Alberta Forest Products Association’s Jason Krips says it time to talk about how Alberta’s forests are managed, calls for more active management. In related news: Bruce Uzelman says irresponsible forest management is to blame; Stuart Taylor says he raised the alarm years ago and a Jasper biologist explains how animals dodge wildfires. In other Forestry news: people are illegally climbing California’s redwoods; and wildfire updates from the BC Interior, Northern Ontario and Greece.
In Business news: Oregonians scramble to keep Malheur Lumber running; Ontario invests $3.5 M in mass timber manufacturer Element5; Williams Lake First Nation and West Fraser sign forestry agreement; CPKC Rail celebrates its expanded network and biomass power grows in Japan.
Finally, UK scientists discover a new wood type, while UBC researchers create super-black ‘light absorbing’ wood.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor discover
Home prices experienced a third year-over-year deceleration in May, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index. On a year-over-year basis, the non-seasonally adjusted index posted a 5.94% annual gain in May, down from a 6.39% increase in April. Since June of 2023, the index had seen steady increases in the year-over-year growth rate. However, this growth rate began slowing in March of 2024, and has continued to decelerate through May. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index (HPI) increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.09% for May. This was following a revised rate of 3.91% in April. May marks the 16th consecutive monthly increase; home prices have not seen an outright decrease since January of 2023. …At an annual rate, three out of 20 metro areas reported home price declines: Phoenix at -6.56%, Portland at -4.99%, and Dallas at -0.73%. 
Drax Group reported operational and financial performance in the first half of 2024. For the six months ending June 30, 2024, Drax’s adjusted EBITDA reached £515 million, up from £417 million in H1 2023. Net debt decreased from £1,274 million to £1,035 million. Operating profit rose to £518 million from £392 million, and profit before tax increased to £463 million from £338 million. The pellet production segment saw improvements, producing 2.0 million tons of pellets, up from 1.9 million tons in H1 2023, with better margins. …Drax Group CEO Will Gardiner highlighted the company’s achievements and future plans: “Drax has delivered a strong operational performance, playing an important role in supporting the UK energy system with dispatchable, renewable power, while supporting thousands of jobs throughout our supply chain.
They are the ancient giants of America – that started to sprout in some cases before the age of the Roman empire, with the few survivors of a frenzy of settler logging now appreciated as crucial allies in an era of climate and biodiversity crises. Joe Biden has vowed to protect these “cherished” remnants of old growth forest, as well as the next generation of mature forests, directing his government to draw up new plans to conserve the ecological powerhouses that enable US forests to soak up about 10% of the country’s carbon emissions. Yet, the US Forest Service has not included mature trees in this new plan, which also includes loopholes conservationists say allow ongoing felling of trees that are hundreds of years old. The Forest Service has also largely declined to conduct required reviews of multiple logging projects amid a stampede of tree cutting. …The Forest Service has rejected the suggestion, pointing to reduced cutting rates compared with previous decades.
