Canada-US lumber trade is at a crossroads—Robert McKellar warns protectionism is not a passing phase; and Andrew Miller declares this is America’s market. In related news: BC Premier Eby rules out retaliatory action; Minister Ravi Parmar says BC’s workers deserve treatment equal to Ontario; Ikea plans to boost its US production; and Interfor’s curtailment hits home in Adams Lake, BC and Ear Falls, Ontario. Meanwhile: Kapuskasing Paper resumes operation with federal and provincial support; 9Wood lays off 9% its workforce in Springfield, Oregon; BMI completes purchase of the Espanola mill; and the US building material dealers elect Frank Addiego as Chair.
In other news: President Trump and the Softwood Lumber Board celebrate National Forest Products Week; and Domtar’s Kingsport mill is recognized by the National Recycling Coalition. Meanwhile: Michelle Gray highlights the University of New Brunswick’s new approaches in digital forestry and forest resilience; and more on the Wildfire Resilience Consortium at Thompson Rivers University.
Finally, tomorrow, Dr. Barry Cooke will discuss the history of debate on budworms—a BC Forest History Association online seminar.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News Editor
It’s been a tough year for the lumber trade. With US housing starts unusually low, demand and prices for lumber are down — even as trade costs, especially for Canadian producers, keep rising. …The president’s goal is straightforward: to bolster the domestic lumber industry — a move U.S. producers welcome. “This is our market. America first, baby,” says Andrew Miller, chair of the US Lumber Coalition. “I don’t think Canadians get that through their thick head. This is America, not Canada. There’s nothing that obligates us to take dumped subsidized product at the expense of US producers.” …Free market advocates see it differently: They say tariffs hurt consumers and that the added costs will eventually be passed through in the form of higher prices. They also doubt the U.S. lumber sector can replace Canadian boards in a timely fashion. …Even Miller said using national security as a reason was merely a “sideshow.”
Ikea is increasing the amount of products it makes in the US as the world’s largest home furnishings retailer comes under pressure from US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on furniture and kitchen cabinets. The flat-pack retailer, which made revenues of $5.5bn in the US last year, currently produces only about 15% of products that it sells in the US domestically. That compares with 75% local production in Europe and 80% in Asia. “We want to continue to expand in the US and Canada — how do we optimise a good supply set-up where we secure the right access to materials, to components, to production? That’s very long-term work that we’re doing,” Jon Abrahamsson Ring, chief executive of Inter Ikea. Trump imposed tariffs of between 10% and 50% on imports of foreign furniture and wood products. Ikea, which is responsible for about 1% of total industrial production, is set to take a significant hit. 
At the recent 2025 Vancouver Regional Construction Association (VRCA) 
Canada’s vast forests are the envy of much of the world, but they’ve seen brighter days. Our changing climate has beckoned wilder wildfires, disease and drought. And after decades of cutting big and fast to maximize profits, the country’s logging industry is in freefall. But there’s opportunity in crisis — or that’s the bet some First Nations in British Columbia are making. …“Now we’re dealing with a lot of scrub in that corner that we didn’t get to before,” Garry Merkel, a professional forester and a member of the Tahltan Nation. …In Manitoba, the forestry industry watched this summer as profits went up in smoke. Devastating fires burned more forest in logging areas than any year in recorded wildfire history, according to an analysis by Manitoba reporter Julia-Simone Rutgers. And forestry companies are “scared to death,” said.
The BC Forest History Association is pleased to welcome Dr. Barry Cooke, Research Scientist with the Canadian Forest Service, as our second speaker of 2025. Dr. Cooke is one of Canada’s leading experts on modeling insect outbreak processes and patterns, with more than 30 years of experience studying spruce budworm population dynamics and forest insect ecology. He has authored over 90 scientific publications, advancing our understanding of budworms, beetles, and other major forest pests through spatial simulation modeling. Join us for this free online presentation, “A History of Debate on Budworms: A BC Perspective.” Tuesday, October 21st 2025 – 7:00 to 8:00 PST :quality(65))
Atlantic Canada’s wildfires are growing and a scientist at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) says the combination of climate change and regional forest management are making things worse. Anthony Taylor is a forestry expert at the UNB. He studies the impact of climate change and forest composition. “We should expect more weather like this into the future,” Taylor said. “That’s largely a consequence of inaction on climate change over the past 20 or 30 years.” Taylor said the weather and drought conditions in the Maritimes can be blamed on the climate change already baked into the system and people should expect more warming in coming decades. He said weather impacts wildfires more than any other variable but the next biggest factor is ignition. “More than 90 per cent of our fires that do occur, including this year, are from human ignition,” Taylor said. “Obviously we want to try to reduce and stop climate change but the next best thing after that is to be fire smart around the woods.”
SWEDEN — Ingka Investments, the investment arm of Ingka Group (the largest IKEA retailer), has agreed to acquire approximately 153,000 hectares of land in Latvia and Estonia, of which 89% are forestland, from Södra, Sweden’s largest forest owners’ association. Completion is subject to approval by the relevant regulatory authorities. “Our unique ownership structure allows us to invest with a long-term perspective rather than short-term quarterly thinking.” …As the world’s largest IKEA retailer, Ingka Group operates in 31 markets and represents 87% of global IKEA sales. …Niks Sauva, Country Manager, Ingka Investments Latvia, continued: “We’re committed to creating more value locally in the Baltics. Our goal is to increase the share of wood processed regionally to strengthen the Baltic forestry value chain.” …Completion is subject to approval by the relevant authorities in Latvia and Estonia.
As the planet heats up, we need to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. …‘nature-based climate solutions’ are human interventions that utilize natural processes to draw down carbon from the atmosphere. According to William Anderegg, director of the Wilkes Center for Climate Science and Policy at the University of Utah, planting forests is an especially promising option. “The central opportunity here is that we can leverage nature,” Anderegg says, “and forests globally have pretty large potential to help with climate change mitigation.” [However], Anderegg says …there are many problems with the programs that seek to plant forests as a climate solution. 