BC’s Michael Green and New York’s Lotus Equity Group are planning to build the largest timber office building in the US. The three interconnected buildings will be anchored by an 11-storey timber skyscraper. Elsewhere in NJ, Jim Tedesco kicked off his [Bergen County] reelection campaign with a push for building code changes related to lightweight wood construction [given the 2015 Edgewood apartment fire]. 

In Business news: New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant is heading to Washington to plead his case for a softwood lumber exemption; have NAFTA’s prospects brightened?—the Globe and Mail says “not likely“,  the World Politics Review says “US hard-line approach no way to strike a deal“. Elsewhere, SFPA reports record exports in 2017.

Finally, are we entering the bio-age? Yes – according to Natural Resources Canada. Time to fight fire with fire? Yes – says a California watchdog. Do forest companies need avalanche protection plans? Yes – according to WorkSafeBC.

— Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor