A federal judge has halted the USDA’s reorganization plans, including the relocation of US Forest Service headquarters and closure of nine regional offices. In other Business news: Irving Pulp and Paper in Saint John extinguished a wood chip fire; Kimberly-Clark’s acquisition of Kenvue received EU approval; a USMCA panel partially upheld US duties on Canadian lumber; a US importer challenged a lumber duty-evasion finding; and an Oregon library showcases mass timber construction. Meanwhile: US consumer sentiment ticks down; US home sales sink; and inflation broadens beyond energy.
In Forestry news: Canada invests in protecting Ontario’s taiga forest, and digital forestry innovation in New Brunswick; BC’s Forest Practices Board will audit Carrier Lumber’s operations; BC’s Fraser River pink salmon run doubled; Oregon is investing $10M in wildfire risk reduction; and Weyerhaeuser advanced forest-based climate solutions. Meanwhile; Reuters says fashion brands are turning to alternative fibres; and ARC Bio pursues sustainable aviation fuel from forest residues.
Finally: Alberta Forest Products Association CEO Jason Krips announced his departure; while Tanya Crowell is the Truck Loggers Association’s new Director of Communications.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News Editor
Coastal Specialty Forest Products has 
U.S. tariffs could leave more Canadian lumber available for domestic construction, potentially supporting nearly 4,000 additional homes a year and lowering building costs, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. CMHC 
A viscose shirt and a roll of toilet paper are two very different products, but they have one thing in common. They’re both made from wood fibre – a commodity that is in growing demand, placing undue pressure on forests, environmentalists warn. According to Canopy… more than 300 million trees are felled every year, including from some of the world’s most biodiversity-rich forests, to make wood-based fibres for the fashion industry. …“Reducing dependency on forests and forest-based fibres just makes business sense from a resiliency perspective,” says Canopy founder Nicole Rycroft. As the devastating wildfires in Europe and North America have demonstrated, “this is a fibre basket that is literally going up in smoke”. She expects the EU’s deforestation regulation to increase competition for the wood, driving up cost. In addition, viscose production is chemically intensive, so closure of the Strait of Hormuz has also pushed up prices. [To access the full story a Reuters subscription is required]
FREDERICTON, NB — …The Honourable Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, announced an investment of up to $50 million for the establishment of the New Brunswick Strategic Innovation Centre in Digital Forestry, an initiative led by the Northern Hardwoods Research Institute in collaboration with ResearchNB. …The new Centre will establish a pilot for digitalizing the forest sector, helping the industry and its stakeholders better identify, track and use fibre resources across the supply chain. By increasing certainty of fibre supply and matching that fibre supply to facilities’ specific manufacturing requirements, the initiative would modernize the forest products sector in New Brunswick and create a model for other regions — attracting investment, reducing costs and improving operational efficiency for businesses. The digital infrastructure will place New Brunswick at the forefront of innovation and support the long-term resilience of Canada’s forest industry. Minister Hodgson confirmed that Budget 2026 will contain further details related to the federal forest sector strategy. 
The Nature Conservancy of Canada says it has acquired 814 square kilometres of boreal forest and peatlands south of Kapuskasing, previously owned by a company selling carbon offset credits. The non-profit says where the landscape is healthy and free of vulnerable species, some day-use recreational activities such as hiking and paddling may continue, in line with provincial laws. The federal government says it’s contributing $13 million to the project as part of a total $64-million investment from both public and private donors. The announcement comes ahead of next week’s annual United Nations biodiversity summit, where the talks are expected to focus on global progress toward conservation goals. Ottawa unveiled a new $3.8-billion nature protection strategy earlier this year intended to put Canada’s goals within reach, months after the federal environmental watchdog found it to be more than one-million square kilometres short of its 2025 goal to protect 25 per cent of its lands and inland water.
ARC Bio has successfully demonstrated a pathway to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from Canadian forest residues through refinery co-processing. The project connects Canada’s forest sector with existing refining infrastructure, demonstrating how residual woody biomass can be converted into a refinery-ready biocrude and processed alongside conventional feedstocks to produce transportation fuels, including SAF. “Canada has the biomass feedstock, forest sector expertise, industrial capability and refining infrastructure to build an important new clean fuel value chain,” said Serge Mercier, President of Bioénergie AECN. “This work creates a direct connection between Canada’s forest economy and the growing need for low-carbon fuels in aviation and marine transportation markets.” The demonstration began with fast pyrolysis oil produced from Canadian forest residues by Bioénergie AECN in Port-Cartier, Quebec. The bio-oil was upgraded into barrel-scale quantities of Alder Renewable Crude (ARC), a transportable biocrude designed for integration with existing refinery infrastructure.
