West Fraser announced that it will close its sawmill in Maxville, Florida and curtail its Huttig, Arkansas mill. In related news: Hampton Lumber’s Banks Oregon mill will remain shuttered; Rayonier AM awaits approval on Florida bioethanol plant; Montana’s R-Y Timber is rescued by Sun Mountain Lumber; and Wisconsin fines Tigerton Lumber for safety risks.
In Forestry/Climate news: a push to protect Quebec’s old-growth forests; the American Hardwood Export Council assesses risks related to EU’s new deforestation regulation; how current are US wildfire risk maps; and Oregon timber companies linked to wildfire protection cost proposal.
Finally, common sense prevails as Australia judge rejects call to ban logging in native forests.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
There’s still time to join us for the 79th annual Convention & Trade Show. With BC’s escalating wildfire frequency in recent years, it is imperative to ask if we can be doing better at risk mitigating and identify the requirements to make that happen. Our panel on January 17 brings together three experts in the field to share their knowledge and experience. Moderated by Vaughn Palmer – a well known BC journalist and subject expert in forestry – this panel will not disappoint! Join our panelists as they explore proactive risk mitigation and chart the path to a safer future!
VANCOUVER, B.C. – West Fraser Timber announced that it will close its sawmill in Maxville, Florida and indefinitely curtail operations at its sawmill in Huttig, Arkansas by the end of this month. Today’s decision is the result of high fiber costs and soft lumber markets. The closure of Maxville Sawmill will impact approximately 80 employees, while the indefinite curtailment of Huttig will impact 140 employees. In aggregate this will reduce West Fraser’s U.S. lumber capacity by approximately 270 million board feet. West Fraser expects to mitigate the impact on affected employees by providing work opportunities at other company operations. High fiber costs at Maxville and the current low-price commodity environment have impaired the ability of both mills to profitably operate. The closure of Maxville and the indefinite curtailment of the Huttig sawmill better aligns our U.S. lumber capacity with demand. 
Across the country, wood construction is capturing the spotlight and inspiring more architects, engineers, and developers to create and build even more innovative wood buildings. Think Wood profiled several of these boundary-pushing structures this year—from nature-focused multifamily residences to cultural spaces rooted in traditional building practices to public spaces reimagined and elevated with wood. Whether they used light-frame, mass timber, or a combination of the two, our top 10 project profiles of 2023 showcase the best of the design and construction community’s creativity, design excellence, and commitment to sustainability through the use of natural, renewable building materials.-p-1600.jpg)
The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation (FPR) is beginning an innovative project in the Camel’s Hump Management Unit, as outlined in the 2021 Long-Range Management Plan. This project underscores FPR’s commitment to sustainable and adaptive forest management and is designed to demonstrate an important approach in increasing forest resilience to climate change and invasive pests. Collaborating with the University of Vermont (UVM) and the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science, this project is part of a series of forest adaptation experiments being implemented across the Northeast. …“This project aims to address the dominance of poor quality American beech suffering from beech bark disease and use forest management tools such as timber harvests to allow other species to thrive,” said Oliver Pierson, FPR’s Director of Forests. “This research furthers our goals of creating resilient forest stands.”
For years, Colorado’s wildfire risk map was so inaccurate that state officials all but ignored it. …After an infusion of $480,000 in state funds, Colorado unveiled a new map that included a host of updates, such as the pine beetle damage. It’s an upgrade that has put in place a “powerful” tool capable of driving wildfire mitigation, Manriquez said — and one that comes as communities across Colorado and the country brace for a future of climate-juiced wildfires. …States in recent years have struggled to keep pace with the changes. And many states haven’t dedicated enough — if any — consistent funding to keep the tools up to date. But forestry and fire officials in states such as Colorado, Oregon, Utah and Texas are stepping up their efforts to ensure they have high-quality fire risk data, models and maps to more accurately determine which areas are most at risk.
