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President’s Memo
As we all know, our industry is in its most severe economic downturn and financial crisis on record. With our dependency on the US housing market for lumber sales, the beginning of the industry downturn in 2006 led the recession by about two years. And we have a long way to go – about two more years – until we see signs of recovery. For a considerable period our BC companies have seen, and will continue to see, significant financial losses – everyone is losing money, literally burning cash as we operate at about 50% of capacity. In response, Government and industry costs have been wrung out of the system in an effort to survive this recession. However, the Softwood Lumber Agreement prohibits government subsidies and other similar forms of assistance that might be provided other sectors. We compete in the global market place. If we do not keep our costs down our companies will not survive and the jobs of thousands of people and the economies of dozens of communities will be put at risk. The forest industry has proven to be strong and resilient. We have efficient mills and highly skilled employees and we will continue to employ thousands of workers in dozens of communities. Given the right conditions we will continue to invest millions of dollars in technology and productivity improvements to remain competitive in world markets. We are aggressively diversifying by seeking new markets in Asia and the climate change agenda provides us with an ideal opportunity to prove that wood is the preferred building material of choice. As we emerge from the recession it is critical that we rebuild our lost markets – but the competition will be fierce. The HST will prove to be perhaps the most critical tax policy change the government could introduce to assist in recovery in the short term and to ensure we remain competitive in the long term. For the forest sector the HST:
In summary, the forest industry welcomes the introduction of the HST. It is not only good for our companies but in turn good for our employees, our suppliers and the communities in which we operate. And a final thought that seems to be missed in this debate. Company employees are consumers. And the people working for our suppliers are all consumers. But your ability to be a consumer is certainly compromised if you don’t have a job. Make no mistake, it is this type of government action that will help preserve the jobs we have and assist in future job creation.
John Allan |
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Seismic Test Verifies Mid-rise Wood Building Safety A unique earthquake simulation has shown that taller wood-frame buildings can perform safely in a major earthquake. Earthquake engineering researchers examined the seismic performance of a full-size, six-storey wood building on the world’s largest shake table at a facility in Miki City, Japan. The structure was built from B.C. forest products using construction techniques commonly used in Canada. The research project simulated ground shakings modelled on the Northridge earthquake, which caused major damage in the Los Angeles area in 1994. The strongest test simulated an earthquake expected to occur once every 2,500 years. The building was shaken for about 40 seconds with a force stronger than both the 1995 Kobe and 2001 Seattle earthquakes. The project was led by the Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation, a group of 15 university labs across the U.S. working together on earthquake engineering research and education to reduce earthquake risks. Lumber and panelling used to build the test structure was provided by Forestry Innovation Investment, the Province’s international marketing agency for B.C. forest products. FPInnovations-Forintek, Canada’s largest wood products research centre, provided technical advice on the project. Video of the shake table test is available in the Ministry of Forests and Range’s media room www.for.gov.bc.ca/pab/media, as well as on the Ministry of Housing and Social Development website at www.hsd.gov.bc.ca/video/wood_shake.html. |
75th Anniversary—Congratulations to Wells, BC The Council of Forest Industries was pleased recently to present the community of Wells with a handsome, carbon sequestering wooden plaque to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of Wells. In addition to celebrating this important milestone the plaque will serve as an ongoing reminder of the important relationship between the forest industry and the resource communities in which we all live, play and work. 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 open lines of communication we can combine strengths to achieve our common goals. For more information contact Doug Routledge, Vice President Forestry and Northern Operations by phone at: (250) 564-5136 or by email at: routledge@cofi.org.
Acting Mayor Aleta Wallace of the District of Wells receives a commemorative plaque from Doug Routledge, COFI. Assisting in presenting are Larry Gardner, West Fraser (L), and Russ Martin, Canfor (R). |
Mitsui Homes Canada (Langley) Celebrates 15 Years Princeton – Mitsui Homes Canada’s Langley operation commemorated their 15th anniversary in a very special way. On June 19th Mitsui staff planted 540 trees on an area managed and harvested by Weyerhaeuser. Under nice but not too hot weather conditions, Trenna MacLeod, Silviculture Forester for Weyerhaeuser, provided the crew with proper tree planting equipment, a safety orientation and training on how to plant trees. “I was impressed with Mitsui’s determination to plant all of the available trees, despite the difficult rocky and challenging ground conditions” noted Trenna. Planting some trees themselves, Mitsui Homes Canada General Manager Jun Mori and outgoing General Manager Atsushi Okumura expressed appreciation of Weyerhaeuser’s hospitality in hosting the event, noting that it was a meaningful way of connecting their customers and employees to a valued supplier and the land on which the trees are grown. “Maintaining relationships is very important” said Jun Mori. Along with Trenna, Weyerhaeuser was also represented by Product Supply Manager Denis Thibert, Sawmill Manager Jeff Larsen, and Export Sales Manager Bill Gysel. For more information, contact Steve Kozuki by phone at: (250) 614-4351 or by email at: kozuki@cofi.org.
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Quick Win Efforts to Benefit Forest Service and Industry Prince George and Kelowna – Scores of teams are developing and implementing efficiency measures that will assist both the forest industry and the Ministry of Forests and Range (MFR) in weathering the current economic downturn. With government revenues significantly down and industry experiencing negative profitability, the motivation for cooperation and joint collaboration has never been higher. Working at the MFR regional and forest district level, the teams are initially focused identifying ways to improve business process certainty, reducing process timelines, and in many cases simply sharing knowledge. These first rounds of “quick wins” do not require any legislative change. One example is where licensees do not wish to pay rental fees/deposits for Special Use Permits they no longer need (perhaps a gravel pit), they are encouraged to request cancellation of that permit, and the MFR has committed to responding to that request within 60 snow-free days (enough time to allow for environmental and safety inspections). Once the quick wins are in place for the start up of summer harvest operations, the teams will turn their minds to medium and long-term wins. These measures involve more complexity and/or could require legislative or policy change. The teams have been coached to firstly agree on a desired outcome, so as to ensure everyone is pulling in the same direction. They then consider all the available options that would achieve that desired outcome and consider the respective pros and cons for each option. A very important requirement is that all implemented measures must continue to safeguard environmental values and financial integrity. For more information, contact Steve Kozuki at by phone at: (250) 564-5136 or by email at: kozuki@cofi.org. |
Celebrating National Forest Week with Future Forest Professionals This week is National Forest Week (September 20 to 26). National Forest Week is a time to reflect on the important role that forests play in our daily lives and to celebrate Canadians' connection to the forest. The Association of BC Forest Professionals is celebrating by giving away START subscriptions and co-hosting an art contest. During National Forest Week, high school and post-secondary students can sign up for a free START subscription which gets them the BC Forest Professional magazine, The Increment e-newsletter and fee discounts for some ABCFP training events including ExpoFor. Visit the START page of the ACBCFP website for an application form and to learn more about the START program. For more information about START and the colouring contest visit the ABCFP website: www.abcfp.ca/about_us/news_events/raising_our_profile.asp. |
2009 Prince George Community Dinner
Guests comprised of municipal government, First Nations, 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 Dan Rogers opened the program by welcoming municipal leaders, attendees and guest speaker, Hon. Pat Bell to Prince George. Ken Higginbotham, Chair of the Council of Forest Industries introduced the Hon. Pat Bell, Minister of Forests and Range as the evening’s keynote speaker. Minister Bell spoke about the benefits of the HST to the forestry sector in lowering the tax and administrative burden and thus improving industry’s competitiveness. He also spoke about his Ministry’s four key priorities: (1) improving utilization, (2) further developing the China market for wood products, (3) growing more trees intensively, and (4) the province’s Wood First Program for public buildings in BC. Minister Bell also talked about measure that could be taken to “fill the allowable annual harvest gap” that faces those areas hit by the MPB epidemic. Minister Bell also announced the release of the new forest education teaching kits “Climate Change and Our Forests” developed in partnership with Forestry Innovation Investment and COFI discussed in more detail in another article in this newsletter. Minister Bell was well received by attendees, many of whom stayed after the formal address to mingle and speak to the Minister informally. For more information please contact Doug Routledge, Vice President Forestry and Northern Operations by phone at: (250) 564-5136 or by email at: routledge@cofi.org. |
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Minister Announces the Release of New COFI—FII Climate Change and Forests Teaching Resources Minister of Forests and Range, Pat Bell and COFI Forest Education Manager, Chris Lear were joined by some 75 grade 5, 6 and 7 students and their teachers at Harwin Elementary School in Prince George to announce the release of two new teaching resources on climate change and BC’s forests. The two resource kits, Climate Change and our Forests for elementary teachers and Climate Change, Our Forest, Our Future for secondary students were developed by COFI in partnership with Forest Innovation Investment. The kits provide teachers with new tools to help students learn about the impact of climate change on our environment and how our forests and its wood products are vital to mitigating those effects. Each resource kit includes lesson plans, narrated PowerPoint, teacher background information and exciting activities where students can calculate the carbon footprint of their school and home, discuss the benefits of building with wood, design their own climate change machine and learn how they can personally take action to tackle climate change. The new teaching resources are being distributed free to all schools throughout BC. COFI and FII have previously partnered on three other teaching resource kits that are still used through the province – British Columbia’s Mountain Pine Beetle: an Intermediate Teacher’s Resource, B.C.’s Mountain Pine Beetle – Today and Tomorrow: A Secondary Teacher’s Resource, and B.C. Forest Products for the World: A Secondary Teacher’s Resource. 
Minister of Forests and Range, Pat Bell, COFI Forest Education Manager Chris Lear and students from Harwin Elementary School in Prince George plant seedlings. 
Grade 5, 6 and 7 teachers at Harwin Elementary School in Prince George receive their Climate Change and our Forests teaching kits from Minister of Forests and Range Pat Bell and COFI Forest Education Manager Chris Lear. |
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Nominate Your Community to be the 2010 Forest Capital of B.C. Every year, the Association of BC Forest Professionals selects one community to be the Forest Capital of BC. The winning community carries the title for a full year—from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31. 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. Communities named the Forest Capital host a full year of forest-themed events such as art competitions, interpretive forest walks and logger sports shows. Every community in BC is eligible to be nominated. Nominations are accepted from May to mid-November 2009. |
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The forest industry supports the HST as required economic and tax policy that will provide British Columbia with significant long term benefits …but let me deal with some specifics. 
COFI President, John Allan welcomed over 200 delegates to the 13th Annual Prince George Region Community Dinner on September 17th and expressed appreciation to Finning and RBC Royal Bank for their co-sponsorship of this year’s COFI community dinner.