The LIEbranos show us their nasty arses about their continued support of the rape of Crown land just before the election

https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies 



David Raymond Amos‏ @DavidRayAmos 

Replying to @DavidRayAmos @Kathryn98967631 and 49 others
The LIEbranos show us their nasty arses about their continued support of the rape of Crown land just before the election N'esy Pas?

http://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-liebranos-show-us-ther-nasty-arse.html

#TrumpKnew #TrudeauMustGo  #nbpoli  #cdnpoli

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/forest-management-strategy-new-brunswick-crown-land-1.4784581

Liberals will maintain Crown wood allocations Tories gave to big companies

New forest management strategy will add 150,000 hectares of Crown land to forest conservation areas

Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon · CBC News · Posted: Aug 14, 2018

78 Comments 
Commenting is now closed for this story.

 

Content disabled.
David Amos

Methinks the MLA David Coon and Green Party leader should be offended that CBC blanks out his name in its comment sections N'esy Pas?

"Green Party Leader David Coon contends it's already too late.

"Unfortunately, the horse has already left the barn," he tweeted.

"The Liberals waited too long to reinstate the conservation forest. Much of the important old forest has already been clear cut or will be in the next [five] years."

David Amos

Methinks everybody knows by now that I have no faith in anything Roberta Clowater or David Coon or the Mi'gmaq Chiefs may say about anything for very legitimate reasons N'esy Pas?

 

Paul Bourgoin

The governing Liberals plan to maintain the controversial Crown land cheap timber allocations given to New Brunswick's big forestry companies thus closing the price negotiation door for private woodlot owners to sell their wood at a fair competitive price!

David Amos

@Paul Bourgoin Methinks folks should not forget the very questionable JDI lawsuit against SNB as well N'esy Pas?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/j-d-irving-launches-suit-against-woodlot-groups-1.3962317

J.D. Irving launches suit against woodlot groups

Legal action follows attempt by SNB board to assert authority over wood purchases

 

David Amos

"Jason Limongelli, vice-president of woodlands for J.D. Irving Ltd., the province's largest forestry company, said Tuesday's announcement came as a surprise and is "concerning in the absence of any consultation."

Methinks the last thing the JDI guys were was surprised N'esy Pas?

 

David Amos

More Deja Vu from a Conservative point of view This is CBC work not mine N'esy Pas?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/new-crown-forest-plan-criticized-by-ex-dnr-ministers-1.2632056

New Crown forest plan criticized by ex-DNR ministers

"I don't know who is controlling everything right now," he said.Volpé said he's tried to talk to members of the Alward cabinet about the forestry plan, but hasn't been successful.

"It doesn't even seem to be the politicians to tell you the truth.

"It seems like the lobbying power of the some of the industries is so great now that they don't even go to all the politicians, they go to one or two and this is how decisions are being made. This is scary," said Volpé."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/irving-natural-resources-crown-land-forestry-marketing-boards-1.4474896

Natural resources minister in Alward government says Irving letter got him fired

"Pressure from Jim Irving led former premier David Alward to switch natural resources ministers, says Bruce Northrup, speaking for the first time about how he lost the portfolio in a cabinet shuffle four years ago.

The shuffle came months after Irving, the co-CEO of J.D. Irving Ltd., sent a frankly worded letter to the Progressive Conservative premier, expressing frustration that Northrup seemed opposed to increasing how much Crown land should be made available to industry.

In the letter, Irving attacks decisions Northrup made, saying they were disruptive and hasty and showed a lack of understanding of the consequences."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-blaine-higgs-forestry-negotiated-deal-progressive-conservative-1.4498851

Blaine Higgs open to changing PC-negotiated forestry deal

  

David Amos

Methinks folks may enjoy a little Deja Vu because it was about 30 years ago that the liberals under Frank McKenna removed private wood as the primary source of wood supply in the province N'esy Pas?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/legislature-coon-woodlots-doucet-forestry-1.4448805

"Minister Rick Doucet appeared to admonish Coon for raising the issue at a time when the province is fighting punitive trade tariffs imposed by the U.S. Commerce Department.

"It's about time we started to stand up for the mills in this province," Doucet said to loud cheers from members of the Liberal caucus.

"Things have changed in the last 30 years."

  

David Amos

"William Richards, chair of the Southern New Brunswick Forest Products Marketing Board, said he is "disappointed."

Methinks Mr Richards has every right to be "disappointed" but the last thing he should be is surprised N'esy Pas?

  

David Amos

"Mike Legere, executive director of Forest NB, an industry organization that does not include J.D. Irving, said it's too soon to comment on what the impact on the sector will be. "The devil will be in the details," he said."

Methinks that is true because that is where the devil always is N'esy Pas?

Paul Bourgoin

@David Amos
Jason Limongelli, vice-president of woodlands for J.D. Irving Ltd., the province's largest forestry company, said Tuesday's announcement came as a surprise and is "concerning in the absence of any consultation." YEAH RIGHT!!!"

David Amos

@Paul Bourgoin At least the latest Minister cannot deny that he invited my input before the last election N'esy Pas?

---------- Original message ----------
From: "Doucet, Rick (LEG)"
Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 01:07:58 +0000
Subject: RE: Final Docs
To: David Amos

Will get right on this.
Always look forward to your brilliant thoughts.
R

Hon.Rick Doucet
Legislative member for Charlotte-the isles
28 Mt.Pleasant Rd.
St.George, N.B. E5C 3K4

Chantal LeBouthi
NB poeples need to get mad and protect forests and rivers  
 

Norman Albert Snr

@Chantal LeBouthi They are Mad. Mad as a hatter!!!

Those who finally get fed up with it move. We are the only province in Canada with a declining population growth rate even with the increase in immigrants taking up temporary residency here. They are not rooted here. They will go where the grass is greener and who could blame them when those rooted here are leaving. The reasons are clear (Irving Domination in almost all sectors). This is not the promise land Chantal.

 

David Amos 

@Chantal LeBouthi Methinks David Coon and his blogging buddy Chucky Leblanc in particular know that I have been mad for years. N'esy Pas?

This is a quote from an Irving owned newspaper the Kings County Record from the time when I ran in the election of the 38th Parliament in 2004 that I posted with Chucky's blog the following year not long before I ran in Fredericton in the election of the 39th Parliament.

http://oldmaison.blogspot.com/2005/09/sussex-gold-found-and-bernard-lords.html

The Unconventional Candidate

David Amos Isn’t Campaigning For Your Vote, But….

By Gisele McKnight

FUNDY—He has a pack of cigarettes in his shirt pocket, a chain on his wallet, a beard at least a foot long, 60 motorcycles and a cell phone that rings to the tune of "Yankee Doodle."

Meet the latest addition to the Fundy ballot—David Amos.

"What he’s fighting for is the discussion of issues – tainted blood, the exploitation of the Maritimes’ gas and oil reserves and NAFTA, to name a few.

"The political issues in the Maritimes involve the three Fs – fishing, farming and forestry, but they forget foreign issues," he said. "I’m death on NAFTA, the back room deals and free trade. I say chuck it (NAFTA) out the window.

NAFTA is the North American Free Trade Agreement which allows an easier flow of goods between Canada, the United States and Mexico.

Amos disagrees with the idea that a vote for him is a wasted vote.

"There are no wasted votes," he said. "I want people like me, especially young people, to pay attention and exercise their right. Don’t necessarily vote for me, but vote."




  

Redmond O'Hanlon

New Brunswick is one big corporate controlled mono culture tree farm. Old growth forests are nearly non existent and deer wintering habitat is all but destroyed. Seems like the Americans aren't fooled by the giveaway either.

Norman Albert Snr

@Redmond O'Hanlon Once you peel back the cover there is no really difference in the two governing parties here. The do exactly as they are told by corporate (Irving) interests. There is NO democracy under corporate rule.

David Amos

@Redmond O'Hanlon I agree

David Amos

@Norman Albert Snr YUP

  

Chantal LeBouthi

Doing clear cutting in 2018 is pathetic

David Amos

@Chantal LeBouthi Methinks you should read my first reply to you before it goes "Poof" N'esy Pas?

   

Rosco holt

We see who controls the province.

Rosco holt

@Dianne MacPherson
How much does these "jobs" cost the rest of NBers?

How much sacrifice most we keep giving?
The province is dying because it's run to profit the chosen few, who send their billions offshore.

Dianne MacPherson

@Rosco holt
How much do we "sacrifice" when Govt. wastes
money bringing in Companies supposed to
bring jobs ????
At least the forest is ours !!!

Rosco holt

@Dianne MacPherson
We sacrifice too much, to get little in return.
When a government entity that's business is to invest taxpayers money in businesses, won't give data on the performance of their "investments".

Alarms should go off, law enforcement should be called.

Dianne MacPherson

@Rosco holt
Govts. do what the voter allows them to do
when they go to the voting booth !!!!!
Those "alarms" are ear-piercing,
wouldn't you say ???

Rosco holt

@Dianne MacPherson
Yep, after 4 years at election time. If they've been in government before they are booted out. They qualify for their golden pension.

If they've been a good little puppet, they're rewarded with job on corporate boards(Lord, McKenna, etc...) or another government job(Alward).

That's showing them. LoL

Gil Murray

@Dianne MacPherson The forest is ours?? Really? Lets see, forest companies (local and foreign) control crown land through very, very long term contracts guaranteeing their long-term financial position. This is most of "your" forest which accounts for 70% of NB total forested lands. The rest is in the hands of private woodlot owners and industrial freehold.
Getting real job numbers is very difficult unless you believe the Irving news rags. Most are seasonal at that.

David Amos

@Gil Murray "Lets see, forest companies (local and foreign) control crown land through very, very long term contracts guaranteeing their long-term financial position. "

Methinks the contracts would be legal if our corrupt politicians had not made backroom deals with those greedy companies N'esy Pas?

 
Allan J Whitney

The forests of New Brunswick are a fantastically valuable treasure.
Stop giving them away to giant foreign operators that shave them right down to the stone and leave a shameful DESERT.

Colin Seeley

@Allan J Whitney

A few question for you based on your generalizations:

What is the acreage of the valuable forest lands of NB.?

What is the annual acreage of forests that have been shaved by foreign and domestic operators ?

How much revenue is given back to Govt of NB by these operators and is NB getting fair price returns ?

David Amos

@Colin Seeley Methinks your questions are pointless Everybody knows that the the bottom line is that GNB loses money on the rape of OUR Crown Land N'esy Pas?

 

William Reed

They are just as complicit as the Cons at throwing sweetheart deals to Irving then . This whole thing was onerous to begin with, a last minute give-away by a floundering government about to be thrown out. Now, all of a sudden, it must stay because no one wants to give away revenue when one has his hands on it. This is why you fight to not allow these things to get started immediately after they are done. The same would be true of fracking. Do not let them ever start.

Rosco holt

@William Reed
What do you expect, they are bought just like the Cons are.

David Amos

@Rosco holt YUP

 

Samuel Porter

Check out latest successful ruling against glycophosphate. A 289 million dollar ruling against them for a man who got cancer using roundup. Same chemicals being used in NB.

David Amos

@Samuel Porter I new about that as soon as the news broke on that monumental decision. At a local level methinks many employees of GNB know that I was in touch with Monsanto's lawyers before I went to the last showing of the play "SEEDS" at the Playhouse In Fat Fred City. I would wager that David **** and many others can still remember that before I took my front row centre seat the very pretty actress petted me like an old bear because she liked my hair and beard N'esy Pas?

 
Samuel Porter

" wild " blueberries are being sprayed an poisoning our land.

Norman Albert Snr

@Samuel Porter Monsanto/Bayer just lost their case pertaining to their use of Glyphosate as was the reason for Dr Cleary's sudden firing. They were ordered to Pay $289M. We could probably go after the Government and Irving for 10X that amount in class action.

David Amos

@Samuel Porter Methinks you and anyone else who truly cares should Google "Harper and Bankers" to find an old letter of mine published on the Internet in 2006. Folks should enjoy look for a certain name of the wealthy dude they call The Oracle of Oxford, N.S. who is the blueberry king of the Maritimes among other things. Trust that Frank McKenna (who also addressed in the letter) and many other politicians know that The Oracle's nephew was once a liberal MLA in Nova Scotia N'esy Pas?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/n-b-forest-strategy-review-1.4788190

Liberals' 11th-hour forest strategy a product of talks — here and there

Results of promised review come a week before provincial election writs are issued

Connell Smith · CBC News · Posted: Aug 17, 2018 5:30 AM AT | Last Updated: August 17

Questions remain about where the Gallant government will find 1,500 square kilometers of Crown forest land to add to conservation areas. (Canadian Press)

It was three years and 11 months coming, but big questions remain about the Liberal government's review of the previous provincial government's forest management strategy.

The results of the review were announced Tuesday.

They leave in place controversial Crown forest cutting allocations set by the previous government of David Alward and they increase the amount of forest being set aside for conservation by 1,500 square kilometres.

Energy and Resource Development minister Rick Doucet addressed the delay in releasing the review in his opening remarks Tuesday by claiming much of the department's energy has been devoted to solving trade tariffs issue with the United States.

• Liberals will maintain Crown wood allocations Tories gave to big companies

• Higher softwood lumber tariffs cost Irving $30M since last year

But the looming provincial election — the writ is to be issued next Thursday — is a more likely explanation, according to some, including Green Party Leader David Coon and former Progressive Conservative natural resources minister Bruce Northrup.

Until Tuesday, a major promise of the 2014 election campaign had been unaddressed.
"I find it kind of astonishing that they came to this eight days before the election is called," Northrup said.

"Now, all of a sudden, the minister just comes out of the blue and says — without even consulting with anybody — just came out and said this is what we're going to do."

Few details at announcement

Doucet offered no details when asked Tuesday how a 20 per cent increase in cutting allocations given to the forestry companies can remain unchanged even as so much land is moved into conservation protection.

New Brunswick's Minister of Energy and Resource Development, Rick Doucet, said more Crown land can be found for conservation through 'working together'. (CBC)

"Basically the way we're going to do it is we're all working together," Doucet said. "We think all hands have to be on deck and we're going to work together on that."

A senior staff person from the department was in the room during Doucet's announcement, and was made available to members of the media so long as his remarks are not attributed.
He said computer modelling forecasts are projecting much larger volumes of wood will be available from Crown plantations than was thought possible five years ago.

• Of forests and floods: Devastatingly high water raises clear-cut questions

• Irving showed 'disdain' for law, court hears in wood-marketing case

It's unclear why Doucet could not, or would not, say that in his response to media questions.

The review by his department, he said, was completed after "dialogue with dozens of groups and individuals that include environmentalists, industry representatives, private woodlot owners and biologists."

But in what surely must have been an awkward moment for the government, Doucet's words were quickly followed by a news release from Jason Limongelli of the industry's biggest player, J.D. Irving Ltd., saying the announcement "is a surprise and concerning in the absence of any consultation."

Some consulted, some not

A group representing Mi'kmaq​ chiefs also claimed it was "not adequately consulted" on the plan.

Other groups, like the New Brunswick Federation of Woodlot Owners, and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society say they were unaware the contact they did have with provincial officials was considered "consultations" for a new forest management strategy.

"It wouldn't be a traditional way that I would think of consultation," said Roberta Clowater, executive director of wilderness group in New Brunswick.

"We asked for meetings with the minister and the department staff at varying points and we did meet with them. But we were the ones who made the overtures, it wasn't a formal consultation process in any way."

Two important groups claim they were consulted, however.

Some forestry organizations said they were consulted by the province, others say they weren't. (Tony Collier.)

Forest New Brunswick represents many industry players with the notable exception of JD Irving Ltd.
"I would say there was obviously engagement with industry, industry as represented by Forest New Brunswick," said executive director Mike Legere.

"And I would say that we had frank, fairly informal discussions about what could be done."

On the environmental side, the Conservation Council of New Brunswick's executive director Lois Corbett said her organization was consulted "all the way through," and the department listened to its concerns about adding to conservation areas around existing protected areas and widening buffer zones along streams and rivers on Crown land.

Consultation clarification issued

When asked for clarification on the issue of consultation, the department issued a brief statement:

"Staff and officials in the Department of Energy and Resource Development regularly meet with stakeholders in the sector, including First Nations, landowners, forestry companies and environmental groups," said Mary-Anne Hurley-Corbyn.

• Woodlot owners might be stronger with 1 board, former minister says

• FEATURE
  At loggerheads: J.D. Irving and other forest companies take an axe to the longtime marketing board system

"Since the fall of 2014 there have been hundreds of meetings with stakeholders. All of these meetings touch on matters that are reflected in the review, whether that be questions about wood supply, conservation, forestry practices or others."

Former minister Northrup also claims the decision by the Alward government to decrease the amount of protected Crown conservation land to 23 per cent from 28 per cent was unnecessary and the decision by Brian Gallant's Liberal to put the land back into conservation demonstrates that.

Landholders not protected

He pointed out, too, that there has always been plenty of wood available on private woodlots but there are no provisions in either government's strategy to ensure private landholders get a fair deal from mill owners who also have access to wood from Crown forests.

New Brunswick Federation of Woodlot Owners President, Jean-Guy Comeau, says forestry companies prefer to have more wood available than they actually need. (CBC)

It's an observation echoed this week by Jean-Guy Comeau, vice-president of the New Brunswick Federation of Woodlot owners.

The forestry companies "always want more wood than what they need," said Comeau. "This way they don't have to bargain with woodlot owners, they don't have to bargain with me. \

"Right at the moment, all the corporations in New Brunswick, if they decide that they don't want to buy a stick of wood from Jean Guy Comeau, there's not one thing that he can do. We had legislation that protected the woodlot owner, it's not in place there now."

Liberals will maintain Crown wood allocations Tories gave to big companies

New forest management strategy will add 150,000 hectares of Crown land to forest conservation areas

Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon · CBC News · Posted: Aug 14, 2018 1:09 PM AT

The forestry sector employs more than 24,000 people in New Brunswick, according to the government. (Canadian Press)

The governing Liberals plan to maintain the controversial Crown land timber allocations given to New Brunswick's big forestry companies by the previous Progressive Conservative government, Department of Energy and Resource Development Minister Rick Doucet announced Tuesday.

But the government plans to add 150,000 hectares, or 1,500 square kilometres, to Crown conservation areas over the next five years as part of the province's new forest management strategy, he said in Saint John.

Doucet did not provide any specifics as to how both goals will be achieved.

• Of forests and floods: Devastatingly high water raises clear-cut questions

• Blaine Higgs open to changing PC-negotiated forestry deal

• Woodlot owners might be stronger with 1 board, former minister says

"The only way we're going to get there is we've got to dialogue," he said. "We have to be continuing to talk to each other."

The government said the review included discussions with "dozens of groups and individuals," including environmentalists, industry representatives, private woodlot owners and biologists.

Energy and Resource Development Minister Rick Doucet said he believes the same type of dialogue and working together used in the review can also solve problems between private woodlot marketing boards and companies that are now bypassing them through the use of 'direct contracts.' (Connell Smith/CBC)

But several stakeholders told CBC News they were not consulted.

Other criticisms from big and small companies, environmentalists and First Nations alike had to do with the lack of details, not moving fast enough to protect the environment, and the impact on Aboriginal and treaty rights.

The new strategy comes just weeks before the provincial election scheduled for Sept. 24. It is based on the department's review of the David Alward government's 2014 forest management strategy, as promised by Brian Gallant and his Liberals in their 2014 election platform.

Jason Limongelli, vice-president of woodlands for J.D. Irving Ltd., the province's largest forestry company, said Tuesday's announcement came as a surprise and is "concerning in the absence of any consultation."

"In addition to the environment, we urge government to undertake a fact-based review to carefully consider the impacts on people, businesses and communities across New Brunswick that depend on this sector," he said in an emailed statement.

Need competitive, growing supply

JDI has invested more than $450 million in modernizing its mills and other operations and building the skills of its workforce since 2014.

"These and future investments depend on a competitive and growing wood supply," Limongelli said, declining further comment until the company understands how the government intends to achieve its goal.

The Alward government's 2014 forest management strategy, which was also released shortly before a provincial election, was also met with condemnation.

The Liberals waited too long to reinstate the conservation forest. Much of the important old forest has already been clear cut or will be in the next [five] years. -  David Coon, Green Party leader

That plan boosted the amount of softwood that industrial forest operations could cut on Crown land annually by 20 per cent, or 660,000 cubic metres, by reducing the amount of Crown land that was off-limits to them, such as old growth forest and deer wintering habitat, to 23 per cent from the traditional level of 30 per cent.

Graham Forbes, a forestry professor at the University of New Brunswick, referred to it as "an abject fail" at the time. He was one of 184 academics who had called on the Alward government to halt implementation of the plan.

Roberta Clowater, the executive director of the New Brunswick chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, had described the Tory plan as "really regressive" and said she didn't believe the forest eco-system would be able to sustain the increased pressure on public land.

Doucet told reporters Tuesday that adding 150,000 hectares will bring the conservation levels back up to about 28 per cent.

The location of the 150,000 hectares has yet to be identified.

Clowater said the new plan is an improvement, noting long-term conservation of biodiversity has been identified as a priority.

Other issues identified as needing improvement include:

• Increasing transparency and accountability when it comes to Crown land management.
• Growing a healthy and productive forest.
• Respecting the rights and developing the interests of First Nations.
• Creating a vibrant and competitive forest sector.

"The question we have," said Clowater, "is who is going to be involved in making those decisions and can we speed up the timeline a little bit?

"Over the last five years there's been a lot of cutting in many of those areas, so we're waiting to see the details about how and where they're going to add that conservation forest back into the system, and also we're wondering what level of protection they're going to give to those forests."

David Coon ✔ @DavidCCoon

Today the gov't released its review of its forest management strategy. Unfortunately, the horse has already left the barn. The liberals waited too long to reinstate the conservation forest. Much of the important old forest has already been clear cut or will be in the next 5 years

2:38 PM - Aug 14, 2018

• 6
• See David Coon's other Tweets

Green Party Leader David Coon contends it's already too late.

"Unfortunately, the horse has already left the barn," he tweeted.

"The Liberals waited too long to reinstate the conservation forest. Much of the important old forest has already been clear cut or will be in the next [five] years."

'Further action' possible

 The Mi'gmaq Chiefs of New Brunswick said the group was not adequately consulted during the review and is "still deeply concerned" about the impacts the forest strategy and forest agreements will have on their treaty rights to hunt, fish and gather, as well as on the health of New Brunswick's forests.

The chiefs contend the government failed to address their concerns about a clause in the agreements, which they say gives licence-holders a veto over forest management practices.

"This is something that should be worrisome to all New Brunswickers, the chiefs said in an emailed statement.

"The practice of giving too much power, access and, essentially subsidies, to corporate interests has to be reviewed."

The chiefs said they will continue to speak with their communities and others in the forest sector and "look at what further action will need to be taken."

'Devil will be in the details'

Mike Legere, executive director of Forest NB, an industry organization that does not include J.D. Irving, said it's too soon to comment on what the impact on the sector will be.

"The devil will be in the details," he said.

Putting 150,000 hectares "back into conservation is a change, make no mistake about that. … Anytime you put additional land into conservation, that is a constraint."

Legere did say industry has followed through on its 2014 pledge to make investments, based on the increased allocation.

"We've had employment created, we've had over $750 million in investment, there's been additional purchase of private wood. Those things have been delivered on and I think anything that changes the formula here has to be looked at closely."

Doucet said $500 million of investment has taken place with another $400 million expected.

Not much to show for 3 years of review

William Richards, chair of the Southern New Brunswick Forest Products Marketing Board, said he is "disappointed."

"It sounds a little bit weak to take three years to do a review. And then essentially no change."

He hoped to see more support for the approximately 4,000 private woodlot owners the group represents, which comprises 30 per cent of the forested land in New Brunswick, he said.

"They have said essentially they are going to respect the contracts which were signed by the Alward government with industry and that is for the amount of wood supply which can be taken off Crown land," Richards said.

"So that same supply is going to be there tomorrow as it is today, only taken off a smaller portion of land. It calls into question the long-term management plan: Is it really sustainable?"

Could help trade talks

Treasury Board president Roger Melanson, who is also the minister responsible for trade policy, expects some of the changes to the strategy will address concerns raised by the United States government during negotiations to restore New Brunswick's exemption from softwood lumber tariffs
.
The government is working hard to "achieve the best possible outcome" in its negotiations with the United States on softwood lumber tariffs, Melanson said in a statement.

The changes "are important to these talks and put us in an even better position," he said.

Further changes will be considered, if necessary, to help resolve the trade issue, the government release said.

The forestry industry is a vital component of the province's economy, employing more than 24,000 people, said Doucet.

"We need to ensure it is sustainable."

The new forest management strategy was scheduled to be announced last Friday in Fredericton, but the news conference was cancelled after the shooting that claimed the lives of two city police officers and two civilians.

With files from Connell Smith

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices


https://www.pressherald.com/2018/08/12/nature-conservancy-sees-opportunity-to-fight-climate-change-in-the-maine-woods/

Nature Conservancy sees an opportunity to fight climate change – using Maine’s woodlands

The organization's vast forestland holdings could benefit from businesses hoping to offset their carbon footprints, opening 'new ways to blend conservation and the timber economy.'

By Kevin MillerStaff Writer Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018,

This aerial photo of the upper St. John River Valley shows the lush forest growth that is a valuable tool in fighting climate change. Photo courtesy of Dan Grenier/The Nature Conservancy

 

Deep in the commercial forests of northern Maine, trees are often valued for their lumber potential or for the ecological benefits they provide. But now a small and growing number of businesses from as far away as California may be investing in Maine’s woods as a way to address climate change.

Trees absorb carbon dioxide – and larger trees means more of the greenhouse gas is locked away. In an effort to head off global warming, California and two Canadian provinces are requiring some companies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or purchase carbon “offsets” in order to comply with government limits.

The Nature Conservancy, a nonprofit forest landowner, hopes to connect those companies with the vast Maine woods in a way that could benefit both.

The conservancy has agreed to manage 124,000 acres along the St. John River between Maine and Quebec as essentially a “carbon storage bank” for the next century. The conservancy gets paid for allowing trees to grow longer – and taller – on their lands by companies that purchase carbon offsets.

At the same time, older and better-managed trees should ultimately yield higher-quality lumber when the time comes to harvest them, according to Nature Conservancy staff.

Mark Berry, forest program director at The Nature Conservancy in Maine, said the project is a logical progression for land that the organization purchased back in 1998.

“I think we all view it as a very appropriate and exciting opportunity,” Berry said. “The St. John Forest has, for almost 20 years, been a place for the Conservancy to be innovative and think about new ways to blend conservation and the timber economy.”

VAST CARBON-STORING CAPACITY

Governments around the globe have toyed with all sorts of ideas for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases as scientists warn that humans are driving up atmospheric carbon dioxide levels to climate-altering levels. And while engineers are developing technologies to remove or “scrub” carbon dioxide from the air, trees are an all-natural and decidedly low-tech way to store carbon (at least temporarily).

Like all photosynthesizing organisms, trees absorb carbon dioxide from the environment and turn it into sugars, cellulose and the other components that allow a tree to grow. Some of that carbon ends up being stored, or sequestered, in the tree’s woody structure until it decays or burns.

Maine’s 17 million acres of forestland – covering 89 percent of the state, the highest in the nation – and the soils beneath them are storing an estimated 2.5 billion pounds of carbon dioxide, according to the U.S. Forest Service’s most recent figures. The only northeastern state to rank above Maine in total forest carbon storage is New York, which has a land mass more than 50 percent larger than that of the Pine Tree State.

The idea behind carbon regulatory programs is that companies that emit greenhouse gases must either reduce emissions or pay to offset that greenhouse gas pollution elsewhere.

The Nature Conservancy and the handful of other Maine landowners that have put forested acreage into carbon offset programs are participating in the Western Climate Initiative regulatory program operated by California, Quebec and Ontario. In other words, businesses in California or Canada that purchase the carbon offsets – which vary in price, depending on timing and supply/demand dynamics – will pay The Nature Conservancy to lock up more carbon on the St. John Forest lands for the next century in order to meet their own regulatory requirements.

The conservancy is working with Climate Trust Capital, a U.S.-based private investment fund, to develop the forest carbon project. While the conservancy hasn’t sold any offsets yet on its Maine lands, California companies that have purchased offsets in other U.S. forests include Chevron, Tesoro Refining & Marketing, Calpine Energy Services and Shell Energy North America.

The Nature Conservancy purchased the St. John Forest property – roughly 160,000 acres along the Maine-Quebec border west of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway – 20 years ago this winter. The purchase was among the first in a wave of conservation-oriented land deals in Maine’s vast commercial timberlands as companies like Great Northern Paper and International Paper shed their land holdings.

The organization has always harvested timber on parts of the land, selling wood to local mills to help cover the costs of maintaining a road network and invest in conservation projects. And some harvesting will continue even with the carbon storage project. But Berry said recent uncertainty in Maine’s timber markets spurred the organization to diversify revenue sources by expanding into maple sugaring last year and carbon offsets this summer.

“From a financial standpoint, it puts us on a much more solid footing for conserving the property, especially the ecological preserve” not included in the carbon offset, Berry said.

OFFSET MARKET STILL NASCENT IN MAINE

Such carbon forest projects are not new, nor is the underlying concept of “markets” where companies can buy and sell pollution offsets or credits as a way to address greenhouse gas emissions. Maine has been a party to a similar program, known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, for more than a decade, and Australia as well as European governments have been attempting to tackle climate-warming carbon dioxide emissions with such cap-and-trade initiatives for years.

In 2016, more than $660 million was spent on carbon offsets around the world, according to the “State of Forest Carbon Finance 2017” report by the nonprofit Forest Trends’ Ecosystem Marketplace. Those proceeds helped finance forest conservation, restoration or improvement projects on more than 29 million acres, much of it in the developing world.

The North American carbon market has yet to develop into the large, complex system that many supporters envisioned, however. The California-driven Western Climate Initiative is the only major regulatory scheme, although there are “voluntary” markets for businesses or consumers that want to offset the greenhouse gas emissions they created while flying in an airplane or during their daily commute.

After launching with significant hype – and some controversy – in 2007, the Western Climate Initiative is now down to just three participants with Ontario poised for withdrawal as well. That’s compared to the seven states and four Canadian provinces involved in early discussions.

At 124,000 acres, the Nature Conservancy’s St. John Forest property is the largest carbon storage project in Maine to date and brings the state lands enrolled in either the California or voluntary markets to roughly 270,000 acres.

Yet with more than 17 million acres of forestland – much of it meeting the sustainable forestry standards required of carbon offset programs – the carbon offset market has yet to take off in Maine.

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  Eric Walberg, director of climate services at the Massachusetts-based scientific nonprofit Manomet, said the California market is likely to grow over the long term. But he noted that landowners in New England and elsewhere selling carbon offsets into the marketplace tend to be conservation-oriented rather than for-profit timber companies.

“So far, it has been a situation where the for-profit folks are watching this closely, and a few folks have put some (acreage) into offsets, but we are not seeing a big shift in this direction yet,” Walberg said. “Most of the feedback I am hearing is there are a lot of concerns about limitations of (timber) management and a lot of concerns about the length of the agreements, some of which run for 100 years.”

A 2017 survey of seven larger landowners in Maine conducted by the organization Keeping Maine’s Forests found similar dynamics. While the respondents – all of whom already meet the sustainable forestry standards required for offsets – said they had considered participating in the programs, none had taken that next step.

Landowners said low or fluctuating offset prices, restrictions on timber harvesting and the long-term nature of the agreements discouraged participation.

“For many landowners, the decision whether to enter the carbon credit market is strictly a matter of financial return and risk,” reads the study.

HELPING CLIMATE, GENERATING REVENUE

Critics of carbon offset programs – particularly the voluntary market aimed at individuals and companies – have questioned whether they are truly lowering emissions or helping the environment.

Some critics point to surveys showing that individuals who purchased carbon offsets to compensate for greenhouse gas emissions for, say, airline travel may then feel justified in flying even more, thereby adding more climate-warming gases to the atmosphere. Others question if landowners vowing to store carbon as part of offsets sold in 2018 will still be living up to those obligations 30, 50 or even 100 years down the road.

Berry, however, has had firsthand experience with forest carbon offsets before joining The Nature Conservancy last year.

He headed Downeast Lakes Land Trust – a conservation group located in the Grand Lake Stream area of Washington County – when the organization became the nation’s first “improved forest management carbon project” outside of California. The organization agreed to long-term carbon management practices on 19,118 acres and, several years later, worked with another landowner on a 100-year carbon stocks agreement on another 22,000 acres.

Berry said offset sales allowed Downeast Lakes Land Trust to purchase the 22,000 acres in Grand Lake Stream Plantation, permanently protecting it from development.

The Passamaquoddy Tribe of Washington County has also put more than 90,000 acres of its forestlands into carbon offset programs as well, generating millions of dollars for tribal programs. A handful of other organizations, such as the Appalachian Mountain Club, have also put land in Maine into carbon offsets.

Berry said while The Nature Conservancy’s lands are a small portion of the offset program, he said the goals of California’s cap-and-trade program – a 40 percent reduction from 1990 emissions levels by 2030 – are an important contribution to addressing climate change. Meanwhile, the revenues from offset sales in California will reverberate several thousand miles east in Maine.

“This project should generate revenues that will be helpful in all of our other forest conservation work in the future,” Berry said.

Correction: This story was updated at 4:15 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018, to correct the name of Manomet’s director of climate services.

Kevin Miller Staff Writer

 

Kevin Miller joined the staff of the Portland Press Herald in 2012 and has worked as a journalist in Maine since 2005. He currently divides his time covering environmental/natural resources issues, state politics and the Maine Legislature. A policy wonk, Kevin previously wrote about Congress and federal issues from a Maine angle as the Press Herald’s Washington, DC correspondent. Before settling in Maine, he covered state government, higher education and environmental issues for newspapers in Virginia and Maryland. In his spare time, Kevin wants to be hiking, camping, fishing, kayaking, cross-country skiing, exploring New England’s historic sites or doing pretty much anything else outdoors. He lives in Newcastle with his partner and their dog.

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kmiller@pressherald.com


 https://www.workingforest.com/j-d-irving-challenge-southern-n-b-woodlot-groups-heads-trial/

The Working Forest
347 Sherbrooke St #402
North Bay, Ontario, Canada P1B 2C1
1-877-869-0588
  
Cindy Macdonald Editor
editor@workingforest.com

J.D. Irving challenge to southern N.B. woodlot groups heads to trial

February 22, 2017

By: CBC News

J.D. Irving’s dispute with two southern New Brunswick woodlot groups will go to trial, a judge in Saint John has decided.

Justice William Grant dismissed arguments by SNB Forest Products Marketing Board and its sister group, the SNB Wood Cooperative, that JDI lacked standing in the case and that the application was an abuse of the court process.

JDI wants a contract between the two groups representing southern New Brunswick woodlot owners declared unlawful by the Court of Queen’s Bench. The forestry company says the marketing board has unlawfully delegated its powers to the co-operative.

Grant found there was enough disagreement over the facts to warrant a trial.
“Clearly there are disputes of fact in this case,” the judge said.

At the root of the case is a January 2016 order from the marketing board that attempts to assert its authority under the New Brunswick’s Natural Products Act over sales from private woodlots within its territory.

The order declared that wood from private woodlots can only be sold to the marketing board, and wood purchasers can only buy from the board.

JDI stopped buying wood from SNB in 2012 and has been bypassing the board to make deals directly with wood brokers and woodlot owners within the board’s designated boundaries. The marketing board does not control the terms or the price.

More from woodlots

Earlier this month, JDI placed a half-page ad in the Telegraph-Journal newspaper claiming it is on track to purchase more wood from private woodlots than ever before.

Another company, AV Group, with mills in Nackawic and Atholville, has applied to be an intervener in the case.

In the meantime, a related appeal by JDI to the New Brunswick Forest Products Commission is scheduled to be heard March 14 and 15.

The company is challenging the validity of the SNB Marketing Board order.

Commission chair Brian Mosher told CBC News on Tuesday that the two-day hearing will likely take place in private.

Commission hearings are, by default, open but can be closed if members agree. Whether the JDI hearing will be open or closed will be decided at a meeting Wednesday.

By: CBC News

http://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/departments/erd/natural_resources/content/ForestsCrownLands/content/ForestProductMarketingBoards.html

https://nbwoodlotowners.ca/who-we-are/

New Brunswick Federation of Woodlot Owners is a federation of private woodlot owner Associations from around the province. The New Brunswick regional forest products marketing boards are members of the NBFWO.

Therefore if you are a member of your local marketing board you are also a member of the federation. New members are welcome, any private woodlot owner association in NB is eligible to be a member of the NBFWO.

New Brunswick Woodlot Owners are often families and small property owners with wood to sell. They don't have a big voice and, without their marketing boards, would be virtually unable to negotiate a fair deal with large industrial buyers. 

our history

In 1977 the New Brunswick Federation of Woodlot Producers was incorporated, with the purpose of representing private woodlot owners and workers in the market place, industry, and government. In 1985 it was renamed the New Brunswick Federations of Woodlot Owners / Federations des propiétaires de lots boisé du N-B Inc, with the objective of supporting private woodlot owners being sustained.

Rick Doucett - President

1-506-470-8748, rdoucett@nbpower.com

Jean-Guy Comeau - Vice President

Nothumberland Forest Products Marketing Board, 1-506-625-3509

John Sabine - Secretary

SNB Forest Products Marketing Board, 1-506-832-1894, jsabine@rogers.com

Lisa Barkley

SENB Forest Products Marketing Board          

Dick Bellefleur

Madawaska Forest Products Marketing Board 1-506-739-9585, odvdm@nbnet.nb.ca

Patrick Doucet

North Shore Forest Products Marketing Board, 1-506-548-8958, patrick.doucet@nb.aibn.com

Linda Bell

Carleton Victoria Forest Products Marketing Board, 1-506-392-5584, linda.bell@cvwpa.ca

Rodney Mott 

YSC Forest Products Marketing Board, 1-506-687-4680

Forest Products Marketing Boards

 https://nbwoodlotowners.ca/who-we-are/

Manager: Susannah Banks
680 Strickland Lane,
Fredericton, NB E3C 0B5
(506) 459-2990
Email
nbfwo@nb.aibn.com

New Brunswick Federation of Woodlot Owners is a federation of private woodlot owner Associations from around the province. The New Brunswick regional forest products marketing boards are members of the NBFWO.

Therefore if you are a member of your local marketing board you are also a member of the federation. New members are welcome, any private woodlot owner association in NB is eligible to be a member of the NBFWO.

New Brunswick Woodlot Owners are often families and small property owners with wood to sell. They don't have a big voice and, without their marketing boards, would be virtually unable to negotiate a fair deal with large industrial buyers. 

our history

In 1977 the New Brunswick Federation of Woodlot Producers was incorporated, with the purpose of representing private woodlot owners and workers in the market place, industry, and government. In 1985 it was renamed the New Brunswick Federations of Woodlot Owners / Federations des propiétaires de lots boisé du N-B Inc, with the objective of supporting private woodlot owners being sustained.

Carleton-Victoria Forest Products  Marketing Board
151 Perkins Way, Florenceville, NB, E7L 3P6
Agent: Carleton-Victoria Wood  Producer’s Association

Chairman: Roy McLellan
Manager: Tim Fox
Silviculture:   Murry Dunster
Telephone: (506) 392-5584
Fax: (506) 392-8290
E-mail: cvnpa@nbnet.nb.ca

Madawaska Forest Products Marketing Board
870 Canada Street, P. O. Box 5
Edmundston, NB, E3V 3X3

Chairman: Charles Albert
Manager: Claude Pelletier
Silviculture: Dick Bellefleur
Telephone: (506) 739-9585
Fax: (506) 739-0859
E-mail: odvdm@nbnet.nb.ca

North Shore Forest Products Marketing Board
2807 Miramichi Avenue, P. O. Box 386
Bathurst, NB, E2A 3Z3
Agent: North Shore Forestry Syndicate Inc.

Chairman: Reginald Boudreau
Manager: Alain Landry
Silviculture:  Patrick Doucet
Telephone: (506) 548-8958
Fax: (506) 548-1165
E-mail: nsfpmb@nbnet.nb.ca

Northumberland County Forest Products Marketing Board
271 McMurdo Street, Industrial Park
P. O. Box 494, Miramichi, NB, E1V 3M6
Agent: Northumberland Co. Woodlot Owners and Pulp

Chairman: Jean-Goy Comeau
Manager: Kevin Forgrave
Silviculture: Kevin Forgrave
Telephone: (506) 622-7733
Fax: (506) 622-6317
E-mail: nwoodlot@nb.aibn.com

South East New Brunswick Forest Products Marketing Board
3384 Route 132, Scoudouc
P. O. Box 5074, Shediac, NB, E4P 8T8

Chairman: Gérald Dupuis
Manager: Marcel Maillet
Silviculture: Lisa May Barkley
Telephone: (506) 532-1150
Fax: (506) 532-6500
E-mail: senbmb@nbnet.nb.ca

Southern New Brunswick Forest Products Marketing Board
13 Drurys Cove Road
P. O. Box 4473, Sussex, NB, E4E 5L6
Agent : SNB Wood Co-operative Limited

Chairman: John Sabine
Manager: Pam Folkins
Silviculture:  Chris Spencer
Telephone: (506) 433-9860
Fax: (506) 433-3623
E-mail: pfolkins@snbwc.ca

York-Sunbury-Charlotte Forest Products Marketing Board
819 Royal Road., Fredericton, NB,  E3A 6M2

Chairman: Rick Doucett
Manager: David Palmer
Silviculture:  Anne McKnight
Telephone: (506) 444-6644
Fax: (506) 444-6630
E-mail: ysc@nbnet.nb.ca

https://nbndp.ca/nb-forestry/

NB Forestry

Why do we manage our Crown forests so bizarrely?
Last Wednesday I was invited to speak at the Annual General Meeting for the Woodlot Owners Association. They have been in the news lately as they are in a lawsuit with JD Irving who is challenging their marketing board’s legislated right to negotiate and sell wood from private woodlot owners in their area. The New Brunswick government has been silent during this attempt to circumvent their own legislation.
This is the latest twist in a long standing dispute that has arisen from a long line of bizarre decisions made by our government under success Liberal and Conservative parties. The consequences of these decisions are being felt mainly by woodlot owners – in their pocket book. They are completely ham-tied trying to jump through the hoops of large industrial players and the government’s mismanagement of the forestry file.
If you read my last column on Governance, you would know that I took issue with the first strategic objectives listed at the top of every report submitted by ministries to the Public Accounts Committee. The first objective listed on all reports is More Jobs. So perhaps that explains the way that we have managed and continue to manage our forests and Crown Land? In fact, by Statistics Canada’s figures, the number of jobs created by the forest sector over the past fifteen years is on a decline. Since a high of almost 20,000 jobs in 2004, we have lost over 30% of our forestry jobs, many of them gone from the Pulp and Paper industry. So what then explains this Gordian knot of a problem?
From the government’s own private forest task force report in 2012: “Over the past decade, forest policy innovation in New Brunswick has withered” “Important provisions of the Crown Lands and Forest Act (1982) and the Natural Products Act (1999) have been neglected” and “Proportional source of supply provisions have not been effectively implemented, and despite its legislated authority, the New Brunwick Forest Products Commission does not arrive at an equitable price for purchased primary forest products” “Conflicts among private woodlot owners, the government and parts of the forestry industry remain unresolved.” Why hasn’t this been resolved five years later on?
An NDP government would implement a new forestry strategy. After consultation with all stakeholders, we would allow a variety of woodcutters to have access to Crown forest while encouraging older growth forests, stopping the clearcutting that is detrimental to forest and soil ecology; and stopping spraying of glyphosates and other sprays harmful to forest health and perhaps human health.
Most of the best forestry practices of the world agree that a diverse forest is a healthy forest and that creating a monoculture or a forest with less diversity is an unhealthy way to manage our woods. Indeed, why then do we spray our forests with glyphosate, allow clearcutting only to replant and cultivate a few select species over most of it?
An NDP government would review best practices from around the world and find a made in New Brunswick solution to provide fair access, while being environmentally and socially responsible and providing the best economic advantage possible to as many people as possible. We would take back the management of our forests from large corporations.
Under an NDP government, our Crown land would be managed to support emerging value-added industries in the province for the benefit and jobs of many New Brunswickers. We would encourage innovation and high value products for here and around the world.
New Brunswickers know the woods. We have many highly trained and highly skilled craftspeople across this province either unemployed or under-employed. Let’s allow their creativity to shine through and let’s become an example of how a province can use it’s abundant resources to create a variety of jobs while preserving the natural beauty, health and vitality of our forests.

 http://www2.gnb.ca/content/dam/gnb/Departments/nr-rn/pdf/en/ForestsCrownLands/FPC/directory-e.pdf

Brian W. Mosher Q.C.

Contact Brian:

Email

Main Office: (506) 634-1600
Direct Line: (506) 648-0340
Fax: (506) 634-0740
Email: bmosher@mosherchedore.ca

Assistant (Corporate & Commercial):

Brian’s current practice consist of a concentration on personal injury, estate law, and corporate law, with a special interest in immigration law. Brian worked for the Crown in the area of Civil and Criminal Law and was appointed as Special Prosecutor for the Federal Government. Brian is a member of the Canadian Bar Association, New Brunswick Law Society, Saint John Law Society, Association of Atlantic Trial Lawyers, Association of American Trial Lawyers, and has been involved in many political and community committees and organizations. He was appointed as Queen’s Counsel in 2003.

Areas of Practice

Accidents & Injuries
Corporate & Commercial
Estates
Family
Immigration
Real Estate
Wills & Powers of Attorney

Education

Bachelor of Arts, St. Thomas University, 1970
Bachelor of Laws, University of New Brunswick, 1972
Admitted to the New Brunswick Law Society, 1972

Background

Brian is a native of Saint John, New Brunswick and a graduate of Saint John High School. He has been involved in many political and community committees and organizations and is currently serving as the chairman of the New Brunswick Forest Products Commission. Brian was one of the original directors of the Saint John Flames AHL Hockey club. Other aspects of community involvement include the Saint John Board of Trade, Canada Games Aquatic Centre Commission, Saint John Power Commission, Thistle-St. Andrews Curling Club, Organizing Committee for CFL in Saint John, Organizing Committee for Canadian Masters Swimming Championships, Council of Saint John Law Society, Rotary Club of Saint John, Saint John School Board, and as a Lecturer at the UNB Bar Admission Course as well and providing seminars in estate law to community groups.
Among his many achievements and interests Brian has been a 5 year gold medal winner for the National Masters Swimming Championships, has competed with the New Brunswick team in the BC Centennial Canoe race, was a two time member of the winning team in the Whalers Race, was a member of the first paddlers to successfully kayak the Saint John Reversing Falls, and has instructed swimming, kayaking, and canoeing.
Brian resides in Grand Bay-Westfield with his wife Anne (nee Curren). They have two sons and four grandchildren.