October marks the third anniversary of the Canada/US Softwood Lumber Agreement (SLA). The SLA was controversial when it came into effect and it remains controversial today. No doubt it will continue to draw criticism throughout its seven year term. However, support for the SLA within the forest industry remains strong for a number of reasons, a circumstance that might not be obvious to many.

First, the Agreement is working as intended.  With poor markets and low prices, quota and tax levels have assisted in driving down Canada’s share of US consumption from 34% in 2006 to 25% today.  This reduction in Canadian market share during the down cycle was the intended result in the SLA.

Second, the SLA arbitration provision is also operating as intended, providing a “safety valve” where issues that cannot be resolved by discussion or consultation are referred to a neutral independent panel.

Critics of the SLA often claim that it is the source of the downturn in the Canadian forest industry.  Simply put they are not correct.  Without the Agreement we would likely be in litigation facing extremely onerous duty rates.  The industry’s woes stem not from the SLA, but rather from low lumber demand (courtesy of the crisis in the US housing market), low prices and volatile exchange rates.

The SLA provides a level of certainty to both Canada and the US from both a government trade policy perspective and an industry business planning perspective.  The Agreement will also provide for an orderly resumption of normal export flows when market recovery occurs.

It does not deserve to be used as a political football.

 John Allan

(l-r) Ingeborg Reggestad (Norway), Federico de Barros (Brazil) and Sanni Viitanen (Finland) during the silviculture workshop.

Greg Stewart, Operations Superintendent for West Fraser HFP shows students how a feller buncher operates.

International students Ingeborg Reggestad (Norway), Sanni Viitanen (Finland) and Federico de Barros (Brazil) joined 40 other high school students from Houston Secondary, Smithers Secondary and Hazelton Secondary schools to learn more about forestry careers at COFI north’s annual Natural Resource Management Career Awareness Program in the Bulkley Valley October 8-9th.  The three students, who are on year-long exchanges at Houston Secondary School, were keen to participate in the program which included workshops in silviculture, harvesting, fish management, fire protection, archaeology, First Nations’ traditional land use, timber cruising and finished with a team skills challenge.

This fall over one hundred high school students and their teachers from North Peace, South Peace, Nechako/Lakes, Bulkley Valley and Coast Mountain school districts participated in three regional NRM Career Awareness programs.

For more information on this program, contact Chris Lear, Manager Forest Education, COFI Northern Operations by phone at: (250) 614-4352 or by e-mail at: lear@cofi.org.

Forest Education Van at BC Rivers Day

McQueen Lake Camp

CWIT booth

Festival of Forestry Sunshine Tour

This fall has seen a decline in forest education programs operating across the Southern Interior. West Kootenay and Thompson Forest Educators have been actively holding events through the first two months of school, however the Okanagan- Columbia, East Kootenay and Cariboo zones have not hired forest educators this year, due to a lack of local funding and cutbacks to available government grants. COFI South Forest Education continues in its role to maintain the visibility of forest education through program events, Learn Forestry website promotion and educator support in the Southern Interior.

In September, the Interior Logging Association's Forest Education van travelled to Rock Creek to take part in the community's annual Fall Fair, where it was hosted by forest educator Darcee O'Hearn. Thousands of people attended the Rock Creek event, many of whom toured the van and expressed their views about forestry issues, with retirees happy to share their stories about working in forestry in the old days and other locals eager to discuss the impact of the beetle epidemic and ways to utilize the affected trees.

West Kootenay Forest Education also participated in Kootenay Lake Forest District's National Forest Week celebration, where 250 Gr. 5 students spent the day touring various stations, including the ILA forest education van, wildlife displays, beetle investigation, ecology scavenger hunts and fire protection water relays. After taking part in a BC Rivers Day event in Trail, the forest education van headed to Kamloops to attend another BC Rivers Day celebration, hosted by Thompson Forest Education.  

A three day "Forestry and Environmental Studies" camp organized by Thompson Forest Educator, Susan Bondar, was held at McQueen Lake Environmental Education Center in mid-October to introduce district secondary students to the varied career opportunities in the forest industry. These camps were first held in the Okanagan-Columbia Zone at Silver Lake Forestry Centre and the model has since been successfully adapted in the Thompson. Students attending the McQueen Lake camp had a chance to learn about ecology, silviculture, tree planting, fire management, search and rescue, aquatics and many other aspects of resource studies, assisted by forest professionals and personnel from TRU, Selkirk, BCTS, Kamloops Search & Rescue and First Nations.

Congratulations to the Canadian Women in Timber, who celebrate their 20th Anniversary this year!! This volunteer organization has worked to promote public understanding of BC's forest resources and sustainable management over the past two decades, spreading their message through class presentations, teacher resource development, industry trade show booths and the ILA's forest education van, to name a few. The 20th anniversary AGM took place in mid October in Vernon, with the Honourable Pat Bell addressing attendees, followed by a panel presentation featuring Moderator Mike Apsey and panel speakers, Nick Arkle, Randy Chan, and Ian de la Roche.

The Festival of Forestry 2009 Fall Teacher Tour travels by bus from the Lower Mainland to the Interior in October, visiting the Okanagan as well as various other Southern BC locations. Coastal teachers will explore the effects of the beetle epidemic and the impact that the beetles and climate change are having on wildfires via field tours, speakers and visits to industry operations with stops in Kamloops, Kelowna, Vernon and Princeton. These twice-yearly tours offer participants the opportunity to learn more about the complexities of sustainable forest management issues in BC's forests and to take that knowledge back to their students. As well, Festival of Forestry fully sponsors educators' travel, food and accommodation costs. For more information about Festival of Forestry Teacher Tours, go to: www.festivalofforestry.org/Teacher_Tours.html.

COFI South Forest Education will take part in Okanagan College's 2009 Career Fair in early November, with local forest professionals on hand to share their expertise. This event is the Interior’s largest career fair, giving students a chance to meet regional, national and international employers and to learn about college and university programs along with other  post-secondary career and training options available.

For further information regarding Southern Interior Forest Education, please contact Debbie Bazett at the COFI Southern Operations Office by phone at: (250) 860-9663 or by e-mail at: bazett@cofi.org.

Building on another record year for lumber sales into China, Forestry Innovation Investment (FII) has increased funding for China marketing by 17 per cent and sharpened the focus of its joint market development strategy with industry and the federal government, Forests and Range Minister Pat Bell has announced.

“We want to take advantage of the excellent reputation we’ve established in China as a world leader in wood products and building technology,” said Bell. “This increased funding allows us to pursue some tremendous near-term commercial opportunities – like roof trusses, infill walls and partition walls – as we continue to develop longer-term prospects like multi-storey wood frame construction. This more comprehensive marketing strategy will help us stay out in front of the competition.”

B.C. softwood lumber exports to China in 2009 have already hit an all-time annual high, 860 million board feet to the end of July, with five more months still to go in the sales year. Lumber exports to China have surpassed those to Japan for the first time ever, making China the number one off-shore market for B.C. in terms of volume.

To add to the momentum of the record-breaking sales, total funding through FII has been increased to $5.06 million in 2009-10, up 17 per cent or $726,000 over the previous year (2008-09). Combined with funding from industry and the Government of Canada, more than $13 million is being directed to China marketing activities in 2009-10, up from $8.6 million in 2008-09.

“The work in China is a great example of federal, provincial and industry collaboration,” said Bell. “By working together – Canadian forest companies, the Government of Canada, and the Province of British Columbia – we’re moving faster and making more inroads than we’d ever be able to accomplish separately. Funding from all parties has increased more than 50 per cent over the previous year.”

Natural Resources Canada, FII and industry recently updated their market development strategy for China. The revised strategy enhances the promotion of wood-truss roof systems and seeks to increase the demonstration of wood use for interior partition walls and exterior in-fill walls in concrete structures. British Columbia aims to take recent commercial roofing breakthroughs in Shanghai and transfer that success to other parts of the country such as the Beijing-Tianjin Corridor in northern China and the Sichuan Province in west-central China.
The strategy also calls for training and technology transfer programs with a wider scope, more interaction with mid-size and larger developers and designers, and an expanded government relations presence.

Working collaboratively with Canada Wood Group, FII expects to complete construction on a number of wood frame community infrastructure demonstration projects. FII also anticipates substantial support for the demonstration of wood frame housing in farming villages.

For more information about Forestry Innovation Investment marketing activities in China, visit www.bcfii.ca.

Kelowna - Wed., November 18,
Grand Okanagan Resort  
10am-2pm

Kamloops - Thurs., November 19, Coast Canadian Inn 
10am-2pm

Victoria - Tues., November 24, Delta Ocean Pointe   
10am-2pm

Wood Design Luncheon Conferences are held in various locations throughout the province taking the lecture series into the communities where the design professionals and decision makers live.   Both international and local experts in their fields are on hand with presentations in the areas of architecture, design and construction in wood.  Three presentations are given between 10 am and 2 pm. The seminars are tailored for the decision makers in the construction industry: architects, designers, engineers, technologists, builders, and building officials. Suppliers are also on hand with their exhibits to answer questions about wood.

The seminars provided are recognized by the Architectural Institute of BC for 3 core LU's. Professional Development certificates are available to all participants towards their continuing education program.

The program theme for Kelowna, Kamloops and Victoria in 2009 is "Durable Wood Exteriors".

The speakers are: 

Bill Billups, AScT, Technical Consultant. WoodWorks! BC - Durability by Design, "The Do’s and Don’ts of Exterior Wood Detailing"

Paul Morris, PhD, Group Leader - Durability and Protection, FP Innovations - Durability by Nature and Durability by Treatment
Witmar Abele MAIBC, MRAIC, LEED® AP Principle, KMBR Architects Planners Inc. - Durability a Factor in Sustainable Wood Design 

For more information and registration go to: 
www.wood-works.org.

The BC Forest Safety Council (BCFSC) is pleased to announce that the Wood Products Manufacturing sector can now access WorkSafeBC (WSBC) Certificate of Recognition (COR) rebates through natural alignment. After gathering input from the Forest Products Manufacturing sector through outreach efforts and meetings held in throughout 2009 the BCFSC Board of Directors has approved moving forward. The Council is now accepting registrations from the Forest Products Manufacturing sector for SAFE Companies certification and thereby providing access to WSBC COR rebates without the requirement of first endorsing a Health and Safety Association (HAS). Natural alignment is a process whereby an organization is aligned with a Certifying Partners activities in order to have access to the COR rebate program.

More information will be sent out on Monday October 26, 2009 regarding registration fees, how to register, the audit protocol to use, where to access information on external auditors and how to submit your audit.

In the interim should you have any questions regarding this program please contact Ken Hall toll free at 1-877-741-1060 or send an e-mail to hall@bcforestsafe.org.

Reg Stafford 1939-2009

It is with great sadness the COFI family announces the passing of Reg Stafford, retired Quality Control Manager.

Reg started his career in the northern BC forest industry on the green chain and moved on to become a lumber grader before joining the Northern Interior Lumber Sector of COFI as a lumber inspector in 1987.  Over the next 25 years Reg served as QC Senior Supervisor and then as QC Department Manager until his retirement in 2003.  During this time Reg saw member production and inspection services double and he was key in ensuring continuous high quality member services throughout that growth.  Under Reg’s leadership the QC team also helped to implement numerous improvements to the QC system both in BC and nationally. 

Reg and his team were implementing "continuous improvement" before it was called CI.

A truly motivated person Reg always strived for excellence in all that he did but never forgot to have some fun along the way.  You could always count on Reg to lend a hand, offer his expertise and contribute his smile and a laugh when it was needed most.  Along with a rewarding career Reg had a fulfilling family life where, along with Betty his wife of 44 years, raised four children, golfed and bowled with a passion, reveled in weeknight cards with “the boys” and was able to enjoy the arrival of 6 grandchildren.

Reg you will be sadly missed but fondly remembered by family, friends and colleagues alike.  You have left the world a better place for having lived.

In November, COFI General Manager Forestry Steve Kozuki will become the Special Projects Manager for Brink Forest Products. Brink is a COFI member specializing in remanufacturing and fingerjoint lumber operations with plans to construct a medium-sized sawmill in the immediate future. COFI thanks Steve for his many valuable contributions and wishes him all the best in his new position.