A U.S. court delivered a sharp rebuke of President Donald Trump’s trade policy on Wednesday, declaring he abused his authority and striking down many of his tariffs — at least for now. The upshot for trading partners, including Canada: Certain specific tariffs on steel and aluminum remain in place, but gone, for now, are sweeping levies on entire countries. The order by the Manhattan-based U.S. Court of International Trade quashes Trump’s 10 per cent across-the-board tariff on most nations and his declaration of a fentanyl emergency to impose 25 per cent tariffs on numerous Canadian and Mexican goods. The White House vowed to fight back with every available tool. This means an immediate appeal and Trump possibly turning to different legal weapons to fight his trade wars. Nevertheless, this decision made history.
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 U.S. Lumber Coalition, a nationwide alliance of softwood lumber dealers, continues to rail against what it views as “unfair Canadian trade practices” that dilute demand, production and competition in the country. Last week, it sent out a 
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.”
A German wood paneling maker plans to open a $250 million manufacturing plant in South Carolina’s rural Clarendon County. Homanit announced Wednesday it will build its first United States manufacturing facility on 140 acres near the small community of Alcolu — population 425. The company pledged to employ 300 people in the area located off Interstate 95, about 40 miles north of its intersection with I-26. “This investment marks a significant milestone for our company, and we’re proud to become part of such a vibrant and forward-looking region,” Homanit Managing Director Fritz Homann said in a statement. “The area’s skilled workforce, strategic location and strong infrastructure make Clarendon County the ideal foundation for our next phase of growth in North America.” The announcement marks the largest single investment in Clarendon County economic development history, according to Central SC Alliance President Jason Giulietti.
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.
WASHINGTON, DC – Total single-family home sales are expected to close 2025 at 4.92 million units, with existing home sales accounting for 4.24 million of those units, according to the May 2025 Economic and Housing Outlook from the Fannie Mae Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) Group. Revisions to the home sales forecast were driven in part by the ESR Group’s lower expectations for mortgage rates, which it now forecasts to end 2025 and 2026 at 6.1% and 5.8%, respectively. The latest outlook also projects real gross domestic product growing at 0.7% in 2025 and 2.0% in 2026 on a Q4/Q4 basis. …We now expect the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to rise 3.5 percent Q4/Q4 in 2025, unchanged from our April forecast. Core CPI is expected to rise 3.8 percent Q4/Q4 in 2025 (down from 3.9 percent previously) and 2.6 percent in 2026 (unchanged).
Volatile lumber prices are once again rattling the U.S. housing market, squeezing builders and threatening to exacerbate an already dire affordability crisis. Softwood lumber prices in April surged 23% year-over-year, while futures rose sharply in early 2025 amid fears of increased U.S. duties and widespread sawmill closures across North America, according to the National Association of Home Builders. This has weighed heavily on major homebuilders such as Lennar, D.R. Horton and Toll Brothers, which have all seen their stocks slump this spring. …“The unpredictability of lumber prices adds serious complexity to planning and budgeting,” said Steve Martinez, of Idaho-based Tradewinds General Contracting. …Beyond homebuilding, higher lumber costs are hitting renovations, fencing and interiors. The US Forest Products annual market review found that U.S. lumber production inched up… but demand continues to outpace supply. Environmental regulations, aging forests and labor constraints compound the challenge.
The United States has officially lost its perfect credit rating. On Friday, Moody’s, for the first time in its history, downgraded U.S. government bonds from the gold star rating of “AAA” to “AA1,” the silver medal equivalent. This wasn’t a total surprise. S&P and Fitch had already lowered the U.S. rating, so this was Moody’s catching up to the crowd. But make no mistake: Moody’s didn’t just pick a random Friday in May to make this move. Moody’s wanted to send a message to Republicans in Congress: Rethink the tax bill. Or, better yet, don’t do it. …The Republicans’ bill would add at least $3.3 trillion to the debt over the next decade. …Moody’s cited concern over how big the U.S. debt already is (more than $36 trillion) and how Congress has taken almost no action to stop the annual deficits that keep adding to that tab. [to access the full story a Washington Post subscription is required]
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 conducted by Wells Fargo and the National Association of Home Builders, 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.
After this year’s fires burned through the Palisades and Altadena neighborhoods, destroying over 16,000 structures, the city is reckoning with 4.5 million tons of debris, according to LAist—”the largest municipal wildfire cleanup operation in recent history.” As a result, the Army Corps of Engineers is sending trucks to 18 different regional facilities including landfills and recycling plants to manage the process of clearing out build remnants and remediating hazardous materials. Trees that appear damaged or unviable are cut down and sent to a local golf course to be mulched—a fact that doesn’t sit right with local sawmill owner Jeff Perry. In the aftermath of the Palisades and Eaton Fires, Perry teamed up with local landscape architects to create Altadena Reciprocity, an initiative that helps homeowners recycle an often-overlooked resource—neighborhood trees—into a product that residents can use for flooring, stair treads, door casings, and much more. 
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 the U.S. moves towards peak fire season, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has signed a memo signaling the Department of Agriculture’s approach to wildfire response under the Trump administration. The memo – signed on Tuesday 20 May – directs the Forest Service to take several actions over the next 30 days, including policy changes for when the nation’s fire preparedness level is high. At Preparedness Level 3 and above, Rollins directed USFS Chief Tom Schultz to “prioritize and redeploy the non-fire workforce” to support wildfire response. A Preparedness Level 3 is issued when the potential for wildland fires is normal for the time of year, according to the National Interagency Fire Center, meaning it’s likely non-fire personnel will be deployed in 2025… The directive was made just months after the department was forced to hire back all 6,000 USDA workers the Trump administration fired on Feb. 13.
The Clallam County Superior Court denied environmentalists’ request for an administrative stay on two local Department of Natural Resources parcels, although it granted a motion to compel information from the state agency. If the stay had been granted, it would have barred logging-related activities for 90 days on the parcels named Parched and Tree Well. The motion to compel will require the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to file administrative records relevant to the case by June 18 – a five-month delay from the original required date of Jan. 2. The logging rights for these two forests were bought by Oregon-based Murphy Company in December. Although road building has begun, there is no planned logging on these properties until next year at the earliest, according to Murphy’s intervenor.
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. 
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.
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.
In a May 13 petition, members of Congress from Northern Rockies states once again admonished the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for what they say is a “flawed” and “ludicrous” proposal to continue listing the grizzly bear as an endangered species. “This decision punishes Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho’s successful grizzly bear recovery efforts,” states the petition, signed by U.S. Sens. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, James Risch, R-Idaho, and U.S. Rep. Russ Fulcher, R-Idaho. “The FWS’s ‘Grizzly Bear Recovery Program 2023 Annual Report’ shows that our states have met and far exceeded the most recent set of recovery goals that FWS set for grizzly bears. All of this collaborative work is undermined by the FWS decision to yet again move the goalpost for delisting grizzly populations.” From Greater Yellowstone to the Selkirk Mountains of North Idaho, grizzly bear habitat protections have stalled the timber industry — a pillar of the region’s economy.
Over one-third of Colorado is forested acreage — 24 million acres of the state’s 66.48 million acres — managed by a variety of local, state and federal entities. The Colorado State Forest Service and the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute, both part of Colorado State University, launched a new online tool to better track completed forest management activities in the state. The 
A tree-sit protest, which has blocked logging access to state Department of Natural Resources parcels, is now two weeks old. An injunction hearing regarding the parcels has been scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday in Clallam County Superior Court. If a 90-day injunction is issued, the tree climber will remove themselves from the tree. If the decision is not in favor of the environmentalists, the climber likely will stay up there indefinitely. “It’s going to be crunch time,” activist Peter Stedman said. The tree sit began about 5:30 a.m. May 7, when an unidentified professional tree climber attached themselves to a dunk tank platform 50 to 100 feet up in a tree. That platform was then attached to debris piled in the middle of a logging road. If the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) attempts to remove the debris to gain access to those parcels, the tree climber’s platform will drop.
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.”
Earlier this week, Clean Air Task Force (CATF), alongside a team of leading U.S. forest carbon scientists, published a deep dive into the rules that govern a wide range of forest carbon credit certifications relevant to North America. The assessment examines rules of the road for quantifying carbon credits and identifies what works well, where there are weaknesses, and opportunities for improvements to ensure that forest carbon credits achieve their promised climate benefits… CATF’s assessment scored some elements of California’s current forest protocol that lays out the requirements for carbon credit certification as robust, such as the 100-year monitoring period for stored carbon in forests, and others as weak, like the risk assessment procedure. While high-quality credits are possible under the current protocol, the bar needs to be raised to guarantee that credits are delivering on their promise.
For the past 10 years, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has been working to consolidate several industry-specific standards for combustible dust. In December 2024, the NFPA completed its goal by issuing “NFPA 660–Standard for Combustible Dusts and Particulate Solids.” This new standard combines six existing standards, including NFPA 61 (agricultural dust) and NFPA 664 (wood dust), into a single standard that covers all industries where combustible dust and particulates are generated, used and handled. Building permitting authorities, code enforcers and fire agencies use the NFPA standards to establish the basis of design and operation for new and existing industrial sites, so it’s important for pellet mill owners and operators to be aware of NFPA requirements, especially for new projects and plant modifications. NFPA 660 covers both administrative and engineering requirements at facilities with combustible dust, and its goal is to minimize fires and explosions, help companies maintain business continuity, and, most importantly, protect workers and the public.
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.