performance goals with a helping hand, proven experience and knowledge. This award recognizes an individual or group that has made a notable contribution to forest industry safety within their operation or company in 2010. This ‘Most Valuable Player’ could be a worker whose idea resulted in improvements to workplace safety and efficiency; a supervisor who communicated regularly with his crew and spearheaded safe work procedures; a crew who together found a new way to do their jobs more safely and productively; a manager who demonstrated a commitment to worker safety through his actions; a committee that achieved safety improvements at work through their persistent efforts to seek changes or a company that has demonstrated leadership in integrating health & safety into their business practices. For nomination form go to BC Forest Safety Council website: www.bcforestsafe.org. Nominate Your Community to be the 2011 Forest Capital of BC The Forest Capital program, established in 1988, provides an important opportunity to celebrate the economic, cultural, natural and historic contributions forests make to community life and the health of the province. Our forests are important to every community in BC. It's a heritage we take pride in and celebrate. For more information go to: www.abcfp.ca/about_us/affiliated_programs/forest_capital_of_bc.asp. |
Hands-on Career Awareness Programs Help Students Set Career Goals COFI Northern Operations Forest Education Program wrapped up its spring career programs hosting two two-day Natural Resource Career Awareness Camps May 19-20 in Prince George and May 26 – 27 in Quesnel. Some 60 Grade 10-12 students and their teachers from school in Prince George and Quesnel attended the two field camps to learn more about forestry related careers by participating in hands-on workshops run by resource professionals drawn from industry, government, forestry consultants and post-secondary institutions. If you asked Dan Broderick, Sustainable Resources and Forestry Teacher at Correlieu Secondary School in Quesnel, what the key element of success is in these programs, he will say that it is ‘the opportunity to work with professionals in the field’. ‘This’, says Broderick, ‘is how students best gain information and inspiration to set challenges and rewarding career goals’. Dan is a great supporter and partner in the Quesnel camp who is key in recruiting students for the program from Correlieu Secondary School. At the two camps students and teachers participated in hand-on workshops in wildlife management, fish management, forest ecology, field navigation/GPS, fire suppression, forest engineering and timber cruising. The final workshop at both camps was the Amazing NRM Challenge where student teams competed through seven resource management challenges to be crowned the wining team. 
Dan Broderick, center, and Quesnel students get instructions from Initial Attack Fire crews from Williams Lake on fire fighting equipment. 
Brian Aiken from DWB Consulting demonstrates ‘electro shocking’ with students in the fish management workshop. 
Students watch an air tanker from MOFR Wildfire Management Branch drop a load of fire retardant demonstrating air attack capabilities as part of PG NRM Camp workshop on fire fighting. For more information, contact Chris Lear, Manager Forest Education, COFI Northern Operations, 250 – 614-4352 or lear@cofi.org. |
New Dean for UBC Faculty of Forests Dr. John Innes has been appointed as Dean of the UBC Faculty of Forestry for a six-year term, effective July 1, 2010. Dr. Innes is Professor and FRBC Chair of Forest Management at UBC. He received a BA (Hons) and PhD from the University of Cambridge, and held positions at several universities in the UK including Cambridge University. In 1986, he was appointed as Senior Scientific Officer with the UK Forestry Commission tasked with assessing the health of Great Britain’s forests. In 1992, he was recruited to join the Swiss Federal Institute of Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, where again he had responsibility for assessing national forest health and the added responsibility of developing a new Department at the Institute to look at long-term ecological processes in Swiss forests. Since coming to UBC in 1999, Dr. Innes’ research has focused on sustainable forest management involving projects as diverse as slope stability, bird population studies, the effects of cumulative impacts of development on the way of life of First Nations in northeast BC, community-based forest management in Mexico and Brazil, and forest management standards in China. In China he works closely with the State Forestry Administration and the Chinese Academy of Forestry and is currently an Adjunct Professor at Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University and Jiangxi Agricultural University. His research with Aboriginal communities focuses on the relationship between Aboriginal people and forests; how the impacts of climate change are affecting forest-dependent communities, and how those communities are adapting to their changing environment. Dr. Innes has written or edited a number of books on forest health, environmental change and air pollution and numerous scientific papers, and in 2007 as contributor to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, along with many other scientists, Dr. Innes shared in the Nobel Peace Prize. His teaching has concentrated on international issues – an undergraduate course in International Forestry and two graduate courses in tropical forests – evolution and ecology, and conservation and management. He also teaches a course on global environmental issues in the Sauder School MBA program. Dr. Innes has strong international interests and is currently one of the two Vice Presidents of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO). He is Vice Chair of the Commonwealth Forestry Association, the only international association of professional foresters. For more information go to the website: www.forestry.ubc.ca/. |
Guide to Exporting BC Wood Products to China In recent years the British Columbia government and BC forestry associations have been experiencing a growing need to be able to provide potential exporters with a comprehensive guide to help people get started in planning and conducting wood export activities to China from Canada. "Exporting BC Wood Products to China" is a guide addressing Chinese import restrictions and BC and Canadian export regulations and processes. To download the document go to: www.bcfii.ca/industry_resources/market_research/china.htm. |
BCBC’s 2020 Road Map for British Columbia BCBC’s Outlook 2020 was an outward-looking, non-partisan initiative that seeking to draw on the rich sources of knowledge and expertise available to the Business Council. The project consisted of a four part Summit Series, building on the themes and topics raised in a series of 28 research papers commissioned by the Business Council. The papers, which cover almost every aspect of the provincial economy and highlight a handful of key cross-cutting issues and themes, are freely available on the Business Council's website. Outlook 2020 was motivated by three principal questions:
The synthesis report: OUTLOOK 2020: SHAPING BRITISH COLUMBIA’S ECONOMIC FUTURE presents a vision for BC in 2020, an assessment of the economic landscape, the commercial and industrial foundation for BC’s prosperity and strategies for future prosperity. For more information about Outlook 2020, and to download the research and synthesis papers, go to the BCBC website: www.bcbc.com. |
New Audits from BC Forest Safety Council Integrating safety into the way you do business is good business, and not just because of the No.1 reason, stopping people from getting hurt. Running a company with good safety systems — systems that make you ask yourself, have I designed my business well, am I in control of my business, do I know what my people need to know, do they know why they need to know it, am I training them the right way, are they using the right tools? — also gets you a long way down the road to running a solid, successful business. A good safety system doesn’t get in your way, it helps to provide a way. It keeps co-workers healthy and it improves your bottom line. A good safety audit is simply a tool to check how effective your safety system is. Simpler versions of all SAFE companies audits are here - BASE, SEBASE and IOO. Plus there's a brand-new audit called ISEBASE for smaller companies with 2-5 employees. The revised versions are easier to use and require less paperwork, giving you an effective tool for:
What’s new and improved? Here are the highlights for large company audits: The audit questions are more focussed and the audit submission requires less paperwork.
Training and support Introductory training on the new version will be held by webinar June 28th, 29th, 30th and July 6th and 19th. The webinar training will enable you to take the training from your office location. All that is needed is a computer with internet connection and a phone. To register, please contact us at 1-877-741-1060. If the dates are not convenient or your do not have the internet please contact our office to discuss training options. For more information about revised audits for large and small companies, and individual owner-operators, visit the BC Forest Safety Council website: www.bcforestsafe.org. |
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Who is the Festival of Forestry The BC Festival of Forestry is a non-profit organization committed to providing quality professional development experiences for school teachers. Twice a year it takes 20 Lower Mainland and Victoria area teachers to rural communities in BC. The tours provide an interactive learning experience to enhance teachers’ understanding of the complexities of sustainable forest management issues, and methods to integrate information into their classes. Teachers have the opportunity to immerse themselves in a resource-based community and interact with the people most connected to resource issues. Our tours include hikes in various forest ecosystems, visits to active forest management areas, protected areas, and tours of processing facilities. Presenters on each tour represent a wide range of interest areas providing a clear balance of perspectives. Tours include mini-courses on tree identification, wildlife habitat issues, water quality and other riparian considerations in forest management, soil characteristics, ecosystem management, conservation and preservation of sensitive and special areas of the forest, as well as the social and economic values we gain from the forest. The next tour, in July 2010, will visit South Central Vancouver Island For more information go the website: www.festivalofforestry.org. 
2010 CIF Annual General Meeting and Conference Regional Land Use Planning in a Global Economy The Canadian Institute of Forestry convenes its 102nd annual general meeting and conference in Jasper, Alberta, September, 26 – 29, 2010. The conference features presentations, field trips and special events in the jewel of Canada’s Jasper National Park - A UNESCO World Heritage site. In recognition of the importance of land use planning in our increasingly complex world, the theme for the 102nd annual general meeting and conference is Regional Land Use Planning in a Global Economy. Land use planning is an issue that has commanded world attention with jurisdictions addressing their respective planning processes to meet social, economic and environmental objectives. Mr. Geriant Richards, forester and Duchy Woodland Estate Manager for the Prince of Wales, is the keynote speaker. Mr. Richards will speak to the forestry challenges facing the 571-square-kilometre Duchy and how lessons learned at the local level can be applied to global land management questions. Special events include one day set aside for two separate field trips to explore: Management challenges in Jasper National Park, a World Heritage Site, and Against the backdrop of the conference will be a celebration of the 200th anniversary of explorer David Thompson and his trek through the Rocky Mountains while he was en route to survey the entire length of the Columbia River. Website: |
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We are not out of the woods yet. Lumber markets remain volatile as U.S. housing starts data continues to disappoint. There was a nice run up in prices from early April to mid May resulting in the softwood lumber tax for June dropping to 0%. However, prices have fallen rapidly in the last six weeks such that the tax will ramp back up to 10% in July. Prices in June on average have slumped back to January levels.