Daily News for September 05, 2025

Today’s Takeaway

Lumber futures rise on Interfor curtailment news

The Tree Frog Forestry News
September 5, 2025
Category: Today's Takeaway

Lumber futures, which have tumbled more than 20%, bounced back after Interfor announced a 12% output cut. In other Business news: Prime Minister Carney’s decision to lift tariffs on most US goods is debated as Carney hinted at progress with Trump call; COFI’s Kim Haakstad says increased US duties are a “blow to an industry in trouble”; Hood Industries is investing in a new Mississippi sawmill; and Vietnam’s wood exporters are recalibrating their trade strategies. Meanwhile, the US Endowment’s Peter Madden opines on how biomass can revitalize US forests; and  Canada’s housing starts are near record highs, except in Ontario.

In Forestry and Wildfire news: drought may dull Canada’s fall colours; BC’s late-season wildfires remain a serious issue; a BC logger is fighting to recover his timber licence deposit; the USDA’s new wildfire-risk funding targets North Carolina; an analysis finds most tropical forestry firms are not ready for the EU’s deforestation-free rules; and wildfire updates include the Mine Creek fire shutting BC’s Coquihalla highway, the Root Fire in California, and blazes in New Jersey.

Finally, California is piloting “BurnBot,” a remote-controlled machine that carves out fire breaks.

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News Editor

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Business & Politics

Lumber Prices Buoyed by Big Sawmill Curtailment

By Ryan Dezember
The Wall Street Journal
September 4, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Lumber prices that have dropped more than 20% over the past month are prompting one of North America’s largest producers to throttle back output by 12%. Interfor said Thursday that it would reduce hours and reconfigure shifts as well as lengthen holiday breaks and maintenance shutdowns at its mills in Canada and the US to reduce output by about 145 million board feet through year-end. Lumber futures, which had fallen 18 of the past 22 trading sessions rose in response. …Interfor, which has headquarters in BC, is among the big Canadian sawyers that have shifted operations into the US as duties and diminished log availability have put sawmills out of the money back home. About 50% of Interfor’s capacity these days is in the US South. Another 12% is Washington and Oregon, where mills compete fiercely with Canadian rivals to sell the same species of wood. [to access the full story a WSJ subscription is required]

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Mark Carney lifted some tariffs against the U.S. Was that a wise tactical move, or a bad blunder?

By Nargess Kayhani, Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax
The Conversation
September 4, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada

Trade disputes between the United States and Canada are nothing new.  What began as two neighbouring countries seeking to expand their markets and assert economic sovereignty has evolved into a broad range of conflicts. These historical trade disputes have included accusations of unfair subsidies, protectionist tariffs, and, more recently, concerns over national security, fentanyl and border security. Softwood lumber, one of the most important items on the list of Canadian exports to the U.S., has been consistently under attack by different American administrations. …Though some might call it weakness, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recent move to lift the retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods covered under CUSMA, while retaining tariffs on auto, steel and aluminum, is arguably a wise strategy. The end goal is to minimize economic damage to Canada. According to Carney, this tariff removal on about 85 per cent of Canada-U.S. trade is consistent with the commitment under CUSMA.

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Carney says there’s hope for trade deals with U.S. but ‘don’t expect white smoke’

By Kyle Duggan
The Canadian Press in Business in Vancouver
September 4, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Marc Carney

Canada is making progress on “small” tariff deals with the US for key sectors, Prime Minister Mark Carney said after revealing he’d had a recent phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump. Carney said he spoke with Trump “at length” Monday on a wide range of issues, including trade, geopolitics and employment. He described it as a “good conversation” but also warned there is no guarantee Ottawa will secure any of the deals under discussion as the Trump administration works to squeeze the Canadian economy to obtain trade concessions. …While Carney did not specify which key sectors are the subjects of trade talks, the sectors targeted by US tariffs include steel, aluminum, forestry products and automobiles. …Carney’s cabinet met behind closed doors Wednesday at a Toronto hotel — part of its preparations for the upcoming fall sitting of Parliament and for continuing negotiations with the Americans on tariffs. 

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Conversations That Matter: British Columbia Forestry on its Knees

By Stuart McNish, Conversations That Matter
Vancouver Sun in You Tube
September 5, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Independent of Trump’s tariffs, the US Department of Commerce increased its duty on Canadian softwood lumber from 14 to 35 percent. Kim Haakstad, the President of the BC Council of Forest Industries, says, “It’s a blow to an industry in trouble.” The war in the woods in the early 1990s led to the Forest Practices Code, which led to ongoing changes in legislation that hampered the industry and has seen more than 40,000 jobs disappear. The reasons the forestry sector is on its knees have more to do with regulations and approval processes that undermine the economics of forestry.

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Hood Industries expanding operations in Waynesboro

Mississippi Development Authority
September 3, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

JACKSON, Mississippi –Hood Industries is expanding its sawmill operations in Wayne County. The project is a $245 million corporate investment. The company’s strategic expansion involves the construction of a new advanced sawmill in Waynesboro. The mill will be built in multiple phases on a site adjacent to the company’s existing mill. Mississippi Development Authority is providing assistance through the Mississippi Flexible Tax Incentive program. MDA also is providing assistance for road and infrastructure improvements. Wayne County and AccelerateMS are assisting with the expansion, as well. …Hood Industries has been manufacturing wood products in Mississippi for nearly over 40 years. The company currently operates three southern yellow pine sawmills, including two in Mississippi. The new Waynesboro mill is expected to be complete by October 2026.

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US trade policy uncertainty prompts Vietnam to recalibrate export strategy

The Voice of Vietnam
September 4, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

Wood production, processing, and export is one of Vietnam’s key industries, but it is currently facing a direct impact from trade competition and tariff barriers. …In early August 2025, the US imposed reciprocal duties of 20% on Vietnamese imports, and the figure could rise to 40% if illegal transshipment is detected. …“These moves are creating prolonged uncertainty for the wood processing industry,” Phuong says. “Although Vietnam’s wood exports grew by 8% in the first seven months of 2025, the risks remain high. The ability to control domestic raw material supply will be a decisive factor in maintaining Vietnam’s status as a sustainable source in the global market.” …Nguyen Chanh Phuong emphasises that despite the shifting policies, the US is the top market and is more stable than others. To mitigate risks, he stresses the need to expand into new export markets, diversify raw material sources, and produce more value-added products.

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Finance & Economics

Most of Canada is experiencing a new homes boom

By Joel Schlesinger
The Calgary Herald
September 4, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada

Canada’s new homes market is booming with near record housing starts — with one exception, Ontario. RBC Economics recently published a study on new home starts in Canada, leveraging new data from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. from late August. The report found that while activity across Canada has increased to 200,000 annualized starts (seasonally adjusted) this year, up from a five-year low of about 140,000 starts in May 2023, construction in Ontario has gone in the opposite direction. Despite being Canada’s largest market, including for new homes construction, Ontario has seen housing starts decline this year to about 63,000 annualized as of July. What’s more, activity has now declined about 40 per cent from record levels at the end of 2022, when the province had an annualized rate of nearly 106,000 starts. RBC noted the decline is troubling for the nation’s overall housing market, which lacks affordable housing for buyers and renters.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

BPWood brings first ignition-resistant Saferwood ThermoWood to North American market

By BPWood
The LBM Journal
September 4, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada West

BPWood, in partnership with SaferWood Thermex-FR, has announced its ThermoWood Ayous and ThermoWood Nordic Pine successfully passed independent third-party testing to achieve Class A ignition-resistant status per ASTM E2768 (E84 30-minutes) after ASTM D2898 accelerated weathering; the first available in North America. BPWood supplies ThermoWood to North America in partnership with LDCwood, a member of the International ThermoWood Association. SaferWood with Thermex-FR by Chemco, Inc., is a one-time permanent fire-retardant pressure treatment to all surfaces as required by IBC 2303.2, which renders natural and thermally modified wood ignition-resistant. Approved for exterior use, per IWUIC 503.2, in residential and commercial design and construction, in all WUI designated and FHSV zones.

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Forestry

Drought across Canada could lead to duller fall colours, Ontario biologist says

By Jordan Omstead
Canadian Press in CBC News
September 4, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

Professor Susan Dudley at McMaster University in Ontario says drought-stricken parts of Canada could be in for some underwhelming fall foliage if stressed trees lose out on the energy needed to generate some of the season’s most brilliant colours. Dudley says trees in dried out parts of the country could see their leaves die off rather than turn red. As the days shorten, green chlorophyll in tree leaves starts to break down and reveals the yellow and orange pigments underneath. Yet Dudley says some trees, such as maple, oak and sumac, synthesize a pigment in the autumn responsible for turning their leaves into the reds and purples associated with the most brilliant foliage. If a tree is too stressed … the leaves may die off before that new pigment can fully develop and give off its most vibrant colour, leaving brown leaves associated with rapid stress-induced death…

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B.C.’s late-season wildfires a serious issue, minister says, as smoke descends

By Brenna Owen
The Canadian Press in Victoria Times Colonist
September 4, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

©BCWildfireService

Drought, heat and lightning have spurred late-season wildfire activity in British Columbia, with the forests minister saying the risk of new starts and growth remains a “serious issue” and there is no relief in the short-term forecast. Ravi Parmar said the heat is expected to persist through the weekend, with temperatures reaching 10 C above seasonal in some areas. There is no significant rain in the forecast for the coming days, and another bout of lightning strikes is expected along B.C.’s coast later this week, he said. …There are about 150 active wildfires across B.C., with close to 60 classified as burning out of control. There were eight fires burning on Vancouver Island as of Wednesday night, including one discovered earlier in the day west of Parksville and just east of the Wesley Ridge fire. Four of the fires were considered under control and the others were being held.

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BC logger fighting provincial government for return of $180,000 timber sale licence deposit

By David Carrigg
The Vancouver Sun
September 4, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

A BC logger is fighting for the return of a $180,000 deposit he paid to the provincial government to access a timber lot that he did not harvest for lack of demand. In 2023, Bill Bosovich struck a deal with BC Timber Sales to log 116 hectares of forest between Osoyoos and Midway. …Bosovich promised to pay the government at least $1.7 million for the wood he would harvest, and put down a cash deposit of $176,700 to cover any contingencies. However, before any logging had occurred and as wood prices fell, Bosovich learned that the four major log buyers in the area were not interested in his wood. …Bosovich let BC Timber Sales know he could not find buyers and was offered a 12-month extension, but only if he committed to paying a further $83,000 deposit. …Bosovich did not want to extend the licence. …BC Timber Sales’ Allan Powelson responded that the government would be keeping his money.

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A ‘Roomba for the forest’ could be SoCal’s next wildfire weapon

By Noah Haggerty
The Los Angeles Times
September 5, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

CALIFORNIA — The giant, remote-controlled vehicle — somewhere between a tractor trailer, a tank and a Zamboni in appearance — slowly rolled across the dry, brittle grass growing between the tangle of freeways making up the 101 and 23 interchange in Thousand Oaks. Inside the beast, fire churned. And as it rolled over the land, that fire incinerated any brush it encountered, leaving only a thin smoke cloud billowing from the top of the machine, some flashes of orange and red from behind its metal skirt and, in its wake, a desolate, smoldering black line. BurnBot isn’t the fastest way to rid a landscape of dangerously flammable vegetation (it tops out at around 0.5 mph) but it can do something that traditional vegetation management techniques cannot: with almost surgical precision, it can kill the flammable brush sitting within feet of homes and highways with virtually no safety risks or disruptions to daily life.

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North Carolina to be home to new USDA forest project

By Katherine Zehnder
The Carolina Journal
September 5, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: US East

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it would invest more than $8 million in five new projects, including one in North Carolina. These projects will improve forest health by reducing wildfire risk and improving water quality. …North Carolina has two primary wildfire seasons, one in the spring and one in the fall. …The five new projects include efforts across several states to restore and protect essential landscapes. The National Forest is launching the “Alabama Chattahoochee Fall Line Restoring Longleaf” project in Alabama. Colorado and Wyoming will see work in the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest through the “Headwaters of the Colorado” initiative. Montana’s Lolo National Forest is beginning the “Blackfoot River Valley Landscape Mosaic” project, while North Carolina’s National Forests are moving forward with “Uwharries to Sandhills, Phase 2.” Finally, Oregon’s Mt. Hood National Forest will focus on “Hood River Wildfire and Watershed Resilience.”

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Global forestry companies not ready for EUDR, analysis finds

By Joshua Neil
The Edie Network
September 5, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

UK — The majority of leading tropical forestry companies do not disclose where their materials come from, meaning they will fail to comply with the EU’s forthcoming Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR). The Zoological Society of London’s (ZSL) latest assessment found that only 18% of the world’s largest 100 tropical forestry companies disclose the countries from which they source. Additionally, only 4% state the percentage of their supply that is traceable to the forest management unit level. The assessment additionally found that none of the companies studied have published georeferenced maps for third-party FMUs, with only 3% reporting on how much of their supply is verified deforestation-free. Without clarity around sourcing and supply, companies are unable to prove responsible sourcing to stakeholders. Given that the timber and pulp industry is worth $480bn a year, ZSL said, small traceability failures can put billions of market value at risk.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

From Mill Closures to Energy Innovation: How Biomass Can Revitalize U.S. Forests

By Peter Madden, President and CEO
US Endowment for Forestry and Communities in LinkedIn
September 3, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

Peter Madden

When International Paper announced recently that it is closing its Savannah and Riceboro mills at the end of September, it sent shockwaves through Coastal Georgia, stripping away an estimated 1,100 jobs, disrupting supply chains and underscoring a larger truth—the pulp and paper industry that has long defined the South is in steep decline. And this is not just a Georgia story. Nearly 50 mills have closed nationwide during the past decade, dismantling infrastructure and supply chains that cannot easily be rebuilt. In the past three years alone, major facilities have shut down in Charleston and Georgetown, SC, Orange, TX, Campti, LA, Cedar Springs, GA and Chillicothe, OH. Much of the decline reflects broader shifts in demand for certain paper products… So, what if the byproducts of our forests, once used to make paper, were redirected to meet the very energy needs created by the decline of certain paper products? Biomass energy offers that pathway. 

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Forest Fires

Mine Creek wildfire grows to 1,900 hectares, crosses Coquihalla Highway

By Aaron Schulze
CFJC Today Kamloops
September 4, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

©Facebook

KAMLOOPS — The BC Wildfire Service is warning of a dynamic situation on the Mine Creek wildfire burning along the Coquihalla Highway north of Hope. As of Thursday (Sept. 4) morning, the Mine Creek wildfire is measured at around 1,900 hectares in size, and its nearly quadrupled from the last update of 483 hectares. Taylor Stewart-Shantz, a fire information officer in the Kamloops Fire Centre, said most of the fire’s growth was to the east. Due to “flowing burning pieces,” the Mine Creek wildfire crossed the stretch of Highway 5. The wildfire service currently has one initial attack crew and four helicopters on site although additional resources will flown in throughout the day. “The flanks of the fire are in very steep, rocky terrain and are difficult to address,” Stewart-Shantz told CFJC Today. 

Related content:

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Crews make gains on Root Fire, sparked by campfire that escaped control in Shasta-Trinity

By Jessica Skropanic
Redding Record Searchlight
September 4, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: US West

©USForestService

A campfire that escaped control in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest is being blamed for starting the Root Fire that erupted on Labor Day and ballooned to 759 acres west of Castella, prompting evacuations in the area. Flames jumped beyond the campfire’s perimeter about 3 miles west of Interstate 5 at Castella. The fire was reported on Sept. 1 and quickly spread through dry grass and trees… Forest service officials did not release any other information about the incident, which occurred just over two weeks after they activated fire restrictions at Shasta-Trinity due to the hot and dry conditions. Crews attacked the fire from the air and made strong gains. As of Thursday, firefighters had built containment lines around 45% of the fire, up from zero on Wednesday morning. Firefighters expressed hope that several days of cooler weather will help calm Root and other fires, and stop them from spreading through extremely dry forestland.

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Crews make progress battling sprawling New Jersey wildfire

By Pat Battle and Jennifer Millman
NBC New York
September 4, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US East

©Facebook

Authorities are making progress as they battle a wildfire that broke out in New Jersey’s Passaic County earlier this week, chewing through 160 acres in a matter of hours as firefighters fought to douse the flames. New Jersey’s Forest Fire Service said Thursday that the so-called Buckabear Wildfire in West Milford Township was 50% contained, a marked improvement from their announcement the previous evening. The 160-acre fire hadn’t grown, acre-wise anyway, since the last announcement either. As of Thursday, no evacuations had been ordered and no structures are threatened. …Firefighting efforts intensified in earnest Wednesday, with a state Forest Fire helicopter dumping water onto the remote wooded area to halt the spread. Deep inside the forest, other crews were armed with shovels, garden hoes and specialized ignition devices — deliberately igniting the dry brush on fire in a controlled burn, They literally fought fire with fire.

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Forest History & Archives

Forestry and logging museum seeking potential property in Nevada County, California

By Jennifer Nobles
The Union
September 4, 2025
Category: Forest History & Archives
Region: United States, US West

CALIFORNIA — There’s a new museum proposed for Nevada County, this time focusing on the timber, logging, and forestry industries that have put the area on the map aside from the more well-known Gold Rush. A group—including Nevada County Historical Society, forester Robert Ingram, Economic Development Director Kimberly Parker, Tim Robinson, Landon Haack of Cal Fire, and author Cindi Anderson—have been meeting up for over a year now to ensure the history of timber in Nevada County will not be forgotten. …Anderson said the purpose of the museum is to preserve the culture and pay homage to the many forest men and women, as well as educate and preserve the past and encourage the future for our forests and to be involved in the future of the industry. …Stroh added: “This is going to be probably the biggest timber museum in the western United States.

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