MOBILE COUNTY, Alabama — A lumber company is set to make a multi-million dollar investment into its Port City location. According to a release, a subsidiary of Canfor Southern Pine, New South Lumber Company Inc., is investing $10.5 million in the Mobile County location. The company will be adding “a new dual-path continuous dry kiln.” This move aims to increase efficiency and drying capacity, as well as provide room for growth in the future. “This investment reinforces the company’s commitment to maintaining and strengthening its existing workforce and ensuring the long-term sustainability of the operation,” said Canfor Southern Pine Inc. President Lee Goodloe. Construction is set to begin in April and be completed in June.
MAINE — As gas and diesel prices climb during the war in Iran, some of Maine’s most recognizable industries are feeling the strain. From the coast to the woods, people who rely on fuel to do their jobs say the higher costs are changing how they work and raising concerns about what comes next. Lobstermen are rethinking trips on the water, while logging contractors say the math is getting harder for truckers and mills across the state. …“I mean, there is no equipment that does not use diesel as its primary fuel for both harvesting and trucking,” Dana Doran, executive director of the Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast, said. Doran said spiking diesel prices are adding roughly 20% to the cost of each trip a driver makes to and from a mill. That increase, he said, creates uncertainty for contractors and for mills that depend on a steady supply of wood.
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 (
KINGSPORT — Domtar’s Kingsport mill told the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation that it will try a method to improve wastewater quality at its wastewater lagoon this week. The mill said it will add an oxidant near the outlet of the lagoon’s settling zone for about 30 days to see if it would improve the effluent water quality. “It will be fed at a low rate of approximately 1 [part per million] with monitoring and testing being done at our effluent sample point before the discharge to the river,” the letter states. The mill has also tried chemical treatments and injecting liquid oxygen to address sulfuric odors attributed to the 25-acre wastewater lagoon.It is currently constructing a new wastewater treatment system, an anaerobic digester, to address wastewater odors attributed to the mill. Construction is expected to complete near the end of 2026.
METCALFE, Georgia — Plantation Pine Products officially opened their doors at the former site of Hood Industries, signaling an exciting new chapter in a timber mill with a storied history. …The $25 million investment is set to provide 100 jobs, with the first mill employees reporting for duty in July, when it will once again come alive. Operated by Steve Conner, Plantation Pine Products will be one of the many “bread and butter businesses” of Thomasville. …“Forestry is woven into the fabric of rural Georgia in a way that no other industry can match,” Michelle Shaw said for the Georgia Department of Economic Development. …The reopening of the mill comes at a crucial time following the devastation of Hurricane Helene in 2025 and reinforces the resiliency of timber producers across Georgia.
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.
As the Trump administration wages war on Iran, it’s citing national security to seek an exemption from the Endangered Species Act for expanded oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico — a move alarming environmental groups who say it could set a dangerous precedent for future fossil fuel projects. Environmentalists argue the government hasn’t followed proper procedure and they’re seeking to block the move before Interior Secretary Doug Burgum convenes the Endangered Species Committee on Tuesday. The committee, nicknamed the “God Squad” by groups who say it can determine the fate of a species, is comprised of six high-ranking federal officials plus a representative for states involved. …The Center for Biological Diversity sued last week to block the committee meeting. …The committee was established in 1978 as a way to exempt projects from the Endangered Species Act. …The committee has only convened three times in its 53-year history and issued only two exemptions. 
At a commercial tree nursery near Evans, western Louisiana, pine seedlings are sprayed with a liquid extract teeming with hundreds of species of wild soil fungi. Brad Ouseman, the nursery manager, is confident he will see results from this fungal inoculation, which is intended to improve yields and reduce the need for artificial fertilisers. Colin Averill, the founder of Funga, the startup company that supplied the spray, likens the treatment to a faecal microbiome transplant for young pine trees. Funga treats young pine trees with wild microbes derived from the soils of thriving pine forests. “We’re taking the whole soil community,” Averill says. “As a result, we get all the complexity and all the interactions that come with it.” The goal: trees that grow fast, drawing down more carbon dioxide, with less reliance on artificial fertilisers. …“Our next big target is Douglas fir in the Pacific north-west,” says Averill.
Years after logging at his Mariaville woodlot, Bob Seymour expected to see new hardwood trees growing in the understory. In fact, he took it as a given after decades in the Maine woods that natural regrowth would crop up. Instead, almost all of the young trees in some sections are eastern white pines he had planted. He believes that’s largely because deer populations are growing and eating more hardwood saplings, which means fewer trees and less diversity in the future. …It’s one of the most concerning changes that Seymour, a retired UMaine silviculture professor, has seen in almost five decades of experience researching forest management. …Such challenges to understanding and managing the Maine woods have grown in recent years amid climate change, which has brought destructive new pests, fast-moving diseases, invasive plants that take over, and warmer winters that change growing, harvesting and wildlife conditions.
When Hurricane Helene swept through western North Carolina, forestry officials conservatively estimated the storm damaged 822,000 acres of timber. Now satellite imagery showing changes in forest cover suggests the extent of damage was much greater. Nearly 18 months after Helene, forestry officials and the state fire marshal warned legislators Thursday that North Carolina needs to be much better prepared to battle wildfires. Deputy Forester Kevin Harvell with the North Carolina Forest Service said from the air, it’s easy to spot areas where complete stands of trees were flattened, making forest roads and logging roads impassable. …In many counties, N.C. Forest Service staffing consists of just three people – a county ranger, an assistant ranger, and a heavy equipment operator. That means a local county fire department may be the first responder when a brush or woods fire is reported. As in many areas of state government, Hicks says low pay is making it increasingly difficult to keep experienced staff.
RHNELANDER, Wisconsin — Wisconsin’s Forest Industry Roadmap and Strategies for Tomorrow, or Wisconsin Forests FIRST is a statewide initiative made for developing a plan and roadmap to ensure Wisconsin’s forests remain healthy and productive, while strengthening the timber industry. Wisconsin’s timber industry is one of the leading economic factors in the state, especially in the Northwoods. The new roadmap being developed by Wisconsin Forests FIRST Initiative aims to identify challenges within the industry to ensure long-term success. Wisconsin Council on Forestry chair, Tom Hittle, explains what the roadmap will consist of. …The research for the roadmap will last two years and seek out data-driven insights to support forest health in collaboration with local and statewide experts. The Great Lakes Timber Professionals and the Paper Council received a $1 million grant from the state to pursue the project with the Wisconsin Council on Forestry.
MONTANA — Three national forests east of Missoula are proposing a plan to require continuous logging across almost a million acres of southwest Montana for at least the next decade. On Monday, the U.S. Forest Service released a draft plan for a Tri-Forest Sustained-Yield Unit, which would direct logging to occur on more than 925,000 acres across the Beaverhead-Deerlodge, Helena-Lewis and Clark and Custer Gallatin national forests. The plan’s stated purpose is to “to support local economies and the timber industry.” Logging is predicted to ramp up to produce 35 million board-feet of lumber annually by the end of 10 years, according to the plan. … The plan says logging won’t occur in wilderness areas, recommended wilderness or wilderness study areas. …But some regional public land advocates are questioning the plan at a time when the Trump administration has pushed a number of other initiatives that favor the timber industry and reduce public comment.
In November 2025, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) approved a 
LOUISIANA — Legislation to expand wood pellet manufacturing in Louisiana is gaining traction despite concerns over the industry’s connection to underground carbon storage, which has attracted a growing number of critics among state lawmakers. Louisiana is a burgeoning producer of wood pellets, which have been branded as a sustainable alternative to coal for generating electricity in overseas markets. As of 2023, mills in the South produced about 85% of the America’s wood pellet exports, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Reps. Chuck Owen, R-Rosepine, and Rodney Schamerhorn, R-Hornbeck, are carrying the proposed Louisiana Wood Pellet Manufacturing Strengthening Act. It directs the Louisiana Economic Development agency to promote the expansion of the industry throughout the state. …Legislators who have become hostile to carbon dioxide sequestration projects in their local districts openly disagree with economic development officials on whether the wood pellet industry even needs to store the CO2 they generate.
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.
