Canfor and West Fraser reported stronger Q2 results as improved lumber markets helped narrow losses. In related news: Stora Enso reported a net loss; UFP Industries reported lower earnings; Interfor’s US move is said to reflect the company’s footprint and BC’s competitive position; and the US Fed and Bank of Canada held interest rates steady. Meanwhile: BC wood producers brace for new tariff hit; US labour leaders urge a rethink of tariffs on Canada; and the US released updated preliminary softwood duty calculations.
In Wildfire news: the science behind BC’s fire danger warnings; no word on return for Clinton BC’s evacuated residents; Oregon fires top one million acres burned; and firefighters continue battling blazes in France, Spain and Greece. Meanwhile: BC’s spruce budworm outbreak; Ohio’s only national forest will be auctioned for fracking; an EU study on how trees can help rehabilitate polluted lands; and New Zealand’s timber industry takes umbrage at a cement decision.
Finally, an SFPA EXPO 2027 update, and ILMA’s convention theme: WTF or Where’s the fibre?
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News Editor
A niche corner of B.C.’s forest sector … is now staring down a deadline for a crushing blow in the next round of tariff charges announced by U.S. President Trump. Those new charges would slap a 50 per cent tariff on $28 billion of Canadian exports including B.C. plywood, veneers and plywood panels starting Aug. 19, leaving producers short on strategies to adjust. “(We’re) just hoping that Trump is flip-flopping again,” said Bhavjit Thandi, chief financial officer of Richmond Plywood. …Thandi said Richmond Plywood sells most of the output of its 450-employee mill into the Canadian market, but the 10 to 12 per cent it has been shipping into the U.S. represents its best and highest-value product. …To Brian Menzies, executive director of the Independent Wood Producers Association, the threatened tariffs add insult to injury for his members that have been struggling for almost a decade under the punitive duties of the Canada-U.S. softwood lumber dispute. [A Vancouver Sun subscription is required for full story access]
The Independent Lumber Manufacturers’ Association (ILMA) has chosen a convention theme that’s sure to get people talking: WTF? Where’s The Fibre? The title may raise a smile, but the question is serious. 
PITTSBURGH – United Steelworkers (USW) International President Roxanne Brown and IAM Union (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers) International President Brian Bryant sent a letter to United States Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer, urging him to reconsider tariffs on Canadian goods and instead employ a trade policy built on the long history and unique relationship the two nations share. “While it’s true that workers and their communities have suffered greatly from decades of so-called free trade, Canada has never been the problem,” said Brown. “Our two nations share a deep collaboration built on decades of economic integration as well as intelligence and defense cooperation. Rather than imposing further tariffs … we should work together with our Canadian allies to limit illegal trade practices and advance our shared prosperity.” “…we urge the administration to work with the Canadian government to preserve the integrated manufacturing relationship that supports workers on both sides of the border,” said Bryant.
President Trump has opened a new front in the US-Canada trade war. …But not on softwood lumber. Like other goods already subject to Section 232 tariffs, softwood got a pass. That exemption is more revealing than the tariffs themselves — and it points toward a deal that has eluded both countries for four decades. The US imports about a third of the lumber it consumes, and Canada supplies roughly four-fifths of those imports. …American mills are already running at roughly two-thirds of capacity, and output has been flat for years — tariff protection has not built the industry it was meant to build. …Four decades of duties changed the supplier, not the dependence. …The 2006 Softwood Lumber Agreement supplies the model: export charges or volume restraints that stabilize trade without either government surrendering its legal position. A modern version should go further… creating faster dispute resolution before disagreements spiral into another decade of litigation.
Canada’s economy showed signs of growth in the second quarter of 2026, but uncertainty from U.S. trade policies and the war in Iran means monetary policy must remain nimble, the Bank of Canada’s governing council said during deliberations preceding its July 15 interest rate decision. A summary of deliberations that led to the council’s decision to hold interest rates steady at 2.25 per cent shows that members discussed Canada’s sluggish economy. Gross domestic product had not grown between the first quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, members said, and the heightened uncertainty around tariffs and the Canada–U.S.–Mexico (CUSMA) agreement had kept the economy in excess supply. However, members noted recent indicators that showed the economy was recovering in the second quarter of 2026 after it adjusted to the U.S. tariffs and geopolitical turbulence, and the growth was broadening instead of relying on strong consumer and government spending.
VANCOUVER, BC — West Fraser Timber reported the second quarter results of 2026. Second quarter sales were $1.434 billion, compared to $1.334 billion in the first quarter of 2026. Second quarter earnings were $(61) million, compared to earnings of $(188) million in the first quarter of 2026. Second quarter Adjusted EBITDA was $59 million compared to $(66) million in the first quarter of 2026. Other highlights include: Lumber segment Adjusted EBITDA of $41 million, including a $13 million favourable in-year duties adjustment; North America Engineered Wood Products segment Adjusted EBITDA of $13 million; Europe Engineered Wood Products segment Adjusted EBITDA1 of $13 million; and Other Operating Segments Adjusted EBITDA of $(8) million, due largely to maintenance at our Cariboo pulp facility. …”West Fraser’s second quarter results delivered continued progress against our business priorities supported by improved market conditions,” said Sean McLaren, West Fraser’s CEO….Based on our current outlook… capital expenditures for 2026 are expected to remain within the $300 million to $350 million range.
VANCOUVER, BC — Canfor reported its second quarter of 2026 results. Second quarter sales were $1.526 billion, compared to $1.359 billion in the first quarter of 2026. Second quarter earnings were $(18.5) million, compared to earnings of $(72.1) million in the first quarter of 2026. For the lumber segment, operating income was $41.2 million compared to the previous quarter’s operating loss of $43.7 million. …For the pulp and paper segment, the operating loss was $23.1 million compared to an operating loss of $16.2 million for the first quarter of 2026. …Canfor’s CEO, Susan Yurkovich, said “our second quarter results reflect an improvement in earnings, principally driven by a solid operating performance across all of our lumber regions and an ongoing improvement in our underlying cost structure, combined with an uplift in lumber market conditions in North America. Despite this short-term uptick, we continue to take disciplined actions to address longer-term structural fibre and market challenges.”
GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan — UFP Industries reported results for the second quarter 2026. Net Sales of $1.88 billion increased by 3% compared to $1.84 billion a year ago due to a 1% increase in organic units and a 2% increase due to acquisitions. …Net Earnings Attributable to Controlling Interests of $83 million compared to $101 million a year ago. Earnings were primarily impacted by higher freight costs while a weaker residential construction market was offset by improvements in other business units. Adjusted EBITDA was $154.5 million in the quarter, compared to $174.1 million a year ago. …UFP Industries is a holding company whose operating subsidiaries – UFP Packaging, UFP Construction and UFP Retail – manufacture, distribute and sell a wide variety of value-added products used in residential and commercial construction, packaging and other industrial applications worldwide.
Canada has long been recognized as a global leader in advancing reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, particularly since Aboriginal rights and title were constitutionally entrenched in 1982. While significant progress has been made, reconciliation remains an ongoing process, with courts continuing to shape how these rights are defined, respected, and implemented. A pivotal moment came with the Tsilhqot’in Nation v British Columbia decision, in which the Supreme Court of Canada granted Aboriginal title to a large area of land in British Columbia. This ruling established key legal tests for proving Aboriginal title and outlined how governments may justify infringements. Importantly, the decision affirmed that such lands are no longer Crown lands and are subject to Indigenous rights of “exclusive use and occupation.” More recently, courts in British Columbia, Ontario, and New Brunswick have begun addressing how Aboriginal title may intersect with privately owned land. These cases introduce a complex legal tension: both Aboriginal title and fee simple ownership confer rights of exclusive use and occupation. The question of how these rights can coexist on the same parcel of land remains unresolved and is now central to ongoing legal debates.
In BC, almost 40% of the wildfires that started between 2015 and 2024 were sparked by people — our campfires, our infrastructure, our vehicles. To avoid preventable fires, officials ban campfires, restrict the use of heavy machinery and sometimes prohibit the use of off-road vehicles. But before making those decisions, they need to determine just how bad the fire danger is in the first place. …The billboards, with their green, yellow, orange and red markers that denote different fire danger levels. …Forest fire danger rating research began in Canada in the 1920s with studies in experimental plots to investigate the moisture content and flammability of forest fuels — everything from the fine needles and twigs that litter the forest floor to the deeper organic layers below. Over time, researchers incorporated that work into a series of scientific models now used across Canada and around the world to estimate wildfire danger and fire behaviour.
A pest is placing huge swaths of BC’s forests under strain while adding a red tinge to the province’s landscape. Data from the Ministry shows the current outbreak of the western spruce budworm was mapped last year at 1.7 million hectares, more than double the previous two outbreaks which peaked in 1987 and 2008 at around 800,000 hectares. The budworm is native to BC and has been studied for a century due to the visible, and at times, deadly impact it can have on the province’s forests. …The pest takes a year to complete its life cycle. The eggs hatch in about 12 days, resulting in larvae that feed on tree needles, causing them to turn red. “These trees are not dead,” said a statement from the Ministry of Forest. “They may die after successive years of defoliation.” The ministry said younger, understory trees are more susceptible to being killed by the budworm.
SWITZERLAND — Forest trees can help contain heavy metals in polluted soils. But which tree species should be selected for this purpose? A study led by the Swiss Federal Research Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) investigated how seven different Central European tree species respond to metal-contaminated soils. All seven Central European tree species tested showed a similar ability to stabilise heavy metals in contaminated soil. Tree species with low nutrient needs keep excess metals out of their stems and foliage, making the production of uncontaminated timber possible. Selecting suitable tree species could bring abandoned land back into productive use while also safely confining the soil pollutants. …One promising solution is phytostabilisation— using plants to reduce the spread of pollutants into the environment. Trees are particularly well suited because of their long lifespans and extensive root systems.
