Alas, the U.S. financial crisis has deepened and has spread globally. The net result is that recovery, everything else being equal, has been pushed off.

But wait, there's more—today we have what has to be one of the most uninformed comments yet to be made on softwood trade with the U.S.—and we have had some winners!

The leader of the federal NDP has been quoted as saying he will end the Softwood Lumber Agreement and negotiate free trade in lumber with the U.S. As an aficionado of this topic I just cannot let this go by without comment.

If one assumes that on termination we will then be in litigation, the duty rates we will face will be far in excess of the current border tax rates. How much more downtime in the industry is the NDP leader looking for? And to suggest that free trade in lumber is achievable—well many have tried and all have failed.

At the end of the day the Agreement is working as designed and is the best of a bunch of bad outcomes.

	Honourable Pat Bell, Minister of Forests and Range

Guests comprised of municipal government, community and business leaders as well as local college and university students from the forestry, natural resource and business programs networked and met senior forest industry representatives during the reception and over dinner.

Prince George Mayor Colin Kinsley opened the program by welcoming attendees and guest speaker, Hon. Pat Bell to Prince George and acknowledging that despite the current market difficulties forestry will continue to be the economic backbone of the area.

Following dinner, Blair Mayes, COFI Board of Directors Chair introduced five of the ten COFI Annual Convention Legacy Scholarship winners who were each presented with a $1,000 award. (see story on page 4 for further information).

Blair Mayes then introduced the Hon. Pat Bell, Minister of Forests and Range as the evening’s keynote speaker. Hon. Bell spoke about four primary areas of focus: (1) diversify our markets, (2) expand the use of wood, (3) grow resources for future generations and (4) extend the utilization of pine (shelf life). Minister Bell also talked about measures that could be taken to “fill the allowable annual harvest gap” that could result from the MPB epidemic.

Minister Bell was well received by attendees, many of whom stayed after the formal address to mingle and speak to the Minister informally.

COFI 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 Doug Routledge, Vice President Forestry and Northern Operations by phone at: 250.564-5136 or by e-mail at routledge@cofi.org.

Earlier this summer the BC provincial government announced it will be implementing changes to the BC Building Code. To that end, Wood WORKS! representatives recently met with representatives from the Architectural Institute of British Columbia and the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC, and with the manager of the Building and Safety Policy Branch of BC in order to discuss and address modifying the BC Building Code in order to permit buildings up to 6 stories in wood construction. The Policy Branch is required to provide background advice to the government, and therefore the groups in attendance prepared a joint submission to the provincial government in response to the BC Ministry of Building and Safety Policy Scoping Paper.

Mary Tracey, Wood WORKS! BC Executive Director, noted it is imperative to ensure that due diligence is carried out in order to ensure that the code is changed in such a way that the potential for wood use in mid rise construction is maximized, in order to fully benefit the wood industry.

Trudy Rotgans, Manager, Codes Development, Building and Safety Policy Branch noted there is a great level of confidence that any technical and structural issues can be addressed through knowledge, peer review and education. To that end, the Canadian Wood Council’s technical staff is now involved in the process, and have been asked to play a key role in advancing the BC Building Code changes.

For the past year Wood WORKS! has been researching building codes and practices from jurisdictions around the world and has brought experts in mid-rise construction to Canada to meet with leading Canadian designers. Wood WORKS! forums and technical seminars have accelerated the process and built awareness as to the huge potential for increased wood use.

Tracey noted the interest from the design and construction community has “been overwhelming”. She said Wood WORKS! is receiving several calls each week from builders and developers who wish to be involved. She is confident that as this initiative develops, there will be increased opportunity for involvement from the wood products industry.

For more information contact Mary Tracey by phone at: 877-929-9633, ext. 1 or by email at: mtracey@wood-works.ca.

	Mayor Fred Jarvis (r), on behalf of the District of Taylor, receives a commemorative plaque from the Doug Routledge COFI’s VP Forestry & Northern Operations.
	Mayor Calvin Kruk (r), on behalf of the City of Dawson, receives a commemorative plaque from Chris Lear COFI’s Education Manager.

Part of COFI’s mandate is to build on our Industry’s good relationships with communities. Through the community relations program COFI seeks out opportunities to establish and build on existing community partnerships and help communities understand the challenges and opportunities facing the forest industry. In turn, the communities provide insight with respect to their needs, concerns, and aspirations. Through the open lines of communication we combine strengths to achieve common goals.

For more information contact: Doug Routledge, Vice President Forestry & Northern Operations by phone at: (250) 564-5136 or by e-mail at: routledge@cofi.org.

	Dyon Armstrong, Harvesting Forester from Dunkley Lumber explains harvesting practices in beetle kill.
	Trade Commissioners tour UNBC’s use of wood in campus buildings.

While on the Prince George leg of the tour the group toured Dunkley Lumber’s sawmill and woodlands operations, Pinnacle Pellets new bulk pellet plant at Strathnaver and were treated to a guided tour focusing on the use of wood in University of Northern BC’s campus buildings.

In addition to the tours, the group were given presentations on Forest Innovation Investment'programs, the economic importance of BC’s forest industry and the wide variety of wood products produced, BC’s sustainable forest management and timber supply regime and bio-energy opportunities and challenges in BC.

The northern portion of this tour was made possible with generous contributions of time from Dunkley Lumber, Canfor Pulp, UNBC, Ministry of Forests and Range and Alterna Energy and the logistical support of COFI staff.

The tour was designed to introduce trade Commissioners to the wide range of B.C. forest products and exporters (both primary and valued added), to the role of industry trade associations and to present a view of the BC forest sector from an on–the-ground forest operations, management, milling, and product end use perspective. This program builds on similar tours conducted in previous years for trade officers from Canadian Consulates across Asian and the USA.

For more info contact Chris Lear, Manager, Forest Education, COFI Northern Operations by phone at: (250) 564-5136 or by e-mail at: lear@cofi.org.

The booklet – titled Tackle Climate Change, Use Wood – highlights forest industry accomplishments with respect to climate change. It examines the environmental attributes of Canadian forest products – wood, pulp and paper, and residues – and was produced by B.C.’s Forestry Innovation Investment Ltd., the Forest Products Association of Canada and the B.C. Forestry Climate Change Working Group.

"People want to do the right thing and are interested in reducing their impact on the planet," said Ric Slaco, chair of the B.C. Forestry Climate Change Working Group. “They want products that have a lighter carbon footprint and come from responsible and sustainable sources. When we point out the benefits of using B.C. wood products, we’re making it easier for them to make the climate-friendly choice.”

• Carbon storage: A typical 2,400-square-foot wood-framed house contains 29 metric tonnes of carbon. This is the equivalent of offsetting the greenhouse gas emissions from driving a car over five years (about 12,500 litres of gasoline).
• Lighter footprint: Substituting a cubic metre of wood for concrete blocks or bricks can save 0.75 to 1 tonne of carbon dioxide.
• Lighter footprint: Production of a steel-framed home consumes 17 per cent more embodied energy and releases 14 per cent more air pollutants than a wood-framed home.
• Lighter footprint: Production of a concrete-framed home consumes 16 per cent more embodied energy and releases 23 per cent more air pollutants than a wood-framed home.
• Energy efficiency: With lots of tiny air pockets, the cellular structure of wood improves its natural thermal efficiency, making it 400 times better than steel and 10 times better than concrete in resisting the flow of heat. Steel and concrete structures need more insulation to achieve the same thermal performance as wood framing.

A copy of Tackle Climate Change, Use Wood is available for download from the COFI website: www.cofi.org/library_and_resources/publications/environmental_energy/pdf/tackle-climate-change.pdf

We are proud to recognize the following 2008 winners:

• Elijah Fraser, Salmon Arm, Okanagan College, Associate of Science leading to Forestry Program
• Kara Varley, Vanderhoof, College of New Caledonia, University Transfer Sciences (Biology) Program
• Darren Lindenberger, Fort Fraser, University of Northern BC, Business Program
• Liam Grant, Quesnel, University of Northern BC, Environmental Science Program
• Cara Guimond, Prince George, University of Northern BC, Natural Resource Management Program
• Gillian Rourke, Houston, University of Northern BC, Natural Resource Management – Wildlife and Fisheries
• Rory Callaghan, 150 Mile House, Thompson Rivers University, Business Administration Program
• Mark Visscher, Salmon Arm, Okanagan College, Residential Construction Program
• Blake Halvorson, Enderby, Selkirk College, Millwright Program
• Cody Turner, Pritchard, Thompson Rivers University, Natural Resource Science Program

For further information contact Chris Lear by phone at: 250-614-4352 or by e-mail at: lear@cofi.org.

Pictured: Blair Mayes, COFI Chair; John Bowman, President College of New Caledonia; Hon. Pat Bell, Minister of Forests and Range; COFI Convention Legacy Scholarship winners Kara Varley, Darren Lindenberger, Cara Guimond, Gillian Rourke, and Liam Grant; Dr. Charles Jago, Interim President University of Northern BC, John Allan, President & CEO of COFI.

This conference provides an opportunity to learn more about the challenges of substance abuse in the workplace. Owners, managers, supervisors, labour leaders, occupational health and safety managers etc. will benefit from attending this conference. Key components to this year’s conference include:

1. Liability issues for employers and employees
2. Myths and realities around addiction support groups
3. Young workers; drug trends; and the culture of silence
4. What a drug free workplace looks like
5. Drug testing issues and concerns

An added feature to this conference is the optional 8 hour Supervisors Workshop to be held on October 22nd. This 8-hour session highlights legal responsibility, recognizing signs and symptoms of substance abuse and assists all individuals to develop proactive strategies that will deal with the issue and the people involved.

Whether your organization is large or small, Work Drug Free 2008 will appeal to anyone interested in promoting a healthier, safer, drug free workplace, community and family.

For further information visit our website: www.workdrugfreebc.com, or email: Teresa@workdrugfreebc.com or phone 250-649-4000.