Susan Collins
WINDSOR, Maine — Sen. Susan Collins says the White House doesn’t understand how its trade war with Canada is affecting Maine. The five-term GOP incumbent said she has spoken with JD Vance and Jamieson Greer about the escalating tariffs, which come as Collins faces a heated reelection race in a state that has close economic ties with Canada. But the White House has shown little sign of relenting. “I think the administration has very much underestimated the impact on Maine families, on small manufacturers, on our agricultural products,” Collins said. She added that she had encouraged Vance and Greer to reopen negotiations with Canada. …The effects of the tariffs could be wide-ranging in Maine, raising costs on goods such as steel, paper and dairy products, along with road salt used for winter maintenance. Canada is Maine’s largest trade and investment partner. Roughly 40 percent of all Maine’s goods exports go to Canada.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills says tariffs on lumber products have been difficult for the state’s economy to absorb. [CBC video 1.42 min]
SAVANNAH, Georgia — The South, and Georgia in particular, have borne the brunt of a historic run of pulp and paper-mill closures as recycled boxes, cheap imported pulp and more thrifty packing by e-commerce giants, including Amazon.com, have hit demand. Last year, the US shed roughly 10% of its capacity to produce containerboard. …Demand for pulpwood plummeted. So did demand for wood chips, sawdust and other byproducts. Prices across the South are at the lowest level in nearly 40 years before factoring in inflation. In some parts, there’s essentially no market. Some growers are, for the first time, having to pay to have their pulpwood removed. …A search is on to create new sources of demand. Weyerhaeuser, the South’s largest timberland owner with about 6.6 million acres in 11 states, is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to build facilities in Arkansas and Mississippi to turn pulpwood surpluses into engineered lumber and an alternative to metallurgical coal, respectively. [to access the full story a WSJ subscription is required]
This month’s Lumber Shorts includes these stories and more:
The fight for restitution is on at a fallen green-energy giant, following one of the most disastrous commodity trades of the decade. The ill-fated wood-pellet trades that bankrupted Enviva during the sustainable-investing boom were made by executives hoping to trigger their own bonuses, according to creditors who are seeking more than $2 billion in damages. Instead… the nine-figure trades backfired and bankrupted the company, which once had a nearly $6 billion market value. Five of the company’s top executives concealed the inordinately large and risky trades from its board, according to a lawsuit, suppliers and others with claims. …Enviva said it wasn’t involved in the litigation, and none of the former executives named in the suit are affiliated with the reorganized company, which emerged from bankruptcy in December 2024 with new owners and leadership. …The company was considered one of the winners of the green-energy boom. [to access the full story a WSJ subscription is required]
A century-old Philadelphia packaging company is closely watching tariffs and trade negotiations with Canada as it deals with rising costs for materials it uses every day. F. P. Woll & Company, a family business in Northeast Philadelphia, makes packaging for other companies and their products, ranging from cameras to kitchen sinks. Fred Woll runs the company, which has about a dozen employees and a sprawling production operation. …The latest tariffs and trade negotiations with Canada are creating another challenge for the business. One key material the company uses is CDX plywood from Canada. …The company’s concerns extend beyond the materials it needs for its own products. Woll said tariffs on materials used by its customers, including aluminum, can also affect his business if those customers cut production. …Canada is Pennsylvania’s biggest trading partner. Data shows the state sent about $14 billion in goods to Canada last year and imported about $13 billion.
From the Arkansas line, in all directions down through much of Louisiana, dipping even into Cajun country, you see trees. Everywhere. The depth and breadth of our pine and hardwood stands and forests are almost indiscernible. …For as long as most can remember, this industry was the heartbeat of rural Louisiana and stood as the backbone of our economy in Louisiana, producing lumber, paper, and dozens of other wood products that generated living wages and pockets of prosperity through nearly every parish. …Total industry output still registers in the billions, yet the practical reality on the ground is stagnation. Major paper mills that once absorbed millions of tons of fiber have closed. …Meanwhile, pulpwood prices sit near multi-decade lows. Our loggers wrestle with rising insurance and operating costs propelled by our judicial and litigious climate while landowners see returns on investment shrink. The giant that was our timber industry is still standing, but it is staggering.
SEARSMONT, Maine —Federal investigators say firefighters unknowingly used a suppression tactic that likely contributed to the deadly explosion at Robbins Lumber mill fire in Searsmont in May. The report from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) says that neither workers nor responding firefighters understood that the silo involved was designed to limit oxygen or that its contents posed a combustible dust hazard. … A preliminary investigation classified the fire as accidental and identified combustible dust as the cause of the subsequent explosion. The report says the silo was an oxygen-limiting model, which is designed to restrict the amount of air entering the structure. NIOSH said mill employees and firefighters interviewed after the explosion did not know the silo was oxygen-limiting and were unaware that the wood shavings and sawdust inside constituted a combustible dust hazard or that there were different risks with that silo as compared to other designs.
With one of the last buyers of hemlock pulpwood gone, good forest management could become too costly to sustain — putting habitat, climate resilience and rural jobs all at risk. News about the end of pulping operations at Finch Paper has focused on how it is bad for logging contractors and the forest products industry. As organizations focused on the future of Vermont forests, we agree — those impacts are significant. …This is bad news for everyone who cares about sustaining Vermont’s forests. [While commodity products are] often a goal of forest management, so are: improving wildlife habitat, biodiversity, climate resilience, recreational trails, carbon storage, protecting against pests and diseases… managing fire danger and improving the overall health and diversity of forests. Our organizations may prioritize the benefits on this list differently, but we agree on one thing: Without buyers for wood … forest management become economically difficult, or impossible, to carry out. 
The purely economic decision by Finch Paper in Glens Falls, now part of a global company, to stop purchasing Adirondack regional trees for its pulp to paper operation and to instead acquire its pulp from far beyond New York’s borders is serious – and deserves the attention it’s getting from forest product industries, harvesters, truckers, suppliers, and landowners elsewhere. …While residents will no longer have to breathe the sulfide smell from the mill, there are broadly negative effects further north. Environmental interests also have a big stake in this matter. If a large, regional, formerly reliable market for low-grade… pulp trees is suddenly eliminated, then the reduced income and opportunities for future management threatens the quality, diversity, and sustainability of Adirondack forests. It also threatens the loss of Adirondack forest-related employment up and down the supply chain, as well as forest fragmentation and loss of wildlife habitats due to sale, subdivision, and subsequent development. 
CAPITAL REGION, New York — Starting next week, Canadian retaliatory tariffs are taking effect. The tariffs are up to 50% on American products. The tariffs are projected to impact $20 billion worth of American goods; materials like lumber, steel, and dairy could be the hardest hit. We see data coming out of the Fed that shows that 90% of the costs of tariffs are passed along to, you know, U.S. businesses and consumers,” said Justin Wilcox, of Upstate United. “That’s having an impact on people’s pocketbooks at a time when they can least afford it.” …The National Association of Home Builders predicts a $10,000 to $14,000 increase per home. …According to an April 2026 report from the New York State Comptroller, Canada is the state’s most significant trading partner. In 2025, exports to Canada declined by $3.8 billion due to tariffs.
BUFFALO, New York — The changing tariffs policies for the U.S. and Canada are raising cost and supply issues for the home building and remodeling field with possible impact on their customers for planned and future projects… said a contractor and the operator of a lumber and building supplies business. …Domenic Cortese, of Cortese Construction, said “The implications to a new home on the costs of that home are about $10,000 more because of the tariffs. You know you’re probably going to be looking at $2,000 or $3,000 more in lumber costs for a deck just because of the tariffs.” …”The problem is we don’t have the infrastructure in place to ramp up productivity to be able to supply lumber for our needs.” …Lenco’s Stephen Coppola said, “We love the Canadian lumber. Our customers tend to like it quite a bit. But we’ve been very active in trying to find other sources.”
Drax’s Pellet Production adjusted EBITDA fell 14% to £64 million in the first half of 2026 from £74 million a year earlier, as production declined and internal sales prices fell. Pellet output decreased to 1.9 million metric tons from 2.1 million metric tons, according to Drax Group. The lower production reflected the closure of the Williams Lake pellet plant in Canada and outages at facilities in the U.S. South. Drax also weighted more production toward the second half of 2026 to align pellet supply with expected generation at Drax Power Station. Market conditions affected the Canadian business through limited fibre availability and lower margins. Canadian operations otherwise performed well during the period, while Drax continued a strategic review of the business. Cost reductions in the U.S. South also lowered Pellet Production earnings under Drax’s cost-plus transfer-pricing system.
GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan — UFP Industries reported results for the second quarter 2026. Net Sales of $1.88 billion increased by 3% compared to $1.84 billion a year ago due to a 1% increase in organic units and a 2% increase due to acquisitions. …Net Earnings Attributable to Controlling Interests of $83 million compared to $101 million a year ago. Earnings were primarily impacted by higher freight costs while a weaker residential construction market was offset by improvements in other business units. Adjusted EBITDA was $154.5 million in the quarter, compared to $174.1 million a year ago. …UFP Industries is a holding company whose operating subsidiaries – UFP Packaging, UFP Construction and UFP Retail – manufacture, distribute and sell a wide variety of value-added products used in residential and commercial construction, packaging and other industrial applications worldwide.
SOUTH BEND, Indiana — A massive fire early this morning in downtown South Bend, bringing in a ton of resources. The flames engulfing what had already been built at Stadium Flats apartments, hours before a groundbreaking ceremony was set to take place. …Assistant fire chief Derek Erquhart said the amount of wood at the construction site helped feed the flames. “It was type 5 wood frame construction, so a lot of lumber. The heat was very intense, is what the firefighters were dealing with when they arrived, and considering the conditions on arrival… that building that was under construction essentially a loss, and our priority was protecting the structures around there,” said SBFD Assistant Chief Derek Erquhart. …Stadium Flats is owned by Real America. …The company’s president telling ABC57 he’s grateful for the first responders, and also that the building process wasn’t further along.
With the US imposing new tariffs on select Canadian exports, North Carolina State University experts warn that the escalating trade war could raise the price and reduce the quality of toilet paper and other tissue products. …Canadian NBSK is a critical raw material in global tissue manufacturing, accounting for roughly 15% to 30% of the fiber blend in premium bath tissue products and 50% to 65% in premium paper kitchen towels. Brazilian eucalyptus fiber makes up the remaining share. Gonzalez said the 50% tariff on Canadian NBSK could raise manufacturing costs for premium toilet tissue by 11% to 20%, while costs for premium paper kitchen towels could increase by 31% to 38%. …“If tissue producers choose to switch to Southern Bleached Softwood Kraft, the softness of premium tissue products will be compromised,” Jameel said. On the other hand, Gonzalez said the tariffs could create an opportunity to use more local fibers for tissue manufacturing, though they are less soft than northern softwood.
MILAN — In a business setting perfect for the moment, Gov. Kelly Ayotte last Friday ceremonially signed into law a bill seen as crucial to the state’s lumber industry, one that puts it on an even playing field with how Canada grades its lumber. Local elected officials, employees and guests gathered at the Milan Lumber Co., for the signing of House Bill 1204, that changes how New Hampshire grades state-grown timber for sale. The change removes an “s” at the end of three other letters, s-p-f, standing for spruce-pine-fir, which is how Canadian lumber is marked. Before the Legislature passed the bill, the state’s lumber was marked as s-p-f-s. The “s” at the end stands for “south,” meaning south of the Canadian border. Removing the extra “s” at the end of New Hampshire milled lumber means it is graded the same as Canadian milled lumber and should be sold at the same price.
A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Forest Service to suspend a commercial logging project in southern Illinois’ Shawnee National Forest, finding the agency’s approval of the project under President Joe Biden violated the Endangered Species Act. Despite the agency’s own preliminary assessment showing an endangered bat species lived in the roughly 70-acre area targeted for the tree thinning project, the Forest Service did not wait for an official opinion from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to approve the project. Environmental groups sued, but by the time the judge issued a temporary restraining order halting the project last summer, a logging company had already cut down trees in 40 of the 67 acres. Separately, the Trump administration this summer has moved to change two federal rules, including one weakening the Endangered Species Act, making it easier to approve projects like logging, mining, oil and gas drilling and other development in federal lands and forests.
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M Forest Service today launched the Texas Prescribed Burn Manager Insurance Program to provide liability protection for qualified certified and insured prescribed burn managers. The program was established in response to House Bill 2563 in an effort to increase the use of prescribed fire as a wildfire mitigation tool by reducing liability barriers faced by prescribed burn managers. “Prescribed burning is one of the most effective tools we have to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires,” said Texas State Representative Trent Ashby. “Last session, I was proud to work with Texas A&M Forest Service to establish the Texas Prescribed Burn Manager Insurance Program, which will remove one of the primary barriers facing certified professionals who perform this important work. The launch of this program represents a proactive effort to reduce wildfire risk and protect our land, livestock, homes, and communities across Texas.”
Thousands of acres of currently protected national forest land in Michigan could be opened to road construction and logging under a proposal from the U.S. Forest Service to rescind a 25-year-old rule. The 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which restricts road construction and timber harvesting in designated roadless areas, currently protects about 16,000 acres of roadless forest land across the Huron-Manistee, Hiawatha and Ottawa national forests in Michigan. They are among nearly 45 million acres of inventoried roadless areas nationwide which would see protections eliminated under the proposal to rescind the rule, 
The closure of Finch Paper’s pulp mill in Glens Falls, New York, is a blow that will echo across the Northeast for years. For loggers, truckers, foresters and woodlot landowners, this is not some distant threat to worry about in the future. It is — today — lost income, lost markets for wood and the continuing fraying of a way of life. One of us has spent a career in forestry; the other leads a wilderness protection organization. …we both understand a truth: The amount of land we can set aside as wilderness depends on how well we manage the rest of the forest and thus the health of the timber industry. Both wildlands and managed woodlands are needed. …Put simply, wilderness advocates should be rooting for a thriving forest economy. And loggers should welcome a network of wildlands that keeps large forest blocks whole … and models the full range of what these forests can be. 
MAINE — Researchers walking through the forest during a major spruce budworm outbreak in the 1990s discovered some healthy fir trees unaffected by the deadly pests, and wondered what gave them apparent immunity. They took needles from the healthy trees to study at their University of New Brunswick lab, and found they contained a fungus with a beneficial relationship with the trees. …The discovery attracted the attention of Canadian forestry conglomerate J.D. Irving, the largest owner of forested land in Maine. The partnership, which started in 1999, resulted in a novel way to combat future outbreaks: breeding budworm-resistant trees. Its strategy to use natural fungi — known as endophytes — is at the forefront of science to find more natural solutions. Several universities in the US are researching how endophytes act in other types of trees. …Irving Woodlands is ramping up production of the trees in a newly opened greenhouse in New Brunswick. 
Nine months after its first prescribed burn in 150 years, a 22-acre patch of forest on Wisconsin Point is starting to show the effects. On one side of the road to the beach, the understory, or plants growing from the ground, are tall and dense. It’s not what a healthy red pine forest should look like, said Callie Grones, an outreach coordinator with the Lake Superior National Estuarine Reserve. On the other side at the “burn unit,” the ground is a little clearer, although still very green, the bottoms of the pine trees are charred and wild blueberries are thriving. …“Ojibwe people, when they were living out here, they used fire almost in a routine,” Grones said. The forest’s health was maintained through that fire.” … Stewardship Coordinator Kirsten Rhude said it will take a few years before the full advantages of the burn appear. 
GEORGIA — A peer-reviewed University of Georgia study has found that rural forest landowners in the southeastern United States do not assess wood-based bioenergy or climate change solely through economic considerations. Their views are shaped by political beliefs, cultural values, personal experience, trust in markets and perceptions of local communities, the researchers reported in 2025. The study, published in the journal 
SEARSMONT, Maine — Two volunteer firefighters died and 11 others were injured after an oxygen-limiting silo exploded during a fire at a Maine lumber mill. The 20-by-60-foot silo contained kiln-dried wood shavings and residual sawdust. Neither facility employees nor responding firefighters recognized that the silo was oxygen-limiting or that its contents posed a combustible dust explosion hazard. Crews directed water through an opening into the silo’s base for more than 30 minutes. At approximately 11 a.m., firefighters heard a “whoosh” as smoke rapidly vented from the top, and the silo launched into the air as fire erupted below it. NIOSH’s investigation highlights the need for hazard-specific preplans, disciplined accountability and tactics designed for oxygen-limiting silos. Recommendations for fire departments include:
The U.S. Forest Service has expanded its emergency closure order due to wildfires burning across the Mt. Hood National Forest. The Austin and Narrows fires, located in the Clackamas River Ranger District, prompted officials to shut down all public entry and travel across several roads and popular recreation sites, including Lake Harriet, Timothy Lake and Bagby Hot Springs. …The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office says the closure will keep people safe and away from crews working to contain the fires. The USFS is also warning people to continue to follow fire restrictions in order to avoid sparking any new wildfires. The agency says this season’s drought conditions combined with hot and dry weather have increased wildfire risks. The Austin Fire has burned more than 9,000 acres and is still zero-percent contained as of Thursday afternoon. The fire remains under investigation.
WOODBINE, Ga. — Firefighters are continuing to battle an 800-acre wildfire in Camden County after smoke from the fire forced a portion of Interstate 95 to close overnight. The wildfire started Wednesday evening after a lightning strike in a remote marsh area, according to the Georgia Forestry Commission. Officials said the location of the fire has made it difficult for crews to access from the ground. “This is a very, very remote area with limited access as the majority of the fire is out in the marsh area,” Stockett said. The Georgia Forestry Commission said crews are using multiple resources to fight the fire, including helicopters and forestry personnel working to strengthen containment lines. Stockett said the fire was about 800 acres and 50% contained as crews continued working in the area. Smoke from the wildfire created visibility issues along I-95, leading officials to temporarily close part of the interstate. The roadway has since reopened.