Canada launches legal challenge after US hikes duties on softwood lumber imports. In related news: Canfor transfers Mackenzie TSA to McLeod Lake Indian Band and Tsay Keh Dene Nation; Russian targets India as new wood export market amid sanctions; and the Wood Pellet Association of Canada (WPAC) kicks off its annual conference in Victoria next week.
In Forestry news: a federal decree to protect caribou could cost Quebec $900 million; BC may increase species at risk to protect critical habitat; forestry takes centre stage at Union of BC Municipalities conference; ENGOs sue Montana to block logging in Bitterroot National Forest; and new research says surface temperatures are warmer for 50 years after wildfires. Meanwhile, wildfire updates from British Columbia, Oregon, California and Brazil.
Finally, as some of you know, Sandy and I (Kelly) are in Ireland this week, while Heidi and Suzi are holding down the fort in BC! The demands of holiday schedules will change tomorrow through next Monday such that we won’t be producing the typically summary Takeaway, and so our email out to subscribers will simply direct you to our website where you can see the full list of daily coverage!
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
Reuters takes on FSC and SFI, claims Canada is logging its 
Senior representatives from the British Columbia Lumber Trade Council (BCLTC) and officials from the Government of BC met in Washington, D.C., this week for four days of critical hearings for the long-standing softwood lumber dispute. “America’s softwood lumber duties are unfair in every measure,” said Bruce Ralston, Minister of Forests. Premier Eby and I also recently urged the federal government to elevate the softwood lumber dispute to the highest-level priority.” From Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, until Friday, Sept.13, 2024, the first Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) dispute settlement panel heard arguments from all parties regarding the countervailing duty determination for the first administrative review. …Kurt Niquidet, president, BC Lumber and Trade Council said “The appeal process is an essential part of CUSMA that needs to occur in a timely fashion to ensure fair trade with our most important trading partner. Delays in the process have made it increasingly difficult for companies across Canada.
Vanderhoof Mayor Kevin Moutray has watched the deteriorating conditions of B.C.’s forest industry gather, but it was still a shock to learn that Canfor will shutter its mill in his town of 4,500. …He added Vanderhoof is now pinning its hopes on the transition plans that Canfor and the B.C. government committed to to diversify its economy. …Canfor’s Plateau mill in Vanderhoof and its Fort St. John operation… become the second and third sawmills that Canfor has closed this year and the fourth since the start of 2023. Canfor, working with the United Steelworkers will set up transition offices in both communities to work on “an employee adjustment plan,” according to Mina Laudan. …With the closures, however, United Steelworkers representative Jeff Bromley said opportunities within the company will be slimmer. …“By the end of the year, they’re going to have no other mills in the north. …He’s pushing government to take away some of the timber harvesting rights that Canfor still holds.
Canfor announced Wednesday it would close its sawmills in Vanderhoof and Fort St. John, B.C., by the end of the year. …Canfor blamed the mill closures on “increasing regulatory complexity, high operating costs and the inability to reliably access economically viable timber.” …Fort St. John Mayor Lilia Hansen said the city was “deeply shocked and saddened” by Canfor’s announcement. “This news is a significant hit to our community and the families directly affected,” she said. Brian O’Rourke, the president of United Steelworkers Local 1-2017 in Prince George, B.C., said the job losses would hit hard for Vanderhoof and Fort St. John. …O’Rourke pointed a finger for the continued mill closures at the BC government. “We had a forestry summit a number of months ago in Victoria where three of the largest unions came together, and we pointed out to the government all of the faults and things they needed to do,” the president said. “And since that time, it’s been crickets.”
VANCOUVER, BC — Due to persistent weak lumber markets, Canfor Corporation announced it will reduce production at its southern US operations. Canfor will indefinitely curtail one shift at its Darlington facility in South Carolina, and reduce operating hours at its Estill, South Carolina and Moultrie, Georgia locations. The company will also implement curtailments across other southern US operations to better align with market demand. These changes will reduce lumber production by approximately 215 million board feet on an annualized basis. “The changes we are making today will better align production capacity in our US operations with current market conditions,” said Lee Goodloe, President, Canfor Southern Pine. “We regret the impact these changes will have on our employees and their families.” The Company will continue to evaluate conditions on an ongoing basis and adjust operating rates to align with market demand. 
Market conditions, a lack of fibre and US tariffs are forcing the two-week closure the Tolko lumber plant in Armstrong. Tolko spokesperson Chris Downey said employees were notified the mill will be taking two weeks of downtime beginning Sept. 16 and ending Oct. 1. “Unfortunately, the availability of economic fibre in BC, combined with weak market conditions and increased US tariffs continue to have an impact on our operations,” Downey said in an email. “As we’ve seen recently, the entire industry is feeling this pressure and while we prefer to be fully operational, difficult decisions are needed to ensure we are sustainable for the future.” Scales in the region will remain open.
While the BC Interior timber harvest in 2024 has been trending upwards, current levels are just too low and costs are too high to continue operating these northern interior mills. The BC government is focused on the immediate response to workers and communities, but it needs to be thinking about where this “foundational industry” is heading. …Since the NDP came to power in 2017, some 30 sawmills have been impacted, representing an estimated reduction of 35% of BC’s sawmilling capacity. …As big of an impact that Canfor’s announcement represents, it is actually just the canary in the coal mine. …
EDMONTON — The Insurance Bureau of Canada says the wildfire that tore through Jasper is the second-most expensive one in Alberta’s history for insured losses. It says initial estimates suggest more than $880 million in insured damage was caused by the fire. The 2016 wildfire in Fort McMurray, Alberta resulted in inflation-adjusted insured losses of $4.4 billion and was the costliest natural disaster in Canadian history. About 25,000 people were forced to flee Jasper National Park and the town on July 22. …More than 350 buildings in Jasper were destroyed, representing a third of its structures.
Southern Pine lumber has traded in a historically narrow range this year, and traders anticipate that trend to persist through the balance of 2024. A widespread perception that price volatility will remain minimal through the fourth quarter has governed conservative trading strategies throughout the distribution pipeline this summer. …Many note that demand in the South could strengthen as the fall building season approaches and cooler weather allows builders to expand job site activity to lengthier workdays. …However, few traders anticipate demand gaining any appreciable ground on supplies in the months ahead, even if consumption shows a seasonal hike. …The Southern Pine Composite is on pace through August to post the lowest annual average since 2015. 
After weeks of what one community advocate calls “stringing contractors along,” contract loggers for Tolko will return to work Monday. Angie Clowry is an advocate from a former logging family. Tolko director of communications Kyle Happy confirmed Southern Interior scales have been closed since July 22 to get inventories in line and manage log quality, cost and market risks. …“These decisions are not taken lightly; however, are necessary to sustain our business for the future,” said Happy. Tolko will be taking deliveries on Sept. 9. …Clowry says contract loggers are frustrated over how the situation was handled by Tolko. “I realize they’re a business and they’re forecasting, but they also have to remember that this is money that is super important to all these families. …Tolko also confirmed that contractors in the Cariboo region remain shut down as inventory levels are high.
LONDON — The cooling towers of the giant Drax power station loom over rural North Yorkshire as a reminder of Britain’s grimy past – and as a beacon of its efforts to create a net zero economy by 2050. The power plant was once one of the largest coal-burners in Europe, and a lightning rod for campaigners against fossil fuels in the UK’s electricity system. Today, its owners claim to be the UK’s largest renewable energy power plant – burning 7m tonnes of biomass pellets a year. But this power plant’s green revolution is not without its sceptics. Green groups and climate scientists insist Drax remains the largest single source of carbon emissions in the UK, and that its FTSE 250 owners should not have been allowed to claim billions of pounds in renewable energy subsidies. …The battle between the two camps has reignited as the government prepares to decide whether to extend a subsidy scheme.