WASHINGTON, D.C. — The US. Lumber Coalition applauds President Trump’s selection of nominees to serve on the US International Trade Commission (ITC). The ITC plays a critical role in the strong enforcement of US trade remedy laws. The current vacancies at the ITC create a risk that this vital agency may not be able to function if any of the Commissioners is not available to perform their duties. The USLC urges the Senate to move these nominations forward.
___________________________________________________________
[Editor’s note] Per The US White House and sent to the Senate on June 1, 2026, the nominees are:
- Peter-Anthony Pappas (New Jersey)
- Nominated to complete an unexpired term ending June 16, 2026, and then to a full term ending June 16, 2035
- Served as an adviser to Senator Thom Tillis and has experience in patent and trade matters
- Samuel Negatu (District of Columbia)
- Nominated for a term expiring June 16, 2029
- Previously served in the Office of the US Trade Representative
- Bartholomew Thanhauser (New York)
- Nominated for a term expiring December 16, 2027
- Has a background with the Office of the US Trade Representative and congressional trade work
In addition to its attention-grabbing National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, last week the federal government launched its nationwide Forest Sector Action Plan. The premise behind these national plans and strategies is that individuals and businesses are incapable of managing their own affairs, and so need guidance from an all-wise federal government. …One excellent reason for skepticism about national government planning is given by the government itself. “Canada’s forest sector has faced crisis after crisis over the past 20 years,” it begins. Three sentences later, it says: “For decades, governments have delivered programs to promote investment, research, innovation, Indigenous involvement and market diversification in Canada’s forest sector.” If government forestry programs have produced crisis after crisis for decades, the idea that even more government planning will help is optimistic, to say the least. The action plan is full of central-planning interventions that have failed across industries for decades.
Workers at Western Forest Products Value-Added Division (WFP VAD) in Chemainus, BC, have joined the United Steelworkers union. The successful union organizing campaign was driven by a desire for better representation and a stronger voice on the job with a union that will fight for improvements that forestry workers need and deserve. …After significantly falling behind other USW-represented forestry workers in terms of wages, benefits, job security and strength on the job, the WFP VAD workers decided to come together and join a union with a proven record of achieving exactly what they are lacking in their collective agreement. …“Our local union is happy to welcome new Steelworker members from WFP VAD,” said Brian Butler, USW Local 1-1937 President. …“These workers deserve a union that has the strength, experience and resources to deliver real results at the bargaining table,” said Jeff Bromley, USW Wood Council Chair.
Mayor Everett Baker was pleased to share some positive news about Interfor as a second shift resumed at the Interfor sawmill in Grand Forks. Baker stated in a text message to The Gazette he was pleased to hear that the second shift started on Monday. In addition, the planer mill is also expected to be back to two shifts by the end of the month. …“I want to thank Interfor for working with all levels of government to continue to keep our mill operating.” While the extra shifts are great news, Baker added the mill needs a log supply, but the team working to get the mill back up and running to at-or-near full shifts is getting closer to their goal. It wasn’t clear how many employees would be returning. In November, a single shift of 68 employees was hired back at Interfor.
The US Trade Representative has determined that several Brazilian acts, policies, and practices are actionable under Section 301 and has proposed tariffs of 25% on all goods of Brazil, with specified exemptions and an annex of excluded products. …The determination covers multiple areas, including illegal deforestation, and states that timber and agricultural production linked to illegal deforestation can burden U.S. commerce by lowering costs for competing products and distorting prices. The notice describes timber-sector fraud risks, including the laundering of illegally harvested timber through supply chains, and states that illegally sourced timber products can devalue legally sourced timber prices by an estimated 7% to 16%. On wood-related findings, the notice references concerns that Brazilian products may be made with timber harvested illegally. It also describes limits in auditing and verification under Brazil’s Forest Code registration system. …The notice sets a public comment schedule that opens June 1, 2026.
GOODLAND TOWNSHIP, Michigan – Firefighters were on scene for roughly 10 hours working to put out a l
JASPER County, Georgia — Firemen from the Jasper, Tri-Community, Beech Grove, East End Fire, Lake Rayburn and Angelina Fire Departments have all converged on the Lincoln Lumber Mill where a fire in the kiln has sent thick smoke into the air that can be seen for miles. No injuries have been reported. Mike Lout with our media partner KJAS reports the fire broke out this morning at the mill off Highway 96, just south of Jasper. First responders say the fire broke out in the dryer house or kiln of the operation. Firemen have so far been able to limit the fire to the drying house. However, flames and smoke are filling the building and firemen are continuing to pump water into the structure.
There have been consistent signs that the housing market is poised for a rebound. Russ Taylor has been tracking North American lumber markets for decades. The data, he said, keeps telling a different story. …”If things are unaffordable and there’s uncertainty and consumer confidence is weak, then nothing happens. People might be saving more money if they’re not spending it, but everyone’s worried about jobs and everything else, so they’re not spending.” The number Taylor keeps coming back to is lumber consumption. In 2016, the country consumed roughly 50 billion board feet. In 2025, the number was almost exactly the same. Ten years of demographic tailwinds, rising equity, and persistent housing shortage arguments, and consumption has not budged. …Housing starts have been declining every year since their 2021 peak, and Taylor expects 2026 to continue that trend. Repair and remodeling, which accounts for roughly 40% of US lumber consumption, has been similarly stagnant since the COVID period.
North American lumber futures climbed to approximately USD 597.50 per thousand board feet on June 3, their highest level since April, as persistent supply constraints continued to offset subdued housing demand. North American lumber futures rose to around USD 597.50 per thousand board feet on June 3, reaching their highest level in eight weeks. The move represents a 4.1% increase from a month earlier and reflects a market still dealing with the impact of Canadian import disruption. The price rise comes despite historically soft housing starts, showing that supply concerns remain an important driver for the market. Mills and distributors are holding limited inventories, while seasonal restocking ahead of the summer building season has added support to prices. …The net result is a structurally tight supply position. Mills and distributors are holding limited inventories, while buyers are entering the summer building season with restocking needs.
Mortgage rates continued to increase in May as inflation accelerated. According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.41% in May, up 7 basis points over April. Since the conflict in the Middle East began, the 30-year mortgage rate has increased by 36 basis points. The average 15-year rate averaged 5.76% in May, up 7 bps from April, and up 33 basis points since the end of February. Even so, both rates remain lower than a year ago by 41 bps and 19 bps, respectively. The 10-year Treasury yield, a key benchmark for long-term borrowing, averaged 4.47% in May, 16 bps higher than the previous month. …Persistently high inflation has also strained household budgets. As people used more of their disposable income or drew down on savings to cover everyday expenses, the personal saving rate fell to 2.6% in April. The rate was the lowest since June 2022 when CPI was at its peak.
NOVA SCOTIA — When Tricia Murray rebuilt her home after the devastating 2023 wildfires, she expected her insurance premiums to soar. …Instead, her premium dropped by 12%… because her new home uses modern, fire-resistant materials and incorporates a buffer zone. Murray’s experience highlights a shift in how insurance companies calculate risk. For decades, insurers relied purely on history, it was classified as low risk. ….Instead of grading entire neighbourhoods under one risk level, insurers are using advanced tools like satellite imagery and laser scanning to assess individual properties. This new approach looks at specific, real-time details: The proximity of trees and brush to a structure. The type of roofing and building materials used. Property maintenance, such as clearing dry leaves from decks and removing wood chips near walls. Amanda Dean, at the Insurance Bureau of Canada, said those tools give homeowners the power to lower their own risks by following FireSmart Canada guidelines.
Mass timber has emerged as a leading material in the pursuit of low-carbon, sustainable construction. With its warm, natural aesthetic and significantly lower embodied carbon than steel and concrete, mass timber is increasingly used across a wide range of building types. However, unlike conventional steel or concrete structures, the very characteristics that make it appealing also create unique challenges. The constraints of mass timber construction, such as exposed structural elements and prefabricated panels with limited flexibility, demand a new level of precision and foresight in the design and coordination of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems. By anticipating the structural and aesthetic challenges of mass timber and engaging in thoughtful MEP design and coordination, engineers, architects, and specifiers can deliver high-performance buildings that not only celebrate the beauty of timber but also help meet decarbonization and sustainability goals. …Mass timber’s prefabricated nature and exposed aesthetics require precise, early-stage coordination among mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems. 
IRELAND — Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon [et al]… welcomed the final report from the interdepartmental and industry 
The Canadian government recently announced that it will lease a fleet of 10 firefighting aircraft and other support assets to be deployed for the 2026 wildfire season. The plan will see these 10 leased aircraft being managed by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre deployed strategically across the country and made available to provinces as they face intense wildfires. …This announcement follows the government’s fall 2025 budget announcement of a $316.7-million investment in Canada’s aerial wildfire-fighting capacity — an announcement that acknowledged a growing national challenge. …Canada’s wildfire aviation system remains fundamentally decentralized. What Canada lacks is a clearly defined national aerial response framework. That framework should establish how federally-funded aircraft are deployed, how they are prioritized when multiple provinces face simultaneous fires, and how they integrate with the emerging detection technologies — including satellite monitoring and long-endurance drones — that can identify fires earlier than ever before.
For two decades, Harold Larson helped battle wildfires across BC, Alberta, the US, often working shoulder-to-shoulder with structural firefighters. But at every one of those fires where he and his crew risked their safety alongside their municipal colleagues, there was one perplexing difference: According to the federal government, Mr. Larson was not classified as a firefighter at all. …It’s a holdover from wildland firefighting’s early decades, when the job wasn’t to protect homes, towns and lives – it was to protect timber values as part of the country’s forestry industry. …Canada’s wildland firefighters are seeking to join their municipal counterparts, a cause most recently championed by Vancouver Island MP Gord Johns. …As fire seasons continue to worsen, Mr. Larson said this only underscores the need for Ottawa to recognize that both structural and wildland firefighters are equally important when it comes to keeping people and communities safe. [to access the full story a Globe & Mail subscription is required]
Through the Forest Enhancement Society of BC, the Province is committing $20 million per year over three years. …This investment funds projects that reduce wildfire risk, restore forest ecosystems and improve the long-term health and resilience of B.C.’s forests. “The best wildfire is the one that never starts. The best way to protect communities is to work together to prevent them,” said Ravi Parmar, Minister of Forests. …This year, 60 forest enhancement projects are receiving funding. These projects not only reduce wildfire risk, they also support forest-sector jobs in rural and remote communities. The projects include creating landscape-level fuel breaks, removing residual fuels, carrying out prescribed burns, and making improvements to egress routes that are important in the event of an emergency or evacuation. …“These projects reflect the innovation and commitment we continue to see from proponents throughout BC,” said Jason Fisher, executive director, FESBC.
CRESTON, BC — A Kootenay-based project is receiving provincial funding to convert forestry waste into a soil supplement, benefiting agriculture and forestry sectors. …Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Jobs and Economic Growth, said “By turning wood waste into valuable new products, this project is creating jobs, supporting local businesses and helping build a stronger future for the community.” …Through the Rural Economic Diversification and Infrastructure Program (REDIP), the Province is providing approximately $182,000 to Wildsight to support its Fire for Healthy Soils project in Creston. The funding supports a pilot project to convert wood waste into biochar, which is a stable, carbon-rich form of charcoal produced by heating organic waste in a low-oxygen environment. …The provincial investment will support Wildsight, the Creston Community Forest and the Regional District of Central Kootenay to collaboratively pilot a biochar business project using low-cost kiln technology.
Extreme drought and rising temperatures in the US are poised to overwhelm the Trump administration’s plans to control wildfire by logging federal forests, scientists say. …The drought is expected to lead to catastrophic wildfires that stand to become the new normal amid climate change, the researchers say. “The type of drought we’re seeing this year across the West is a glimpse into the future,” said Erica Fleishman, at Oregon State University. …The US is on track in 2026 for more wildfires than 2025, a much wetter year. More than 5 million acres burned last year. As of April, 1.8 million acres had burned so far across the US—double the acres burned in the same period last year. Trump administration officials say wildfire risk makes it imperative to log forests and help the timber industry. The administration is taking an aggressive approach to quickly suppress wildfires as it increases logging by 25% this year.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins claims “moving the Forest Service closer to the forests we manage is an essential action that will improve our core mission of managing our forests.” That is sophistry — a failed attempt to justify an ill-advised, destructive reorganization plan to remove Forest Service headquarters from Washington and radically cut its research infrastructure. Her fallacy implies that adjacent communities have a superior claim on national forests. …Government nihilists and dismantlers have for years peddled the “proximity begets policy expertise” canard, without evidence. …Meanwhile, Tom Schultz, the chief of the Forest Service, made clear his lingering allegiance to his former employer’s interests. Last month, he laid them out to House appropriators: “timber sales, critical minerals permitting, grazing allotment management.” That timber, he said, is “vital to the nation’s well-being.” In reality, only 6 percent of the total timber supply in the country comes from national forests.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – An email dropped into the US Department of Agriculture staffer’s inbox this spring. The Minnesota-based worker was about find out where she would be asked to relocate with her family. …The federal government employee had been hired to work remotely. However, her entire team was now being told to move to a new city. …The USDA, the massive federal department covering agriculture policy to anti-poverty food programs to the forest service, is consolidating offices across agencies, moving many workers out DC into select hubs. In Minnesota, USDA lost 21% of its 1,800 employees between fiscal year 2025 and 2026, coinciding with the start of President Donald Trump’s second term. It was the hardest hit of the federal agencies operating in the state. …The latest move also is different than conservation program cuts announced this spring or the USDA-run U.S. Forest Service announcing closure of research sites, including two in northern Minnesota.