Despite stories in yesterday’s news on the strength of the wood market, US housing starts continue to fall with lumber prices and labour shortages to blame; Alabama welcomes a new sawmill, expected to create 100 jobs; while more US senators voice their opposition to tariffs on Canadian newsprint. 

In Forestry news, the CEO of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative commends the government of Canada for funding Green Jobs in Green Spaces – a program for youth. Dutch elm disease continues to spread in Regina; urban trees in Edmonton are at risk of drought; and Montreal looks to increase tree cover by 25 per cent. 

The bulk of today’s headlines are forest fire related, from British Columbia, through the US west and all the way to Sweden and the Arctic Circle. 

–Sandy McKellar, Tree Frog Editor