Daily News for September 28, 2026

Today’s Takeaway

Carney faces a balancing act on the economy and environment

The Tree Frog Forestry News
September 28, 2026
Category: Today's Takeaway

Prime Minister Mark Carney is looking beyond the US to strengthen Canada’s economy, while Sarah Cox and Trevor Hancock raise concerns about the environmental consequences of his agenda. In related news: Trump’s trade war with Canada is adding to the debate in tight US Senate races; the US and China consider more favourable treatment for logs and wood products; and Kentucky’s hardwood industry looks for relief. Meanwhile: US consumer sentiment slips; rising diesel prices squeeze logging and trucking; and European lumber prices remain stable—for now.

In Forestry news: the debate over US forest management includes competing views on the Roadless Rule, and calls for more active forest management. In Canada, a proposed New Forest Act is presented to BC ministers; the Union of BC Municipalities backs call for faster salvage logging; Newfoundland opens a second round of wildfire funding; and a New Brunswick woodlot turns to the US after the Nackawic mill stopped buying. Meanwhile: UBC looks to the future of sustainable timber buildings with its 2026 Burgess-Lane Memorial Lecture.

Finally, the Council of Forest Industries’ ten 2026 Forestry Scholarship recipients.

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News Editor

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Business & Politics

As Carney Seeks New Partners for Canada, He Knows the Limits

By Matina Stevis-Gridneff
The New York Times
September 26, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Mark Carney

Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada is on a mission to break his country’s dependence on the United States and build deeper trade, defense and cultural ties with European and Asian powers. In a wide-ranging interview with New York Times journalists, he spoke in detail about the opportunities and limits of each of the major partnerships he is pursuing. A close review of his answers about Canada’s relationship with the European Union, China and India highlights that, despite credible plans to strengthen those partnerships, none is likely to offer a one-for-one replacement for the unique, vast economic relationship between Canada and the United States. For example, he acknowledged that the European Union’s economy was barely growing, but identified it as the top priority for Canada, saying the two were complementary in key ways; and he laid out the limits of Canada’s re-energized relationship with China. [to access the full story a NYTimes subscription is required]

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Canada trade war adds challenge in tight Senate races

By Justine McDaniel
Enews.latimes
September 28, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s trade war with Canada could intensify the headwinds Republicans are navigating ahead of the November midterms, with its effects poised to reverberate in northern battleground states with crucial Senate races. …The escalating beef with Canada stands to heighten voters’ economic worries and add to the GOP’s political challenge in dead-heat races, analysts said. …Trump’s new import bans on some Canadian goods are set to begin next week, a response to retaliatory tariffs Canada levied earlier this month. …Five of the nine states most likely to decide Senate control border Canada — Alaska, Ohio, Michigan, New Hampshire and Maine. Two more, Texas and Iowa, also do substantial trade with Canada. …“What’s weighing on the top of people’s minds is this general affordability crisis … and they realize that tariffs are another factor that is impacting affordability.”

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U.S. and China target wood products for more favorable tariff treatment

Lesprom Network
September 27, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, International

U.S. hardwood log exporters could receive more favorable access to China after the two countries reached consensus on recommendations for more favorable tariff treatment covering $30 billion of non-sensitive goods in each direction. U.S. logs and wood products are among the goods identified for more favorable treatment, while the recommendations do not establish that lower tariffs have already taken effect. …The tariff recommendations were developed through the U.S.-China Board of Trade, chartered during the two countries’ May 2026 summit in Beijing. The White House fact sheet did not specify the tariff rates that would apply to logs and wood products or when any changes would take effect. The recommendations therefore provide a framework for possible tariff reductions rather than an immediate reduction in duties on U.S. forest products entering China. …China agreed in November 2025 to resume purchases of U.S. hardwood and softwood logs under a trade agreement with the United States. 

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Hardwood Hardship: Kentucky’s lumber industry looks for relief

By Erin Kelly
Spectrum News 1
September 25, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: US East

Washington, D.C. — A steep decline in hardwood exports, the growing popularity of man-made wood alternatives and surging fuel prices have been battering the American hardwood lumber industry. In Kentucky, 78 wood industry facilities, mostly sawmills, have closed in the last four years, according to the University of Kentucky Department of Forestry and Natural Resources. The U.S. relationship with China has been a major source of the industry’s problems and a focus of proposals to address them. China once bought about half of U.S. hardwood exports, according to the Hardwood Federation. Then, eight years ago, President Donald Trump slapped tariffs on imports from China, and China retaliated with tariffs on hardwood and other American imports. The reciprocal tariffs were eventually rolled back, but China’s purchases of American hardwood never returned to their previous levels. …advocates are pushing for lawmakers to pass legislation for $12 billion in agriculture relief, including $200 million for the hardwood industry.

Part 1 of this series: Hardwood Hardship: Pressures pile up on Kentucky’s sawmills

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In Memoriam

Described as “awesome, amazing, wonderful”, Laurie Friskie will be missed

Nanaimo News Now
September 25, 2026
Category: In Memoriam
Region: Canada West

Laurie Friskie

Laurie Marlene Friskie, December 20, 1957 –  August 28, 2026: After a short illness, Laurie Friskie passed away on August 28 at the age of 68. …She graduated with a BSc in Biology from Simon Fraser University in 1981. She worked in several entomology and forestry-related positions with the Pacific Forest Research Centre, the BC Forest Service, Simon Fraser University, and University of BC until 1988. …In 1997 – 1998 she worked at the College of New Caledonia, but from mid-1998 she was Academic Advisor at UNBC until 2015. …At UNBC, she was nominated twice and awarded once for the President’s Award for Service Excellence. As an advisor in Natural Resources Management both students and faculty loved her diligence and commitment to student success. Many students credited her with making it possible for them to graduate. In the many thank-you messages she received from students they described her as “awesome, amazing, wonderful”, and as the “best advisor”. …A Celebration of Life event will be held in Nanaimo, October 10.

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Finance & Economics

US consumer sentiment ticked down in September

By Joanne Hsu, Survey of Consumers Director
The University of Michigan
September 25, 2026
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

Consumer sentiment ticked down less than four index points in September, reaching the lowest reading in four months and down 15% from January 2026. Views of current and year-ahead expected personal finances both weakened about 10% this month, with concerns over high prices continuing to climb. Buying conditions for durables improved a bit, in part due to a perception that completing such purchases now would help consumers avoid higher prices in the future. The short-run outlook for business conditions plunged amid renewed worries that elevated fuel prices and re-escalating trade disputes could pass through to the economy as a whole. Overall, interviews reveal broad agreement across the political spectrum that the outlook for the economy has weakened since the beginning of the year. After particularly large declines in sentiment this month, Republican sentiment is now 20% lower than January 2026; Democrats are down 13% over the same period.

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FRA Highlights Sharp Rise in Diesel Costs and Impacts on Logging and Trucking Businesses

Forest Resources Association
September 25, 2026
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

Diesel prices have surged to levels that are creating significant cost pressures for logging and log-hauling businesses, which depend on heavy-duty trucks and fuel-intensive operations. As fuel costs climb, the expense of moving raw forest products rises with every mile, tightening margins and straining contractors who already operate on thin financial footing. These increases ripple through the entire supply chain, affecting delivered wood costs and operational predictability. As FRA President Tim O’Hara notes, “Rising diesel prices are creating real challenges for logging and hauling businesses, and mills have been working with contractors to ease some of that burden. It’s a strong reminder that our wood supply chain succeeds when every link supports the other.” The analysis underscores the need for short-term relief measures to stabilize costs and support the sector during this period of volatility. 

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European sawn timber prices held broadly stable through August, but the calm is unlikely to last

By Tuomo Neuvonen and Cat Vitale
RISI Fastmarkets
September 28, 2026
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: International

European sawn timber prices held broadly stable through August, but market participants say the calm is unlikely to last, reporting “an emerging shift.” One European trader said that while Nordic mills claim stock is low, “in reality stock is high and offers are appearing in the market, pointing to a coming price decrease.” Some producers see the recent stable price situation as a partial win, helping them keep their heads above water, saying that increased costs and lack of demand have created a difficult situation. However, comments were also heard that despite producers’ need for stable prices, the quiet market is putting the pressure on, with increased competition seen especially in spot markets. Shortfalls against housebuilding targets have also become the norm across regions. 

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Burgess-Lane Memorial Lecture: The Future of Sustainable Timber Buildings

By the Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship
The University of British Columbia
September 28, 2026
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada West

Philipp Dietsch

Join us for the 2026 UBC Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Stewardship Burgess-Lane Memorial Lecture, featuring Professor Philipp Dietsch of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany. Drawing on research and international experience, Professor Dietsch will explore the opportunities and challenges shaping the next generation of timber construction, from emerging engineered wood products and resource-efficient structures to durability, reuse, and design for disassembly. He will examine how innovation, sound engineering, moisture-safe construction, and high-quality execution can support a resilient and responsible future for mass timber. The lecture will conclude with an audience Q&A. Following the lecture program, guests are invited to continue the conversation at a research showcase and reception.

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Forestry

Carney’s Push to Fund Industry Imperils Canada’s Nature Promises

By Sarah Cox
The Tyee
September 28, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

The Mark Carney government has been open-handed this year when it comes to funding major projects in BC that it deems to be in the national interest. The government promised $3.9 billion for the North Coast Transmission Line… It invested $500 million to expand the Red Chris gold and copper mine and pledged financial support for the $10-billion Roberts Bank port expansion. …A Canadian scientist and a University of BC professor say the federal government’s funds and perks are subsidizing the destruction of nature, contravening Canada’s global biodiversity commitments “Biodiversity again loses out,” Justina Ray, president and senior scientist for Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, said. Ray and Jessica Dempsey, a University of BC professor who studies the political economy of biodiversity loss, both said Prime Minister Mark Carney’s investment summit in Toronto last week underscores that the government’s priority is to facilitate resource extraction, despite the toll on nature.

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Unattended campfires continue to raise concern across the Okanagan

By Madison Reeve
Castanet
September 28, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Okanagan backcountry patrols are still turning up campfires burning without anyone around, weeks after campfire restrictions were eased across the region. Kane Blake, founder of the Okanagan Forest Task Force, says volunteers have discovered multiple campfires over the past several weeks that were left burning with no one present to monitor them. …Under B.C.’s Wildfire Regulation, a Category 1 campfire must be watched and patrolled while it is burning. The person responsible must maintain a fuel break around the fire and have either at least one firefighting hand tool or eight litres of water available. Leaving a fire unattended can also result in enforcement under the Wildfire Act and Wildfire Regulation. B.C.’s current listed fines include $1,150 for lighting, fuelling or using a fire against regulations. For the Okanagan Forest Task Force, Blake says the goal is also to educate younger generations about safely enjoying the backcountry.

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Mission forestry expects year-end profit despite net loss in Q2

By Dillon White
The Mission Record
September 26, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Mission’s forestry department reported a net loss of $234,506 in the second quarter of 2026, but is expected to be profitable by the end of the year. According to the department’s quarterly report from the September 21 council agenda, market uncertainty led to lower volumes harvested during the quarter. The department reported a net profit of $301,844 in the second quarter of last year and projected a net profit of $733,511 for Q2 of 2026. However, the department released just 39 per cent of its budgeted volume to date because market uncertainty. “Continued challenges exist in the timber market. In addition to tariffs from the United States, fuel prices have increased substantially in 2026, which has impacted shipping costs,” the report reads. The report highlights trade friction with the United States as “one big challenge” moving forward, but also notes reasons for optimism for the remainder of 2026 and beyond.

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Union of BC Muncipalities backs Williams Lake call for increased dead wood salvage, expedited permitting

Williams Lake Tribune
September 25, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

A resolution by the City of Williams Lake calling for increased support for dead wood salvage and expedited permitting in fire-impacted forests was endorsed by delegates at the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) Convention. …The resolution urges the Province to establish a new pricing model for fire-killed timber and implement a streamlined permitting process that would allow salvage permits to be issued within 90 days. The proposal responds to concerns … that current pricing and permitting frameworks make recovery of fire-killed fibre uneconomical and unnecessarily delayed. …While attending UBCM, city representatives renewed an invitation for the premier and key cabinet ministers to visit Williams Lake and meet with forestry producers, workers, Indigenous leaders, and local governments. …Instead of a conference format, the city has proposed a regional forestry tour in 2027 allowing provincial leaders to visit project sites, meet industry leaders and innovators, and gain firsthand insight into the sector.

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New Forest Act developed in Grand Forks presented to the province

By Yashvika Grover
The Vernon Morning Star
September 27, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar and Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship Randene Neill were recently introduced to the New Forest Act by the Boundary Forest Watershed Stewardship Society. Jennifer Houghton, campaign director for the New Forest Act presented the framework to the ministers and senior-level government staff on Sept. 9. She said that they were highly receptive during the presentation, asking questions and productively discussing the framework at hand. “What mattered to us was getting the proposal directly in front of the people responsible for these files and being able to explain how it differs from what government is currently proposing. We wanted them to see that this is a serious, incredible alternative to the current forestry system.” The act … came together through the help of scientists, leaders, Indigenous communities, retired foresters, and residents. It opposes the current government framework by prioritizing ecological balance over timber flow in all forestry activity.

 

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Free for all in the logging industry

Letter by Bob Tritschler, Parksville
The Nanaimo Bulletin
September 26, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Re: UBCM endorses Nanaimo call to ban raw log exports, Sept. 23. I find it amazing that the coast has reduced itself to exporting raw logs because all the processing is gone. There has been a free-for-all in the logging industry for years. Sustainability, in its present form, is a joke. Allocation in cubic meters and planting in units. “3 for 1” is the mantra. Time was never dealt into the model. We have over-harvested, trying to balance the books, for too many years. On a sliding scale of volume in each unit, it always was doomed to collapse. A 4 foot fir has more volume than a 18 inch fir. …If the government is to make a change, private timber must be dealt into the mix. …All old growth must be curtailed because once it is gone, IT IS GONE FOREVER! Remember truck loggers will haul anything, even those hayrack loads of pecker poles.

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Council of Forest Industries announces the 2026 Forestry Scholarship recipients

Council of Forest Industries
September 25, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Vancouver, B.C. – The BC Council of Forest Industries (COFI) is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2026 Forestry Scholarships, recognizing students pursuing careers across British Columbia’s forest sector. Since 2007, COFI’s annual scholarship program has supported students entering professional, technical and skilled trades careers connected to forestry. This year’s recipients will each receive $2,000 toward post-secondary studies at institutions across British Columbia.

The 2026 scholarship winners are:

  • Rylan Adams, Nanaimo – Forest Resource Technology, Vancouver Island University
  • Abigail Bates, Kelowna – Forestry Resource Technology, Vancouver Island University
  • Danika Belanger, Trail – Forest Technology, Selkirk College
  • Nolita Gruebel, Langley – MBA in Sustainable Innovation, University of Victoria
  • Leah Hall, Nelson – Forest Technology, Selkirk College
  • Tess Howick, Kamloops – Forest Resource Management, University of British Columbia
  • Syd Lawes, Princeton – Forest Technology, Selkirk College
  • Hyla McQuaid, Nanaimo – Indigenous Studies, Vancouver Island University
  • Amy Oester, Quesnel – Natural Resources & Forest Technology, College of New Caledonia
  • Ariella Yeo, Burnaby – Forestry, University of British Columbia

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Provincial Government Opens Second Round of Wildfire Prevention Funding

By Ministry of Forestry, Agriculture and Lands
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
September 25, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada East

Applications are now open for Newfoundland and Labrador Community Wildfire Prevention and Mitigation Program funding. An initial investment of approximately $2.26 million is helping 58 communities develop community wildfire resiliency plans and community-based wildfire prevention/mitigation projects. The second round of funding will support additional communities across the province to reduce the risk of wildfire and better protect homes, critical infrastructure, and the environment around them. The Newfoundland and Labrador Community Wildfire Prevention and Mitigation Program supports local risk assessments, fuel management planning, and mitigation activities. It strengthens community-level emergency preparedness by providing guidance to property owners to help them protect their homes from wildfires. Communities are encouraged to apply for funding to develop and implement Community Wildland Fire Resiliency Plans. 

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Woodlot producer forced to downsize, sell to U.S. after Nackawic mill stopped taking his wood

By Ian Curran
CBC News
September 28, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

NEW BRUNSWICK — Ken Thomas has been harvesting lumber from forests in Stanley for over 32 years. …But these days, he’s consumed with the thought of what to do next, when he pulls these 20-foot logs out of the forest and looks for a buyer, now that his longtime purchaser is pulling out of the game — at least temporarily. Earlier this month, the AV Nackawic mill announced it will temporarily shut down at the end of October. The mill owner, AV Group, had already stopped purchasing wood in August. …If the Nackawic mill closes permanently, there will be about 257,000 hectares of Crown land licensed to AV Group that will be up for grabs. …In the meantime, while the province decides the next steps for the licence, Herron has allowed the mixed hardwood cut and grown for the Nackawic mill to be exempt from regulations keeping it in the province.

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Ending the roadless rule can help fight forest fires and improve wildlife access

By Terry L.  Anderson, Senior Fellow, Stanford University’s Hoover Institution
The Hill
September 26, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

Terry Anderson

On Aug. 23, the U.S. Forest Service announced that it is considering rescinding the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. …Not surprisingly, the announcement drew an immediate backlash from environmentalists and Democrats. …The data, however, support Rollins’s call for better fuel management. True, roughly 85 to 90 percent of wildfires are human-caused… Areas with higher human traffic and vehicles experience a much higher concentration of fire starts. But these are not the fires that spread rapidly and far. The primary drivers behind large and rapid spreading fires are related to inaccessibility. …recreationists visiting the wilderness could care less about whether the land is untrammeled. They just want to get outdoors without hiking miles carrying a heavy backpack. …Rescinding the roadless rule is not a threat to federal wilderness; it is a statement that we have enough already and that we need to manage it rather than let it burn. 

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The forests Oregon ‘protected’ are burning

By Chris Edwards, Oregon Forest Industries Council & Travis Joseph, American Forest Resource Council
The Oregon Capital Chronicle
September 25, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: US West

Chris Edwards

Travis Joseph

Oregon made history this summer, and not the celebratory kind. It’s a wakeup call: The system is broken and fixing it requires new thinking. …Beginning in 2019, the Wasco County Forest Collaborative… worked with the U.S. Forest Service on the Grasshopper Restoration Project to reduce hazardous fuels and wildfire risk. …Professional foresters and scientists concluded treatments would reduce wildfire risk. …Now those “protected” acres are burning in the nearly 94,000-acre Grasshopper Fire, and years of collaboration were wasted. Oregonians should be outraged. …But here’s where the conversation gets uncomfortable. When a proposed solution includes the word “logging,” many Democrats recoil. We say this as two native Oregonians who have worked within the Democratic Party. That response is rooted in outdated ideology. …Active management does not mean managing national forests like industrial timberlands. It means giving public land managers the tools and access to thin overcrowded forests, reduce hazardous fuels and respond to wildfire.

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Dropping roadless rule means disaster for public lands

By David Reid, Sierra Club
The Asheville Citizen Times
September 27, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

NORTH CAROLINA — A few weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released the draft environmental impact statement for its plan to open the remaining pristine roadless areas of our national forests to mining, logging and road building. Pushed by anti-public lands corporate and industry interests, this raid on the lands that belong to all Americans raises the alarm about the ability to pass an irreplaceable resource down to future generations. …The release of the draft environmental impact statement opened a 30-day public comment period with a now-past deadline of midnight Sept. 21 – less than half the traditional 60- to 90-day comment period traditionally provided for proposed actions of this magnitude. Conservation organizations and others are formally requesting an extension, but past behavior shows the current administration is not interested in what you or I think. That’s why it is vital to raise your voice in support of the Roadless Rule before Oct. 6.

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