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The Tree Frog Forestry News
July 6, 2026
Category: Today's Takeaway
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U.S. real disposable income turns negative, housing starts tumble
By Kevin Mason, Managing Director
ERA Forest Products Research
July 3, 2026
Category: Opinion / EdiTOADial
Region: United States
Kevin Mason
The headline numbers coming out of the US continue to point to a robust economy, but the K-shaped bifurcation between income brackets is undeniable. The steady decline (and recent collapse) in real disposable income is concerning. There are many factors that contribute to an individual’s disposable income. Rising energy costs have been a big factor of late (gas prices predominantly), but disposable income was in decline far before its recent dip into negative territory. Inflation has outstripped wage growth in many parts of the private sector, with households often having to tap into savings and/or take on debt to support spending. Another challenge has been high interest rates, and that shows up in the housing market (as well as autos).
…After showing impressive resilience through the first four months of the year, US housing starts capitulated in May, slumping to a seasonally adjusted 1.18MM units (their lowest level since May 2020 at the onset of the pandemic). Single-family starts came in at 882,000, off by 2% m/m and 7% y/y, while multifamily activity was off by a whopping 40% m/m and 14% y/y at just 295,000. That adjusted multifamily number was the lowest reading since November 2024 and came as a shock after multis had decisively outperformed singles through the first four months of the year (averaging an adjusted 478,000 over that period). …To round off a dismal month, home sales data for May gave little reason for optimism. Looking first at new home sales, May’s total of 580,000 (adjusted) was off 7% both m/m and y/y.
USMCA non-renewal deepens Canadian lumber uncertainty for US builders
By Liezel Once
Mortgage Professional America Magazine
July 1, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States
The Trump administration’s decision to forgo renewal of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on the July 1 deadline has opened a new front in the ongoing trade war — and one with direct consequences for US homebuilders and the mortgage professionals who serve them. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer confirmed on Wednesday that the three countries met virtually for the required joint review and that the US declined to extend the agreement in its current form. The USMCA remains in effect until 2036 but will now be subject to annual reviews that could force significant renegotiation of major sections of the treaty, a development that has rattled an already strained construction supply chain. …Canadian softwood lumber already carries a combined duty burden of 45%. That cost has steadily compressed builder margins even as new home demand remains sluggish and housing starts have declined every year since their 2021 peak.
Canfor completes acquisition of Calgary-based PinkWood Ltd.
By Canfor Corporation
GlobeNewswire
July 3, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West
VANCOUVER, BC — Canfor Corporation announced it has completed the acquisition of PinkWood Ltd, Western Canada’s largest I-joist facility based in Calgary, Alberta. The acquisition, announced on June 9, 2026, complements Canfor’s existing operations in Alberta and British Columbia “We’re excited to welcome the PinkWood operation, its management team and its employees to the Canfor family,” said Susan Yurkovich, President and CEO of Canfor. “The acquisition represents a strong strategic fit for both companies and supports the continued growth of Canfor’s value-added manufacturing capabilities.” PinkWood will retain its name and operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Canfor. The operation will add 120 employees, and 46 million linear feet of annual I-joist production capacity.
Canada and British Columbia strike new cooperative prosperity partnership
By Office of the Prime Minister
The Government of Canada
July 2, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West
The Prime Minister, Mark Carney, and the Premier of British Columbia, David Eby, signed the new Canada-British Columbia Cooperative Prosperity Agreement. …Both governments share a fundamental belief that this is the moment to leverage our domestic advantages to build a stronger Canada. To that end, British Columbia and Canada agree to pursue a series of actions that grow the BC and Canadian economies. …Canada and BC commit to concrete and practical measures to stabilise, transform and strengthen the sector. That work will include measures to modernise operations, support simplified and efficient access to fibre, attract investment, expand the use of wood in construction, grow value-added production, and diversify export markets, while ensuring environmental sustainability and responsible forest stewardship. This work will be carried out based broadly on the objectives of the Final Report of the Canadian Forest Sector Transformation Task Force, and Canada’s Action Plan to Transform Canada’s Forest Sector.
Nordic Veneer to close Roseburg operations after more than 72 years
KCBY News 11
July 3, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: US West
ROSEBURG, Ore. — Nordic Veneer Inc. announced Friday that it will permanently close its Roseburg-area operations, ending more than seven decades as a family-owned wood products manufacturer in Douglas County. The company said the decision follows years of challenges facing the timber industry, including limited wood supply, shifting market conditions, industry realignment and foreign competition. “After careful and difficult consideration, we have made the decision to close our operations,” owner Art Adams said in a statement. “Despite our team’s hard work, recent investments in efficiency, and deep commitment to this business, sustaining operations is no longer viable under current market conditions.” Founded in 1954 by Dick Adams and Norm Jacobsen, Nordic Veneer purchased the Perkins veneer plant in Dixonville in 1960. The company has remained under the ownership and leadership of the Adams family for four generations, producing veneer products and serving as a longtime employer in Douglas County.
Mercer to Extend Maintenance Shutdown at Rosenthal Pulp Mill in Germany
By Mercer International
PaperAge
July 2, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International
GERMANY — Mercer International said that it will extend a maintenance shutdown at its German pulp mill, Mercer Rosenthal, to cover the entire month of September 2026. Originally, the shutdown was scheduled for two weeks. Mercer said that it is working with production, wood procurement, logistics, and pulp sales to coordinate this undertaking with customers and stakeholders. Mercer Rosenthal produces a variety of wood-based products such as kraft pulp, tall oil and lignin. The mill site also operates Thuringia’s largest biomass power plant. …The Rosenthal mill, with about 400 employees, produces 360,000 tonnes of kraft pulp (NBSK) annually for paper and tissue production. With a focus on the European market, the site also serves international demand.
City of Thunder Bay gets no bids for former paper mill property
By Gary Rinne
Northern Ontario Business
July 3, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
The City of Thunder Bay has failed to find a party interested in paying nearly $2.4 million for the site of a former paper mill. Officials opened tenders on Tuesday for 550 Shipyard Road and a number of other properties it listed for sale due to accrued taxes. There were no bids for the brownfield site on the waterfront where a mill operated for nearly a century before being demolished. The minimum offer the city could accept was $2,351,000, which is the amount of owed taxes. The property formerly owned by Superior Fine Papers was purchased in 2019 by Alan Cheeseman, who operates Wilderness North just across the street. …In an interview earlier this month, he expressed frustration over his inability to reach some kind of accommodation with the city, but the city responded that it is committed to supporting redevelopment opportunities to the extent that legislation allows.
EPA tightens emissions rules for wood-products plants
The Lesprom Network
July 3, 2026
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States
A new federal rule will tighten hazardous-air-pollutant standards for plywood and composite wood products plants, including dryers, presses, refiners and lumber kilns. The final rule is effective July 6, 2026. The rule will cover 219 existing major-source facilities, including 93 plywood and composite wood products facilities and 126 kiln-dried lumber facilities. Six new facilities are expected to become subject to the standards in the five years after the rule’s proposal. The standards will limit total hazardous air pollutants, including acetaldehyde, acrolein, formaldehyde, methanol, phenol and propionaldehyde. They will also set limits or work practices for mercury, hydrogen chloride, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, dioxin/furan, methylene diphenyl diisocyanate and non-mercury hazardous-air-pollutant metals. The rule is expected to cut hazardous-air-pollutant emissions by 721 tons a year. …The rule is expected to require $121 million in total capital costs and $53.5 million in annualized costs, measured in 2024 dollars. Average annual compliance costs are estimated at $237,680 per facility.
European Leaders in Timber Construction Create Global Alliance – Science and Timber Construction Alliance
Forest Brief
July 3, 2026
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International
A new international alliance Science and Timber Construction Alliance (SITCA) is aimed at accelerating the use of timber in construction. The initiative is coordinated by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis — IIASA. Among the founders of the alliance are binderholz, EGGER, Stora Enso, WIEHAG, Hilti, Austrian Federal Forests — ÖBf, and IIASA. The first additional industrial participant has already become HASSLACHER Group. Unlike many industry initiatives that primarily focus on promotion or lobbying, SITCA positions itself as a scientific platform. Its mission is not just to promote timber as a building material but to form an evidence base regarding its role in reducing emissions, carbon storage, sustainable forest management, and the development of modern wooden structures. …The composition of the alliance participants shows that SITCA covers almost the entire value creation chain in the forestry sector — from forest owners and scientists to manufacturers of structural timber and construction technologies.
B.C. reduces allowable annual cut for the Kispiox timber supply area
By Ministry of Forests
Government of British Columbia
July 2, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West
BC’s chief forester has set the new allowable annual cut (AAC), the maximum amount of timber that can be harvested each year, for the Kispiox timber supply area (TSA) in the Skeena region. The new AAC is 496,000 cubic metres, a nearly 50% reduction from the previous AAC. Although the AAC has decreased, it is approximately 39% higher than the average annual harvest between 2019 and 2023, which was 356,378 cubic metres. …The TSA overlaps the territory of the Gitxsan Nation, Gitanyow Nation, Lake Babine Nation, Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha Nation, Kitselas First Nation, Wet’suwet’en Nation, and Witset First Nation. …The Kispiox TSA also partially overlaps with the Nass Wildlife Area and the Nass Area, as defined in the Nisga’a Treaty. The determination aligns with legislation defined in the Nisga’a Treaty and considers interests identified by First Nations, including the management of cedar, old forests, wildlife habitat and wildlife tree retention.
Woodlots Weekly – Woodlots BC Joins Canadian Forest Owners
Woodlots BC
July 3, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West
There is strength in working together, and that’s why Woodlots BC has joined Canadian Forest Owners (CFO). As the national voice for approximately 480,000 private forest owners, CFO brings provincial organizations together to advocate for policies and programs that support sustainable forest management, healthy rural communities, and a strong forest economy. By joining CFO, Woodlots BC will help ensure the perspectives of British Columbia’s woodlot owners are reflected in federal discussions while benefiting from collaboration with like-minded organizations across Canada. …Woodlots BC members have access to Canadian Forest Owners’ exclusive group insurance program, designed specifically for private forest owners. Through our partnership with BrokerLink, the program offers coverage options that have traditionally been difficult to obtain, including forest damage insurance and vacant land liability coverage. …Private forest owners across Canada are invited to participate in the first national survey of private forest owners in more than 20 years.
Canada and Quebec reach an agreement for the recovery and protection of caribou
By Environment and Climate Change Canada
The Government of Canada
June 30, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East
MONTRÉAL — Ministers Julie Dabrusin and Pascale Déry announced they have reached an agreement for the recovery and protection of caribou in Quebec. This agreement includes funding of $25 million over five years from the Government of Canada. This funding will be in addition to the Government of Quebec’s investments totalling $59.5 million for 2024-–2028 to support the deployment of conservation measures. …Canada and Quebec intend to consult and involve Quebec’s Indigenous communities in implementing actions for the recovery of the species, which include, in particular: Habitat management… Population management… and Participation of Indigenous communities in understanding the species, including monitoring and managing populations, implementing habitat management, projects for increasing knowledge, developing and distributing tools to raise awareness, and knowledge-sharing workshops. In addition, the Government of Canada also committed $15 million over five years to Quebec’s Indigenous communities for the recovery of caribou or its habitat in Quebec.
An aggressive wildfire burning near Boston Bar, B.C., has grown sharply and has forced evacuation orders and alerts in some communities in the Fraser Canyon. The Brunswick Creek wildfire has grown from about 100 hectares on Saturday to more than 1,200 hectares, according to the B.C. Wildfire Service. It is now listed as a wildfire of note — the only fire categorized as such in the province. The wildfire service uses that category for fires that are creating an increased level of public interest and to make response information easier to find. Officials detected the Brunswick Creek fire on July 2 burning near the community of Boston Bar, along Highway 1. It is believed to have been sparked by human activity. The Fraser Valley Regional District has issued an evacuation order for the entire community of North Bend and the surrounding area extending north along Chaumox Road, affecting about 146 properties.
Wildfires devastate forests in Europe as temperatures rise again
ABC News, Australia
July 5, 2026
Category: Forest Fires
Region: International
Hundreds of firefighters have been battling forest infernos in heatwave-scarred Europe, as temperatures are set to rise again on Sunday, local time. The latest wildfires have already devastated more than 17,000 hectares of land across France, Spain and Portugal where temperatures in some places are forecast to reach 40C. Authorities registered thousands of excess deaths during one of Europe’s worst heatwaves in June, and with more extreme weather on the way. In Spain, a fire near the north-eastern Costa Brava coast burned more than 2,200 hectares in two days. …In France, nearly 600 firefighters have been mobilised to contain a wildfire that has burned more than 1,000 hectares on a mountainside at Trevillach, about 36 kilometres east of Perpignan. …In Greece, a fast-moving wildfire broke out Saturday evening, local time, near the suburbs of Thessaloniki, the country’s second largest city.
Hello early bird! We just want you to know that the news team is busy adding stories to this page. Be sure to check back at 9:00 am (PST) for the full line up of articles.
The Trump administration’s decision to forgo renewal of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on the July 1 deadline has opened a new front in the ongoing trade war — and one with direct consequences for US homebuilders and the mortgage professionals who serve them. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer confirmed on Wednesday that the three countries met virtually for the required joint review and that the US declined to extend the agreement in its current form. The USMCA remains in effect until 2036 but will now be subject to annual reviews that could force significant renegotiation of major sections of the treaty, a development that has rattled an already strained construction supply chain. …Canadian softwood lumber already carries a combined duty burden of 45%. That cost has steadily compressed builder margins even as new home demand remains sluggish and housing starts have declined every year since their 2021 peak.
VANCOUVER, BC — Canfor Corporation announced it has completed the acquisition of PinkWood Ltd, Western Canada’s largest I-joist facility based in Calgary, Alberta. The acquisition, announced on June 9, 2026, complements Canfor’s existing operations in Alberta and British Columbia “We’re excited to welcome the PinkWood operation, its management team and its employees to the Canfor family,” said Susan Yurkovich, President and CEO of Canfor. “The acquisition represents a strong strategic fit for both companies and supports the continued growth of Canfor’s value-added manufacturing capabilities.” PinkWood will retain its name and operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Canfor. The operation will add 120 employees, and 46 million linear feet of annual I-joist production capacity.
A new federal rule will tighten hazardous-air-pollutant standards for plywood and composite wood products plants, including dryers, presses, refiners and lumber kilns. The 
BC’s chief forester has set the new allowable annual cut (AAC), the maximum amount of timber that can be harvested each year, for the Kispiox timber supply area (TSA) in the Skeena region. The new AAC is 496,000 cubic metres, a nearly 50% reduction from the previous AAC. Although the AAC has decreased, it is approximately 39% higher than the average annual harvest between 2019 and 2023, which was 356,378 cubic metres. …The TSA overlaps the territory of the Gitxsan Nation, Gitanyow Nation, Lake Babine Nation, Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha Nation, Kitselas First Nation, Wet’suwet’en Nation, and Witset First Nation. …The Kispiox TSA also partially overlaps with the Nass Wildlife Area and the Nass Area, as defined in the Nisga’a Treaty. The determination aligns with legislation defined in the Nisga’a Treaty and considers interests identified by First Nations, including the management of cedar, old forests, wildlife habitat and wildlife tree retention.
Hundreds of firefighters have been battling forest infernos in heatwave-scarred Europe, as temperatures are set to rise again on Sunday, local time. The latest wildfires have already devastated more than 17,000 hectares of land across France, Spain and Portugal where temperatures in some places are forecast to reach 40C. Authorities registered