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| Small wasps could help control big pest |
| Source: eurekalert.org |
| Date: 21-Dec-2012 |
| Several small wasps are promising candidates for studies aiming the biological control of the pine wood nematode.
As the disease slowly spreads across parts of Europe, numerous studies are being developed. In the last two years, extensive field work across Portuguese territory found the presence of five small wasps species that directly attack the younger life stages of this pest carrier.
... (read more on eurekalert.org) |
| Steering PHP intot the future |
| Source: TheChronicleHerald.ca |
| Date: 20-Dec-2012 |
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Ron Stern believes Port Hawkesbury Paper LLC, as it is now named, will be able to find other uses for wood besides making paper.
Stern says the revived plant was not managed to its full potential.
Under the previous regime, it was a production facility, taking orders from head office on the amount and quality of paper produced. Stern says his management style is different, and he wants all... (read more on TheChronicleHerald.ca) |
| Former Bowater mill to become forest product research centre |
| Source: TheChronicleHerald.ca |
| Date: 19-Dec-2012 |
| The NS government has announced details of a partnership with Innovacorp, Emera, and CelluFuel to transform the former Bowater Mersey mill into a "centre of innovation".
The province has committed $1 million toward opening the bioenergy and forestry innovation centre.
The province is also giving $500,000 to CelluFuel, toward the company's plant to develop technology to produ... (read more on TheChronicleHerald.ca) |
| Resolute "played its cards right" |
| Source: TheChronicleHerald.ca |
| Date: 18-Dec-2012 |
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Forestry analysts say Resolute Forest Products Inc. played its cards right in selling the timberlands to Nova Scotia, wiping several liabilities from its books in one fell swoop.
“They’ve sidestepped a huge pension liability and an environmental liability,” said Kevin Mason, managing director of Equity Research Associates.
The province is acquiring the shares of Bowater Mersey for $1 from ... (read more on TheChronicleHerald.ca) |
| Dexter's big gamble |
| Source: TheChronicleHerald.ca |
| Date: 18-Dec-2012 |
| Many people now see forest products as little more than a niche industry, capable of providing some jobs but with fading potential as an economic driver.
The Dexter government is in deep - spending another $118 million in public money buying forest land, on top of the $124.5 million over 10 years to keep the wheels turning at the mill in Point Tupper. (That was after spending $36.8 million keep... (read more on TheChronicleHerald.ca) |
| Shuttered mill to become innovation centre |
| Source: Truro Daily News |
| Date: 17-Dec-2012 |
| The NS government says the former Bowater mill will become a new centre for cleaner energy, bioenergy, and forestry innovation that will help the province's forestry industry thrive.
Emera has signed on as the centre's first tenant, with a commitment to invest at least $1 million over the next five years. This follows an announcement earlier this week that Emera will purchase Brooklyn... (read more on Truro Daily News) |
| US firs squeezing NB tree market |
| Source: CBC.ca |
| Date: 17-Dec-2012 |
| Some local Christmas tree growers are being forced to drastically cut their shipments to the US because of cost pressures brought on by a strong Canadian dollar and the increasing popularity of a U.S.-grown tree.
Maritime growers say the New England market is being overwhelmed with Fraser fir trees, which are being grown in the Carolinas.
While local wholesalers are seeing cross-border sales... (read more on CBC.ca) |
| Holiday spirit |
| Source: Truro Daily News |
| Date: 13-Dec-2012 |
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Darrell Sandeson has always been a people person, and now, in his retirement, he spends weeks in the spring and fall shearing balsam fir trees at his Greenfield tree lot.
Every year he looks forward to setting up in Truro during the holidays to greet his many friends. Sandeson has set up at the same location since 1999, the corner of College Road and Main Street, Bible Hill.
The industry... (read more on Truro Daily News) |
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| Dexter defends $118 million land purchase |
| Source: TheChronicleHerald.ca |
| Date: 12-Dec-2012 |
| Nova Scotians are paying $535 a hectare for 220,000 ha. of land owned by Resolute Forest Products, former owner of the Bowater Mersey Paper Co. in Queens County.
Last year taxpayers paid about $24 million for 10,100 hectares ($2,350 a hectare) for land the province got to cherry-pick from Resolute's holdings. That purchase was part of a package to help keep the mill operating, but it close... (read more on TheChronicleHerald.ca) |
| Community Forest proposals sought in NS |
| Source: CBC.ca |
| Date: 11-Dec-2012 |
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The province is looking for ideas for community forestry projects, and is inviting non-profit groups, Mi'kmaq communities, and local governments in the southwestern region to come up with proposals for local uses of forests.
Bruce Nunn, a spokesperson for the Department of Natural Resources, said that the size of the projects could vary widely on "forested lands of hundreds of hecta... (read more on CBC.ca) |
| NS has deal to buy Bowater assets |
| Source: CBC.ca |
| Date: 11-Dec-2012 |
| Nova Scotia's government is acquiring the shares of Bowater Mersey for $1 from Resolute Forest Products Ltd and the Washington Post Co. Ltd.
As well, the province is racking up $117.7 million in debt to acquire the large tract of woodlands that belonged to Resolute.
The deal gives the province another 220,000 hectares of woodlands in Nova Scotia's southwestern region, along with ... (read more on CBC.ca) |
| PHP mulls grade expansion |
| Source: TheChronicleHerald.ca |
| Date: 10-Dec-2012 |
| As global consumption of paper products continues to decline, Port Hawkesbury Paper LLC is looking at diversifying its grades of paper to offset the drop.
The US market for supercalendered paper (used in magazines, catalogues, and flyers) is roughly two million tonnes annually, while the lightweight coated paper market is nearly 3.5 million tonnes, Ron Stern said.
“This mill has the capabili... (read more on TheChronicleHerald.ca) |
| Stern comments raise concerns about forest industry |
| Source: TheChronicleHerald.ca |
| Date: 10-Dec-2012 |
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Comments from Ron Stern, the man behind the paper mill in Point Tupper, have been making people nervous. Last week, he said said the clock is ticking on the profitability of the mill.
To remain in business beyond a decade (when the provincial government’s financial aid package will expire) Stern said the business will need to extract value from its assets by producing forestry products other ... (read more on TheChronicleHerald.ca) |
| NS: Forestry is still a going concern |
| Source: TheChronicleHerald.ca |
| Date: 07-Dec-2012 |
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Far from being another sunset industry, forestry is alive and well in Nova Scotia.
There have been significant changes in the province’s relationship with foresters and woodlot owners. The Department of Natural Resources, and even the premier, ask for advice from landowners and the Nova Scotia Landowners and Forest Fibre Producers Association. And they have been following it — so far.
Fo... (read more on TheChronicleHerald.ca) |
| Port Hawkesbury Paper "full steam ahead" |
| Source: TheChronicleHerald.ca |
| Date: 06-Dec-2012 |
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In the 10 weeks since the mill re-opened, more than 55,000 tons of super calendered paper — a product that is used to make magazines, catalogs and sales flyers — has been produced, with an average of 935 tons rolling off the machine each day.
More than 280 employees are back to work at the mill, with an additional 400 employees working in the company’s woodlands.
PHP has invested in a dry ... (read more on TheChronicleHerald.ca) |
| Are the Bowater lands a bad deal for NS taxpayers? |
| Source: TheChronicleHerald.ca |
| Date: 06-Dec-2012 |
| Much has been said publicly, urging the NS government to purchase the Bowater Mersey woodland property. But is it a good deal, or will it become an extra financial burden on taxpayers to acquire more land then we need?
Currently, about one-third of the woodland in the province is already owned by the Crown. That should provide abundant area for suggested practices such as community forests, une... (read more on TheChronicleHerald.ca) |
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