Canfor majority owner Jim Pattison’s move to up his stake in West Fraser, stirs speculation of mergers and poison pills. In other Company news: Canfor announces new capacity reductions in BC; two employees test positive at West Fraser’s Mapleville, Alabama mill; Swanson Group shutters its Glendale plywood plant; Granville lumber closes after 70 years in Ohio; and another Nova Scotia sawmill closes as Northern Pulp takes heat in advance of government announcement on next steps for effluent facility.

In other news: BC’s tree-planting season may be chopped; Coastal GasLink’s wolf-kill funding questioned by ENGOs; Canada reports COVID-19 job losses; US residential construction prices decline; and the US Forest Service maps wildfire risk nationwide.

Finally, apparently Tolkien was right about giant trees in Lord of the Rings!

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor