Domtar’s indefinite curtailment of its Howe Sound pulp mill raises fresh concerns about BC forestry. BC’s Forest Minister called it an “immensely difficult day,” while the Truck Loggers Association, Council of Forest Industries and Unifor called for action to improve fibre access and competitiveness. In other Business news: Canada and the US are close to a trade deal, although the treatment of wood products remains uncertain; BC Premier Eby’s position is being watched for its implication for lumber; BC First Nations are exploring a new sawmill; Ontario invests $1M in support of biomass markets; and Canada launched subsidy investigations into Chinese paperboard products.
In Forestry news: the US homebuilding industry backs Trump’s Roadless Rule repeal, while concerns mount in California and Michigan; Domtar partners to protect biodiversity in Mississippi; and Australia launches a new forest-sector research archive. In Wildfire news: BC’s wildfire-fighting costs have more than doubled; Quebec researchers are testing balloon-based technology to identify forests at risk; and Canadian and US crews battle a cross-border wildfire near Hope.
Finally: UBC launches a wood-foam plastic alternative, and US WoodWorks’ webinar on mass timber’s acoustic performance.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News Editor
The prospective trade deal being negotiated in Washington this week would lower US President Trump’s tariffs on Canadian autos from 25% to 15% and preserve an existing exemption for the value of American content. …As Canada rushed to finalize the pact, Prime Minister Carney’s concessions drew criticism. …Six sources familiar with the negotiations said both auto and forestry tariffs, imposed by Mr. Trump last year using Section 232, had been major sticking points. …With forestry, Canada had asked for relief from the Section 232 sectoral portion of tariffs on lumber and wood products, while the US wanted the sector excluded entirely from the deal. …Given forestry’s importance to his province and his outspokenness, along with Mr. Kinew and Mr. Ford, about the importance of the alcohol ban, Mr. Eby’s cooperation will be crucial if Mr. Carney hopes to fulfill that U.S. demand. [to access the full story a Globe & Mail subscription is required]
It’s one of the great paradoxes of B.C.’s declining forestry sector. Large forestry companies continue to divest from B.C. and shutter sawmills and pulp mills, largely due to a lack of access to affordable fibre. Meanwhile, in Coastal B.C., there seems to be plenty of timber available, mostly in the form of second growth. In 2025, only half of the 15 million cubic metres of the coastal available cut was harvested, according to the Truck Loggers Association. Nearly a third of that timber is owned or controlled by Coastal First Nations – about 4.6 million cubic metres. 
AUSTRALIA — Forest & Wood Products Australia released a draft standard for cross laminated timber design to provide a dedicated framework for the structural design of CLT elements. The Standard has undergone independent technical review and provides comprehensive design methods for structural CLT components, subject to the requirements and limitations described in the Scope. Developed through collaboration with industry, researchers and technical experts, the Standard is intended to give architects, engineers and builders a national method for designing cross-laminated timber floors, walls and stairs, under a 46-page document out for comment. …Industry Benefits include consistency across engineering, manufacturing and certification practices; growing use of CLT and mass timber construction in Australia; and an independently reviewed basis for CLT structural design. …The public comment period for this Standard is open for a six-week period to 29 September.
The province has rejected a leasing application by a private wilderness survival school operator to set up camp within East Sooke Regional Park. Vitaliy Svetlichnyy, owner of One With Nature outdoor survival school, had applied two years ago to lease a 71-hectare parcel of Crown land inside the borders of East Sooke Park to build and operate his school. The proposal included an intensive-use area of about five hectares for several permanent structures … and a dock on the waterfront and storage buildings. Svetlichnyy was asking for a lease of 10 to 30 years on the land and foreshore, but his proposals caused a widespread outcry from local government and the public who said private operators should not be allowed in parks. In his decision, Peter Warbuton, senior licensed authorizations officer for the province, said the proposed long-term commercial use, infrastructure development and exclusive occupation were incompatible with the existing conservation, recreation and stewardship objectives of the area.
SFU researchers say the amount of money BC has spent fighting wildfires in recent years is almost the same as what the province has collected in natural gas royalties. They say it demonstrates how BC households are already paying for the costs of climate change. The researchers said the average cost of fighting wildfires in BC over the past 10 years was more than twice as much as the decade prior. …“Royalties from the gas sector are virtually the same as what it costs to manage and mitigate wildfires in BC,” said co-author Andy Hira, a professor of political science. …BC’s natural gas industry only represents “a fraction of global emissions,” Lisa Baiton, CEO of Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, said. Dan McTeague, a former Liberal MP said the energy sector’s much-bigger economic footprint gets lost when the debate narrows to royalties alone.
A team developing an aerospace and environmental project based in Montreal is currently working at the Timmins Stratospheric Balloon Base, testing its technology. The SAFARI-APEX project team from Montreal’s École de technologie supérieure has developed a prototype that uses cameras and artificial intelligence to monitor forests from above. The system is designed to spot conditions that could make an area more vulnerable to fire before one actually starts. Serguei Markov, an IT engineer and one of the people behind the project said the system analyzes factors such as vegetation, soil and humidity — information that could help focus fire prevention efforts where the risk is highest. …A prototype, called Borealis, was sent into the atmosphere on a Canadian Space Agency stratospheric balloon in Timmins.
NORTH GRENVILLE, Ontario — The government is investing $865,000 in the Ontario Woodlot Association (OWA) to enhance private forest management and establish new supply chains for mill by-products and underused wood known as forest biomass. This investment will… test a business model that could double sustainable private harvesting over the next 10 to 15 years. …Ontario is investing $790,000 through the Forest Biomass Program to help the OWA create three new jobs and acquire equipment for the Wood Stewardship Program (WSP). This initiative will increase forest sector productivity by connecting businesses to biomass in privately owned forests. …The project will use up to 100,000 cubic metres of forest biomass over five years, creating new markets to maximize the value of wood and increase the industry’s diversification into value‑added manufacturing. Ontario is also investing $75,000 to support OWA workshops, conferences, publications and collaboration to promote sustainable forest management on private lands.
CALIFORNIA — More than 4 million acres of California forest land may lose protected status under a proposed rollback of the Roadless Rule by the U.S. Forest Service. The federal government says the rollback is necessary to allow responsible timber production and wildfire mitigation efforts. Opponents argue rescinding the rule, which prohibits road construction and logging on 45 million acres of national forest land, would increase development, harm wildlife habitat, threaten water supplies and worsen wildfire risk. A public comment period on the proposal to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule is open through midnight Sept. 21, 2026. More than 95% of roadless areas are in 10 Western states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, per the USDA. In California, the proposal would open up 4,416,000 acres of roadless land across the state, which has nearly 21 million acres of national forest, the most of any state except Alaska.
Thousands of acres of currently protected national forest land in Michigan could be opened to road construction and logging under a proposal from the U.S. Forest Service to rescind a 25-year-old rule. The 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which restricts road construction and timber harvesting in designated roadless areas, currently protects about 16,000 acres of roadless forest land across the Huron-Manistee, Hiawatha and Ottawa national forests in Michigan. They are among nearly 45 million acres of inventoried roadless areas nationwide which would see protections eliminated under the proposal to rescind the rule, 