The NAHB builder-confidence index reached an all-time high, as record lumber prices added thousands to new home building costs. In related news: Trump is advised that lumber prices threaten US housing recovery; COFI’s Susan Yurkovich calls the spike a double edged sword; and the home project boom is said to be driving lumber shortages in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and North Dakota. Elsewhere: FPAC calls for Port of Montreal strike to end; and US antidumping rule on moulding is negative for China, positive for Brazil. 

In Forestry/Climate news: beetle outbreaks are upending timber trade flows; old-growth protests continue on Vancouver Island; scientists unlock how trees defend against needle bladder rust; Quebec’s forests are a secret weapon against climate; and Ontario launches first-ever climate change impact assessment.

Finally, Ontario’s Red Lake fire abates as wildfires take off in Oregon; Colorado and California.

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor