Kruger Products inaugurated its new tissue plant in Sherbrooke, Québec. In related news: West Fraser celebrated 50 years in Slave Lake, Alberta; Western Forest Products announced temporary curtailment at its Chemainus, BC mill; Western Woodworks secured Newfoundland’s support for its truss plant expansion; and a proposed biomass plant in Georgetown, South Carolina faces renewed opposition. Meanwhile: red tape is disadvantaging Canadian wood preservers; the EU is imposing anti-dumping duties on Chinese plywood; and Norway will host the International Softwood Conference in October.
In Forestry/Wildfire news: Canada’s wildfire season is off to an intense start; six Alberta forest areas are at extreme fire risk; BC expands its camera network to monitor wildfires; Powell River, BC approves pro-forestry UBCM resolution; Nebraska prof chairs international panel on forest resilience; New Zealand is sued over its forest-centric emission reduction plan; and the case for more forest measurement in Sweden.
Finally, the rise of artificial intelligence creates opportunities & challenges for home builders.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News Editor
SLAVE LAKE, Alberta — On Saturday, May 24, West Fraser’s Slave Lake Veneer plant celebrated its 50th anniversary with the community of Slave Lake. Several hundred community members, elected officials, Indigenous leaders, employees and retirees joined the company for a day of festivities, including lunch, bouncy castles, face painting and an opportunity to learn more about the history of Slave Lake Veneer’s operations. These directly employ 150 local residents, mostly in the mill, but also in the woodlands department, as well hundreds of more with contractors that supply the operation. …West Fraser acquired Slave Lake Veneer in 1999, as part of its acquisition of Zeidler Forest Products. At the time, the mill operated as both a veneer plant and a stud mill. In 2016, all lumber production was transferred to the newly-acquired sawmill in High Prairie. Today, veneer output is almost 13 times higher than when the plant opened in 1973.
CHEMAINUS, BC — Fifty-five workers are scheduled to be laid off after a shortage of viable logs has forced production at the Chemainus Sawmill starting this month. According to North Cowichan mayor Rob Douglas, Western Forest Products has informed the municipality they intend to start curtailment of the jobs on Jun. 18. “The company has indicated the reason for the shutdown is due to their inability to find a viable supply of fiber,” Douglas says. “We don’t have a date as to when Western Forest Products is going to resume operations at the Chemainus Mill, but we hope it’s very short term.” …“I have reached out to the forest minister (Ravi Parmar),” he says. …Delays in permits and cutting fiber is a long-standing issue in BC, which has led to shutdowns and impacting production, but Douglas says he has been reassured by Parmar that the province is addressing the issue.
The EU has imposed anti-dumping duties on Chinese plywood imports, just a few days after Beijing tried to ease trade tensions between the two. The provisional levies of up to 62.4% follow a surge in imports of hardwood plywood over the past three years that had damaged domestic producers, the European Commission said. The Greenwood Consortium of EU producers, which brought a complaint against Chinese competitors last year, said it welcomed the move but argued for “definitive duties to be even higher than these provisional levels” when the commission makes a final decision later this year. Brussels has also taken the unusual step of monitoring imports of softwood plywood, which is not subject to duties, after allegations that Chinese exporters were disguising hardwood products in anticipation of the levies. …“The alleged practice consisted of placing very thin outer layers of softwood veneer on top of the hardwood plywood face veneer. 
WASHINGTON, DC – Fannie Mae published the results of its May 2025 National Housing Survey® (NHS), which includes the 
SACRAMENTO, California — There is already a crisis of available and affordable housing in America. But now, political uncertainty and economic volatility could make home buying even less attainable. …The proposed Trump tariffs on building materials are creating financial volatility that could send housing prices up significantly. Since his announcement of widespread tariffs on April 2, the additional costs imposed on imported lumber, gypsum, aluminum, electronics and other related materials delayed the nation’s housing starts in April, according to NAHB. …“More tariffs equal more anxiety and uncertainty for American businesses and consumers,” said David French, at the National Retail Federation. “Tariffs are a tax paid by the U.S. importer that will be passed along to the end consumer. …One of the largest material costs for housing construction is lumber, and the largest amounts are imported into the US from Canada.
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND — The International Sustainable Forestry Coalition (ISFC) welcomes the release by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) of its new Standard covering the way greenhouse gas accounting should be applied to wood and wood-based products. Until the publication of this Standard, there had not been an internationally agreed upon accounting approach for biogenic carbon emissions and removals – an important piece of the puzzle to support corporate climate action and reach global net zero targets. The new series is ISO 13391 Wood and wood-based products — Greenhouse gas dynamics, and covers all essential components of carbon accounting for the sector: carbon in forests, carbon in harvested wood products and potential greenhouse gas emissions avoided through the use of wood-based products instead of fossil-based products.
Canada’s wildfire season has had an early and intense start, with states of emergency declared in Saskatchewan and Manitoba and forecasts warning of severe conditions across central and eastern Canada. Wildfire smoke is already crossing borders, affecting millions. In this Q&A, wildfire experts Dr. Lori Daniels and Dr. Mathieu Bourbonnais, co-directors of the 
SWEDEN — To combat the growing risks from unsustainable business practices, governments and regulators worldwide require corporates to bring greater transparency and reporting to their sustainability impact. When comes to reporting, however, arguably, not all industries are the same. Forests are key to addressing both climate change and biodiversity loss, two of the most urgent challenges for the global community. …If reporting (and other) regulations are to encourage forestry organizations, and their stakeholders, to make more sustainable choices, more needs to be done to increase understanding of the specific sustainability impacts of the industry. Three key areas should be addressed: reporting models, underlying data, and success cases. …An evolving regulatory environment with potential broad implications for forest companies combined with a fragmented reporting landscape diminishes the useability of information for stakeholders as a steering tool. 
GEORGETOWN, South Carolina — Over 650 Georgetown residents have signed a petition opposing a proposed biomass plant at the site of the International Paper mill that closed last year. The group Citizens for Georgetown says it is working to revitalize the town’s waterfront through “thoughtful redevelopment.” 653 people are opposing the plant that would generate energy for Santee Cooper from tree waste. …Citizens for Georgetown Chairman Tom Swatzel. “Now, we face a critical choice: leave decades of pollution in the land and water, continue with heavy industry OR clean up the site and reimagine these properties into a vibrant, sustainable future that benefits all residents.” …State Sen. Stephen Goldfinch expressed cautious optimism over the proposed plant, saying that it could involve an investment of nearly $4 billion and create new jobs.
Hundreds of top environment lawyers are suing the New Zealand government over what they say is its “dangerously inadequate” plan to reduce emissions to net zero by 2050. It is the first time the country’s emissions reduction plan has faced litigation, and the lawyers believe it is the first case globally that challenges the use of forestry to offset emissions. …two groups representing more than 300 lawyers filed judicial review proceedings against the government in Wellington’s high court on Tuesday. The groups … claim … the government has abandoned dozens of tools to tackle emissions, failed to adequately consult the public, and too heavily relies on high-risk carbon capture strategies such as forestry. …They claim that the government is relying on “high risk” methods such as planting hundreds of thousands of hectares of introduced pine trees to offset emissions, and capturing carbon underground, with few alternatives to fall back on if something goes wrong.
With warmer, drier conditions expected to increase across B.C., people are advised to stay prepared for climate-related emergencies. …People are encouraged to prepare grab-and-go bags, create an emergency and evacuation plan, create an Emergency Support Services profile through their B.C. Services Card app and ensure they have renter’s or homeowner’s insurance for their property. …Warm and dry conditions are expected throughout the province this month, and with that comes an elevated risk of wildfire. Northeastern B.C. is continuing to experience prolonged drought and is expected to remain at high risk for wildfire this summer. …In addition to wildfire risk, the Province is also closely monitoring key indicators of drought risk, including snowpack. 
Smoke from wildfires in northern Alberta and northeastern B.C. reached Calgary this weekend, resulting in poor air quality in the city through the weekend and into Monday morning. Fire bans remain in effect for a large part of Alberta, including in all of Rocky View County, as six of the province’s forest areas are considered to be at extreme wildfire risk. An evacuation order for parts of the County of Grande Prairie was expanded again late Saturday after the Kiskatinaw River wildfire in B.C. crossed into Alberta Friday afternoon. …As of Monday night, there were 60 fires burning in the province, with 23 of them classified as out of control. More than 615,000 hectares have burned in Alberta so far in 2025. Fire personnel and aircraft from British Columbia, Yukon, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Washington State, Oregon and Idaho have arrived in Alberta to assist with battling out-of-control blazes.
In response to the Dryden Creek fire, as this wildfire is called, Squamish Fire Rescue said in a post late Monday night that the District’s emergency response team is working out of the Emergency Operations Centre, located at Fire Hall 1 in Valleycliffe. The out of control fire is located above the eastern end of Depot Road, in the north end of Squamish. It said the BC Wildfire Service has “actively and aggressively” attacked the wildfire thus far by air and with ground crews and would continue to late into the night, and will begin again early this morning. Aerial attack will also resume early Tuesday morning, the post said. Late last night the District of Squamish issued evacuation alerts to those living in properties at the east end of Depot Road, east of Highway 99 including the campground Mountain Fun Basecamp and at the end of Tantalus Road.
KITTITAS COUNTY, Wash. — The US Forest Service has taken command of the 60-acre Red Bridge Fire burning about 7 miles east of Cle Elum. Level 3 evacuations were issued for those nearby. A Level 3 evacuation means residents should “go now” or leave immediately. A Level 2 evacuation means there is significant danger in the area; be ready to go or voluntarily evacuate. Level 1 means there is danger in the area. Residents should plan escape routes, but evacuations are voluntary, according to the Washington Smoke Blog. The Red Bridge Fire started on June 9, 2025, at approximately 3:57 p.m. As of 8 p.m., the fire is estimated at 60 acres and growing, according to the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR).