The first meeting of US and Canadian trade officials included discussion on softwood duties, but ended with no breakthroughs. In related news: lumber futures gyrate 10% in wild trading session; police warn of more construction thefts; and lumber’s rise adds to Canada’s Consumer Price Index. Meanwhile: Columbia Pulp tree-free paper is slowly starting up again and Pirelli launches FSC certified tires.

In Forestry news: Suzuki / ENGOs up the pressure on BC old-growth, as police arrest five more people, including one journalist; controlled burns are deemed key to achieving forest health in California; Brazils’s environment minister is probed for timber trafficking; and wood’s green credentials take some heat in the Daily Commercial News and Kwantlen University student newspaper.

Finally, is it just me or is the CP/CN showdown at the OK Corral getting a bit weird.

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor