DHA eNews - OSHA Vaccine Mandates Hit Snag
A U.S. federal appeals court has issued a stay, stopping the Biden administration's attempts to require COVID-19 vaccinations or weekly tests for workers at U.S. companies with at least 100 employees, effective January 4. The court cited "grave statutory and constitutional" problems with the rule. The decision comes after numerous Republican-led states filed legal challenges to the new mandate.
Photo © White House/Adam Schultz
Prior to COP26 in Glasgow, 128 environmental groups delivered a letter to the White House, asking that the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management stop the logging of older forests and trees on public land. "Mature and old-growth forests on public land are our ecological anchors – they store the most carbon and are the most resistant to the worsening impacts of climate change," said Lauren Anderson at Oregon Wild.
Forest products trade and industry associations in Africa, China, Europe, South America, and Southeast Asia signed the "Global Forests Need Global Governance: Tropical Timber Accord." The objective of the accord is to maintain forests, manage them for future prosperity and future generations, and stop illegal deforestation. Indonesia, however, says that it is unfair to ask the developing country to halt deforestation by 2050.
The infrastructure bill rated a win for U.S. forests. The REPLANT Act will permanently remove the 1980s era cap on the USFS Reforestation Trust Fund to close a 4 million-acre backlog on U.S. national forests.
Recent stories about the pandemic's impact on our industry include:
- Get vaccinated or lose your job, furniture makers say
- Since the pandemic, construction employment has increased in only 14 states
- See the pandemic’s impact on population growth in the Pacific Northwest
- Some more coronavirus humor
See the DHA coronavirus news and resources pages for more updates.
Decorative Hardwoods Association joined 94 other organizations - representing every level of the U.S. supply chain - to identify five solutions that the Biden administration can immediately pursue to help alleviate the ongoing supply chain crisis.
GL Veneer, one of the world's leading manufacturers of wood veneer, architectural plywood, and edge slabs, will install 1,600 solar panels on the roof of their 150,000-square-foot facility this fall.
CalPlant I of Willows, CA has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company took 25 years to develop and produce a rice straw-based MDF in 2020. Leadership states that it will continue to operate without disruption and may be sold.
The experts at Capital Testing have published an informative Q&A on ASTM F1515, the Xenon Arc exposure test that evaluates flooring products' resistance to color changes caused by sunlight, heat, and moisture.
The government of Brazil has promised to shorten the timeline for ending illegal logging to two or three years before the original goal of 2030. Vice President Mourao said that the Brazilian government would reaffirm its commitment to international environment goals at COP26, the UN climate change conference currently in progress.
Timber and environmental groups have agreed to overhaul the management of 10 million acres of private forestlands in Oregon. The plan will protect vulnerable fish and wildlife while preserving the timber industry's ability to log. Meanwhile, a judge stopped post-fire logging in the Willamette National Forest.
Forest owners' associations across Europe are decisively rejecting the EU Forest Strategy 2030. Forest owners say the strategy focuses too narrowly on biodiversity and carbon dioxide storage without accounting for forests' wide range of functions.
The Forest Stewardship Council is under fire for systematic flaws that allow deforestation and companies with questionable human rights records to benefit from certification. NGOs cited the Congo Basin, an area under FSC certification, where the area of rainforest has actually shrunk. Another NGO highlighted problems with FSC-certified concessions, from forest destruction to human rights abuses.
Past data contradicts claims that the recent number of wildfires is unprecedented. In the early 1900s, about 4.2% of land worldwide burned every year. This fell to 3% in the early 2000s and is in further decline. 2021 is likely to end at 2.5%.
Wildfires can turn a forest from a carbon sink into a carbon source. A study by environmental groups claims that Canada is "hiding" 80 million tons of greenhouse emissions. Canada's Pacific Forestry Centre says that forestry emissions reporting is compliant with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
What was the biggest wooden warship?