The US Lumber Coalition says lumber price drop is due to weak housing market and excess Canadian supply. In other Business news: Unifor Canada says the US needs Canadian lumber; Savannah, Georgia questions International Paper’s mill closure; and Stella-Jones is fined for unlawful water pollution in Oregon. Meanwhile: the Danish timber industry bemoans burden of EU packaging rules; and palm oil companies say US’ EUDR exemption should apply to them too.
In Forestry/Wildfire new: BC’s North Cowichan council to make logging a strategic priority; a Lakehead University researcher says soils are key to carbon storage; and a Clemson University prof says wildfires impact soil too. Meanwhile: more Oregon cities are buying their forest watersheds; Washington States’ old-but-not-quite-old-growth conservation announcement; the latest from the BC Community Forest Association; and wildfire updates from BC, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Oregon.
Finally, happy Labour Day long weekend! The frogs are back on our pads Tuesday.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News Editor
West Fraser Timber is continuing to succeed in this ever-changing world, despite a lower second quarter. …Sales were up slightly from Q1 — $1.532 billion, compared to $1.459 billion. However, earnings were nearly cut in half — $24 million compared to $42 million in the first quarter. “Demand for many of our building products slowed in the second quarter as spring building activity fell short of our expectations,” said Sean McLaren, West Fraser’s President and CEO. “This was more acute in our North America Engineered Wood Products segment, which experienced further easing of demand as the quarter progressed [with] softer U.S. new home construction.” …West Timber’s director of communications, Joyce Wagenaar, told Black Press Media that this year has been a challenge economically. “2025 has brought a number of changes, most notably sluggish demand for building products in Canada and the U.S. due to challenging economic conditions, leading to a slowdown in new home construction,” said Wagenaar.
A fire at a lumber yard inside Quesnel city limits is being managed by West Fraser Mills and was expected to be completely extinguished on Monday, Aug. 25, the city’s fire chief said. The 500-square-foot fire at BC Eco Chips on Pinecrest Road was first spotted around 4 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 23, leading to a response from six fire departments in the Cariboo Regional District, BC Wildfire Service and personnel from West Fraser Mills. Reached by phone on Aug. 25, Quesnel Fire Chief Ron Richert said that the fire departments and wildfire service withdrew from the scene around 8 p.m., leaving West Fraser Mills in charge of managing the scene. At that point, the chief said, there were still “significant flames” but it was fully contained. …Richert confirmed that there were no structured damaged or people hurt by the fire. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.
The timber industry, a cornerstone of South Carolina’s economy, is grappling the closure of several key mills. The recent shutdowns of mills in Darlington and Estill have sent ripples through the local supply chain, affecting forest management and the livelihoods of many in the industry. …The timber industry in South Carolina is struggling with significant challenges after major mill closures, including the International Paper Mill in Georgetown, the WestRock Plant in Charleston, the International Paper in Savannah and the Containerboard Mill in Riceboro. Michael Campbell, president and CEO of the South Carolina Timber Producers Association, highlighted the broader economic impact. “It’s a widespread county thing because the loggers tend to haul up to 100 miles away from the mill, so within 100 miles of that mill everything’s impacted,” he said. Despite some new mill announcements, Campbell said they are insufficient to compensate for the lost wood volume.
The Headlines
The lumber and sawmilling sector demands skilled leaders who combine technical expertise with sound business acumen. BCIT now offers two Associate Certificates, designed to be completed part-time and fully online in just 12 months, enabling working professionals to advance without leaving the industry. The Associate Certificate in the Business of Sawmilling (starting October 2025) focuses on the operational, financial, and strategic aspects of modern sawmill management. Topics include production planning, quality optimization, supply chain considerations, and market dynamics. Graduates are equipped to contribute to profitability and long-term competitiveness. The Associate Certificate in Industrial Wood Processing (IWP) (starting January 2026) emphasizes the science and technology of wood conversion. With courses in wood properties, manufacturing processes, quality control, and technical problem-solving, the program prepares participants to step into supervisory roles with confidence. Both programs are tailored for career advancement in the North American lumber industry.
Timber roof trusses have the lowest climate impact across all measured span lengths when compared to concrete, steel, and glulam options. A study conducted by Zeina Alasadi and Selma Bergström Denizoglu at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, shows that nail plate connected timber trusses consistently outperform other materials in reducing CO₂ emissions, even when more timber units are required to match the span coverage of a single truss made from concrete or steel. The analysis covered trusses with spans from 6 to 26 meters and focused exclusively on emissions from the production phase, using life cycle assessment (LCA) data corresponding to stages A1–A3. The timber trusses were evaluated using verified environmental product declarations (EPDs) from Derome, which supplied design specifications and material volumes. Timber trusses with spans of 6, 8, 12, and 20 meters generated CO₂ emissions of 59.72 kg, 78.5 kg, 145.15 kg, and 352.5 kg respectively when scaled to match standard center distances.
A reader wrote The Discourse recently with a question about why the BC Wildfire Service protects privately-owned forest land on Vancouver Island. It was an interesting question, but it hinted at a bigger one: What are forestry companies doing to prevent and mitigate wildfires from happening in the first place? Recent major wildfires on Vancouver Island have been on a mix of Crown land and private land owned by or under license of forestry companies. This includes the fire from early this week on Block 290 near Mount Benson that was recently transferred to Snuneymuxw First Nation. A recent special investigation by the BC Forest Practices Board on 
North Cowichan council has voted to make logging in the municipal forest reserve a strategic priority, despite warnings from some councillors and staff that the move could jeopardize years of work with the Quw’utsun Nation on a forest co-management framework. Timber harvesting in the roughly 5,000-hectare public forest has been on pause since 2019 to allow for public engagement, consultation with local First Nations and advice from experts on how to manage the publicly-owned woodland. Surveys found a majority of residents preferred conservation over harvesting — with 67 per cent of telephone respondents and 76 per cent of online respondents supporting either limiting timber harvesting … or not harvesting timber at all. In 2021, North Cowichan signed a memorandum of understanding with the Quw’utsun Nation… While it could take years before harvesting resumes, some around the council table warned that exploring harvesting options could negatively impact progress made towards a co-management framework with the Quw’utsun Nation.
Bikers should take note that end-of-summer logging operations are kicking into gear at Revelstoke’s Mount MacPherson for a month starting next week, but minimally impacting recreational trails, according to a local cycling group. In a Facebook post on Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 27, the Revelstoke Cycling Association (RCA) advised that forest harvesting begins at the mountain’s upper trail network on the weekdays following the Labour Day weekend. This comes one week later than previously indicated in RCA’s trail report. Logging will run from 3 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays through most or all of September, with no activity planned for weekends, according to the association.
In this edition of our newsletter you’ll find these headlines and more:
An international research project in the northern is taking a hard look at the decline of keynote bat populations in a bid to help area ecosystems survive and thrive. Efforts to preserve a population of northern myotis – an endangered bat species that used to be found throughout eastern B.C., but whose range has been contracting to the central Interior – are under way near Kinbasket Lake, north of Revelstoke and Golden. Researchers with the Wildlife Conservation Society … are planting fake bark to mimic the old-growth trees where the northern myotis roosts, and on the north side they are using radio detectors to determine how many of the bats are present in logged areas. Logging may not be an automatic death sentence to bat populations, Lausen says, but it needs to stay within the limits of what northern myotis colonies can sustain. One of the project’s goals is to identify those limits.
On the heels of record-breaking daily high temperatures, Vancouver Islanders face warmer than usual weather this week. Temperatures will continue to “remain well above seasonal” into mid-week for east and inland Vancouver Island with cooler temperatures overnight, according to an Environment Canada statement issued early Aug. 26. The extra warm conditions are expected to persist from inland Greater Victoria, up the east coast from Nanoose Bay to Fanny Bay. Cloud cover is expected Thursday. The Malahat area broke the newest record on the Island, hitting 30.2 C, topping the 29.8 daily record set in 2022. Nanaimo tied the oldest record, hitting a high of 33.3 set in 1958. Campbell River, Courtenay and Comox all flirted with 2016 records, with Campbell River shading the old 30 C temperature, hitting 30.2. Comox and Courtenay both tied the 2016 record of 30.3. The heat coincided with a new wildfire discovered Aug. 24 south of Nanaimo. The 8.6-hectare fire was classified as being held as of Tuesday morning.
A prolonged heat wave gripping British Columbia has already toppled more than 20 daily high-temperature records, with forecasters warning the sweltering conditions are set to persist through mid-week. Environment Canada has extended heat warnings to large parts of the province, including Fraser Canyon, South Okanagan, and South Thompson, where highs in the upper 30s are expected to continue. Inland sections of the north and central coasts are forecast to reach up to 29C, while four special weather statements remain in effect for Vancouver Island. …Even as air quality improves, wildfire officials warn the soaring heat and dry air are fuelling dangerous conditions. The B.C. Wildfire Service said low relative humidity is making forest fuels highly susceptible to ignition… For insurers, the intensifying fire risk underscores a costly pattern. …Another active fire season … adds further pressure to an industry already grappling with rising catastrophe exposures in B.C.
For a small but growing number of Oregon forestland buyers, timber output is no more than a potential byproduct. Their purchases are driven less by a desire for logs than for clean, drinkable water. …city governments have long drawn their drinking water from surrounding forests, but experts say more are now actually buying the tracts encompassing those crucial streams and rivers. …The prospect of hotter, drier weather diminishing summer stream flows — even as populations keep growing — is spurring cities to assert more control over their water supplies, experts say. …Apart from water quality considerations, cities are buying forested watersheds to encourage old growth characteristics, with the intent of actually boosting water supplies over the long term, experts say. …Though municipal ownership of forest watersheds is intended to pre-empt disputes between cities and timber operators, the arrangement can still lead to tension over management decisions.
The Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) was developed in 1994 for the 24 million acres of federal land within the range of the northern spotted owl… A network of large reserves for the spotted owl across its range (late successional reserves (LSRs)) were created in the NWFP along with a system of riparian buffers to protect streamside areas. …The Forest Service is currently updating the NWFP and chartered a committee under the Federal Advisory Committee Act to help advise on amending the plan. …We strongly endorse this proposal for widespread restoration treatments in dry forests inside and outside of the LSRs. Reducing stand densities in these forests while retaining all trees over 150 years of age is essential to owl survival, as is reintroduction of fire as a regular management tool. …Integrating forest restoration in dry forests with spotted owl conservation is one of the biggest challenges in updating the NWFP.
The occurrence and fate of microplastics in forest ecosystems is a recognized knowledge gap. In this paper, we used an aligned extraction method to quantify microplastics (>20 µm) in organic and mineral forest soil horizons and throughfall deposition. Calculation of forest soil microplastic stocks and throughfall fluxes allowed an estimation of throughfall contribution to microplastic accumulation in forest soils back to 1950. We identified a short-term microplastic enrichment in decomposed litter horizons followed by an accumulation in lower mineral soil caused by litter turnover processes. Similar microplastic features in soil and throughfall deposition indicate that microplastics entering forest soils primarily originate from atmospheric deposition and litter fall, while other sources have a minor impact. We conclude that forests are good indicators for atmospheric microplastic pollution and that high microplastic concentrations in forest soils indicate a high diffuse input of microplastics into these ecosystems.
The Wood Pellet Association of Canada’s annual conference is just around the corner! Register now for one of the biggest draws of the WPAC annual event: the tour. This time it’s the day before the conference, when we’ll learn more about the people, facilities, and communities behind the sector. Depart from Halifax Marriott Harbourfront Hotel around 8:30 am and enjoy a scenic drive to Hardwood Lands, where you will see the Shaw Renewables pellet plant. From there, we will make our way back to Halifax, stopping at an installation or for a scenic break. We will tour the Port of Halifax in the afternoon and return to the hotel by 4:00 pm. Don’t miss this chance to be inspired by those in our sector who are committed to producing clean, renewable and responsible energy from Canadian wood pellets. Space is limited. Cost: $124/person
Climate-heating emissions from wildfires in the European Union have surged to record levels this year as flames have engulfed over 1 million hectares of land – equal to 13 times the size of New York City – since January. Blazes sweeping through the continent – with major hotspots in Spain and Portugal – have so far released 38.37 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into the atmosphere, more than the annual CO2 emissions of Sweden, according to data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS). That’s more than double the average historical CO2 emissions recorded during the same months over the last 20 years. …Forests act as important carbon sinks, but when they burn, they release back into the atmosphere the carbon stored in the trunks, branches and leaves of their trees as well as in the soil. …Scientists have warned of the emergence of a ‘feedback loop’ between climate change and fires. 
It’s hard not to forget the 2023 Canadian wildfire season, when more than 16 million hectares of forest were lost, thousands were displaced and smoke suffocated cities across both Canada and the U.S. And it turns out Canada experienced its worst air pollution levels that year since 1998, according to a new report released today by the University of Chicago’s Air Quality Life Index (AQLI). At the same time, the report found that pollution levels didn’t change much for the rest of the world in 2023. If those levels continued for a person’s lifetime, the average Canadian would lose roughly two years of their life expectancy, according to the report. Efforts have been made around the world, including in Canada, to curb harmful emissions of fine particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres, also known as PM 2.5. But wildfires are reversing those advances — with serious health consequences.
In this edition of Forest Safety News you’ll find these stories and more:
There are fresh calls for an alternative route to the west coast of Vancouver Island after it emerged the main route between Port Alberni and Bamfield, B.C., is closed indefinitely. …The only alternative is a logging road detour through Youbou in the Cowichan Valley. …Ditidaht First Nation Chief Councillor Judi Thomas said she hopes the province will go further and redesignate the forest service industrial road as a provincial road and fast-track investment. But the Ministry of Transportation and Transit said, “there is mixed ownership of the road(s) in this area, but all are private industrial roads, and the ministry has no plans to take over the ownership”. …The province says it’s working with Mosaic Forest Management, which is responsible for maintaining 15 kilometres of Bamfield Road, to beef up maintenance on the detour road . …D’Arcy Henderson, Mosaic’s chief operating officer, said it was working with stakeholders on maintaining that detour route.
The number of active wildfires in British Columbia has leapt by more than a dozen following several days of hot, sunny weather. B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS) figures Thursday morning show 81 active blazes, up from 68 on Wednesday, with 19 new starts and seven fires declared out over the past 24 hours. There are now 17 fires classified as burning out of control, up from four on Monday, including a cluster of new starts in the northwestern part of the Cariboo region. The wildfire service’s map also shows three new blazes detected Thursday in conservancy areas northwest of Whistler. BCWS says hot, dry conditions have left fuels across much of the province highly susceptible to ignition and spread. …The wildfire service says thunderstorms in the south are bringing a risk of lightning to the Coastal and southern Interior fire centres, and while those storms could help moderate temperatures slightly…
A wildfire that destroyed four homes in central Oregon was starting to stabilize on Monday, authorities said, while a blaze in Northern California wine country has so far spared some of the state’s most famous vineyards. Moisture helped the 1,200 firefighters battling Oregon’s Flat Fire, but more work needed to be done. Dry, hot weather had fueled a rapid expansion of the blaze across 34 square miles of rugged terrain in Deschutes and Jefferson counties since the fire began late Thursday. …Officials said firefighters had protective lines of some sort around the entire fire, including roads, but the fire remained at 5% containment. …Meanwhile, the Pickett Fire in Northern California has charred about 10 square miles of remote Napa County, known for its hundreds of wineries. It was 15% contained on Monday. …western United States have been sweltering in a heat wave … with temperatures hitting dangerous levels in Washington, Oregon, Southern California, Nevada and Arizona.