Interfor is selling its two Quebec sawmills and one reman plant to Chantiers Chibougamau. In related news: International Paper is cutting 650 jobs; True Value hardware is selling to Do It Best; Drax is found to have burnt wood from old forests; and Canfor Pulp appoints Stephen Mackie as its new President and CEO. Meanwhile: Canadian housing starts rose 5% in September; BC’s manufacturing is nearing crisis levels; and if elected, BC Conservatives’ plan to return 20% of BC’s forests to First Nations.
In Forestry/Climate news: despite pushback—Europe is fast tracking its Deforestation Regulation delay; the American Forest Foundation will auction carbon credits for family forests; Oregon plans to put Elliot State Forest in a carbon market; and Brazil engages Indigenous communities on carbon offsets. Meanwhile: the Canadian Forest Service is celebrating its 125th B-day; and resilience and renewal stood out at Alberta Forest Products Association’s 82nd AGM.
Finally, the biophilic properties of wood are reaching Space Station design levels.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
BURNABY, British Columbia — Interfor Corporation announced plans to exit its operations in Québec, Canada, including the sale of its three manufacturing facilities and the closure of its Montréal corporate office. This strategic initiative will support a focus on the areas of highest future potential across the remainder of the Company. As part of the exit plan, Interfor announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its sawmills in Val-d’Or and Matagami as well as its Sullivan remanufacturing plant in Val-d’Or, along with all associated forestry and business operations, to Chantiers Chibougamau Ltée, a long- standing, privately-held, Québec-based forestry company. …Interfor intends to permanently close its corporate office in Montréal, allowing for the full realization of synergies associated with the Company’s EACOM Timber Corporation acquisition announced in November 2021. Interfor will continue to own and operate its five sawmills and one I-Joist EWP facility in Ontario and its two sawmills and woodlands management business in New Brunswick.
SAULT STE. MARIE – The governments of Ontario and Canada are investing $64 million to strengthen the province’s wildland fire program. The funding program will enhance Ontario’s firefighting abilities, allowing the province to hire and train key personnel and fund the purchase of new support equipment and technology, including fuel systems, tankers, trucks and software systems. “Our government is making critical investments in our wildland fire program – on the ground and in the air – to keep Ontario at the leading edge of wildland firefighting,” said Graydon Smith, Minister of Natural Resources. “As an internationally recognized leader in wildland fire safety, we are preparing for more frequent and complex fire seasons to protect our communities now and in the future.”
The Canadian Forest Service is celebrating its 125th anniversary this week. Scientists and other experts at the Great Lakes Forestry Centre invite everyone to celebrate the milestone at their “Branches of Time” event on Oct. 17 from 5:00pm-8:30pm, at the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre. The family event includes the opportunity to learn more about the unique history of the Canadian Forest Service, and the work taking place at the Great Lakes Forestry Centre. That work focuses on forest pests, climate change, forest fires, and forest ecosystems – all to better understand our Canadian forests. 
On 10 October 2024, the European Parliament’s (EP) Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee (ENVI) fast-tracked the European Commission’s (EC) 
The American Forest Foundation (AFF) will launch a carbon credit auction for its Family Forest Carbon Program in February 2025. The American Forest Foundation Carbon Auction offers companies a transparent, efficient pathway to secure high-quality carbon credits while supporting family forest owners and rural communities. The auction aims to address a critical funding gap by providing upfront capital essential for scaling nature-based climate solutions. With AFF estimating that just 1.2% of nature-based solutions’ potential is currently being utilised, this auction model enables corporations to make partial upfront payments tied to project milestones, such as land enrolment and carbon verification. …This hybrid payment model offers an alternative to traditional carbon credit purchases that require payment upon delivery. By allowing partial payments upfront, the auction removes barriers to funding, links financial commitments to measurable outcomes, and offers participants early investment discounts, thus securing competitive credit prices and supporting long-term decarbonisation strategies.
SEATTLE — A groundbreaking law that forces companies in Washington state to reduce their carbon emissions while raising billions of dollars for climate programs could be repealed by voters this fall, less than two years after it took effect. The Climate Commitment Act is under fire from conservatives, who say it has ramped up energy and gas costs in Washington, which has long had some of the highest gas prices in the nation. The law aims to slash emissions to almost half of 1990 levels by the year 2030. It requires businesses producing at least 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide, or the equivalent in other greenhouse gases including methane, to pay for the right to do so by buying “allowances.” …Many programs already are or will soon be funded by money from polluting companies, including projects on air quality, fish habitat, wildfire prevention and clean energy.
Drax found that it was “highly likely” to have burnt wood sourced from old forest areas in Canada deemed to be environmentally important, according to internal emails, as the UK’s biggest biomass power station operator battled to maintain its green credentials. The wood received by pellet plants owned by Drax from its suppliers in British Columbia was traced to areas local authorities classed as ecologically significant, as well as “high-risk” private land. While the material was not illegal to use, many environmental experts said old-growth woods and forests should be protected given their ecological benefits, including absorbing and storing atmospheric carbon for centuries. A lengthy investigation by Ofgem into its reporting concluded recently after the UK regulator cleared it of a deliberate breach, and Drax agreed to pay a penalty of £25mn into a voluntary scheme for failing to record adequate data about the wood it imported.
BRASILIA – The government of the Brazilian state of Para in the Amazon will consult Indigenous communities on how they will benefit from the future sale of carbon offset credits that U.S. companies have agreed to buy to try to protect the rainforest. In a statement, the Para government’s environmental secretariat Semas said it “will begin a new phase of dialogue” with Indigenous peoples and other traditional communities in the rainforest. Scientists say preserving the Amazon rainforest is vital to combating global warming. Amazon.com Inc, and a group of companies agreed last month in New York to buy carbon credits in a deal valued at $180 million through the LEAF Coalition conservation initiative, which it helped set up in 2021 with other firms and governments, including the United States and United Kingdom. …But last week, 38 Indigenous and community organizations signed a public letter saying they had not been consulted properly.