Citing soft demand, LP Building Solutions will indefinitely curtail OSB production at its Jasper, Texas mill. In related news: Australia clears Kimberley-Clarke’s acquisition; Canadian housing shows signs of recovery, and US construction spending fell in July. In US-Canada Trade War news: Nanaimo forest companies brace for new tariffs; former US Trade Rep. Robert Zoellick says Trump’s threats are self-defeating; Bloomberg’s editorial board says the war serves “no intelligible purpose”; Arizona senator Ruben Gallego calls for a return to CUSMA; and Canada’s counter tariffs pressure Trump-supporting states.
In Forestry news: BC’s wildlife need an endangered species law; debate continues over BC’s wolf culls and caribou habitat; forestry contractors urge BC to expand thinning; a US Forest Service document warns of Roadless Rule impacts; a lawsuit challenges logging in Alaska’s Tongass, and a former supervisor criticizes the USFS reorganization. Meanwhile: International Pulp Week announces its 2027 conference; PLIB launches an online grader training course; the CWC is looking for a sustainable wood specialist; and why Canada’s private working forests are an essential long-term partner in securing Canada’s future fibre supply.
Finally, Canada’s iconic water bombers are in high demand, but production can’t keep up.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News Editor
Prince George city council voted to send a letter to the federal jobs minister asking her to extend temporary employment insurance program for forestry workers in response to the impending closure of Northwood Pulp Mill at its Monday, Aug. 31 meeting. A report written by intergovernmental relations senior advisor Annie Doran and submitted by Coun. Garth Frizzell in his role as chair of the Standing Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs said that in the wake of the ongoing U.S.-Canada trade war, the federal government instituted several temporary measures, including: Waiving the waiting period for all new claims; Suspending the allocation of separation earnings like vacation pay, severance pay and more; and Increasing the number of weeks that long-tenured workers can received benefits to a maximum of 20. These benefits were implemented on March 30, 2025 and are expected to end on Oct. 10, 2026.
Osoyoos, British Columbia — September 21–22, 2026 Every industry has its acronyms. Few, however, land quite like the one the Independent Lumber Manufacturers’ Association (ILMA) has chosen for its 2026 Annual Convention: WTF — Where’s The Fibre? It’s a cheeky title for a serious question. Fibre availability — the raw material that keeps sawmills running, communities employed, and Canada’s forest sector competitive — has become one of the defining challenges facing the industry. ILMA’s answer is to lean into the tension rather than tiptoe around it, gathering the people who can actually do something about the problem for two days of conversation, deal-making, and, yes, a little golf. The ILMA Annual Convention has built a reputation as one of Canada’s premier forestry networking events, and this year’s edition returns to Spirit Ridge Resort in Osoyoos, located on the traditional territory of the Osoyoos Indian Band. The ILMA’s convention is intentionally curated — bringing together company owners and senior executives from across the sector alongside government representatives, First Nations leaders, suppliers, consultants, and forestry professionals.
Two weeks until the 23rd Annual Global Buyers Mission in Whistler! At a time when trade barriers, transportation constraints, and rising operating costs are influencing how businesses plan and source, strong supplier–buyer relationships matter more than ever. GBM brings B.C.’s value-added wood manufacturers together with pre-qualified international buyers, distributors, and specifiers. From targeted B2B meetings and conversations on the tradeshow floor to networking receptions including the Women’s Networking Event, WoodTALKS seminars, and a few memorable Whistler moments along the way, GBM is designed to create connections that last well beyond the event. See you in Whistler, September 10-12!
Bryan Yu, chief economist for Central 1 Credit Union, had no sooner completed a grim economic prognosis of B.C.’s ailing forest economy when, as if to punctuate the point, Domtar announced it would indefinitely idle its Howe Sound pulp mill in Port Mellon on Aug. 20. He said it was an “unhappy coincidence” that the announced pulp mill closure just happened to be announced the day before Central 1 published its economic commentary, which describes B.C. forest economy reaching the “breaking point.” The mill’s closure will result in about 400 workers losing their jobs. Domtar (formerly Paper Excellence) gave no date for when the mill will shut down. But if it is before the end of this year, that will mean three major pulp mills in B.C. will have shut down in B.C. in a single year. …The Council of Forest Industries (COFI) estimates 21 mills, mostly sawmills, have shut down in B.C. since 2023. 
Local officials and an operator are remaining hopeful over the future of the two remaining pulp mills on Vancouver Island, despite recent mill closures and new U.S. tariffs. B.C.’s critical forestry industry is among those that are likely to take a major hit due to the incoming 50 per cent tariffs on certain Canadian goods — with the new duties targeting some Canadian pulp and paper products specifically. But Nanaimo Forest Products, which operates the Harmac Pacific Pulp Mill, says most of its specialty wood products have been spared by tariffs and are mostly exported to markets in Asia. “We’re highly focused on exporting our products overseas into places like Japan, Korea, China, Indonesia, even Australia,” said Harmac CEO and general manager Paul Sadler. Harmac produces northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) pulp, which Sadler says is common throughout British Columbia, often used for making tissues and paper towels.
… municipal politicians [will] gather for their annual fall convention and attempt to influence the provincial government’s agenda. The Union of B.C. Municipalities convention takes place in Vancouver, Sept. 14-18. …The City of Nanaimo is calling for a ban on exporting raw logs and lumber cants. …The motion states that a lack of adequate and affordable wood fibre supply has been identified as a key factor in the continued curtailment or permanent closure of B.C. sawmills and pulp mills. Over the past five years, on average about 3.2 million cubic metres of raw logs have been exported. “Therefore be it resolved that UBCM call on the provincial government and federal governments to ban the export of raw logs and lumber cants from B.C. to ensure that forests harvested in B.C. from Crown land and private managed forest lands are processed in B.C., encouraging value-added manufacturing in B.C. and supporting employment in B.C.’s forest industry,” the motion states. [A Vancouver Sun subscription required for full access]
Donald Trump this month announced plans to rescind a landmark rule that has protected old-growth forests in the US for 25 years. If finalized, the rollback is expected to benefit the companies that Tom Schultz, chief of the US Forest Service, represented in his previous roles as a timber industry lobbyist and executive, according to research by consumer advocacy non-profit Public Citizen. …In a statement, Schultz described the move as “the best way to restore the balance, reduce wildfire risk, and secure the long-term health of our forests and neighboring communities”. But studies suggest it could put 400 threatened and endangered species at risk. …[Schultz previously] served as president of the Federal Forest Resource Coalition, representing companies that purchase timber from the federal government, and was vice-president … at Idaho Forest Group, a major lumber manufacturer. Schultz has long been critical of the roadless rule. 
This month’s Lumber Shorts includes these stories and more:
Federal Way, WA – Pacific Lumber Inspection Bureau (PLIB) has launched Light Framing, its third online grader training course and the second of a planned three-course syllabus designed to provide comprehensive grader training based on the National Grading Rule for Dimension Lumber (NGR). Light Framing is based on the in-mill grader training PLIB has offered for decades. To replicate the live training experience, PLIB’s online courses offer a wide range of learning activities, making extensive use of images, video captured from in-mill scanners and instructional videos led by PLIB’s experienced grading supervisors. The ultra-realistic learning environment helps users recognize and accurately measure and assess every grade-defining characteristic. …Light Framing is the third grader training course offered at PLIB’s online Learning Management System. Foundations of Lumber Grading, … was released earlier this year and STUDS was launched last month. A fourth course, Structural Light Framing and Joists & Planks, will be launched in the coming weeks, completing the NGR curriculum.
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.
Wind turbines are a powerful alternative to fossil fuels, with wind power now accounting for about 10.5% of all utility-scale electricity generated in the United States. In Germany, the combination of wind and solar power has passed fossil fuels as the nation’s top electric generators. But the environmental impact of wind turbines and their massive blades cuts both ways. The blades are generally made of reinforced fiberglass, a material that is strong, light, and durable. They can last 20 to 30 years. But they’re so difficult to recycle that Europe came up with an unexpected new job for old wind turbines: Pedestrian bridge girders. A company in Germany has a solution that could make the recycling process easier. Voodin Blade Technology made 63-foot wind turbine blades from laminated veneer lumber (LVL). It’s not a completely new idea. In the 1980s, NASA approached Michigan boatbuilders Gougeon Brothers about applying their wood-composite techniques to wind turbines.
The Canada Wood Market Insights has these headlines and more:
The Alliance for Sustainable Building Products (ASBP) has launched an international project to develop practical guidance on managing water and moisture risk throughout the lifecycle of mass timber buildings. Funded by the Softwood Lumber Board (SLB) and Swedish Wood, the project will bring together existing research and industry expertise to produce practical guidance on the design, construction and long-term management of mass timber buildings. With mass timber being adopted in a wider range of building types, the ASBP said practical guidance would help build confidence for the industry and insurance providers. The guidance will build on the success of the Mass Timber Insurance Playbook, published by ASBP and co-authored by Dr Jim Glockling. …the principles of moisture management are governed by universal building physics. The guidance will therefore be developed as an internationally applicable resource, with regional considerations added where appropriate. It is scheduled to be published in October 2026.
Canada is having an important conversation about the future of its forest sector. Fibre supply is tightening. Mills and communities face growing uncertainty. Wildfires, insects, conservation pressures, changing forest conditions and intensifying trade tensions are reshaping the economics of forestry. At the same time, governments are looking for ways to attract investment, improve productivity and strengthen rural economies. In that conversation, one of Canada’s significant forest resources has too often remained in the background: privately owned working forests. That is beginning to change. When Mark Carney announced the Canadian Forest Sector Transformation Task Force in November 2025, Canadian Forest Owners (CFO) saw an opportunity to challenge the traditional boundaries of Canada’s forest policy. When we presented to the Task Force in February and submitted recommendations in March, our message was straightforward: Canada cannot build a stronger, more competitive and resilient forest sector while leaving private forests and forest owners at the margins.
The end of wildfire season is beginning to fizzle as the B.C. Wildfire Service is nudging open the gates a little bit and allowing category one fires today. The combination of current and future forecasts, recent precipitation and improved overnight recoveries has reduced the need to prohibit campfires in the Southeast Fire Centre region. “The B.C. Wildfire Service takes several factors into account before rescinding prohibitions,” noted the BCWS in a statement. “This includes balancing the needs of the public with the need to mitigate the risk of human-caused wildfires.” As of noon, category one campfires will be permitted throughout the Southeast Fire Centre — which includes the Rocky Mountain Natural Resource District and the Selkirk Natural Resource District — and all non-municipal land across the Regional District of Central Kootenay. However, there are rules involved. A category one campfire must be set in accordance with section 20 of the Wildfire Regulation…
BURNABY, B.C. — The United Steelworkers union (USW) says the B.C. government’s proposed Working Forest Landscape Model is a step in the right direction, but … implementation cannot wait. “Our union and others have called for a clearly defined working forest for decades,” said Scott Lunny, USW Western Canada Director. “Government needs to move quickly to define the economic land base, increase the sustainable harvest and give workers and communities the certainty needed to rebuild our forest industry.” …USW says establishing where B.C.’s working forest will be only part of the challenge. The province must also determine how access to fibre from that land will support domestic manufacturing and employment. “These are public forests and a working forest needs to work for British Columbians,” said Lunny. “Greater certainty around the land base and fibre supply should mean greater certainty that those resources support mills, investment and good jobs here in B.C.” …“There is no time to waste”.
Prince George city council is being asked to support a call for an independent public inquiry into BC forest and wildfire management. A report, drafted by Coun. Garth Frizzell in his capacity as chair of the Standing Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs, goes before council on Monday, Aug. 31. It recommends the city submit a resolution to the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) asking the provincial government to establish an inquiry under the Public Inquiry Act. The UBCM holds its annual convention Sept. 14-18 in Vancouver. The proposed inquiry would examine the relationship between forest management practices and wildfire risk and severity, as well as the effectiveness of fuel management, prescribed burning, wildfire prevention and landscape-resilience strategies.
Large, devastating fires like those B.C. has witnessed this year frequently spark complaints and questions from the public: Why are there helicopters sitting at the local airport while smoke billows from a nearby mountain? Why are no squadrons of water bombers coming to the rescue? While officials might compare fighting a firestorm to spitting into a campfire, it does little to dispel the complaints that more could and should be done — in particular as anxious residents are evacuated and wait to hear if their homes, farm animals and pets have survived. To better understand how aircraft are used as a tool in wildfire fighting, The Tyee climbed aboard a Bell 407 deployed to one of the province’s largest wildfires. Flying above the 
More than 400 endangered animal and plant species could face accelerated extinction after the Donald Trump administration’s decision to rescind a rule that has protected old-growth forests for more than two decades. According to a new report from the Center for Biological Diversity, the rollback of the Bill Clinton-era “roadless rule” could put 7.4m acres of endangered-species habitat and nearly 1,800 miles of protected rivers and streams at risk, while opening more than 45m acres of national forests to roads, drilling and logging. The Trump administration moved last week to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, citing “outdated restrictions [that] have kept tens of millions of forested acres off-limits to the very treatments that improve forest health and reduce wildfire risk to our communities”.
The Wrangell Ranger District has recently wrapped up a large goshawk survey to prepare for potential timber sales. There is a push to increase logging on federally managed lands in Alaska following the 2025 presidential order to “unleash Alaska’s extraordinary resource potential.” Ahead of any logging operation, there are a variety of wildlife surveys required before anything can be cut, including these goshawk surveys. …Cooper Freeman, the Alaska director for the Center for Biological Diversity said that, with renewed push for logging in the second Trump administration, there has been an increase of surveys, but that he did not think the survey methods were very effective at locating the hawks. “So it’s quite likely that many goshawks, if they’re there, would go undetected, and logging would harm the birds.”
TWISP, Wash. — A trio of conservation groups sued the Trump administration Monday, asking a federal judge to halt a sweeping logging project set to clear-cut mature and old-growth forests in north-central Washington state. “This lawsuit challenges the false narrative that we have to choose between healthy forests or safe communities,” Kristine Akland, senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. The Center for Biological Diversity, joined by Kettle Range Conservation Group and Methow Forest Forum, accuse the U.S. Forest Service and Fish and Wildlife Service of violating multiple federal environmental laws through the approval of the Midnight Restoration Project.
Giant sequoias only grow naturally in California today. But they once ranged as far east as Colorado, Wyoming and Nevada, before the climate turned drier and pushed them into their current, narrower range. Now, even that shrunken sequoia forest is under threat. Wildfires have killed off nearly one-fifth of all large sequoias across their native range over the last decade; a steep loss for a species that can live for thousands of years. A new study … finds those losses aren’t inevitable. Researchers at the University of Nevada, Reno studied Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest, home to the world’s largest old-growth sequoia grove, after the 2020 Castle Fire. Some parts of the forest had been thinned or deliberately burned in the 15 years before the fire, while others hadn’t. The difference was stark. Sequoias in untreated forest died at more than double the rate of those in treated areas, said Bryant Nagelson, the study’s lead author.
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.”
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has said he wants to reinstate the death penalty for arsonists, following a wave of deadly forest fires. The official death toll stands at 12, but independent news outlets believe the figure is much higher. The president ordered the justice ministry to introduce changes to the criminal law introducing capital punishment for arsonists. Capital punishment remains in the country’s penal code for some offences, but no execution has been carried out since 1993. More than 100 wildfires have been recorded in recent days in the north-east of the country, most of which have been extinguished. …Under the current law, deliberately starting forest fires is punishable by up to 30 years in prison, or life imprisonment in certain cases. …While Algeria regularly experiences forest fires around the summer months, climate change has exacerbated the intensity and severity of recent wildfires in the country.
For decades, mature forests have been treated as if their ability to store additional carbon gradually fades toward a biological ceiling. Once trees fill the available space and their canopies close, conventional satellite measurements often suggest that forest biomass changes very little. A new analysis, however, indicates that this apparent stability may be partly an illusion created by the way satellites observe forests. Across the conterminous United States, mature forests continue to accumulate carbon over large areas, but much of that growth is being missed by current satellite-derived biomass estimates. …The researchers compared several independent ways of detecting forest change, including satellite-derived biomass estimates, lidar observations, forest inventories and ecosystem models. …The contrast between the measurements was striking. Satellite estimates indicated that biomass in mature forests had undergone nearly neutral change over recent decades, implying little overall gain or loss. Forest inventories, by comparison, estimated that mature forests were accumulating about 102 teragrams of carbon each year. 
Time is running out! The Cellulose Conference is fast approaching, and so is the end of our early bird pricing. Register today to secure the best rate before prices increase tomorrow. Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with industry leaders, discover the latest innovations, and be part of the conversation shaping the future of cellulose. Join speakers from Numera Analytics, Lenzing, CCF Group, IKEA, Maersk, Roquette, Acuity Commodities, and more for a day of forward-looking analysis and strategic discussion. Early bird registration ends in just a few days, so secure your place now and take advantage of the discounted rate before it’s gone. Registrations are coming in every day. Check out the companies already registered by clicking 
Our Policy, Regulation and Research Department is requesting feedback on proposed amendments to Part 8, Personal Protective Clothing and Equipment — Standard of Fit, of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation. The consultation phase gives stakeholders an opportunity to share feedback before the proposed amendments are taken to public hearing. View the 
In this month’s update, you find these stories and more:
