Canada and Mexico align their positions ahead of next week’s pivotal CUSMA review meeting. In other Business news: a BC mining-rights lawsuit—tied to a First Nations agreement—invoked the 2002 Carrier Lumber precedent; CN Rail was fined $435,000 for a BC wildfire; Seaspan sold its barge division to Hodder Tugboat; China’s softwood log imports declined 17%; and Russia’s lumber is on course to fall 4%. Meanwhile: questions remain as investigators probe the Longview pulp mill implosion; and a new Wood Fuel and Heating Association is launched in the UK.

In Forestry/Wildfire news: officials urge swift action on the Senate’s Canada on Fire recommendations; US Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz is sandwiched between political hires; supplier choices by Indonesia-based APRIL challenge FSC’s remedy process; a study says plant diversity in Italy’s Norway spruce plantations is lower than in native forests; and Tasmania corrected the record on native forest logs sent to Victoria for processing.

Finally, a new book says bats are intelligent, trainable and essential to healthy forests.

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News Editor