News:

BC Mineral and Mining Sector
Express Mixed Views on Budget
The Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia (AME BC) believes that more must be done to reflect the importance of mineral exploration to economic recovery. See the News Release.

News:

B.C. Wood Truss Roofing Gets
Go-Ahead In China
The Shanghai government has formally approved a B.C.-designed roofing system as part of a plan to renovate 10,000 city apartment buildings in the lead-up to the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, it was recently announced. The approval applies to a wood truss roofing system designed by Chinese officials in collaboration with B.C. Forestry Innovation Investment, the Province's international marketing agency for B.C. forest products, which provided engineering assistance, access to B.C. lumber, and demonstration sites donated by B.C. See the News Release.

New Funding Promotes
Silviculture Safety
The Western Silviculture Contractors’ Association (WSCA) will receive $500,000 for the delivery of four safety programs designed specifically for the silviculture industry, Forests and Range Minister Pat Bell and Community Development Minister Kevin Krueger recently announced. See details in the News Release.

Key Lessons from Recent
BC Economic Summits
The provincial government’s Northern BC Economic Opportunities Summit and the BC Economic Summit were recently held in Prince George and Vancouver on January 22-23 and February 3-4, 2009 respectively. The remarks of David Emerson, Chair of the Economic Advisory Council to Cabinet, to the Summit in Vancouver emphasized that short-term economic action should not result in short-term thinking. In this regard, Mr. Emerson suggested seven key themes that are needed for longer-term strategic thinking and action. For more details, see the Newsletter from the Council of Forest Industries.

Mackenzie Mill Scare
Residents of the industrial area in Mackenzie were allowed back in their homes February 23rd, following the threat from a chlorine dioxide leak at the Worthington-Mackenzie Pulp Mill the night before. The leaky valve on one of three chlorine dioxide tanks was subsequently contained, and once it was secure, the evacuation order was lifted. No injuries were sustained. The long term plan is to remove the chemicals from the Mill. See the Opinion250 news article.

Houston Truckers Protest
Worksafe regulation
As reported by the BC Forest Safety Council’s news release RUMBLINGS, A group of Houston Truckers recently sent a letter to WorkSafe BC expressing their opinions re: OH&S Regulation Section 26.66 (4.1) concerning climbing on Logging truck bunks and trailer assemblies. They are concerned that the regulation is causing more of a safety hazard than the alternative of safely climbing on the trailer superstructure. See the entire letter.

White Paper (Forest Carbon Storage)
This White Paper describes the potential of forests in the northern hemisphere in general, and in British Columbia in particular, in sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide and thus mitigating anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, apart from providing environmental and economical benefits. Among some of the recommendations, research shows that fertilization of high-productivity forest sites not only can provide economic returns in terms of harvested wood, but also can increase C sequestration and reduce GHG global warming potential (GWP). See the full Report.