At COFI we have a very respected and successful school forestry education program and every year we fund scholarships to assist students in post secondary forestry studies. So when George’s email invitation arrives each fall, I look forward to the opportunity not only to share forestry issues with his students, but also to learn a few things myself.

First, education is very powerful. Our forestry and forest industry issues have become extremely complex and we need the best and the brightest now and in the future to focus on solutions. The students of today are the industry experts of the future.

Second, despite our industry’s extremely negative financial situation, forestry remains an extremely attractive occupation. With so-called baby boomers retiring in increasing numbers, and with emerging and evolving issues like climate change, carbon taxes and bioenergy we need fresh minds and fresh thinking that new graduates can bring to bear.

Forestry has a long and proud academic history and tradition and I am confident it will carry on in future. COFI will be doing its part to ensure that outcome.

	Peter Moonen of BC WoodWORKS!

Peter went on to explain building life cycle analysis with respect to energy use, resources, and livability, and how wood compares so favorably over concrete and steel. However, just as it is not always easy being green, it is not always easy for communities to choose wood. This is where BC WoodWORKS! comes in. They can assist communities in overcoming any challenges they might encounter.

The compelling presentation, great food, and excellent camaraderie combined for a very enjoyable evening for all attendees.

Community Dinners are an important component of COFI’s community relations program and are held annually in various locations throughout the interior. COFI Community Dinners are co-sponsored by Finning Canada.

For more information contact Steve Kozuki by phone at: (250) 564-5136 or by e-mail at: kozuki@cofi.org visit www.wood-works.org.

	Cheryl Dyer, Principal, Chetwynd Secondary School receives new teaching kit from Chris Lear, Manager, Forest Education.
	Hon. Pat Bell, Minister of Forests and Range, and Chris Lear, Manager, Forest Education

The kits, produced by the Council of Forest Industries Forest Education Program in partnership with Forestry Innovation Investment Ltd., a B.C. Crown agency, help students:

• describe what happens to harvested timber;
• demonstrate the importance of the forest industry to the provincial economy;
• demonstrate the importance to the provincial economy of marketing wood products around the world;
• identify and evaluate international markets for B.C.’s wood products;
• and assess the opportunities and challenges in marketing of B.C.’s wood products internationally.

On hand to launch the new kit, Forests and Range Minister Pat Bell said, “More than anything, the kits highlight the international opportunities and global reach of B.C.’s forest sector. Whether it’s developing new markets in China or promoting the use of wood to fight climate change, the issues that students will explore in the classroom today are the real world opportunities that promise to transform the industry in the years ahead.”

“Students can take pride in B.C.’s international reputation for producing world-class products from sustainably managed forests,” said Chris Lear, Manager, Forest Education, Council of Forest Industries, Northern Operations. “Many are unaware of the forest sector’s size and economic importance. Not only do these kits help demystify the sector, we hope they’ll inspire the next generation to pursue careers in our industry and shape the future of forestry.”

The kits build on the success of the mountain pine beetle educational kits distributed in 2006 and 2007. The resource kit, one year in the making, was developed in accordance with identified Ministry of Education learning outcomes, and has been endorsed by the Ministry of Education.

For more information contact Chris Lear, Manager, Forest Education, Council of Forest Industries by phone at: (250) 614-4352 or by e-mail at: lear@cofi.org, or go to www.forest-education.info.

	Smithers Mayor Jim Davidson

The exciting presentation, great food, and excellent camaraderie combined for a very enjoyable evening for all attendees.

Community Dinners are an important component of COFI’s community relations program and are held annually in various locations throughout the interior. COFI Community Dinners are co-sponsored by Finning Canada.

For more information contact Steve Kozuki, General Manager, Forestry by phone at: (250) 564-5136 or by e-mail at: kozuki@cofi.org.

"The first light-frame trusses were built on site and used nailed plywood gusset plates," says Barry Schick, General Manager, AcuTruss Industries. "They offered acceptable spans but took a lot of time and effort. In the 1950s, the metal connector plate transformed our industry by allowing efficient prefabrication of short- and long-span trusses."

Today economy, fast delivery and simplified erection procedures have made wood trusses competitive in many roof and floor applications, for both short and long spans. In British Columbia, wood is the obvious choice for buildings of all sizes. It has a high strength-to-weight ratio, and dead load is a smaller component of the total load factor than is the case with heavier materials.

"The design is unique, and yet uses ordinary glulam and 2x4 lumber in ways which make the structures extremely efficient. The slender composite glulam/steel arches span nearly 100 metres, and the one-of-a kind arched "Wood Wave" panels which link them are formed from simple 2x4's arrayed and connected to create structurally and acoustically efficient V-shaped box beams spanning 14m. The visual effect and the warmth of the wood is quite stunning,according to Olympics-bound speed skaters who have used the facility," Epp said.

The Richmond Oval, which is nearing completion, will be the first building in the world to include a roof with this exportable new design. The roof is made exclusively from wood, using more than one million board feet of pine beetle kill wood from British Columbia's interior forests.

Schick and Epp are among the speakers at BC Wood WORKS! Wood Design Luncheon Conferences in Kelowna (Nov. 28) and Victoria (Dec. 2).

The seminars are tailored for decision makers in the construction industry, and attendance is free for those who register by Nov. 28. Call Lorna Malone 1-877-929-9663 (ext 4) or visit the BC Wood WORKS! conference page at www.wood-works.ca.

The company plans to construct forty homes using SPF dimension lumber in the roof assemblies at the Kotsudai Housing Project, located near Kobe City.

Kotani-Jyuken started building the first home in April on a piece of land that the company acquired and subdivided for this purpose. All the single-family homes are two-storied and have a floor area of 115 m² - 120 m². The listed selling price including the land is $250,000 - $270,000 per house, depending on the size of house and lot location.

All the homes are of the new post-and-beam construction method, using glue-laminated beams and posts, and metal plate connecters. What is unique about these new post-and-beam homes is that almost all the structural roofing material is SPF 2x4 dimension sized lumber.

COFI partnered with Nakamura Forest Products, a local company which owns a pre-cut factory supplying metal connectors and post-and-beam lumber components, to illustrate the benefits of SPF lumber to Kotani-Jyuken.

This partnership successfully convinced Kotani-Jyuken to construct the roof assemblies for these new post-and-beam homes with SPF lumber from Canada.

According to Mr. Tani, the building site project manager for Kotani-Jyuken, the company chose SPF dimension lumber for the rafters for three reasons:

• First, because of its weight and strength, SPF lumber is preferred on the construction site.
• Second, SPF lumber allows for increased span lengths, which decrease metal connector costs.
• Third, SPF lumber reduces the roofing material lumber costs for rafters.

This article by Kevin Bews is courtesy of Canada Wood.

For more Canada Wood news on Japan, China, Korea and United Kingdom markets check out the October 2008 newsletter: www.cofi.org/canadawood/newsletter/2008_oct/oct2008.html

The award was presented to Fort St James Mayor Rob MacDougall at last month’s Union of BC Municipalities convention in Penticton. Presenting the award on behalf of WoodWORKS! BC, Council of Forest Industries VP Forestry and Northern Operations Doug Routledge congratulated the Mayor and community on the use made of wood in both the structural elements of the buildings as well as the extremely attractive interior finishing.

This is the fifth year WoodWORKS! BC and the Canadian Wood Council have presented awards to BC communities in recognition of their efforts to use wood.

The awards also acknowledge the environmental benefits of building with wood citing the Nobel Prize winning International Panel on Climate Change which has recognized the critical role wood use can play in sequestering carbon and helping to mitigate climate change. The award plaque presented was of course made of carbon sequestering WOOD!

Doug Routledge, VP Forestry and Northern Operations with the Council of Forest Industries congratulates Fort St. James Mayor Rob MacDougall on the towns WoodWORKS!-Canada Wood Council Community Recognition Award.

Participants on these tours gained an understanding of Canadian wood construction, the manufacturing prowess of BC interior forest companies, and the world-class sustainably managed forests.

From Korea, we hosted a delegation of builders, developers and media on September 10th. On September 23rd a contingent of builders and developers from several Chinese cities came to Prince George. The President and founder of a Japanese architectural firm visited Vanderhoof and Prince George on October 27th. All of the participants expressed amazement at the level of technology used in BC forest products manufacturing. They also felt a deep sense of the naturalness of BC style of forest management, especially compared to plantation forestry in other parts of the world.

For more information contact Steve Kozuki, General Manager, Forestry by phone at: (250) 564-5136 or by e-mail at: kozuki@cofi.org.