B.C. Forests Minister Ravi Parmar is in Ottawa pushing the federal government to prioritize a softwood lumber deal with the US. That’s as a US lumber lobby group praises the Trump administration for reducing ‘harmful’ Canadian imports with the use of tariffs.
Acadian Timber, one of Canada’s largest forest landowners, wants to close the performance gap between New Brunswick and its business in Maine, a goal its new interim CEO says is achievable despite labour and market challenges. …Malcolm Cockwell, who was named interim boss last month, said, “There are a lot of strong companies here that are investing in their facilities and running them pretty consistently even in challenging markets. Maine is a little bit more hit-and-miss with facilities not being as consistent with their operating schedule and a number of facilities dropping out over the last couple of years.” Acadian has just under 1 million hectares of land under management across New Brunswick and northeastern Maine, with approximately 313,000 hectares of freehold timberlands – privately owned forest land – in New Brunswick and 121,000 in Maine. …One way to make that happen in Maine is to improve Acadian Timber’s contractor base.
Arizona — Efforts to scale up forest thinning across northern Arizona are intensifying, as local officials, industry representatives and environmental groups warn that time is running short to reduce wildfire risk and protect critical watersheds. “Everybody is aware now that there is a biomass issue, but very, very, very few people have any real knowledge of the solution,” Eastern Arizona Counties Organization Executive Director Pascal Berlioux said during a recent Natural Resources Working Group meeting. A broad coalition is advocating for construction of a second biomass-burning power plant, arguing it is essential to prevent the collapse of the region’s wood products industry. Without that industry, leaders say, large-scale thinning efforts could stall, increasing the likelihood of severe wildfires threatening forest communities. 
WASHINGTON STATE– Current and former employees are suing Western Forest Products’ Vancouver operation, alleging the company failed to give employees breaks and pay wages owed. …Western manufactures lumber at its Fruit Valley location and formerly operated a Columbia Vista sawmill that closed after a fire last year. …The group of current and former employees also allege Western Forest Products didn’t keep accurate payroll records. The complaint states about 40 employees could have been impacted by the alleged practices. Babita Khunkhun, spokesperson for Western Forest Products, said “While we cannot comment on the specifics of the allegations at this time, we take all employee concerns seriously,” Khunkhun said. The company is reviewing the lawsuit and will respond through the appropriate legal process, she added. Western Forest Products recently unveiled plans to expand its Fruit Valley manufacturing operation.
PENSACOLA, Florida — West Fraser is requesting a tax break from Escambia County as the lumber company prepares for a planned expansion at its McDavid sawmill. Escambia County staff prepared a draft ordinance proposing the Canadian-based lumber company receive a 70% ad valorem tax exemption for a period of five years. …West Fraser applied for an EDATE for the assessed value of certain improvements. If the exemption is granted… over the next five years, the estimate of the taxable value lost to the county if the exemption is granted is $70,252,000 improvements to real property. In 2023, the board adopted a resolution supporting West Fraser’s expansion and agreed to consider the lumber company’s EDATE application when it was submitted. The county is scheduled to vote March 26 at its board meeting on scheduling a public hearing to consider establishing an EDATE for West Fraser. 
At the Advanced Bioeconomy Leadership Conference, US Department of Agriculture Administrator J.R. Claeys announced the USDA is guaranteeing $115.2 million across eight states (
Lumber futures fell below $600 per thousand board feet as a slowdown in the North American housing market and rising financing costs outweighed persistent supply constraints. This downward pressure was driven by a 5.4% decline in building permits and a sharp 14.2% collapse in single-family housing starts, which signaled a cooling of construction activity as the spring season began. Additionally, 30-year fixed mortgage rates climbed to 6.22% following the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold interest rates steady, the market was further pressured by a sharp drop in crude oil prices that reduced the energy-heavy transport and production overheads. These factors effectively neutralized the marginal one-point gain in the NAHB Housing Market Index to 38, leaving 37% of builders reliant on deep price cuts to move a 2.4% increase in unsold inventory. Structural supply issues like the 45% combined duties on Canadian softwood and ongoing sawmill closures continue to provide a floor.
The Trump Administration is scavenging for ideas to lower costs for home-buyers. One idea being considered is to ease credit checks for loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—that is, backed by taxpayers. Americans saw a version of this policy two decades ago, and it didn’t end well. Mortgage rates have dropped in the last year, but many Americans still can’t afford to buy a home. Enter the Mortgage Bankers Association, which is lobbying the Administration to let lenders underwrite mortgages based on a single credit report. The outfit says this would reduce borrower costs. Maybe, but taxpayers may pay a bigger price later if this results in more defaults. The Federal Housing Finance Agency currently requires lenders to pull three credit reports. …The real reason lenders want to eliminate the tri-merge requirement is so they can make more loans to borrowers with poor credit. [to access the full story a WSJ subscription is required]
Economists have pulled up their risk assessments of a U.S. contraction amid heightened uncertainty over geopolitical risk and a labor market that for the past year has shown strains over the past year. “I’m concerned recession risks are uncomfortably high and on the rise,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. “Recession is a real threat here.” Twin concerns about growth and unemployment have triggered talk of stagflation, a characterization that Fed Chair Jerome Powell has rejected. But the threat of a prolonged war, pressure on consumers and a labor market that, outside of health care, lost hundreds of thousands of jobs last year has kept concerns elevated.
According to a joint study from the American Institute of Architects, the Associated General Contractors of America, and ConstructConnect® News, tariff-driven cost increases are causing delays and cancellations for some projects across the country. …The NAHB has worked alongside Senators Jacky Rosen and Chris Coons to introduce legislation that would address the housing affordability crisis by creating an exemption process for building materials from tariffs. The Housing Tariff Exclusion Act would exempt many home building materials from President Trump’s current and future tariffs and allow importers to apply for tariff exemptions. …Though the Housing Tariff Exclusion Act has not been passed yet, it would be a boon to not only manufacturers, but also to the construction teams and homeowners across the country that have been unable to move forward with their projects due to the current leap in pricing. 
US stocks were set to surge at the opening bell Monday, after President Donald Trump announced that he was postponing all military strikes on Iranian power plants for a 5-day period. Iranian state media responded to Trump’s post by saying the US president has “backed down” after Iran’s firm response. Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency also relayed a message from the nation’s foreign ministry that, “there is no dialogue between Tehran and Washington.” S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures initially soared about 3% on Trump’s post, but those gains faded to about 1.6% after the statements from Iranian media. …Oil prices also fell about 5%, with U.S. crude oil trading down to around $92 per barrel around 8:15 a.m. ET. International Brent crude oil fell to around $105 per barrel. Initially, oil prices had plummeted 10% on Trump’s post.
CONCORD, New Hampshire — A bill moving forward at the State House aims to address a decades-old discrepancy in how wood strength is rated. New Hampshire lawmakers approved Senate Bill 529, which gives preference to US-harvest lumber. The bill requires state-funded building projects to include design specifications for US-sourced spruce-pine-fir. …In the early 1990s, the U.S. and Canada developed separate systems to rate the strength of framing lumber. Canadian lumber is labeled SPF, while American lumber is labeled SPFs. SPFs ended up with a lower design strength value, even though the wood used on both sides of the border is nearly identical. …Over time, the difference in design specifications has given Canadian lumber a competitive advantage, putting Hampshire lumber at a disadvantage. While lawmakers can’t change international industry standards, they can influence how the state purchases lumber for its own construction projects.
BRIMLEY, MI – The Bay Mills Indian Community will receive $50,000 in state funding to support planning and design of a long-term care facility in Brimley, making it the only Upper Peninsula project selected in the first round of Michigan’s Mass Timber Catalyst Program. The planned facility is among 10 projects statewide sharing $400,000 in grants aimed at expanding the use of mass timber construction in Michigan. The state received six applications from the Upper Peninsula. “We received six applicants for a number of different projects in the Upper Peninsula,” said Patrick Mohney, senior lands program manager with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Office of Public Lands. “This shows that interest in this building technique is growing.” Nine Lower Peninsula projects were also selected, with individual grants ranging from $25,000 to $60,000. Recipients include a woodworking school in Adrian, a municipal building in Grand Rapids, and mixed-use facilities in several locations.
A new satellite-based study indicates widespread drought stress and insect damage across the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests, with significant implications for wildfire risk, forest management and long-term ecosystem change. Researchers found roughly one in four ponderosa pines are experiencing moderate to high levels of drought and insect damage. More than half show signs of “fading,” a condition tied to prolonged moisture loss, though the severity varies by ranger district. The study analyzed tree “greenness” across the forest, a key indicator of health derived from satellite imagery. The Apache-Sitgreaves spans roughly 6 million acres in northern Arizona, including the White Mountains, among the state’s wetter regions. Despite that reputation, the findings reinforce a growing body of research showing that decades of drought, increasingly severe wildfires and bark beetle infestations are reshaping these forests. In some areas, ponderosa pine stands have failed to recover following high-intensity fires, particularly where drought stress was already severe.
After firing about 3,400 employees nationwide and instituting a seasonal hiring freeze last year, the U.S. Forest Service is planning to hire 2,000 seasonal workers this year. A Colorado lawmaker wants more information about the U.S. Forest Service’s plans to hire seasonal staff again this summer, after the agency cut thousands of positions and did not employ seasonal help last year. U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, whose district includes Eagle, Grand, Jackson, Routt and Summit counties, penned a letter to Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz earlier this month describing the impact that massive cuts to staffing have had on the agency and the importance of seasonal workers. Rep. Jared Huffman, D-California, also joined the letter. “As you know, seasonal employees play a critical role in the maintenance and stewardship of some of our most treasured public lands and national forests,” Neguse wrote, noting that more than 130 million people visit the country’s national forests annually.
A large chunk of private forest land near Mount Spokane is now permanently protected from development. The Idaho Department of Lands announced Wednesday that more than 22,000 acres of Inland Empire Paper Co. is now protected under a conservation easement. Inland Empire is owned by the Cowles Co., which also owns The Spokesman-Review. The property is between Mount Spokane and Spirit Lake in Bonner and Kootenai counties. …It includes habitat for a variety of wildlife, such as elk, deer and westslope cutthroat trout, according to a Department of Lands news release. It also covers part of the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer, which provides drinking water for people in Spokane and Kootenai counties. The deal locks in public access for the property, which has long been used by hunters, hikers, berry pickers and other recreationists.
When the US announced plans to rescind a rule limiting roadbuilding and timber harvests on national forests, officials called the repeal necessary to prevent and manage wildfires. But as the USDA prepares to release its draft environmental impact statement for the rescission, that justification is unraveling. And many critics of the move see the claim that roads are needed to fight fires in remote forests as cover for a giveaway to the timber industry. …Wildfires on federal lands average about five times the size of those in the rest of the country, leading some land managers to argue that national forests are a front line for fighting the nation’s steep increase in wildland blazes. Yet a new study has fire scientists, frontline firefighters, legal experts and the agency’s own historical record saying that roads don’t reduce wildfire risk; they multiply it. [see 
MICHIGAN — A disastrous ice storm last spring gut-punched Michigan’s multi-billion-dollar forestry sector. One year later, experts say the damage from that storm – which coated and snapped trees with up to an inch of ice accumulation across millions of acres of Northern Michigan forests – will ripple through timber markets for decades. The March 28-30, 2025, storm wiped out years of future logging contracts and reshaped forestry plans across the heart of the state’s “wood basket.” “It’s going to take 100 years to get this sorted out,” said Dan Heckman, forestry planning and modeling specialist for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The storm was so disruptive to existing logging plans that the state had to recalibrate its latest 10-year forest management plan. Northern Michigan’s red pine plantations and aspen stands took the brunt of the damage. Public and private foresters have spent the past year trying to salvage what financial value they can. 
HOLMES COUNTY, Ohio — Six people were injured following a dust explosion and fire at a moulding facility in Holmes County on Tuesday, according to local emergency officials. According to a Facebook post reporting the incident, East Holmes Fire & EMS responded at 12:43 p.m. at Holmes Custom Moulding, where crews reported a structure fire accompanied by an explosion. First units arrived within one minute and requested additional ambulances after identifying multiple burn victims. …Six patients were treated at the scene and transported to area hospitals… Preliminary information indicates the explosion was caused by sparks from a malfunctioning belt sander entering a sawdust collection system. The ignition of wood dust led to an explosion that caused extensive damage to the building, including the dust collection system and sawdust silos.
The wildfire burning south of Colorado Springs has grown to more than 7,300 acres and officials said the state highway on the west side of Fort Carson will likely remain closed through Friday. The 24 fire started Wednesday and currently there is no containment, but in an update Monday morning officials said overnight “fire crews were successfully able to tie in all control lines, boxing in the fire. As of this morning, control lines remain strong.” The fire started near mile marker 24 on Colorado 115, which connects Colorado Springs to Penrose. The road will be closed at least through Friday, but will be reevaluated daily, officials said Monday. The cause of the fire remains under investigation but started off the highway, not on the Army base, officials said last week. The fire was mapped at 7,385 acres early Monday morning, up from 4,900 acres Sunday morning.