Tolko is making its first venture into the US south while Rex Lumber plans a new sawmill in Alabama. Once built, the two plants will produce annually half a billion board feet of lumber. But what will sawmills of the future look like? The Logging and Sawmilling Journal has a feature interview with UBC professor Julie Cool. 

In other Business news: both Babine Forest Products and Lakeland Mills are appealing the fines levied for their 2012 sawdust explosions; Sandy Springs mayor and fire chief protest wood-frame apartments; New Zealand cements its position as China’s top source of logs and APA announces changes to its Board of Trustees.

Elsewhere: the carbon holding potential of forest soils; Vermont forests vulnerability to climate change; NZ companies spend more for logging security and a court in Brazil delivers a blow to Amazon activists.

Finally, while lots of  trees are hermaphroditic—their flowers have both male and female parts—here’s one that can switch genders.

— Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor