“The coverage by CNBC entitled ‘Why The U.S. Might Increase Duties On Canadian Lumber Again‘ is disappointingly one-sided reporting from a business news network. The claims made in the piece asserting that lumber price volatility and import duties on lumber are pricing consumers out of the market are false,” stated Andrew Miller, Chair of the US Lumber Coalition. The reporting included views of Canadian analysts and US homebuilding representatives but, crucially, did not include input from US lumber producers nor US loggers. “Lumber accounts for a very small share of the sales price of a newly constructed home, typically 1%-2%.” …”Commodities other than lumber have seen much larger price increases, including building materials such as iron & steel & concrete,” stated Zoltan van Heyningen, Executive Director. …”We support President Trump’s plan to further increase the supply of Made in the U.S.A. softwood lumber to build U.S. homes,” concluded Miller.
Tariff uncertainty from the Trump administration continues to impact home builders across the country, as builders prepare for potential price hikes and supply chain issues. …Lumber remains a primary concern, with countervailing and antidumping duties expected to more than double this fall. Steve Martinez, president of Tradewinds General Contracting in Boise, Idaho, recently spoke with CNBC to emphasize just how much lumber goes into the construction of a new home. “This entire house is built out of wood,” Martinez said. “I mean, we really do have wood on the floor, wood on the walls, wood on the ceiling. Can’t really get away from building a house like this without using a large number of wood products in the home.” As a result, price increases to lumber can cause a huge disruption for home builders. And lack of certainty adds complexity to the home-building process.
The Coalition for Fair Trade in Hardwood Plywood has petitioned for antidumping and countervailing duties to counter unfair trade practices by Indonesia, Vietnam, and China. These petitions were filed on Thursday, May 22, with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission and have significant implications for our economy, in which hardwood plywood plays a critical role in producing numerous downstream products. The Coalition for Fair Trade in Hardwood Plywood alleges that the governments of Indonesia, Vietnam, and China are actively subsidizing dozens of programs benefiting their industries, including providing products at subsidized rates and multiple grant, tax, and lending programs. 
SEELEY LAKE, Montana — A law passed during the 2025 legislative session could provide $6 million in low-interest rate loans for an entity that wants to start up a wood products facility. The measure could impact Seeley Lake, where Pyramid Mountain Lumber once operated. “I think the likelihood of you know, somebody coming here, obviously, there’d be opportunity at other mills as well, but they really like the, the ability to source timber from this site,” said Pyramid Mountain Lumber owner Todd Johnson. Johnson says the new law would incentivize anyone looking to open a new facility by providing funding for one portion of the total for opening a new mill. “I think the, the main designs behind it were so that it would allow somebody to secure a site. Six million dollars would go a long ways towards securing, you know, a site here in Montana,” said Johnson. 
As Oregon lawmakers frantically search for money to fund roads and wildfire prevention, they have landed on a surprising idea: Dredging up a fight over cap-and-trade that once dominated legislative attention. Recently, there’s been increasing momentum to adopt a cap-and-trade system, where polluters purchase credits for their greenhouse gas emissions, and trade them with other emitters to ensure they are meeting a declining state emissions cap. That push has been led, according sources, by Sen. Bruce Starr, R-Dundee. But it appears to have gained traction as other proposals to raise money for road and bridge maintenance and firefighting face an uncertain fate. Washington and California have cap-and-trade programs, and early talks in Oregon have involved adopting a law similar to Washington’s… Funds generated from gas and diesel suppliers could pay for road projects … wildfires, climate nonprofits, and transit or pedestrian uses.
GREENVILLE , SC — The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities released its 2024 Annual Report. The report highlights a year of expanded reach with $29.1 million awarded across 109 projects in 30 states and Washington, D.C., through innovative programs that strengthen the links between healthy forests, resilient communities and sustainable markets. The report details the Endowment’s sharpened focus on transformative initiatives, including the launch of an impact investing program, advancements in forest carbon transparency and streamlined market access for domestic wood fibers. “2024 was a pivotal year where we not only supported critical projects but also invested in scalable, sustainable solutions,” said Pete Madden, president and CEO of the Endowment. “By magnifying the connections between working forests, strong markets and vibrant communities, we are helping to drive systemic change across the forestry sector.”
Economic uncertainty has produced a double whammy for the housing market: sluggish home sales and plodding construction. Last month was the slowest April for existing home sales in 16 years — a sharp rebuke to hopes that this spring the housing market would recover after two very sleepy years. In a May survey of builder confidence, home builder sentiment dropped to a level last seen in November 2023. The problem, as ever, is the cost of housing: Home prices are out of reach for many who would like to buy. And the tariff drama under President Trump has both made it more expensive to build new homes and made the future more unpredictable for would-be homebuyers. The result is a country where builders want to build, and buyers want to buy — but the future is too much in doubt.
Q1 2025 exports of Southern Pine lumber (treated and untreated) were 12% behind the same quarter in 2024 at 122 MMBF, but up 2% over the fourth quarter of 2024. On a monthly basis, Southern Pine lumber exports were down 20% in March over March 2024 but up 4.6% over February 2025. When looking at the report by dollar value, Southern Pine exports are down 7% to $50 million in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, but down 17% over the fourth quarter of 2024. Mexico led the way at $13.2 million, followed by the Dominican Republic at $10.4 million, and Canada at $4.3 million. The total global value in March hit a six-month high of $18 million. Treated lumber exports, meanwhile, were down 19% compared to the first quarter of 2024 at $28 million and down 6% over the fourth quarter of 2024.
Packaging is going back to its roots. Long before the advent of plastics, before the rise of mass production and the widespread adoption of synthetic materials, early civilisations relied on what the natural world had to offer – pressed bark, woven plant fibres, and rudimentary pulps – to store and transport food and goods. Paper, in particular, has long served as a trusted material for containment and communication alike. Today, that ancient material is undergoing a resurgence and is evolving to not only meet contemporary functional needs but also to respond to an urgent call for environmental responsibility. The rapid shift away from single-use plastic has created new momentum behind paper-based alternatives. From luxury goods wrapped in soft textured, bespoke papers to barrier coated containers engineered for performance and recyclability, fibre-based packaging is no longer confined to brown boxes or rustic aesthetics. It is becoming more refined, more versatile, and, crucially, more sustainable – at least on the surface.
In Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in California, trees that have persisted through rain and shine for thousands of years are now facing multiple threats triggered by a changing climate. Scientists and park managers once thought giant sequoia forests nearly impervious to stressors like wildfire, drought and pests. Yet, even very large trees are proving vulnerable, particularly when those stressors are amplified by rising temperatures and increasing weather extremes. The rapid pace of climate change – combined with threats like the spread of invasive species and diseases – can affect ecosystems in ways that defy expectations based on past experiences… To protect these places, which are valued for their natural beauty and the benefits they provide for recreation, clean water and wildlife, forest and land managers increasingly must anticipate risks they have never seen before. And they must prepare for what those risks will mean for stewardship as ecosystems rapidly transform.
If you’re wondering why squirrels seem to vastly outnumber raccoons—or why certain car brands dominate city streets—a team of University of Virginia researchers may be able to help. Some species are abundant while most are rare. For nearly a century, scientists have sought a mathematical model to describe this pattern, the “hollow curve” species-abundance distribution, found universally within ecological communities. A recent breakthrough by a team within UVA’s Department of Biology seems to have finally cracked this ecological puzzle. By analyzing 30,000 datasets ranging from the distribution of tree species across the United States to bacterial communities living in the human gut, they found that a model called the “powerbend distribution” accurately describes the species abundance across plant, animal and microbial communities. Their findings were 
As Arizona utility companies make aggressive plans to mitigate wildfire risks, many met in Payson to update a state regulatory body. On May 15, the Arizona Corporation Commission hosted a special open meeting on wildfire mitigation at the Payson Public Library. ACC Vice-Chairman Nick Myers moderated the nearly three-hour town hall, which included stakeholder presentations from Arizona Public Service, Tucson Electric Power & UniSource, Salt River Project, Navopache Electric Cooperative, Alliant Gas, Arizona Water Company, and the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management. Following brief opening remarks and commissioner comments, utility companies from throughout the state provided insight and information regarding their ongoing wildfire mitigation efforts. The electric companies focused on both grid hardening and creating defensible space around their infrastructure, before providing updates about each of their Public Safety Power Shutoff programs.
Across the western U.S., wildfires are becoming larger and more severe — and even trees that initially survive are dying in subsequent years, making it harder for forests to regenerate, according to new research from Portland State University. Building on previous research exploring fire refugia — the green islands of live trees that remain after forest fires — researchers in PSU’s Global Environmental Change lab mapped annual changes in the extent of live tree cover up to three years after the unprecedented 2020 Labor Day fires in Oregon’s western Cascades. The study quantifies changes in the spatial distribution and attributes of fire refugia as a result of delayed tree mortality. …there is potential for delayed fire effects to cause trees to die in subsequent years, including direct burn injuries as well as a combination of direct and indirect effects related to climate, insects, pathogens and heatwaves. 
The rate at which trees are dying in California has hit a 10-year low, according to a survey from the U.S. Forest Service. Trees were dying at an alarming rate from 2015 to 2018, but after significant snow and rainfall in recent years, trees are getting their necessary nutrients. “We’ve had a couple good years of precipitation,” said Jeffrey Moore, aerial survey manager with the Forest Service. “We expected the amount of mortality to start tapering off, and indeed that was the case.” Severe droughts, he says, are the main culprits for the amount of trees that die. Less water means fewer nutrients, which then allows for a greater chance of trees to get disease or infected with bugs that feed on dry bark.
Mike Lithgow, director of policy and outreach for the Kalispel Tribe joined panelists Amanda Parrish, executive director of The Lands Council, and Todd Myers, vice president for research at the Washington Policy Center, for the 2025 Forum on the Environment in Spokane. Parrish introduced her organization’s work with the Northeast Washington Forestry Coalition, the U.S. Forest Service, and regional tribes. The Lands Council is currently working with the city of Spokane’s urban forestry program to plant trees in low-income neighborhoods. …On a broader scale, the Kalispel Tribe reaches out from their small reservation in collaborative work across 2.3 million acres of Washington, Idaho, Montana and British Columbia, Canada. Lithgow said the tribe focuses on restoration, which might not be high on the list for other partners. In addition to water, their conservation efforts include forests and wildlife. Forest management in Washington is a concern going into the summer, owing to the potential for wildfires. 
In fire-prone Southern Oregon, residents of the Greensprings joined forces to carry out a 12-acre prescribed burn… The effort reflects a growing movement to use“good fire” to reshape landscapes and build community resilience. …The volunteers — a mix of firefighters, Greensprings residents, and fire experts with the Rogue Valley Prescribed Burn Association — were there to put “good fire” on a 12-acre triangle of land owned by Deb Evans and Ron Schaaf. …In fire-prone Southern Oregon, intentionally setting fire to a forested hillside might seem reckless, especially as summers have grown hotter and wildfire seasons more intense. But under the right conditions, fire can burn away vegetation that would otherwise fuel dangerous wildfires in warmer, drier months, helping protect homes and forests before the next wildfire strikes. Now, a growing number of residents are learning how to use prescribed burns to make their communities safer.
U.S. House Republicans narrowly passed a budget reconciliation bill early Thursday morning that pushes forward President Donald Trump’s domestic policy on health care, energy, immigration, and more. …Included in the package were provisions pushing Trump and Republicans’ policy around increasing domestic energy, timber and mineral production, and restoring the federal multiple-use mandate on public land. …House Democrats in the committee, who have criticized Trump’s reconciliation package as a way to fund tax cuts for billionaires, referred to the legislation as one of the most destructive and extreme anti-environment bills in the country’s history. …Now, the big bill is heading to the Senate, where advocates are hopeful changes will continue to be made. Louis Geltman, the vice president of policy and government relations for the recreation member group Outdoor Alliance, said in a statement that the act is still “very bad for public lands and waters.”
By executive order, President Donald Trump reinstated the Tongass National Forest Roadless Rule exemption, reversing action taken by President Joe Biden in January 2023. For Alaska-based environmental organizations, that means redeploying propaganda about how much of the old-growth forest in the Tongass could be subjected to large-scale logging. And they often get help from journalists and opinion writers who don’t do their homework. …In a joint press release responding to the Biden administration’s plan to consider restoring the Roadless Rule …Rep. Don Young accurately described that “only 9 percent of the Tongass is available for any kind of development.” …Environmentalists have a choice. They acknowledge these facts and stop challenging the Roadless Rule exemption for the Tongass. Or they can continue undermining their credibility by peddling the kind of disinformation that’s making our political discourse so toxic.
Thousands of acres of deep-woods habitats at Arcadia Dunes are now part of a nationwide network of current and future old-growth forests. The wooded areas at the C.S. Mott Nature Preserve in Benzie County this week became the latest place in Michigan to be inducted into the Old-Growth Forest Network, which now includes more than 270 permanently protected forests nationwide. The forest near the Lake Michigan shoreline boasts unique microclimates teeming with old beech and hemlock trees, spring wildflowers, and rare native plants. Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy hosted a two-mile hike Wednesday, May 21, along the preserve’s Dryhill Trail Chestnut Loop to celebrate the northern mesic forest being added to the nationwide old-growth roster. The nature preserve is the conservancy’s largest and includes a mix of secondary hardwoods, coastal dunes, and open fields around old farmland and pastures.
Jim Thorpe – Pennsylvania — It was a sight like no other, last month, smoke clouded the air as a wildfire spread on Bear Mountain in Jim Thorpe. The fire burned 500 acres in what the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources called the Packerton fire. “We are really still evaluating; it’s probably still too early to tell. Certainly, some trees got killed in that process, and we are still evaluating how extensive the damage was, explained Seth Cassell, Director of the Bureau of Forestry with DCNR. On Arbor Day, DCNR launched an online donation drive for communities impacted by wildfires. … Officials with DCNR say there are several types of trees that make up the forests of Carbon County. “Where the fire was, there is often pine trees, oak trees, we see a lot of chestnut oak trees in those areas, and some of those trees are there because of repeat fires in those areas.”
Oregon’s first major wildfire of the season, the Butte Creek Fire, has been mapped at 1,776 acres burning on the John Day River 9 miles north of Clarno in eastern Oregon as of May 27. Firefighters were suppressing the blaze with multiple crews, engines, dozers and aircraft. Some structures are threatened by the fire, officials said. Wheeler County Fire & Rescue and South Gilliam County Rural Fire Protection District are providing structure prevention. No evacuations or closures were in place. However, boaters on the popular stretch of the John Day River “are being asked to use caution as helicopters will continue dipping water out of the John Day River today,” according to Central Oregon Fire Information.