Biden gives thanks to forests and the bounty they provide with National Forest Products Week proclamation. In other Business news: Terrace Bay, Ontario pulp mill reaches four-year collective agreement; EPA assesses health risks at Resolute/Menominee fire; and BillerudKorsnäs changes its name to Billerud. On the market front: global wood fibre trade is up in 2022; supply chains are healing despite inflation; and lumber prices role as an economic barometer.
In Forestry/Climate news: how forests can help reduce global emissions; bioenergy’s shift from EU saviour to problem; drought is driving rise in BC wildfires; US firefighters compensation improves but issues remain; and Washington state fire prompts new evacuation.
Finally, Cashmere toilet paper dresses raise funds for breast cancer awareness.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
:format(webp)/https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/life/together/places/2022/10/16/toilet-paper-dresses-wow-fashion-show/cashmere_1.jpg)
Supply chains are healing. Shipping costs have plummeted. Commodity prices have fallen sharply. The congestion that clogged the oceans has dissipated. But prices remain stubbornly high. U.S. Consumer Price Index numbers for September came in hotter than expected this week. “Despite a pullback in gasoline costs … price pressures showed little sign of subsiding,” wrote BMO economist Sal Guatieri. …The price of lumber surged in the early days of the pandemic, driving up costs (and availability) of supplies for all those backyard DIY projects spurred on by early lockdown measures. By the end of September, lumber futures were trading 70 per cent below where they were at the peak. …The debate over what to do about inflation highlights just how serious a threat rising prices pose to the broader economy. …Trying to decipher pricing trends while the world is still emerging from a global crisis is a nearly impossible task.
The CME is replacing its current random-length lumber 
Wood fiber prices continued their two-year upward trend in the 2Q 2022, with hardwood increasing faster than softwood. These trends are reflected in Wood Resources International’s two global wood fiber price indices (denominated in US dollars), which reached their highest levels since 2014 despite the strengthening of the US dollar against most other currencies. The global Hardwood Fiber Price Index (HFPI) jumped 5.3% q-o-q in the 2Q 2022, which was more than 13% higher than a year ago, while the global Softwood Fiber Price Index (SFPI) has gone up only +7% since the 2Q 2021 to $99.01/odmt. A combination of record high prices for market pulp, low pulp inventories, and tight wood fiber supply have pushed costs for pulplogs and wood chips higher. In local currencies, prices have increased the most in Europe (10-55%) and Latin America (25-45%) in 12 months, while the increases have been more modest in North America and Oceania.
The use of a controversial herbicide in Ontario forest management practices is at the heart of a lawsuit being taken against the provincial government by three northeastern Ontario First Nations. Chapleau Cree First Nation, Missanabie Cree First Nation and Brunswick House First Nation are challenging Ontario’s approach to forestry and its method of consultation in a statement of claim filed in Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Toronto on Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. They point to the aerial spraying of glyphosate — done without their consent — as a prime example of the gradual erosion of their rights under Treaty 9 as well as a lack of say in the industrial activity that takes place on their traditional territories going back to the singing of Treaty 9 in 1905.
WILMOT, ON – The Government of Canada supports tree planting as an important part of fighting climate change. With the help of local communities, groups and volunteers, tree-planting efforts are made possible; this is where Let’s Tree Wilmot and their vibrant volunteers have played a huge part. Natural Resources Canada announced a contribution of over $163,000 to the Wilmot Horticultural Society while joining in the group’s tree-planting activity. The Wilmot Horticultural Society, through their Let’s Tree Wilmot initiative, will be planting 2,600 trees on 3.9 hectares of public land over the course of one year. …Public education efforts, including workshops, public talks and locally produced videos, will encourage local property owners to grow more native trees on their property while also equipping them to care for their trees properly.
Just the other day I 
Authorities announced significant evacuations in the vicinity of the Nakia Creek Fire in Southwest Washington. Some 400 acres were burning and approximately 1,000 homes may be affected by the evacuation order. Meanwhile, much of the Pacific Northwest west of the Cascades was experiencing poor air quality over the weekend because of smoke amid windy, dry, unseasonably warm weather. In Washington, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency said the region had air quality ratings ranging from unhealthy to unhealthy for sensitive groups. …The conditions, which also prompted red flag warnings for increased fire danger, were expected to continue through Sunday. …A new fire ignited Saturday northwest of Portland near Fishhawk Lake, according to state Forestry officials. It wasn’t threatening any structures. Nine other fires were burning throughout the Northwest in one of the driest periods on record.